New York’s streets were covered by people dressed in elephant costumes (服装) and others waving antiwar posters with pictures of US President George W. Bush on them last week. But this was no carnival (狂欢节) – it was the Republican Party’s National Convention (共和党全国大会), which attracted thousands of protestors (抗议者). It was the largest protest ever at a US political convention, with at least 120,000 people marching through Manhattan on August 29. They demanded that the US leave Iraq and a new president be chosen.
The Republicans say the opposition – Democrat Party (民主党) encouraged the people on to the streets. They believe it is a democratic move to help win presidential election, to be held on November 2. The election is described as “the decisive battle between donkey and elephant”. The two animals are the symbols of the two major political parties in the US. The elephant represents (象征) the Republicans, whose candidate (侯选人), President George W. Bush, is trying to defeat the donkey to win his second them. The donkey represents the democrats, whose candidate, John Kerry, is trying to kick the elephant out of the White House.
Republicans think the elephant is powerful and clever, but the Democrats argue it is stupid and conservative (守旧的). In return, the Republicans regard the donkey as stubborn (倔强的) and silly but the Democrats say it is humble, plain, smart and courageous.
The Republicans have been sending emails to Bush supporters and journalists with the heading, “An Elephant Never Forgets”, said party spokeswoman Heather Layman. Elephants are known for their long memories. The emails suggest that Bush will keep his promises, while Kerry will not stick to his words.
It is interesting that both symbols were created by a single person, Thomas Nast, a famous political cartoonist of the late 19th century. During the election in 1874, Nast drew a cartoon, in which a donkey in a lion’s skin frightened an elephant marked “Republican”.What does “kick the elephant out of the White House” mean?
| A．Drive the animal out of the White House. | B．Drive President Bush out of power. |
| C．Keep the elephant out of the White House. | D．Insist on Bush’s being elected. |
In the eyes of the Republicans, the donkey is considered as .
| A．clever | B．foolish | C．polite | D．brave |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The same artist created the two symbols. |
| B．The emails suggest Kerry will not carry out his promises. |
| C．“An Elephant Never Forgets” means that an elephant has a good memory. |
| D．John Kerry is a Democrat. |
CHINA
Coal mines claim (使…失踪) more lives
A COAL mine blast (爆炸) in Jixi, Helongjiang, left more than 100 miners dead on Thursday .Ten mines in Jixi were ordered to stop production. The government
has tried to shut down thousands of small, illegal (非法的) mines in the country that do not meet safety standards(标准).
MIDDLE EAST
Bombers continues to kill
PALESTINIANS killed 32 Israelis in three major attacks between Tuesday and Thursday. There were two suicide bombing (自杀性爆炸) and a militant (武装的) 
attack on Jewish settlement. They led to one of the highest Israeli death tolls ( 死亡人数) in such a short period over the last two years.
CHINA
Young people stand tall
The average height of Chinese young people has risen by 6 centimeters compared to that of 20 years ago. This year far exceeds (超过) the word’s average growth speed. A survey on health conducted by a panel(调研组) of Chinese students found the results. According to the world average level, youths get taller by 1 cm every 10 years.
CANADA
Talking about world issue (援助) w
The Group of Eight (G8)—the US, Japan , German
y, Britain, France, Italy , Canada and Russia ---- will hold a summit(峰会)on June26 and 27 in Kananaskis, Canada. The G8 are the richest and most powerful countries in the world. G8 leaders and some African presidents will discuss strengthening global economic growth and helping Africa. Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary 
General, will also attend.
60. Thousands of mines have been shut because ______.
A. they have blast B. they produced less coal
C. they are very small and illegal D. they don’t meet the safety standards
61. In the last 20 years, the average growth speed of Chinese youths exceeds the world’s average level by _______.
A.1 cm B.4 cm C. 5 cmD. 6 cm
62. What’s the purpose of the Summit ?
A. to strengthen the global economic growth and helping some poor African countries.
B. To make these eight countries much more powerful.
C. To help some African president to strengthen their economic growth.
D. Kofi Annan will have an important speech on world issues.
第三部分阅读理解（共20题，每小题2分，共40分）
“You can have the same neighbors for years,” the old man said. “You love them or you think you love them. And you hope that they love you. But do you really understand them?”
“Charlie Kemp and his family lived next door to me for fifteen years. We were good friends for all that time. I enjoy friendship-I’m sure it’s the best thing in the world. And friendship with the Kemps was easy because they seemed to welcome it.”
“They were interesting and intelligent people; their home caught fire twice, and twice the whole family slept in my home. They were always losing things…money, keys, or watches. Pictures fell off the w
alls; the children fell out of beds…”
“I was their neighbor and their friend. Life was always interesting, never dull. Best of all I liked the whole family.”
“One day, I lit a fire in the garden and was burning some rubbish. After a while Charlie Kemp came out of his house and walked up the road.”
“’Morning Charlie,’ I said’ Lovely day, isn’t it’? He smiled at me and nodded. I went on with my work.”
“Twenty minutes later a policeman arrived. He walked into my garden and said,’ You’ll have to put out the fire. Your neighbor has complained to us. He doesn’t like the smell.’”
“My neighbor…?” I said
“Yes,” the policeman said .He took out his notebook and read, “Charlie Kemp. He lives next door, doesn’t he?”
56. ________were neighbors in this storey.
A. The old man and his family B. Charlie Kemps and his family.
C. The old man and the Kemps D. Both A and B
57. The old man found that it was very strange that_________.
A. Charlie told the police about the fire B they often lost the things
C. the fire burst the whole of the Kemps’ house D Kemp smiled to him
68. How did the old man help the kemps?
A. he found the things they lost B. he thought they were interesting and intelligent
C. he lent them money D. he let them sleep in his house after the fires
59. The story shows that__________.
A. friendship is the best thing in the world B. we never really understand our friends
C. friendship with the Kemps was easy D. friendship with the Kemps was not easy
阅读表达（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
Many students want to find friends on the Internet as a way of practising their language skills and learning more about new cultures. Traditional pen pals were the primary source for such contacts, and students could write each other letters. With the Internet, fingding friends has become much easier, and such relationships are called key pals.
However, care and consideration should be given when finding friends on the Internet:
◎Search the Internet for reputable(有信誉的) services. Look for reviews of such sites to learn more about other students’ experiences. Don’t join a service until you have done your research.
◎Check to see if you can use a nickname, instead of __________, to protect your identity.
◎Never give personal information to anyone, including your home address, phone number, and birthday.
◎Stop contact with others if you feel uncomfortable with the topics of conversation. Again, if you protect your identity, this will be easier to do. Tell your teachers, parents, or even local law enforement if problem arise.
◎Try to use the language you are studying in the classroom in your communication with others.
◎Ask appropriate questions that will also help you learn about other cultures. Remember that someone’s personal experience might help you to understand a whole culture. You have to talk to many different people, and this will get you started.Please give this passage a proper title. (Please answer with 10 words.)
___________________________________________________________________________Please fill in the blank with proper words. (Please answer within 5 words.)
___________________________________________________________________________ Which sentence in the passage is the closest in meaning to the following one?
Pen friends used to write letters to keep in touch with each other.
___________________________________________________________________________Why do many students want to find friends on the Internet?
(Please answer within 30 words.)
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________Please translate the underlined sentence.
___________________________________________________________________________
Attending a university is an important part of a person’s life. Today, many people go to a university to study and train for a future job in subjects like law, medicine, or education. But the university is not a modern invention. It has a history that is over a thousand years old.
The world’s oldest university, Al-Azhar, is in Cairo, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque in A.D. 972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque in “tutoring circles”. They read and talked about the subject of law. Around 988, leaders in the city of Cairo decided to create a school for higher learning and the University of Al-Azhar was founded.
At Al-Azhar, there were many university ‘firsts.’ Courses were created. The earliest ones taught at Al-Azhar were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teacher, but there was also free discussion. Often, students and teachers talked about a topic, and there was no ‘right’ answer. Finally, scholars from around the world came to Al-Azhar to teach and do research. At the university, people studied the past, but it was also a place for sharing new ideas.
Over a thousand years later, Al-Azhar is still an important university in the world. Its library contains more than 250,000 of the world’s oldest and most valuable books. Today, many of the world’s most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the traditions started at Al-Azhar. What’s this passage mainly about?
| A．The history of the world’s oldest university. |
| B．The importance of attending a university. |
| C．The relationship between university and future job. |
| D．The invention of a modern university. |
The first university was founded over _____ years ago.
| A．a hundrend | B．hundreds of | C．a thousand | D．thousands of |
The oldest university in the world is _____.
| A．Oxford | B．Cambridge | C．Harvard | D．Al-Azhar |
What does the underlined word “course” mean in this passage?
A. A series of lessons. C. A period of time.
C. A series of actions. D. A group of professors.What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．How many books are in the Al-Azhar’s library. |
| B．How valuable the Al-Azhar’s books are. |
| C．Why Oxford and Harvard still follow Al-Azhar’s pattern. |
| D．How Al-Azhar still holds an important role in the world. |
Last year I had a wonderful experience. I went on a student exchange to Japan. It was an exciting time of my life and I learned many things about the school system in Japan. I was in Grade 11, which is second year of high school in Japan, but I was younger than most of my classmates. That’s because Japanese children enter first year of elementary school (小学) in April following their sixth birthday. I started school when I was still five years old.
In Japan, Children attend elementary school for six years, where they study Japanese, arithmetic, science, social studies, music, crafts, physical education, and home economics (simple cooking and sewing skills). During their three years in middle school, English is added to this list. Most schools have access to computers and the Internet.
The classes in my school seemed rather big to me, around 30 students in a typical high school class. We ate lunch in the classroom, instead of a cafeteria and enjoyed a healthy, nutritious meal prepared by the school or by a local “school lunch centre” instead of eating the same, dry sandwiches every day. I really like the Japanese interpretation of school lunches. I also enjoyed the field trips and activities. At Japanese schools, there are many school events during the year, such as field day when students compete in tug-of-war, field trips, and arts and cultural festivals.The writer went to Japan _____ last year.
| A．to visit his family memebers | B．to finish his high school there |
| C．to study as an exchange student | D．to do research on school system in Japan |
Children in Japan may start their elementary school at the age of ____.
| A．5 | B．6 | C．7 | D．11 |
Japanese students start to learn English _____.
| A． before they start their school year | B．when they are in elementary school |
| C．when they are in middle school | D．when they are in high school |
In the writer’s country, there are normally _____ students in a high school class.
| A．less than 30 | B．exactly 30 | C．more than 30 | D．Not certain |
In the writer’s country, students probably _____.
| A．have lunch in the classroom | B．have different lunch every day |
| C．have lunch at home | D．have sandwiches for lunch |