In London's art gallery six or seven men, mostly in their 30s, are busy painting the walls with new designs in colorful lettering and clever tricks. Tins of spray paint and beer stand on the ground. The atmosphere is not unlike that of a golf course: a mix of concentration and relaxation.
Graffiti(涂鸦) painting is traditionally a daring hobby. Teenagers avoid security guards to put their names on trains and buses. But over the past decade that has almost disappeared from Britain's cities. Between 2007 and 2017 the number of incidents of graffiti recorded by the British Transport Police fell by 63%. A survey by the environment ministry shows that fewer places are damaged by tags(绘名) than ever. Graffiti are increasingly limited to only a few walls. In time the practice may die out entirely.
The most obvious reason for the decline in tagging and train-painting is better policing, says Keegan Webb, who runs The London Vandal, a graffiti blog (博客). Numerous cameras mean it is harder to get away with painting illegally. And punishments are more severe. A generational change is apparent, too. Now teenagers prefer to play with iPads and video games. Those who do get involved tend to prefer street art to graffiti. And the internet helps painters win far more attention by posting pictures online than they can by breaking into a railway yard.
Taggers and graffiti artists mostly grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. Those men are now older and less willing to take risks. "We can't run away from the police any more," says Ben Eine, who turned from tagging to street art. The hip-hop culture that inspired graffiti in the first place has faded. Video games and comic books provide more inspiration than music.
Graffiti may eventually disappear. But for now the hobby is almost respectable. Mr Eine says he has lots of friends who used to paint trains. Now with wives and children, they paint abandoned houses at the weekend. It has become something to do on a Sunday afternoon—a slightly healthier alternative to sitting watching the football.
1.How do the painters feel while painting graffiti according to the first paragraph?
A. Free but stressed. B. Free and focused.
C. Particular and respected. D. Nervous but satisfied.
2.Why is graffiti painting traditionally considered as a daring hobby?
A. It's at the risk of being caught.
B. It takes much hard training.
C. It's dangerous to paint in trains.
D. It needs a great deal of knowledge.
3.hat does the underlined word “decline” in the third paragraph refer to?
A. Ban of government. B. Reduction of graffiti.
C. Disappearance of graffiti. D. Better policing of government.
4.What conclusion can we draw from the fourth paragraph?
A. The early graffiti had something to do with music.
B. Graffiti artists like to be the focuses in public.
C. Graffiti artists regret over what they did in the past.
D. Painting is much healthier than watching football.
Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is also the color of most growing plants.
Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet ripe or finished. For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns(角) had not yet developed. A century later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in battle. By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today—a person who is new in a job.
Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from early nineteen hundreds. A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died. ![]()
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The Green Revolution is the name given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs.
Green is also the color used to describe the powerful feeling, jealousy(嫉妒). The green-eyed monster is not a frightening creature from outer space. It is an expression used about four hundred years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play “Othello”. It describes the unpleasant feeling a person has when someone has something he wants. A young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if his girlfriend begins going out with someone else. Or, that green-eyed monster may affect your friend if you get a pay rise and he does not.
1.A greenhorn now refers to ____.
A. a cow without horns B. a new solider
C. a young horse D. a person who is new in a job
2.A person who has a green thumb is a person ____.
A. whose garden is greener than others’
B. whose thumbs are of green color
C. who is good at growing plants
D. who is younger than his neighbors
3.The author is actually talking about ____.
A. language B. colors
C. politics D. agriculture
4.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. In about the 16th century, a greenhorn meant an experienced soldier.
B. The Green Revolution may have some connection with green thumbs.
C. The green-eyed monster was probably created by William Shakespeare.
D. The green-eyed monster can be used to describe a person who is jealous.
Conor Grennan was unwilling to be a volunteer(志愿者). The 29-year-old American was not sure if he had the skills or a strong feeling for it.However, he went to work at an orphanage(孤儿院) in Nepal. His first thought was to make people impressed.
"I thought that if I volunteered just once. I could retell the story over and over," Grennan said in a Huffington Post article.However, his three-month stay it the orphanage turned into in unusual experience. It was 2004 and Grennan had given up his job to begin a year-long around-the-world trip, His first three months were spent in Nepal.
When he arrived in the village, he knew nothing about the children or the local culture. When he opened the gate of the Little Princes Children's Home, he was faced by the excited children.
The young American ended up caring for 18 children. He later discovered that they were trafficked(被拐卖的)children. So he walked through the mountains with great difficulty to find the kids' families, "I started walking with photos of the kids." he told the Reuters reporter. "I would show up in villages and show photographs around. I went with 24 photos, and I found 24 families." At the same time, he put his heart into Nepalese culture.
Grennan said, “Volunteering is the single best way to see how the rest of the world lives.”
He also encouraged others to do what he had done. He believes that volunteering needs only making decisions to show up.
Grennan's fight against child-trafficking has changed him. His book, Little Prince, came out last week.
1.At first, Grennan simply wanted to _______by volunteering in Nepal.
A. write travel stories B. impress people
C. help the kids there D. learn the skills
2.When Grennan came to the Little Princes Children’s Home. _______.
A. the children there felt excited B. 18 children were ill in bed
C. he decided to give up his job D. he’d lived in Nepal for a year
3.From the passage we can learn that Grennan _______.
A. found the kids’ families easily B. was good at taking pictures
C. wrote the book Little Princes D. asked others to go to Nepal
4.Which is the best title for the passage?
A. Volunteer travels in Nepal B. Volunteer is with the kids
C. Volunteer becomes a writer D. Volunteer changes a lot
假定你是李华,想申请参加2017全球青年峰会(Global Youth Summit)。你写信请外教Mr. Smith帮你写一封推荐信,介绍你的英语能力、个性特点等,并于今年7月5日前发到gys2017@GYLeadership.org。
注意:
1.词数100左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;
3.不得透露考生本人所在学校及个人真实信息。
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假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文,请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误,每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅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(∧),并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1.每处错误及其修改均限一词;
2.只允许修改10处,多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Last Sunday, I joined the voluntary group to help keep the traffic in good order at a big crossing near our school. At 8:00 a.m., we arrived there, wore red vests with the word VOLUNTEER on the back. We helped with the police remind the passers-by to obey traffic rule. To our delighted, they all waited for the green light patient except one motor-biker. We also give out some hand-made brochures about traffic regulations, for that many people praised us. About 4 hours later, they said good-bye to the police and left. Tired as we were, we all felt an honor to do our parts.
When I was a university student, I 1.(attract) by the Chinese. So I got a job as a teacher in Wuhan three years ago. 2.(think) back, I realize it was the students I met in the first year and Chinese university life in general 3. gave me the deepest impression.
During my school days, I would rarely give up my spare time to any activity 4.(connect) with study. Unless exams were approaching, my weekends were devoted to having fun or perhaps a part-time job. My Chinese students, 5. the other hand, seemed to spend their entire waking hours studying. I understand that competition in Chinese universities is extremely fierce. Nonetheless, their energy and motivation put 6.(I) to shame.
My first year in China was also my first year as a teacher. It was both challenging 7. rewarding. One thing I know for certain is that my year in Wuhan changed me for the 8.(good). Thanks to the politeness and 9.(warm) of Chinese students, I overcame my fear of speaking in public and became more self-confident. Most 10.(important), I met dozens of nice people and made many excellent friends.
