Module 6 The Tang Poems

跟蹤導練

閱讀理解

A

After analyzing 14.5 billion words used in daily news coverage in 2021， The Oxford English Dictionary has chosen “vax” as the Word of the Year.

Oxford Languages， the publisher of the dictionary， reported that “vax”， the shortened term for “vaccine （疫苗）”， has injected itself into the bloodstream of the English language， and is a catchy and punchy word for 2021.

A contributing factor to its rise in 2021—aside from its obvious relation to the COVID vaccine drive—is its adaptability， according to Fiona McPherson， a senior editor of The Oxford English Dictionary. It can mean either vaccine or vaccination as a noun and vaccinate as a verb， and it is the root of many other phrases such as “vax cards”， “vax passports”， and “getting vaxxed”. The word has also been changed into other inventive words like vaxxie， a selfie （自拍） taken during or immediately before or after one's vaccination.“It has made the most striking impact，” said FionaMcPherson.

Vax and vaxx are both accepted spellings， but the form with one x is more common. It was first recorded in English in 1799， while its derivatives （衍生詞）“vaccinate” and “vaccination” both first appeared in 1800. All of these words ultimately came from the Latin word “vacca”， which means “cow”. According to The Oxford English Dictionary， this is due to English physician and scientist Edward Jenner's pioneering work on vaccination against smallpox in the late 1790s and early 1800s.

“The word's highest frequency in usage caught our attention first. Then we ran the analysis and a story started to emerge， revealing how 'vax' sat at the center of our preoccupations this year，” Casper Grathwohl， the president of Oxford Languages， said in an interview.“No word better captures the atmosphere of the year than 'vax'.”

1. Why is vax chosen as the Word of the Year？

A. It is from The Oxford English Dictionary.?? B. It is accepted by Oxford Languages.

C. It appears most frequently in news.??????? D. It is reporters' favorite word.

2. Which of the following best describes the word vax？

A. Fixed.????????? B. Complex.??????? C. Adaptable.?????? D. Boring.

3. Where does the word vax come from？

A. Edward Jenner's pioneering work.???????? B. The Oxford English Dictionary.

C. The Latin word vacca.???????????????? D. The Latin word cow.

4. What does the text mainly talk about？

A. Making vax changeable.?????????????? B. Researching the origin of vax.

C. Choosing vax as the Word of 2021.??????? D. Analyzing vax in The Oxford English Dictionary.

B

The works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth are boosters （助推器） to the brain and better than some guide books， researchers said.

Scientists， psychologists and English experts at Liverpool University have found that reading the works of Shakespeare and other classical writers has a beneficial effect on the mind， catches the readers' attention and triggers （觸發） moments of self-reflection. Using scanners， they monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they read works by William Shakespeare， William Wordsworth， T. S. Eliot and other classical writers.

They then “translated” the original texts into more “straightforward” modern language and again monitored the readers' brains as they read the words. Scans showed that the more “challenging” essays and poetry set off far more electrical activity in the brain than the much plainer versions. Scientists were able to study the brain activity as it responded to each word and record how it “lit up” as the readers encountered unusual words， surprising phrases or difficult sentence structures. This “lighting up” of the mind lasts longer， shifting （轉動） the brain to a higher speed， encouraging further reading.

The research also found that reading poetry， in particular， increases activity in the right side of the brain， helping readers to reflect on their own experiences， which they compare with what they have read. This， according to the researchers， meant that the classical works were more useful than guide books.

Philip Davis， an English professor， believes， “The research shows the power of literature to shift thinking patterns， to create new thoughts， shapes and connections in the young and adults alike.”

5. According to the text， reading classical works can????? .

A. improve our reading skills????????????? B. benefit our mind and thinking

C. help learn more about history?????????? D. help deal with physical problems

6. How did the scientists and experts do the experiment？

A. By learning the habits of the readers.???? B. By reading works of different writers.

C. By scanning the readers' brain activities.?? D. By lighting up the activities of the brains.

7. What can we learn about reading poetry from Paragraph 4？

A. It has the same effects as reading guide books. B. It's concerned with the right side of the brain.

C. It helps readers learn more difficult grammar. D. It makes readers forget about their troubles.

8. What is the author's purpose in writing the text？

A. To present a study on brain activities.???? B. To show the power of classical literature.

C. To introduce a research on reading classics. D. To appreciate classical writers' contribution.

閱讀七選五

Handwriting is quickly becoming a dying art. Few businesses can run nowadays without computers. 1? Researchers from Princeton University conducted a study to demonstrate the differences between students who wrote out their notes and those who typed notes on a lecture. 2? Participants were tested on the material 30 minutes after the lecture and again a week later. And handwriting emerged as the champion.

3? The typers had a significant edge when it came to note-taking efficiency （效率）. The typers could copy down significantly many more words than the writers， sometimes even transcribing the content of the lecture word for word.

But while more of the lecture's content was retained （保留） on paper when typing， it wasn't necessarily retained in participants' heads. 4? On the test 30 minutes after the lecture， typers and writers did more or less equally well on questions about the basic facts of the lecture， but typers fell behind when it came to more conceptual questions.

As for the later quiz， the results were similar. Students with handwritten notes were able to remember and still understand the concepts of the lecture after a week had passed. These participants were also more open to understanding new ideas. 5

A. The tests that the participants took proved this.

B. Is there a need for improvement in your handwriting？

C. That is not to say that typing doesn't have its benefits.

D. In this study， the computers were only used to take notes.

E. Generally speaking， typing also has its own disadvantages.

F. But what are we losing as handwriting loses its significance in society？

G. Clearly， writing by hand is one of the things that can make you smarter.

1.??????????? 2.??????????? 3.??????????? 4.??????????? 5.

完形填空

When I was in Beijing， my Chinese friend Li Mei insisted that we see a Beijing opera and I have to admit the 1 was amazing from beginning to end.

We 2 the theater just before the lights went down. As the curtain rose， the actors came on 3 in their beautiful costumes， which went all the way back to the street show days.

The singing was quite 4—very sharp and high. Just like the costumes， the singing 5 was really ancient. The street performers used to sing that way so that their voices could carry over the crowds who 6? to watch.

The opera we saw was “Lady White Snake”， a classic Chinese folk 7 . A white snake 8 into a beautiful girl， and then falls in love with a human. But the actors didn't only tell the story through 9 ; the dancing and movements were fantastic， too. To 10 the story and show their 11 ， the actors used not only their faces but also their whole bodies. There weren't a lot of stage props （道具） or 12 because the actors used a lot of 13 to help tell the story. An actor running with a whip （鞭子）， for example， meant they were 14 a horse. Doing somersaults （空翻） from a table meant they were running down a mountain.

The actors' make-up was incredible . Each 15 has a special meaning and it 16 something about their 17 ; red means loyalty and bravery， black 18 strength and roughness， and blue means cruelty. At the finale， it was breathtaking to see them all on stage together in their bright costumes and make-up. 19 ， I didn't think that opera was for me， but I couldn't believe how much I 20 it. You must all see a Beijing opera one day！

1. A. situation???????? B. experiment?????? C. experience??????? D. invitation

2. A. passed by??????? B. searched for?????? C. pointed to??????? D. arrived at

3. A. stage??????????? B. top???????????? C. board?????????? D. screen

4. A. sweet?????????? B. strange????????? C. educational?????? D. moving

5. A. process????????? B. lesson?????????? C. style??????????? D. career

6. A. returned????????? B. gathered???????? C. pretended??????? D. continued

7. A. tale??????????? B. quiz??????????? C. event??????????? D. tune

8. A. breaks?????????? B. looks ?????????? C. changes????????? D. runs

9. A. opera?????????? B. words????? ?????C. dance?????????? D. songs

10. A. believe in?????? B. act out????????? C. deal with??????? D. think of

11. A. dreams????????? B. interests????????? C. emotions???????? D. impressions

12. A. chance????????? B. space?????????? C. direction???????? D. scenery

13. A. symbols??????? B. memories??????? C. pictures????????? D. conversations

14. A. drawing??????? B. raising????????? C. feeding????????? D. riding

15. A. tool??????????? B. form??????????? C. performer??????? D. color

16. A. proves????????? B. reveals????????? C. measures??????? D. improves

17. A. character??????? B. advantage??????? C. relationship?????? D. background

18. A. records???????? B. covers?????????? C. shows?????????? D. requires

19. A. Frequently?????? B. Initially????????? C. Hopefully??????? D. Finally

20. A. enjoyed??????? B. understood?????? C. missed????????? D. owed

語法填空

Traditionally， from the Winter Solstice （冬至） on， people in China talk about winter 1 （come） in nine periods and each period is 9 days long， which is called shujiu. The nine periods represent the nine stages of the season respectively. 2 is believed that after 9 nine-day periods， the weather becomes a little 3 （warm） and spring will be on its way.

The 3rd nine-day period is called “sanjiu” in Chinese， 4? refers to the 19th—27th days after the day of the Winter Solstice. As the saying goes， the days of the sanjiu period 5 （be） the coldest days of the Nines of winter.

Winter is a long season of the year in northern areas， and the cold weather sometimes brings out the true characteristics of many cities. For example， in Beijing， the ice sculptures， 6 （decorate） by a variety of colored lights， are 7 （true） incredible and besides those， there are plenty of folk events and fireworks 8 （enjoy）.

During the 3rd nine-day period， most of the lakes in northern areas will freeze over. Skating on the lakes is one of the most popular 9 （activity） and even has become 10 annual tradition.

1.??????????  2.??????????? 3.??????????? 4.??????????? 5.

6.??????????? 7.??????????? 8.??????????? 9.??????????? 10.

短文改錯

Richard is our foreign teacher， who is from England. He has the interesting way to make his classes attractive and lively. For example， in last Friday， when he explained the meaning of “crawl” to us， he did not just tell us that it means in the dictionary. Instead， he lay on his stomach and move forward on his hands and knees slowly. They watched him with interest， laugh loudly. Thus we learnt the word very easy. Richard can speak some Chinese， and his pronunciation is not good. He often asks us correct his mistakes. Have you heard of a teacher who learns from student？ Richard does！