“停课不停学”：2020高考英语时事热点拓展阅读(十五)

“停课不停学”：2020高考英语时事热点拓展阅读(十五) Passage1日本取消赏樱活动，武汉在线赏樱。

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The people of Japan and millions of tourists should now be

enjoying the start of the cherry blossom viewing, or hanami, season.

It's an extremely important time of year for the country, both

economically and culturally.

Traditionally friends and family get together, and for a new generation it's a perfect Instagram opportunity.

But this year the coronavirus pandemic means events have been cancelled and foreign visitors are staying away.

Katsuhiro Miyamoto from Kansai University highlighted the financial importance of hanami: "Japan's cherry blossom season has very big economic effects every year".

He estimated that almost 8.5m tourists visited the country during the cherry blossom season between March and May last year, bringing in some 650 billion yen.

Seijiro Takeshita from the University of Shizuoka underscored why the gatherings, at which people eat and drink and make merry, are so important to the Japanese economy.

"We use an expression 'the wallet becomes loose', meaning people tend to have a very high propensity to spend."

"We have so much emotional attachment to this flower and the viewing season... It has a lot of cultural factors, a lot of historical factors behind it," Professor Takeshita added as he explained the wider significance of the cherry blossom season.

This year though hanami events are being cancelled across the country as authorities attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Last week the governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike urged people to not hold their traditional

parties. At the same time Ms Koike made reference to the cultural importance of hanami as she said that it was like "taking hugs away from Italians."

Professor Miyamoto expects such measures to tackle the pandemic will hit tourism numbers hard this season, with revenue falling by more than a third to less than 400 billion yen.

It's not all gloom and doom though. "Once the coronavirus outbreak is over, I believe that the cherry blossom season in Japan will come to life again," he concluded.

On March 16, Wuhan University invited people to enjoy cherry blossoms online.

While appreciating the cherry blossoms, many netizens also left their best wishes for Wuhan on social media.

“When the outbreak passes, let's go see the cherry blossoms together!" one netizen commented. "Breathtaking blossoms, everything will be fine," said another.

Passage2 [语法填空]威尔士的中学生要开始学汉语了。

Mandarin (普通话) could be 1. (teach)

in Welsh secondary schools in a bid to raise Wales'

international profile.

The Welsh Government wants to establish the

country as a visitor destination for Chinese people as part

of its new strategy (战略) to boost trade.

It is also 2. (look) to have a "Wales in

Germany" themed year in 2021, and have an increased presence in EU countries.

International relations minister Eluned Morgan said she wanted to sell Wales the world.

Welsh businesses sold more 3. 17bn pounds of goods abroad in 2018 and at present 60% of those exports go to the EU, with Germany as the top destination.

4. after Brexit (脱欧), ministers want "to ensure that the European Union

5. (remain) our strongest partner" as well as developing markets elsewhere. Its goal is

a 5% increase in exports.

To make that happen, the Welsh Government has launched a new international strategy to focus 6. three areas -cyber-security, compound semi-conductors, and creative

industries -7. (choose) in part for their "resilience to Brexit" and because of their "global recognition as areas of 8. (excellent)".

Raise Wales' profile exploring the feasibility (可行性) of teaching Mandarin in secondary schools as part of a long-term vision to establish the country as a visitor destination for the Chinese market.

Ms Morgan said she was "9. (anxiety)" to change the Welsh Government's relationship with the UK government to help sell Wales abroad, 10. (add) they wanted the best possible Brexit deal and would be "constructive partners".

Passage3[阅读七选五]友谊勋章获得者:Isabel Crook。

Isabel Crook was born in 1915 to a Canadian family in southwest

China's Chengdu. 1 .

After getting her masters degree, she returned to China for rural

studies, and met her husband David Crook.

In 1942, Isabel left for England, following David, who had

enlisted in the Royal Air Force. It was there that she joined the British

communist party.

Years later, in 1947, the couple returned to China.

"Well, I wanted to be an anthropologist. And then I heard that there was land reform going on in China. I thought I would have an opportunity, because I was a communist and had good relations with Chinese communist party. " Crook said.

The couple went to Shilidian, which they called Ten Mile Inn, a village controlled by the Communists in Hebei Province.

" 2 , because it would get rid of the feudal system.... it would put the farmer in power, rather than going on with the old way," Crook said.

Isabel was right. In a few years, land reform movement swept the nation, and united the farmers.

"One of my reasons for studying the land reform was to be able to write, for David and me, to write a book that could help the Indians, the other colonial people learn from China," Crook said.

3 .

The pair finished their field research in 1948. They considered leaving China, but eventually decided to stay.

" 4 , cause they say we will soon win the victory, will be setting up foreign relations, and we will need people to speak very good English," Crook said.

They stayed and began teaching English. In addition to teaching many students, they also worked together and made the first English text book in China. Her enthusiasm lasted for decades.

5

A.The couple had many chances to leave, but chose to stay.

B.The ability to learn from social practice is promoting the Chinese Communist Party.

C.That book is called "Ten Mile Inn: Mass Movement in a Chinese Village"

D.She spent most of her childhood here before going back to Canada for higher education

E.The land reform was obviously going to change the whole future of China's history

F.Then she launched an in-depth investigation about rural areas in western China.

G.We were asked to stay to teach English after we were seeing the land reform

Passage4

Fancy your own satellite? Arizona State University is working towards making this a reality with its SunCube FemtoSat project. Smaller than a standard CubeSat, the low-cast student-designed spacecraft is aimed at providing greater access to space for scientists and hobbyists alike.

Assistant professor Jekan Thanga and a team of students have been developing the SunCube FemtoSat for the past two years. The small 3x3x3cm cube weighs in at just 35g and a longer (3x3x9cm, 100g) model has also been designed, which includes storage space.

Each SunCube FemtoSat has its own communication, data collection and propulsion (推进) systems and is powered by solar panels. It is made of off-the-shelf parts that are available in shops，and the energy-efficient solar panels are cut from scrap (碎片)，which makes it save energy，sold at a discount by manufacturers. “With a spacecraft of this size，any university can do it，” says Thanga. “That’s part of our major goal-space discovery for everybody.”

The team says that while launching your own satellite would usually cost between US

$ 60,000-70,000 per kilo, it would only cost $ 1,000 to send a SunCube FemtoSat to the International Space Station，and $ 3,000 to send it into low earth orbit. Leaving the earth’s gravity would cost an estimated $ 27,000.

The FemtoSat would be packed with a “jack in the box” style system that matches standard CubeSat sizes (around 10 cubic cm)，simplifying the process of getting the tiny satellite into orbit.

NASA has sent 30 CubeSats into space over the last years, with another 50 awaiting launch.

Thanga and his staff view the FemtoSat as a starting point for scientists and students, and even hope the device could be bought on the website like Amazon one day. Thanga imagines developing four main applications for the device, including hands-on testing experiences for students, and artificial gravity experiments. In addition, groups of SunCube FemtoSats could eventually be able to do the job of larger spacecraft at a vastly discounted cost.

1. What is the major goal of the SunCube FemtoSat project?

A. To assist average individuals to explore space.

B. To provide easy access to spacecraft design.

C. To help carry out a classroom experiment.

D. To act on college teaching in outer space.

2. What is special about SunCube FemtoSats?

A. They are used to collect information.

B. They are designed for lab use.

C. They are of the same weight.

D. They are energy-saving.

3. What does Thanga expect of SunCube FemtoSats?

A. They’ll be available online.

B. They’ll be provided for free.

C. They’ll match the size of CubeSats.

D. They’ll be sent into space with CubeSats.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A. FemtoSats Will Rule Space

B. Your Own Satellite Is Coming

C. Going into Space Has Been Affordable

D. You can Design Your Own Spacecraft

本期答案：

“停课不停学”：2020高考英语时事热点拓展阅读(十五) Passage1 日本取消赏樱活动，武汉在线赏樱。

高考英语考纲重点词汇及阅读常见词汇已用下划线标注！

Passage2 [语法填空]威尔士的中学生要开始学汉语了。

1. taught

2. looking

3. than

4. But

5. remains

6. on

7. chosen

8. excellence

9. anxious 10. adding Passage3 [阅读七选五]友谊勋章获得者:Isabel Crook。

1-5：DECGA

Passage4

1-4：ADAB