第二单元ABeijing Opera is also called Peking Opera. It came into being after 1790 when the famous four Anhui opera troupes(戏班) came to Beijing. Its music and singing came from Xipi and Er-huang in Anhui and Hubei. Its costumes are all fascinating and artist ic. It is the highest expression of the Chinese culture. It’s full of famous stories, beautiful facial paintings, and wonderful gestures and fighting. This kind of opera is very popular with Chinese people.There are four main roles in Beijing Opera: Sheng ,Dan, Jing and Chou. Sheng is the leading male actor。
For example, a Wusheng is a soldier or fighter .A Xiaosheng is a young man. A Laosheng is an old man. Dan is the female role. Jing，mostly male , is the face-painted role and Chou is the comedy actor or clown.Stories in Beijing Opera are very interesting. Some of them are from the history book, but most of them are from the literature, especially famous novels. The people in the story usually have some disagreements. They become angry and unhappy. They are sad and lonely. Sometimes they are nervous and worried. Then they find a way to make peace. The stories usually end with happiness and laughter and people are all happy in the end. 1．Beijing Opera’s singing is from _______.A. the literature and novelsB. Beijing and AnhuiC. the history bookD. Anhui and Hubei2．The second paragraph (段落) of the reading is about the ______of Beijing Opera.A. rolesB. storiesC. gesturesD. Paintings3．From the reading, we know the Chou most probably has a(n) _____feature.A. honestB. dullC. funnyD. serious4．Which of the following statements is TURE?A. There are only four roles in Beijing Opera.B. Peking Opera is full of different gestures.C. Beijing Opera is the most popular in the world.D. The people in the story usually are in agreement.BAs more and more people speak the global languages of English, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic, other languages are rapidly disappearing. In fact, half of the 6,000-7,000 languages spoken around the world today will likely die out by the next century, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).In an effort to prevent language loss, scholars from a number of organizations- UNESCO and National Geographic among them –have for many years been documenting dying languages and the cultures they reflect. Mark Turin, a scientist at the Macmillan Center, Yale University, who specializes in the languages and oral traditions of the Himalayas, is following in that tradition. His recently published book, A Grammar of Thangmiwith an Ethnolinguistic Introduction to the Speakers and Their Culture, grows out of his experience living, looking and raising a family in a village in Nepal.Documenting the Tangmi language and culture is just a starting point for Turin, who seeks to include other languages and oral traditions across the Himalayans reaches of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. But he is not content to simply record these voices before they disappear without record.At the University of Cambridge Turin discovered a wealth of important materials- including photographs, films, tap recordings, and field notes- which had remained unstudied and were badly in need of care and protection. Now, through the two organizations that he has founded-the Digital Himalaya Project and the World Oral Literature Project- Turin has started a campaign to make such documents, found in libraries and stores around the world, available not just to scholars but to the younger generations of communities from whom the materials were originally collected. Thanks to digital technology and the widely available Internet., Turin notes, the endangered languages can be saved and reconnected with speech communities.5. Many scholars are making efforts to _____.A.promote global languagesB.rescue the disappearing languagesC.search for language communitiesD.set up language research organizations.6. What does “that tradition” in Paragraph 3 refer to?A.Having first records of the languagesB.Writing books on language searchingC.Telling stories about language usersD.Linking with the native speakers7. What is Turi n’s book based on?A.The cultural statics in India.B.The documents available at Yale.C.His language research in Britain.D.His personal experience in Nepal.8. Which of the following best describes Turin’s Work?A.Write, sell and donate.B.Record, repeat and reward.C.Collect, protect and reconnect.D.Design, experiment and report.CWhen I was a kid in the 1960s. my parents had a country store in the small town of Frankfort, Maine. No neighboring houses could be seen From our place，and new salesmen were always amazed at the amount of business we did. Dad's motto was, “We sell everything.” If he didn't have something in store, he would pick it up for customers on his weekly trip to Bangor.One time Dad was in Bangor getting shoes for someone at a shoe factory, He saw big boxes full of shoes and asked about them. They were the mates(一双鞋中的一只) to faulty shoes that had been thrown away. He looked through the boxes and realized that there were usable brand-new shoes in there. He offered the manager five cents a shoe, Dad made the deal and got the manager to reserve any future boxes for him.Of course Mon, his business partner, was more practical, and her first reaction was, “But what are you going to do with them?” Dad bought an old school bus. He cleaned it up, removed the seats and placed big containers down both sites of the aisle(通道). When all was ready, the whole Family helped to put the shoes in place. At first，it looked like we had plenty of room on the bus, but Dad kept bringing home more boxes.There was no sign on the Shoe Bus. 'The only advertising Dad did was to place a piece of paper beside the store exit that read “Shoes $1 a pair. "When folks asked about the deal. they learned it wasn’t that easy because they had to find their own pairs. The attraction was a combination of getting a good deal on a quality pair of shoes and the thrill of the hunt.To this day I still run into people who talk about the fun they had searching for pairs in Dad's Shoe Bus.. The author's parents ran their store well because9. A. they always had enough supplies in storeB. they won the great support of new salesmenC. they opened it in a very crowded neighborhoodD. they did all they could to meet their customers' need10. Why did the customers think it fun shaping in the Shoe Bus?A. There were free bus rides offered on them.B. 'They could receive better customer service.C. They could match pairs of shoes by themselves.D. There was a wide variety of shoes to choose from.11. What can we learn about the author's father from the text?A. He had a good nose for business.B. He was clever at transforming a store.C. He was patient with customersD. He had a strong preference for bargains.DMirroring China’s Past: Emperors and Their BronzesChinese bronzes (青铜) of the second and first millennia BC are some of the most distinctive achievements in the history of art. These vessels (容器) were made to carry sacrificial offerings, to use in burial or to honor noble families in public ceremonies. When they were found by emperors centuries later, these spiritually significant objects were seen as signs of heavenly messages about a ruler or a dynasty and became prized items in royal collections. This exhibition —the first to explore these ancient objects throughout Chinese history —presents a rare opportunity to experience a large number of these works together in the United States.Unlike Greek and Roman bronze sculptures of human and animal forms, most objects from Bronze Age China (about 2000 - 221 BC) were vessels for ceremonial use. Beginning with the Song dynasty (960 - 1279), emperors unearthed these symbolic works and began collecting them, considering them to be evidence of their own authority as rulers. In addition to impressive collections, the royal fascination with bronzes led to the creation of numerous reproductions and the comprehensive cataloguing of palace holdings. These catalogues are works of art themselves, featuring beautiful drawings and detailed descriptions of each object.From the 12th century onward, scholars and artists also engaged in collecting and understanding ancient bronzes. Unlike emperors, scholars regarded bronzes as material evidence of their efforts to recover and reconstruct the past, and they occasionally exchanged them as tokens (象征) of friendship. Today ancient bronzes still occupy a primary position in Chinese culture —as historical objects and as signifiers of an important cultural heritage that inspires new generations, as seen in the works of contemporary artists on view in this presentation.Mirroring China’s Past brings together approximately 180 works from the An Institute of Chicago’s strong holdings and from the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Shanghai Museum, and important museums and private collections in the United States. By providing viewers with a new understanding of ancient bronzes and their significance through time, the exhibition demonstrates China’s fascinating history and its developing present.12. In what way are Chinese bronzes different from Greek and Roman ones?A. They fascinated the royal family.B. They took animal or human forms.C. They served ceremonial purposes.D. They were important cultural heritage.13. What does the author think of catalogues of bronzes?A. Unreal.B. Creative.C. Artistic.D. Necessary.14. What can we infer about the exhibition according to the text?A, h is held in China. B. It is arranged by time.C. It is organized by scholars.D. It includes modem artworks.15. What does the underlined word “holdings” in the last paragraph refer to?A. Viewers.B. Collections.C. Museums.D. Art dealers.根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。
