In many cultures white is often associated with something positive. A white-collar job, for instance, is the kind of job many people look for, working with your brain and not your hands.

White has a clean and pure image. That is why doctors, dentists, and nurses usually wear white uniforms. Babies are dressed in white at baptisms（洗礼）and brides wear white wedding gowns at weddings. White in these cases is the symbol of innocence or purity.
Sometimes white is used in expressions that are not good. “Whitewash” is one such expression. At first, “whitewash” meant to paint over something with white paint to make it look better. However, it means something different today: to hide or to cover up mistakes or failures.
A “white elephant” is another example of white used in a negative way. In ancient Thailand, a white elephant was regarded as a sacred animal, but it was very expensive to keep. The kings of those days presented a white elephant to the people they wanted to ruin. Once they received this holy, royal animal as a gift, they were not allowed to sell or kill it. Today, a “white elephant” means something that is big, useless, and unwanted. In America, when people want to get rid of their furniture or clothes, they often have a “white elephant sale”.
【小题1】The text is mainly about________.

A．the meanings of white in English culture

B．the history of some English idioms

C．some interesting customs in English culture

D．some useful English words and expressions

【小题2】Which expression has an historical background ?

A．White-wash.	B．White-collar.
C．White elephant.	D．White elephant sale.

【小题3】In which statement does “white” have a negative meaning?

A．A boy is dressed in white at baptisms.

B．A bride wears a white wedding gown.

C．A man whitewashes his crime.

D．A girl finds a white collar job.

【小题4】From the text we can learn that _______.

A．a white-elephant sale is useful to the poor

B．the white color is important in our daily life

C．a white-collar job used to be easy to get

D．expressions with white have different meanings

【小题5】The author develops the text mainly by ______.

A．analyzing its cause and effect

B．providing typical examples

C．comparing different ideas

D．following the time order

Every American family has its own traditions on Thanksgiving Day, and mine is no different. Once the national holiday arrives, my mom rises early to make the meal. She puts a turkey in the oven, chops carrots and bakes pies. I’m sorry to say that the men in the family – my dad, my younger brother and myself – rarely pitch in to help. Our job is to wash the mountain of dirty dishes after the meal is over.
Around 2 pm every Thanksgiving Day, family members seat themselves around the kitchen table. Plates of turkey, vegetables, salad, rolls and pies cover it. At this point, we can hardly keep ourselves from drooling (流口水) all over our fancy clothes, but it’s not yet time to eat.
First, we must bow our heads, close our eyes and say a prayer of thanks aloud to God for giving us everything we have. Under normal circumstances, I would have no problem making a list of things I am thankful for. I grew up in a loving family. My parents, who aren’t wealthy, took out loans to help me pay for university.
But, the funny thing is, every time I sit down for Thanksgiving dinner and try to say a prayer of thanks, my mind usually goes blank. I think it has something to do with my growling (咕咕叫) stomach and all of that food sitting right there under my nose.
Eventually, though, we all finish our short prayers and dig in. To be sure, the day includes other highlights – visiting with family and watching football. But usually around 6 pm we are all ourselves stuffed like turkeys and thankful to have a nice warm bed to sleep in.
【小题1】The purpose of the text is to ________.

A．tell what the family do for Thanksgiving Day

B．tell how the family spends Thanksgiving Day

C．introduce foods served on Thanksgiving Day

D．introduce the American Thanksgiving Day

【小题2】On Thanksgiving Day the author’s family do the following except ________.

A．watching a movie	B．making visits
C．having a big meal	D．watching football

【小题3】Why does the author’s mind usually “go blank” when saying a prayer of thanks?

A．He is too thankful to say a word.

B．His mind is on the food before him.

C．He feels too excited to speak.

D．He is shy to speak in public.

【小题4】The underlined phrase “dig in” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to “________”.

A．chat with others	B．make a hole
C．mix things up	D．start eating

【小题5】What can we conclude from the text?

A．On Thanksgiving Day, men do nothing but eat.

B．The author is a middle school student.

C．The author’s family is not rich, but it’s a loving one.

D．Thanksgiving Day falls on Thursday of December.

The United States is a sports-loving nation. Sports in America take various forms: organized competitive struggles, athletic games, hunting and fishing. Most sports are seasonal, so that what is happening in sports depends upon the time of year.
Baseball is the most popular sport in the US. It is played throughout the spring and summer, and professional baseball teams play well into the fall.
Football is the most popular sport in the fall. The game originated as a college sport more than 75 years ago. It’s not the same as European football or soccer. In American football there are 11 players as well on each team, and they are dressed in padded uniforms and helmets because the game is rough and injuries are likely to occur. It is still played by almost every college and university in the country.
Basketball is the winner sport in American schools and colleges. Like football, basketball originated in the US, many Americans prefer it to football because it is played indoors throughout the winter and because it is a faster game. And the famous NBA games are considered the best of this game.
Other sports attracting a great many people include wrestling, boxing and horse racing. Although horse-racing fans call themselves sportsmen, the exactness of the term is questionable, as only the jockeys who ride the horses in the races can be considered athletes. The so-called sportsmen are the spectators, who do not come primarily to see the horses race, but to bet upon the outcome of each race. Gambling is the attraction of horse racing.
【小题1】Baseball is so popular in America that some professional teams play it until ___________.

A．spring

B．summer

C．fall

D．winter

【小题2】When playing football, American players are dressed in a special uniforms ___________.

A．to avoid unexpected injuries

B．to play it like European football

C．to make the game rough enough

D．to look like professional players

【小题3】Many Americans prefer basketball to football because______.

A．NBA games are very popular

B．it is originated in the US

C．it is much faster than football

D．it is played indoors throughout winter

【小题4】Horse-racing fans can’t be exactly considered as sportsmen because they ________.

A．mainly stand and watch the races

B．don’t ride horse in the races

C．are only interested in the results

D．don’t care who wins in the races

【小题5】The underlined word “jockeys” in the last paragraph refers to _______.

A．the person who bets upon the the race

B．the person who cares about horse-racing

C．the rider who enjoys watching the race

D．the rider who competes in horse-racing

Human needs seem endless. When a hungry man gets a meal, he begins to think about an overcoat, when a manager gets a new sports car, a big house and pleasure boats dance into view.
The many needs of mankind might be regarded as making up several levels. When there is money enough to satisfy one level of needs, another level appears.
The first and most basic level of needs involves food. Once this level is satisfied, the second level of needs, clothing and some sort of shelter, appears. By the end of World War Ⅱ, these needs were satisfied for a great majority of Americans. Then a third level appeared. It included such items as automobiles and new houses.
By 1957 or 1958 this third level of needs was fairly well satisfied. Then, in the late 1950s, a fourth level of needs appeared; the “life-enriching” level. While the other levels involve physical satisfaction, that is, the need in comfort, safety, and transportation, this level stresses mental needs for recognition, achievement, and happiness. It includes a variety of goods and services, many of which could be called “luxury” items. Among them are vacation trips, the best medical and dental care, and recreation. Also included here are fancy goods and the latest styles in clothing.
On the fourth level, a lot of money is spent on services, while on the first three levels more is spent on goods. Will consumers raise their sights to a fifth level of needs as their income increases, or will they continue to demand luxuries and personal services on the fourth level?
A fifth level would probably involve needs that can be achieved best by community action. Consumers may be spending more on taxes to pay for government action against disease, ignorance, crime, and prejudice. After filling our stomachs, our clothes closets, our garages, our teeth, and our minds, we now may seek to ensure the health, safety, and leisure to enjoy more fully the good things on the first four levels.
【小题1】According to the passage, man will begin to think about such needs as housing and clothing only when      .

A．he has saved up enough money

B．he has grown dissatisfied with his simple shelter

C．he has satisfied his hunger

D．he has learned to build houses

【小题2】 It can be inferred from the passage that by the end of World War Ⅱ, most Americans       .

A．were very rich	B．lived in poverty
C．had the good things on the first three levels
D．did not own automobiles

【小题3】Which of the following is NOT related to “physical satisfaction” ?

A．A successful career.	B．A comfortable home.
C．A good meal.	D．A family car.

【小题4】 What is the main concern of man on the fourth level?

A．The more goods the better.

B．The more mental satisfaction the better.

C．The more “luxury” items the better.

D．The more earnings the better.

Scientists who try to predict earthquakes have gotten some new helpers recently—animals.
　　That’s right, animals. Scientists have begun to understand what farmers have known for thousands of years. Animals often seem to know in advance that an earthquake is coming, and they show their fear by acting in strange ways. Before a Chinese quake in 1975, snakes awoke from their winter sleep early only to freeze to death in the cold air. Cows broke their halters (缰绳) and tried to escape. Chickens refused to enter their cage. All of this unusual behavior, as well as physical changes in the earth, warned Chinese scientists of the coming quake. They moved people away from the danger zone and saved thousands of lives.
　　One task for scientists today is to learn exactly which types of animal behavior predict quakes. It’s not an easy job. First of all not every animal reacts to the danger of an earthquake. Just before a California quake in 1977, for example, an Arabian horse became very nervous and tried to break out of his enclosure. The Australian horse next to him, however, remained perfectly calm. It’s also difficult at times to tell the difference between normal animal restlessness and “earthquake nerves”. A zoo keeper once called earthquake researchers to say that his cougar had been acting strangely. It turned out that the cat had an upset stomach.
　　A second task for scientists is to find out exactly what kind of warnings the animals receive. They know that animals sense far more of the world than humans do. Many animals can see, hear, and smell things that people do not even notice. Some can sense tiny changes in air pressure, gravity, or the magnetism of Earth. This extra sense probably helps animals predict quakes.
　　A good example of this occurred with a group of dogs. They were shut in an area that was being shaken by a series of tiny earthquakes. (Several small quakes often come before or after a large one.) Before each quake a low booming sound was heard. Each boom caused the dogs to bark wildly. Then the dogs began to bark during a silent period. A scientist who was recording quakes looked at his machine. It was acting as though there were a loud noise too. The scientist realized that the dogs had reacted to a booming noise. They also sensed the tiny quake that followed it. The machine recorded both, though humans felt and heard nothing.
In this case there was a machine to monitor what the dogs were sensing. Many times, however, our machines record nothing extraordinary, even though animals know a quake is coming. The animals might be sensing something we measure but do not recognize as a warning. Discovering what animals sense, and learning how they know it is a danger signal, is a job for future scientists.
【小题1】Through the passage the writer hopes to explore __________.

A．why animals send a danger signal before an earthquake

B．how animals know when an earthquake is coming

C．why animals not men have good sense of danger

D．how much animals know about an earthquake

【小题2】 During an earthquake in China in 1975, _________.

A．chickens refused to go out of their cage

B．snakes were frozen to death in their caves

C．snakes awoke from their winter sleep earlier

D．cows broke their halters and escaped from their sheds

【小题3】Which of the following is one of earthquake nerves according to the passage?

A．An Arabian horse tried to escape from his enclosure.

B．A cougar had an upset stomach unexpectedly.

C．An Australian horse was perfectly calm.

D．A cat acted very strangely in a zoo.

【小题4】The scientists did an experiment with a group of dogs to _________.

A．find out that the machine could record unusual happenings

B．compare the reactions of animals and those of humans

C．prove that animals could sense more than humans

D．find out what exact warnings animals sent

There was once, in a little market-town not far from Upsala (瑞典一城市), a peasant who lived there with his family, digging the earth during the week and singing in the choir on Sundays. This peasant had a little daughter to whom he taught the musical alphabet before she knew how to read. Daae was a great musician, perhaps without knowing it. Not a violinist in Scandinavia played as he did. His reputation was widespread and he was always invited to set the couples dancing at weddings and other festivals. His wife died when Christine was entering upon her sixth year. Then the father, who cared only for his daughter and his music, sold his land and went to Upsala in search of fame and fortune. He found nothing but poverty.
He returned to the country, wandering from fair to fair, playing his Scandinavian music pieces, while his child, who never left his side, listened to him in delight or sang to his playing. One day, at Ljimby Fair, Professor Valerius heard them and took them to Gothenburg. He insisted that the father was the first violinist in the world and that the daughter had the making of a great artist. Her education and instruction were provided for. She made rapid progress and charmed everybody with her prettiness, her grace of manner and her real eagerness to please.
When Valerius and his wife went to settle in France, they took Daae and Christine with them. "Mamma" Valerius treated Christine as her daughter. As for Daae, he became ill with homesickness. He never went out of doors in Paris, but lived in a sort of dream which he kept up with his violin. For hours at a time, he remained locked up in his bedroom with his daughter, playing and singing, very, very softly.
Daae seemed not to recover his strength until the summer, when the whole family went to stay at Perros-Guirec, in a far-away corner of Brittany, where the sea was of the same color as in his own country. Often he would play his saddest tunes on the beach and pretend that the sea stopped its roaring to listen to them. And then he persuaded Mamma Valerius to allow him to leave for a while. At the time of the "pardons," the village festivals and dances, he went off with his violin, as in the old days, and was allowed to take his daughter with him for a week. They gave the smallest villages music to last them for a year and slept at night in a barn, refusing a bed at the inn, lying close together on the straw, as when they were so poor in Sweden. At the same time, they were very neatly dressed, refused the halfpence offered to them; and the people around could not understand the behaviour of this country violinist, who walked heavily on the roads with that pretty child who sang like an angel from Heaven. They followed them from village to village.
【小题1】 When he was in the countryside, Daae did NOT __________.

A．work on his land	B．sing in the choir on Sundays
C．make a fortune at weddings and festivals	D．teach his daughter how to sing

【小题2】The 3rd sentence “He insisted …” in the 2nd paragraph showed Professor Valerius’ ______.

A．hope for Daae and Christine	B．appreciation of Daae and Christine
C．sympathy for Daae and Christine	D．love for Daae and Christine

【小题3】 While Daae was in Paris, he never went out of doors because he was ________.

A．always sleepy	B．so homesick that he fell ill
C．too busy teaching his daughter	D．willing to be locked up with his daughter

【小题4】 What made people curious about the father and daughter was that _______.

A．the father made very good music

B．the daughter sang like an angel from Heaven

C．the father walked strangely with his daughter

D．they appeared to be badly off but refused money offered

Do you remember the game “Telephone”? A message gets passed from person to person, and everyone laughs at how distorted(曲解) it becomes. As a game, telephone can be fun. In real life, sending messages through third parties fouls things up. It is important for family members who have “business” with other family members to take it up directly.
When tension arises in a relationship between two people, a frequent way of dealing with this is to send messages through a third person. Family doctors refer to the process as ‘triangulation”. Following a quarrel, a mother may say to her son, “Tell your father to pass the salt”, which may be answered by, “Tell your mother to get her own salt.” In many long cases of triangulation, the middleman becomes severely disturbed.
Two years ago, Ruth and Ralph Gordon brought their 17-year-old daughter for treatment. Lucille was not doing well in school, using drugs heavily. When I began to work with her, she was uncommunicative and aggressive. After some time, however, she opened up and told me her parents rarely talked to each other, but both used her as a middleman. Mrs. Gordon was sexually unsatisfied and suggested to Lucille that she ask her father to go for marriage advice. Mr. Gordon told Lucille that he was seeing another woman, and he urged Lucille to speak to her mother about improving her behaviour. Caught in this confusing situation, Lucille became more and more troubled. It wasn’t until she refused to play middleman that she began to improve. When either parent began to send a message through her, she learned to say, “Tell him/her yourself!”
You’ll find that when family members learn to dial each other directly, there’s rarely a busy signal or wrong number. With direct dialing, a sense of freshness is created.
【小题1】The underlined words “foul things up” in the 1st paragraph means ________.

A．create things

B．improve things

C．remove things

D．ruin things

【小题2】“Triangulation” in the 2nd paragraph refers to _________.

A．the process of sending messages through a 3rd person

B．the middleman who becomes severely disturbed

C．the tension in a relationship between 2 people

D．the argument between a mother and a father

【小题3】 Through the example of Lucille and her parents, the writer hopes to tell the readers that _______.

A．family members should learn to get their messages across directly

B．parents should send their children taking drugs for treatment

C．children can hardly get used to their parents’ troubles

D．children should refuse the requests of their parents

Most of the 20th century has been a development on the Industrial Revolution taken to an extreme: people now own more products than ever before; there are enough unclear weapons to destroy the earth several times over; there is hardly any forest left and pollution has got to the point where we buy water. Within a few years I predict you will be able to buy air. (There once was a time when you didn’t need to buy food or shelter either.)
Important developments in the last century are the breading down of the class structures left over from the Industrial Revolution stage, bringing with it the empowerment of the “common man ”: the working day is set by law to only 8 hours a day, everyone has the vote, the media has less obvious government control, people have landed on the moon, sent spacecrafts to Mars and so on. Families have also shrunk drastically（强烈地）; the nuclear family came about, and especially in the last half of the 20th century, one-parent families are becoming more common. This shrinking in the size of the family shows the increased independence of people—once upon a time people had to live in large groups to survive.
As humans have “become the gods”, they have realized their individuality and independence and taken their control of the world to an extreme. In many countries the land is almost completely used in the land is almost completely used in the production of food and as living space and they live in small cities which are entirely human constructed, made from materials which are also entirely human constructed(concrete, bricks) with hardly any remains of nature. Weeds are poisoned because they are messy; even parks have trees grown in tidy lines; grass is mowed to keep it short and so on. I think the massive drug “problem” troubling people is a result of too much of this influence, humans needing to escape the stark world they have created by entering fantasy worlds.
Over the last 100 years, the 20th century consciousness has spread throughout the world; most of Asia has been thoroughly “Westernized”, and most of the Third World is being overrun by western ways of doing things and living.
【小题1】What’s the author most concerned about?

A．The influence of pollution.

B．Strong effects of development.

C．Changed positions of humans as gods.

D．The process of the Industrial Revolution.

【小题2】What is the author’s attitude towards the changes of the 20th century?   

A．Objective.

B．Tolerant.

C．Vague.

D．Negative.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “stark” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Unfair.

B．Illegal.

C．Dull.

D．Violent.

【小题4】What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Men’s individuality is over controlled.

B．People have damaged nature too much.

C．Men’s independence is partially limited.

D．People show concern for nuclear families.

They like using the Internet．They have lots of pocket money to spend．And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us．Teenagers are just the sort of people an online seller is interested in, and the things they want to buy－games, CDs and clothing－are easily sold on the Web.
But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own credit cards．Most have to use a parent’s card．They want a facility that allows them to spend money.
That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyber (网络的) space are coming out rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic．If successful, these products can stimulate online sales.
In general, teenagers spend huge amounts: $153bn (billion) in the US last year and ￡20bn annually in the UK．Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school－88 percent in the US, 69 percent in the UK．According to the Jupiter Research, one in eight of those with Internet access has bought something online－mainly CDs and books.
In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children．Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street．They are more likely to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online.
One way to help teenagers change notes and coins into cybercast is through prepaid cards such as Internet Cash in the US and Smart cards in the UK．Similar to those for pay-as-you-go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as￡20 or $50 with a concealed 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.
【小题1】What does the word “They” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Sellers.

B．Buyers.

C．Teenagers.

D．Parents.

【小题2】According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．More than half of the teenagers in the US and the UK have Internet access．

B．Teenagers pay for goods online with their own credit cards.

C．Most teenagers in the US and the UK have bought something online.

D．Teenagers found it easier to persuade parents to buy online than in a shop.

【小题3】A new way to help teenagers shop online is to use ______.

A．a new machine	B．special coins and notes
C．prepaid cards	D．pay-as-you-go mobile phones

【小题4】What is the passage mainly about?

A．Online shopping traps.	B．Internet users in the US and the UK.
C．New credit cards for parents.	D．The arrival of cyber pocket money.

Cittaslow has discovered China, and it is awarding a little village in Jiangsu the title of "slow city"
The bored teenagers of Gaochun are impatient with the leisurely pace of hometown life．For them there is no nightlife to speak of, no bright lights, no excitement and they cannot wait to grow up and leave for the urban attractions of the big cities．But it is this laid-back lifestyle that has attracted international attention．At least, a quiet village within Gaochun county has come under the spotlight．Yaxi village, population 20,000, is about to be designated China's first "slow city" by Cittaslow, the sustainable lifestyle movement that first surfaced in Italy 11 years ago．
At home, the residents at Yaxi are unfazed and pretty much unimpressed by the honor．To them, life has been like this for as long as they can remember．Here, growing old gracefully is natural．
Nobody living in this little county had heard of Cittaslow or the words "slow city" before this．
"The first time I heard the term was last July, when the vice-president of Cittaslow, Angelo Vassallo, visited Yaxi village," says Zuo Niansheng, the chief editor of local newspaper Gaochun Today．
"Vassallo was deeply impressed by this village's natural and cultural resources and said it perfectly fitted the requirements for a slow city," says Zuo．"That was how Yaxi became connected with Cittaslow．
The Slow City must also be committed to protect and maintain the natural environment as well as promote a sustainable way of development ?all of which are the current strategies adopted in Gaochun．"We've been doing this for years," adds Zuo．
Cittaslow was founded in Tuscany, Italy in 1999．It was a spin-off from the Slow Food movement which started, also in Italy, in 1986 as a protest against the first McDonald ' s opening near the Spanish Steps in Rome．The movement championed a return to healthy, nutritious home-grown, home -cooked food．
Slow Food has since expanded globally to more than 130 countries．Its mission has also broadened to include the promotion of sustainable foods and local small businesses, and the localization as opposed to globalization of food production．
Cittaslow is an expansion of the Slow Food movement, and it actively advocates a lifestyle that is sustainable, that will improve quality of life, and will preserve cultural and culinary （烹饪的）heritage．
【小题1】According the passage, Cittaslow is a（n） ____．

A．organization

B．person

C．lifestyle

D．honor

【小题2】What' s the reaction of the residents at Yaxi to the award according the passage? They feel

A．very excited．	B．very shocked
C．indifferent	D．very happy

【小题3】Why is the village Yaxi awarded the title of “slow city”? Because          .

A．it is full of excitement and activities of nightlife

B．the residents at Yaxi enjoy a leisure life

C．it is very rich and has a lot of attractions

D．foreign people like small towns than big cities.

【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that         .

A．young people at Yaxi enjoy their life very much

B．China is more and more popular with foreign people

C．the first McDonald’s in Europe was opened in Spain

D．the lifestyle of “slow city” will be good to environment and people