Tokyo, March 11, 2011

Could it have been worse?

More than a minute before the earth under their feet began to shake, many millions of Japanese people got cell phone alerts; TV networks interrupted (打断,中断) their broadcasts and turned to the latest announcement of Japanese government; loud speakers started suddenly to warn people of the coming tsunami; bullet trains came to a stop. The earthquake on March 11 was the first test of the nation’s earthquake early-warning technology (地震预警技术). However, in the fight of Man vs Nature, Nature won again. Hundreds, if not thousands of people, lost their lives in Japan. Scientists believe it is the fifth-strongest quake in the world since 1900 and the most powerful on record ever to hit Japan.

Lin tells of calm survivors

When the office began to shake, his friends were calm and still working. But the shaking became stronger. People shouted at him: “Run out of the building, now!” This was Lin Jia’s first experience of an earthquake. Lin, 26, has been in Japan for three months, working as a software engineer in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Lin stayed with others in a bus station all afternoon. Buildings were shaken by a series(系列) of aftershocks. He was nervous, but the people around him were so calm and organized that he gradually (逐渐) calmed down.

1. What does the underlined word “alert” mean?

A. 闹钟          B. 警报             C. 短信            D. 铃声

2. How many ways of earthquake early-warning are mentioned in the passage?

A. 2             B. 3                 C. 4               D. 5

3. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. Lin Jia has never met with an earthquake in Japan.

B. There have been five earthquakes in Japan since 1900.

C. The earthquake is the most powerful on record ever to hit Japan.

D. The local government warned people of the coming earthquake in some ways.

4. What is the most important after an earthquake according to the article?

A. Keep away from the nuclear power plants.

B. Running out of the building. 

C. Keep calm and organized.    

D. Get the cell phone alerts

5. Where does this article probably come from?

A. a newspaper      B. an advertisement     C. a diary          D. a novel

Look! There are thousands of people waiting to buy tickets home in the railway station. Each time when Spring Festival comes, buying tickets of train trip would be very hard. And things seem to be getting worse and worse, although we have greatly increased the mileage of railway network and speeded up trains. Why? It’s because too many people want to go back home to spend Spring Festival with their family. Many people become angry with the Ministry (部)of Railways.
They wonder why it is hopeless for them to get the tickets from the railway station(火车站)Instead, they sometimes can only buy them from ticket scalpers (票贩) at much higher price.
The Ministry of Railways estimated(估计)that about 188 million passengers would travel by train during the 40-day peak (高峰) period surrounding the 2009 Spring Festival holiday. The number of travelers will be 8％ higher than that of 2008. This problem even drew the President Hu Jintao’s attention. He wrote a note to Liu Zhijun，Minister of the Ministry of Railways, asking him to take action to improve passenger convenience. Afterward, officials from the Ministry of Railways said they would try their best not to let any ticket-buyers spend Spring Festival at the railway station.
【小题1】 Many people can’t buy the tickets from the railway station, and they sometimes can only buy them from the scalpers_________.

    Not all people like to work but everyone likes to play ．All over the world men and women，boys and girls enjoy  l ．Since the days of long ago，adults(成年人)and children have called their friends together to spend 2  even days playing games．
Sports help people to live 3 ．They help to keep people healthy and feeling good．When they are playing games，people a lot  4．This is good for their health．Having  5  with their friends makes them happy．
Many people enjoy sports by watching others    ．In small towns，crowds(人群)meet to watch the bicycle races or the soccer games．In big cities，thousands of people 7   to see an ice-skating show or a baseball game．
What are your favorite sports? Is the weather 8 where you live? Then swimming is probably one of your sports．Boys and girls in China love to  9 ．There are wonderful beaches and there are beautiful 70 and lakes across the country．The weather is also good for swimming．

Venice(威尼斯) is the “Queen” of the Adriatic sea. Every year   1  from all over the world  2__ Italy to visit the city. Do you know  3  they like to go there for a visit?
Venice is a very beautiful city. It is quite different   4  other cities in the world. There   _5  roads or streets in the city. So there aren’t any cars and buses.There are   6  canals(运河) in the city. There is one big canal and 177 small canals. People move   7  and down the canals   8  to go to work,   9_ or visit their friends.
But Venice is sinking. It is going down and the water is going up. In 2040 Venice
will be   10_ water. The Adriatic Sea will cover the city.
【小题1】A. thousand people        B. thousands people    C. thousands of people
【小题2】 A. travel to                      B. travel from               C. traveled to
【小题3】 A. where                                B. what                               C. why
【小题4】A. from                                   B. with                                C. of
【小题5】 A. are some                            B. aren’t any                        C. aren’t some
【小题6】 A. many                                 B. any                                 C. much
【小题7】 A. on                              B. up                                  C. off
【小题8】. A. in buses                      B. in cars                      C. in boats
【小题9】 A. go to shop                          B. go shopping                     C. go to shopping
【小题10】. A. under                               B. with                                C. on