New Annotated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Price: ￡28.00
Publication Date: 30/11/2006
Publisher’s description:
Collect Doyle’s fifty-six classic short stories, arranged in the order in which they appeared in late-nineteenth-and-early-twentieth-century book editions, in a set complemented by four novels, editor biographies of Doyle, Holmes, and Watson as well as literary and cultural details about Victorian society.
Breaking Ground by Daniel Libeskind
Price: ￡16.00
Publication Date:11/10/2006
Brief description:
This is a book about the adventure life that can offer each of us if we seize it, and about the powerful forces of tragedy, memory and hope. For Daniel Libeskind, life’s adventure has been through architecture, which he has found has the power to reshape human experience. Although often relating to the past, his buildings are about the future. This biology of one man’s journey brings together history, personal experience, our physical environment and a fresh international vision.
In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman
Price: ￡16.00
Publication Date:02/09/2006
Brief description:
On 11^th September 2001, Art Spiegelman raced to the world Trade Center, not knowing if his daughter Nadja was alive or dead. Once she was found safe---in her school at the foot of the burning towers---he returned home, to mediate(反省) on the trauma(创伤), and to work on a comic strip(连环漫画). In the Shadow of No Towers is New Yorker Art Spiegelman’s extraordinary account of “the hijacking(劫机) on 9.11 and the following hijacking of those events” by America.
Light on Snow by Anita Shreve
Price: ￡14.00
Publication Date:07/10/2006
Publisher’s description:
This is the 11^th novel by Anita Shreve, the critically accepted bestseller. A moving story of love and courage and tragedy and of the ways in which the human heart always seeks to heal itself.
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Price: ￡20.99
Publication Date:11/08/2006
Brief description:
Camping in the garden, riding bikes through the woods, climbing trees, picking wildflowers, running through piles of autumn leaves… these are the things childhood memories are made of. But for a whole generation of today’s children the pleasures of a free-range childhood are missing, and their indoor habits contribute to obesity, attention disorder and childhood depression. This book shows how our children have become increasingly distanced from nature, why this matters and how we can make a difference. Richard Louv is chairman of the Children and Nature Network and co-chair of the National Forum on Children and Nature. He is the author of seven other books and has written for newspapers and magazines including the New York Times and the Washington Post.
【小题1】Who is the writer of the latest book published among the four books?

A．Arthur Conan Doyle	B．Daniel Libeskind
C．Art Spiegelman	D．Anita Shreve

【小题2】If one wants to know something about Victorian society, he or she may read____.

A．Light on Snow	B．In the Shadow of No Towers
C．Breaking Ground	D．New Annotated Sherlock Holmes

【小题3】Which of the following refers to tragedies?

A．Light on Snow　＆　Breaking Ground

B．Light on Snow ＆　In the Shadow of No Towers

C．In the Shadow of No Towers ＆　Breaking Ground

D．New Annotated Sherlock Holmes　＆　In the Shadow of No Towers

【小题4】Which book is based on a real big event?

A．Breaking Ground	B．In the Shadow of No Towers
C．Light on Snow	D．Last Child in The Woods

【小题5】Who has also written for newspapers and magazines according to the text?

A．Arthur Conan Doyle.	B．Daniel Libeskind
C．Art Spiegelman	D．Richard Louv

Stepping into a pool of water is common enough, but who could ever imagine stepping into a pool of fish? In February of 1974, Bill Tapp, an Australian farmer, saw a rain of fish that covered his farm. How surprised he must have been when he heard many fish hitting against his roof!

　　 What caused this strange occurrence? This is a question that had long puzzled people who study fish. The answer turned out to be a combination of wind and storm.

　　When it is spring in the northern part of the world, it is fall in Australia. Throughout the autumn season, terrible storms arise and rains flood the land. The strong winds sweep over Australia like huge vacuum cleaners, collecting seaweed, pieces of wood, and even schools of fish. Strong winds may carry these bits of nature for many miles before dropping them on fields, houses, and astonished people.

　　Although they seem unusual, fish-falls occur quite frequently in Australia. When Bill Tapp was asked to describe the scene of fish, he remarked, “They look like millions of dead birds falling down.” His statement is not surprising. The wonders of the natural world are as common as rain. Nature, with its infinite wonders, can create waterfalls that flow upward and fish that fall out of the sky.

　　56. What is this passage about?

　　A. A sad story. 　　　　　　　　　　　　B. A rain of fish.

　　C. Australia’s northern part.　　　　　D. The damage done by floods.

　　57. Fish-falls occur in Australia_________ .

　　A. quite often 　　　　　　B. on large farms

　　C. only in winter　　　　　D. when the air is calm

　　58. It is a known fact that ________.

　　A. one should watch where one steps

　　B. Bill Tapp is a scientist who studies farming

　　C. the natural world can never create waterfalls that fall upward

　　D. the seasons in the southern part are different from those in the northern part

　　59. The word “infinite” is closest in meaning to _________.

　　A. easy 　　　B. difficult 　　　C. countless 　　　D. dangerous

How to Be a Winner

Sir Steven Redgrave  

Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals  

“In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes （糖尿病） . Believing my career （职业生涯）was over, I felt extremely low. Then one of the specialists said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing. That was it----the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believed in myself. I am not saying that it isn’t difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way.”  

Karen Pickering  

Swimming World Champion  

“I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that sort of workload by putting it on top of my diary. This is the key to success―you can’t follow a career in any field without being well-organized. List what you believe you can achieve. “Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you’ll be a step closer to achieving them.”  

Kirsten Best  

Poet ＆ Writer  

“When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can’t achieve something. Then, there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies. The key is to concentrate. When I feel tense, it helps a lot to repeat words such as ‘calm’, ‘peace’ or ‘focus’, either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and increases my confidence. This is a habit that can become second nature quite easily and is a powerful psychological （心理的） tool.”  

 　　60. What does Sir Steven Redgrave mainly talk about?

　　A. Difficulties influenced his career.

　　B. Specialists offered him medical advice.

　　C. Training helped him defeat his disease.

　　D. He overcame the shadow of illness to win.

　　61. What does Karen Pickering put on top of her diary?

　　A. Her training schedule.

　　B. Her daily happenings.

　　C. Her achievements.

　　D. Her sports career.

　　62.What does the underlined word “distractions” probably refer to？

　　A. Ways that help one to focus.

　　B. Words that help one to feel less tense.

　　C. Activities that turn one's attention away.

　　D. Habits that make it hard for one to relax.

　　63. According to the passage ,what do the three people have in common?

　　A. Courage.

　　B. Devotion.

　　C. Hard work.

　　D. Self-confidence.

 

 

Most of us spend our lives seeking the natural world. To this end, we walk the dog, play golf, go fishing, sit in the garden, drink outside rather than inside the pub, have a picnic, live in the suburbs, go to the seaside, buy a weekend place in the country. The most popular free time activity in Britain is going for a walk. And when joggers (慢跑者) jog, they don’t run the streets. Every one of them automatically heads to the park or the river. It is my firm belief that not only do we all need nature, but we all seek nature, whether we know we are doing so or not.
But despite this, our children are growing up nature-deprived (丧失). I spent my boyhood climbing trees. These days, children are robbed of these ancient freedoms, due to problems like crime, traffic, the loss of the open spaces and strange new ideas about what is best for children, that is to say, things that can be bought, rather than things that can be found.
The truth is to be found elsewhere. A study in the US: families had moved to better housing and the children were assessed for ADHD (多动症). Those whose housing had more natural views showed an improvement of 19%; those who had the same improvement in material surroundings but no nice view improved just 4%.
A study in Sweden indicated that kindergarten children who could play in a natural environment had less illness and greater physical ability than children used only to a normal playground. A US study suggested that when a school gave children access to a natural environment, the entire school would do better in studies.
Another study found that children play differently in a natural environment. In playgrounds, children create a hierarchy (等级) based on physical abilities, with the tough ones taking the lead. But when a grassy area was planted with bushes, the children got much more into fantasy play, and the social hierarchy was now based on imagination and creativity.
Most bullying (恃强凌弱) is found in schools where there is a tarmac (柏油碎石) playground; the least bullying is in a natural area that the children are encouraged to explore. This reminds me unpleasantly of Sunnyhill School, with its hard tarmac, where I used to hang about in corners dreaming about wildlife.
But children are frequently discouraged from involvement with natural spaces, for health and safety reasons, for fear that they might get dirty or that they might cause damage. So, instead, the damage is done to the children themselves: not to their bodies but to their souls.
One of the great problems of modern childhood is ADHD, now increasingly and expensively treated with drugs. Yet one study after another indicates that contact with nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children. However, we spend money on drugs rather than on green places.
The life of old people is much better when they have access to nature. The most important for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years. And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality.
In wider and more difficult areas of life, there is evidence to indicate that natural surroundings improve all kinds of things. Even problems with crime and aggressive behaviour are reduced when there is contact with the natural world.
Dr William Bird, researcher from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, states in his study, “A natural environment can reduce violent behaviour because its process helps reduce anger and behavior that people might regret later.” Wild places need encouraging for this reason, no matter how small their contribution.
We tend to think human beings are doing nature some kind of favor when we are protecting nature. The error here is far too deep: not only do humans need nature for themselves, but the very idea that humanity and the natural world are separable things is damaging.
Human beings are a species of animals. For seven million years we lived on the planet as part of nature. So we miss the natural world and long for contact with non-human life. Anyone who has patted a dog, stroked a cat, sat under a tree with a glass of beer, given or received a bunch of flowers or chosen to walk through the park on a nice day, understands that.
We need the wild world. It is necessary to our well-being, our health, our happiness. Without other living things around us we are less than human.
【小题1】What is the author’s firm belief?

A．People seek nature in different ways.

B．People should spend most of their lives in the wild.

C．People have quite different ideas of nature.

D．People must make more efforts to study nature.

【小题2】What does the author say people prefer for their children nowadays?

A．Personal freedom.	B．Things that are natural.
C．Urban surroundings.	D．Things that are purchased.

【小题3】What does a study in Sweden show?
　　A. The natural environment can help children learn better.
　　B. More access to nature makes children less likely to fall ill.
　　C. A good playground helps kids develop their physical abilities.
　　D. Natural views can prevent children from developing ADHD.
【小题4】Children who have chances to explore natural areas ________.

A．tend to develop a strong love for science

B．are more likely to dream about wildlife

C．tend to be physically tougher in adulthood

D．are less likely to be involved in bullying

【小题5】What does the author suggest we do to help children with ADHD?

A．Find more effective drugs for them.

B．Provide more green spaces for them.

C．Place them under more personal care.

D．Engage them in more meaningful activities

【小题6】In what way do elderly people benefit from their contact with nature?

A．They look on life optimistically.	B．They enjoy a life of better quality.
C．They are able to live longer.	D．They become good-humored