At the end of the 16th century, about seven million people spoke English. l.________ (幾乎) all of them
lived in England. As people from England started 2.________ to other parts of the world, English began to
be 3. ________ in many other countries. Now more people speak English than ever 4.________.
5. ________ English speakers can understand each other even 6. ________ they don't speak the same kind
of English. 7. ________, they may not be able to understand everything.
     All languages change when cultures communicate with each other. Now American English and Australian
English have their own 8.________. English is also spoken in many other countries in Africa and Asia, such
as South Africa, India, Singapore and Malaysia. Today the number of people learning English in China
9.________ increasing 10.________. In future Chinese English will become one of the world Englishes.

     Claude and Louris are "giraffes". So are police officers Hankins and Pearson. These men and women don't
look like giraffes; they look like you and me. Then, why do people call them "giraffes"?
     A giraffe, they say, is an animal that sticks its neck out, can see places far away and has a large heart. It
lives a quiet life and moves about in an easy and beautiful way. In the same way, a "giraffe" can be a person
who likes to "stick his or her neck out" for other people, always watches for future happenings, has a warm
heart for people around, and at the same time lives a quiet and beautiful life himself or herself.
     "The Giraffe Project" is a 10-year-old group which finds and honors "giraffes" in the US and in the world.
The group wants to teach people to do something to build a better world. The group members believe that a
person shouldn't draw his or her head back; instead, they tell people to "stick their necks out" and help others.
     Claude and Louris, Hankins and Pearson are only a few of the nearly l,000 "giraffes" that the group found
and honored. Claude and Louris were getting old and they left their work with some money that they saved
for future use. One day, however, they saw a homeless man looking for a place to keep warm and they decided
that they should "stick their necks out" and give him some help. Today, they lived in Friends' House, where
they invite twelve homeless people to stay every night.
     Police officers Hankins and Pearson work in a large city. They see crimes every day and their work is
sometimes dangerous. They work hard for their money. However, these two men put their savings together
and even borrowed money to start an educational center to teach young people in a poor part of the city.
Hankins and Pearson are certainly "giraffes".

1. Which of the following is true?

A. Some of the people around us look like giraffes.
B. Giraffes are the most beautiful animal in the world.
C. "Giraffes" is a beautiful name for those who are ready to help other people.
D. A "giraffe" is someone who can stick his neck out and see the future.

2. "The Giraffe Project" is a group _____.

A. of police officers
B. which appeared ten years ago
C. of ten-year-old children
D. which takes care of children

3. People call Claude and Hankins "giraffes" because they _____.

A. do what is needed for a good world
B. are not afraid of dangerous work
C. found a home for poor people
D. made money only for other people

4. What does "The Giraffe Project" do?

A. It tells people how to live a quiet life.
B. It helps the homeless and teaches the young people.
C. It tries to find l,000 warm-hearted people in the US.
D. It shows people what their duty is for a better world.

5. The passage mainly tries to tell us _____.

A. what giraffes are like
B. what "the Giraffe Project" is
C. why Claude, Louris, Hankins and Pearson are called "giraffes"
D. what we should do for a better world

     The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of September 2, 1666. In four days it destroyed
more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. One
hundred thousand people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.
     The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King's baker (師) in Pudding Lane. The baker,
with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window in the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from
the bakery (房) into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
     By eight o'clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning
along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St.
Paul's and the Guildhall among them.
     Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire. People threw their things into the river. Many poor
people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat.
     The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of
the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
     After the fire, Wren, the architect (建筑師), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone.
In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among them new St. Paul's.
     The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just
of the past.

1. The fire began in _____.

A. a hotel
B. the palace
C. Pudding Lane
D. Thames Street

2. The underlined word "family" in the second paragraph means _____.

A. home
B. children
C. wife and husband
D. wife and children

3. It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that _____.

A. some people lost their lives
B. the birds in the sky were killed by the fire
C. many famous buildings were destroyed
D. the King's bakery was burned down

4. Why did the writer cite (引用) Samuel Pepys?

A. Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire.
B. Because Pepys also wrote about the fire.
C. To show that poor people suffered most.
D. To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire.

5. How was the fire put out according to the text?

A. The King and his soldiers came to help.
B. All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed.
C. People managed to get enough water from the river.
D. Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down.

     The garden city was largely the invention of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928). After immigrating form
England to the USA, and an unsuccessful attempt to make a living as a farmer, he moved to Chicago, where
he saw the reconstruction of the city after the disastrous fire of 1871. In those days, it was nicknamed "the
Garden City", almost certainly the source of Howard's name for his later building plan of towns. Returning
to London, Howard developed his design in the 1880s and 1890s, drawing on ideas that were popular at the
time, but creating a unique combination of designs.
     The nineteenth-century poor city was in many ways a terrible place, dirty and crowded; but it offered
economic and social opportunities. At the same time, the British countryside was in fact equally unattractive:
though it promised fresh air and nature, it suffered from agricultural depression (蕭條) and it offered neither
enough work and wages, nor much social life. Howard's idea was to combine the best of town and country
in a new kind of settlement, the garden city. Howard's idea was that a group of people should set up a
company, borrowing money to establish a garden city in the depressed countryside; far enough from existing
cities to make sure that the land was bought at the bottom price.
     Garden cities would provide a central public open space, radial avenues and connecting industries. They
would be surrounded by a much larger area of green belt, also owned by the company, containing not merely
farms but also some industrial institutions. As more and more people moved in, the garden city would reach
its planned limit-Howard suggested 32,000 people; then, another would be started a short distance away. Thus,
over time, there would develop a vast planned house collection, extending almost without limit; within it, each
garden city would offer a wide rang of jobs and services, but each would also be connected to the others by
a rapid transportation system, thus giving all the economic and social opportunities of a big city.

1. How did Howard get the name for his building plan of garden cities?

A. Through his observation of the country life.
B. Through the combination of different ideas.
C. By taking other people's advice.
D. By using the nickname of the reconstructed Chicago.

2. The underlined phrase "drawing on" in Paragraph 1 probably means _____.

A. making use of
B. making comments on
C. giving an explanation of
D. giving a description of

3. According to Howard, garden cities should be built _____.

A. as far as possible from existing cities
B. in the countryside where the land was cheap
C. in the countryside where agriculture was developed
D. near cities where employment opportunities already existed

4. What can we learn about garden cities from the last paragraph?

A. Their number would continue to rise
B. Each one would continue to become larger
C. People would live and work in the same place
D. Each one would contain a certain type of business

5. What could be the best title for the passage?

A. City and Countryside
B. The Invention of the Garden City
C. A New City in Chicago
D. A Famous Garden City in England

     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), 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 boat. 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.

1. The best way to see most of Helsinki is to go _____.

A. by boat
B. by bus
C. by tram
D. on foot

2. 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

3. This passage is most likely to be found in _____.

A. a story book
B. a geography textbook
C. a research report
D. a travel magazine

    Every country tends to accept its own way of life as being the normal one and to
praise or criticize others, as they are similar to or different from it. And unfortunately,
our picture of the people and the way of life of other countries is often a distorted (扭
曲的) one.
    Here is a great argument in favor of foreign travel and learning foreign languages.
It is only by traveling in a country and getting to know its inhabitants and their language
that one can find out what a country and its people are really like. And how different the
knowledge one gains this way frequently turns out to be from the second-hand information
gathered from other sources! How often we find that the foreigners whom we thought to
be such different people from ourselves are not very different at all!
    Differences between peoples do, of course, exist and,one hopes,will always continue
to do so. The world will be a dull place indeed when all the different nationalities
behave exactly alike, and some people might say that we are rapidly approaching this state
of affairs. With the much greater rapidity (快速) and ease of travel,there might seem to
be some truth in this at least as far as Europe is concerned. However this may be,at least
the greater ease of travel today has revealed (展示) to more people than ever before that
the Englishman or Frenchman or German is not: some different kind of animal from
themselves.

1. Every country criticizes ways of life in other countries because they are _____.

A. distorted
B. normal
C. similar to each other
D. different from its own

2. One who travels in a foreign country and learns its language will _____.

A. find out why its people are different
B. argue in favor of this country and the language
C. know the country and its people better
D. like its inhabitants and their language

3. The knowledge one gains by traveling in a foreign country is often _____.

A. from second-hand information
B. gathered from other sources rather than its inhabitants
C. gained from the arguments about the country
D. different from what one had before the travel

4. In this passage,the author wants to say _____.

A. differences between peoples will gradually disappear because of the ease of travel
B. differences between peoples do exist even though different nationalities behave exactly 
   alike
C. differences between peoples will continue to exist and the world will be a dull place
D. differences between peoples will not exist as one hopes

1. What does the word "pump" mean in "He ran in every five minutes to pump me about the case"?

A. Talk with.
B. Ask for information.
C. Listen to.
D. Provide with evidence.

2. When Sally says "The TV program kept pumping out commercials", she may be _____.

A. excited
B. interested
C. annoyed
D. worried

3. What will the government most probably provide if it is engaged in a pump-priming program?

A. Sums of money.
B. Raw materials.
C. Human resources.
D. Media support.

4. When Sylvia says "His speech was OK but it had no real punch", she thinks it was not _____.

A. fluent and impressive
B. logical and moving
C. informative and significant
D. interesting and powerful

     Human remains of ancient settlements will be reburied and lost to science under a law that threatens
research into the history of humans in Britain, a group of leading archeologists (考古學家) says. In a letter
addressed to the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, 40 archaeologists write of their "deep and widespread concern"
about the issue. It centers on the law introduced by the Ministry of Justice in 2008 which requires all human
remains unearthed in England and Wales to be reburied within two years, regardless of their age. The decision
means scientists have too little time to study bones and other human remains of national and cultural
significance.
     "Your current requirement that all archaeologically unearthed human remains should be reburied, whether
after a standard period of two years or a further special extension, is contrary to basic principles of
archaeological and scientific research and of museum practice," they write.
     The law applies to any pieces of bone uncovered at around 400 dig sites, including the remains of 60 or so
bodies found at Stonehenge in 2008 that date back to 3,000 BC. Archaeologists have been granted a temporary
extension to give them more time, but eventually the bones will have to be returned to the ground.
     The arrangements may result in the waste of future discoveries at sites such as Happisburgh in Norfolk,
where digging is continuing after the discovery of stone tools made by early humans 950,000 years ago. If
human remains were found at Happisburgh, they would be the oldest in northern Europe and the first indication
of what this species was. Under the current practice of the law those remains would have to be reburied and
effectively destroyed. 
     Before 2008, guidelines allowed for the proper preservation and study of bones of sufficient age and
historical interest, while the Burial Act 1857 applied to more recent remains. The Ministry of Justice assured
archaeologists two years ago that the law was temporary, but has so far failed to revise it.
     Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at Sheffield University, said:"Archaeologists have been extremely
patient because we were led to believe the ministry was sorting out this problem, but we feel that we cannot
wait any longer."
     The ministry has no guidelines on where or how remains should be reburied, or on what records should
be kept.

1. According to the passage, scientists are unhappy with the law mainly because _____.

A. it is only a temporary measure on the human remains
B. it is unreasonable and thus destructive to scientific research
C. it was introduced by the government without their knowledge
D. it is vague about where and how to rebury human remains

2. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. Temporary extension of two years will guarantee scientists enough time.
B. Human remains of the oldest species were dug out at Happisburgh.
C. Human remains will have to be reburied despite the extension of time.
D. Scientists have been warned that the law can hardly be changed.

3. What can be inferred about the British law governing human remains?

A. The Ministry of Justice did not intend it to protect human remains.
B. The Burial Act 1857 only applied to remains uncovered before 1857.
C. The law on human remains hasn't changed in recent decades.
D. The Ministry of Justice has not done enough about the law.

4. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A. New discoveries should be reburied, the government demands.
B. Research time should be extended, scientists require.
C. Law on human remains needs thorough discussion, authorities say.
D. Law could bury ancient secrets for ever, archeologists warn.

     The Queen's English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queen's Christmas
broadcasts had found. Researchers have studied each of her messages to the Commonwealth countries
since 1952 to find out the change in her pronunciation from the noble Upper Received to the Standard
Received.
     Jonathan Harrington, a professor at Germany's University of Munich, wanted to discover whether
accent (口音) changers recorded over the past half century would take place within one person. "As far
as I know, there just is nobody else for whom there is this sort of broadcast records," he said.
     He said the noble way of pronouncing vowels (元音) had gradually lost ground as the noble upper-
class accent over the past years. "Her accent sounds slightly less noble than it did 50 years ago. But these
are very, very small and slow changes that we don't notice from year to year."
     "We may be able to relate it to changes in the social classes," he told The Daily Telegraph, a British
newspaper. "In 1952 she would have been hears saying 'thet men in the bleck het'. Now it would be 'that
man in the black hat'. And 'hame' rather than 'home'. In the 1950s she would have been 'lorst', but by the
1970s 'lost'."
     The Queen's broadcast is a personal message to the Commonwealth countries. Each Christmas, the
10-minute broadcast is put on TV at 3 pm in Britain as many families are recovering from their traditional
turkey lunch. (傳統(tǒng)火雞午餐).
     The results were published (發(fā)表) in the Journal of Phonetics.

1. The Queen's broadcasts were chosen for the study mainly because _____.

A. she has been Queen for many years
B. she has a less upper-class accent now
C. her speeches are familiar to many people
D. her speeches have been recorded for 50 years

2. Which of the following is an example of a less noble accent in English? 

A. "duaty"
B. "citee"
C. "hame"
D. "lorst"

3. We may infer from the text that the Journal of Phonetics is a magazine on _____.

A. speech sounds
B. Christmas customs
C. TV broadcasting
D. personal messages

4. What is the text mainly about?

A. The relationship between accents and social classes.
B. The Queen's Christmas speeches on TV.
C. The changes in a person's accent.
D. The recent development of the English language.