A story from the Bible (圣经) tells of old Babylon, where the men decided to build a tower that would touch the sky. But God was unhappy, and he made them speak different languages. They couldn’t understand each other, so their dream never came true.

    Yet the dream remains alive: if all men speak the same language, they can do anything. L. L. Zamenhof from Poland was among the men who pursue this dream. He developed Esperanto (世界语) between 1877 and 1885. As the most successful man-made world language, it is spoken by over two million people around the world. Last month, the World Esperanto Congress (大会), dealing with language rights, ended in Sweden. The 2004 conference will be held in Beijing.

    Most Esperanto speakers are in Central and Eastern Europe and in East Asia, particularly Chinese mainland. Esperanto has two advantages (优点). First, it’s easy. Each letter has exactly one sound and there are just 16 basic grammar rules. The second advantage is that it belongs to no one country.

    But Esperanto has only reached a small number of people compared with natural languages widely used around the world--such as English or Chinese. While these languages are deeply connected with their nations and cultures, Esperanto doesn’t have this background.

    Will Esperanto really become a global language? It remains a question.

    1. The writer tells us a story at the beginning to ________.

    A. explain why men have been making the effort to create a language shared by all

    B. explain why men now speak different languages

    C. show the relationship between man and God

    D. prove language is very important

   2. What does the word“pursue”in the second paragraph mean?

    A. Realize.　　　　　　 B. Work for.　　　　  C. Be against.　　　　 D. Follow.

    3. What is the basic difference between Esperanto and English?

    A. More people speak English than Esperanto.

    B. Esperanto words are easier to spell.

    C. Esperanto has fewer grammar rules.

    D. Esperanto is not supported by any country or culture.

    4. What does the story mainly talk about?

    A. Advantages and disadvantages of Esperanto.

    B. Men’s dream of sharing the same language.

    C. Comparison of Esperanto and other languages like English and Chinese.

    D. The most successful planned language-Esperanto.

    Yet the dream remains alive: if all men speak the same language, they can do anything. L. L. Zamenhof from Poland was among the men who pursue this dream. He developed Esperanto (世界语) between 1877 and 1885. As the most successful man-made world language, it is spoken by over two million people around the world. Last month, the World Esperanto Congress (大会), dealing with language rights, ended in Sweden. The 2004 conference will be held in Beijing.

    Most Esperanto speakers are in Central and Eastern Europe and in East Asia, particularly Chinese mainland. Esperanto has two advantages (优点). First, it’s easy. Each letter has exactly one sound and there are just 16 basic grammar rules. The second advantage is that it belongs to no one country.

    But Esperanto has only reached a small number of people compared with natural languages widely used around the world--such as English or Chinese. While these languages are deeply connected with their nations and cultures, Esperanto doesn’t have this background.

    Will Esperanto really become a global language? It remains a question.

    1. The writer tells us a story at the beginning to ________.

    A. explain why men have been making the effort to create a language shared by all

    B. explain why men now speak different languages

    C. show the relationship between man and God

    D. prove language is very important

   2. What does the word“pursue”in the second paragraph mean?

    A. Realize.　　　　　　 B. Work for.　　　　  C. Be against.　　　　 D. Follow.

    3. What is the basic difference between Esperanto and English?

    A. More people speak English than Esperanto.

    B. Esperanto words are easier to spell.

    C. Esperanto has fewer grammar rules.

    D. Esperanto is not supported by any country or culture.

    4. What does the story mainly talk about?

    A. Advantages and disadvantages of Esperanto.

    B. Men’s dream of sharing the same language.

    C. Comparison of Esperanto and other languages like English and Chinese.

    D. The most successful planned language-Esperanto.

（共5小题，每小题1分，满分5分）

根据对话情景和内容，从对话后方框所给的选项中选出能填入每一空白处的最佳选项

—Oh，madam.　1　

—I'm sorry to say the bill you sent me was incorrect.

—Incorrect，madam？　2　

—Yes，I know.　3　

—Really，madam？I find it very hard to believe.

—　4　

—Ah.Well，I must apologize，madam.It's the new computer.

—Well，don't you think it's about time you got it working properly？It's most inconvenient.

—I agree entirely.I'm very sorry about it.　5　

A. Could you help me？

B. That's very strange.

C. What can I do for you？

D. And what's more，this isn't the first time.

E. But I think this is the first time.

F. I promise you it won't happen again.

G. Look，it's happened five or six times in the past three months.

It’s an image that might make Saddam Hussein proud.A frightened prisoner,head covered and dressed in rags,electrodes attached to the fingers of his out-strectched hands.He’s been forced to stand on a box and,if he falls off,his captors have told him that he’ll be electrocuted(触电致死).?

    The prisoner was an Iraqi and his torturers were American soldiers who were sent to the country to liberate the Iraqi people.This unpleasant image was one of a series of photographs leaked by a US soldier.He was working at a US Prisoner of War(POW) camp,which used to be Saddam’s punishment centre.Since the pictures were shown on the American news programmer “60 Minutes Ⅱ” on April 28,they have caused shock and anger in the US and abroad.Despite US President George W. Bush’s promise to punish the responsible soldiers,the country’s image in the Middle East could be damaged forever.?

   “The liberators are worse than the dictators,”said Abdel-Bari Atwan,editor of the Arab newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi.“They have not just lost the hearts and minds of Iraqis but of people in all developing countries.”?

    UN secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was “deeply disturbed” by the pictures and hoped it was a single incident.However,similar photographs have appeared in British newspapers of British soldiers torturing Iraqis.?

Any kind of torture, or mistreatment of prisoners is forbidden under the Geneva Conventions.?

The first agreement was signed by 16 European countries in 1864 in Geneva,Switzerland.It was intended to protect wounded soldiers on land and limit human suffering in times of armed conflict.Further rules were added to cover the treatment of soldiers at sea,and prisoners of war.The entire set was accepted in 1949 and has since been accepted by nearly 200 countries.?

57.The passage is about________.?

A.how American soliders treated POWs?

B.America’s global image?

C.photos of POW mistreatment?

D.international reactions to the photos being released

58.Why might such photos make Saddam Hussein proud??

A.He could be crueler than the torturers in the photo.?

B.It showed the so-called liberators were worse than him.?

C.They were taken in his punishment centre.?

D.They could damage the image of the US in the Middle East forever.

59.According to the article,who had a hand in the mistreatments of Iraqi soldiers?

A.Saddam Hussein.　　　　　       B.British soldiers.?

C.American soldiers.　　　　　     D.Both B and C.?

60.Which of the following is wrong about the Geneva Conventions???

A.Over 200 countries have accepted the Conventions so far.?

B.They make sure wounded soldiers get proper treatment.?

C.They were named after the place where the first agreement was signed.?

D.The Conventions show that the US soldiers acted wrongly.