CARDIFF, Wales Poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered in Wales to celebrate the tradition(传统) of storytelling.

“It might seem strange that people still want to listen in age of watching television, but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again,” said David Ambrose, director of Beyond the Border, an international storytelling festival(节) in Wales.

    “Some of the tales, like those the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old. So our storytellers have come from distant lands to connect us with the distance of time,” he said early this month.

Two Inuit women, both in their mid 60s, are among the few remaining who can do Kntadjait, or throat singing, which has few words and much sound. Their art is governed by the cold of their surroundings, forcing them to say little but listen attentively.

    Ambrose started the festival in 1993, after several years of working with those reviving (coming back into use or existence) storytelling in Wales.

    “It came out of a group of people who wanted to reconnect with traditions. and as all the Welsh are storytellers, it was in good hands here.” Ambrose said.

1. Ambrose believes that the art of storytelling _______.

A. will be more popular than TV

B. will be popular again

C. started in Wales

D. are in the hands of some old people

2. From the tales told by the Inuit, people can learn _______.

A. about their life as early as thousands of years ago

B. why they tell the stories in a throat-singing way

C. how cold it has been where the Inuit live

D. how difficult it is to understand the Inuit

3. According to the writer, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Storytelling once stopped in Wales.

B. Storytelling has a long history in Wales.

C. Storytelling is always well received in Wales.

D. Storytelling did not come back until 1993 in Wales.

4. The underlined phrase in good hands means _______.

A. controlled by rich people         B. grasped by good storytellers

C. taken good care of                   D. protected by kind people

Many businesses today use conferences as a means of discussing new plans for company. As people are paying more attention to the environment and green problems, more businesses are looking for ways to reduce their negative effect on the environment. Many businesses do this by using web conferencing.

     Web conferencing is a technology that allows people to communicate more effectively over the Internet. It is an easy way of hosting and attending conferences without having to leave the office. Each of the people involved in a web conference will be posted an invitation to the conference with the time and date of the web conference on it. When the conference is ready to begin, all participants (参与者) must sit at their computer and they will be connected over the Internet.

Obviously, in doing this no fuel is used in traveling to and from a conference, and less work time is taken up in attending a conference.

Any material to be used during the web conference is simply e-mailed to all the participants before the conference. This not only saves paper but also greatly reduces mailing cost for the business.

As a conference hall or business center isn’t being used, it means that the only power that is used is the power used by the participants’ personal computers. Similarly conference organizers don’t have to arrange for food or overnight accommodation (住宿) for participants. All this means that less energy is used.

Many companies actively do many things to reduce their negative impact (影响) on the environment. So web conferencing is much cheaper and greener and more people are willing to host and attend a web conference.

What is the passage mainly about?

A. Ways of protecting the environment.

B. Green benefits of web conference.

C. Ways of hosting a web conference.

D. Impacts of web conferencing on costs.

According to paragraph 1, many companies use web conferencing because they________.

A. are interested in using any new technology

B. believe that web conferencing is more convenient

C. want to do something to protect the environment

D. haven’t enough money to hold a traditional conference

Web conferencing has all of the following advantages EXCEPT _________.

A. saving time                B. promoting understanding

C. saving energy              D. saving paper

The participants of a web conference_________.

A. will be e-mailed an invitation before the conference

B. are required to sit in the office together

C. will receive many paper materials

D. must have access to the Internet

I once experienced an unforgettable trip to Gloucester to see some of the world's most beautiful and exciting animals in their own habitat(栖息地), the North Atlantic Ocean.

    After a long trip by bus, we got on the ship. After a while, we stopped and everyone on the ship started to shout because we saw a humpback whale(座头鲸). It was wonderful. Sometimes, whales came so close to the ship that you thought you could easily touch them.

    While we were watching the whales, a guide was giving us some information about them. She told us that we saw only two kinds of whales -- 50-foot humpback whales (singing whales) and 70-foot fin back whales (the second largest whales on earth). She also said we could easily recognize a whale by its tail because every whale has a different kind of tail just like people have different fingerprints.

    They all have names, and on this trip, we saw "Salt" and "Pepper", two whales named by a biologist and a fisherman. They were swimming together all the time.

    I took twenty-seven photos, but it was very hard to take them because the whales were quick and stayed on the surface(表面) of the ocean just for a short time. It was really something. It was one of the chances that a person hardly ever experiences in life, but I had that chance.

This passage is mainly about ____.

    A. an unforgettable experience in the forest

    B. an unforgettable trip to see some strange animals in the mountains

    C. a long trip on the ship

    D. an unforgettable trip to watch whales

Everyone on the ship began to shout because ______.

A. a whale came so close to the ship                   B. they saw a singing whale

C. they saw a fin back whale                             D. they could touch the whale

When they were watching the whales, ____.

A. some of them fed the whales                        

B. they found several kinds of whales

C. a guide told them something about the whales

D. some of them took many photos and touched the whales

How can we recognize a whale?

A. By its tail(认识).                         B. By its head.

C. By its neck.                               D. By its eyes.

“Football is a very short-term career. Football really prepares you for almost nothing. The only thing I got out of football was the ability to work hard.” says Gales Sayers. So what do you do after your glory days on the field are over? Here’s what one of the top players, Gales Sayers did after he put down the pigskin.

Gales Sayers: #40, Chicago Bears, Running Back.  

Gales Sayers became famous in 1965. After recovering from a serious knee injury in 1968, Sayers returned to the Bears in 1969 and was awarded the George Halas Award as “the most courageous player in professional football.” At the award ceremony, he owed his prize to his friend and teammate Brian Piccolo, who was dying of cancer.

Sayers couldn’t get away from the injuries, though, and another blow to his knee put an end to his football career in 1971. His personal life was unfortunate as well, as he and his wife, Linda, split up that year. Shortly after that, Sayers started a new life and career as an assistant athletic director in the University of Kansas. By 1976 he was moving up the ladder at Southern Illinois University, becoming the first African-American athletic director at a major university.

Sayers started a computer supplies company in 1984 with his second wife, Ardie, whom he married in 1973. The couple was looking for a field with a future, and computers seemed to have it all. Seventeen years later, the company that bears his name is a national provider of technology solutions, with 10 locations and over 350 employees across the country. Just like in the old days the honors started rolling in. Sayers was listed into the Chicago Area Entrepreneurship(企业家) Hall of Fame in 1999.

What does the underlined sentence “he put down the pigskin” mean?

A. Sayers ended his football career.                

B. Sayers was too tired to go on playing.

C. Sayers intended to start a new career.            

D. Sayers only wanted to rest for some time.

 How many times was Sayers honored in his life?

A. Only once as a football star.                      

B. Only once as a businessman.

C. Twice in all.                                        

D. We are not quite sure.

 Sayers started his new career mainly because of _______ .

A. the first knee injury in l 968                         

B. his unfortunate personal life

C. another more serious knee injury                  

D. a friend’s being deadly ill

What can be learned from this passage?

A. Football players are not successful all the time.

B. A successful businessman should be a ball player first.

C. A retired football player can easily make money.

D. Whatever you do, working hard is the most important.

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