When you’re out with a friend and take a photo of yourselves，do you know that you are also creating a work of art? Or that you are competing with Vincent van Gogh himself? Probably not. Your idea might be to show off your selfie(自拍)on WeChat or QQ，but you probably don’t think of the internet as a gallery or of yourself as an artist.
But the manager of London’s Saatchi Gallery，Nigel Hurst，thinks that the casual pictures we take of ourselves do have something in common with self-portraits by the great masters. In support of the idea，the Saatchi Gallery has a new exhibition called From Selfie to Self-Expression，which is running now until May 30.
It features well-known self-portraits from artists including those drawn by Dutch painters Van Gogh and Rembrandt. It also has selfies on show，which include one taken by US celebrity Kim Kardashian and another of former US President Barack Obama with former UK Prime Minister David Cameron，according to the BBC. The gallery is even encouraging visitors to add their own selfies to the show.
Hurst is perhaps not being 1 00 percent serious. He isn’t claiming that a snap you take of yourself in your favorite restaurant can be compared with a self-image painted by Van Gogh. But he does make a serious point. Once upon a time，it was only artists who could make images of themselves. They were the only ones，as Hurst told The Guardian，who “had the skills，materials and tools to create self-portraits. “Today，however，we all have that abil it y through our smartphones.”
And Hurst described the smartphone selfie as an example of “a transform in society using technology as a means of self-expression”. He told The Guardian:“The selfie generation is becoming the self-expression generation as each of us seeks to explore and share our inner creativity through the one artistic tool to which we all have access，the smartphone.”
1.Why does the Saatchi Gallery launch a new exhibition called From Selfie to Self Expression ?
A. To prove that self-taken pictures resemble the great masters’ self-portraits.
B. To support that self-taken pictures differ from the great masters’ self-portraits.
C. To show that self-taken pictures outweigh the great masters’ self-portraits in style.
D. To suggest that self-taken pictures have something to do with the great masters’ self-portraits.
2.What does the author mean by the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4?
A. Smartphone users are more competent than artists before.
B. The smartphone has gained a powerful self-photographing ability.
C. Smartphone users use the smartphone functions to create self-images.
D. The smartphone has the skills, materials and tools to make self-images.
3.How does Hurst feel about the smartphone selfie?
A. Supportive. B. Neutral. C. Critical. D. Concerned.
4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. The virtues of the smartphone selfie
B. Age of selfie artists around the corner
C. Selfies in comparison with self-portraits
D. The appearance of the smartphone selfie
The history of vacuum cleaners(真空吸尘器) in the UK dates back to the early 1900s.Hubert Cecil Booth started the first vacuum cleaner company in the UK, known as the British Vacuum Cleaner Company. It wasn’t long, however, before William Henry Hoover, who had already experienced success with his vacuum cleaners in America, made headway in the vacuum cleaner market in the UK and became more successful than Booth.
Hoover’s vacuum cleaners in the UK became such a success that ‘to hoover’ quickly became equal to vacuuming. Some of the earliest domestic vacuum cleaners in the UK used simple reusable cloth bag designs whereby the vacuum cleaner simply collected dust in the bag. Once the bag was full, you could empty and re-attach it to the vacuum cleaner.
For decades after their introduction, vacuum cleaners in the UK were a luxury item that only the upper class could afford. After World War II，however, they became common among the middle class.
This was especially true for vacuum cleaners in the UK, because the popularity of carpets means sweeping is not an easy or effective means of carpet cleaning.
In 1952, Hoover made the Constellation available to the public for the first time. Hoover designed it so that people could place the vacuum cleaner in the centre of the room and then work around it. After about 20 years of selling these vacuum cleaners in the UK, Hoover stopped the Constellation in 1975.
Advances to upright and cylinder(气缸) vacuum cleaners in the UK continued, enabling vacuum cleaners to become more efficient and effective. The 1990s saw the introduction of the first bagless domestic vacuum cleaners in the UK. Despite many industry fears consumers would not be prepared to pay the high price, bagless vacuum cleaners became a big success in the UK.
As for the future, vacuum cleaners in the UK are expected to become even more energy-efficient.
1.What can be inferred from the first paragraph?
A. Hoover entered the UK vacuum cleaner market before the 1900s.
B. Hoover’s vacuum cleaners were more advanced than booth’s.
C. Hoover’s vacuum cleaners were very popular in the UK market.
D. Vacuum cleaners were invented later in the UK than in America.
2.What was the cloth bag on the earliest domestic vacuum cleaners used for?
A. Decorating the vacuum cleaners.
B. Making the vacuum cleaners more efficient.
C. Lightening the vacuum cleaners.
D. Collecting dust.
3.What was the most remarkable characteristic of the Constellation?
A. It was only used by the upper class.
B. Its design allowed the user to work around it.
C. It was upright and it had a cylinder added to it.
D. Its price was extremely high at the time.
4.We can learn from the passage that bagless vacuum cleaners .
A. were so popular that they could fulfill all UK customers’ demands
B. were the most energy-efficient vacuum cleaners.
C. were not accepted by UK customers
D. were expensive when they made their first public appearance in the UK
Tu Youyou has become the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize, for her work in helping to create an anti-malaria(疟疾) medicine. The 84-year-old’s route to the honour has been anything but traditional. In China, she is being called the "three nos" winner: no medical degree, no doctorate, and she’s never worked overseas.
In 1967, malaria, a then deadly disease, spread by mosquitoes was decimating Chinese soldiers fighting Americans in the jungles of northern Vietnam. A secret research unit “Mission 523 “was formed to find a cure for the illness. Two years later, Tu Youyou was instructed to become the new head of “Mission 523”.
“Mission523” read ancient books carefully for a long time to find historical methods of fighting malaria. When she started her search for an anti-malarial drug, more than 240,000 compounds(化合物) around the world had already been tested, without any success. Finally, the team found a brief reference to one substance, sweet wormwood(青蒿), which had been used to treat malaria in China around 400 AD. The team took out one active compound in wormwood, and then tested it. But nothingwas effective until Tu Youyou returned to the original ancient text. After another careful reading, she changed the drug recipe one final time, heating the compound without allowing it to reach boiling point.
After the drug showed promising results in mice and monkeys, Tu Youyou volunteered to be the first human recipient of the new drug. “In any case, Tu Youyou is consistently praised for her drive and passion. One former colleague, Lianda Li, says Ms Tu is “unsociable and quite straightforward”, adding that “if she disagrees with something, she will say it.”
Another colleague, Fuming Liao, who has worked with Tu Youyou for more than 40 years, describes her as a “tough and stubborn woman”. Stubborn enough to spend decades piecing together ancient texts, she applies them to modern scientific practices. The result has saved millions of lives.
1.According to Para. I, we can learn that .
A. Tu is the first woman to win a Nobel Prize
B. Tu has a medical degree
C. Tu’s road to success is not traditional
D. Tu discovered a cure for malaria
2.The underlined word “decimating” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by .
A. encouraging B. killing C. annoying D. benefiting
3.Which of the following statements is true?
A. Tu first invented the idea of using sweet wormwood as a cure.
B. Tu was inspired by medical textbooks published in northern Vietnam.
C. The compound needs to be heated to the boiling point to be effective.
D. Over 240,000 compounds were proved ineffective before Tu’s search.
4.Tu Youyou can be best described as a person.
A. devoted and stubborn B. straightforward and mean
C. considerate and tough D. sociable and generous
Welcome to the British Museum, the grandest and the most spectacular of human history. The admission is free and we open every day from 10:00 to 15:30. You can explore 10 departments including:
The Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
The collection of the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas includes around 350,000 objects. The scope of the collection is contemporary, and historical. It includes most of Africa, the Pacific and Australia, as well as the Americas. All of the collections were got during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and date from this time.
The Department of Asia
The Department of Asia covers the material and visual cultures of Asia – a vast geographical area of Japan, Korea, China, Central Asia, Afghanistan, South Asia and South-East Asia. The collection dates from about 4000 BC, to the present day. It represents the cultures and ways of life of local people and other minority groups.
The Department of Greek and Roman Empires
The Department of Greek and Roman Empires features antiquities (古董). It has one of the most comprehensive collections of antiquities from the Classical world, with over 100,000 objects. These mostly range in date from the beginning of the Greek Bronze Age (about 3200BC) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine in the fourth century AD.
1.The scope of the Department of Africa, Oceania and Americas doesn’t include .
A. Africa B. the South America C. Australia D. Britain
2.The earliest collection is from .
A. The Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
B. The Department of Greek and Roman Empires
C. The Department of Asia
D. All of the above
3.The Department of Asia represents .
A. the geographic features of Asia
B. the life styles and cultural traditions of some peoples
C. the relationships between Asian countries
D. the cultural fights between some native groups
Here’s a surprising fact: Of the 1.1 million firefighters in the United States, about 780,000 are volunteers. Roughly a third of the population is ________ by mostly- or all-volunteer fire departments.
Also ________ , perhaps. Sometimes they have to pay for their own gear.
I _______ this because I volunteer as a firefighter in Durango, Colorado. I responded to more than 50 calls in 2014, everything from _________ to car accidents. In that period, I spent close to $1,000 on optional gear not supplied by my _________ , things like higher-quality flashlights, knives, and better gloves, which make my ________ easier.
Yesterday, a ________ was introduced in Congress that would give a significant tax break to those who volunteer their time as _________ responders. I hope it passes, not because it will put some money in my pocket （___________）, hey, that’ll be nice) but because it will ease the financial burden on volunteers and acknowledge their time commitment. I believe it will ________ more people to help.
And we _______ that.
In _________ areas where population density is low and calls for fire and EMS services are relatively rare, it just doesn’t _________ to have career firefighters on the staff 24/7 (全天候). ________ , volunteers are used to fill in the _________. We are ready to put our regular lives aside to help someone on what is the _________ day of their life. We have likely never met before, and might never again, but it doesn’t _______ in a crisis. Without volunteers, the whole system would collapse.
There’s a T-shirt that’s popular among us, reading “For Pride, Not _______.” We volunteer because we know our _________ need us. We don’t need a small tax break. Without one, we’ll still put on our gear when the alarm goes off without any ________ . But we’d appreciate one, and if it encourages more people to join us, it’s worth it.
1.A. taught B. inspired C. supported D. protected
2.A. surprising B. amusing C. pleasing D. worrying
3.A. appreciate B. know C. prove D. analyze
4.A. wildfires B. wars C. lightning D. embarrassments
5.A. company B. department C. team D. family
6.A. manner B. life C. project D. job
7.A. guest B. politician C. bill D. word
8.A. wise B. proud C. same D. first
9.A. so B. when C. though D. because
10.A. encourage B. persuade C. invite D. allow
11.A. neglect B. need C. predict D. admit
12.A. dark B. rural C. dirty D. cold
13.A. end up B. stand out C. work out D. make sense
14.A. Recently B. Quickly C. Instead D. Besides
15.A. time B. hole C. form D. gap
16.A. busiest B. hottest C. worst D. shortest
17.A. matter B. pass C. exist D. happen
18.A. Satisfaction B. Pay C. Strength D. Education
19.A. communities B. neighbors C. children D. patients
20.A. disappointment B. trouble C. hesitation D. anxiety
With lots of new words_____, he decides to read them every morning. His teacher said,“only if_____doing it_____make it .”
A. to recite; you keep on ; can you B. to recite; do you keep on , can you
C. recited; do you keep on; you can D. recited ; you keep on; you can
