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Open April to October

9 am to 11 am

2 pm to 5 pm

Closed Sundays

Adults:                      £ 2.00

Concessions:        £ 1.50

Students:             £ 1.00

Children:             £ 0.50

Clachan, Bettyhill, Sutherland,

KW14 7SS

Tel: 01641 521418

Email: strathnavermus@ukonline.co.uk

www.strathnavermuseum.org.uk

   In 1834, the clock tower in London was burned down. People planned to build a new clock which would be the biggest and best in the world. So the clock had to be big and keep very good time. The big clock was made in two years. Five more years later the tower was finished. Then people put the big clock in the tower, and made it ring out for the first time on July 11, 1859.

   In order to give the big clock a good name, people held a meeting. Someone wanted to call it the Queen of Bells, and someone thought Victoria was good. At last, a man named Benjamin Hall stood up. He was a big man. Before he started to speak, someone shouted, “Why not call it Big Ben?” Everybody laughed and agreed with him.

   From then on, Big Ben became its name. And it also became a famous building of London. People all over the world write to Big Ben. They even send birthday presents—bottles of oil-to help keep Big Ben running. Big Ben is not only a clock but also a dear friend of people.

    Having a cheetah as a pet in the house?Does it sound scary to you?But for a family in South Africa，one cheetah is treated as a VIP(Very Important Person)in the house．

    The big cheetah is named Jolie，after the film star Angelina Jolie{#blank#}1{#/blank#}She can often be found eating from the kitchen table，taking a short sleep on the sofa，or even sleeping on Lucy and Jeff's bed．The big cat also sleeps and plays with the Browns'other pet，the more usual one-a sheepdog(牧羊犬){#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Having a cheetah as a pet is unusual．At first，Mrs．Brown wasn't willing to keep a cheetah as a pet．She said，"{#blank#}3{#/blank#}But we are now happy that we did it she is part of the family．"

Just like her name，four-year-old Jolie has achieved celebrity status(名人地位)in the Browlisl hometown．Fans often come to their home to take pictures of her{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    However．a cheetah is always a cheetah{#blank#}5{#/blank#}"She makes a lot of mess in the house，urinating(小便)everywhere and chewing everything．It's her wild instincts(本能)，"said Mrs．Brown．

    There might be some problems of having a cheetah as a pet in the house，but some unusual fun must also be waiting ahead．

A．Interestingly，Jolie enjoys all the special attention that is paid to her．

B．I was really pleased to have a cheetah as a pet at the beginning．

C．Though Jolie is now a pet in the house，she still has some wild habits．

D．She is surely the VIP at Lucy and Jeff Brown's home．

E．I was really against the idea of getting a cheetah as a pet．

F．An impossible friendship has happened between these two animals．

    Would you like to eat a root? You probably already have. People and animals eat many kinds of roots. ①Most roots that people eat are usually called root vegetables. A root vegetable is what we call veggies that grow underground.

    A carrot   is one type of root vegetable. It is the orange, edible root of the carrot plant. ②to, many, in, like, people, salad, put, it(.) A turnip , is another root vegetable. It is a member of the cabbage family. Turnips are usually eaten boiled, steamed, roasted, fried, pickled, or even raw.

    ③Although some people do not consider potatoes to be a veggie, but they are a root vegetable.

    People like to eat them mashed, boiled, and fried. Sweet potatoes, yams, beets, and leeks are some other root vegetables that people like to eat.

    Claude Monet's paintings were quite different from the art styles that were popular in the 1870s France. Traditional artists always did their artwork in a studio and their paintings were realistic-they looked exactly like the real world. Claude Monet was part of a group of painters who were called Impressionists(印象派画家). Their paintings were light and a bit fuzzy-they gave an impression of what the real world looked like. Sometimes Impressionists worked outside, which was a very unusual thought in their time. Impressionism received its name from an early painting by Claude Monet titled impression, Sunrise.

    Knowing that trains were interesting subjects and represented modern progress, Claude Monet crated a series of Impressionist paintings of trains from January to March of 1877. He worked on his paintings right on the train platform at the Gare Saint-Lazare, the train station on Saint Lazare Street. Although there were many train stations in Paris, this was the first train station built in Paris so it had historical significance(意义).

    Monet's friend, Impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir, told the following story to his sons about Claude Monet and painting the trains. Monet needed permission(允许)to spend time on the train platform and paint what he saw in his impressionistic style. One day Monet dressed himself in his very best suit along with a fine top hat, a good linen shirt and a silk tie. He appeared to be a wealthy gentleman while he really was a poor painter.

    When he went towards the clerk at the train office, he presented his calling card which introduced him as Claude Monet, Painter. He asked to see the station master. The clerk quickly allowed this fine gentleman to enter the station master's office. The station master was also impressed and gave Monet permission to paint on the train platform. The station master even kept trains from leaving on time so Monet could complete a scene even though passengers complained.

    Was it all worthwhile(值得)? Monet's train scenes turned his career into a success and for the station master, made his train station famous until even now.

Claude Monet

    Car Free Day encourages drivers to give up their cars for a day to protect the environment. People from around the world get together in the streets to remind the world that we don't have to; accept the society full of cars. It started from France in 1998. Because of the air and noise pollution, some French young people wanted a day without cars. On September 22nd, people in 35 cities in France didn't use their cars. They went to work or school by bike, bus or on foot. After that, September 22nd became Car Free Day. The first Car Free Day in China was in Chengdu in 2001. The slogan(口号) for the day is "If we, drive for one less day, we can have one more nice day."

    Organized activities are held in many cities on Car Free Day. In Brussels, Car Free Day shall be valid(有效的) for everybody except persons with a special permit(许可证),but they have to slow down to the speed of 30 kilometres per hour. The public transportations are encouraged. The streets are open only to walkers, bicycles and buses from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. In Beijing, it asks drivers to leave their cars at home for one day each month and walk or ride a bike to work. More and more people are taking part in the activity. In the first quarter of this year, Beijing only had 52 blue sky days, and you may see haze almost every day! We must do more for Car Free Day as a Beijing driver said, "We may not change the weather, but we can choose not to drive."

    But we do not want just one day and then a return to "normal" life. We should go on with Car Free Day.