CHINA

Digging for History

Life during the Zhou Dynasty (1066—221B.C.) is about to become more exposed to us. An excavation(挖掘) team started work at the site of the Duke Zhou Temple in Qishan County, Shanxi Province last week.

The large tomb is quite likely to belong to the family of Duke Zhou, a noble at that time. It might be the most important archaeological(考古) discovery since 1949. __1__

UNITED STATES

__2__

Two American Chinese students were among the winners of the “Mayor's Awards for Excellence in Science and Technology” in New York on October 13th. Both of the teens, Mu Chuang and Yin Li graduated from American middle schools this summer. __3__The annual awards recognize important members of the city's science and engineering communities.

DENMARK

Arctic Dispute

__4__ Denmark has begun scientific research to help the country claim the North Pole, a British newspaper reported last week. Denmark is trying to prove that its island of Greenland is connected to the Arctic ice. This attempt has angered other countries around the North Pole, including the US, Canada and Russia. __5__ The North Pole is regarded as an international area, which is rich in gas and oil that has not been explored.

A. Two Chinese Students Won a Reward

B. The North Pole has become an international hot spot.

C. Another large tomb will be opened to the public.

D. They also want a piece of the Arctic.

E. The ice in Arctic has been melting a lot.

F. They won the award for their achievements in regional and national science competitions.

G. The archaeologists said that the excavation might change people's understanding of the history of the Zhou Dynasty.

1. ________　2. ________　3. ________　4. ________

5. ________

The Homeless World Cup is an international football event, where teams made up entirely of people who are homeless compete. The event has been held annually since 2003.

It was at the end of 2001 that Mel Young, a famous expert in the media inDustry, came up with the idea of the Homeless World Cup. 18 months later the first event took place in Austria. It was such a success that people decided to do more.

There are some interesting and special rules of the event. For example, players(male or female at least 16 years old) must have been homeless at some time after the previous year’s World Cup or make their main living income by selling newspapers in the street or be asylum（政治避难） seekers . Anyone can take part, regardless of his or her abilities. There are at most 4 players per team to compete in the field. Games are 14 minutes long.

In 2007, 48 nations, 500 players took a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent their countries for true spirit and glory in Copenhagen, Denmark. The winner in 2007 was Scotland. The 2008 Homeless World Cup took place in Melbourne, Australia. And in 2009 it was held in Milan. The latest Homeless World Cup was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in September 2010. Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup takes place August followed by the México City 2012 Homeless World Cup.

The success of the competition has been in two aspects—to attract the world’s attention to the problems of homelessness and also to help participants live a better life.

According to a survey by the Homeless World Cup Organization after 2006 Homeless World Cup, 92% of the players had a new motivation for life, 93 players successfully got rid of their dependency on drugs and alcohol, 44% improved their housing situation and 72% continued to play football.

1.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．The first Homeless World Cup took place in 2003.

B．The Homeless World Cup was held every other year.

C．The host country of the 9th Homeless World Cup was Australia.

D．Anyone who is homeless can take part in the Homeless World Cup.

2.The aim of the Homeless World Cup is to _____.

A．promote the cause of football

B．help the homeless live a better life

C．draw attention to those living in poverty

D．call on homeless people to unite and compete for honor

3.What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Most players moved out of poverty.

B．Homeless players became professional footballers.

C．93% of the players were independent of drugs and alcohol.

D．The Homeless World Cup helped homeless people change their lives.

4.What would be the best title for this passage?

A．To End Homelessness.	B．Football For Everyone.
C．Hope For The Homeless.	D．Beating Homelessness Through Football.

 

       HANS Christian Andersen put Denmark on the map of the world literature with his stories The Emperor's New Clothes, The Little Mermaid （小美人鱼） and The Ugly Duckling．Now Copenhagen, the country's capital, has become the center of the world political map, with 190 world leaders attending the climate talks there, not to mention thousands of reporters．

Just how much do you know about the Scandinavian country?

Denmark is famous for its design culture．At the heart of “Danish Design” is the idea that, as poet and designer Piet Hein puts it: “There is one art, not more, nor less, [and that is] to do all things with artlessness （朴实）”．

      Danish design places equal emphasis on practicality and quality．From Lego toys to furniture, Danish products are known for their clean lines, simplicity and functionality．“Remove material where it's not needed．Keep things simple and functional and make them carefully,” explained Hans J．Wegner, the first Danish designer to achieve worldwide fame: “The aim is not to create a work of art, but to produce a good chair．”

       “The Danes have done a better job than most in promoting arts in Europe, considering their country's size and population, in the fields of architecture, sculpture and design,” writes Helena Smith, reporter with British newspaper the Guardian．

       The simplicity of Danish design may extend to the quality of life there．Some even claim that the Danes have the highest quality of life of any nation in the world．

       Kate Vial, a 55-year-old American who has lived and worked in Denmark for more than 30 years, explaining why she chooses to live in Denmark rather than the US, told Germany's biggest news weekly Der Spiegel: “I just chose a simpler lifestyle, one where I could ride my bike all over and where I don't have to make a great living to survive．”

1.What’s the writer’s purpose of mentioning Denmark’s literature?

     A．To show the readers that Denmark is best known for its stories．

     B．To arouse readers’ interest in Denmark．

     C．To tell the readers that this passage is related to literature．

     D．To show why Denmark can attract so many political leaders．

2.What is Denmark famous for according to the passage?

     A．Design culture                                  B．Making chairs  

       C．Writing poems                                  D．Climate prediction

3.Which statement is true according to the passage?

     A．Danish design pays more attention to arts than its function．

     B．Danish products don’t need much material．

     C．Danish people like to keep simple life．

     D．Compared with other countries in Europe, Denmark does little in promoting arts．

4.In Piet Hein’s opinion, the characteristic of Danish culture is _____________．

     A．Creative         B．Complicated    C．Impractical          D．Simple

5.What is the best title for the passage?

     A．Danes conquer the world with simple designs．

     B．Denmark—a new political center．

     C．Life in Denmark．

     D．Designer’s idea of Denmark．

 

Europe is now the biggest market for organic food in the world, having grown by 25 percent a year over the past 10 years. Denmark’s agriculture minister is herself an organic farmer. The UK market for organic food grew by 55 percent in 2000, while the food market as a whole grew by only one percent. Yet only seven percent of British shoppers account for nearly 60 percent of organic sales. However popular the idea of organic farming may be, it is still an interest for only a few people.

     So what makes the idea of organic farming popular? Organic farming means farming with natural materials, rather than with man-made fertilizers or pesticides. Organic farmers rely on many  methods — such as crop rotation (农作物的轮作) and the use of resistant（有抵抗力的） varieties, because they are necessary for organic farmers to compensate for the shortage of man-made chemicals.

    Organic farming is often supposed to be safer than traditional farming for the environment. Yet after a long research on organic farming worldwide for a number of years, science continues to be against this opinion. The House of Commons committee on agriculture publicized that, even with complete research work, it would fail to find any scientific evidence to prove “that any of claims （宣称） made for organic farming is always true”.

     However, the talk about the benefits of organic farming is going on. This is partly because many people depend on their individual farm, the soil, the weather, and so on.

1.The first paragraph mainly tells us _____.

A. organic farming has been performed only in Europe over the past 10 years

B. governments of European countries have cared less about organic farming

C. organic farming is far from being as popular as expected

D. European countries need organic food more than the other countries in the world

2. The underlined words “compensate for” in the second paragraph probably mean “________”.

A. argue for    B. care for    C. struggle for   D. pay for

3. What can we know about organic farming?

A. It refers to farming with natural materials, instead of chemical fertilizers.

B. It refers to farming with chemical fertilizers rather than natural fertilizers.

C. It refers to farming with soil rather than any other thing.

D. It refers to growing crops with man-made fertilizers and pesticides.

4.According to the third paragraph, _____.

A. organic farming is safer than traditional farming for the environment

B. the idea that organic farming is safer has not been proven by science

C. organic farming is accepted by the UK’s House of Commons committee

D. organic farming is preferred to traditional farming

5.Which of the following is TRUE, according to the passage?

A. The UK’s agriculture minister is an organic farmer.

B. Organic farming is popular with young people.

C. Farmers make use of many different kinds of methods to improve the organic sales system.

D. Ninety-three percent of British shoppers don’t buy organic products.