Hundreds of years ago, a Roman army came north from England to make war on Scotland. The Scots, a brave people, love their country. They fought hard to drive the enemy out of Scotland. But there were too many of the Romans. It looked as if the Romans would win.
　　One night, the leader of the Scots marched his soldiers to the top of a hill. “We will rest here tonight, my men,” he said, “Tomorrow we will fight one more battle①. We must win, or we will die.”
　　They were all very tired. So they ate their supper quickly and fell asleep. There were four guards on duty, but they were very tired, too, and one by one, they fell asleep.
　　The Romans were not asleep. Quickly they gathered at the foot of the hill. Slowly they went up the hill. Closer they came to the sleeping Scots. They were almost at the top. A few minutes more the war would be over. Suddenly, one of them put his foot on a thistle (蓟). He cried out and his sudden cry woke the Scots. In a minute they were on their feet and ready for a battle. The fighting was hard, but it did not last long. The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved Scotland②.
　　The thistle is not a beautiful plant. It has sharp needles all over it. Few people liked it. But the people of Scotland liked it so much that they made it their national flower.
　【小题1】 Hundreds of years ago, the Romans ____ .

E
In the old days, children were familiar with birth and death as part of life. Now this is perhaps the first generation of American youngsters who have never been close by during of the birth a baby and have never experienced the death of a family member.
　　Nowadays when people grow old, we often send them to nursing homes. When they get sick, we send them to a hospital, where children are forbidden to visit patients— even when those patients are their parents. This deprives（剥夺）the dying patient of family members during the last few days of his life and it deprives the children of an experience of death, which is an important learning experience.
　　Some of my colleagues and I once interviewed and followed about 500 in order to find out what they could teach us and how we could be of more benefit, not just to them but to the members of their families as well. We were most impressed by the fact that even those patients who were not told of their serious illness were quite aware of its potential outcome.
　　It is important for family members, and doctors and nurses to understand these patients’ communication in order to truly understand their needs, fears and fantasies. Most of our patients welcomed another human being with whom they could talk openly, honestly, and frankly about their trouble. Many of them shared with us their reat need to be informed, to be kept up-to-date on their medical condition and to be told when the end was near. We found out that patients who had been dealt with openly and frankly were better able to deal with the coming of death and finally to reach a true stage of acceptance before death.
82.The elders of today's Americans________ .
　　A. are often absent when a family member is born or dying
　　B. usually see the birth or death of a family member　　
C. are unfamiliar with birth and death
　　D. have often experienced the fear of death as part of life
83.Children in America are deprived of the chance to________.
　　A. visit a patient at hospital　　　　                             B. visit their family members
　　C. look after the patients　　　　                                          D. learn how to face death　
84.The need of a dying patient for people to accompany him shows________.
　　A. his wish for communication with other people　　             
B. his fear of death
　　C. his unwillingness to die                    　     
D. he feels very upset about his condition
85.It may be concluded from the passage that________.
　　A. dying patients should be truthfully informed of their condition
　　B. dying patients are afraid of being told of the coming of death
　　C. most patients are unable to accept death until it can’t be avoided
D. dying patients are not likely to be informed about their condition         

Frankly，I appreciate myself very much.Yes，I admit I’m in many aspects not as good as other people，but I don’t think I’m always not good.When I find what I’ve done or written is okay，I’ll remain pleased with myself for quite a few days，and if I receive praise for it，I’ll even become so excited as to add a few words to reward myself.

True，I’m not modest at all.People may call me conceited(自负的)．But I think otherwise.

I appreciate other people.I appreciate anything good.Isn’t it unfair to forget appreciating myself while appreciating others?

We Chinese generally tend to be modest，and we take pride in being so.For example，a Chinese man will call his own wife zhuojing，meaning “my humble wife”，and his own writings zhuozuo，meaning “my poor writings”．But if you call his wife a “rustic(乡村的)woman”or his writings “trash”，he would，I’m sure，declare he would make a clean break with you angrily.As a matter of fact，there is probably no difference at all between what is said by him and you.

I don’t think it’s wrong of you to freely praise yourself if you’re really worthy of praise.As we know，there is an old Chinese saying disparaging(蔑视) a melon seller，named Lao Wang，who keeps praising his own goods.Well，why can’t he praise his melons if they are really sweet and juicy?

Lao Wang sells melons for a living.How could he carry on business if he，by imitating the affectations(装模作样)of us intellectuals，were to show false modesty about his melons？He would sure enough die of starvation.

Self?appreciation is therefore a key to professional dedication and enjoyment of work.Needless to say，the same is true of those who make a living with their pen.One will lose confidence in writing when he stops admiring his own essays.

1．We know from the first three paragraphs that the author________.

A．is modest in some way

B．is pleased to be a good writer

C．is too conceited

D．thinks it unfair to appreciate others

2．What do we know about the author’s attitude towards Chinese modesty according to Paragraph 4?

A．Supportive.　　　　　　　B．Negative.

C．Neutral.　 　　　　　　 D．Careless.

3．The author mentions the example of Lao Wang to prove that ________.

A．Lao Wang is very proud of himself

B．melon sellers should praise their goods

C．reasonable self?appreciation is good

D．writers should learn from Lao Wang

4．The purpose of the passage is to encourage readers to be________.

A．modest 　　　　　　　B．considerate

C．respectful 　　　　　 D．confident

Work your brain!

Between 2 and 3 pounds of wonder，it controls everything we say，do or think，who we are and what we care about. The way we walk or laugh or figure out things. What we like and the talents we possess. How we see and talk and run and jump and process our food.

The brain uses 20 percent of our body's oxygen and 20 percent of its blood. Somewhere within its protein，fat, 100,000 miles of blood vessels and 100 billion nerve cells，it helps us remember where we put our gym shoes. Change our temperature so we don't die because of the heat or cold. Speed us up or slow us down. Help us choose between orange juice or orange­flavored drinks.

Its intricacies(复杂性)are stunning，far beyond anything most of us can imagine. To keep this work of art as polished(有光泽的) as possible we need to eat right，exercise and keep mentally stimulated(刺激)．

Good nutrition helps brain cells communicate with each other. Exercise stimulates a hormone(荷尔蒙)in our brain that improves memory. Mental stimulation keeps you sharp even as you age.

“It's very important that we tell people to be physically active and mentally active，” said neurologist Malcolm Stewart.

“People cannot stop aging，but you're able to reduce the damage；you're able to keep the function up.”

Following are Dr.Stewart's advice for improving brain health：

1.The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to ______.

A. inform us how the brain works

B. give us advice on how to keep the brain healthy

C. tell us that the brain plays an important role in our lives

D. show how special the brain is to us

2.The word “stunning” in Paragraph 5 means ______.

A. interesting 　       B. strange              C. significant　        D. amazing

3. According to the text，more exercise ______.

A. keeps our mind sharp 　　 

B. helps improve our memory

C. gives our brain a rest 　　 

D. is good for brain cells communicating with each other

4. In order to keep brain healthy，we should avoid ______.

A. eating a good lunch                      B. doing puzzles

C. eating a large supper                    D. taking aerobic exercise

Inside China Daily

　　China, Japan ink fishery accord

　　The New China -Japan Fishery Agreement will be put into effect starting June this year, Chinese vice - minister of agriculture, Qi Jingfa told a press conference yesterday in Beijing.

　　—Page 2

　　Offshore funeral

　　The remains of more than 500 dead will be scattered at sea this spring near the mouth of Yangtze River in Shanghai. To save space Shanghai officials discouraged land burials.　—Page 3

　　The only wise choice

　　Co -operation with the mainland for a peaceful reunification should be the only wise choice for the newly elected Taiwan leader.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　—Page 4

　　Interest in activity such as fairs, galleries and exhibitions has caused the art market to take shape in China.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 —Page 9

　　Two sides of a story.

　　The government’s efforts to cut the homework burden of primary and middle school students have drawn mixed reactions. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　—Page 10

　　Blind, but not out.

　　Yang Jia, an English professor at the Chinese Academy of Science meets the challenges brought by the sudden loss of her eyesight and continues to make it in her work.　　　—Page 11

　　65．The above section may possibly appear on ________ of China Daily.

　　A. Page 5　　　　　　　　　　　　B. the Front Page

　　C. Page 9　　　　　　　　　　　　D. the last page

　　66．From the text we can learn that ________ .

　　A. no one will be buried in the ground after they die in Shanghai

　　B. Chinese fishermen can go fishing freely in Japan soon

　　C. a blind professor can work better

　　D. more and more people have begun to do art business

　　67．When you look through this issue of China Daily, you are sure to find ________ .

　　A. how Taiwan’s new leader was made

　　B. that people think differently of reducing pupils’ burden

　　C. sad stories about students with heavy burden in primary and middle schools

　　D. interesting stories of art fairs, galleries and exhibitions of different shapes in China