Need to relax after a few stressful months? Perhaps you need to go to a spa.
First of all, what exactly is a spa? Traditionally, spas were places with a natural spring producing warm waters that could be used in hydrotherapy (水疗法) treatments. They were places where you “took the waters” --- meaning you drank some of the water or bathed in it.
But nowadays, a “spa” can mean a variety of things. In general, the term is often used to refer to commercial establishment that provides many services for health, fitness, weight loss, beauty and relaxation. This may include exercise classes, mud baths, body treatment, facials (美容), etc.
In Japan, traditional hot springs have attracted visitors for centuries. And thermal baths (温泉浴) have been found in the ruins of the Cretan Palace of Knossos (2000-1400 B.C.). It was the Romans who made spas popular in Europe. They established a number of towns around thermal waters. These include the English town of Aquae Sulis (which is called Bath today), and the Belgian town of Aquae Spadanae (which is known as Spa these days).
In the 18^th century, spas became the fashionable places to go on holiday. Bath and Harrogate in the UK were popular with British rich people. And in Europe Carsbad (now called Larlovy Vary), Marienbad and Franzensbsf were Europe’s most important holiday centers.
A typical day in Carsbad in the 19^th century went as follows. Visitors got up at 6:00 a.m. to take the waters and listen to music by a band. Next, came a light breakfast, a bath in the waters, and then lunch. In the afternoon, visitors went sightseeing, walked or attended concerts. After dinner, there were theatrical performances. Guests returned to their hotels at about 9 p.m. to rest until six the following morning. Visitors would stay for as long as a month. Some of the more famous patients at these spas included the composers Beethoven and Chopin, and the Russian writer Turgnev.
Marienbad was the best spa town. It was popular with the inventor Thomas Edison, the writer Johann Goethe, and many famous people and European emperors.
Today, although taking the waters isn’t as common as it used to be, spa treatments are more popular than ever.
【小题1】What can we learn about a spa?

New Zealand
What can you see?   Mountains, volcanoes, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, forests, beaches. Both islands are mountainous. In fact, only 30% of New Zealand is flat.
The Maoris
When the Maoris first arrived in New Zealand, they lived in villages and were excellent fishermen, hunters and farmers. About 50 years ago many Maoris started to live and work in the large cities and took jobs in government, industries, medicine and education. They are proud of their culture and are determined to keep many of the customs which are part of their way of life.
Who can you meet?  Most people live on North Island. Eighty-five percent of New Zealanders are “pakeha” (“white men”), which means their “great grandfathers” came from Europe. Ten percent are Maoris. The Maoris came to New Zealand from the Polynesian islands probably around the tenth century. The “pakeha” started to arrive in New Zealand from Europe about 200 years ago as farmers and traders.
Fact box: New Zealand
Position: South of the Equator ;  Nearest neighbor: Australia, 1600 km away.
Size: Two main islands — North Island and South Island: together they are 268.680 sq. km.
Population: 4 million
Capital: Wellington
Languages: English and Maori   
【小题1】Which of the following is a fact about New Zealand?

Some houses are designed to be smart. Others have smart designs. An example of the second type of house won the Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects.
Located on the shore of Sullivan’s Island off the coast of South Carolina, the award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one damaged by Hurricane Hugo years ago. In September 1989, Hugo struck South Carolina, killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36,000 homes in the state.
Before Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina’s shoreline were poorly constructed, according to architect Ray Huff, who created the cleverly-designed beach house. Now all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced codes. The new beach house on Sullivan’s Island should be strong enough not to be damaged by a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometres per hour.
At first sight, the house on Sullivan’s Island looks anything but(根本不) hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it look like “a large party lantern” at night. But looks can be deceiving. The house’s wooden frame is strengthened with long steel rods(杆) to give it extra strength.
To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings(木桩) buried deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also raise the house above storm waves. The pilings allow the waves to run under the house instead of running into it. “The waves of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.
Huff designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed(隐藏) by the house’s ground-to-roof shell. “The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn’t look like it’s standing with its legs pulled up,” said Huff. In the event of storm, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.
【小题1】After Hurricane Hugo, new houses built along South Carolina’s shore line are required
to       .

One Saturday afternoon in February, 1943, a farmer in Mexico stopped working for a moment and looked across his fields of corn. Suddenly he saw a thin line of white smoke curling up out of his field, about 200 feet from where he stood. As he went toward the smoke to see what it was, he heard a strange noise. The line of smoke became bigger. It looked as if some great force were pushing it up into the sky.
The farmer rushed home to get his wife. While he was urging his wife to hurry from the house, the earth shook violently. When he stood up after the earth stopped shaking, he looked across the field and saw that great flames were rising from his cornfield. A volcano was being born!
They hurried across the shaking earth to the village of Particutin, which was toward their farm. They found the village was seriously destroyed and the road from the village was filled with frightened people hurrying to safety.
Particutin did not become dark that night. The volcano lighted up the sky for miles around. Flames rushed out of the ground. The volcano threw hot stones a thousand feet through the air. Great explosion shook the earth and heavy black ashes fell from the sky, covering the roofs in Mexico city, 180 miles away.
But that was not all. On the third evening a float of lava（火山岩）began to boil up from the centre of the volcano. It came over the edge in a heavy flow, 2,000 feet wide, and travelled slowly across the valley, bringing certain death to everything that could not move from its path.
【小题1】.
. From the passage we can conclude EXCEPT that         .

B
Charter schools operate with public money but without many of the rues that Sovem tradi-tional public schools．In the Uruted States the rules for charter schools difFer from state to state． But in Seneral these schools havegreater freedom to decide what to teach and how to teach it．
The "charter 'is a perfarmance contract．It establishes thegoals of the school and other details like how student performance will be measured． Forty - seven million students attend traditional public schools．But more than a million students attend charter schools:
And now a group of charter schools have formed the Green Charter Schools Network.The idea is to have environmentally friendly school buildings but toalso go further than that．The schools teach students to become involved in community issues that affect them and the environ-ment． For example, youg children grow crops in a school garden and leam about healthy eat-ing．Older students help recycle waste from the cafeteria．And local schoois share what they grow in community gardens with people in need．
Jim McGrath is president．of the Green Charter Schools Network． He says there are about 200 "green" charter schools across the United States． He says the plan is to also include tradi-tional public schools as well as private schools．
Jim McGrath:  "The most important thing is that every one of us - every child, every adult - has a reaponsibility that their action, every action we make has an effect on the earth  that we live in． And that our natuntl resources are not unlimited． And that if we want a positive earth for future generations, we all need to make comnutments to be agents of change so that we don' t destroy our natural resources．
The Green Clarter Schools Network holds its first national conference this October in Min- nesota．It will include companies and orgaizations like Waste Management and the Uruted States Green Brulding Council． We sincerely hope that their goal is to expand the movement across the country．
61．Charter schools are quitedifent from public ones in that______________
A．they are operated by public money
B．they still use the traditional rules
C．they have more freedom in management
D． they attract more students than others
62．The Green Charter Schools Network is established to______________
A．advise teenagers to attend charter schools
B．paint the school buildings in the color of green
C．measure the students with the same standards
D．get students involved in environment friendly activities
63．Which of the following statements about the Network are true EXCEPT_________
A． It only concernsthe charter schools in the U．S．
B．It holds its first national conference in Minnesota．
C． It will benefit both the schools and the communities．
D．It promotes different schools to share their achievements．
64．According to Jim McGrath,____________
A．people's action plays little part in nature
B．natural resources are abundant for people to use
C． students should be taught to be responsibk for the world
D．everyone should make efforts to change the positive nature
65．What' s the writer' s purpose of this passage?
A．To criticize the traditional education system．
B．To encourage the students to adopt healthy eating．
C．To inspire people to recycle waste from the cafeteria．
D．To arouse the schools to take action to protect the earth．