Some 30,000 years ago, artists who lived in caves in Europe painted pictures of the animals around them: panthers, hyenas, rhinos, cave lions, mammoths and other creatures which have been extinct for a long time. The paintings were highly realistic. Some even showed movement.
The artwork, more than a thousand drawings, is considered the oldest group of human cave drawings which have ever been discovered. They were preserved because the cave was sealed---closed off--for more or less 23,000 years.
Fast forward to December 18, 1994, a group of French cave scientists were exploring caves in southern France. Jean Marie Chauvet, who led the group then, describes the process of discovering the cave paintings. “At that time I was in the front, Eliette just walked behind me, Christian behind. Eliette said she saw two marks with red ochre and she said, ‘They came here.’ And at this very moment everything began. The drawings and everything linked to the parietal art(壁画). That is where it is tarted.”
Cave art expert Jean Clotttes reviewed the paintings. “I was amazed at the number of paintings there were and paintings of their quality and particularly in front of the panel of the horses.”
Scientific analysis confirmed the prehistoric date of the artwork. Studies showed the drawings were created tens of thousands of years ago, before human history was written. The United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO lists the cave as a World Heritage Site. They say that the drawings form a remarkable expression of early human artistic creation of grand excellence and variety.
The Chauvet Cave has been named after the explorer who first entered it. However, its environment and drawings are too fragile to be visited by human beings. So the cave is closed, and only people there for scientific purposes can go inside and see the artwork.
However, French authorities asked experts to create an exact copy of the cave, called Pont d’Arc Cavern. The copy, which we also called replica, cost more than 59 million dollars to build. It opened at the end of April in France.
Pascal Terrasse is the president of the cavern. He says everyone will be able to experience the thrill of looking at drawings made by the first humans in Europe. He says the place is magic because it is done so well. Authorities say they think as many as 400,000 people will be allowed to visit Pont d’Arc Cavern every year.
1.According to Jean Clottes’ words in Paragraph 4, the paintings in the cave were .
A.abstract B. superior C. creative D. inspiring
2.Which of the follow statements is TRUE about the Chauvet Cave?
A.It was closed off for more than 30,000 years.
B.It is thought to be the origin of modern parietal art.
C.The environment and artwork there are very easy to damage.
D.The majority of drawings there are about the extinct animals.
3.The purpose of creating Pndt d’Arc Cavern is to .
A.show admiration for the earliest artists in Europe
B.arouse visitors’ awareness of protecting ancient art
C.offer visitors chances to view the wonderful artwork
D.collect money for the perseverance of the Chauvet Cave
In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
This is the only Ezra Pound poem that many people will read in their lives. Why? One obvious reason is that it’s just two lines long. The poem, which can be understood as “A man sees a bunch of faces in the subway and thinks they look like flowers on a tree branch,” is an exercise in shortness. Pound wrote it after having a spiritual experience in a Paris metro (subway) station.
In 1916, the US poet originally thought he could best describe his vision in a painting. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a painter. So he wrote a thirty-line poem, which he didn’t like. He dropped the long version in the waste bin. Six months later, he wrote a shorter poem, but didn’t like that one either. Finally, a full year after the experience, he had been reading short Japanese poems called haikus, and he figured he would try this style. The result, which was published in 1913, is one of the most famous and influential works in modern poetry.
This poem is one of the monuments (纪念物) of the 20th-century artistic movement known as “Imagism”. Basically, Pound and his friends thought that images (意象) weren’t just decoration: they were the highest form of speech. By finding the right image, the poet can express the true, spiritual reality of a thing, which is more important than using a bunch of adjectives to describe its physical appearance. Thus, “In a Station of the Metro” is a poem that consists of one image expressed with absolute (绝对的) exactness and nothing else.
To the imagists, the best way to describe an experience is not to use more and more words; the best way is to find exactly the right words. Have you ever told a beloved one that “words can’t express” how much you love them? Well, Pound would say that you’re just being lazy. In his view, words can express anything, even if it takes an entire year to find the right ones.
1.In the short poem, Ezra Pound .
A. tells us one of his painful experiences
B. compares the passengers’ faces to flowers
C. describes a man walking among the crowd
D. shows a wet, black tree branch in a metro station
2.According to the text, “In a Station of the Metro” was .
A. based on one of Pound’s paintings
B. first discovered in a waste bin
C. influenced by haikus
D. completed in 1916
3.Pound and his friends .
A. stressed the importance of using adjectives
B. were good at describing abstract images
C. decorated their poems with pictures
D. used images to express their ideas
The ocean is always moving：waves break on the surface, sea levels rise and fall with the tides, and currents flow below the surface. Although it looks as if the water in a wave is moving across the surface of the ocean, it is not. The water is actually moving up and down. This is why an object on top of a wave will bob up and down, but not move forward.
When a wave reaches the shore, however, the water does move forward. It surges(前进 )onto the shore. This is because the “bottom” of the wave drags on the sand and the “top” continues on, crashing onto the shore. This crashing water is called the surf. Most waves are caused by wind blowing across the ocean's surface. The size of a wave depends on how fast and how far the wind blows over the surface and on the depth of the wave. Small winds can cause ripples, while strong winds create large hurricane waves.
Along most shorelines. water levels rise and fall twice a day. These changes, called tides. are caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun and the Moon. The ocean surface lifts, or bulges(凸出), in two places: on the side of Earth that faces the Moon and on the side of Earth that faces away from the Moon. Both bulges cause a high tide on nearby shorelines. At the same time that the high tides occur, low tides occur between the two bulges.
Tides are also affected by the pull of the Sun, although the effect of the Sun is not as great as the effect of the Moon. When the Moon and Sun are lined up with Earth, the combined pull is the strongest, causing the highest high tides and the lowest low tides. These very high and very low tides are called spring tides. Weaker tides, called neap tides, happen when the Moon and the Sun are at right angles to Earth. High tides alternate with low tides. Along most shorelines, a high tide or low tide occurs about every six hours.
1.The word “alternate” in the last paragraph means .
A. appear suddenly
B. bob up and down
C. change or become quickly
D. happen or follow one after another
2.The best title for the passage is .
A. The Moving Ocean B. Tides and Waves
C. Ocean and Earth D. Waves and Currents
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
The Internet has become part of young people’s life. A report 1. (show) that 38% of students often use the Internet . Most of them get 2. (use) information on the Internet 3. use the Internet to help in their studies. But many students don’t use it 4. a good way. Some play games too much, and some visit websites 5. shouldn’t look at. So bad things may happen 6. students spend too much time on the Internet. 7. is important for students to use the Internet properly. Now we have a textbook, 8. uses many examples to teach students some good ways to use the Internet. It gives them useful ad9. face-to-face meeting with your online friends, let your parents 10. (know) and meet in a proper place.
完形填空
阅读下面短文，从短文后面各题所给的四个选项(A、 B、C 和 D)中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Jim and his brother lived on the 80th level. When coming home one day, to their _________, the lifts were not working and they had to _________the stairs.
After reaching the 20th level, breathless and tired, they decided to_________their bags and come back for them the next day. They climbed_________. When they got to the 40th level, Jim’s brother started to _________. However, they_________to climb the flights of steps, arguing all the way to the 60th floor.
They then _________that they only had 20 levels more to climb and decided to stop arguing and continue climbing_________. They reached their home at long last. Each stood calmly before the door and waited for the other to_________the door. And they realized that the_________ were in their bags which were left on the 20th floor.
This story is a reflection (反映) of our life. When _________, many of us are asked to do as our parents and teachers expect. We _________ get to do the things that we really like and love and are under too much pressure (压力) _________ by the age of 20, we get tired and decide to_________ this load (负担).
Once _________ of/ about the pressure, we work harder to realize our dreams. But by the time we reach 40 years old, we find it _________ to realize them and begin to feel unsatisfied and complain, and _________them. Reaching 60, we realize that we have_________ cause for complaint anymore, and we begin to walk the final stage with_________.
So follow your dreams and_________for them carefully, never complain and lose your key, and your dreams will come true one day.
1.A. shame B. surprise C. happiness D. disappointment
2.A. clean B. replace C. fix D. climb
3.A. pack B. leave C. carry D. find
4.A. over B. down C. on D. out
5.A. rest B. complain C. work D. explain
6.A. continued B. refused C. forgot D. demanded
7.A. realized B. advised C. hoped D. agreed
8.A. in order B. in peace C. in turn D. in time
9.A. lock B. answer C. close D. open
10.A. tickets B. books C. keys D. phones
11.A. lonely B. sick C. successful D. young
12.A. always B. rarely C. again D. finally
13.A. only if B. so that C. even if D. as if
14.A. take up B. set up C. give up D. put up
15.A. free B. tired C. worried D. concerned
16.A. hard B. interesting C. strange D. easy
17.A. accept B. avoid C. share D. lose
18.A. much B. all C. little D. some
19.A. regret B. pleasure C. fear D. danger
20.A. look B. ask C. wait D. prepare
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多于选项
Today is a perfect day that can leave you with good memories you may someday share with your friends. Here’s how:
1._____ You can see or do something a million times, but you can only see or do it for the first time once. As a result, first time experiences usually leave a deep mark in our minds for the rest of our lives. So try to experience something different and you’ll have more memories!
Work on something that’s great to you. 2.____ Life is short. Today is the day to take action.
Smile and notice what’s right. Everything that happens in life is neither good nor bad.
3._____ And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should. Either you succeed or you learn something.
Be true to yourself. The only shoes you can wear are your own. If you aren’t being yourself, you aren’t truly living. 4.____
Make a new friend. People are interesting creatures (生物), and no two people are exactly alike. 5._____ Find out what makes them different. They’ll likely open your eyes to wonderful ideas. And you never know, they just might change your life.
Be present. Be here now. Remember, right now is the only dear moment to you. Right now is life. Don’t miss it.
A. Learn a new skill.
B. Try something new.
C. It just depends on your opinion.
D. So meet someone new today.
E. And in fact, you’re only existing.
F. Pay close attention to what you’re doing.
G. Make yourself busy with something meaningful.
