21、When Ben Franklin was only a boy, 'he always wanted, to know about the new things. He was always asking his father and brothers "What? How?" and "Why?"

They couldn't always tell him what he wanted to know.

When they couldn't tell him, Ben tried to find out for himself.

Many times Ben did find out things that no one knew before. The other boys would say, "That Ben Franklin! He's always finding out something new!"

Ben lived close to the water. He liked to go there to see the boats. He saw how the wind blew them across the water.

One day Ben said to himself, "Why can't the wind help me float(漂流) across the water? And I'm going to try." Ben got his big kite. He took hold' of the kite string(線(xiàn))and ran with it. The wind took the kite up into the air. Then Ben jumped into the water.

The wind blew the kite higher into the air. Ben began to float across the water. Soon he was on the other side, and he hadn't worked at all.

One boy shouted, "Look at Ben floating across the water! His kite takes him to the other side without any work!"

"Yes," said another. "He's always finding new ways to do things."

1. When Ben was only a child, he        .

A. liked to fly a kite by himself

B. always asked easy questions

C. always liked to" play with water

D. always liked to find out new things

2. Ben's father and brothers        .

A. couldn't answer all his questions

B. could answer all his questions

C. tried hard to find out something new for him

D. were too busy to answer his question

3. How did Ben float across the water?

A. The other boy took him across it.

B. The water carried him across it.

C. The flying kite took him across it.

D. A boat took him across it.

4. Ben found out many things that        .

A. were funny and useless

B. people hadn't known before

C. his father and brothers knew

D. most people knew

5. In the passage, the sentence "he hadn't worked at all" means "       ".

A. he worked hard to cross the water

B. he didn't go to work that day

C. he didn't cross the water at all

D. he crossed the water in an easy way

20、Good news for all Chinese middle school students in the countryside. They don't have to pay for school education anymore.51-year-old Ren Yuqi is even happier than the students. It was Ren who suggested the idea to the government about this.

Ren is not a government official but the boss of a big company, in Hunan. He talks to the government as a deputy(代表) of the National People's Congress(NPC,全國(guó)人民代表大會(huì)). He is in Beijing for the NPC's meeting.

"This year I have 20 suggestions for making farmers' byes and the environment better. They all come from studying country people's lives," said Ren.

Ren went to several provinces to find out how people lived in the countryside. He saw that many children dropped out of school because they were poor. So at the last NPC meeting he                                                                                  suggested the government spend more money helping kids get back to school. Most of the NPC deputies agreed to it, so the government adopted it and made it law.

Ren, just like the other 2,977 NPC members, was elected by the Chinese people. The upper-level(較高級(jí)別的) deputies were chosen by the lower-level ones.

At NPC meetings deputies also take part in making and changing laws. They help decide on the state leaders and public policies(政策) as well.

1. What does the underlined word "adopted" mean in Chinese?

A. 吸取                           B. 放棄                       C. 按照                       D. 采納

2. Many poor kids from the countryside can go back to school because        .

A. Ren Yuqi has paid the money for them

B. Ren Yuqi's idea has been adopted by the government

C. the government is so rich that it can afford all the kids' tuition fees (學(xué)費(fèi))

D. their parents have worked hard and made enough money

3. The underlined word "They" refers to (指)       .

A. suggestions                  B. deputies                    C. farmers                    D. people's lives

4. Who chooses the deputies of the NPC?

A. Students in the countryside.                             B. The government.

C. The Chinese people.                                         D. The bosses of some big companies.

5. How many deputies at the NPC meeting are there altogether according to the passage?

A.2,976                           B.2,977                        C.2,978                        D.2,979

19、Here is an examination notice. Mrs. Dickson gave it to her students last week.

To the students of Class3

l         Examinations start on June 22 and end on June 23.

l         The time for each of the subjects is:

English         June22           9:30am-10:30am

Math           June22           10: 45am-11:45am

History         June22           2:30pm-3:30pm

PE            June23           8:00am-10:00am

Music         June23           2:00pm-4: 00pm

l         For the PE test, go to the gym. For the music test, go to the Piano Room. The others are written tests. They will be held in Classroom 3.

l         No student can enter the examination room more than 15minutes after the exam starts.

l         No food or drinks during ANY test.

l         No dictionaries during the English exam.

l         Wear shorts and sports shoes for the PE exam.

l         If you have questions, go to the Teachers' Office before the tests.

1. Who could not take the English exam? Why?

A. Nancy. Because she wore her sports shoes on June 22.

B. Richard. Because he didn't have breakfast before the exam.

C. Wendy. Because she forgot to take an English dictionary with her.

D. Tony. Because he went to school at 9:50 in the morning of June 22.

2. Where were the students of Class 3 at 8:30 am, June 23?

A. In the gym.                                                     B. In their classroom.

C. In the Piano Room.                                  D. At the teachers' Office.

3. When were the Written tests held?

A. Only on the morning of June 22.

B. Only on the morning of June 23.

C. On the morning and afternoon of June22.

D. On the morning and afternoon of June 23.

4. What should Helen, a student of Class 3, get ready on the morning of June 23?

A. Food and drinks. Because there was no food or drinks during any test.

B. Shorts and sports shoes. Because there was a PE exam.

C. A dictionary. Because she wasn't good at English.

D. Nothing. Because all the exams ended.

5. If Tom had some questions about the exams, he could ask the teachers         .

A. at any time                      B. on the playground

C. on June 22 or June 23                 D. in the teachers' Office on June21

18、The English language we know today is about six hundred years old. For half that time, English was just the language of the people living in England. The modem English language grew from about the year 1400. Now English is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is one of the working languages at International meetings, business, science and in other fields.

The differences between American English and British English are not very great. Written English is more or less the same in both Britain and America, though there are some spelling differences. For example, centre, license, color and traveled are spelt center, license, color and traveled in American English. In America, "cock, rubber, ill, holiday, lorry, and post... " are called "rooster, eraser, sick, vacation, truck, mail... ". But people from the two countries can still understand each other easily.

     There are only a very small number of differences in grammar between American English and British English. The most important differences are in spoken English. Some words may have two kinds of pronunciations. You may wonder "Which is correct?" The answer is that it doesn't matter. But you should speak either American English or British English. Don't try to speak both at the same time!

1. When did the modem English language begin to grow?

2. Is English the only working language at International meetings?

3. What is the word "color" spelt in British English?

4. What is the word "ill" called in American English?

5. How many differences are there in grammar between American English and British English?

16、"Chang-E No.1 Satellite" told us that there         no life on the moon.

A. was               B. is                  C. be                  D. are

15、——How long         you         in this school?

——For more than two years so far.

A. have, studied         B. did, live             C. do, stay              D. were, stay

14、I really want to know         with the pollution problem.

A. how to do          B. what to do          C. what to deal          D. what to work

13、Liu Xiang has shown that he is one of the world's         men by winning a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.

A. fast                 B. faster               C. fastest               D. fastly