The largest-ever chariot pit (战车坑) of relics with carts and horse bones has been discovered in Henan Province. It may lead to the uncovering of chariot pit groups that could be a key to understanding Chinese civilizations that existed more than 2,000 years ago.
Experts said the relics are dated more than 300 years earlier than the famous warriors (武士) in Shaanxi Province. What excited the experts were two other projects that located two huge pits with similar features.
“It is absolutely a miracle. These relics indicate that there could be a tomb group in this area, which is likely to be important for China’s archaeological (考古学的) studies,” said Ma Juncai, a leading relic researcher in the province.
In ancient China, carts, sheep, spoons and so on were buried to ensure that dead people had a happy afterlife. The number and quality of the sacrifices indicated the social status of the dead. The custom was carried into the Qin Dynasty. Emperor Qinshihuang’s tomb, located near Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, is accompanied by thousands of wood or clay figures of warriors and horses. The tomb is probably the most well-known.
The discovered pit measures 10.4 meters long, 8.4 meters wide and 5 meters deep. It holds 20 carts in different sizes. The smallest one is 1.05 meters long and 1.3 meters wide.
Experts think that 40 horses are likely to be found as well. Careful plans need to be made to deal with the demanding uncovering. “The clay is very weak and a small misstep can destroy the whole project. That’s why we need to take every step very carefully to protect these cherished cultural relics,” Ma said. What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．The dead people’s sacrifices in ancient China. |
| B．China’s archaeological studies. |
| C．The discovery of a large chariot pit in Henan. |
| D．The history of Chinese civilizations. |
According to Ma Juncai, the uncovering of the three pits is a miracle because _______.
| A．it shows there may be a tomb group there |
| B．it’s helpful in discovering Emperor Qinshihuang’s tomb |
| C．the relics are dated such a long time ago |
| D．the relics are more than 300 years older than the ones in Shaanxi |
It can be inferred from Paragraph 4 that ______.
| A．all dead people had sacrifices in ancient China |
| B．the discovered pit is the most well-known in the world |
| C．the discovered pit dates back to the Qin Dynasty |
| D．Emperor Qinshihuang wanted to maintain his power after death |
Careful plans for the uncovering are needed because ______.
| A．another 40 horses are likely to be found as well |
| B．the whole uncovering could be destroyed easily |
| C．experts are too busy to spare time for it |
| D．the government hasn’t agreed to it |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The discovery has drawn the leading experts’ attention. |
| B．A lot of cultural relics have been discovered in Henan. |
| C．40 horses have been discovered together with the chariot pit. |
| D．The discovered carts in the chariot pit are similar in size. |
Honeybees
Honeybees can do three kinds of jobs.
It is one of the most unusual insects in the world. Bees are special be
cause they divide up their honeybee work. Each bee has a certain job to do.
The busiest bee is the worker. Workers build the nest, called a hive. Inside the hive, workers make a honeycomb from wax(蜂蜡). They store honey there for food. Workers are always cleaning and fixing the hive. They even stand at the opening and fan their wings to cool the hive. Worker bees will attack anything—even people—to keep their hive safe.
Another kind of bee is the drone(雄蜂). Drones are male bees, and their job is to fly 
with the queen bee and mate with her. After the queen mates, the worker bees drive the drones away. The drones then starve to death.
The third kind of bee is the queen. Each hive needs only one queen, and her job is laying eggs. She can lay as many as 2, 000 eggs a day. The bee’s nest is called a _______.
| A．hive | B．honeycomb | C．drone | D．wax |
Which jobs do workers do?
| A．They lay 2, 000 eggs each day and build a nest. |
| B．They mate with the queen bee and then starve. |
| C．They clean the hive and keep it cool. |
| D．They attack the queen bee. |
According to the story, bees _______.
| A．are very dangerous insects |
| B．will attack anything or anyone to protect the hive, if necessary |
| C．are like any other insect that flies |
| D．eat each other as food |
The drone is driven away when its job is finished, because _______.
| A．it attacked the workers | B．it is no longer needed in the hive |
C．the queen bee has died |
D．it ate the queen bee |
A famous doctor once received a little child who was badly ill. Thanks to his skill and care, his young patient got well and was soon able to get up and run about again.
The child’s mother was very much obliged to the doctor, and she called on him to thank him for what he had done for her child. “Doctor,” she said, “you have saved my little son. I don’t know how to thank you enough. I feel that money alone cannot repay you, so I have made 
this little purse with my own hands, as a sign of my gratitude. I hope you will accept it.” The doctor stood up and said coldly, “Madam, a little present like that is very nice between friends, but a doctor needs to be paid properly for what he has done.” The lady was so surprised and hurt so much that she could not reply for a moment. Then she said quietly, “Perhaps you will tell me how much your fee is?”“Fifty pounds”, he answered.
The lady opened the little purse and took out four fifty-pound bank notes. She handed one of them to the doctor, and put the other three back into the purse. She put the purse into her handbag and, saying good bye to the doctor, went out of the room.The doctor refused the lady’s purse because he thought ______.
| A．the purse should be given between friends |
| B．the purse was too small |
| C．the lady was not kind to him |
| D．the lady just gave him that purse and wouldn’t give him the medical fee |
What the doctor said ______ the lady.
| A．worried | B．interested | C．frightened | D．hurt |
The money in the purse _______.
| A．was only 150 pounds | B．was less than 200 pounds |
| C．was much more than the medical fee | D．was not enough for the medical fee |
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904. He was famous because of the books he wrote for children. They combine funny words, pictures, and social opinion.
Dr Seuss wrote his first book for children in 1937. It is called And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street. A number of publishers refused to publish it. They said it was too different. A friend finally published(出版) it. Soon other successful books followed. Over the years, he wrote more than forty children’s books. They were fun to read. Yet his books sometimes dealt with serious subjects.
By the middle 1940s, Dr Seuss had become one of the best-loved and most successful writers of children’s books. He had a strong desire to help children. In 1954, Life magazine published a report about school children who could not read. The report said many children’s books weren’t interesting. Dr Seuss decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read.
In 1957, Dr Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 225 words to write the book. This was about the number of words a six-year-old should be able to read.
The story is about a cat who tries to entertain two children on a rainy day while their mother is away from home. The cat is not like normal cats. It talks. The book was an immediate success. It was an interesting story and was easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today many adults say it is still one of the stories they like best.What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．Some of Dr Seuss’ books for children. |
| B．What are Dr Seuss’s books mainly about? |
| C．Dr Seuss — a famous writer of children’s books. |
| D．Why are Dr Seuss’ books different? |
What do we know about Dr Seuss’s first book for children?
| A．It was Dr Seuss’ worst book. |
| B．It dealt with a very serious subject. |
| C．Neither children nor adults like it. |
| D．Many publishers didn’t take it seriously at first. |
How did Dr Seuss help children according to Paragraph 3&4?
| A．By asking others to help them in magazines. |
| B．By writing interesting and simple books. |
| C．By changing his old books into simpler ones. |
| D．By giving them books for free. |
Adults most probably think that Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat is _________
| A．interesting | B．serious | C．difficult |
D．boring |
What does the underlined word “combine” mean?
| A．like very much | B．fall in love with |
| C．bring something together | D．pay attention to |
The hole in the Earth's ozone layer (臭氧层) has until now protected Antarctica from the worst effects of global warming. But scientists have warned that as the hole closes up in the next few decades, temperatures on the continent could rise by around 3oC on average, with melting ice contributing to a global sea level increase of up to 1.4 metres.
In the past decades the western Antarctic has seen rapid ice loss as the world has warmed, but the other parts of the continent have, paradoxically, been cooling, resulting in a 10% increase in ice in the seas around the region. This is because the hole in the ozone layer has increased cold winds in Antarctica, making much of the continent surface colder than usual.
But now that the gasses that cause the ozone hole have been banned, scientists expect the hole to repair itself within the next 50 to 60 years. By then the cooling effect will have faded out and the Antarctic will face the full impact of global warming. This means an increase in average air temperatures of around 3OC and a reduction in sea ice by around a third.
The biggest threat to the continent comes from warming seas. Robert Johnson, a scientist who monitors Antarctica ice sheets, said, "The ice sheets in Antarctica are hundreds of metres thick. But once warm ocean waters start flowing underneath, the ice will begin thinning and could break up very quickly. "Thinning ice sheets cause ice to break away from the continent and to melt even faster. Escaping ice from western Antarctica has already resulted in a 10% rise in global sea level in recent decades.
Johnson believes that international action to reduce global warming is required immediately or it may be too late. "Everything is connected - Antarctica may be a long way away but it is an important part of the Earth's system," said Johnson. "It contains 90% of the world's ice, 70% of the world's fresh water and that is enough, if it melts completely, to raise sea levels by 63 metres."
Even in a worse-case situation scientists don't expect the ice to entirely disappear, but predict that, because of the melting ice sheets, average sea level rise will be around 1.4 metres higher by the end of the century.The underlined word "paradoxically" (in Paragraph 2) most probably means "__".
| A．rapidly | B．approximately | C．contradictorily | D．apparently |
What is the effect of the hole in the ozone layer on Antarctica?
| A．It is making much of the continent colder. |
| B．It is causing the ice to melt faster. |
| C．It is making the effects of global warming in the region worse. |
| D．It is reducing the amount of water in Antarctica. |
What do scientists think is the biggest danger facing Antarctica?
| A．Rising sea levels. | B．Warming sea water temperature. |
| C．Water pollution. | D．Growing ice sheets. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Antarctica contains most of the world's fresh water. |
| B．The average temperature has increased by 3 degree centigrade in recent decades. |
| C．Antarctica is currently experiencing the full effects of global warming. |
| D．Ten percent of Antarctica's ice has already been lost. |
The best title for the passage is ___ ___.
| A．Our planet in danger | B．Antarctica melting away |
| C．Action plan to save Antarctica | D．Let's save the ozone layer |
People should be warned against using mobile phones outdoors in stormy weather because they may “be struck by lightning”, according to doctors.
Three experts have described how a teenage girl was struck by lightning while using her phone in a large London park. The girl, aged 15, recovered, but a year later, was still wheelchair-bound and found to be suffering complex physical and emotional problems.
The girl also had a perforate eardrum（打孔耳膜）on the side where she had been holding the mobile phone. She was having general recovery in Northwick Park Hospital, Middlesex.Swinda Esprit, a senior house officer, said that while the brain and muscle damage was similar to that of many lightning victims—who can experience heart attacks on being struck— the ear problems were not.
She said that the damages were particularly relevant for people who might be involved in less serious lightning incidents, who might otherwise recover, but would never get their full hearing back if struck while on the phone.
“We were shocked by the damage, which is why we wanted to draw attention to it,” Dr Esprit said. “A year on and she still was suffering these difficult hearing.”
They added that three other cases had been reported in newspapers in China, South Korea, and Malaysia. In the Malaysian case, a sales executive was killed by lightning while talking on his phone during a thunderstorm near Kuala Lumpur
“All these events resulted in death,” the doctors wrote. “This rare phenomenon is a public health issue, and education is necessary to stress the risk.”
The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that metallic objects, including cordless or mobile phones, should not be carried outdoors during thunderstorms. However, “the United States National Weather Service says on its website that both are safe to use “because there is no direct path between you and the lightening”.
Paul Taylor, of “the Met Office”, said the ear injuries were a consequence of mobile phones being metal, and not related to radio waves.
Mr. Taylor said that mobile phones should be treated as another piece of metal, similar to carrying coins or wearing rings, and people need to be warned against the possible danger.What do we know about the teenage girl?
| A．She was struck by lightning at school. |
| B．She completely recovered from being struck. |
| C．She still suffered from mental problems. |
| D．She had to press her ear all day |
It can be inferred that damage done by lightening while using mobile phones ______.
| A．is mainly in the brain and muscle of the victims |
| B．can be healed quickly except for heart attacks |
| C．is less serious because the victims can usually recover |
| D．is more serious than that when one is not using a mobile phone |
Why did doctors stress the risk about using phones outside in lightening?
| A．Because more people are faced with it. |
| B．Because some deaths have been caused. |
| C．Because lightning is harmful for the brain. |
| D．Because a teenage girl got killed. |
We can infer from the last three paragraphs that ______.
| A．both cordless and mobile phones are safe to use outside in lightning |
| B．there is no direct connection between lightning and ear injuries at all |
| C．opinions differ as to whether it is safe to use mobiles phones in lightning |
| D．ear injuries are the result of carrying coins or wearing rings in lightning |
The purpose in writing this passage is ______.
| A．to draw attention to the risk of using mobile phones in lightening |
| B．to focus on various damages done to lightning victims |
| C．to tell us the news that a teenage girl was struck by lightning |
| D．to stress the danger of making phone calls in lightning |