Old Cremona Violins
Most musicians(音乐家) agree that the best violins(小提琴) were first made in Cremona, Italy, about 200 years ago. These violins sound better than any others. They even sound better than violins made today. Violin makers and scientists try to make instruments(乐器) like the Italian violins. But they aren’t the same. Musicians still prefer the old ones.
Some people think it is the age of the violins. But not all old violins sound wonderful. Only the old violins from Cremona are special(特殊的). So age cannot be the answer.
Other people think the secret to those violins is the wood. The wood must be from certain kinds of trees.
But the kind of wood may not be so important. It may be more important to cut the wood in a special way. Wood for a violin must be cut very carefully. It has to be the right size and shape(形状). The smallest difference will change the sound of the violin. Musicians sometimes think that this was the secret of the Italians. Maybe they understood more than we do about how to cut the wood.
Size and shape may not be the answer, either. Scientists can make new ones that are exactly the same size and shape. But the new violins still do not sound as good as the old ones. Some scientists think the secret may be the varnish. Varnish is what covers the wood of the violin. It makes the wood look shiny. It also helps the sound of the instrument. But no one knows what the Italian violin makers used in their varnish.
小题1:The passage is about          .

A．making violins	B．musical instruments
C．scientific ideas	D．the old Italian violins

小题2:Other people think the Italian violin makers          .

A．did not know much about violins	B．were lucky
C．used many kinds of wood	D．knew something special

小题3:Violins made today          .

A．have the same size and shape as the old ones

B．sound the same as the old ones

C．are better than the old ones

D．have the same varnish as the old ones

小题4:Some scientists believe that the secret of the old violins was          .

A．their sound

B．their colour

C．their varnish

D．the music

People all over the world enjoy sports, because sports can help them keep  1  and live long. Some sports or games go back  2    years, like running or jumping. Chinese boxing, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are very new. People are inventing new sports or games all the time.
Many people like to watch  3 play sports or games. They don’t play themselves. They buy tickets or   4  their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very  5  and happy when “their” player or team  6   the match.
People play different games in different seasons. Swimming is fun in warm weather,   7  skating is good in winter.
Some sports are  8 interesting that people everywhere enjoy them. For example, basketball  9  by about 100 million people in more than 200 countries. People can play it in parks, schools, or factories.   10  fun it is to watch an NBA match!

小题1:	A．health B．healthy C．healthily D．healthier

小题2:	A．thousand B．thousand of C．thousands of D．thousands

小题3:	A．another B．the others C．the other D．others

小题4:	A．turn on B．turn off C．turn down D．turn to

小题5:	A．interested B．exciting C．excited D．interesting

小题6:	A．beats B．wins C．fights D．hit

小题7:	A．though B．so C．but D．and

小题8:	A．much B．quite C．very D．so

小题9:	A．plays B．is played C．is playing D．played

小题10:

A．What an B．What a C．How D．How a

What do you think are the most important inventions of the past 2,000 years? The TV? The printing? The telephone? Or the computer? A report shows that these are not the only important inventions. Here are four other important ones.
Paper is one of the most important inventions. You can’t have printing without paper. In 105 AD, Cai Lun invented paper in China. Long before the printing and Internet, Cai Lun’s invention allowed us to write down information, stories and history.
One of the simplest (最简单) inventions to save life is the toilet. Before toilets, waste ran into the rivers from people’s houses. Illnesses were common (普通的) in big cities, and it was often difficult to find clean drinking water.
Animal food is another invention. Before the invention, most animals were killed every autumn because there was not enough food for them in the winter. After hay (干草) became a kind of common animal food, animals could live through the long winter.
Reading glasses is the fourth invention. People start getting far-sighted (远视) from the age of 45. Glasses mean that anyone can read, write and do “close work” after that age. Without glasses, the world would be difficult for the people above 45.
小题1:Cai Lun’s invention of paper makes it possible to ______.

A．have printing	B．feed animals
C．drink clean water	D．do “close work”

小题2:The invention of the toilet can stop people from ______.

A．saving water	B．getting ill
C．living in big cities	D．finding clean water

小题3:Why couldn’t the animals live through the winter?

A．It was very cold in winter.	B．They didn’t have enough food to eat.
C．They had no drinking water.	D．They died of illness.

小题4:From the last paragraph we learn that ______.

A．all people need reading glasses

B．anyone must do “close work” after 45

C．reading glasses are useful

D．life is more difficult for the people under 45

Arriving in New York There are three airports in New York. When you arrive at one of them, you can take a bus or a taxi to any place in New York.	Eating out There are many kinds of food in New York and you shouldn't eat at McDonald's every day. There are good restaurants in Little Italy and Chinatown, for example.
Hotels There are lots of good hotels in New York. The best is The Plaza on 5th Avenue but you don't have to pay a lot to stay in the city; there are lots of smaller hotels and the YMCA near Central Park is great for young people.	Public Transport In New York ,there's a good bus and subway service. If you are planning to use the subway a lot, you should buy a subway ticket for the journey because it's cheaper. But you don't have to use public transport－there are lots of places you can go to on foot. The Empire Stale Building, 5th Avenue and Central Park. The New York taxis are a part of the city experience, so you should take at least one taxi during your visit!
Places to see Finally, there are a lot of places to see in New York－Times Square, the Statue of Liberty. And you shouldn't go home without climbing the Statue of Liberty to enjoy the scenery of the city.	Shopping Shopping in New York is fun. There are big shops on 5th Avenue. They are open seven days a week. But be careful when you look at the prices; you have to pay a special 8% tax (税)on everything you buy in New York.

小题1:How many kinds of public transport are mentioned in the passage?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.

小题2:How much do you have to pay if you buy a book of $10 in New York? 

A．$10.8

B．$10.08

C．$ l8

D．$10

小题3:From the passage, we can learn that _________.

A．people can visit many places of interest in New York on foot

B．New York is not a good place for shopping

C．people must travel by public transport in New York

D．people have to eat only one kind of food in New York

American people like to say “Thank you” when others help them or say something kind to them. People of many countries do so, too. It is a very good habit. You should say “Thank you” when someone passes you the salt on the table, when someone walking ahead of you keeps the door open for you, when someone says you have done your work well, or you have bought a nice thing, or your city is very beautiful. “Thank you” is used not only between friends, but also between parents and children, brothers and sisters. “Excuse me” is another short sentence they use. When you hear someone say so behind you, you know that somebody wants to walk past you without touching you. It’s not polite to break others when they are talking. If you want to speak to one of them, say “Excuse me” first, and then begin talking. You should also do so when you begin to cough or make any noise before others. Let’s learn to say “Thank you” and “Excuse me”.
小题1:You should say “Thank you” when ______________.

A．you say something kind to others

B．you help others

C．someone helps you

D．you need others to help you

小题2:From the passage we know “Thank you” is _________.

A．widely used in the world

B．used more often than “Excuse me”

C．used only by American

D．used only between friends

小题3:You should say “Excuse me” if you want to __________.

A．cough	B．make some noise
C．go first	D．all of the above

小题4:When you are going to ask someone to tell you the way, you should say “_________”

A．Thank you	B．That’s very kind of you
C．Excuse me	D．I’m sorry

小题5:This passage mainly tells us the way _________.

A．to be happy	B．to be polite
C．to help others	D．to learn from Americans

What day is __61___ day of the week? We Chinese may say Monday, because Monday is the first working day in the week. But__62___people have different ideas. They say__ 63___ is the first day of the week. Also, they work only five days a week and have a long __64___: Saturday and Sunday. People are different __65___ many other ways, too. We Chinese put our last names first and our first name last .British and American people put them in the other way. Chinese people speak Chinese, but British and American people speak English. Chinese eat a lot of__ 66___ . British and American people have a lot of bread and potatoes. Most Chinese ride bicycles, but most British and American people drive __67___. People write __68___ in different ways, too. We Chinese write “November 10, 2005” as “05 / 11 / 10”, in big -to - small order. But British put it as “___6 9__”, in small - to - big order, and the Americans even write it as “10/ 11 / 05”. What a difference!
Do you know any other __70___ between us Chinese speaking people and English speaking people.

小题1:	A．one B．first C．the first D．a first

小题2:	A．speaking English B．English speaking C．English spoken D．spoken English

小题3:	A．Sunday B．Saturday C．Monday D．Tuesday

小题4:	A．holiday B．time C．weekday D．weekend

小题5:	A．to B．by C．in D．from

小题6:	A．bread B．crops C．rice D．corn

小题7:	A．buses B．cars C．taxis D．bikes

小题8:	A．dates B．days C．months D．years

小题9:	A．05 / 10 / 11 B．10 / 11 / 05 C．05 / 11 / 10 D．11 / 10 / 05

小题10:

A．different B．more different C．differences D．difference

The Dragon Boat festival is very popular in China, it usually comes in May or June. On that day, people eat a special food--- rice dumplings. It is known as dragon-boat racing. Dragon-boat racing is the most popular activity during the festival. A dragon boat looks like a dragon, and is painted in red, white, yellow or black. Usually, a dragon boat is 20 to 40 metres long, and needs 20 people to row. Boatmen row the boat in cadence (节奏) with the drumbeats(鼓点), and a man in the front of the boat waves a small flag to help coordinate(使动作协调) the rowing.
Dragon-boat racing becomes a popular activity in South China. International(国际的) dragon-boat racing is held in Guangzhou and Hong Kong every year.
小题1:Which is the most popular activity during the Dragon Boat Festival ?

A．Eat rice dumplings	B．trick or treat
C．Pumpkin lantern	D．Dragon-Boat racing

小题2:A Dragon boat needs ______________ people to row.

A．20

B．40

C．60

D．30

小题3:If you want to watch international dragon-boat racing, you can go to ______.

A．Guangxi and Guangzhou

B．Guangzhou and Fujian

C．Guangzhou and Hong Kong

D．Hong Kong and Guangxi

小题4:This passage is about __________.

A．South China

B．Dragon-boat racing

C．how to row the boat

D．the Dragon Boat Festival

完形填空 分别通读下面两篇短文，根据短文内容，从A、B、C三个选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳答案。（共20小题，每小题1分；计20分）
The word “sandwich” is an English word. Sandwich was an English   1 . He lived in England about two hundred years ago. Sandwich had a lot of   2 . He was very rich(富有的). But he liked   3  cards for money. He often played   4  day and night.   5  day he played for twenty-four hours without stopping. He did not   6  the card table to eat. He asked his man to   7  him some meat and   8 . So he put some meat between two pieces of bread. He did not want to stop   9   playing cards. From the name of this man, Sandwich, we have the word “sandwich”   10 .
小题1:A．woman               B．man                 C．book
小题2:A．money               B．food                C．cards
小题3:A．making              B．keeping              C．playing
小题4:A．every              B．only                C．all
小题5:A．One              B．Next                C．This
小题6:A．hold                B．leave                C．show
小题7:A．use                 B．take                 C．bring
小题8:A．milk                B．fruit                C．bread
小题9:A．before              B．when                C．after
小题10:A．in shops           B．this year            C．today

Every country has its favorite food. Italians like to eat pizza. Indians like to eat hot food. Japanese like to eat fish. Often they don’t cook it.
In England, one of the most popular kinds of food is fish and chips. People usually buy it in a fish and chip shop. They put it in paper bags, and take it home, or to their workplace. Sometimes they eat it in the park or on the road. The world’s favorite food is American fast food. If you go to some important cities in the world, you can find people eating hamburgers and chips.
Fish and chips, and Chinese take-away food are very popular in England. But they are less popular in the USA, they eat take-away food, too, like chicken. But the most popular kind of take-away food is the hamburger. It looks like bread with meat in it. Ham(火腿) is a kind of pork, but the hamburger does not have any pork in it. The beef is inside a kind of cake hamburgers. They are delicious. They are also popular in England and Australia.
小题1:Italians like to eat ___________.
A. fish                B. pizza                    C. hot food
小题2: Fish and chips are very popular in ________.
A. England          B. Australia                C. the USA
小题3: In different countries people eat ________ food.
A. different                B. the same             C. hot
小题4: The hamburger does not have any _________ in it.
A. beef                 B. pork                C. chips
小题5: Hamburger is a kind of __________.
A.meat              B. drink                    C. food

In Britain ,people often invite friends for a meal , a party or just coffee. People who know each other very well may visit each other’s houses without  an invitation(邀请),but if we invite new friends, usually an invitation is needed. When people invite someone to their homes , they often say ,“Would you like to come for dinner on Saturday ?” Answers are, “Thanks, we’d love to. What time?” or “I’m sorry, We’d love to ,but we have tickets for the concert.” However, it is not polite to say,“No, we wouldn’t.”
Sometimes, the British use expressions that sound like invitations but which are not invitations. For example. “You must come over for a drink sometime .” or “Let’s go out for a meal one of these days.”  These are usually just polite ways of ending a talk . They are not real invitations because they don’t mention an exact time or day. They just show that the person is trying to be friendly and the answers are ,“Yes , that would be nice .” or “OK, yes ,thanks.”
So next time you hear what sounds like an invitation, listen carefully. Is it a real invitation or is the person just being friendly?
小题1:It’s always necessary for        to visit each other’s houses with an invitation.

A．close friends	B．family members
C．neighbours	D．new friends

小题2:It is not polite to answer the real invitation by saying “     “

A．Sorry. We’d love to, but we have tickets for the concert .

B．Thanks. We’d love to, what time?

C．Sure. We’d like to. Thanks a lot.

D．No, we wouldn’t!

小题3:If the British just want to end a talk politely, they may say,”      ”

A．Would you like to come for dinner on Saturday?

B．Let’s go out for a meal one of these days.

C．Let’s go out for a meal on Saturday.

D．Shall we go for a drink this afternoon .

小题4:The British often use “     ”to answer the invitations that are not real.

A．Yes , what time ?

B．No, that’s not a real invitation.

C．OK, yes , thanks.

D．No, you just want to be friendly.

小题5:Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Britain.

B．Invitation.

C．A Talk with Friends.

D．A Letter to Friends.