2016 Exhibitions in the British Museum

Sunken cities: Egypt’s lost worlds

19 May － 27 November 2016

Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery

Adults￡16.50, Members/under 16s free

Sunken under the sea for over a thousand years, two lost cities of ancient Egypt were lately rediscovered. Their amazing discovery is transforming our understanding of the deep connections between the great ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece. Their story is told for the first time in this exhibition.

Francis Towne’s watercolours of Rome

21 January － 14 August 2016

Room 90/ Open late Fridays

Free, just drop in

Come and experience 18th-century Rome through an astonishing series of watercolours not displayed together since 1805.

Sicily: culture and conquest

21 April － 14 September 2016

Room 35

Tickets: Adults￡10, Members/under 16s free

This exhibition tells Sicily’s fascinating stories － from the arrival of the Greeks and other settlers, to the extraordinary period of enlightenment(启蒙) under Norman rule in the 11^th to 13^th centuries.

Early British exploration of the classical world

14 March － 27 July 2016

Room 90a/ Open late Fridays

Free, just drop in

This small display features a remarkable selection of drawings by British explorers and architects, who discovered and documented some of Sicily’s best surviving classical sculpture and architecture.

21. Which place does Francis Towne’s works picture?

A. Egypt.           B. France.          C. Rome.            D. Sicily.

22. What art works are housed in Room 90a?

A. Drawings.     B. Buildings.    C. Sculptures.         D. Watercolours.

23. Which exhibition can you attend in October?

A. Sicily: culture and conquest

B. Sunken cities: Egypt’s lost worlds

C. Francis Towne’s watercolours of Rome

D. Early British exploration of the classical world

Chokwe Selassie, aged 13, is working hard to help drivers avoid potholes(坑洼). The eighth-grader was inspired to kick off his creation on a recent morning, when his mother was driving him to school. Their car was damaged as it went over a huge pothole in the middle of the street in their hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. He decided to do something about the pothole problem in his city.

Chokwe developed the app with his friends Rodriguez Ratliff and Emmanuel Brooks. When the app detects a pothole, it is highlighted in red. And if you get close to the pothole, your phone will warn you with a beep. Drivers can also use the app to report any potholes and look for other routes they can take to avoid roads that have them.

The app relies on current available information about the streets of Jackson, already stored in a database of the city’s 311 call system. Through the call system, citizens dial 3-1-1 to report non-emergency problems which include potholes. Chokwe and his friends determined that focusing on the 10 busiest streets in Jackson would give them a large enough sample size to test the prototype.

While developing the app, the boys took part in a Minority Male Makers Program sponsored by Verizon and held at Jackson State University. They learned 3D printing and design, and how to create apps. Through the program Chokwe and his friends received encouragement and guidance.

Although the app isn’t yet available for sale, Chokwe is already looking for ways to improve the app. He hopes to add more to it until it spreads all over the country.

24. Why is the car damage mentioned in the first paragraph?

A. To scold the road builders.                           B. To introduce their bad luck.

C. To tell the inspiration for the app.          D. To warn the danger of careless driving.

25. What is the app used to do?

A. Warn drivers about potholes.                B. Help drivers obey traffic rules.

C. Stop drivers using mobile phones.              D. Tell drivers to avoid red lights.

26. How does the app work through the 311 call system?

A. By replying to citizens’ calls.                  B. By broadcasting traffic accidents.

C. By settling non- emergency problems.       D. By using its information about potholes.

27. Which can be Chokwe’s future target?

A. Encouraging more kids to create apps.    

B.Taking part in more learning programs.

C. Making the app available for sale online.

D. Making the app include streets nationwide.

According to the most recent count, more than 6,500 homeless people sleep on the street or in shelters in San Francisco, and there are only eight shower facilities(设施) specifically available to the homeless, and most of these have just one or two stalls(淋浴间) and aren’t open every day. Now San Francisco-based company Lava Mae, is trying to change that with a simple but smart idea—turning retired city buses into mobile showers for the homeless. The idea known as Lava Mae, is a response to the need of the homeless in the city.

It all started two years ago when Sandoval got in a cab after a meeting in the SoMa district of San Francisco, where the homeless mainly lived. “My driver turned around and said, ‘Welcome to the land of broken dreams.’” Then Sandoval awoke from her imagination and started really look at the people around her. “A woman I passed was crying and saying that she would never be clean,” Sandoval said. She took what the woman said as a sign that she should focus on the problem of hygiene(卫生), one of the most pressing needs for the homeless.

After doing some research, Sandoval hit on the idea of a mobile unit that could be equipped with shower facilities. According to the company’s founder Doniece Sandoval, every bus will be renewed and equipped with two separate private areas, each with a shower stall, sink, changing areas, toilet and bench. Sandoval says that if everyone sticks to a five-minute shower, a single Lava Mae bus could provide service for about 100 people during each 8-to-10-hour shift.

The project has been several years in the making as it has not been easy to get officials to agree. In addition, it is also difficult to ask the bus company to donate buses. Now she has reached an agreement with a bus company, which will donate the buses being retired in the next four years.

While Lava Mae is now focused on the city of San Francisco, there is no reason that the idea cannot be spread all over the world.

28. The main idea of this passage is that ____________.

   A. the homeless lived a comfortable life in San Francisco

   B. the bus company shows great support to Lava Mae

   C. Lava Mae creates shower service to help the homeless

   D. Sandoval made great achievements in her career

29. What/ Who contributed to Sandoval’s idea of creating mobile shower service to help the homeless?

A. The poor woman that she met in SoMa district.  

B. The requirement of the government.

C. The benefit of her company.

D. The meeting she had in the SoMa district of San Franacisco.

30. What do we know about the project of Lava Mae?

A. A single Lava Mae bus could provide service for 100 people at a time.

B. The project has met a lot of difficulties.                    

C. The officials strongly support the project.                

D. The idea of Lava Mae will not be spread all over the world.

31. What is the author’s attitude about Lava Mae’s development?

   A. Positive          B. Negative     C. Objective              D. Uncertain

The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.

An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,” said one member of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious(叛逆的)and selfish, but actually they have other things on their minds: they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There’s more negotiation(商议)and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don’t want to rock the boat.”

So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me," says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall. “I always tell them when I’m going out clubbing. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”

Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, “Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over.”

32. What is the popular image of teenagers today?

A. They worry about school.                                     B. They dislike living with their parents.

C. They have to be locked in to avoid troubles.           D. They quarrel a lot with other family members.

33. The study shows that teenagers don’t want to__________ .

A. share family responsibility                                  B. cause trouble in their families

C. go boating with their family                                 D. make family decisions

34. Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today’s parents__________ .

A. give their children more freedom                B. are much stricter with their children

C. care less about their children’s life                    D. go to clubs more often with their children   

35. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Negotiation in family.                                           B. Education in family.

C. Harmony in family.                                               D. Teenage trouble in family.

Alone But Not Lonely

In today’s fast-paced society, we’ve become uncomfortable with silence. We try to find different types of activities that can help us escape feelings of laziness or boredom.   36   Solitude(独处) does not have to be uncomfortable or lonely. In fact, solitude and loneliness are very different things.

The death of a loved one or the inability to find people who understand you can leave you feeling lonely. Even if you are surrounded by other people, it’s natural to experience an emptiness while longing for love or acceptance.   37  

Geoffery F. Fisher once said, “In cities, no one is quiet but many are lonely.    38   ”

We often fill loneliness with all types of unsatisfying activities. Young people would rather spend a Friday night out with strangers, than spend the night alone. They’re looking for a way to kill time while they await true friendship. Then there are young adults in gangs where they don’t really like their companions.   39   Why does being alone scare us?

Do not be afraid of silence.  40   It teaches you how to truly listen. It teaches you to pay attention to what’s going on inside of you. Only when we are alone can we have the space and peace we need to think without being outwardly influenced. It therefore becomes easier to make important decisions as well as to reflect on how we are feeling.

A. Loneliness is therefore a feeling that can be experienced whether or not one is physically alone.

B. They would rather feel accepted on a shallow level than risk feeling alone.

C. The problem of loneliness can be easily solved in a modern world.

D. But, when doing so, the main thing we are trying to avoid is loneliness.

E. In the country, people are quiet but few are lonely.

F. It can provide you with amazing benefits.

G. It guides you through hardships.