The basic flag of the United States is one of the world’s oldest national flags. Only the basic flags of Austria, Denmark, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzer land are older.
During the discovery and settlement of what is now the United States, the flags of various European nations were flown over the land, as symbols of possession. Later, in the Colonial and Revolutionary War periods, flags representing famous persons, places, and events were flown in the American Colonise.
The first official flag of the United States was created by Congress on June 14, 1777. It consisted of 13 alternate red and white stripes and 13 white stars in a field of blue, representing the 13 colonies that had declared their independence in 1776. Congress adopted a new flag of 15 stars and 15 stripes in 1795, to give representation to the two new states admitted into the Union, Vermont and Kentucky.
By 1817, there were 20 states in the Union, and it became apparent that adding one stripe for each new state would destroy the shape of the flag. As a result, Congress in 1818 restored the original design of 13 stripes and provided that each state was to be represented by one star. In 1921 Preside William H. Taft made the first official provision for the arrangement of the stars. He ordered that there be six even rows of eight stars each. Previously the arrangement of the stars had been left to the flag- maker’s fancy.
The evolution of the stars and stripes reflects the growth of the United States. After the admission of Hawaii into the Union in 1959, the flag was official changed for the 26th time since its creation.
There are many government flags flown in the United States in addition to the national flag. Among them are the president’s and vice- president’s flags and those of the federal departments and some federal agencies. Each state in the Union has an official flag. The United States Navy uses special flags for signaling.
小題1: The basic flag of the United States is _______.

A．the oldest national flag in the world

B．one of the world’ s oldest flags

C．the most beautiful flag in the West

D．a(chǎn)s old as the basic flags of some European nations

小題2: Before the War of Independence the flags of various European nations flown over the land were symbols of _______.

A．self- rule	B．occupation
C．peace and friendship	D．independence

小題3: The first official flag of the United States was adopted ________.

A．before the Independence War

B．right after the Independence War

C．when independence was declared in 1776

D．during the War of Independence which ended in 1783

小題4:The 13 red and white stripes and 13 white stars represent _______.

A．13 independent states

B．the colonies that declared independence in 1776.

C．the U. S. Congress

D．13 famous figures in the American colonies

小題5:How many states were represented on the new flag adopted in 1795?

A．13.	B．15.
C．20.	D．2.

In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh(法老)treated the poor message runner like a prince when he arrived at the palace, if he brought good news. However, if the exhausted runner had the misfortune to bring the pharaoh unhappy news, his head was cut off.
Shades of that spirit spread over today’s conversations. Once a friend and I packed up some peanut butter and sandwiches for an outing. As we walked light-heartedly out the door, picnic basket in hand, a smiling neighbor looked up at the sky and said, ”O(jiān)h boy, bad day for a picnic. The weatherman says it’s going to rain.”I wanted to strike him on the face with the peanut butter and sandwiches. Not for his stupid weather report, for his while
Several months ago I was racing to catch  a him As I breathlessly put my handful of cash across the Grey hound counter, the sales agent said with a broad smile ,”O(jiān)h that bus left five minutes ago.”Dreams of head-cutting!
It’s not the news that makes someone angry. It’s the unsympathetic attitude with which it’s the unsympathetic attitude with which it’s delivered. Everyone must give bad news from time to time, and winning professionals do it with the proper attitude. A doctor advising a patient that she needs an operation does it in a caring way. A boss informing an employee he didn’t get the job takes on a sympathetic tone. Big winners know, when delivering any bad news, they should share the feeling of the receiver.
Unfortunately, many people are not aware of this. When you’re tired from a long flight, has a hotel clerk cheerfully said that your room isn’t ready yet? When you had your heart set on the toast beef, has your waiter mainly told you that he just served the last piece? It makes you as traveler or diner want to land your fist right on their unsympathetic faces.
Had my neighbor told me of the upcoming rainstorm with sympathy, I would have appreciated his warming .Had the Greyhound salesclerk sympathetically informed me that my bus had already left, I probably would have said, ” Oh, that’s all right I’ll catch the next one.” Big winners, when they bear bad news ,deliver bombs with the emotion the bombarded(被轟炸的)person is sure to have.
小題1:In Paragraph 1,the writer tells the story of the pharaoh to ____.

A．make a comparison	B．introduce a topic
C．describe a scene	D．offer an argument

小題2:In the writer’s opinion, his neighbor was ___.

A．friendly

B．warm-hearted

C．not considerate

D．not helpful

小題3:From “Dreams of head-cutting!”(Paragraph3),we learn that the writer___.

A．was mad at the sales agent

B．was reminded of the cruel pharaoh

C．wished that the sales agent would have had dreams

D．dreamed of cutting the sales agent’s head that night.

小題4:What is the main idea of the text?

A．Delivering bad news properly is important in communication.

B．Helping others sincerely is the key to business success.

C．Receiving bad news requires great courage.

D．Learning ancient traditions can be useful.

Say you are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked long and hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.
Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, that is the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive（印象深刻的）as the building itself.
First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Madly in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she had heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial（紀(jì)念物） to celebrate their love.
When the heartbroken Jehan appeared eight days after his wife’s death, his people were shocked to see that his coal-black hair had turned snow-white.
Putting away his sadness, Jehan ordered his wife’s dying wish carried out. More than 20,000 workers labored nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains in the center under the building.
And then, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Hehan lived the rest of his days－eight years, to be exact － imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it－until he was buried next to his wife.
Today 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange, sad story, those who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired（激發(fā)……的靈感） its construction.
59．The first two paragraphs were written to show that _____.
A.the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building
B. ancient Indian emperors were cruel
C. construction workers led a hard life in ancient India
D. India has some of the most famous buildings in the world
60．The Taj Mahal was first built as _____.
A. a prison          B. a gift to Mumtaz     
C. a memorial building        D. a tourist attraction
61．We learn from the text that Mumtaz probably died in _____.
A. 1626          B. 1632           C. 1634           D. 1653
62．The underlined word “happiness” in the last sentence refers to _____.
A. the married happiness of the emperor and his wife
B. the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power
C. the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal
D. the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal

The Home of My People

When Lewis and Clark stepped onto the Weippe Prairie in present-day Idaho in September 1805, they met the Nez Perce Indians. In the following years, the white explorers（探險(xiǎn)者）began to fight with the Indians for their land. Some Nez Perce chiefs signed agreements with the U.S. government, selling part of their lands. But the government always broke those agreements and demanded more land.
Other chiefs refused to go along with the government’s plans. The most famous was Chief Joseph, whose people lived in the Wallowa Valley（present-day Oregon）.
“In order to have all people understand how much land we owned,” he once explained, “my father planted poles around it and said: ‘Inside is the home of my people…It circled around the graves（墳?zāi)梗﹐f our fathers, and we will never give up these graves to any man.’”
But in 1874, the U.S. government declared the valley open for white settlement and ordered the Nez Perce onto a reservation（保留地）. Seeing that resistance was useless, Chief Joseph agreed to move.
Later fighting broke out between the Nez Perce and U.S. soldiers. Chief Joseph tried to lead his people to Canada, winning several battles against the soldiers during their flight. But finally, he was forced to give in.
56. Which historic site （on the map）lies in the south of today’s Nez Perce Reservation?
A. Buffalo Eddy.             B. Dug Bar.
C. Joseph Canyon Viewpoint.         D. Chief Looking Glass Camp.
57. What can we learn about the Nez Perce lands from the map?
A. They were in the state of Oregon.
B. They have become a historic site.
C. They have become much smaller.
D. They were limited to the Wallowa Valley.
58. From Paragraph 3, we know that the Indians wanted to ______.
A. show off their land      B. keep their land
C. turn their place into a graveyard      D. build their homes around the poles

If you walk slowly through downtown Helsinki（赫爾辛基）during the day, taking in the splendid 19th century buildings, white boats and noise of passing trams（有軌電車(chē)）, you will start to understand why it is called a city of two colors: white and blue.
The sea is always present in Helsinki. When you take a walk over the great open space of the central square, you will hear seabirds screaming. When you take the tram, suddenly and unexpectedly, you are faced with a calm, shining blue sea. You may notice that people in Helsinki do not rush about as in other cities. Instead, they walk along the roads, politely letting other people by.
A usual way to see Helsinki for the first time is to start out by the boats. You will walk by the elderly women selling fish and vegetables in the market square and find yourself in front of a beautiful park. You may enjoy a pleasant walk in the park for a few hours and then take the tram. Trams are the perfect way to get around in Helsinki. Watching the old houses, parks, theatres, churches, shops, restaurants and people in the streets, you may have a slightly sad film feeling to it.
The pale summer nights are another wonder in the city. Following the waterfront（濱水區(qū)）of the city after sunset, you couldn’t help stopping and listening to the sweet silence, interrupted only by the screaming seabirds and leaving fishing boats.
However, in some way, Helsinki is also the most modern city in northern Europe. You will surely want to visit the white Glass Palace, the modern art museum, and all those extremely popular cafes and design stores.
68．Helsinki is called a city of two colors mainly because of the colors of its ________.
A．19th century buildings, boats and parks
B．19th century buildings, boats and seabirds
C．old houses, parks and trams
D．old buildings, boats and the sea
69．The best way to see most of Helsinki is to go ________.
A．by boat     B．by bus      C．by tram    D．on foot
70．The 19th century buildings, the White Glass Palace, popular cafes and design shops in Helsinki all show that Helsinki is _________.
A．both splendid and traditional   B．both quiet and noisy
C．both historical and modern     D．both old and new
71．This passage is most likely to be found in _________.
A．a(chǎn) story-book           B．a(chǎn) geography textbook
C．a(chǎn) research report             D．a(chǎn) travel magazine

PEOPLE
NOBLE SMUGGLER
This Thursday, Irena Sendler will be honoured for her work as a smuggler（偷運(yùn)者）. During World WarⅡ, the Polish social worker smuggled nearly2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto（聚居區(qū)）. She gave them new identities, found them safe places with good-hearted Christians, and kept the children’s real names buried in jars in her neighbours’ gardens.（The play, Life in a Jar, based on her story, is being performed.）At 93, Sendler lives in a Warsaw nursing home and is too weak to travel to Washington D.C., to receive the 2003 Jan Karski Award for Valorand Compassion from the American Center of Polish Culture. One of the children she saved will accept the award for her.
You risked your life to save the children.
I was taught by my father that when someone is drowning, you don’t ask if they can swim，you just jump in and help. During the war, everyone was drowning, but mostly the Jewish children.
How did you persuade parents to give up their children？
I had to answer honestly that I didn’t even know if we would get past the guards.
What was the most frightening moment？
When I saw a priest（牧師）in charge of an orphan age for Jewish children in the ghetto walk with them out to be killed. The children were in then best Sunday suits. The priest was killed with them.
How did you get the children to be have as you smuggled them out？
I told the older children to act as if they were sick and sometimes gave the younger ones a sleeping pill. They were told to remember their new names. I also told the children to tell guards they had only been visiting a servant in the ghetto and were going back to their real homes outside.
Did you tell your own two children what you did？
I never told them. Only when my daughter went to Israel did she learn all about me. I thought it was only normal to do so. And it was a very painful subject. It was always on my mind that I couldn’t do more.
——Samantha Levine
1. We can learn from the passage that Irena Sendler____.
A. will go to Washington to accept the award with her daughter
B. was caught a few times while she was rescuing the Jewish children
C. told those parents that their children’s lives would be guaranteed
D. saved thousands of Jewish children at the risk of her ownlife
2. The expression “everyone was drowning” can best be replaced by“______”.
A. everyone was involved in the war
B. all the people were drowned
C. people were facing danger and death
D. Jewish children were being killed
3. Which of the following could NOT be expected when Sendler was smuggling the Jewish children？
A. Some children were told to pretend to be sick in front of the guards.
B. Some children pretended to be returning home after visiting servants in the ghetto.
C. The children were asked to remember and use new names instead of real ones.
D. The children pretended to be brothers and sisters from one big family.
4. Sendler didn’t tell her own children what she did in the war because ______.
A. she thought it was the most frightening experience
B. the topic was too painful and heart-breaking to mention
C. it was already recorded and made known to the public
D. she planned to bury the secret in her heart until her death

The space shuttle Columbia flared and broke up in the skies over Texas on Saturday, February 1,2003, killing the seven astronauts on board in what NASA and President Bush called a tragedy for the entire nation. NASA launched an investigation into the disaster and began searching for the astronauts' remains. It said that although there had been some data failures it was too early to nail down a precise cause. The break-up, 16 minutes before the shuttle was due to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, spread possibly toxic debris(有毒的殘骸) over a wide swath of Texas and neighboring states.
Dramatic television images of the shuttle's descent clearly showed several white trails(痕跡) streaking through blue skies after the shuttle suddenly fell apart. It was almost 17 years to the day that the Challenger shuttle exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts on board.
Take-off and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere are the most dangerous parts of a space mission. In 42 years of US' human space flight, there had never been an accident in the descent to Earth or landing. Challenger exploded just after take-off.
Rescue teams scrambled to search for the remains of the crew, which included the first Israeli to fly on the shuttle, former combat pilot Col. Ilan Ramon. There were warnings that parts of a vast 120-mile-long corridor of debris could be toxic because of poisonous rocket propellant(推進(jìn)器).
"We are not ready to confirm that we have found any human remains," Nacogdoches County Sheriff Thomas Kerrs said. He added that among the roughly 1,000 calls reporting debris, some people said they found remains of crew members.
"The Columbia is lost. There are no survivors, …Their mission was almost complete and we lost them so close to home. … America's space program will go on," said a grim-faced Bush in a message broadcast on television, which included condolences to the families of the dead astronauts.
1. The word “descent” in the passage means ________.
A. taking off   B. landing      C. orbiting     D. walking down
2. Which is true of the Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon?
A. He was the first Israeli astronaut to fly on the shuttle.
B. He was the first foreign astronaut to fly on the American shuttle.
C. He used to be a passenger plane pilot.
D. He was the only survivor in the Columbia disaster.
3. The Columbia disaster and the Challenger disaster were similar in that ________.
A. there were seven astronauts killed on board
B. both the shuttles exploded when they took off
C. Both the shuttles exploded when they were about to land
D. no human remains were found
4. Which of the following is wrong according to the news?
A. The U.S.A. will give up the space program because of the accident.
B. NASA hasn’t found the cause of the Columbia disaster.
C. Before the Columbia disaster, no shuttles had exploded in the course of landing.
D. Take-off and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere are the most dangerous parts of a space mission.

The Channel Islands are a group of British?owned islands lying in the English Channel(海峽) , 10 to 30 miles off the French coast , and 70 to 90 miles from the English coast. There are ten islands with a total land area of 75 square miles and a total population of 123,000. The three largest islands, Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney, have long been known for the fine breeds(品種) of cattle that are raised on them and named after them.
In earliest known history the islands were considered part of Normandy, whic
h was part of France, but the ruler of Normandy became king of England in 1066, and from then on the islands were looked upon as British land. English control was unbroken until World War Ⅱ,when the Germans held the islands for five years.
Although people on the islands speak both languages and they are considered English, their customs are more French than English.
1.Which of the following maps gives the right position of the Channel Islands?

Br="Britain            " Fr="France           " Ch="Channel" Islands 
2.Jersey,Guernsey, and Alderney breeds of cattle are  ________ .
A. considered best in England
B. named after their birthplaces
C. brought to the islands by the Germans
D. raised on well?known farms by the French 
3.The Channel Islands have been continuously under British rule since ___________.
A. earliest known history               B. 1066
C. 1930s                                D. the end of World War Ⅱ 
4.Why do people on the Channel Islands follow French way of living?
A. Their islands used to be part of Frence.
B. Their islands are often visited by the French.
C. They came from France.
D. They speak French. 

Having learned much about the War of Resistance against Japan, Mao Jingxin didn’t like the Japanese when she was a child. “I thought they were cruel and rude,” said the 18-year-old girl from Hebei Province. But she began to change her mind after she met some Japanese teenagers in a history museum six years ago. These fashionable high school students looked seriously at the history displays and talked to Mao in a friendly way. “I found that they are not bad as I thought,” she said.
Like Mao, many Chinese teenagers’ are caught up in this confusion. A survey by 21st Century Teens shows about 51 per cent of Chinese teenagers say they dislike Japan. But most of them still want to have a Japanese friend. Also, Japan lies third on their list of Asian countries that they want to visit, following Singapore and South Korea. Teens did a survey just before the 60th anniversary of the victory day of the War of Resistance against Japan, which fell on September 3. The survey aimed to encourage understanding and communication between young Chinese and Japanese.
Teens also wanted to understand Chinese teenagers’ attitudes towards Japan, and how much they actually know about the country. As Teens found, more than 60 per cent of Chinese teenagers learn about Japan through the media or books. Only 16 per cent have ever met a Japanese person.
“Most of my friends hate Japan for what it did to China during World War II. But people should not live in hatred. I think the best way to figure it out is to have contact with the Japanese people myself,” Zhang Yuyuan, a Senior 2 girl, told us in the survey.
Jin Xide, professor of the Chinese Academy of Social Science, says that China and Japan actually had a peaceful relationship during the 1970s and 1980s. Since the 1990s, the growth of Japan’ s right-wing forces has caused great difficulties. “We have to be strong against them. But we mustn’t ignore the fact that there are far more friendly Japanese,” added Jin.
“Japan has done wrong to Asian countries including China and it has caused pain to everyone,” said Hikaru, a 17-year-old girl in Kawasaki. Having visited China four times and learned much, she understands the importance of communication between the two peoples. She plans to join in an exchange programme with Chinese youth. “Welcome to Japan, my Chinese friends!” She says it with a smile.
64. Most teenagers hate Japanese because _______.
A. the Japanese they meet are cruel
B. the Japanese were cruel during the war
C. they look too fashionable
D. the Japanese don’t want to communicate with Chinese people
65. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the survey?
A. Only a small percentage of teenagers have met a Japanese.
B. More than half of the teenagers in the survey don’t like the Japanese.
C. Singapore is one of the most popular Asian tourist places for Chinese teenagers.
D. Most Chinese teenagers learn about Japan through exchange activities.
66. According to Professor Jin, _____ is the main reason for the worse relationship between Japan and China.
A. the War of Resistance against Japan
B. lack of communication
C. Japan’s increasing right-wing force
D. Japan’s rapidly-growing economy
67. The passage is written to ______.
A. encourage Chinese teenagers to meet the Japanese
B. report what Chinese teenagers think about Japan
C. provide information about Japanese teenagers
D. give a brief introduction to the history of the War of Resistance against Japan

For centuries,the only form of written correspondence (通信)was the letters, letters were, and are, sent by some form of postal service, the history of which goes back a long way .Indeed, the Egyptians began sending letters from about 2000 BC,as did the Chinese a thousand years later.
Of course, modern postal service now are much more developed and faster, depending as they do on cars and planes for delivery. Yet they are still too slow for some people to send urgent documents (緊急文件)and letters.
The invention of the fax (傳真) machine increased the speed of delivering documents even more. When you send a fax，you are sending a copy of a piece of correspondence to someone by telephone service. It was not until the early 1980s that such a service was developed enough for businesses to be able to fax documents to each other.
The fax service is still very much in use when copies of documents require to be sent ,but, as a way of fast correspondence, it has been largely taken the place of by email ,Email is used to describe messages sent form one computer user to another.
There are advantages and disadvantages with emails. If you send some one an email , then he will receive it extremely quickly .Normal postal services are rather slow as far as speed of delivery is concerned.
However, if you write something by email, which you might later regret ,and send it immediately, there is no chance for second thoughts. At least, if you are posting a letter you have to address and seal(封)the envelope and take it to the post box.There is plenty of time to change your mind .The message is think before you email!
41.We can learn from the text that__________.
A.email is less popular than the fax service       
B.the postal service has over the years become faster
C. the postal service has over the years become slower
D. the fax service has a history as long as the postal service does
42.It can be inferred from the text that_________.
A. the fax service had been fully developed by the 1980s
B. letters have been used in China for about 1,000 years
C. the fax machine was invented after the 1980s
D. letters have been used in Egypt for about 2,000 years
43.In the last paragraph, the writer mentions "think before you email" to show that________.
A. you may regret if you don’t your envelope        B. you may regret before you send something by email
C. you’d better not send your email in a hurry     D. you need plenty of time to send an email
44.The text mainly deal with_________.
A. the progress in correspondence                      B. the advantage of fax machines
C .the advantage of emails                                 D. the invention of fax machines