The Baima is a minority group of about 1,400 people. They have lived in Northern Sichuan and Southern Gansu Provinces for centuries. They have long depended on the forests as their main source of income. But since a ban on cutting down forests was introduced in the late 1990s to fight yearly flooding, the villagers have had to look for other means of earning a living.
Several are now in the process of developing a small tourism industry as their lands are rich in forests and natural scenery and are the home of the giant pandas. Xiangshujia, in particular, is becoming a popular bed and breakfast centre for tourists heading to Wanglang to see the giant pandas. Visitors are also starting to take notice of the Baima people themselves.
As our jeep stopped in the courtyard of a house, we were greeted by the village leader Li Qin and young Baima girls dressed in traditional costumes with white feathers in their hair. As we took our places on wooden benches near an open fire, the girls began to sing traditional songs as they served us.
“The number of tourists is growing,” said Li Qin. “We realize that to attract visitors we have to show our culture by offering more traditional singing and dancing and ensuring our houses are built in the traditional way.”
Relations between the Baima people and the reserve were once tense following the ban on cutting down forests. Villagers had to make a new living. They entered the Wanglang Nature Reserve to collect wild mushrooms and herbs (药草), often at the expense of disturbing the pandas’ habitat. But things greatly improved as villagers started receiving training in how to sell things to tourists.
“Our aim was to deter the villagers, because they often disturbed the pandas’ habitat, and to ensure they could have a long-lasting means of earning a living,” emphasized Chen Youping, director of the Wanglang Nature Reserve. “All the money from the reserve goes back into the community and conservation projects,” said Chen. “We take into consideration first the animals and then tourism.”From Paragraph 1 we learn that ________.
| A．the Baima has the longest history among all the minority groups in China |
| B．the Baima people live in most areas of Sichuan and Gansu Provinces |
| C．forests are the main source of firewood for the Baima people |
| D．in order to fight floods, the Baima people are forbidden to cut down forests |
We can infer that the Baima girls wore their traditional costumes to greet visitors mainly because _______.
| A．they wanted to look more beautiful |
| B．their leader Li Qin asked them to do so |
| C．it was a way to show their culture to attract visitors |
| D．it was necessary before they sang traditional songs |
Which of the following was NOT an effect of the ban on cutting down forests?
| A．The Baima people had a tense relationship with the reserve. |
| B．Villagers had to look for other means of making a living. |
| C．The pandas’ habitat was often disturbed by villagers. |
| D．Villagers stopped selling things to tourists. |
The underlined word “deter” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “________”.
| A．punish | B．stop | C．encourage | D．threaten |
Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.
We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.
I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.
I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.
I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.
The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.
Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”
Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.Why did the writer catch a mockingbird when he was a boy of 12?
| A．He wanted it to sing for him | B．He had just got a new cage. |
| C．He liked its beautiful feather. | D．He wanted a pet for a companion. |
The mockingbird died because it ______.
| A．was frightened to death |
| B．drank the poisonous water by mistake |
| C．ate the poisonous food its mother gave it |
| D．refused to eat anything |
An ornithologist probably means ______.
| A．a religious person | B．a kind person | C．an expert in birds | D．a schoolmaster |
What is the most important lesson the writer learned from the incident?
| A．Be careful about food you give to baby birds. |
| B．All birds put in a cage won’t live long. |
| C．You should keep the birds from their mother. |
| D．Freedom is very valuable to all creatures. |
Earthquakes are something that people fear．There are some places that have few or no earthquakes．Most places in the world，however，have them regularly（有规律的）．Countries that have a lot of earthquakes are usually quite mountainous（多山的）．
The most talked about earthquake in the United States was in San Francisco in 1906．Over 700 people died in it．The strongest one in North America was in 1964．It happened in Alaska．
Strong earthquakes are not always the ones that kill the most people．In 1755，one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded was felt in Portugal．Around 2,000 people died．
In 1923，a very strong earthquake hit the Tokyo，Yokohama area of Japan．A hundred and forty thousand people died．Most of them died in fires which followed the earthquake．
One of the worst earthquakes ever was in China in 2008．It killed a large number of people．The worst earthquake ever reported was also in China，in which 400,000 people were killed or injured．This earthquake happened in 1556．
Earthquakes worry people a lot．The reason is that we often do not know when they are coming．People can not prepare for it．When and where was the worst earthquake ever reported？
| A．1964;Alaska. | B．1556;China. | C．1923;Japan. | D．2008;China. |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The stronger the earthquake is, the more people are killed. |
| B．Earthquakes often come unexpectedly（出乎意料地）. |
| C．Earthquakes can cause fires. |
| D．People still don’t know how to tell when an earthquake will come. |
What may be talked about in the seventh paragraph?
| A．How do earthquakes worry people? |
| B．What will people do to prepare for earthquakes? |
| C．How can we save people when earthquakes happen? |
| D．How do earthquakes happen? |
There was once a professor of medicine, who was very strict with the students. Whenever he took the chair on the exam committee（委员会）, the students would be in fear , because he was seldom pleased with the answers they gave . A student would be lucky enough if he or she could receive a good mark from him. At the end of the term, the students of medicine would take their exam again . Now a student entered the exam room and got seated before the committee. This student was a little nervous as he knew it would not be so easy to get through the exam at all.
The professor began to ask. .The student was required to describe a certain illness, his description of which turned out to be OK.
Then the professor asked about the cure（药剂,疗法）for the illness , and the student , too , answered just as right . “Good,” said the professor, “and how much will you give the patient?”
“A full spoon,” answered the student.
“Now you may go out and wait for what you can get,” said the professor. At the same time the committee discussed carefully the answers the student had given .Suddenly the student noticed that there was something wrong with his last answer. “A full spoon is too much,” he thought to himself. Anxiously he opened the door of the room and cried, “Mr. Professor, I’ve made a mistake! A full spoon is too much for the patient. He can take only five drops. ”
“I’m sorry, sir,” said the professor coldly, “but it’s too late. Your patient has died. ”The students were afraid of the professor because _______ .
| A．they often angered and disappointed him |
| B．their answers often astonished him |
| C．their answers seldom satisfied him |
| D．he often misunderstood them and gave them bad marks |
The student’s description of the illness was ________ .
| A．not correct | B．not satisfying |
| C．completely discouraging | D．accepted |
Before he left the room the student was almost sure that _________ .
| A．he had passed the exam, and the only thing was to wait for the mark |
| B．his last answer had been wrong |
| C．he had made a mistake |
| D．he had not done well in the exam |
Which guess is the most reasonable from the passage?
| A．The student must have passed the exam. |
| B．The student may not have passed the exam. |
| C．The student must have been very happy when he heard, “ Your patient has died . ” |
| D．The professor must have been very pleased and given the student a good mark. |
King Midas used to love gold. One day he met a fairy who allowed him to make a wish for something. The king replied at once, ‘‘I love gold. I want everything I touch to change into gold”. ‘‘Very well, tomorrow morning, everything you touch will turn into gold.” Saying this, the fairy disappeared.
The king waited excitedly till the next morning. To his joy, everything he touched changed immediately into gold. ‘‘I’m the richest man in the world now.” He shouted.
Soon Midas became hungry. He sat down at his table. All the foods and drinks turned into gold in his hand. ‘‘I’m dying of hunger.” He cried.
Just then his daughter came running in. ‘‘Why are you so sad, dad?” she asked, putting her arms around him. There and then she became a golden statue. The king loved his daughter very much. Seeing this, he began to cry. He looked up and suddenly saw the fairy before him. ‘‘Don’t you like the golden touch?” asked the fairy. ‘‘Please take it away.” begged the king, ‘‘Give me back my daughter.” ‘‘Well, you have learned your lesson. Go and wash in the river. Then the golden touch will be gone.”
The king ran quickly to the nearby river.The fairy allowed the king to make a wish because _____.
| A．she hoped to make the king the richest in the world. |
| B．she loved gold too. |
| C．she wanted to teach the king a lesson. |
| D．she wanted to turn the king’s daughter into gold. |
The king’s daughter became a golden statue when _____
| A．she saw her father | B．the king went to meet her |
| C．she put her arms around her father | D．the king loved her very much |
Which of the following might have happened afterwards?
| A．The king’s daughter changed back from gold to a lovely girl. |
| B．The king died in the river. |
| C．All the things the king had touched changed back into real ones. |
| D．Both A and C |
What do you think the story tries to tell us?
| A．Gold makes people unhappy. |
| B．More gold, more happiness. |
| C．Gold is not the thing that makes life happy. |
| D．People feel happy if they have not gold. |
Tomorrow was his girlfriend’s birthday and the young man was having a difficult time deciding on a present for her. She already had more clothes than she knew what to do with them, so he couldn’t get any kind of apparel. She never ate sweets, so candy was out of the question. What then? He had a very special reason for wanting to impress her with just the right gift,for tomorrow he was going to make an offer of marriage to her. He finally decided on perfume(香水). All girls liked perfume. That raised another problem, however. What kind did she prefer? He couldn’t ask her because that would ruin the surprise.
At last the young man hit upon a brilliant idea. That afternoon, pretending to take his girlfriend’s fox terrier(小猎狗),Fritz, for a walk, the young man and the dog went directly to the perfume counter of the town’s biggest department store. Good! There was a large array(长列)of perfume. He beckoned(招呼)a clerk, asking her to open a large number of bottles and wave the stoppers （塞子）under the dog’s nose. Nestled(依偎于) in the young man’s arms, the terrier began to be restless and bored as this seemingly meaningless game went on. Then Fritz suddenly became frisky, wiggling in the young man’s arms and barking excitedly, as the clerk waved one stopper under its nose.
“I’ll take that one,” said the young man to the clerk. The price was high, but it was worth it, he thought.
“ My favorite perfume!” said the delighted girl the next evening as she unwrapped the package. “ How did you know?” she asked, dabbing（轻擦）some perfume behind each ear.
“ Intuition(直觉), I guess.”said the young man, deciding that it wasn’t exactly wrong to tell a lie at that time. One day, after they were married, he would admit that his intuition had really been the little dog named Fritz. Which of the following words best describes the young man in the story?
| A．Kind-hearted | B．Curious | C．Creative | D．Mean |
The underlined word “ frisky” (in Paragraph 4) means “_______”
| A．lively | B．angry | C．uneasy | D．puzzled |
According to the story, the birthday present for the girl was actually decided on by_______.
| A．the young man | B．the store clerk | C．the man’s intuition | D．the dog Fritz |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the story?
| A．The young man wanted to give his girlfriend a pleasant surprise. |
| B．The pet dog Fritz knew what the young man wanted very well. |
| C．The kind of perfume the young man chose was expensive. |
| D．The young man told a white lie about his final choice of the perfume. |