When Marco Polo travelled to Hangzhou, China 700 hundred years ago, never had he thought he'd be creating a job of social media ambassador in the 21st century in China. On May 20, one lucky foreigner would be selected to become the modern-day Marco Polo, getting a free 15-day trip to the scenic city of Hangzhou in China, and rewarded $55,000 in the next year for working part-time to promote the city to the global audience. Five finalists from Australia, Romania, U.S., Switzerland and France were in the final race. They came from a pool of 700 applicants from around the world, carefully selected by the Hangzhou Tourism Commission on their familiarity with China, social media presence and adventurous spirit. Located about 100 miles southwest to Shanghai, Hangzhou is home to 844 million population and among China's richest cities as measures by per-capita GDP. Traditionally, Hangzhou is known for its charming West Lake, a UNESCO world heritage site with traditional Chinese stories and tales, and the Grand Canal, which travels from Hangzhou to Beijing and was a key route of transportation in ancient China. The city's mild climate and charming environment drew 97 million tourists last year, contributing to 6.5% of the city's GDP. The lucky winner would start an all-expense-paid trip to Hangzhou, which, in addition to visits to tourist sites and tastings of delicious food, also would include a four-day ride along the Grand Canal and three evenings spent at a local resident's home. "It is in fact a part-time job. How you work that out efficiently is your problem," Liam Bates, perhaps the strongest competitor because of his fluent Chinese, said. "We will see how hard it is to meet these numbers." The purpose of Hangzhou choosing a social media ambassador is to _ . A) keep Marco Polo in people's memories B) attract more foreign tourists to China C) encourage more foreigners to speak Chinese D) explore a new route of transportation
B
What is great art? On the one hand, we can all see that great art is old art which is called great. But how do we know which art of our own times is great, and which will be forgotten? And who decides? These are important questions, for the great art of the past often was not considered great during its own time. When Shakespeare and Charles Dickens were writing, for example, most critics considered them as hack writers with little or no literary ability. Similarly, Van Gogh and many of the other Impressionist painters of the late nineteenth century were not allowed to participate in events involving what were thought to be the "real" painters of the time, and often they were very poor. Yet today their paintings often sell for millions of dollars, while those so-called "real" painters are now barely remembered. So what makes great art? Can, for example, rock music be great art? Music videos? Cartoons and comics? Those who call themselves critics of the fine arts often have been the last to recognize great art in the past, and we can probably expect this to be the situation today. Critics often don't recognize great art because they tend to be prejudiced against what is popular. Popular works, whether they are novels, movies, or comics, are usually considered to be produced for the sake of money only, and not for the sake of art. But popularity, it seems to me, is one of the three signs that a present-day work of art may come to be thought of as great. The other two are that it is groundbreaking, and that it is inherently beautiful. Many works have one or even two of these qualities of being popular, unusual, and beautiful. But having all the three often will mean that a work of art will someday be seen to be great, though it may take a good spoonful of time, such as a century or two, to know for sure. What can be inferred from the passage? A) Critics have changed their attitudes to great works. B) Most of the opinions of critics are valueless. C) The work of art itself, not the critics, determines its greatness. D) Works of Impressionist painters will be great one day.
C
Q: New research says 35 percent of the deaths of children worldwide are caused by hunger. The research is from poor to middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Robert Black from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in prefix = st1 /Marylandwas the leading writer of the research. He says more than 3.5 million mothers and children under five die in poor countries each year because of hunger. He says more than two million children die from underdevelopment, either before or after birth. Millions of others who survive face a lifetime of disabilities or early death. And the effects are not just physical. Poor brain development can limit economic success as children become adults. Then the cycle of poverty and hunger often repeats for their children. Doctor Black says hungry children are also more likely to have conditions like high blood pressure and heart disease as adults. He says the studies show that food programs need to place the greatest importance on the first two years of life. Hungry children can suffer the whole life damage from age two. So it is high time to improve their diets. Diets should include foods rich in vitamin A and other useful things. The researchers say early help like these could reduce child deaths by 25%. The research has faced some criticism . A medical aid group says the researchers underestimate the number of child deaths from hunger. The researchers say there are findings that support this treatment but more studies are needed to compare it to hospital care. What can we learn from this passage? A) If a child is hungry at childhood, he will be disabled in the future. B) Criticism is the best medicine for hunger. C) The results from the research is not satisfactory. D) Generally speaking, hungry children have less chance of catching heart disease when they grow up.
A: C
Q: Many people have been talking about the way in which the world will come to an end in 2012. Everybody wants to find out if December 21, 2012 is the last day of the earth. The rumor has already been spreading for a very long time. The Mayan's predictions can account for the rumor. According to the rumor, the earth will experience dramatic changes in 2012 and the changes will be disastrous to all of the living creatures on earth .It is widely assumed that a Planet X will return to orbit the solar system. The return of Planet of Planet X will have a destructive effect on the solar system as well as on some planets including the Neptune , the Jupiter and the earth. Planet X will cross into their orbits. There's a possibility that Jupiter will change into a little sun at this time, so folks will be well placed to see two suns in the sky in 2012. The solar flares that occur in a l1-year cycle will reach their highest point in 2012. The powerful solar flares will affect the magnetic field of the earth and cause disasters. On December 21,2012,the sun and the earth will line up in the same line at the equator . The winter solstice only occurs once every 25,800 years.The events in the universe are signals that the world will come to an end.As a result of the solar flares, lots of disasters will happen that will destroy the face of the whole earth.Scientists are making the guess primarily based on the Mayan Long Court Calendar. Many films have been made about the end of the world including End Game by Alex Jones and End Clock:Nostradamus 2012.The former provides insights about the way the world will become one state.After the world government is in place,it's going to be easy to _ 80%of the people in the world.The rest will continue to live with assistance from advanced technology. No one knows whether the world will end on December 21,2012,There is no clear answer until the day arrives.Just as the Mayans claims,it will not be the time for the world to end.Instead.it will be the dawn of a flesh start. What is the passage mainly about? A) Information about end-of-the-world predictions. B) Different opinions about end-of-the-world predictions. C) Some doubts about end-of-the-world predictions. D) Destructive effects of the end of the world.
A: A