Venice, one of the cities in Italy, was founded in A.D.811 by the people of Malamocco, fleeing（逃跑）from the Franks. It was said that they were guided by pigeons carrying little crosses, and settled where now Venice lies.

Venice is built on 117 islands. It has 150 canals and 400 bridges. The narrow streets, with their historic names, are covered with stones, but have no footpaths. They are dotted with flowershop signs and lanterns. Shops and palaces stand by side. The brick bridges are high enough to allow boats to pass freely under them.

The center of public life is St. Mark’s Square where tourists and citizens sit in the famous Florian and Quadri cafes to listen to music, enjoying themselves. The Quadri is more popular but the Florian, founded in 1720, is the best-known cafe because it has received such great persons as Byron (an English poet) and Goethe (a German poet).

Unfortunately the special position of Venice is threatening（威胁）its own existence. The terrain（地势）on which it is built began to sink while the level of the surrounding waters is constantly rising. However, many measures have already been taken to prevent the city from sinking.

In the second paragraph, the author _______.

Which of the following shows the right relationship?（○=Italy; △=Venice; □=St. Mark’s Square）

Why is the Florian the famous cafe? Because _________.

From the article we can see that _______.

    When your child is supposed to be doing homework, are they chatting with their friends on Facebook or playing games? Many studies have shown that multitasking doesn’t   (1)  ,   (2)   your child is probably proudly claiming they can do ten things   (3)  ! Many people believe that they can   (4)   two or more tasks at the same time, but Dr. Edward Hallowell says this is   (5)  . The reality is that multitasking   (6)   poor job performance.

    New hand-held   (7)   such as smartphones, iPads, games and social networking sites make it very easy to multitask and “attention   (8)  ” leading to difficulty focusing on the task   (9)  , such as listening in the classroom or doing homework. “  (10)  , the brain actually   (11)   kids for multitasking even if performance on every task gets worse and worse. Kids don’t know they’re doing   (12)   because they feel better when they multitask,” says Dr. Edward Hallowell.

      (13)   the appearance of hand-held devices and social networking sites, teachers have noticed a difference in   (14)   performance, critical thinking skills and how information is   (15)  . “Multitasking prevents people from gaining a deep understanding of the information they are trying to learn,” says Dr. Edward Hallowell. Kids have a difficult time sticking with a “difficult to understand” topic and   (16)   to allow themselves to be distracted（分散的）, to tune out and switch   (17)   to Facebook or using their cell phones   (18)   working harder at understanding a difficult subject or problem. In the long   (19)  , multitasking affects grades, One study showed that kids that use the Internet while in class did   (20)   on tests resulting in lower grades.

Bookstores are a traveller’s best friend: they provide convenient shelter in bad weather, and they often host readings and other cultural events. Here is a look at world’s six greatest bookstores.

    Adrian Harrington—since 1971. Rare books; rare first editions; leather bound sets and general antiquarian（古玩）. Address: 64a Kensington Church Street, Kensington, London, England, U. K.

    Another Country—Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany. Another Country is an English Language second-hand bookshop which is mostly used as a library. They have about 20000 books that you can buy or borrow. Some regular events are held at the shop, such as readings, cultural events, social evenings and film nights.

    Atlantis Books—Oia, Santorini, Greece. Atlantis Books is an independent bookshop on the island of Santorini. Greece, founded in 2004 by a group of friends from Cyprus, England, and the United States. Throughout the year it has hosted literary festivals, film screenings, book readings, and good old fashioned dance parties.

    Bart’s Books-Ojai, California, U. S. A. “The World’s Greatest Outdoor Bookstore”, a bookstore founded by Richard Bartinsdale in 1964. Shelves of books face the street, and regular customers are asked to drop coins into the door’s coin box to pay for any books they take whenever the store is closed.

    Corso Como Bookshop-Milan, Italy. Extensive selection of publication on art, architecture, design, graphics and fashion, along with a strong emphasis on photography. It was founded in 1990 in Milan, Italy, by Carla Sozzani.

    The Bookworm-Beijing, China. A bookshop, library, bar, restaurant and event space, now with four divisions in three cities-Beijing, Suzhou and Chengdu. The interconnecting rooms with floor-to-ceiling books on every wall are light and airy in summer, yet warm and comfortable in winter.

Despite the celebrations, though, in the U．S. the jazz audience continues to shrink and grow older, and the music has failed to connect with younger generations.

It’s Jason Moran’s job to help change that. As the Kennedy Center’s artistic adviser for jazz, Moran hopes to widen the audience for jazz, make the music more accessible, and preserve its history and culture.

One important event during the pre-Christmas rush at our house was the arrival of mydaughter’s kindergarten report card. She got high __(1)__ for her reading, vocabulary and overall enthusiasm. On the other hand,we learnt that she has work to do on her numbers and computer skills, __   (1)   __ her report is absent of any words that might be interpreted(解读) as __   (2)   __．A number system __(4)__ how she’s measuring up in each area without any mention of passing or failing, all of which seems to make my daughter’s school neither fish nor fowl（不伦不类）.
    The benefits are often __   (3)   _when it comes to giving formal __   (4)   _ to kids. At one level, the advantages and disadvantages are obvious. A grade system provides a straightforward standard by which to measure how your child is __   (5)   __ at school and how they are __   (6)   __ compared to other children. __   (7)   __ as writer Sue Ferguson notes, "Grades can deceive.（欺骗）" The __   (8)   _ should be "to measure learning, not simply what a student can remember on a test."
　　If you’re old enough, you’ve lived through this debate before. At one time, it was considered unfair to put children in _   (9)   _competition with one another if it could be avoided. The _   (10)   _ behind that may have been good, but it _   (11)   _ the fact that competition, and the willto come out on top, are   (12)  parts of the human condition．
　　This time around, educators working with a no-grades __   (13)   _ are emphasizing(强调) different reasons. The thing is that the method is much more common in the adult workplace than in the traditional pass-fail system we place on our children. Many workplaces __   (14)   __ regular employee evaluations. There are usually fairly strict _   (15)   _ to what an employer can tell an employee in those evaluations. And even then, negative evaluations can be __   (16)   _ by the employee. No matter where you stand in the debate _   (17)  the grade system, then, the real question is this: if it’s so good for kids, why isnˈt that also _   (18)   _ for adults?

Many young people these days adore the advertised magazine body and become too focused on attaining this image instead of worrying more about what lasts and even grows over time. But could you imagine being considered beautiful for years, and suddenly being ugly after moving to another continent? It is a sad reality that people don’t realize how vacillating the idea of beauty can be from one country to another.

    Think of the most typical American girl you know. Is she blonde-haired with white skin and light blue eyes, and does she love shopping or sports? Now place this girl in the heart of Africa, where beauty is placed on what you can control. The Maasai tribe in Kenya focuses on how clean people are, and how stylish their piercings（穿孔）are. This tribe’s culture is to be a brave fighter, so they will cut their skin with patterns in it to show that they are strong. If you don’t look fierce, you are not beautiful.

    Other countries like North Korea and South Korea have their own unique views on beauty. In an interview, a woman who has lived in both North and South Korea claims that beauty in North Korea is based more on your ability to be a good woman and wife. She says that women in North Korea are less concerned about fashion and beauty in the physical sense. She says they did have a time when big eyes were a big deal and everyone wanted to get double eyelid surgery. This is something extreme and could perhaps be influenced by Western culture. But don’t you think the idea of getting surgery done to look more attractive is crazy?

It’s rare that the protagonist in a Chinese movie wins the audience’s hearts with an emotionally uplifting message, rather than by showing off his or her good looks. But Wolf Warrior II is putting China in the global spotlight. It’s also the first film to taste success both in terms of box office earnings and promoting Chinese values.

Kung fu artist Wu Jing both starred in and directed the action movie. Since its release on July 27, it’s earned an unimaginable 4.5 billion yuan, setting a record for domestic movies at the box office. The success of the film has surpassed the anticipations of all, including the production team.

The film focuses on a rescue operation in Africa, led by former special forces soldier Leng Feng-played by Wu. Leng helps Chinese workers and local Africans flee a war-torn and plague-ravaged country. Wolf Warrior II links art to reality, and reminds people of the massive evacuation of Chinese people from Libya when civil war broke out there in 2011, and from Yemen in 2015, as well as the challenges the Ebola virus created in West Africa from 2013 to 2016. The film describes how the Chinese government aims to protect overseas Chinese citizens. Just as the message at the end of the film reads: “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China. When you encounter danger in a foreign land, do not give up! Please remember, at your back stands a strong motherland.”

Thanks to China’s increasing participation in global affairs, now could be considered the right moment to introduce a modern Chinese hero.

“Holding up a banner of peace, friendship and responsibility, Wolf Warrior II should be seen as a brave effort to promote Chinese values around the world,” columnist Zhu Ping wrote in China Daily.

“It’s time Chinese filmmakers produced films that tell good stories and carry the right spirit. Let us assume Wolf Warrior II has started that trend.”

There are many differences between British English and American English. I used to teach a course about the differences between the two. We speak English on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean but we have many differences in our common language. We have examples of the same words having very different meanings, different spellings of the same words as well as completely different words for the same things. Here are some examples.

A cookie in the US is called a biscuit in the UK. A biscuit in the US is a small cake in the UK. Crisps in the UK, are known as chips, but we British people eat a plate of chips that you call fries in the US. In the UK, a pie can be made from either meat or fruit, while in the US pies are normally made from fruit; pot pies are made from meat. Most things are measured in grams and kilograms in the US, not pounds and ounces.

One very obvious difference is the side of the road we each choose to drive on. Petrol in the UK is gas in the US. The place where we fill up our cars, in the UK, is a garage; while in the US, itˈs a gas station. The term garage is also used as a place to store your car next to or close by your house. In the UK we call a lorry what is known as a truck in the US. An elevator in the US is called a lift here, and the first floor in the US is called the ground floor here, so many visitors get off on the wrong floor in British hotels.

I could continue with this. There are countless examples of differences within our one shared language. With so many differences, no wonder itˈs hard to understand each other well.