China has promised to revise its existing regulations and ___ new policies according to WTO requirements.

A. forming            B. to form                    C. to be forming           D. have formed

Put the ___ of your tongue against your upper teeth when you produce the sound.

A. tip                    B. top                          C. peak                        D. pole

Small cars are ___ of fuel, so they have more appeal for consumers.

A. free                  B. short                       C. typical                     D. economical

Sean's strong love for his country is ___ in his recently published poems.

A. relieved            B. reflected                  C. responded                D. recovered

The performer was waving his stick in the street and it ___ missed the child standing nearby.

A. narrowly          B. nearly                      C. hardly                     D. closely

The term home schooling means educating children at home or in places other than a normal setting such as a public or private school. There are many reasons why parents choose home schooling for their children. Some parents are __1__ with the quality of education in the public schools. Others do not want their children to have to worry about “peer pressure”, or social pressure from friends. They say it may have a(n) __2__ effect on the child's studies. These parents __3__ this type of pressure will lead to bad behavior such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and taking drugs.

Bullying(欺負(fù)) from other students is another concern. Still other parents choose this type of __4__ for religious reasons. Whatever the __5__ may be, it is evident that more and more children are being taken out of normal schools every year. __6__, many questions have emerged, encouraging the debate over home schooling against public schooling.

What then is the future of education? Will this new model of schooling replace normal schools? Will computers and the Internet __7__ our classrooms and teachers? As the debate continues, so do the questions about what home scholars are studying at home. How can parents ensure that their children are prepared __8__ for college? How are home scholars assessed to make sure they are getting the same educational standards that school students must have?

Finally, there are questions regarding the children's emotional development. Are they too __9__ their fellow students? Are they __10__ the opportunity to get the social benefits of being in a large classroom of students? As with any debatable issue, the answers to these questions are neither simple nor one-sided.

1.    A. patient               B. familiar                     C. pleased                     D. dissatisfied

2.    A. active                B. contrary                   C. important                 D. negative

3. A. care                     B. fear                          C. wish                        D. deny

4. A. activity                 B. education                  C. behavior                   D. belief

5. A. effects                 B. suggestions               C. reasons                    D. pressures

6. A. As a result            B. On the whole            C. After all                    D. On the contrary

7. A. replace                 B. reserve                     C. represent                  D. release

8. A. gracefully             B. emotionally               C. academically             D. financially

9. A. free from                     B. isolated from             C. related to                  D. close to

10. A. providing            B. making                     C. taking                      D. losing

Many people of my generation say that there is no hope for the future because of the way that young people behave today.

Their first argument is that when we were __1__ we used to look after the older people in our community and help them. They also say that young people today don't care about anything or anyone. __2__, I think the reason why we looked after older people was that we had no __3__. People had to live with their parents and grandparents because they had no money. Young people today earn more and have more freedom to live where they want. __4__ this, I think that they are still interested in older people. For example, young people often __5__ to help me when I get on and off the bus with heavy shopping.

Their second argument is that in our day we didn't __6__ to be given jobs —— and that young people now don't look for jobs, but just complain about unemployment. On the other hand, things were easier in the past and it was always easy to get a job __7__ you had friends and contacts. It is really harder today. Young people complain about unemployment and I think they have __8__ reason to complain.

In conclusion I think there is __9__ for the future. This generation, like generations before them, has new __10__ as well as old problems. If they learn from our mistakes the world will be a better place in future.

1. A. ignorant         B. young                      C. childish                    D. innocent

2. A. Moreover             B. Meanwhile                C. Therefore                 D. However

3. A. trouble                 B. concept                    C. choice                      D. method

4. A. In addition to B. In spite of                 C. Due to                            D. As for

5. A. offer                    B. hesitate                     C. refuse                      D. mean

6. A. prepare                 B. regret                       C. decline                     D. expect

7. A. unless                  B. if                             C. until                         D. because

8. A. every                   B. no                            C. this                          D. another

9. A. possibility             B. feasibility                  C. hope                        D. result

10. A. events                B. questions                  C. hobbies                    D. opportunities

A lot of people are familiar with the story of Brave Gelert, a dog that faithfully defended the prince’s son, but which was then killed while it was fast asleep through a terrible misunderstanding. However, only a few people know that the story is really a pack of lies. Let me explain.

About a hundred or so years ago there was a hotel owner in Wales who was fed up with business being so bad. His hotel was stuck in the middle of nowhere and hardly anyone came to stay. Then, one day, he had an idea. A famous prince called Llewellyn had lived in the area during the Middle Ages and had been keen on dogs. This is hardly surprising as hunting was extremely popular at that time. So what he did was to make up the story of the brave and faithful Gelert and how he had been killed by his ungrateful master.

Of course, people would be far more likely to believe the story if there was something they could see. So one day, the hotel keeper went to the top of a high hill and built a sort of monument from the stones he found lying around A friend of his, who was an accountant, helped him to construct it .The "tale" soon caught on and developed a life of its own. Afterwards, people came from far and wide to see the spot where the dog was buried. Needless to say, business became very good for the hotel owner.

1.    According to the tale, the dog was killed by ___.

       A. a hotel owner                                        B. a famous accountant 

C. its master                                             D. the prince's son

2.    The owner of the hotel successfully improved his business by ___.

A. making up a story                                 B. constructing a hotel on the hill

C. showing people around his hotel             D. inviting a friend to help him

3.    The hotel owner built the stone monument in order to

A. make more money                                B. remember the loyal dog

C. show off                                             D. honor the prince

4.    What could be the best title for this passage?

A. A Prince and His Dog                            B. A Profit - Making Lie

C. A Magnificent Hotel                               D. A Faithful but Unlucky Dog

In some children who go blind, certain parts of the brain that normally control vision appear to switch jobs and focus instead on sound, a new study has found.

The study, by researchers at the University of Montreal, involved 7 adults who could see and 12 adults who had lost their vision when they were children. Each participant sat in a room with 16 loudspeakers at different locations. The room was designed so that there were no echoes. During the experiment, the speakers irregularly produced sounds. Participants had to point to where the sounds were coming from. Meanwhile, the researchers monitored blood flow in the brains of the participants to see which brain structures were working during the task.

The results showed that five of the blind participants were very good at pointing to where sounds were coming from. In these people, blood flow increased in the visual cortex- an area at the back of the right side of the brain. This part of the brain is usually associated with vision.

The other seven blind participants showed no increase in activity in the visual cortex. These people didn't do very well at picking out where sounds were coming from. Now, the researchers are looking at whether these people have gained an enhanced sense of touch instead of sound to replace their lost vision.

The scientists say that their study shows how adaptable parts of the brain can be.

1.    The purpose of the experiment described in the passage is to find whether

A. blind children can regain their sight

B. blind people have a better sense of sound

C. the sense of touch is better among blind people

D. blood flow in the brains of blind people is slower

2.    The participants of the experiment were asked ___.

A. to tell the difference between 16 sounds

B. to take down the time each sound lasted

C. to identify the direction the sound came from

D. to detect the number of the loudspeakers.

3.    During the experiment, blood flow in the brains of the participants was measured in order to ___.

A. learn about the way they react to echoes

B. look for the way of enhancing hearing ability

C. find which parts of the brain were functioning

D. expose the relationship between seeing and touching

4.    Which of the following statements best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

A. Most blind people have a well - developed sense of touch.

B. People go blind because of the breakdown of their visual cortex.

C. Most blind people have a better sense of sound than normal people.

D. Human brains can adjust themselves after the loss of a certain function.

Indian's snake charmers are to be retrained as wildlife teachers under a plan to prevent their unique skills and knowledge from being lost. The charmers, who make snakes dance to the sound of flutes(笛子), used to be a traditional feature of Indian life, performing in towns and villages, until they were banned in 1972 to control the trade in snake skins.

The government is now considering a plan to train the saperas, as they are known, to visit schools and zoos to tell children about forests and wildlife. There is also a proposal to set up a “dial a snake charmer” service to help householders to deal with unwelcome intruders.

“For generations they have been a feature of Indian life but now they can't earn a living for fear of arrest,” said Behar Dutt, a conservationist behind the plans, “if a policeman doesn’t catch them, animal rights activists report them.”

Many snake charmers have continued to work clandestinely since the ban, despite the threat of up to three years in jail. But their trademark cloth-covered baskets, hung from a bamboo pole carried across their shoulders, make them an easy target for police.

The fate of Shisha Nath, 56, from Badarpur, a village just outside of Delhi, is typical of practitioners(從業(yè)者) of the dying art. “I used to earn enough to support my family and send my children to school,  "he said. "Now it's hard to earn even f, 1 a day. My children want to be snake charmers. It’s our identity. We love the work. But it s become impossible.

Next month Dutt’s project to train 30 snake charmers will begin at a snake park in Pune, western India, where experts will enrich their home-grown skills with some formal knowledge.

More than the law, though, it is the dishonest attitude of their fellow countryman that angers many snake charmers.

"'We're disturbed all the time but when people want a snake removed from the house, they rush to us," said Prakash Nath, who was ordered recently to the home of Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party leader.

1.    According to the passage, snake charmers will be retrained as wildlife teachers mainly because___.

A. schools need large numbers of such teachers

B. most of them cannot support their families

C. their performances on the street are banned

D. the government plans to save the dying art

2.    The purpose of the proposed "dial a snake charmer" telephone service is ___.

A. to give performance of snake dancing

B. to teach householders how to catch and kill snakes

C. to offer cleaning service to wealthy householders

D. to help remove unwanted snakes from the houses

3.    The word "clandestinely" in paragraph 4 can be best replaced by the word "___"

A. secretly            B. publicly            C. subconsciously               D. diligently

4.    Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Snake charmers can easily be recognized by the police on the street.

B. Children of snake charmers would not like to continue their fathers' job.

C. Snake charmers are quite angry with the attitude of their fellow countrymen.

D. The animal rights activists take a negative attitude towards snake charmers.