Experts do not really know when people began keeping fish as pets. But they say that people have been interested in fish for thousands of years. Some say the ancient Sumerians were the first civilization to keep fish in ponds more than four thousand years ago. The Chinese kept and studied carp and goldfish more than one thousand years ago. The ancient Romans kept eels as pets. And the Greek philosopher Aristotle made what is believed to be the first known study of sea life, including sharks and dolphins.

Keeping fish at home in small water tanks called aquariums is extremely popular today. And everyone seems to enjoy visiting huge public aquariums that have opened around the world.

By the middle of the eighteen hundreds, science had shown that plants, fish and other sea creatures could survive together under water. So it was no longer necessary to change the water in a tank for the fish to live there. This led to the building of the first public aquariums.

The first aquariums opened in London, England in 1853. in the next fifteen years, other aquariums opened in Europe and the United States. By 1928, there were about forty-five public aquariums.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has been recognized as the first aquarium in the United States and it shows visitors the underwater life in the bay. The Georgia Aquarium opening in 2005 says it is the largest in the world. It has more than one hundred thousand sea animals in thirty million liters of water including two whale sharks---the world’s largest fish.

Another aquarium re-opened in 2005 in Camden, New Jersey. The Adventure Aquarium first opened in 1992. It spent about fifty million dollars expanding its building and improving its exhibits.

Aquariums provide the public with many chances to experience life under the sea. They can be found in most areas of the world. People might even want to start an aquarium at home and join the millions of people around the world who keep fish as pets.

1.Which aquarium opened again after its rebuilding ?

A. The Monterey Bay Aquarium.           B. The Adventure Aquarium.

C. The Georgia Aquarium.                    D. The first aquarium in London.

2.Which of the following is NOT mentioned to have kept fish as pets?

A. The ancient Sumerians.       B. The ancient Romans. C. The Chinese. D. The ancient Indians.

3.Which of the following is correct?

A. People were not interested in fish until the middle of the eighteen hundreds.       

B. The Moneterey Bay Aquarium is regarded as the best aquarium in America.

C. Plants, fish and other sea creatures could not survive together under sea.          

D. People have to change the water in a tank frequently for the fish to live there.

4. The passage is written mainly       .

A. to tell people the importance of keeping fish as pets

B. to explain why people want to visit aquariums

C. to let people know the development of the aquariums

D. to describe different aquariums

5.What does the underlined word “aquariums” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. Exhibition centres where people can watch and enjoy different species of fish.

B. Small boxes made of glass, where people keep fish in, usually at home.

C. Places which shows visitors the underwater life in the bay.

D. Places which provides the public with many chances to experience life under the sea.

Dear Earthmen,

I have enjoyed my stay on your interesting unusual planet. I think I understand the life on earth now and I would like to give you my impressions.

First of all you live in boxes. Every morning you leave your big boxes and get into smaller boxes on wheels. All these small boxes race around and around, and finally stop to rest. You then leave these boxes on wheels and go to very large tall boxes.

After testing all days you get back in your little boxes and return to your big boxes. There you sit and stare at tiny glowing boxes with moving pictures on the front.

Only one thing puzzles me. One day, I went to a football game. A bunch of angry boys fought over a little round ball. Everyone yelled for them to stop but they kept on fighting. They were angry, I suppose, about being cooped up（被关起来）in boxes all day.

Thank you earthmen for this chance to get to know you.

Gratefully,

The man from the Mars（火星）

1. The small boxes on wheels are ________.

2. The tiny glowing boxes with moving pictures on the front are ______.

3. In the football game ________.

A. the players were very angry because there was only one ball on the playground

B. the players were very angry because everyone yelled at them

C. the man from the Mars saw fighting among the angry boys

D. the man from the Mars saw a close match

4. The best title of this passage is ______.

5. The man from the Mars thinks _______.

A. it is interesting to live on our unusual planet

B. there are so many boxes on the earth

C. the tiny glowing boxes are moving pictures

D. the angry boys are too foolish to fight over a little round ball

(C)
Thanksgiving Day is a very special day for people in the United States. In that country they celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians also celebrate Thanksgiving Day, but they do it on the second Monday of October. In Britain, where the festival is called “ Harvest Festival”, people celebrate earlier in the year, in September.
A harvest is the fruit you take from the trees and the crops you take from the ground. In North America, Europe, and England, harvest time for most fruit and crops is in the special day of the year. They thank God for the good things that have happened during the year and for the good harvest they have had. People usually take small boxes of fruit, flowers, and vegetables to their churches to show their thanks.
The first thanksgiving service in North America took place on 4 December 1610 when 38 English people arrived in America to make their home in the new country. They held this service not to thank God for the harvest, but to thank God for their safe journey. The next year, many more English people arrived. They had a bad winter, but fortunately the harvest was good. They decided to celebrate with a big meal. They shot and killed small animals to eat and cooked everything outside on large fires. About 90 Indians also came to the meal. Everyone ate at tables outside their houses and played games together. The festival lasted three days.
A Thanksgiving Day celebration was held every year for a long time, but not always on the same day of the year. Then, in 1789, President George Washington named 26 November as the Day of Thanksgiving. Almost a hundred years later, President Abraham Lincoln changed the date, and said that the last Thursday in November should be Thanksgiving Day.
Nowadays, North Americans around the world get together with their families on this day to eat good food and have a happy time.
39. The story is about ____.
A. festivals                   B. an American festival  
C. English people in America    D. giving thanks for everything
40. The last Thursday in November in November is ____.
A. a festival in every country in the world
B. Thanksgiving Day in the United States
C. the day farmers pick fruit from the trees
D. the day the first English People came to America
41. On thanksgiving Day people ____.
A. plant their crops.                 B. celebrate a safe journey
C. thank God for a good harvest        D. harvest their fruit and crops.
42. At the first thanksgiving service in North America, the people ____.
A. shot a lot of small animals
B. thanked God for a safe journey
C. thanked God for a good harvest
D. had a big dinner outside their houses.

Experts do not really know when people began keeping fish as pets. But they say that people have been interested in fish for thousands of years. Some say the ancient Sumerians were the first civilization to keep fish in ponds more than four thousand years ago. The Chinese kept and studied carp and goldfish more than one thousand years ago. The ancient Romans kept eels as pets. And the Greek philosopher Aristotle made what is believed to be the first known study of sea life, including sharks and dolphins.
Keeping fish at home in small water tanks called aquariums is extremely popular today. And everyone seems to enjoy visiting huge public aquariums that have opened around the world.
By the middle of the eighteen hundreds, science had shown that plants, fish and other sea creatures could survive together under water. So it was no longer necessary to change the water in a tank for the fish to live there. This led to the building of the first public aquariums.
The first aquariums opened in London, England in 1853. in the next fifteen years, other aquariums opened in Europe and the United States. By 1928, there were about forty-five public aquariums.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has been recognized as the first aquarium in the United States and it shows visitors the underwater life in the bay. The Georgia Aquarium opening in 2005 says it is the largest in the world. It has more than one hundred thousand sea animals in thirty million liters of water including two whale sharks---the world’s largest fish.
Another aquarium re-opened in 2005 in Camden, New Jersey. The Adventure Aquarium first opened in 1992. It spent about fifty million dollars expanding its building and improving its exhibits.
Aquariums provide the public with many chances to experience life under the sea. They can be found in most areas of the world. People might even want to start an aquarium at home and join the millions of people around the world who keep fish as pets.
【小题1】Which aquarium opened again after its rebuilding ?

Dear Earthmen,
I have enjoyed my stay on your interesting unusual planet. I think I understand the life on earth now and I would like to give you my impressions.
First of all you live in boxes. Every morning you leave your big boxes and get into smaller boxes on wheels. All these small boxes race around and around, and finally stop to rest. You then leave these boxes on wheels and go to very large tall boxes.
After testing all days you get back in your little boxes and return to your big boxes. There you sit and stare at tiny glowing boxes with moving pictures on the front.
Only one thing puzzles me. One day, I went to a football game. A bunch of angry boys fought over a little round ball. Everyone yelled for them to stop but they kept on fighting. They were angry, I suppose, about being cooped up（被关起来）in boxes all day.
Thank you earthmen for this chance to get to know you.
Gratefully,
The man from the Mars（火星）
1. The small boxes on wheels are ________.