Korean popular male artistes Rain who swept Asia recently, had gained popularity among both male and
female fans. Due to his popularity, it has changed the initial plan of Pepsi which does not intend to offer
Korean artistes to be Pepsi's ambassadors. Now they have changed their mind to offer a high price to invite
Rain to be its new" blue blood".
     For the past 2 years, Pepsi had spent enormous amount of fund in search of the world popular super stars,
offering them to be its ambassadors. They include soccer star David Beckham,Taiwan popular idols F4,Jay
Chou, Hong Kong stars Edison Chen, Nicholas Tse,Louis Koo ect. Now with the recent up and rising Korean
Star Rain, Pepsi is quick to put him in its list.
     According to source, Pepsi has recently sent a representative to fly over to Korea to discuss details with
Rain and they are about to sign the contract. Also according to source, Pepsi shall be the sponsor of Rain's
October concert in Hong Kong, but Rain's Hong Kong manager Ms Chan Ka Ying responded,"At this moment,
it's　not convenient to talk about this.There shall be a news announcement shortly!"
     As the old Chinese saying "One mountain cannot be ruled by several tigers", Pepsi has somehow created an
internal competition. As Rain's rising popularity is getting strong, the status of Jay, who has the same feature
of"single eye-lid" as Rain, has somehow been affected-there's a rumor that the skin product brand HDC has the
intention to switch from Jay to Rain to be its ambassador, in order to capture Korea, Japan, and China market
to expand its business. Besides being popular for his R&B songs and dance steps, Rain's lead role in " Full
House" has also emotionally touched many Asian women's hearts. He has even successfully penetrated (滲透)
into the mainland China market, the most difficult task. His recent Beijing concert caused a tremendous hit,
resulting in creating"Korean Fever" in mainland China.

1. An "artiste" refers to_____.

A. a professional singer, dancer, actor etc. who performs in a show
B. someone who produces art, especially paintings or drawings
C. someone who sings songs
D. a person that advertises something

2. Who is most likely to be affected by Rain?

A. Jay Chou
B. Louis Koo
C. Mc Chan Ka Ying
D. David Beckham

3.The main reason why Pepsi wants to invite Rain is _______.

A. to help Pepsi sell the skin products
B. to ask him to train their workers
C. to use his influence on people
D. to make him compete with other stars

4.What's the author's attitude towards Rain?

A. Rain is a person with great talents.
B. Rain is too proud to be trusted.
C. Rain should improve his singing skills.
D. Rain shouldn't accept so much money.

5. What does Mr Chan Ka Ying's response mean?

A. Rain don't want to sign the contract
B. They don't want to announce any news until two sides make a deal
C. They hate the media
D. They will announce the news now.

     Confucius (孔子) was born five hundred and fifty years before Christ. Unlike Jesus Christ, he did not
bring words of God to the people. He was a clever teacher and a philosopher, looking for truth and wisdom.
Most of his teaching was about life in this world.
     Confucius was very keen (渴望) to give people good rulers. Someone asked him,"What does a country
need?" Confucius answered,"Enough food, a good army, and a good leader." The people then asked,"Which
one is the most important?" Confucius answered,"An army is not very important. All men must die, so food is
not the most important. But if the leader of the country is not good, then everything will be bad,"

1. A philosopher is a person who ___.

A. does not like Jesus Christ
B. teaches people something about God
C. Seeks after truth and wisdom
D. is more clever than most of other people

2. Jesus Christ ____.

A. was born more than half a century earlier than Confucius
B. taught people anything about God
C. did not tell people anything about God
D. was a philosopher sent by God

3. Confucius taught people all these things except ____.

A. how to live in the world
B. the importance of the leader of the country
C. any ideas about God
D. how to make good judgments

4. For Confucius a man ____.

A. could not escape death
B. would die if he didn't have a good ruler
C. was not important compared with food
D. ought to die if he considered food to be the most important for him

     FeiXiang, whose English name is Kris Phillips, is a Chinese-American. He is nearly two meters, with
 blue eyes, looking like an Asian. Though he was born in Taiwan, he grew up speaking Chinese to his
 mother and English to his father and became a student at Stanford University in California. Later he 
returned from abroad to Taiwan and became a singer.
     In 1986, FeiXiang visited the mainland and turned into a big pop star there. He was well known
 among the young people and his songs were widely accepted, such as "fire in the winter", "clouds of my 
hometown” and so on.
     He left the mainland for New York four years later. There he worked as a lowly member. He led a 
quiet life in New York, for only a few people knew his name.
     Now Phillips is planning to end his six-year stay in the USA and return to the mainland and his
 recording career. His new projects  introduce the mainland to the music of the roadway stage , including
 the song "Maria" from "west side story"

1. Kris Phillips’ mother is ____ and his father is ____.

A. Chinese American 
B. Chinese..Chinese  
C. American  American 
D. English…American

2. Mr. Kris Phillips became as a big pop star  ________ .

A. in the United States                
B. in the place where he was born 
C. in the mainland                   
D. at Stanford University

3. What is the order in which Phillips did the following things?
a. made a decision to return to PRC.
b. learned Chinese from his  mother and English from his father.
c. was widely welcomed by the young people.
d. sang miss Saigon as a lowly member.
e. became a student at Stanford university 

A. b e c d a           
B. e b d c a          
C. d e b a c        
D. c a b e d

4. Feixiang is the best known in china for ____. 

A. his plan to introduce the mainland to the music of Broadway stage 
B. west side story         
C. his performance        
D. his special nationality 

     William Butler Yeats, a most famous Irish writer, was born in Dublin on June 13,1865. His childhood
lacked the harmony (和睦) that was typical of a happy family. Later, Yeats shocked his family by saying
that he remembered "little of childhood but its pain". In fact, he inherited (繼承) excellent taste in art from
his family-both his father and his brother were painters. But he finally settled on literature, particularly drama
(戲劇) and poetry.
     Yeats had strong faith in coming of new artistic movements. He set himself the fresh task in founding
an Irish national theatre in the late 1890s. His early theatrical experiments, however, were not received
favorably at the beginning. He didn't lose heart, and finally enjoyed success in his poetical drama.
     Compared with his dramatic works, Yeats's poems attract much admiring notice. The subject matter
includes love, nature, history, time and aging. Though Yeats generally relied on very traditional forms, he
brought modern sensibility to them. As his literary life progressed, his poetry grew finer and richer, which
led him to worldwide recognition.
     He had not enjoyed a major public life since winning the Nobel Prize in 1923. Yet, he continued writing
almost to the end of his life. Had Yeats stopped writing at age 40, he would probably now his valued as a
manor poet, for there is no other example in literary history of a poet who produces his greatest works
between the ages of 50 and 75. After Yeats's death in 1939, W.H. Auden wrote, among others, the following
lines:
     Earth, recive an honoured guest:
     William Yeats is laid to rest.
     Let the Irish vessel (船) lie
     Emptied of its poetry

1. Which of the following can describe Yeats's family?

A. It filled Yeats's childhood with laughter.
B. It was shocked by Yeats's choice.
C. It was a typically wealthy family.
D. It had an artistic atmosphere.

2. According to these passage, what do we know about Yeats's life?

A. Yeats founded the first Irish theater.
B. Yeats stuck to modern forms in his poetry.
C. Yeats began to produce his best works from the 1910s.
D. Yeats was not favored by the public until the 1923 Noble Prize.

3. What kind of feeling is expressed in W.H. Auden's lines?

A. Envy
B. Sympathy
C. Emptiness
D. Admiration

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Yeats's literary achievements
B. Yeats's historical influence
C. Yeats's artistic ambition
D. Yeats's national honor

     The majority of astronauts from America have been men. At the start of the space programme there was
strong resistance from some people against having women in space. However, some women were very keen
to become astronauts and in the end they were successful. In 1978, NASA began the first training programme
for women astronauts.
     Judy Resnick and Christa McAuliffe were both astronauts and they were both women, but in many other
ways they were very different. Both of them were on Flight STS-5L-L. Judy Resnick was born in 1949 and
studied engineering at university and went on to obtain a PhD in 1977. She was a member of the first group
of women selected for astronaut training in 1978, and in 1984, she became the second woman in space.
During that flight, she helped to launch three new satellites and she carried out a programme of research. She
was, in many ways, a professional astronaut whose whole life was devoted to space travel.
     Christa McAuliffe was born in 1948 and she was an astronaut almost by accident. In 1984, NASA decided
to find a teacher who could accompany (go with sb. esp. on a journey ) astronauts into space. They hoped
that she would be able to communicate with students from space and encourage every one of them to be
interested in space travel. Christa was a secondary teacher in history and social studies. She was a gifted
teacher and she was selected from over 11,000 applicants to go on flight STS-51-L. She was also a very good
communicator and she immediately established (set up) a very good relationship with the news media (radio,
television and newspapers). It was partly because of this that there was a great deal of interest and excitement
about the flight. Thousands of students in schools and universities all around the country were looking forward
to communicating with Christa in space. Millions of people were watching her flight with great interest. It is
partly because of the excitement over McAuliffe's place in the flight that the disaster in 1986 had such an effect
on people.

1. We can learn from the first two paragraphs that _____.

A. Judy was against the idea of having women in space at first
B. Judy was the first woman selected for astronaut training
C. Judy helped to launch three new satellites at the age of 35
D. Judy carried out a programme during her second space travel

2. Christa McAuliffe was chosen for training because _____.

A. she was popular with the news media
B. she expected to give history lessons in space
C. she was an excellent teacher and communicator
D. she made the students in space very excited

3. The reason why there was great interest in Flight STS-51-L is that _____.

A. both Christa and Judy got PhD degrees in the same year
B. a young secondary school teacher was on the flight
C. students were going to learn more about space travel
D. it was the first time for women to travel in space

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Two Astronauts
B. Flight STS-51-L
C. Travelling in Space
D. The Training Programme

     Christopher Thomas, 27, was a writer by night and a teacher by day when he noticed he was always
tired and was losing weight fast. Diagnosed with diabetes (糖尿病), Thomas would need to inject himself with insulin (胰島素) three times a day for the rest of his life or risk nerve damage, blindness, and even
death. And if that weren't bad enough, he had no health insurance.
     After a month of feeling upset, Thomas decided he'd better find a way to fight back. He left Canton,
Michigan for New York, got a job waiting tables, nicknamed himself the Diabetic Rockstar , and created
diabeticrockstar.com, a free online community for diabetics and their loved ones-a place where over
1,100 people share personal stories, information, and resources.
     Jason Swencki's son, Kody, was diagnosed with type diabetes at six. Father and son visit the online
children's forums (論壇) together most evenings. "Kody gets so excited, writing to kids from all over,"
says Swencki, one of the site's volunteers. "They know what he's going through, so he doesn't feel alone."
Kody is anything but alone: Diabetes is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, with
24 million diagnosed cases. And more people are being diagnosed at younger ages.
      These days, Thomas's main focus is his charity, Fight It, which provides medicines and supplies to
people-225 to date-who can't afford a diabetic's huge expenses. Fight-it.org has raised about
$23,000-in products and in cash. In May, Thomas will hold the first annual Diabetic Rockstar Festival in
the Caribbean. 
  Even with a staff of 22 volunteers, Thomas often devotes up to 50 hours a week to his cause, while still
doing his full-time job waiting tables. "Of the diabetes charities out there, most are putting money into
finding a cure," says Bentley Gubar,  one of Rockstar's original members. "But Christopher is the only
person I know saying people need help now."

1. Which of the following is true of Christopher Thomas?

A. He needs to go to the doctor every day.
B. He studies the leading cause of diabetes
C. He has a positive attitude to this disease.
D. He encourages diabetics by writing articles.

2. Diabeitcrockstar.com was created for _________.

A. diabetics to communicate                
B. volunteers to find jobs
C. children to amuse themselves              
D. rock stars to share resources.

3. According to the text, Kody ______.

A. feel lonely because of his illness              
B. benefits from diabeticrockstar.com
C. helps create the online kid's forums            
D. writes children's stories online

4. What can we learn about Fight It?

A. It helps the diabetics in financial difficulties.    
B. It organizes parties for volunteer once a year.
C. It offers less expensive medicine to diabetics.    
D. It owns a well-known medical website.

5. The last paragraph suggests that Thomas ______.

A. works full-time in a diabetes charity          
B. employs 22 people for his website
C. helps diabetics in his own way                
D. ties to find a cure for diabetes

     Booker T. Washington was born in a black slave family in Virginia of the USA in 1856, seven years
before slavery was abolished (廢除) by Abraham Lincoln in January, 1863.
     He wrote a book about his life called Up From Slavery, which was published in 1901. In the book,
he said that he had no choice but to work in a coal mine when he was 16 years old. He had no chance to
go to school. He heard two coal miners talking about a school for black children which was called the
Hampton Institute.
     He determined that he would go there. He gave up his job and told other members of his race that he
was going to school across the state. The older people had spent their best years as slaves and were poor. However, some gave Booker some pocket money or a handkerchief. Hardly had anyone expected any
of their race to leave home to attend a boarding school. He took a train to Richmond, Virginia, where he
ran out of money. It was 82 miles from the Hampton Institute. He slept under a wooden sidewalk(人行道).            
     He helped unload pigs and iron from a ship for some money and when he had enough, he continued
his journey, arriving at school with 50 cents.
     This diligence(勤奮) pushed him to graduate and become a teacher at the Hampton Institute. When
he was 25 years old, he was asked to start a new school for black children in Alabama. called the
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. Thirty-four years later, this school had 1,500 students and 200
teachers and Booker T. Washington became the most influential black leader of his generation.

1. What's the purpose of the passage?

A. To show the significance of education for black children.
B. To introduce Booker T. Washington's working experience as a slave.
C. To present a brief introduction of Booker T. Washington.
D. To explain the reason why Booker T. Washington becomes a writer.

2. Booker T. Washington didn't go to school early in life because ________.

A. there were no schools for slave in America.
B. blacks were not allowed to receive education.
C. he had to work as a coal miner.
D. he was not smart enough to receive education.

3. The older people didn't give Booker much money because _________.

A. they had no jobs to do.
B. they didn't have much money.
C. they didn't believe Booker would succeed.
D. they didn't wish Booker to go to school.

     Jean-Francois Millet (October 4,1814-January 20, 1875) was a French painter and one of the founder of the Barbizon School in rural France. Born of a peasant family, Millet was encouraged by his father to
study art in Cherbourg, France. He can be categorized as part of the movement called "naturalism"(自然主義). His understanding of the peasant' hard life was perfectly expressed in his choice of subject and
natural preference for powerful but simple drawing and coloring.
     One of the most well-known of Millet's paintings, The Gleaners(《拾穗者》),first came in a vertical
composition (垂直式構(gòu)圖) painted in 1854,and then there came the horizontal version in 1856, which is
now preserved in the Musee d'Orsay. It depicts women bending over in the fields to collect the leftover's
from the harvest, and it is a monumental composition devoted to the working class.
     Previously, servants were depicted in paintings as obedient to a noble or a king, and picking up what
was left of the harvest was regarded as one of the lowest jobs in Millet;s times. However, Millet offered
these women as the heroic focus of the picture. Besides, in the painting, light lights up the women's
shoulders as they carry out their work. Behind them, the field that stretches into the distance is bathed in
golden light, under a wide , magnificent sky. The forms of the three figures, standing against the lighter field, show balance and harmony.

1. According to the passage , we can know that Millet ______.

A. was born in rural France        
B. belongs to neither naturalism nor realism
C. became famous for his love of the countryside
D. received his high school education in Barbizon

2. As for the painting The Gleaners, ________.

A. it is originally a horizontal compositionKs5u
B. it is based on the effort of Musee d'Orsay
C. it presents women in the field as the chief focus
D. it shows how women are stopped from working in the field

3. In the painting, the viewer can appreciate Millet's_______.

A. crazy interest in blue color      
B. strong focus on the city life
C. absolute respect for the king     
D. particular choice of main characters

4. In which of the following books can we probably find this passage?

A. Kings and Nobles in France            
B. A Guide to French Painting
C. French Agricultural History            
D. The Founder of Musee d'Orsay