Steven Spielberg never fails to blow us away with his imagination.
The US director’s latest film Ready Player One, which was released in Chinese mainland cinemas on March 30, is a story set in the year 2045, when people escape their hopeless everyday lives by putting on a VR mask and entering a virtual (虚拟的) world named Oasis. This fantasy land is filled with characters and settings right out of classic films and videogames like The Shining and Overwatch. It’s a feast both for the eyes and mind. And at the age of 71, Spielberg is still “at the top of his game”, wrote reporter Rafer Guzman on Newsday.
Indeed, Spielberg has always been a gamer himself or rather a game changer. When his thriller Jaws came out in 1975, it struck a chord (引起共鸣) with audiences all over the world and kept people from going swimming for fear. The film was also the first example of what we now know as summer blockbusters.
“Jaws invented that form of pleasurable entertainment, wrote Stephen Marche on Esquire. It also turned sharks, in the popular imagination, from fish into monsters.”
And again, in his 1982 film E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial Spielberg challenged people’s beliefs that aliens are something to be feared by telling a story about a loving friendship between a space creature and a little boy. “Spielberg redefined popular sci-fi”, wrote Marc Lee on The Telegraph. “Extra-terrestrials no longer had to be a threat to humanity: the universe, he was saying, is also full of awe and wonder.”
Now comes Ready Player One. When Wade Watts, the film’s teenage protagonist (主角), finally prevents Oasis from falling into the wrong hands, he’s given ownership of the virtual world by its late designer James Halliday. But Watts makes a decision that he hopes will make people want to appreciate their real lives, instead of spending all their free time escaping reality in Oasis, which is a real-life message that Spielberg is trying to deliver to the audience.
1.What is the article mainly about?
A. Spielberg’s suggestions for other film directors.
B. Spielberg’s new film and his achievements.
C. The secret to Spielberg’s success.
D. The life journey of Spielberg.
2.Which film is considered the first example of a “summer blockbuster”?
A. The Shining
B. E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial
C. Jaws
D. Jurassic Park
3.Why is E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial special among all alien films?
A. It was the first film about aliens.
B. It questions the existence of aliens.
C. It describes aliens as something friendly.
D. It points out that aliens are a threat to humanity.
4.What message does Spielberg want to deliver with Ready Player One?
A. People should enjoy their real lives as much as they can.
B. People can find much pleasure in virtual worlds.
C. It’s difficult for people to escape reality.
D. People should have the right to choose whether to enter virtual worlds.
My Favourite Travel Books
The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux
Choosing my favorite Paul Theroux book is like picking my favorite place in the world: It’s impossible to settle on just one. But The Old Patagonian Express, which is about a train journey Theroux made from Boston, USA to southern Argentina, is right up there at the top of my list. Theroux has a wicked sense of humor. He brings so much wisdom and experience to his travels.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
If he were alive today, Thoreau would probably frown if he heard someone refer to Walden as a travel book. But I regard it as a travel-writing masterpiece. I went into the woods, he writes, because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. That’s the same spirit of discovery that defines so many great contemporary travel records.
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Like so many people, I fell in love with Kerouac’s novels in my late teens and early 20s. On the Road gets all the press, but I always love The Dharma Bums. Kerouac beautifully captures the romance of California trains, Berkeley, and backpacking in the Sierras. It’s hard to read this book without wanting to leave for the mountains to brainstorm bad haikus on the trail and cook canned macaroni and cheese over a crackling campfire.
Confucius Lives Next Door by T. R. Reid
This is sort of A Year in Provence in Japan, only the cross-cultural differences are much greater. Reid and his family moved to Tokyo when he became the chief for The Washington Post, enabling him to uncover truths about the country. Among the highlights are his observations about Japanese schools, including Yodobashi No. 6 Elementary School, where his daughters were greeted by the whole school staff.
1.Which book enables readers to experience great cross-cultural differences?
A. Confucius Lives Next Door.
B. The Old Patagonian Express.
C. On the Road.
D. Walden.
2.What will people feel after reading Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums?
A. A strong desire to follow.
B. A love for novels.
C. A wish to learn cooking.
D. An excitement to write poems.
3.What is the feature of most modern travel books according to the author?
A. Experience.
B. Observation.
C. Culture.
D. Discovery.
假如你是李华，你想邀请美国好友John观看京剧表演，但John不在家，请你给他写封邮件，内容包括：
1.你到John家的目的；
2.简要介绍京剧；
3.询问什么时候方便，再约时间。
注意：
1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头语和结尾语已给出，不计入总字数。
提示词汇：京剧 Beijing Opera
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假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文文,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(A),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:在错的词下画一横线,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1处起)不计分。
When I was young, I was terribly poor in the Chinese. Be afraid of expressing myself was one of the reasons why I rarely did well in school. Once I failed in a mid-term exam. When I got the papers, I realized things could have been better if I listened to the teacher much more attentive. So I turned to my teacher for helps and he told me, “Where there is a will, there is a way. If you are devoted to learn Chinese, you’ll make it.” I couldn’t agree much. From then on, I began to work harder. Out of my expect, I made great progress soon. Today, Chinese is which my strength lies. And I’m grateful for my Chinese teacher.
Recently, an Internet slang word Foxi- or “Buddhist”- is becoming increasingly popular as it encourages people, especially 1. young to remain calm and peaceful and avoid conflicts as much as possible- in other words, to live like a Buddha.
The phrase 2. ( create) for the first time in 2014 in Japan to describe young men who no longer bother to start relationships with women or follow someone else’s life path. They prefer to stay in their own peaceful world without 3. (disturb) and care little about passion and success.
In this fast-changing and 4. (compete) world, many people are 5. heavy pressure. It’s only natural that people are seeking for a spiritual bay.
However, some would compare “foxi” with “demotivational(无动力的) culture”- a phrase 6. describes young people who feel aimless and powerless. They say that foxi actually reflects the reality that young people are losing their will to fight. They are pretending 7. (keep) a healthy and wise attitude towards 8. (fail) simply because they are incapable(无能力的) of succeeding.
All in all, there is one thing that “Buddhist Youngsters” should 9. (basic) keep in mind: You may want to keep a calm mindset, 10. you should never stop fighting for yourselves!
I spent last summer volunteering at a hospital. One morning, I was called to a room in which an ____ woman was staying. __ she wanted to go to a nearby gift shop, I got a(n) __ and helped her into it, heading for the shop.
When we got there, the shop wasn't ____ yet. It was merely a 30-minute wait so we went over to the ____ area and I read her bits and pieces of the newspaper aloud. After 30 minutes, we went into the gift shop. Pushing her around, I could see the ____ on her face as she looked at everything. She happily chose some window decorations and then __ chocolates. She asked me to push her ____ that direction. I helped her ____ all the different chocolate arrangements. She ____ decided on three different boxes.
As she was checking out, she asked the cashier for a ____ and asked me to write the numbers l, 2, and 3 on the boxes. She ____ that the nurses were taking such good care of her, so she ____ chocolates for each of the three shifts of nurses. The moment I wheeled her back up to her room, she gave the _____shift of nurses their box of chocolate, who ___offered some to me before taking some themselves. There were ____ all around.
___her generosity and getting the opportunity to spend time with someone who got so much pleasure from life was a ____ in itself. Gratitude has an amazing way of bringing people ____, especially in a place where health is so highly ____.
1.A. elderly B. honest C. impatient D. independent
2.A. While B. As long as C. In case D. As
3.A. wheelchair B. bus C. taxi D. ambulance
4.A. crowded B. complete C. open D. close
5.A. checking B. dieting C. parking D. waiting
6.A. joy B. surprise C. pride D. anxiety
7.A. smelt B. spotted C. tasted D. purchased
8.A. in B. to C. up D. at
9.A. put away B. hand in C. look though D. give out
10.A. properly B. eventually C. gradually D. hurriedly
11.A. change B. box C. card D. pen
12.A. admitted B. suggested C. explained D. promised
13.A. borrowed B. ordered C. made D. bought
14.A. next B. present C. previous D. night
15.A. in turn B. by chance C. on purpose D. in advance
16.A. noises B. greetings C. smiles D. jokes
17.A. Witnessing B. Taking advantage of C. Repaying D. Searching for
18.A. prize B. gift C. risk D. story
19.A. back B. upwards C. together D. down
20.A. respected B. praised C. admired D. valued
