LONDON (Reuters) — Quiet please — Britain’ s Queen Elizabeth is preparing to have her swans counted. Buckingham Palace has announced that the annual Swan Upping, a tradition dating back to the 12th century which involves a census of the swan population on the River Thames, will be conducted by the Queen’ s official Swan Marker from July 20 24. “With the assistance of the Queen’ s Swan Warden, Professor Christopher Perrins of the University of Oxford, the swans and young cygnets (小天鹅) are also assessed for any signs of injury or disease，” Buckingham Palace said in announcing the count. The process involves the Swan Marker, David Barber, rowing up the Thames for five days with the Swan Warden in traditional skiffs while wearing special scarlet uniforms and counting, weighing and measuring swans and cygnets. It may seem eccentric, but it is very important to the Queen, According to custom, Britain’ s sovereign owns all unmarked, mute swans in open water, but the Queen now exercises the right only on stretches of the Thames and its nearby tributaries. In medieval times, the Swan Marker would not only travel up the river counting the swans, but would catch as many as possible as they were soughtafter for banquets and feasts. This year, the Swan Marker and the Swan Warden are particularly keen to discover how much damage is being caused to swans and cygnets by attacks from dogs and from discarded fishing tackle (渔具)． It is also an important year because Queen Elizabeth has decided to join her team of Swan Uppers for part of the census. She will follow them up the river and visit a local school project on the whole subject of swans, cygnets and the Thames.
“Education and conservation are essential to the role of Swan Upping and the involvement of school children is always a rewarding experience，” Buckingham Palace said. [语篇解读] 泰晤士河上每年都要举行一个重要的活动：数天鹅。英国皇室的这一传统已经延续了好几个世纪。 1. In medieval times，________. A. swans were better protected than now B. a lot of swans were killed by dogs C. swans were a delicious dish on royal banquets D. common people could catch the swans [解析] 细节理解题。从文章倒数第四段可知，在中世纪天鹅被捉住，然后成为皇家宴会上的美味。 [答案] C 2．We can infer from the passage that the process of counting the swans ________. A. remains almost unchanged in the past years B. involves a lot of royal members C. sometimes lasts longer than before D. is always guarded by special soldiers [解析] 推理判断题。从文章第四段对数天鹅过程的描述以及参与清点的官员的穿着打扮可知，其过程几乎没有变化，因为这是一项传统活动。 [答案] A 3．This year, the Swan Marker and the Swan Warden mainly want to find out________. A. the exact number of swans and cygnets B. how a local school project is going on C. how much damage the swans and cygnets suffer D. how education and conservation are carried out along the Thames [解析] 细节理解题。从文章倒数第三段内容可知答案为C。 [答案] C 4．Which of the following is the main idea of the passage? A. Britain’ s Queen is concerned about swans. B. Britain’ s Queen orders a count of swans. C. An old tradition in Buckingham Palace. D. Queen Elizabeth will count swans herself. [解析] 主旨大意题。文章第一段是本文的主题段，英国女王下令清点泰晤士河上的天鹅的数量。 [答案] B 5．The underlined word “tributaries” can be best replaced by ________. A. districts B. banks C. trees D. branches [解析] 词义理解题。根据语境和常识可知，此处是指在泰晤士河及其支流上生活的天鹅。故答案为D。 [答案] D [长难句解读] In medieval times, the Swan Marker would not only travel up the river counting the swans, but would catch as many as possible as they were soughtafter for banquets and feasts.在中世纪，负责清点天鹅的人不仅沿河清点天鹅的数量，还会尽可能多地捕捉一些，因为天鹅当时是宴会桌上的美餐。 本句是一个并列句，not only...but(also)．..引导并列句，后面的as引导原因状语从句。
Happiness is contagious,_researchers reported on Thursday. People with the most social connections — spouses, friends, neighbors and relatives — were also the happiest, the data showed. “Each additional happy person makes you happier，” Christakis said. “Imagine that I am connected to you and you are connected to others and others are connected to still others. It is this fabric of humanity, like an American patch quilt.” Each person sits on a differentcolored patch. “Imagine that these patches are happy and unhappy patches. Your happiness depends on what is going on in the patch around you，” Christakis said. “It is not just happy people connecting with happy people, which they do. Above and beyond, there is this contagious process going on.” And happiness is more contagious than unhappiness, they discovered. “If a social contact is happy, it increases the likelihood that you are happy by 15 percent，” Fowler said. “A friend of a friend, or the friend of a spouse or a sibling (兄弟姐妹), if they are happy, increases your chances by 10 percent，” he added. A happy thirddegree friend — the friend of a friend of a friend — increases a person’s chances of being happy by 6 percent. “But every extra unhappy friend increases the likelihood that you’ll be unhappy by 7 percent，” Fowler said. The finding is interesting and it is useful, too, Fowler said. “Among other benefits, happiness has been shown to have an important effect on reduced mortality (死亡率), pain reduction, and improved cardiac (心脏的) function. So better understanding of how happiness spreads can help us learn how to promote a healthier society，” he said. The study also fits in with other data suggested in 1984 that having $ 5,000 extra increased a person’s chances of becoming happier by about 2 percent. “A happy friend is worth about $ 20,000，” Christakis said. [语篇解读] 美国科学家的一项最新研究成果表明，快乐感可以互相传递。这项研究成果为我们构建更为健康、和谐的社会提供了依据和方法。 1．According to the research, your happiness ________. A. has nothing to do with your workmates or schoolmates B. has something to do with anyone who has a close relationship with you C. depends on those who are in favour of you or are against you D. has little to do with what social connections you have [解析] 推理判断题。根据第二段、第三段内容可知，快乐感会不断传递和扩散，你的配偶、朋友、邻居、亲戚等的快乐指数会直接影响你的快乐程度，故选B。 [答案] B 2．The underlined word “contagious” in the first paragraph means ________. A. infectious B. beautiful C. effective D. prior [解析] 词义猜测题。第一句是全文的主题句。由文章第二、三
