Chinese writer Mo Yan has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature, announced the Swedish Academy in Stockholm on Thursday. The win makes Mo Yan the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel in its 111-year history. Informed of his win today, the author, who was having dinner at home, was “overjoyed and scared”.
Born in 1955 to parents who were farmers, Mo Yan — a pen name for Guan Moye, grew up in Gaomi, Shandong province in eastern China. At the age of 12, he left school to work, first in agriculture, later in a factory. In 1976 he joined the army and during this time began to study literature and writing.
He published his first book in 1981, but found literary success in 1987 with Hong Gaoliang Jiazu, which was successfully filmed in the same year, directed by famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou. In his writing, Mo Yan draws on his youthful experiences and on settings in the province of his birth and his works show the life of Chinese people as well as the country’s unique culture and folk customs. Mo Yan is known as a productive writer. In addition to his novels, he has published many short stories and essays on various topics. Despite his social criticism, he is seen in his homeland as one of the most famous contemporary authors. Dozens of his works have been translated into English, French, Japanese and many other languages.
The awarding ceremony has been held on December 10. The winner has won a medal, a personal diploma and a cash award of about $1 million.
1.How did Mo Yan feel when he was told about the news?
A. Excited and proud. B. Worried and cautious.
C. Uncertain and shocked. D. Happy and surprised.
2.One of Mo Yan’s characteristics of writing is that he ________.
A. focuses on social problems in the country
B. writes about topics he is familiar with
C. describes his characters in a unique way
D. explains difficult matters in simple words
3.What’s the best title for this passage?
A. Mo Yan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature
B. An Introduction to Nobel Prize
C. How Mo Yan Gets Nobel Prize
D. A World Famous Writer, Mo Yan
Bored? Don’t know what to do with your time? Get your friends or family together, go to the park or go hiking, do something fun---just don’t turn on your TV.
The 10th annual TV-Turnoff Week starts on Monday. The TV-Turnoff Network, a nonprofit organization, began the program in 1994 to get children and adults to watch less television so that their time is spent doing more productive things. This year, millions of people will participate and find much more interesting things to do besides sitting in front of the television.
Experts are convinced that watching too much TV keeps kids from participating in healthy physical activities. The average household has a television on for 7 hours and 40 minutes a day! Kids spend more time watching TV than they spend in school. Turning off the TV gives you a chance to be with your family and friends. Going without it frees up valuable time that could be spent reading a good book, writing, drawing, or discovering something else that may interest you.
There are many organizations that support TV-Turnoff week, including The Boys and Girls Clubs of America, YMCA, Girl Scouts USA, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. Even First Lady Laura Bush is a supporter. “Television is no substitute for a parent. It doesn’t help develop language skills; it’s simply background noise,” said Mrs. Bush.
Even kids who may not have liked going without TV have discovered the benefits. “I really didn’t like TV-Turnoff Week except I did notice that my grades went up and I was in a good mood all week,” said Drew Henderson, a student in Donora, Pennsylvania.
1.The TV-Turnoff Network started TV-Turnoff Week to ___________.
A. to get people to spend more time doing more productive things
B. to keep kids from participating in healthy physical activities
C. to advise people not to buy television sets
D. to persuade more people to join the organization
2.Which is not the advantage of turning off the TV?
A. Giving you a chance to be with your family and friends.
B. Spending more time reading books.
C. Developing language skills.
D. Participating in healthy physical activities.
3.Drew Henderson’s words in the last paragraph imply that _____________.
A. he doesn’t like TV-Turnoff Week
B. he doesn’t support TV-Turnoff Week at all
C. it’s unnecessary to have TV-Turnoff Week
D. he doesn’t support TV-Turnoff Week until he finds it does good to his study
Four Efficient Ways to Improve Your Speech
1. Use More Facial Expression
One psychologist feels that our facial expression is responsible more than anything else for the impression others have of us. In fact, more than 50 percent of another’s impression, he believes, is influenced by the look on your face. Naturally a smile in which the eyes participate is extremely communicative. An unfriendly look often brings the same thing in return. People tend to mirror your expression, so try to show how you feel about a topic or an idea or the audience through your facial expression.
2. Rid Your Inner Fear
It's natural to have some tension or nervousness when you appear before an audience. The way to handle it is to put it to work for you, get into action, as Shakespeare observed, action cures fear. There are only a few known ways to control fear. The first is to admit it, do the thing you fear and it will be the death of fear itself. Another simple aid at the last minute before you begin, is to take a few deep breaths, this will help get the butterflies in formation and also keep your voice under control. In fact, if you’re thoroughly prepared, just taking a few deep breaths before you’re introduced will give you added confidence and balance. Other known ways to control nervousness and fear are to give yourself an encouraging talk or take some physical exercise.
3. Polish Your Voice
Our voice is the main instrument we possess for communicating with people, we’re all sound sensitive. So invest in a tape recorder, practise your speech by speaking it into the microphone then listen to it. You can even have others join in the evaluation of your strong points and your weaknesses or faults as well. Remember that Demosthenes and Winston Churchill both used pebbles in their mouths while practising their speaking. Simply reading out loud can also help you improve your voice and develop a personal style.
4. Strengthen Your Memory
Psychologists tell us that most individuals don’t use above ten percent of their natural capacity for memory, that’s comparable to trying to run a car on one cylinder(汽缸). Why do most people use so little of their power of memory? Because they don’t practise the fundamentals of remembering. First and most important, it’s necessary to have a burning desire to remember, it’s difficult to recall anything without wanting to do so. Step number two is concentration. Henry Ward Beecher once observed, one hour of intense concentration can accomplish more than years of dreaming. The next principle is repetition, we learned many things in school by rote by repetition, when you hear a name for the first time repeat it, spell it, write it down, review it, you’ll soon know it by heart.
1.To make a good impression on others, you should pay special attention to your ______.
A. voice B. gestures
C. facial expression D. words
2.Which of the ways to rid yourself of your inner fear is NOT included in the passage?
A. take a deep breath
B. take some physical exercise
C. keep your voice under control
D. encourage yourself
3.You can improve our voice by ______.
A. listening to the tape
B. imitating others
C. keeping pebbles in your mouth
D. reading out loud
4.According to the article, which of the following is true?
A. We can strengthen our memory by practising.
B. We can remember things longer if we do not try to remember them on purpose.
C. Henry Ward Beacher believes that repetition is the key to long memory.
D. We can only remember names sooner by repeating them.
根据所给汉语部分，补全英文句子。每条横线上填一个单词。
1.It seemed that John was __________ __________ __________(应该因为……而受责备) the running water all night long. He was the last one to leave the lab.
2.Only when the war was over in 1945 _________ __________ __________ __________ （他才回到）his hometown.
3.The thief _________ __________ __________ （挣脱）the two policemen who were holding him and ran away.
4.–What did you do in town last night?
--__________ __________ （除了）a concert, we also watched a football match.
5.Your article is not well written because some of the sentences in it don’t __________ __________（讲得通）.
下面十个句子，每句中有一处错误。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出改加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（﹨）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
1.The student was very absorbed in reading the novel that he didn’t sense that his teacher was just standing beside him.
2.Mrs. Brown was disappointed to see the washing machine she had had it repaired went wrong again.
3.–Excuse me, sir, where is Room 301?
--Just a minute. I’ll have Bob to show you to your room.
4. Mr. Carlos, as well as his three American friends, have been invited to our English corner.
5.–How did she get infected?
-- She had exposed to the viruses without any protection.
6.As soon as we got to the river bank, we are divided into three groups and got down to planting trees.
7.The doctors have tried their best but cannot cure him for the severe disease.
8.I’ll take a place of Mr. Li to give you lessons because he is ill.
9.My uncle settled in Beijing and gradual set up his own business in the 1980s.
10.The Smiths arranged a company to organize the new couple’s wedding.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
1. The children talked so loudly at dinner table that I had to struggle in order ____________ （hear）by them.
2. ____________ (carry) a cake with ten lighted candles on it, the mother came in and said “Happy Birthday” to the little girl.
3.The growing speed of a plant is influenced by a number of factors, most of ___________ are beyond our control.
【小题4-5】He didn’t understand the __________ question, so there was a __________ expression on his face. (puzzle)
4.The professor __________ (refer) to pollution at the meeting will give us a lecture next week.
5.After the lecture, a few students remained ___________ (seat) in the hall.
6.New Zealand is a country __________ （consist）of two big islands and many smaller ones.
7.Most of the people __________ (invite) to the party were famous scientists.
8.Companies seem cautious ___________ investing more money in research and development.
