How       I help them to understand when they won’t listen to me?

A．can         B．would          C．may          D．must

The Day of the Dead, an ancient Mexican festival, is not a sad day, but      time to celebrate

         cycle of life.

A．a(chǎn), the         B．不填, the         C．不填,a         D．the, a

More and more people shop online,      advantage of low prices.

A．having taken             B．taking              C．taken             D．having been taken

---Are my clothes too casual?

---No．You can go       you are.

A．a(chǎn)s           B．what           C．that            D．where

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams．---Eleanor Roosevelt

My home is a place of great beauty and agricultural richness, as well as of war and natural

y-c-y

disasters．When I was only fourteen years old, I was filled with  1  in spite of the terrible surroundings．The families living here , who tried to make their living from the land,   2  great losses.

I felt sorry especially for the  3  , but I   4   to be hopeless .I decided that where I was, I could do   5   to help them．I began knocking on every door and saying to each person who 6  my knock, “I know that you are   7  and give the birds that come to your yard a little 8  ．Please consider me your bird．Give me only a handful of rice each week when I come to your 9   ．I will take it to the temple where it can be given to the  10  children.”

No one seemed to  11  giving me a handful of rice ,even  12  they had little themselves .On Sunday ,I would go to the  13   and give my handfuls of rice to the monks to  14 to the children．

One day ,I came to a house that had  15  to give．I told my story and asked if I could be their bird．The woman called her daughters, and  16  gave me fifty cents, as well as the handful of rice! I began to ask for  17  and rice from the other “ bird feeders”, and they gave them to me．Everyone was happy to be helping those who were suffering, even  18  only this small way．The temple was soon able to help everyone who came to them for food and clothing.

“Consider me your bird.” My  19  idea had not stopped the war, but anyway, it was  20  some peace．

1．A．sorrow              B．hope               C．comfort          D．happiness

2．A．suffered           B．survived         C．covered          D．made

3．A．peasants          B．citizens          C．villagers           D．children

4．A．wanted           B．failed            C．refused            D．stopped

5．A．something         B．everything        C．a(chǎn)nything          D．nothing

6．A．said               B．replied            C．a(chǎn)nswered         D．spoke

7．A．glad              B．kind             C．rich              D．friendly

8．A．water             B．money           C．nest             D．rice

9．A．temple            B．room            C．door             D．garden

10．A．brave           B．hungry           C．promising         D．nervous

11．A．mind            B．escape           C．practice           D．enjoy

12．A．where         B．that             C．so              D．when

13．A．village           B．hometown       C．temple           D．house

14．A．give in         B．give up          C．give away         D．give out

15．A．much           B．little              C．many           D．few

16．A．every           B．each            C．neither            D．none

17．A．help             B．clothing          C．food             D．change

18．A．by            B．with           C．on              D．in

19．A．foolish          B．childish          C．clever            D．useful

20．A．creating         B．mending          C．developing         D．managing

A gadget which makes water out of air could become the greatest household invention since the microwave.

Using the same technology as a dehumidifier（除濕器），the Water Mill is able to create a ready supply of drinking water because it can always get it from an unlimited source—the air．

The company behind the machine says not only does it offer an alternative to bottled water in

developed countries, but it is a solution for the millions who face a daily water shortage．

The machine works by drawing in wet air through a filter（過濾器）and over a cooling instrument which changes it into water droplets．It can produce up to 1 2 liters a day．The Water Mill will also produce more water when storms pass over, as the amount of water which is contained in the air increases．In keeping with its eco-development, the machine uses the same amount of electricity as three lights.

Inventor Jonathan Ritchey said: “The demand for water is off the chart．So people are looking for freedom from water distribution systems that are shaky and unreliable.”

The machine, which is about 3 feet wide, is likely to cost ￡800 when it goes on sale here in the spring．Its maker, Canadian Firm Element Four, roughly calculates that a liter of water cost around 20p to produce.

Environmentalists state that half the world’s population will face water shortage because of climate change by 2080．One in five is said to lack access to safe drinking.

The Water Mill is not effective in areas where the amount of water contained in the air is below about 30 percent, but in Britain that won’t be much of a problem.

1．What does the underlined word “it” refer do?

       A．Drinking water.                                    B．Invention.

       C．Microwave.                                         D．Water Mill.

2．What do we learn about the machine?

       A．It works in the same way as microwaves．

       B．It is very expensive for families to afford.

       C．It absorbs steam and turns it into water．

       D．It helps to make the water clean to drink.

3．What does the passage lead us to believe?

       A．The cost of water will go up.                B．Bottled water will disappear sooner.

       C．The machine is energy saving.              D．The machine will be popular worldwide.

4．What’s the best title for the passage?

       A．A New Way to Solve Water Problem.     B．A Machine to Make Water out of Air.

       C．A Dehumidifier to Produce Water.          D．An Absolutely New Invention

Education is an expensive part of American life．Its size is matched by its variety．Differences in American schools compared with those found in the majority of other countries lie in the fact that education here has long been intended for everyone．Schools are expected to meet the needs of every child, regardless of ability, and also the needs of society itself．This means that public schools offer more than academic subjects．It surprises many people when they come here to find high schools offering such courses as typing, sewing , radio repair, computer programming or driver training, along with traditional academic subjects such as mathematics, history, and languages．Students choose their courses depending on their interests, future goals, and level of ability．The basic goal of American education is to develop every child to the utmost of his or her own possibilities, and to give each one a sense of community.

Schools have traditionally played an important role in creating national unity and “Americanizing” the millions of immigrants who have poured into this country from many different backgrounds and origins．Schools still play a large role in the community, especially in the small towns.

The teaching may seem unfamiliar to many, not only because it is informal, but also because there is not much emphasis on learning facts．Instead, Americans try to teach their children to think for themselves and to develop their own intellectual and creative abilities．Students spend much time learning how to use materials, libraries, statistics, and computers．Americans believe that if children are taught to reason well and to research well, they will be able to find whatever facts they need throughout the rest of their lives．Knowing how to solve problems is considered more important than the accumulation（積累）of facts．

This is America’s answer to the searching question that thoughtful parents all over the world are asking themselves in the fast-moving time, “How can one prepare today’s child for a tomorrow that one can neither predict nor understand?”

1．The underlined words “reason well” probably means__        .

       A．persuade firmly                                   B．list the reasons clearly 

       C．think logically                                    D．conclude immediately 

2．It is implied in the passage that__        .

       A．a(chǎn)ll high-school students take the same courses

       B．every student must take practical ability training courses

       C．every public school offers the same academic subjects

       D．the subjects every student takes may vary

20090321

3．American schools place great emphasis on the learners’__      __.

       A．knowledge                             B．a(chǎn)ccumulation of facts

       C．creativity                             D．a(chǎn)bility to work with hands

4．What makes American education different from others?

       A．The large number of schools．          B．The variety of the courses.

       C．Its consideration for immigrants．        D．The basic goal of the education.

Thinking of throwing your old cell phone? Think again．Maybe you should mine it first for gold, silver and other metals．It’s called “urban mining”, searching through the small pieces of metal in electronic products for gold, silver and other expensive metals．It is a growing industry around the world as prices for metal grow higher and higher.

The gold and other precious metals from electronic products are melted down and then sold．The metals can be made into jewelry or circuit （電路）for mobile phones．“It can be precious, so we want to recycle whatever we can,” said Tadahiko Sekigawa, president of Eco-System Recycling Co．Ltd.

A ton of ore（礦石）from a gold mine produces just 5 grams of gold on average, while a ton of mobile phones can give 150 grams or more, according to a study by Yokohama Metal Co-Ltd., another recycling company．The same amount of useless mobile phones also contains around 100 kg of copper and 3 kg of silver, among other metals.

Recycling has become  more important because prices of metals have hit record highs．Eco-Systems, opened 20 years ago near Tokyo, usually produces about 200 to 300 kg of gold bars a month, worth about $5.9 million to $8.8 million．That’s about the same as a small gold mine.

1．Which of the following statements is right?

     A．The amount of recycling precious metal has grown higher.

      B．A ton of mobile phones contains about 100 kg of copper and 3 kg of silver.

     C．Japan needn’t recycle old cell phones．

      D．Eco-Systems near Tokyo produced 500 kg of gold bars a month．

2．Which of the following things may be made from recycled metals?

     A．Jewelry．          B．Ore．             C．Copper．           D．Mine.

3．Recycling becomes so important these days because          .

      A．there are plenty of recycling factory

     B．gold can be made into circuit boards

      C．prices of metals have hit record highs

      D．the metals can be used again in new cell phones

4．What is “urban mining”?

     A．Searching through small pieces of metal in electronic products.

      B．Melting down the metals and making them into new shapes．

     C．Mining for gold, silver and other metals from used cell phones.

     D．Another way of saying eco-system recycling factories.

Are the British people Europeans? This may seem a strange question to Africans and Asians, who tend to think of all white men as Europeans．But the British, when they are in Britain, do not regard themselves as Europeans．The Europeans, to them, are those rather excitable foreigners from the other side of the English Channel, who have never learnt how to speak English．Europe is “the  Continent ”, a place full of interest for British tourists, but also the source of almost all the wars in which Britain has ever been involved．Thus , although geographically speaking Britain is part of Europe ,yet the fact that it is a separate island has made its people feel different from the rest of Europe and they sometimes annoy continental nations by failing to support them ,or even to understand them , in time of need.

Where did the British people come from? This is an interesting question, since they are a mixture of many different races, and all these races invaded Britain at various times from Europe． Nobody knows very much about Britain before Romans came during the first century B.C., but there had been at least three invasions before that．The first of these was by a dark-haired Mediterranean race called the Iberians．The other two were by Celtic tribes ;first the Gaels , whose descendants （后代）are the modern Scots and Irish, some of whom still speak the Gaelic language; and secondly the Britons ,who gave their name to the whole island of Britain．These were the people whom the Romans conquered．The Romans gave the Britons a good deal of their civilization, but they never settled in Britain in very large numbers, so the British race survived until the overthrow of the Roman Empire by the “barbarians”, i.e．the numerous Germanic tribes which overran the whole of Western Europe .

1．By raising the question in Paragraph One , the author        .

       A．shows his doubt whether the British are Europeans

       B．means that both Africans and Asians are foolish

       C．makes the readers interested in his article

       D．means that the British are wrong

2．Which phrase best describes the attitude of the British towards “the Continent”?

       A．Full of love    B．Mixed feelings     C．Much envy     D．Lack of interest

3．The British feel very different because        .

       A．they are separated geographically from the continent

       B．they were once attacked by the people on the continent

       C．they sometimes fail to help the continental countries in time of need

       D．they are considered rather difficult to understand by other countries

4．Which shows the correct order in which different races invaded British?

       A．the Iberians, the Britons, the Gaels , the Barbarians, the Romans.

       B．the Romans, the Iberians, the Scots and Irish , the Barbarians.

       C．the Iberians, the Gaels, the Britons , the Romans, the Barbarians.

       D．the Iberians, the Scots and Irish , the Romans, the Barbarians.

Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook by yourself? Have you been doing Internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can’t you be bothered to do?

A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of the adults are so idle（懶散的）that they’d catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs.

Just over 2000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuffield Health．Britain’s largest health center．The results were extremely surprising.

About one in six people questioned said if their remote control was broken，they would continue watching the same channel rather than get up.

More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus．Worryingly, of the 654 respondents with children，64％said they were often too tired to play with them．

This led the report to conclude that it’s no wonder that one in six children in the UK are classified as obese（very fat）before they start schoo1.

Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said, “People need to get fitter, not just for their own sake，but for the sake of their families, friends and evidently their pets too.”

 “If we don’t start to take control of this problem, a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the most fundamental tasks.”

And Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, was shamed as the most idle city in the UK, with 75％questioned admitting they do not get enough exercise，followed closely by Birmingham and Southampton，both with 67％.

The results bring serious challenges for the National Health Service．where obesity一related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and  are costing billions of pounds every year.

1．How many people questioned don’t play with their children?

       A．1280.                                                  B．More than 333.   

       C．654．                                               D．About 420.

2．The study leads us to believe that       .

       A．the pets in the UK will be in trouble if their owners keep their way of life

       B．Glasgow people feel ashamed because they don’t get enough exercise

       C．British people are the laziest around the world

       D．five sixths of the British children are healthy

3．How does the author convince the readers?

       A．By presenting the results of study.         B．By providing answers to questions.

       C．By interviewing some experts.               D．By telling a story.

4．What is the passage mainly about?

       A．A study of British people                       B．A study of British people’s lifestyles.

       C．The health service in the UK.                D．The obesity problem in the UK.