The Wilsons live in ______ A-shape house near the coast It is ________ th century cottage

  A) the…/          B) an…the        C) /…the         D) an…a

The Wilsons live in ______ A-shape house near the coast It is ________ th century cottage

The royal family is a part of British history and cultural identity.

Up until the 17th century, people believed that the British king or queen had a “divine(天賜的)right” to rule. This was the idea that God chose the king or queen and that he or she was therefore above the law. However, this idea was challenged during the English Civil War, when King Charles the First was put in prison and then killed in 1649.

So what role does the British royal family have today?

The Queen is head of the UK and the Commonwealth. She has important formal duties that go with her different titles. As Head of State, for example, she represents the UK on visits abroad and invites other world leaders to visit the UK；as Head of the Armed Forces in name, only she can declare when the UK is at war or when a war is over. She has to sign many government and Commonwealth documents every day.

Although the royal family does the work for the UK, there are British people called“anti-monarchists(反君主制者)”who do not believe there should be a royal family. One criticism(批評意見)is that the British people should not have to pay for the royal family with their taxes(稅).

Today, the royal family works hard to be relevant(相關(guān)的)in the modern world. The Queen still gives a speech to the nation on television at Christmas, but it gets less and less formal every year；now it is even available as a podcast(播客).

In 2005, after graduating from university, Prince William spent time teaching English in Uruguay, the sort of work many ordinary young British people do in their gap years.

1.What can be concluded from the first two paragraphs?

A．The British king or queen is considered above the law.

B．The English Revolution put an end to the British royal family in 1649.

C．The British king or queen is no longer believed to rule by divine right.

D．The royal family didn’t play an important role in Britain in the 17 th century.

2.Which of the following is among the formal duties of the Queen?

A．Traveling around the UK.

B．Declaring when the world is at war.

C．Inviting other leaders to have dinner with her.

D．Signing Commonwealth documents every day.

3.With the example of Prince William in the last paragraph, the author intends to show that         .

A．Prince William is very popular in the UK

B．the royal family is trying to connect better with ordinary people

C．Prince William has made an effort to win young people’s admiration

D．many young British people do voluntary work

4.It can be inferred from the passage that ___________.

A．the royal family doesn’t have to pay taxes

B．the British people are all in favor of the royal family

C．the British people can talk to the Queen through a podcast

D．the royal family attacks republicans through media and press

第三部分：閱讀理解（共20小題，每題2分，滿分40分）
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項。
The National Outline for Medium and Long Term Education Reform and Development (2010 - 20) was released over the weekend. Here are some of the highlights:
Four – percent effort
The government says spending on education will be 4 percent of GDP by 2012. globally, average spending on education is about 4.5% of GDP. China spend 3,33% in 2008. according to Hu Angang, of Tsinghua University’s Center for China Studies, even if China reaches that goal, it will only rank about 100 th out of 188 countries.
Administrative rank
Administrative rankings for school leaders are to be phased out to tackle the bureaucracy (官僚機(jī)構(gòu)) problem that limits educational development, according to Cheng Fangping, of the national Institute for Educational Research. Areas like teaching programs, scientific research, and technological development will be more independent.
Vocational Education
The system will be free of charge. According to Wu Yan, of Beijing Institute of Educational Sciences, this will be key to developing China’s production capacity and will improve poor people’s lives dramatically.
Entering college
Universities could eventually have the freedom to choose some of their own high school applicants. Normally, students are accepted based on the uniform national exam scores. Also, students who agree to go to a remote area could be admitted to university under special circumstances. The most likely change could come on the college entrance English test, which might be modeled on the IELTS or TOEFL. Students will be able to take it several times and pick their best score.
56．Which of the following is true in the future according to the passage?
A．Applicants could take the IELTS or TOEFL instead of the college entrance English test.
B．Colleges will be given the right to choose all of their own applicants.
C．Vocational education will be party free to make people’s lives better.
D．Applicants could sit for the college entrance English test more than once.
57．Which of the following words is closest in meaning to “uniform” in the last paragraph?
A．formal      B．official     C．same D．united
58．We can learn from the passage even though our country spends 4% of GDP on education in 2012, ________.
A．there will still be 188 countries ahead of China in this aspect
B．China will certainly overtake the global average spending on education
C．there might be nearly 100 countries ahead of China in this aspect
D．China will be the 100 th country to spend over the global average on education
59．From the third paragraph, we can infer that________.
A．school leaders will have more freedom to manage the school
B．schools will have more limits from the government
C．School administrative rankings are to be strengthened to solve the bureaucracy problem
D．schools and research centers will be fully independent from the government

International Weather Forecast(January 18 th，2008)   

    Paris Weather

    ·Today：Plentiful sunshine High 59F．Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph．

    ·Tonight：Generally clear．Low near 35F．Winds light and variable．

    ·Tomorrow：A mainly sunny sky．High 59F．Winds ENE at 5 to l0mph．

    ·Tomorrow night：A mostly clear sky．Low 36F，Winds light and variable．

    New York Weather    

    ·Today：Cloudy with rain and snow showers Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s．Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph．Chance of precip 40％．

    ·Tonight：Rain and snow showers this evening changing to rain showers overnight Low 34F．Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph Chance of precip 60％．

    ·Tomorrow：Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day．High around 45F．Winds WNW at l0 to 20mph．

    ·Tomorrow night：Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight Low 29F．Winds W at 5 to10 mph．

    London Weather

    ·Today：Cloudy and windy．High 56F． Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph．

    ·Tonight：Partly cloudy and windy．Low 43F．Winds W at 20 to 30 mph．

    ·Tomorrow：Windy with occasional light rain．High 58F．Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph．Chance of rain 70％．

    ·Tomorrow night：Cloudy and windy．Periods of light rain early．Low 54F．Winds WSW

at 20 to 30 mph，Chance of rain 60％．

    Sydney Weather

    ·Today：Cloudy with periods of rain．High 73F．Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph．Chance of rain 70％．Rainfall around a quarter of an inch．   

    ·Tonight：Rain．Low near 70F．Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph．Chance of rain 70％．Rainfall near a quarter of an inch．

    ·Tomorrow：Showers in the morning with isolated thunderstorms arriving in the afternoon．High 78FWindsNNE at 5 to10 mph．Chance of rain 40％．

    ·Tomorrow night：An isolated thunderstorm possible during the evening．then occasional showers overnight．Low near 70F．Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph．．Chance of rain 40％．

65．Which city has the strongest wind on January 19th?

    A．Paris．    B．New York．    C．London．     D．Sydney．

66．There will be thunderstorms in Sydney oil       ．

    A．the evening of January 18th      B．the afternoon of January 18th

    C．the morning of January 19th      D．the afternoon of January 19th

67．If you go on a tour on January l8th，which of the following places of interest is the most favorable according to the weather report?

    A．The Eiffel Tower．   B．Statue of Liberty． C．Big Ben．D．The Sydney Opera House．