Some people may defend themselves by saying that snake meat is nutritious（有营养的）. But these people don’t realize that mice and worms often comprise a snake’s diet, therefore, there are many parasites（寄生虫）found inside snakes. Thus, they may do harm to our health. Apart from this, I’m sorry to see that more and more snakes are being killed by man’s cruel knife.

　　According to the English newspaper Shanghai Star, about 1, 000 tons of snakes are eaten every year in China. In Shenzhen of Guangdong Province, sometimes as many as 10 tons of snakes are served on dinner tables in a single day.

　　These figures alert us that if we still turn blind eyes to this continuous movement against snakes, a vicious cycle will be created. If more snakes are eaten by people, the number of snakes will drop, which will make an increase in mice and worms population, which will result in a decrease of crop output. This will make more people hungry.

　　Who will see such tragedy happen?

　　So let’s start not to eat snakes any more because “to protect the snake is to protect ourselves”.

　　1．This passage tries to advice people ________.

　　A．to keep ourselves healthy

　　B．to protect snakes and not to eat them

　　C．to protect mice and worms

　　D．not to eat mice and worms

　　2．The parasites in the snake come from ________.

　　A．its diet

　　B．mice

　　C．worms

　　D．snake meat

　　3．What will happen if we continue eating snakes?

　　A．More snakes will be eaten.

　　B．A vicious cycle will be created.

　　C．More people will turn blind eyes to it.

　　D．Mice will damage the crops.

　　4．The vicious cycle may be like this: ________.

　　A．more snakes→more mice and worms→less crop output

　　B．less snakes→more mice and worms→more crop output

　　C．less snakes→more mice and worms→less crop output

　　D．more snakes→less mice and worms→more crop output

　　5．The best title of this passage is ________.

　　A．Snake Meat in Various Flavors

　　B．Protect the Snake Is to Protect Ourselves

　　C．Eating Snakes in Vogue

　　D．Let’s Not Eat Snakes Any More

　　Armstrong’s gift was obvious from the start of his career. His earliest recordings—first with a band led by his former teacher, Joe “King” Oliver, and then with his own band-earned Armstrong international fame for technical originality （独创性）. He freed his playing from the ordinary rhythms of early jazz by creating musical phrases that seemed to oppose the pulse of a song, only to combine them in the place later. His deep and rough voice became as special as his cornet（短号）playing, especially in his scat performances. Scat is a singing style in which meaningless syllables（音节）are repeated without preparation. Armstrong’s scat was among the earliest ever recorded.

　　By 1930, Armstrong had turned to more commercial, less experimental jazz. Some musicians criticized（批评）him for this. But others insisted that the real power of Armstrong’s art lay in its grace and sensitivity, fine qualities of the heart which remained in his music.

　　In the following years, Armstrong traveled around the world as the leading “goodwill ambassador（大使）”of American jazz music. The gentleness and great attraction of “Satchmo” filled his music and made him one of the world’s most beloved performers for over forty years.

　　1．Which of the following best tells what this passage is about?

　　A．Armstrong’s personal attraction.

　　B．Armstrong’s best work.

　　C．A praise for Armstrong’s contribution to jazz.

　　D．A comparison of Armstrong’s music with that of earlier musicians.

　　2．Why was “Satchmo” criticized by some of his workmates in the 1930s?

　　A．For making fewer recordings.

　　B．For losing interest in music.

　　C．For giving up his scat performances.

　　D．For turning his attention away from making changes

　　3．Which of the following is not mentioned as one of the reasons for Armstrong’s success?

　　A．His technical originality.

　　B．His personality.

　　C．His early experiences in “King” Oliver’s band.

　　D．His recordings were the first ever made.

　　4．According to the author, what made Armstrong the “goodwill ambassador” of American jazz music?

　　A．His world travels.

　　B．His attraction and sensitivity.

　　C．His scat singing.

　　D．His preference for commercial, less experimental jazz.

　　Then, consider this: you might be in a state of sub-health（亚健康）.

　　Sub-health, also called the third state or gray state, is explained as a borderline state between health and disease.

　　According to the investigation by the National Health Organization, over 45 percent of sub-healthy people are middle-aged or elderly. The percentage is even higher among people who work in management positions as well as students around exam-week.

　　Symptoms （征兆）include a lack of energy, depression, slow reactions, insomnia（失眠）, agitation, and poor memory. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, sweating and aching in the waist and legs.

　　The key to preventing and recovering from sub-health, according to some medical experts, is to form good living habits, alternate work and rest, exercise regularly, and take part in open air activities.

　　As for meals, people are advised to eat less salt and sugar. They should also eat more fresh vegetables, fruits, fish because they are rich in nutritional elements—vitamins and trace elements—that are important to the body.

　　Nutrition experts point out that it is not good to eat too much at one meal because it may cause unhealthy changes in the digestive tract （消化道）. They also say that a balanced diet is very help full in avoiding sub-health.

　　1．When you are in a state of sub-health, you should ________.

　　A．stay home and keep silent

　　B．go to a doctor and buy some medicine

　　C．not consider it very serious

　　D．find out the reasons and relax yourself

　　2．Middle-aged people may be easy to get sub-healthy because ________.

　　A．they have used up their energy

　　B．they have lost their living hopes

　　C．they have more pressure in life and work

　　D．they have changed their way of life

　　3．The key to preventing you from falling into a state of sub-health is to ________.

　　A．keep on working regularly

　　B．go to sleep a bit earlier

　　C．form good living habits

　　D．take medicine if necessary

　　4．As for food, experts suggested that ________.

　　A．we should never eat meat

　　B．we should have variety of food

　　C．we should eat less than usual

　　D．we should have meals without sugar

　　5．The underlined word “alternate” in this passage is closest in meaning to ________.

　　A．arrange by turns

　　B．cause to take place

　　C．make up for

　　D．keep away from

　　A family therapist（心理医生 ）explains why children lose interest when they have a whole “toy shop” at home: “According to their brain development, little children are not in a position to judge the quality of a variety of things at once. There is always just one favorite toy for the moment. All the rest is left lying about. ”What can parents do to stop their children from being oversupplied with toys? Under no conditions simply make something disappear without the child’s knowledge. If he/she takes no more notice of a toy, a parent can ask if it can be stored or given away. Be warned though the child will always say he/she wants it then! A talk with relatives and friends may also help. Lyn is the mother of four-year-old Jessie, and we like her way. A small set of shelves in her child’s room holds the toys and books that are the current（at present）favorites. When it seems to her that her daughter is tired of these toys, they put them away in a box together and select some other toys from a cupboard in another room. The box of “old” toys goes into the cupboard. When her child says she is “bored”, she also get something from her cupboard—it may be something she has had for some time but because she hasn’t seen it for a while it is almost like a new toy.

　　Some favorite toys stay out all the time, and there is collection of dolls which sits in the corner, but in this way Lyn has found that she has fewer toys to put away at the end of the day and her daughter always has something “fresh” to play with.

　　1．Steve interrupted his mother several times because ________.

　　A．he felt uninterested in his toys

　　B．he disliked his mother’s guest

　　C．he didn’t have enough toys to play with

　　D．he hoped his mother would play with him

　　2．According to the therapist, children often complain that they have nothing to play with because ________.

　　A．they can’t play alone for a long time

　　B．they are too young to play with so many toys

　　C．they are too lazy to pick out their favorites

　　D．they lack the ability to value too many things at a time

　　3．Which of the following can be used in place of “jumble”?

　　A．simple choice

　　B．mixture in disorder

　　C．ordinary appearance

　　D．same shape

　　4．Which is the advice given to parents in the text?

　　A．Buy fewer toys for their

 children.

　　B．Form good habits for their children.

　　C．Spare some time to play with their children.

　　D．Put some toys away without telling their children.

　　Mrs. Williams, the wife of a local farmer, described the cat as “just like something out of the jungle. It was jet-black all over with a white-tipped tail. It had short legs but was very strong.” More details were not available, as the creature moved too fast and Mrs. Williams only managed to take a short look at it. The incident happened when Mrs. Williams was taking her really hard on the back of the head, causing her to fall to the ground, stunned.

　　“When I came to, there it was—a huge black cat staring down at me with its glittering, green eyes. I got the fright of my life, I can tell you,” said Mrs. Williams. “It was a horrifying experience,” she told reporters, as she sipped a cup of tea to calm her down, still visibly shaken. “If it hadn’t been for my Labrador, it would have savaged me to death. It was about six foot long, the size of a large Alsatian.” Mrs. Williams’ description matches that of other eye witnesses（目 击者）in incidents involving strange creatures in various parts of the country.

　　Exmoor police have been trying to track the “Beast of Bodmin”, as it’s called, since it was first spotted some years ago, but they have so far come up with nothing except for a few very large animal tracks and a trail of dead sheep. Claims that the creature was sighted in a school playground recently are being investigated. “Our policy is to look into all reports of this sort, however ridiculous,” said Chief Constable（警察局长）John Witmoor.

　　Investigations are still going on and local police have brought in zoologists to assist them in the hunt for the Beast of Bodmin. Meanwhile, local people and visitors to the area have been warned not to walk alone on the moor. Parents have been advised to keep their children at a safe distance from the area. Motorists have also been asked to keep an eye out for anything unusual and to report sightings to the police immediately.

　　1．How did the police react to what Mrs. Williams said?

　　A．They accepted her story.

　　B．They did not believe her.

　　C．They are taking it seriously.

　　D．They say they have heard it all before.

　　2．According to the text, we know that Labrador is the name of the writer’s ________.

　　A．dog

　　B．cat

　　C．friend

　　D．neighbor

　　3．What is the police view of the situation?

　　A．The animal must be a wolf.

　　B．It is nothing new.

　　C．The reports are not very serious.

　　D．The animal could be dangerous.

　　4．In order to find the creature, the police ________.

　　A．have warned parents to keep the children safe

　　B．have asked experts for help

　　C．are looking for more tracks

　　D．are interviewing visitors to the area

　　5．From the text we know that the creature was first seen ________.

　　A．sometime last year

　　B．a few days ago

　　C．in recent months

　　D．a few years ago

　　1．Albert Einstein once thought that schools ________.

　　A．helped develop the creativity of a scientist

　　B．kept a rare gift for a scientist

　　C．prevented a scientist form thinking freely

　　D．contributed a lot to science and technology

　　2．Einstein’s observation is in agreement with ________.

　　A．school masters’

　　B．the author’s

　　C．many students’

　　D．that of the author and many students

　　3．Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage?

　　A．Einstein and artists have said schools limit creativity and genius.

　　B．Schools should be designed to encourage creativity and social order.

　　C．Explorers and geniuses look at the world differently from the way most people do.

　　D．Schools can never satisfy the needs of both genius and society as a whole.

　　One reason why the Santa Fe Opera is so good is that it attracts many excellent young singers. They all hope to sing in famous opera houses like Metropolitan in New York someday, and they work hard to become well-known during the summer. The musicians and directors are experts who come from the best orchestras（管弦乐队）and operas in the country during their vacations. They enjoy working there because they like to live in Santa Fe, which is near both the mountains and the desert. It is very beautiful there in the summer.

　　The state government of New Mexico advertises the Santa Fe Opera in newspapers all over the country, and a great many tourists come to New Mexico because of the opera. Still, most of the audience does come from Santa Fe and other nearby cities, and all the seats in the theater are sold for every show.

　　There is only one thing that some people do not like about the Santa Fe Opera, and that is the cold weather. Because the theater is open, performances cannot start before it gets dark at nine o’clock in the evening, and then the mountain air becomes very cool. Sometimes people complain about the cold air, but because the operas are good, these people come back again—wearing warm coats.

　　1．This passage mainly introduces ________.

　　A．a mountain city

　　B．young musicians

　　C．an opera house

　　D．the tourism in Santa Fe

　　2．Young singers come to perform in Santa Fe Opera because ________.

　　A．the music quality is high

　　B．they enjoy the climate there

　　C．they want to be famous

　　D．they like the scenery there

　　3．It seems surprising that Santa Fe becomes famous because ________.

　　A．it is only a very small place

　　B．it is between the mountain and desert

　　C．all the seats are sold for every show

　　D．musicians there are from the best orchestras

　　4．From the passage, we can learn that ________.

　　A．the opera house is open without any roofs

　　B．musicians always spend vacations in Santa Fe

　　C．the government advertises to attract more musicians

　　D．performances are held in Santa Fe only after sunset

　　“We needed furniture for out living room.” says John Ross. “And we just didn’t have enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs. ”John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $ 280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.

　　Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife has died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $ 420. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course. I should be able to fix the car by myself. ”

　　John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourselfer”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do thing yourself.

　　1．We can learn from the text that many newly married people ________.

　　A．find it hard to pay for what they need

　　B．have to learn to make their own furniture

　　C．save time and money

　　D．seldom go to a department store to buy things

　　2．John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to ________.

　　A．run a DIY shop

　　B．make or repair things

　　C．save time and money

　　D．improve the quality of life

　　3．When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim ________.

　　A．makes shoes in his home

　　B．does extra work at night

　　C．does his own car and home repairs

　　D．keeps house and looks after his children

　　4．Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourselfer when ________.

　　A．his car repairs cost too much

　　B．the car repair class was helpful

　　C．he could not possibly do two jobs

　　D．he had to raise the children all by himself

　　At first Kate thought the Romanian girl could not speak and understand English. Nadia would not reply to anything Kate said. Kate was in charge of showing Nadia around on her first day at Buckminster Grade School. Kate could not figure out why the school had put Nadia in a class where she could not understand what people were saying.

　　“Why did they do this?” Kate wondered aloud. “I mean, you can’t learn if you can’t understand the teacher.”

　　Nadia’s voile was a whisper. “I understand English. I will learn. ”Nadia’s English was perfect.

　　Kate was perplexed. She couldn’t understand why Nadia did not like to speak. Then she realized that moving to a new country probably wasn’t the easiest thing to do. There were hundreds of unfamiliar and unusual things to learn—all at the same time.

　　“There’re a lot of new things to learn, huh?” said Kate.

　　Nadia nodded rapidly. In a quiet voice she replied. “Many things people say, I do not understand. I have been speaking English and Romanian all my life, but I do not know what some children are saying. For example, yesterday a boy asked if I could help him find the USB port on a thin black box he was carrying. Isn’t a port a place for ships? It made no sense to me. ”

　　“Don’t worry,” said Kate, “You’ll figure everything out in time. You see, that thin black box was a computer. A USB port is a place where you can connect other machines to a computer. ”

　　Nadia and Kate were quiet after that. They took notes while the teacher gave a math lesson. To Kate’s surprise, Nadia put up her hand and offered to answer questions at the blackboard.

　　Nadia handled every question the teacher gave her. Some of the questions were really difficult, and no one understood what was going on except Nadia and the teacher. When the teacher said that Nadia answered everything correctly, the whole class clapped their hands.

　　Nadia was smiling when she sat back down next to Kate. “Some things,” she said in a normal voice, “are the same all over the word.”

　　1．At the beginning of Nadia’s first day at school, she was ________.

　　A．disappointed

　　B．helpful

　　C．lively

　　D．shy

　　2．The underlined word “perplexed” probably means ________.

　　A．puzzled

　　B．angry

　　C．shocked

　　D．serious

　　3．We can infer from the passage that ________.

　　A．Nadia did not like Kate

　　B．Nadia had lived by the sea before

　　C．Nadia had never seen a computer before

　　D．Nadia spoke in a soft voice out of politeness

　　4．Which of the following statements is true?

　　A．Nadia was better at math than other students.

　　B．Nadia found some of the math questions difficult.

　　C．Nadia was encouraged to answer questions in class.

　　D．Nadia understood the math teacher better than other teachers.

　　5．What is the message of the story?

　　A．Talking about something familiar gives you confidence in communication.

　　B．Answering questions in class makes you better understood by classmates.

　　C．Language plays an important role in communication between cultures.

　　D．Mathematics helps to improve communication between cultures. 

　　The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth—so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

　　I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg, ”I said. “Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing. ”

　　Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean?” You’ve just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ‘Would you mend this chair for me? I wouldn’t have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused（感到有趣）by the whole thing.

　　1．We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.

　　A．was rather impolite

　　B．was warmly received

　　C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

　　D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

　　2．The underlined word “approach” in the second paragraph means ________.

　　A．plan for dealing with things

　　B．decision to sell things

　　C．idea of repairing things

　　D．way of doing things

　　3．The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.

　　A．changed his mind

　　B．accepted the offer

　　C．saw the writer’s purpose

　　D．decided to help the writer

　　4．How much did the writer pay?

　　A．￡5.

　　B．￡7.

　　C．￡20.

　　D．￡27.

　　5．From the text, we can learn that the writer was

　　A．honest

　　B．careful

　　C．smart

　　D．funny