A new collection of photos brings an unsuccessful Antarctic voyage back to life.

Frank Hurley's pictures would be outstanding—undoubtedly first-rate photo journalism—if they had been made last week. In fact, they were shot from 1914 through 1916, most of them after a disastrous shipwreck(海难), by a cameraman who had no reasonable expectation of survival. Many of the images were stored in an ice chest, under freezing water, in the damaged wooden ship.

    The ship was the Endurance, a small, tight, Norwegian-built three-master that was intended to take Sir Ernest Shackleton and a small crew of seamen and scientists, 27 men in all, to the southernmost shore of Antarctica's Weddell Sea. From that point Shackleton wanted to force a passage by dog sled(雪橇) across the continent. The journey was intended to achieve more than what Captain Robert Falcon Scott had done. Captain Scott had reached the South Pole early in 1912 but had died with his four companions on the march back.

    As writer Caroline Alexander makes clear in her forceful and well-researched story The Endurance, adventuring was even then a thoroughly commercial effort. Scott's last journey, completed as he lay in a tent dying of cold and hunger, caught the world's imagination, and a film made in his honor drew crowds. Shackleton, a onetime British merchant-navy officer who had got to within 100 miles of the South Pole in 1908, started a business before his 1914 voyage to make money from movie and still photography. Frank Hurley, a confident and gifted Australian photographer who knew the Antarctic, was hired to make the images, most of which have never before been published.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    The Americans believe that anybody can become president of the United States. In a recent Hollywood comedy, that is exactly what happens.

    Dave Kovic, played by Kevin Kline, is a kind-hearted man who runs a business that finds people jobs. He leads a typical American way of life, except for one thing－he looks exactly like the president, Bill Mitchell. In fact, the only thing that makes him different from the nation's leader is that he is very nice!

    The president has started using look-alikes during some public appearances. Dave is offered a chance to “serve his country” by becoming one. However, things go wrong. The president becomes very ill and Dave ends up acting as the president forever.

    Director Ivan Reitman, who made the popular and successful comedies like Twins, Ghostbusters and Legal Eagles, could have gone for easy laughs by making fun of the American government. Instead, Dave is an attractive comedy about an ordinary man in extraordinary situations. Kevin Kline gives a double performance as Dave and the president, and Sigourney Weaver is at her best as his First Lady. The love story that develops between her role and Dave is a real classic.

    The film is 100% American. However, if you've ever felt that anybody could do a better job running the country than the people in power, then you'll enjoy Dave!

    Everybody sleeps, but what people stay up late to catch or wake up early in order not to miss varies by culture？

    From data collected, it seems the things that cause us to lose the most sleep, on average, are sporting events, time changes, and holidays.

    Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight savings time. Russians, for example, began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to "winter time" starting on October 26.

    Russia's other late nights and early mornings generally correspond to public holidays. On New Year's Eve, Russians have the world's latest bedtime, hitting the hay at around 3:30 a. m.

    Russians also get up an hour later on International Women's Day, the day for treating and celebrating female relatives.

    Similarly, Americans' late nights, late mornings, and longest sleeps fall on three-day weekends.

    Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey (冰球) final.

    The World Cup is also chiefly responsible for sleep deprivation. The worst night for sleep in the U. K. was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14. Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it, and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning. Thanks to summer nights, the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing, though, compared to Germans, Italians, and the French, who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the Cup.

    It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns; in some of these nations, it's likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that's the case, though, the above findings are still striking. If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings in our shut-eye levels throughout the year, how much sleep are the rest of us losing?

(2023年·广州二模)

In 1977, Irene Pepperberg, a Harvard graduate, decided to investigate the thought processes of another creature by talking to it. To do this, she would teach a one-year-old African gray parrot(鹦鹉), Alex, to reproduce the sounds of the English language.

Pepperberg bought Alex in a pet store, where she let the store's assistant choose him because she didn't want other scientists to say that she had intentionally chosen an especially smart bird. Given that Alex's brain was just the size of a walnut, most researchers thought Pepperberg's communication study would be futile(徒劳的).

But with Pepperberg's patient teaching, Alex learned how to follow almost 100 English words. He could count to six and had learned the sound for seven and eight. But the point was not to see if Alex could learn words by heart. Pepperberg wanted to get inside his mind and learn more about a bird's understanding of the world.

In one demonstration, Pepperberg held up a green key and a green cup for him to look at. "What's the same?" she asked. "Co-lour," Alex responded without hesitation. "What's different?" Pepperberg asked. "Shape," Alex quickly replied. His voice had the sound of a cartoon character. But the words—and what can only be called the thoughts—were entirely his. Many of Alex's skills, such as his ability to understand the concepts of "same" and "different", are rare in the animal world. Living in a complex society, parrots like Alex must keep track of changing relationships and environments.

During the demonstration, as if to offer final proof of the mind inside his bird's brain, Alex spoke up. "Talk clearly!" he commanded, when one of the younger birds Pepperberg was also teaching mispronounced the word "green". Alex knew all the answers himself and was getting bored. "He's moody," said Pepperberg, "so he interrupts the others, or he gives the wrong answer just to be difficult." Pepperberg was certainly learning more about the mind of a parrot, but like the parent of a troublesome teenager, she was learning the hard way. 

Myrtle Beach Dolphin Cruise(乘船游览)& Dolphin Tours

Myrtle Beach is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places to visit,and there is no better way to have a memorable time in the area than by taking a Myrtle Beach Dolphin Tour. Reserve your spot on the gorgeous New Inlet Princess,a magnificent vessel that creates some of the best fun in Myrtle Beach!Embark upon this Myrtle Beach dolphin sightseeing cruise to experience the wonders of Murrells Inlet. Keep your eyes open for stunning dolphins in their natural habitats and other wildlife as you sail along its waters. This attractive tour is topped off with a memorable sunset for some of the best fun that Myrtle Beach has to offer. 

About the Dolphin Guarantee

This dolphin cruise is the ONLY dolphin cruise backed by VME's guarantee. If you do not see dolphins on your cruise,please contact us at 1-800-987-9852 for tickets for another dolphin cruise to betaken within 7 days of the first cruise. 

Details:

•Unique Online Offer:Buy 1 Get 1 Free (Must book in advance online or toll-free at 1-800-987-9852)

•Appropriate for All Ages

•Handicap Accessible

•Restaurant On-site

•Kid Friendly Dolphin Cruise -Kids Love This Cruise!

•Large boat with covered shade area,air-conditioned enclosed deck,and large open sun deck. 

•Two Bathrooms On Board

•What to Bring:Camera/Phone for great photos,cash for shacks and drinks available on board. 

•Cruise lasts approximately 75 minutes.