Imagine a world 400 years ago where children were used as chimney sweeps．The pay was low, it was a dirty trade and there was little reward for the men who did the job and even less for children.

Medway’s annual Sweeps Festival recreates the joy and laughter enjoyed by the chimney sweeps at their traditional holiday: the one time of the year the sweeps could leave the soot（烟灰） behind and have some fun．The sweeps’ holiday was traditionally held on 1 May each year．Locally, they used to mark the occasion by staging a procession through the streets of Rochester.

Their fun continued with the Jack-in-the-Green ceremony, a seven-foot character that they used to waken at dawn on Blue Bell Hill, Chatham．The Jack-in-the-Green would walk with the chimney sweeps in their parade．When the Climbing Boys’ Act 1868 made it illegal to employ young boys to carry out the trade, the traditional procession gradually began to fade．The final May celebration was held in the early 1900s.

The modern day Rochester Sweeps Festival is a colorful mix of music, dancing and entertainment with more than 60 Morris sides and entertainers celebrating throughout the three-day festival．The festival was revived in 1981 by local businessman Gordon Newton, a keen historian．He decided it was time to bring it back and over the years he has helped develop the festival into what it is today — an excellent performance of traditional Britain.

Gordon researched the Sweeps’ tradition and organized a small parade, involving local Morris teams．In time, Medway Council took over organization of the festival but Gordon remained actively involved．Today he is festival producer and plays melodeon（簧风琴） for several Morris teams．Doug Hudson is the festival’s music director, a role he has held for many years．Through Gordon’s vision and hard work, Doug’s musical ability and the council’s help, the Rochester Sweeps Festival has become the largest May Day celebration of its kind in the country.

According to the writer, chimney sweeps ____________.

      A．were highly respected        B．were well rewarded

      C．led a hard life in the past            D．worked in good conditions

Medway’s Sweeps Festival ____________.

      A．has been organized by the Jack-in-the-Green

      B．dated back to the May celebration in the early 1900s

       C．is held to honor those chimney sweeps every other year

      D．has become a time for chimney sweeps to enjoy themselves

The underlined word “revive” in the 4th paragraph most probably means ___________.

      A．realize          B．review         C．recreate         D．recognize

It can be inferred from the passage that ____________.

      A．the festival has never been supported by the local government

      B．The festival is a good way to see British folk customs in action

      C．youngsters has been forbidden to be chimney sweeps since 1981

      D．the modern festival lasts five days celebrating the coming of spring

What is the passage mainly concerned about?

      A．Sweeps Festival history   B．Medway’s traditional holidays

      C．Climbing Boys’ Act 1868       D．a procession in Rochester

John Davis doesn’t use his GPS system in his car. Instead of guiding the direction, the Delaware farmer uses it to determine where and how much fertilizer to use on the crops on his 4,000-acre family-owned farm. Technological advances like that last year helped Davis and other Ohio farmers set a record for corn product. Ohio's corn crop in 2009 totaled 546 million bushels(蒲式耳), despite a cooler and wetter than normal spring, a dry summer and a delayed, wet harvest. Davis said. “I knew it would be a good crop, but it was much better than we expected.”

A farmer can map his fields on GPS, spotting where soil turned out to be least fertile（肥沃的） and using more fertilizer the next year in those areas where corn didn’t grow as well.

Although Ohio farmers produced more corn, it was grown on less land than in the past years. Total area used for corn in Ohio was 3.35 million acres, about the same as in 2008 but down from 3.85 million acres in 2007, said Dwayne Siekman, director of the Ohio Corn Growers Association. “When you look at the total number of acres in Ohio used for corn, it’s clear that farmers are able to do more with less,” he said. “American farmers can grow five times more corn on 20 percent less land than they did in the 1930s, saying that modern farming techniques are necessary for a growing demand in the world today.” That technology includes using improved seeds that can withstand(忍受) greater temperature extremes and pests, Siekman said.

Farmers aren't the only ones who benefit. Consumers(消费者) do, too, as food costs reduce in the face of “enough supplies of corn,” said Fred Yoder, who runs a 1,500-acre corn, soybean and wheat farm in Plain City. “This is the best, highest-producing corn crop that I've raised in 30 years,” he said.

1.Most people usually use the GPS system for ______.

A. driving their cars

B. telling the position

C. mending the car

D. supplying the sunshine

2.The farmers in Ohio use GPS to ______.

A. check if the soil is fertile in some areas

B. control the rain of the place

C. water the crops if the weather is dry

D. draw the map of all the crops

3.Why did Ohio farmers produce more corn?

A. Because they expanded more land to grow corn

B. Because they turned to technological advances

C. Because they used more and more fertilizer.

D. Because they supplies themselves with more money.

4. From the passage, we can know _____.[

A. John Davis hadn’t expected a good harvest.

B. farmers grew less land than in the 1930s

C. improved seeds cost much more money

D. the output of corn in the same field is increased.

 

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her free time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.

As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip (退稿条) from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and ruined hopes can surface.

A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?”

“No”, she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.

While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.

1. What do we learn form the first paragraph?

A. Now too many entertainments take up too much time.

B. Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.

C. Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her free time.

D. Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

2. What did the author say about her own writing experience?

A. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

B. Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

C. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

D. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

3. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?

A. She had won a prize in the previous contest.

B. She wanted to share her stories with readers.

C. She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.

D. She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

4. What’s the author’s advice for parents?

A. Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.

B. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.

C. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.

D. A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.

 

Subways

The Tokyo Metro and Toei Lines	Features: The Tokyo Metro and Toei lines that make up of Tokyo’s huge subway system carry almost 8 million people each day, making it the busiest system in the world. The system is famous for its oshiya-- literally “pusher”--- who push passengers into crowded subway cars so the doors can close. And you think your ride is hell.
The Moscow Metro	Features: The Moscow Metro has some of the most beautiful stations in the world. The best of them were built during the Stalinist era and feature chandeliers (枝行吊灯)，marble moldings and elaborate murals(精美壁画). With more than 7 million riders a day, keeping all that marble clean has got to be a burden.
The Hong Kong MTR	Features: The Hong Kong MTR has the distinction of being one of the few subway systems in the world that actually turns a profit（利润）. It’s privately owned and uses real estate development along its tracks to increase income and ridership. It also introduced “Octopus cards” that allow people to not only pay their fares electronically, but buy stuff at convenience stores ,supermarkets, restaurants and even parking meters. It’s estimated that 95% of all adults in Hong Kong own an Octopus card.
Shanghai Metro	Features: Shanghai is the third city in China to build a metro system, and it has become the country’s largest in the 12 years since it opened. Shanghai Metro has 142 miles of track and plans to add another 180 miles within five years. By that point, it would be three times larger than Chicago “L”. The system carries about 2.18 million people a day.
The London Metro	Features: Londoners call their subway the Underground, even though 55 percent of it lies above ground. No matter when you’ve got the oldest mass-transit system in the world, you can call it anything you like. Trains started in 1863 and they’ve been running ever since. Some 3 million people ride each day, every one of them remembering to “Mind the gap”

1.______ is done with the purpose of making money.

A．The Tokyo Metro and Toei Lines	B．The Moscow Metro
C．Shanghai Metro	D．The Hong Kong MTR

2.We can learn from the passage that Shanghai Metro______.

A．carries the most people each day

B．is the world’s largest

C．may be larger than the Chicago “L” in the future

D．is the busiest in the world

3.How many subways carry more than 5 million people per day?

A．2

B．3

C．4

D．5

4.What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Shanghai is the third to build a metro system in China, which has become the largest in the world.

B．You’ll feel sick when you travel on the Tokyo Metro and Toei Lines.

C．Londoners call their subway the Underground because 55 percent of it lies above ground.

D．It is estimated that 95% of the population in Hong Kong own an Octopus card

 

With more forests being destroyed, humans have to _______ a lot from what they have done.      

A．separate          B．suffer            C．stop              D．protect