We now think of chocolate as sweet, but once it was bitter. We think of it as a candy, but once it was a medicine. Today, chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack. Sometimes it’s an ingredient in the main course of a meal. Mexicans make a hot chocolate sauce called mole and pour it over chicken. The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices like chili peppers.

Chocolate is a product of the tropical cacao tree. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys say “Ugh!” and run away. Workers must first dry and then roast the beans. This removes the bitter taste.

The word “chocolate” comes from a Mayan word. The Mayas were an ancient people who once lived in Mexico. They valued the cacao tree. Some used the beans for money, while others crushed them to make a drink.

When the Spaniards came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they started drinking cacao too. Because the drink was strong and bitter, they thought it was a medicine. No one had the idea of adding sugar. The Spaniards took some beans back to Europe and opened cafes. Wealthy people drank cacao and said it was good for the digestion.

In the 1800s, the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao. It quickly became a cheap and popular drink. Soon afterwards, a factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate. Later on, another factory mixed milk and chocolate together. People liked the taste of milk chocolate even better.

Besides the chocolate candy bar, one of the most popular American snacks is the chocolate chip cookie. Favorite desserts are chocolate cream pie and, of course, an ice cream sundae with hot fudge sauce.

1.It was _______ that discovered sugar could remove the bitter taste of cacao.

A．The workers in the chocolate factory        B．The Spaniards

C．The people in England                    D．The owner of a chocolate factory

2.According to the passage which of the following statements is true?

A．Nobody had the idea of adding sugar until the sixteenth century.

B．The word “chocolate” comes from a Mexican word.

C．The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys like them.

D．Workers must dry and roast the beans to remove the bitter taste.

3.The Spaniards think that cacao was a medicine because________

A．it was strong and bitter.                   B．it was good for digestion.

C．it cured man’s diseases.                 D．it was a kind of drink for good health.

4.Which is the right time order of the events regarding chocolate?

a. Chocolate became a cheap and popular drink in England.

b. A factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate.

c. The Spaniards started drinking cacao.

d. It was found that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao.

e. A factory mixed milk and chocolate together.

A．a-b-c-d-e          B．c-d-e-b-a          C．c-d-a-b-e          D．c-d-b-e-a

5.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A．chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or a candy bar

B．Mexicans like chocolate very much

C．chocolate is a product of the cacao tree

D．people liked the taste of chocolate mixed with milk

We now think of chocolate as sweet, but once it was bitter. We think of it as a candy, but once it was a medicine. Today, chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack. Sometimes it’s an ingredient(配料) in the main course of a meal. Mexicans make a hot chocolate sauce called mole and pour it over chicken. The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices like chili peppers.
Chocolate is a product of the tropical cacao tree. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys say “Ugh!” and run away. Workers must first dry and then roast the beans. This removes the bitter taste.
The word “chocolate” comes from a Mayan word. The Mayas were an ancient people who once lived in Mexico. They valued the cacao tree. Some used the beans for money, while others crushed them to make a drink.
When the Spaniards came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they started drinking cacao too. Because the drink was strong and bitter, they thought it was a medicine. No one had the idea of adding sugar. The Spaniards took some beans back to Europe and opened cafes. Wealthy people drank cacao and said it was good for the digestion.
In the 1800s, the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao. It quickly became a cheap and popular drink. Soon afterwards, a factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate. Later on, another factory mixed milk and chocolate together. People liked the taste of milk chocolate even better.
Besides the chocolate candy bar, one of the most popular American snacks is the chocolate chip cookie. Favorite desserts are chocolate cream pie and, of course, an ice cream sundae with hot fudge sauce.
【小题1】It was ________that discovered sugar could remove the bitter taste of cacao.

Ocean Park Hong Kong is a theme park in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island. The park was built with donations from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (now Hong Kong Jockey Club) and opened on 10 January 1977. The park is operated by Ocean Park Corporation, which is a statutory（法定的）department. It offers affordable marine animal education and entertainment and is a private organization for commercial purposes.

    In the early operation of the park, the main sources of income for the park were the ticket prices and the funding from the Jockey Club. Since the ticket price was low, most of the time Ocean Park was operating under deficit（财政赤字）. In 1 July 1987, the government established a 200 million trust from the funding of Jockey Club, under the Ocean Park Corporation Ordinance. This separated Ocean Park from Jockey Club and became a non-profit organization; it needs to be responsible for its own income and was allowed to use commercial means to operate the park.

    Since it was permitted to use commercial means to operate, it gradually raised its ticket price and the deficit turned into profit. In 1992, 3 million visitors visited the park. Since 1998, the East Asian financial crisis（经济危机）, aging attractions, and the passing away of the killer whale; the park recorded a deficit for a couple years. Although it was allowed to host 2 pandas in 1999, the number of visitors did not go up and Ocean Park was forced to close its water attractions and the "Old Village" attraction and turned to bring in more rides in an attempt to capture the youth demand. Together with the opening up of mainland visitors under the Individual Visit Scheme, Ocean Park recorded an astonishing 4 million visitors in the year 2004-2005, the highest since the park opened.

   In March 2005, Ocean Park made its redevelopment plan. On 23 November 2006, Ocean Park held a groundbreaking ceremony for its redevelopment

6. At the beginning, Ocean Park Hong Kong _________.

was built with the money from the government

was operated by Ocean Park Corporation

was a great success once it was opened

mainly got income from the ticket prices and donations

7. According to the passage, Ocean Park Corporation _________.

belongs to Hong Kong Jockey Club

is an official organization

is a non-profit organization

can not use commercial means to operate

8. How many deficits the Ocean Park experienced so far?

A. 1       B.2        C. 3         D. 4

9. Ocean Park Corporation took all of the measures to overcome the deficits except _________.

A. raise ticket price                   B. close some attractions

C. try to attract young customers        D. host 2 pandas

10. Which of the following statements is Wrong?

Ocean Park Hong Kong is a theme park.

Ocean Park Hong Kong has taken on a new look since 2005.

The East Asian financial crisis didn’t have any influence on Ocean Park.

At present, Ocean Park Hong Kong also attracts many mainland customers.

The three superstars were arriving at the airport and a large crowd of young people had already gathered there to welcome them．The police found it  36  to keep order after the plane landed and the performers 37 ．They smiled and waved cheerfully at everybody．Dressed in the same pink shirts and light blue trousers, with long hair and musical instruments over their shoulders, they all looked   38 ．
Although there were many policemen   39 , the Blare were not able to get to their waiting car _40__ at all. Word spread that they had composed a new song which would be _41  when they performed at the concert that evening．They were now 42 _ with loud cries of " Play your new song! Play your new song!"
When the stars prepared to sing as the   43  for getting away, even the policemen looked   44 , too. The fans settled down and listened to the first  45 _ of the new song．Once it was over, everyone started jumping, clapping and shouting _46 . Several young women even fainted（昏倒） with excitement and were carried away immediately by the   47  standing by. The fans were greedy for more,   48  a repeat performance．Once again, the performers had no choice but to   49  , but when they were asked for still another song, they cheerfully but firmly refused．Closely 50  by the policemen, they walked towards their car some distance  51  . The fans pushed forward, but the policemen, _ 52  arm, prevented anyone getting trough. It took the stars quite a long time to reach their   53  !
Finally, however, they all got in and were just about to leave when a young woman, who had somehow  54  to get past the policemen, jumped onto the roof of the car．She shouted loudly and crazily as two policemen dragged her away and the car started to move very slowly through the   55  crowd．She had just wanted to have a photo taken with the stars !

Paul was a good athlete when he was a middle school student. He liked running and jumping and won some medals at the sports meetings. So he was tall and strong. Suddenly war broke out and the young man joined the army. He was sent to the front and killed several enemy soldiers. Two years later he raturned to his home town and found a job at the police station. People had known about his bravery by then and they all liked the polite young man.

One day a few young men had drunk too much before they came in a cinema. They danced and sang there and the film couldn't be shown. Paul was ill that day and went to the hospital. When he was passing there, the young men were beating an old man. He went to stop them and they began to fight. He caught them all and sent them to the police station. Since then all the bad men in the town were afraid of the brave policeman.

It was a summer evening. The weather was hot and few people could stay indoors. Paul was on duty and sat by the telephone. Suddenly in rushed a beautiful girl with a book in her hand. She stood there, shaking in her shoes.

“What's the matter, madam? ”asked Paul.

“I wish you could protect me sir, ”answered the girl.

“Protect? ”Paul said in surprise. “For what? ”

The girl showed the book to Paul. The young man understood at once: it was a book about Ghosts（鬼）！

64. Paul won some medals because ____.  

A. he was a middle school student        B. he was tall and strong

C. he kept doing morning exercises       D. he was good at running and jumping.

65. Paul was ____ after he joined the army.  

A. a good athlete   B. a brave soldier   C. a polite policeman    D. a brave policeman

66. Paul sent the young men to the police station because ____.     

A. they made some trouble（闹事）at the cinema    B. they drank much in the restaurant

C. they wouldn't see the filin                     D. they wanted to fight with him

67. Paul sat by the telephone that evening because ____.  

A. he was waiting for an important call          B. he was going to call somebody

C. he was on duty                           D. he wasn't afraid of hotness