In 1947 a group of famous people from the art world headed by an Austrian conductor decided to hold an international festival of music, dance and theatre in Edinburgh. The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.
At the same time, the Fringe appeared as a challenge to the official festival. Eight theatre groups turned up uninvited in 1947, in the belief that everyone should have the right to perform, and they did so in a public house disused for years.
Soon, groups of students firstly from Edinburgh University, and later from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theatre by little-known writers of plays in small church halls to the people of Edinburgh.
Today the Fringe, once less recognized, has far out grown the festival with around 1,500 performances of theatre, music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts. And yet as early as 1959, with only 19theatre groups performing, some said it was getting too big.
A paid administrator was first employed only in 1971, and today there are eight administrators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during August itself. In2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows by over 600 different groups from 50 different countries. More than 1.25 million tickets were sold.
1.What was the purpose of Edinburgh Festival at he beginning?
A. To bring Europe together again.
B. To honor heroes of World War II.
C. To introduce young theatre groups.
D. To attract great artists from Europe.
2.Why did some uninvited theatre groups come to Edinburgh in 1947?
A. They owned a public house there.
B. They came to take up a challenge.
C. They thought they were also famous.
D. They wanted to take part in the festival.
3.Who joined the “Fringe” after it appeared?
A. They owned a public house there
B. University students.
C. Artists from around the world.
D. Performers of music and dance.
4.We may learn from the text that Edinburgh Festival.
A. has become a nonofficial event
B. has gone beyond an art festival
C. gives shows all year round
D. keeps growing rapidly
Low-Cost Gifts for Mother’s Day
Gift No. 1
Offer to be your mother’s health friend. Promise to be there for any and all doctor’s visits whether a disease or a regular medical check -up. Most mothers always say no need, another set of eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor’s visit. The best part? This one is free.
Gift No. 2
Help your mother organize al1 of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what times she takes them. “Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother’s life,” Dr. Marie Savard said.
Gift No. 3
Enough sleep is connected to general health conditions. “Buy your mother cotton sheets and comfortable pillows to encourage better sleep.” Savard said. “We know that good sleep is very important to our health.”
Gift No. 4
Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother’s Day by picking gifts in which 10 percent of the price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构).Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful but inexpensive things many of which are “green”—and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift, she will be told that she has helped the chosen charity.
1.What are you advised to do for your mother at doctor’s visits?
A. Take notes.
B. Be with her.
C. Buy medicine.
D. Give her gifts.
2.Where can you find a gift idea to improve your mother s sleep?
A. In Gift No. 1
B. In Gift No. 2.
C. In Gift No. 3.
D. In Gift No. 4.
3.Buying gifts from Presents for Purpose allows mothers to .
A. enjoy good sleep
B. be well-organized
C. bet extra support
D. give others help
假定你是李华，你的美国中学生朋友彼得希望成为2022年北京冬奥会志愿者，他向你写信询问冬奥会相关情况，并求助怎样学好汉语。请给他回信，要点如下:
1. 收到来信，获悉求助;
2. 冬奥盛会，京张合办；
3. 学好汉语的两条建议。
注意:1. 词数100 左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯;
Dear Peter,
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Yours,
Li Hua
（题文）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仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Linda's father bought her the new bike the day before yesterday, which made her very exciting. Then she began to ride it fast on the road. Seeing a man getting closely to her, Linda couldn't stop it and as a result, she knocked onto the man. Being very kind, so the man didn't scold her at all. Instead, he told her how dangerously it was to ride a bike so fast. He asked her to keep the lesson in mind. Linda felt regretful but ashamed. She promised keep the lesson in mind forever. Then, the man bend down and began to repair her bike. After a while, he got them repaired. Linda was greatly moved. She thanked the man and left happily.
Despite the great progress in medical science, human beings are constantly attacked by cancer, which means death. A woman named Bonnie suffered a _______ of discomforts caused by the treatment of cancer. She didn’t regard cancer as a ________ disease, but a laughing matter. She treated it in a humorous way. To put it in ________ way, she is teaching people that even though cancer isn’t ________, we can treat it in a humorous way.
Her second child was going to be born three months away ________ she was diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly, a ________ mother turned into a helpless woman afraid for her own ________. It was after she had had her baby ________ that she had an operation.________ came chemo (化疗) and her life seemed to be made up of fears and ________. But the ________ moment in her life came after she lost all her hair and a free wig(假发) arrived. She ________ it on as her older son Kyler watched.
“That was when I decided how to ________ it: crying over this bad wig or laughing about it.________ way would make _______ remember it.” Bonnie said. She spent a lot of time looking for anything funny from cancer patients. She got a lot out of collecting ________ stories. She started laughing a lot, finding it the perfect medicine. Using herself as a bald (光头) model, Bonnie ________ to design her own greeting cards and calendars, making fun of the sufferings of chemo.
“To have joy, we badly ________ to laugh,” she said.
Clearly, you can increase your confidence to ________ over any disease and trouble ________ laughing.
1.A. set B. way C. series D. pack
2.A. deadly B. seriously C. terribly D. fearfully
3.A. the other B. another C. other D. others
4.A. serious B. painful C. fierce D. fun
5.A. before B. when C. while D. until
6.A. happy B. sad C. fortunate D. sick
7.A. son B. illness C. life D. operation
8.A. made B. delivered C. attended D. opened
9.A. Here B. Later C. Thus D. Then
10.A. failures B. loneliness C. tears D. wonders
11.A. highest B. lowest C. great D. ugly
12.A. wore B. carried C. fastened D. tried
13.A. deal with B. do with C. go with D. meet with
14.A. All B. Any C. Either D. Both
15.A. myself B. my son C. everyone D. my husband
16.A. detective B. romantic C. humorous D. different
17.A. set out B. get down C. set about D. set down
18.A. need B. ought C. want D. long
19.A. think B. get C. run D. take
20.A. in terms of B. by the way of C. through the method of D. by means of
Painting
The art of creating pictures using colors, shapes and lines is called painting. Museums and galleries show the paintings of professional (专业的) artists. But painting is also a popular form of entertainment and creative expression.
1.. Experienced painters usually use a brush to apply oil paints to a canvas cloth surface. Young painters usually use watercolors on pieces of paper. Very young children may use finger paints to create paintings.
Painters can use their art to express devotion to a religion, to tell a story, to express feelings and ideas, or simply to present a pleasing picture. Religious paintings often show a god or a scene from a sacred text (圣典). Other common subjects have been famous legends and events in history, as well as scenes from daily life. Artists also paint portraits (画像), or pictures of people.2.. All of these types of paintings show the human figure in some way.
Some kinds of paintings do not focus on people. In landscape (风景) painting the focus is on scenes from nature. Artists also paint still objects such as fruits and vegetables.3.. Some artists communicate their ideas through pictures that do not represent any object.
4.. Paintings dating back 15,000 years have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain.5. Samples of painted pottery (陶器) from at least 5,000 years ago have been found in China and Iran. The ancient Egyptians decorated their temples with beautiful paintings. People in ancient Greece painted decorative objects such as vases in addition to the walls of temples.
A. These works are called still-life paintings.
B. These works can communicate a special feeling.
C. Humans have been making paintings for thousands of years.
D. People of all ages create pictures using a variety of materials.
E. Cave paintings generally show animals that early humans hunted.
F. The design of a painting is the plan of its lines, shapes and colors.
G. Sometimes artists make portraits of themselves, which are called self-portraits.
