Treasure hunts have excited people’s imagination for hundreds of years both in real life and in books such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Is-land. Kit Williams, a modern writer, had the idea of combining the real excitement of a treasure hunt with clues found in a book when he wrote a children’s story, Masquerade, in 1979. The book was about a hare, and a month before it came out Williams buried a gold hare in a park in Bedfordshire. The book contained a large number of clues to help readers find the hare, but Williams put in a lot of “red herrings”, or false clues, to mislead them.
Ken Roberts, the man who found the hare, had been looking for it for nearly two years. Although he had been searching in the wrong area most of the time, he found it by logic，not by luck. His success came from the fact that he had gaine4d an important clue at the start. He had realized that the words: “One of Six to Eight” under the first picture in the book connected the hare in some way to Katherine of Aragon, the first of Henry VIII’s six wives. Even here, however, Williams had succeeded in misleading him. Ken knew that Katherine of Aragon had died at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire in 1536 and thought that Williams had buried the hare there. He had been digging there for over a year before a new idea occurred to him. He found out that Kit Williams had spent his childhood near Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, and thought that he must have buried the hare in a place he knew well, but he still could not see the connection with Katherine of Aragon, until one day he came across two stone crosses in Ampthill Park and learnt that they had been built in her honor in 1773.
Even then his search had not come to an end. It was only after he had spent several nights digging around the cross that he decided to write to Kit Williams to find out if he was wasting his time there. Williams encouraged him to continue, and on February 24th 1982, he found the treasure. It was worth 3000 in the beginning, but the excitement it had caused since its burial made it much more valuable.Which of the following describes Roberts’ logic in searching for the hare?
| A．Henry VIII’s six wives |
| B．Katherine’s burial place at Kimbolton |
| C．Williams’ childhood in Ampthill |
| D．Katherine of Argon |
What is the subject discussed in the text?
| A．An exciting historical event. |
| B．A modern treasure hunt. |
| C．The attraction of Masquerade. |
| D．The importance of logical thinking. |
Gift No. I
Offer to be your mother's health friend. Promise to be there for any and all doctor's visits
whether a disease or a regular medical check-up. Most mothers always say "no need," another set of eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor's visit. The best part ? This one is free.
Gift No. 2
Help your mother organize all of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what times she takes them. "Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother's life," Dr. Marie Savard said.
Gift No. 3
Enough sleep is connected to general health conditions. "Buy your mother cotton sheets and comfortable pillows to encourage better sleep," Savard said. "We know that good sleep is very important to our health."
Gift No. 4
Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother's Day by picking gifts in which 10 percent of the price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构). Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful but inexpensive things -many of which are "green" - and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift, she will be told that she has helped the chosen charity.What are you advised to do for your mother at doctor's visits?
| A．Take notes. | B．Be with her. |
| C．Buy medicine. | D．Give her gifts. |
What can be a gift of organization for your mother?
| A．Keeping her medical information together. |
| B．Buying all gifts for her from one company. |
| C．Making a list of her medical check-ups. |
| D．Storing her medicines in a safe place. |
Where can you find a gift idea to improve your mother’s sleep?
| A．In Gift No. 1. | B．In Gift No. 2. |
| C．In Gift No. 3. | D．In Gift No. 4. |
Buying gifts from Presents for Purpose allows mothers to
| A．enjoy good sleep | B．be well-organized |
| C．bet extra support | D．give others help |
Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the doctors. I feel there are a number of reasons for this.
Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices. This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then probably children would buy less take-away food.
There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I agree with this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.
There is a third reason for this situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers and play computer games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime, it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food. What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.
The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steer them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.According to the text, what kind of children may eat more unhealthy food?
| A．Those who often take exercise. |
| B．Those who often watch television. |
| C．Those who often have meals at home. |
| D．Those who often walk to school. |
The author thinks that children are becoming overweight because ．
| A．their parents often cook meals for them |
| B．they are too busy to go out and play |
| C．they can' t choose what to eat |
| D．there are too many fast food shops around |
The word "steer" underlined in the last sentence most probably means .
| A．force | B．guide |
| C．expect | D．observe |
The main purpose of the text is to .
| A．tell a story | B．provide facts |
| C．give advice | D．compare opinions |
It was a cold December and Mrs. Bell wanted to do a lot of shopping. She waited until it was Saturday, when her husband was free, and she took him to the shops with her to pay for everything and to carry for her what she had bought. They went to a lot of shops, and Mrs. Bell bought everything she could think of.
She often stopped and said, “Look, Peter! Isn’t that beautiful?
“All right, my dear. How much is it?” answered Mr. Bell, and then he took money out to buy it for her.
It was almost dark when they came out of the last shop, and Mr. Bell was tired. He was thinking about a nice drink by the side of a warm fire home. Suddenly his wife looked up at the sky and said, “Look at that beautiful moon, Peter!”
Without stopping, Mr. Bell answered at once. “All right, dear. How much is it?” Then he took his wallet out of his pocket.Mrs. Bell took her husband to the shops because ．
| A．he liked beautiful things |
| B．he liked to do shopping too. |
| C．she wanted him to pay money |
| D．he was always free |
Mrs. Bell bought in the shops.
| A．nothing | B．a drink |
| C．the most beautiful thing | D．a number of things |
Mr. Bell shopping.
| A．was addicted to | B．was thinking about |
| C．was tired of | D．was very interested in |
According to the last paragraph, we know Mr. Bell .
| A．wanted to buy the moon |
| B．did not really know what his wife was saying |
| C．was a millionaire |
| D．did not like the idea of buying the moon |
Ask any student to say one thing they know about Charles Dickens, and it is very likely they will say Oliver Twist. His classic tale of a poor orphan boy strikes at the heart of all those who have ever wanted "more", as Oliver did.
And now, Dickens' classic scenes of the lives of the Victorian British poor will appear in a big screen movie, "Oliver Twist," an adaptation of his classic tale directed by Roman Polanski.
The new film is not meant for younger viewers, and is meant for children over 13. For those old enough to enjoy it, however, the film shows just how long people have been enjoying Dickens' remarkable literature. His short stories and essays began appearing in magazines in 1833. "Oliver Twist" was published in 1837 - more than 165 years ago.
"Oliver Twist" tells the story of an orphan forced to live in a workhouse headed by the awful Mr Bumble, who cheats the boys who work there out of their already low pay. Oliver decides to escape to the streets of London, where he meets a thief called Fagin, played by Sir Ben Kingsley, who leads him into a world of crime. Several of Dickens' books have been made into films and television series, including 2002's "Nicholas Nickleby" and 2000's "David Copperfield." And several versions of "A Christmas Carol" have entertained audiences for years.
In his novels, Dickens wrote about several important issues. He talked about the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1824 in "Oliver Twist"; the French Revolution in "A Tale of Two Cities"; and helping the poor in "Hard Times.” One of Dickens' best-known books is the first Christmas book he wrote - "A Christmas Carol" (1843), about a mean man.
We thought this would be a good time to take a look at the man behind the words and see what kind of experiences helped shape and affect one of the best — known writers of all time.The “workhouse” in paragraph 4 should be ___
| A．a building where people are kept as a punishment for a crime they have committed |
| B．a place where dancing is taught or trained for international performance |
| C．a building where very poor people were sent to live and given work to do |
| D．a place where films are made or music is recorded |
How many works are mentioned in the passage?
A. 3 B. 4 C 5 D. 6The passage show many things about Oliver except that____
| A．he is forced to live in a workhouse by Roman Polanski |
| B．he meets a thief, Fagin, in the streets of London |
| C．he lives a hard life in his childhood |
| D．Fagin trains and forces Oliver to do some crimes |
The fifth paragraph mainly tells us ___
| A．Dickens’s birth and schooling |
| B．Dickens’s work experience |
| C．Dickens’s works and themes |
| D．Dickens’s influence and contribution |
In America, square dancing has been the most popular form of folk dancing since the early days. In early times, when men and women worked in groups to build a barn (谷仓) or harvest crops, they danced when the work was done. The music came from the violin for the most part, but if there was no one to play a musical instrument, clapping was used to produce the rhythm to which people dance. The early settlers danced in a store, in a barn, or in a farm kitchen.
A square is formed by four couples （对）who stand facing the centre of the square. Each couple stand on one side of the square, the boy on the left and the girl on the right.
The caller is an important part of the dance, since he tells the dancers which steps to do. If the dancers do not know the steps, he teaches them. It takes time to learn to be a good caller, and good callers are always in demand（被需要）.
These are the names of some of the steps the dancers do: Form a square; Circle; Honour your partner; Swing your partner; Form a star. There are many more. As the callers tell the dancers what to do next, they move to form the pattern（图形）he calls.
Large or small numbers of people can dance at one time. Sometimes 800 or 1,000 people may be dancing at the same time. Or there may be only one square of eight people.
Special clothes are worn by some when dancing. This makes the dance more colourful to watch. The special clothes are different from place to place. Women often wear full skirts of various colours with a pretty blouse. Men have coloured shirts and western trousers that they wear only when square dancing. In some country areas, everyone wears his best clothes.
Today in some parts of the United States you will find some schools, clubs, or groups square dancing for fun.From the passage we know that square dancing came from_______.
| A．the clubs | B．the schools |
| C．big cities | D．the countryside |
How many steps do the dancers usually do while square dancing?
| A．At most four. | B．At least one thousand. |
| C．At most eight. | D．At least five. |
For what purpose do the American men and women dance?
| A．For money. |
| B．To lose weight. |
| C．For fun. |
| D．To show their beautiful clothes. |
If 800 people dance at the same time，how many squares can be formed?
| A．200 squares. | B．100 squares. |
| C．400 squares. | D．One big square. |