高中英语概要写作练习.doc

【精品文档】如有侵权，请联系网站删除，仅供学习与交流高中英语概要写作练习.精品文档.The Channel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel, often called the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that lies underneath the water of the English Channel and connects the island of Great Britain with mainland France. The Channel Tunnel, completed in 1994, is considered one of the most amazing engineering feats of the 20th century.In 1984, the French and British agreed that a link across the English Channel would be mutually beneficial. However, both governments realized that although the project would create much needed jobs, neither countrys government could fund such a massive project. Thus, they decided to hold a contest.This contest invited companies to submit their plans to create a link across the English Channel. As part of the contests requirements, the submitting company was to provide a plan to raise the needed funds to build the project, have the ability to operate the proposed Channel link once the project was completed, and the proposed link must be able to endure for at least 120 years.Ten proposals were submitted, including various tunnels and bridges. Some of the proposals were so outlandish in design that they were easily dismissed; others would be so expensive that they were unlikely to ever be completed. The successful proposal planned for a tunnel made up of two, parallel railway tunnels that would be dug under the English Channel. Between these two railway tunnels would run a third, smaller tunnel that would be used for maintenance, including drainage pipes, communication cables, etc. On December 10, 1993, the first test run was completed through the entire Channel Tunnel. After additional fine tuning, the Channel Tunnel officially opened on May 6, 1994.Pompeii exhibition opens at the National Museum of SingaporeThe National Museum of Singapore transports visitors back 2,000 years in time to experience life and death in the ancient Roman Empire. A new exhibition, Pompeii: Life in a Roman Village reveals daily life in a city steeped in legend and mystery.Pompeii and its neighbouring cities were buriedand frozen in timeafter the fateful eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. After being forgotten for nearly 1,700 years, the city was accidentally rediscovered in 1748. Since then, extraordinary objectsfrom beds, lanterns, hairpins to a well preserved 15-foot-long garden fresco (壁画) from the House of the Gold Bracelethave been dug out, providing a comprehensive portrait of the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire.Amazingly, archaeologists (考古学家) have also been able to piece together the final moments of the people of Pompeii. By pouring plaster into holes in the volcanic ash left by the victims bodies, archaeologists were able to create models of the final moments of life in this once-prospering seaport. The exhibition features more than 250 objects uncovered from beneath 30 feet of volcanic material in this once-cosmopolitan city. The exhibition brings these priceless objects, along with body casts of eight of the victims of Vesuvius fury, to Singapore.The exhibition takes visitors through an average day in Pompeii; visitors walk a Pompeii street complete with storefronts and background sound, see samples of food items carbonized by the eruption, explore a home and garden setting from Pompeii, and see how the people of Pompeii expressed their spirituality.The showpieces of the exhibition are the body casts, made from the cavities left in the ash after the bodies of those buried decomposed. These figures are caught in their last moments, covering their faces, clinging to each other. Even a dog impression was preserved.OvereatingPeople in developed countries are increasingly suffering from illnesses resulting from over-eating. John Colon from Ohio State University says the problem is only going to get worse. “As more women have gone out to work, you find that parents in general have less time to spend on preparing food. Thats not just the cooking, but also planning what to eat, doing the shopping and buying fresh food. Families, therefore, increasingly rely on ready-made and frozen meals, which tend to be high in fat and contain a lot of additives and sugar. The other thing is that parents seem to feel guilty about not spending so much time with their kids, so they tend to give in a lot quicker to childrens demands for things like sweets and chocolate.”Ben Brown, who is a British Member of Parliament, blames the big food companies. He wants to ban any food advertising which is aimed at children. “The problem is that these companies spend millions of pounds selling food to children. Its all crisps in the shape of dinosaurs and chocolate in the shape of Mickey Mouse. I mean, whats going to seem more fun to an eight-year-oldan ice cream with a free toy or an apple?”One food company thinks it has an answer to this: it has invented pizza-flavoured broccoli, baked-bean-flavoured peas, cheese and onion-flavoured cauliflower and chocolate-flavoured carrots. It developed the “Whacky Veg” with money donated by a cancer research charity, which found that a diet containing lots of fruit and vegetables helps reduce cancer. However, todays sweet-toothed kids need to be bribed into a healthy diet, and will only eat their greens if they taste different.