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1、话题阅读（二）literature and art(A)A debate is spreading in Britain, from the far southern England to the northeast Scotland. The hunt is on to find a motto that sums up the nation in five words.However, there is a small problem. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not, in fact, one nation. B
2、ritain is a union, and finding a national motto that combines that union is an almost impossible task.What bright person dreamed up this hunt for a motto? British Prime Minister Gordon Brown started the debate: he suggested is as part of a public discussion to determine the ideals and principles tha
3、t combine us together as a nation.Newspapers couldnt wait to get the game started. So they asked website readers to submit their own opinions.Some of the best included No motto please, were British and Mathematically, we could still qualify, a reference to the England football teams recent surprisin
4、g performances in the European championship qualifiers.The first of these won a Times Online poll. You may wonder what it really means. The suggestion is that British people dont like to make a fuss. They would rather not go to the trouble of having a motto.However, it also suggests that Britain is
5、a place with an established historical and cultural heritage: We dont need a motto to sum us up and we know who we are, and we have done quite well without one for over 2,000 years, thanks.The second shows British people s ability to make fun of themselves. The England teams failure to qualify anger
6、ed a lot of people, but that doesnt mean they cant make a joke about it.The press treated the motto ideas so unkindly that it was abandoned. Yet the debate it set off. While mainly lighthearted, also has a serious side. Britain is worried it is losing its cultural identity. A large number of people
7、arrived in Britain after World War II The immigrants have a different sense of identity.The question is: how can we redefine Britain to include these people, and make them feel included? This will have to involve serious changing the way communities work and the government operates. People will real
8、ly have to feel like they can make a difference. Muttering a motto every now and again is not going to make that happen.Word Bankmotto n. 格言make a fuss 烦恼poll n. 投票mutter v. 念叨9. The passage is mainly about .A. how the UK hunts for a national mottoB. how the British people react to finding the natio
9、nal mottoC. how media promote the finding of the national mottoD. how a debate about finding a national motto failed10. By saying No motto please, were British, the website readers mean that .A. there should be some ideals and principles to tie them togetherB. they would rather not go to the trouble
10、 of having a mottoC. the England football team didnt give a surprising performance without the mottoD. the British motto is losing its cultural identity11. We can infer that the people who said Mathematically, we could still qualify are .A. serious B. bitter C. pleased D. humorous12. The writer seem
11、s to think that .A. the motto will help the immigrants to develop their sense of belongingB. the way communities work will make a difference to the mottoC. muttering a motto cant guarantee that people feel includedD. a motto can sum the UK up and help people know who they areBBDC(B)Palmistry, or the
12、 art of reading the lines on a persons hand, is thousands of years old. It probably began in ancient India.Most people expect a palmist to tell them about their future. They ask questions like:Shall I be rich and successful? Shall I be famous? Shall I have a long and happy life? They do not ask: Am
13、I a nice person? Am I brave or shy? Am I clever? Am I careful and reliable at work?But this is really what palmistry is about.Of course, there are people who do not believe in palmistry. They call it pseudoscience. But there are other people who believe that palmistry can tell us a lot about a perso
14、ns talents and personality. Using the lines and other marks on the hand, a palmist is often able to foretell something of a persons future, but only in very general terms. The first thing a professional palmist does is to study the whole hand, its size, shape and texture (Is it smooth or rough?) Nex
15、t he looks at the fingers, their length and shape and their condition of the fingernails. Finally he will study the lines of the hand. It is these lines that most people want to look at and try to read.Clear, strong linesHand lines which are clear and strong indicate a person who is calm, good-tempered and generally contented with life. This sort of person will not get angry quickly and will be cautious about getting involved in anything out of the ordinary. At work, such a person will be careful and reliable.Small lineA lot of small lines on the hand indicate a person who
