I refuse to accept the blame for something _____ was someone else’s fault．

A．who                      B．that                        C．as                   D．what

I’m afraid Mr. Harding ____ see you now, he’s busy．

A．can’t                     B．mustn’t                 C．shouldn’t              D．needn’t

–Can I help you? Are you looking for anything in particular today？

----_____，we’re just looking．

A．Yes，please           B．No, thank you        C．Yes，you can        D．No, you needn’t

Excuse me．I      I was blocking your way．

A．didn’t realize                            B．don’t realize

C．haven’t realized                         D．wasn’t realizing

Mr. Black is very happy because the clothes made in his factory have never been       ．

A．popular                                 B．more popular

C．most popular                            D．the most popular

A man who knows how to write a personal letter has a very powerful tool．A letter can be enjoyed, read and   1  ． It can set up a warm conversation between two people far apart （遠離的）;it can keep a   2   with very little effort．

I will give   3  ．A few years ago my older brother and I were not getting   4 ．We had been close as    5    but had grown apart．Our meetings were not   6  ; our conversation was filled with arguments and quarrels; and every effort to clear the air seemed to only   7   our misunderstanding．Then he   8   a small island in the Caribbean and we  9  touch．One day he wrote me a letter．He described his island and its people, told me what he was doing, said how he felt, and encouraged me to   10  ．Rereading the letter, I was  11   by its humor（幽默）and clever expressions．These were all qualities for which I had  12   respected my older brother but   13   he no longer had them．I had never known he could write so   14 ．And with that one letter we became friends   15  ．

It might never have occurred to   16   to write me if he had not been in a place where there were no   17  ．For him, writing was a necessity．It also turned out to be the best way for us to get back in touch．Because we live in an age of   18   communication（通訊）, people often   19   that they don’t always have to phone or email．They have a   20   ．And that is to write．

1．A．received          B．rewritten             C．returned            D．reread

2．A．record              B．promise          C．friendship            D．secret

3．A．an example          B．a lesson          C．an experience         D．a talk

4．A．through             B．together           C．along              D．away

5．A．brothers             B．children            C．fellows               D．classmates

6．A．normal               B．necessary           C．pleasant              D．possible

7．A．deepen               B．start               C．express               D．settle

8．A．toured               B．stopped over      C．reached               D．moved to

9．A．lost                 B．kept in             C．needed               D．got in

10．A．think              B．write              C．enjoy                 D．read

11．A．driven             B．beaten             C．surprised             D．honored

12．A．never              B．seldom            C．sometimes            D．once

13．A．realized             B．judged           C．thought                D．expected

14．A．well               B．often            C．much                D．soon

15．A．later               B．anyhow          C．too                   D．again

16．A．us                B．anyone else       C．someone              D．my brother

17．A．mail services        B．transport services  C．phones                 D．relatives

18．A．poor               B．easy             C．popular              D．busy

19．A．believe             B．decide           C．argue                D．forget

20．A．habit              B．choice           C．method              D．plan

When I was six, Dad brought home a dog one day, who was called “Brownie”. My brothers and I all loved Brownie and did different things with her．One of us would walk her, another would feed her ,then there were baths, playing catch and many other games．Brownie, in return, loved each and every one of us．One thing that most touched my heart was that she would go to whoever was sick and just be with them．We always felt better when she was around．

One day, as I was getting her food, she chewed up（咬破） one of Dad’s shoes, which had to be thrown away in the end．I knew Dad would be mad and I had to let her know what she did was

wrong．When I looked at her and said, “Bad girl．” She looked down at the ground and then went and hid．I saw a tear in her eyes．

    Brownie turned out to be more than just our family pet．She went everywhere with us．People would stop and ask if they could pet her．Of course she'd let anyone pet her．She was just the most lovable dog．There were many dines when we'd be out walking and a small child would come over and pull on her hair．She never barked （吠）or tried to get away．Funny thing is she would smile．This frightened people because they thought she was showing her teeth．Far from the truth, she loved everyone．

Now many years have passed since Brownie died of old age．I still miss the days when she

was with us．

1．What would Brownie do when someone was ill in the family?

    A．Look at them sadly．                          B．Keep them company．

    C．Play games with them．                       D．Touch them gently．

2．We can infer from Paragraph 2 that Brownie _______

     A．would eat anything when hungry                       B．felt scary for her mistake

     C．loved playing hide-and-seek                     D．disliked the author's dad

3．Why does the author say that Browrnie was more than just a family pet?

     A．She was treated as a member of the family．

     B．She played games with anyone she liked．

     C．She was loved by everybody she met．

     D．She went everywhere with the family．

4．Some people got frightened by Brownie when she________.

     A．smiled       B．barked               C．rushed to them    D．tried to be funny

5．Which of the following best describes Brownie?

     A．Shy           B．Polite           C．Brave            D．Caring

When you're lying on the white sands of the Mexican Riviera, the stresses （壓力）of the

world seem a million miles away．Hey, stop! This is no vacation - yon have to finish something!

    Here lies the problem for travel writer and food critic （評論家） Edie Jarolim．"I always loved traveling and always liked to eat, but it never occurred to me that I could make money doing both of those things．" Jarolim said．Now you can read her travel advice everywhere-in Arts and Antiques, in Brides or in one of her three books, The Complete Idiot Travel Guide to Mexico's Beach Resorts．

    Her job in travel writing began Some eight years ago．After getting a PHD in English in

Canada, she took a test for Frommer's travel guides, passed it, and got the job．After working at

Frommer's, Jarolim worked for a while at Rough Guides in London, then Fodor's, where she fell

so in love with a description of the Southwest of the U．S．that she moved there．

    Now as a travel writer, she spends one-third of her year on the road．The rest of the time is spent completing her tasks and writing reviews of restaurants at home in Tucson, Arizona．

    As adventurous as the job sounds, the hard part is fact-checking all the information．Sure,

it's great to write about a tourist attraction, but you'd better get the local （當地的） museum hours

correct or you could really ruin someone's vacation．

1．Which country does Jarolim have in now?

    A．Mexico．          B．The U．S．        C．The U．K         D．Canada

2．What is most difficult for Jarolim?

    A．Working in different places to collect information

    B．Checking all the facts to be written in the guides．

    C．Finishing her work as soon as possible．

    D．Passing a test to write travel guides．

3．What do we know about Jarolim from the text?

    A．She is successful in her job．

    B．She finds her life full of stresses．

    C．She spends half of her time traveling．

    D．She is especially interested in museums．

4．What would he the best title for the text?

A．Adventures in Travel Writing                B．Working as a Food Critic

C．Travel Guides on the Market                D．Vacationing for a Living

Thousands of people living in the Chinese capital will celebrate the start of the Chinese New year by heading for the ski resorts （滑雪場）．Never mind that Beijing's dry weather seldom produces snow．It is cold enough in winter for snow-making machines to make a covering for the

hills north to the capital．And the rapid growth of a pleasure-seeking middle class has formed the basis for this new craze（熱潮）.

Since Beijing's first ski resort was opened ten years ago, the sport has enjoyed an astonishing increase．There are now more than a dozen resorts．Clothes markets in the city have added bright colored ski suits to their winter collections．Mr. Wei, a manager of a newly-opened ski resort in Beijing, sees the growth of an industry that could soon lead Chinese to head for the ski resorts of Europe. In recent years ski resorts offering natural snow have opened in China．But many are in faraway areas of the country and can't really match the equipment and services of some ski resorts in Europe．

Beijing's skiing craze is partly a result of the recent increase in private （私有的） cars．This has led to the growth of a leisure industry in the capital's suburbs （郊區(qū)）, which until the late-1990s were unreachable to ordinary people, According to Mr. Wei, about 40% of the visitors to his resort come in their own cars．The rest are bused in by schools, businesses or government offices．

The problem is making money．Starting ski resorts requires quite a lot of money; hiring land from the local government, preparing the hills, buying snow machines, making sure there are enough water and electricity to run them, and buying ski equipment for hiring out to customers．The ski resort where Mr. Wei works cost nearly $4m to set up．And as so often in China when someone comes up with a good idea, many others hash in and price wars break out．Beijing now offers some of the cheapest ski training classes in the world, though with most people rather new to the sport, expecting a few more doing the same job．

1．What does this text mainly talk about?

A．Convenience for skiers brought about by private cars．

B．Skiing as a new way of enjoying one's spare time．

C．Things to be considered when starting a ski resort．

D．A sudden increase of ski training classes in Beijing．

2．Why are some Chinese likely to go skiing in Europe?

A．To visit more ski areas．                   B．To ski on natural snow．

C．For a large collection of ski suits．            D．For better services and equipment．

3．The underlined words "leisure industry" in Paragraph 3 refer to ________.

A．transport to ski resorts

B．production of family cars

C．business of providing spare time enjoyments

D．part-time work for people living in the suburbs

4．What is the main problem in running a ski resort?

A．Difficulty in hiring land．                    B．Lack of business experience．

C．Price wars with other ski resorts,              D．Shortage of water and electricity,

Coolest Hotels in the World

Ariau Aragon Towers

The Ariau Amazon Towers hotel lets you sleep in a tree house．Eight towers make up this

hotel that offers over 300 rooms．If you really want to get into the spirit, book the Tarzan Suite which is large enough for a big family．You'll be thirty feet up in the air and can travel between the towers through their wooden walkways．

    Prices: starting at $300 one night for each person for a regular room and going all the way

up to $3000 for the Tarzan Suite．

    For more information, visit the website: http://www. ariautowers. com

The Ice Hotel

    Every winter in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, a special kind of hotel called the ice Hotel is built． Each year, world-famous artists are invited to design and produce works of art from the ice, many of which can be found in the rooms． You'll have your choice between hot or cold rooms but you will be well advised to stay at least one night in a cold room for a true experience．

    Prices: starting at $318 one night for each person for either a cold room or a warm one．For more information, visit the website: http: www. icehotel.com

Propeller Island

    Propeller Island City Lodge is a very special hotel that was designed by a German artist. Each room provides you with the possibility of living in a work of art．Every single piece of furniture in the thirty rooms of the hotel has been hand-made and each room is completely different．You'll be able to choose a room based on your own personal tastes．

    Prices: starting at just $91 a night, and an additional （另外）person for only 20 extra

dollars．For more information, visit the website: http://www. propeller-island. com

    For information about other cool hotels in the world, visit the website: http://www. bahamabeachclub.com

1．What it special about the Ariau Amazon Towers hotel?

A．You can sleep in the house．                  B．You can choose any of the towers．

C．It is designed for big families．                    D．Every room has a walkway．

2．For more persons spending a night in one of these hotels, they have to pay at least_______.

    A．$111               B．$182              C．$600                   D．$636

3．Which website should you visit if you want to find out whether there exists a hotel under the

     sea?

A．http://www. icehotel. com                  B．http：//www. ariantowers. com

C．http://www. propeller-island. com            D．http://www. bahamabeachclub. com

4．Which hotel would invite artists to come to work every year?

A．Propeller Bland City Lodge．                          B．Arian Amazon Towers．

C．The Ice Hotel．                                    D．Bahama Beach Club．