One day, four lawyers were riding their horses along a country road. There had been a rain. Water was dripping(滴) from the trees, and the grass was wet. They rode slowly, talking and laughing. Suddenly they heard some noises from the tree above them. “What is the matter?” asked the first lawyer. “Oh, it’s only some old birds!” said the second lawyer. “The storm made one of the babies fall out of the nest. It is too young to fly, and the mother bird is very worried.” “What a pity! It’ll die down there in the grass,” said the third lawyer. “It doesn’t matter. It’s only a bird,” said the second lawyer. Then they rode on, talking and laughing as before. But the fourth lawyer, whose name was Abraham Lincoln, stopped. He got down from his horse and took the little one in his big warm hands.
“Never mind, my little fellow,” said Mr. Lincoln. “I will put you back in your little nest.” He climbed up the tree and put the bird softly into their warm little home. A few minutes later, Mr. Lincoln joined them again. His shoes were covered with mud and he was wet. Then the other three laughed at him. They thought it was foolish for a strong man to do so much just for a young bird. “Gentlemen,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I could not sleep tonight if I had left the helpless bird in the grass.” Later Abraham Lincoln became very famous as a lawyer. He also became the president of America. He was one of the greatest American presidents.
61. The reason why the mother bird was worried was that ______.
A. there was a rain B. the lawyers were under its tree
C. one of its babies fell out of the nest D. it could not fly
62. We can learn about the other three lawyers from the passage that ______.
A. the second lawyer was kind B. they were all cold-hearted
C. they did something to save the baby bird D. the third lawyer put the bird into its nest
63. The underlined phrase “little fellow” in paragraph 2 means ______.
A. the mother bird B. Lincoln’s little friends
C. the other three lawyers D. the baby bird
64. The other three lawyers laughed at Lincoln because ______.
A. he climbed the tree B. he was wet
C. his shoes were covered with mud D. they thought it foolish for him to do so
65. From the passage we know Lincoln ______.
A. liked riding horses B. was very kind and loved birds and animals
C. liked being laughed at D. wanted to be the president of America then
When I was going home to India last year, I called up my mother to ask if she wanted anything from China．
When India had not opened up its markets to the world, I carried suitcase loads of dark glasses and jeans．Thankfully, we can get all these anywhere in India now．
Still, her answer surprised me: “Green tea．”
As long as I can remember she didn’t even drink Indian tea ．
I dutifully bought a big packet of Longjing and headed home to hear the story．My mother and her brother, both regular newspaper readers, believed that Chinese green tea was the wonder drug for all illnesses．
At the turn of the century, China was not really familiar to the average Indian．It was a strange country．
How things change! And how soon!
Now every town of any size seems to have a “China Market”．And everyone is talking about China．
The govemment of Indin has planned to send a team to China to see how things are done．A minister once said that India must open the doors for more foreign investment(投资)and such a step would “work wonders as it did for China”．
But it’s a two-way street．I just heard about a thousand Shenzhen office workers who have gone to Bangalore to train in software．Meanwhile, all the Indian IT majors are setting up a strong presence in China．
No wonder that trade, which was only in the millions just ten years ago, is expected to hit about US $15 billion for last year and US $20 billion by 2008, a goal set by both governments．
No wonder, my colleague wrote some weeks ago about this being the Sino-Indian(中印)century as the two countries started on January 1 the Sino-Indian Friendship Year．
But what is still a wonder to me is my mother drinking Chinese tea．
1．According to the passage, the author left _____ for ______．
A．India; China B．China; India
C．China; Longjing D．India; Shenzhen
2．The reason why the writer’s mother asked for Chinese green tea is that_____．
A．she had a son working in China B．she believed it had a curing effect
C．she enjoyed Chinese products D．she was tired of Indian tea
3．The underlined part “it’s a two-way street” in Paragraph 10 probably means ____．
A．The exchanges between Indian and China benefit both．
B．China and India have different traffic rules．
C．Tea trade works wonders in both India and China．
D．Chinese produces are popular in both China and India．
4．It can be inferred from the passage that _______．
A．the author was concerned for his mother’s health
B．the author was in favor of drinking Chinese green tea
C．the author was surprised at China’s recent development
D．the author was curious about the growth of India’s IT industry
CARDIFF, Wales Poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered in Wales to celebrate the tradition(传统) of storytelling.
“It might seem strange that people still want to listen in age of watching television, but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again,” said David Ambrose, director of Beyond the Border, an international storytelling festival(节) in Wales.
“Some of the tales, like those the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old. So our storytellers have come from distant lands to connect us with the distance of time,” he said early this month.
Two Inuit women, both in their mid 60s, are among the few remaining who can do Kntadjait, or throat singing, which has few words and much sound. Their art is governed by the cold of their surroundings, forcing them to say little but listen attentively.
Ambrose started the festival in 1993, after several years of working with those reviving (coming back into use or existence) storytelling in Wales.
“It came out of a group of people who wanted to reconnect with traditions. and as all the Welsh are storytellers, it was in good hands here.” Ambrose said.
1. Ambrose believes that the art of storytelling _______.
A. will be more popular than TV
B. will be popular again
C. started in Wales
D. are in the hands of some old people
2. From the tales told by the Inuit, people can learn _______.
A. about their life as early as thousands of years ago
B. why they tell the stories in a throat-singing way
C. how cold it has been where the Inuit live
D. how difficult it is to understand the Inuit
3. According to the writer, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Storytelling once stopped in Wales.
B. Storytelling has a long history in Wales.
C. Storytelling is always well received in Wales.
D. Storytelling did not come back until 1993 in Wales.
4. The underlined phrase in good hands means _______.
A. controlled by rich people B. grasped by good storytellers
C. taken good care of D. protected by kind people
Tales of the supernatural are common in all parts of Britain. In particular there was（and perhaps still is）a belief in fairies. Not all of these fairies are the friendly, people-loving sprites that appear in Disney films. In some folktales they are cruel and cause much human suffering. This is true in the tales about the changeling. These tell the story of a mother whose baby grows sick and pale and is changed so much that it is almost unrecognizable to the parents. It was then feared that the fairies had come and stolen the baby away and replaced the human baby with a fairy changeling. This was most likely to happen between birth and the baby’s baptism. There were many ways to prevent this from happening: hanging a knife over the baby’s head while he slept or covering him with some of his father’s clothes were just two of the recommended（推荐）methods. However, hope was not lost even if the baby had been stolen .In those cases there was often a way to get the real baby back. You could place the changeling on the fire—then it would rise up the chimney, you would hear the sound of fairies’ laughter and soon after you would find your own child safe and sound nearby. Or, if you were more cautious（谨慎）,perhaps there was a magic well in the neighbourhood where you could leave the changeling overnight, and in the morning you would return to find your own baby there without a scratch（划痕）on him.
1. Another word in the passage which is closest in meaning to the underlined word sprites is ______.
A. changeling B. baptism C. folktales D. fairies
2.The writer described ______ways to prevent babies from being stolen and ______ways to save a stolen baby.
A. Many; two B. Two; two C. Two; three D. Two; four
3.Which is not stated but can be inferred from this passage?
A. Some sick babies might have been killed with the recommended methods.
B. There are bad fairies as well as good fairies.
C. Lots of stolen babies were saved with the recommended methods.
D. Fairies would laugh if they found a changeling rise up the chimney.
Northern Europeans spend a lot of time in their cold and cloudy winters planning their summer holidays. They are proud of their healthy color when they return home after the holiday. But they also know that a certain amount of sunshine is good for their bodies and general health.
In ancient Greece people knew about the healing(治疗) powers of the sun, but this knowledge was lost. At the end of the nineteenth century a Danish doctor, Niels Finsen, began to study the effect of sunlight on certain diseases, especially diseases of the skin. He was interested not only in natural sunlight but also in artificially (人造地) produced rays. Sunlight began to play a more important part in curing sick people.
A Swiss doctor, Auguste Rollier, made full use of the sun in his hospital at Lysine. Lysine is a small village high up in the Alps. The position is important: the rays of the sun with the greatest healing power are the infra-red (红外线的) and ultra-violet (紫外线的) rays; but ultra-violet rays are too easily lost in fog and the polluted air near industrial towns. Dr. Roller found that sunlight, fresh air and good food cure a great many diseases. He was particularly successful in curing certain forms of tuberculosis with his “sun-cure”.
There were a large number of children in Dr. Roller’s hospital. He decided to start a school where sick children could be cured and at the same time continue to learn. It was not long before his school was full.
In winter, wearing only shorts, socks and boots, the children put on their skis after breakfast and left the hospital. They carried small desks and chairs as well as their school books. Their teacher led them over the snow until they reached a slope which faced the sun and was free from cold winds. There they set out their desks and chairs, and school began.
Although they wore hardly any clothes, Roller’s pupils were very seldom cold. That was because their bodies were full of energy which they got from the sun. But the doctor knew that sunshine can also be dangerous. If, for example, tuberculosis is attacking the lungs, unwise sunbathing may do great harm.
Today there is not just one school in the sun. There are several in Switzerland, and since Switzerland is not the only country which has the right conditions, there are similar schools in other places.
1. According to the passage, when did sunlight begin to play a more important part in the treatment of disease?
A. From ancient times. B. At the end of the nineteenth century.
C. Not until this century. D. Only very recently.
2. Why are a Danish doctor and a Swiss doctor mentioned in the second and third paragraphs?
A. Because they both made use of sunlight to treat illness.
B. Because they were the first people who used sunlight for treatment.
C. Because they were both famous European doctors.
D. Because they used sunlight in very different ways.
3. Dr Roller set up a “sun-cure” school probably for the reason that _______.
A. most children could stay in his hospital
B. children could study while being treated
C. the school was expected to be full of pupils
D. the school was high up in the mountains
4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph of the passage?
A. “Sun-cure” schools are becoming popular everywhere.
B. Switzerland is the only country where “sun-cure” schools are popular.
C. Proper conditions are necessary for the running of a “sun-cure” school.
D. “Sun-cure” schools are found in countries where there is a lot of sunshine.
Move Earth—it’s no science fiction
LONDON-Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets（彗星）in the direction of Earth, and its orbit will be changed. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system.
This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration（NASA） engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—effectively doubling its working life.
The plan put forward by Dr Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams
,needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.
“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun,”Laughlin said.
Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.
In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so “seriously compromise” our biosphere（生物圈）—by cooking us.
That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.
The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation（误算）in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly consequences.
There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position it is “most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth,” it states. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.
1. What makes the scientists plan to move Earth?
A. A few comets are moving to the direction of Earth.
B. Earth’s working life is coming to an end soon.
C. Earth will become too hot for mankind to keep alive.
D. The moon is moving farther and farther away from Earth.
2.If the plan is successful, Earth will have a working life of ______years.
A.12 billion B.6 billion C.18 billion D.24 billion
3.What serious problems might the plan cause according to the passage?
A. The comet might hit Earth and man might lose the moon.
B. Earth might be moved too far away and man might be frozen to death.
C. The comet might hit Jupiter or Saturn and never return to Earth.
D. Earth’s working life might be greatly shortened.
4.What does the underlined word “compromise” mean?
A. provide B. benefit C. share D. endanger
5.Which of the following best shows how the plan would work?