2020 DSE English Past Paper 閱讀材料 (中英翻譯 + MP3 配音) 免費版

2020 DSE English Past Paper

• (A) Tai Kwun: The Big House is Finally Open 

  
  

• (B1) How to fly a kite

  
  

• (B2) Graham Norton: The letters I can never forget”

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Tai Kwun: The Big House is Finally Open   - A 

大館：大房子終於開放

[1] For 179 years, the former Victoria Prison and Central Police Station compound stood aloof in the heart of Hong Kong, visible yet inaccessible —unless you enforced the law or fell on the wrong side of it. Now everyone has a chance to step inside its walls. After a long and arduous conversion into a centre for art and heritage, Hong Kong’s most significant heritage conservation project is finally complete. 

[2] Officially re-christened with its former nickname, Tai Kwun, the Cantonese equivalent of ‘the big house’, the compound now includes art galleries, exhibitions on local history, shops, restaurants and bars. “The philosophy has been very clear from day one,” says Winnie Yeung, Tai Kwun’s head of heritage. “We’re trying to turn a closed-off site that Hong Kong people were familiar with but never had a chance to go inside into a site that is open to the public with easy access. 

[3] That was a challenge like nothing Hong Kong had seen before. The first iteration of Victoria Prison was built in 1841. It was the first permanent structure built by the British in their new colonial possession. With 18 different buildings, three of which are declared monuments — a designation that imposes legal restrictions on how a building can be modified — the restoration work was destined to be particularly complicated.

[4] The Jockey Club, which was asked to lead the restoration project, spared no expense, hiring renowned Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron to design a new arts pavilion for the site, along with a master plan for how to convert the historic site into its new role as a public facility. Their first proposal called for a spindly tower inspired by bamboo scaffolding — and it was furiously rejected by nearby residents, who said it would ruin their views and overshadow the venerable old buildings. Eventually, the architects came up with a plan for two boxy structures that floated above parts of the old prison courtyard. One houses a 200-seat auditorium, the other an art gallery. Both are clad in black aluminium blocks that give them the appearance of leather jewellery boxes. 

[5] When Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron visited Hong Kong last December to inspect Tai Kwun, they still seemed disappointed their original vision for the site had been rejected. “We were honestly a bit shocked to find that Hong Kong has neighbourhoods worse than Switzerland, that they would complain about such a radical transformation,” said Herzog. But the feedback made them realise that what people valued about Tai Kwun was its low-rise character in a high-rise city. “It’s a horizontal oasis,” he said. “It has always been an attractive space just waiting to be discovered by the public.”

[6] Herzog describes the final design as “less radical”, but with the same goal of opening up a space that had long been sealed off to the general population. But even the toned-down aluminium-clad additions have been controversial. “Many people feei they are totally out of place and I personally think they’re too heavy. They dominate the entire site,” says neighbourhood activist Katty Law, who is the convenor of the Central and Western District Concern Group.

[7] Others defend the new additions. “When we talk about heritage conservation now, we talk about adaptive reuse —giving a building new life. There’s only so much you can do with the existing buildings,”said architectural conservationist Fredo Cheung last year. “The point is not to mimic the old but to distinguish the old from the new,” he said. “It’s about authenticity.”

[8] There have been some missteps. In 2016, a wall in one of the site’s oldest buildings collapsed during an attempt to reinforce it. And the Jockey Club has been criticised for failing to preserve some of the non architectural elements of the site’s heritage, like graffiti that had been scrawled by prisoners on the walls of their cells. “The renovation is sometimes excessive, overly new, leading to a loss of the original patina of the heritage buildings,” says Law.

[9] That criticism is echoed by art critic John Batten, who sat on one of Tai Kwun’s advisory committees. “But, over time, the buildings will evolve into a new appearance and function,” he wrote in a magazine column last May. And that new functfon will be one markedly different from its past role. “What we’ve noticed is that neighbours will just drop by in the evening to meet up with their friends because Central doesn’t have many open spaces,”says Yeung.

[10] Tai Kwun’s new life as a public gathering space was one of the reasons its inaugural heritage exhibition, 100 Faces, focuses on its presence in the surrounding neighbourhood. The history of Tai Kwun itself is conveyed through eight storytelling spaces scattered throughout the site. Some of that history deals with well-known figures like Vietnamese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh, who was jailed in Victoria Prison as he used Hong Kong as a base from which to plot his revolutionary war against France. But other stories are more humble in scope. One of Yeung’s favourites is from the owner of a Sheung Wan printing press.

[11] “When the owner was still a very young boy, he cried a lot when he was sleeping at night,” she says. “His father had to get up early the next morning, so what his mother did was to bring him all the way to Chancery Lane next to the prison and get them to sleep there —because Victoria Prison after lights off was the quietest place in Central. It gives you a sense of how the site has always had this very strong connection to the community even though it was surrounded by walis.”

[12] The walls are still there, but now the gates are open —and a new chapter of history has begun. More than just a museum, or an art gallery, or an historic site, Tai Kwun is a place that brings many different threads of Hong Kong life together. “Never have we done such a large scale conservation and revitalisation project all in one go,”says Yeung. “In Hong Kong, in the past, we always just conserved one building and then another. This is conserving an entire site —a place.”

How to fly a kite  - B1

如何放風箏

How to fly a kite

[1] Kite flying is great fun and it’s easy if you know some of Professor Kite’s secrets. So grab your kite and join in the fun, the sky is big enough for everyone!

Professor Kite’s rules for picking the best days for flying a kite 

[2] Because we don’t control the wind, we learn to watch for the right kite-flying conditions.

Wind 

[3] Wind that is too strong or too light is nearly impossible to fly in. A flag or windsock is handy to help you see the wind. About 8-40 kph is best for most kites (when leaves and bushes start to move, but before it really starts to blow). Diamond and dragon kites are the best to fly in light to medium winds while box kites fly better when the winds get a little stronger. [CLICK HERE] to find a store.

[4] Kite flying was one of the most popular leisure activities for children in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, there were no restrictions on kite flying and kites could be seen in every corner of the city’s sky and even beyond —from the rooftops of Sham Shui Po to the corridors of Shek Kip Mei Housing Estate.

[5] Shum says kite flying was popular because it was so easy to do. Kids could assemble a few bamboo sticks and pieces of paper to make a kite that could be flown in the neighbourhood. “We didn’t have to go as far as the countryside to fly kites. We could always go kite flying in our housing estates instead,” Shum says.

[6] Recalling those days, So Chi-chiu, 59, the vicechairman of Hong Kong Kite Fighting Club, who has flown kites for more than 30 years, says most people aged 50 years or over must have flown kites in their childhood.

[7] However, as Hong Kong’s economy started to boom in the 1970s, kite flying started to fade. The rapid urban development and bustling air traffic led to the implementation of the Articles of the Air Navigation (Hong Kong) in 1970. This limited the space where people could fly kites to areas at least 60 metres away from any vehicle or building. It made flying kites unfeasible in a city cramped with skyscrapers and crowded with vehicles.

[8] Currently, the Civil Aviation Department only recommends three main spots for flying kites. They are Shek O, Tai Au Mun and Tai Mei Tuk. Mr So says these restrictions limit the development of kite culture.

[9] As interest in kite flying fades, businesses that make and sell kites also face a gloomy future. We collected the details of the kite manufacturers listed in Hong Kong and tried to contact them by telephone or in person. We discovered most of the factories have either ended their business in Hong Kong or will end their business very soon.

[10] Kite enthusiast Haiven Woo Ka-hei started an online kite shop with his brother a few years ago. Although the shop, HK Kite, is still up and running, Woo says selling kites has now turned into a niche market and they can only run their business on a part-time basis.

[11] “Occasionally we used to go kite flying with some of our regular customers, but now there are only .one to two people,” Woo says. “When we wanted to look for people with similar interests, there were really not many.”

[12] It seems kite flying may only survive in Hong Kong as a niche interest, or an occasional outdoor activity. Woo says even his own son and daughter have little interest in it. “When I ask my son to go flying kites, he turns me down and prefers to sit at home and play computer games,” laments Woo. “Children are rarely ‘educated’ to fly kites as a kind of collective activity.”

[13] As for So, his kite-flying days may not be over but he has low expectations of the future for this tradition in Hong Kong. All he can do, he says, is  “hope for a miracle.”

Graham Norton: #The letters I can never forget” - B2

格雷厄姆·諾頓：#我永遠無法忘記的信

Graham Norton: #The letters I can never forget”

[1] As the Telegraph newspaper’s longstanding agony uncle, he has heard it all over the last decade. Comedian and chat show host Graham Norton reveals why his personal brand of tough love often proves effective.

[2] I’m not sure who it was that once claimed there are no problems, only solutions. All I can say is they’ ve never opened my Pandora’s postbag of woes. Broken hearts, family troubles, work traumas, embarrassing body functions, I’ve seen them all, in a manner of speaking, and sometimes, jet me tell you, it’s a pretty disturbing sight.

[3] And as a result, I do feel as though I have my fingers on the throbbing pulse of the Telegraph readership and a soothing ice parking at its pounding temple.

[4] Am I properly qualified for this vocation? Well not really, my calling has been thrust upon me. But I am ready to serve, smelling salts in one hand, a sticking plaster for the soul in the other.

[5]Let me make no bones about it: my tough love diagnosis isn’t for everyone and J’m aware that there are those who have written to me in the expectation of a kind word and a couple of aspirin and have instead received a tongue-lashing and a slap in the face.

[6] But I’m not sure the doctors’Hippocratic Oath was tailored to some bloke huffing because he was going to have to share the stage during his best-man speech. And in a way, it’s this sort of self-obsessed whingeing that makes the genuine, urgent cries for help stand out all the more.

[7] Because there are ‘problems’ and there are problems. And then, I’ve discovered, there are problematic problems. Sometimes, where it’s clear that my correspondent is so low or so grief-stricken by bereavement they could be suffering from clinical depression, I see my role simply not to make it any worse and gently refer them on to an expert who can give them what they need.

[8] Then there are letters like the one when a librarian from Manchester says, “I am going to marry a young Italian farmer half my age and my friends all think I’m crazy,” and I think to myself well, they are right, probably —but not definitely, because, who knows, hers could be the one young Italian farmer scenario that ends happily ever after. So all I can do is point her in the direction of the potential pitfalls and wish her luck.

[9] Some issues come up again and again and it’s difficult to rummage around in my medical bag and come up with. a prescription that is constructive and original. When someone is lonely or distressed about being single, the obvious, banal advice is to tell them to get out there, find an interest and meet like-minded people. 

[10] But then part of me thinks there are some individuals who just don’t make friends, and they are lonely. And some individuals never find a partner and wish they could, and beyond that there’s not much more to say about it.

[11] That would be a bit brutal though, so I sort of skirt around it and hope that the letter to me will be a starting point, a springboard to some sort of positive action.

[12] On a physician-heal-thyself note, I have found that thinking about other people’s troubled lives has stopped me being so reactionary and self-righteous, which, believe you me, is a good thing.

[13] Telegraph readers, I know you are perceptive enough to take my wisdom in the spirit in which it is intended (pass the whisky). I really want to help and I think [ do, but, in truth (and I think you all know this) as often as not you need to search deep inside yourself for your own solution (and no, before you ask, bile doesn’t count).

[14] I understand some of you feel battered and bruised, like you’ve been in the wars. But you haven’t. Unless you actually have, in which case you should really call the Healthcare Advice Line.

[15] As for the rest of you, go on, out of the clinic with you. You might be wounded, but you’re walking, so pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile. Chuckle at adversity, wink at disaster, laugh at your problems. God knows everybody else does.

Dear Graham,

[16] I’m an American getting ready to take up a job offer in Sweden. I’m 19 and have no idea what I want to do with my life long-term, but I still have an idea in my head that if things don’t work out with this move I’ll have failed in some way. I’m going all in for it, however, because it’s a chance that doesn’t come around a whole lot. 

[17] Still, I’ve never been away from home for this long before and I’m terrified. I know this is the right move for me, But I love my family and I don’t want to leave them behind. I have friends in Europe but it’s a pretty big place. What advice can you give me?

David illinois, USA

[18] You have a ticketo Sweden in your hand. You aren’t embarking on the first manned mission to Mars. So take some deep breaths and calm down. Obviously things will be very different when you get to Sweden; but that is why you are going. 

[19] I’m not saying it will be all plain sailing. There will be lonely nights when you miss your friends and family, but this is 2020 so you have the luxury of calling or Skyping them. Before long you will be having so much fun you wish the people back home could be with you to share it all. 

[20] The most important thing to remember is that you are 19 and no decisions you make now are forever. Come to Europe and explore all it has to offer, knowing that you could still return to the States and build a whole life and career there. You are a very lucky young man. You have opportunities and time, two things that most people long for. 

[21] I would also strongly suggest that when things are proving challenging in your new home, you don’t give up at the first hurdle, Persevere and make sure that if or when you leave it feels like a decision you are in charge of rather than simply running away. 

[22] This is an exciting time for you, full of anticipation, but also trepidation. Feeling fear doesn’t mean that you aren’t brave. Doing something that frightens you is the very definition of courage. Go and embrace the differences. There may be ketchup on the table —but don’t forget to try the lingonberry jam!

Dear Graham,

[23] The past 40-odd years have for me been an often fruitless search for a barber who can do a good job on my challenging hair. Now I have found one with whom I am perfectly satisfied, but while he cuts my hair, he continually picks his nose. I would appreciate your advice. 

P Smith, Bracknell, UK

Dear P, 

[24] What comes out of the top of your head? Steel wool? But you aren’t driving a car or operating heavy machinery, so next time, why not do this thing I’ve discovered when confronted with something I don’t want to see —shut your eyes! A longer fringe may also help.