When early colonial settlers went to America, they took many forms of dance to their new home. Square dancing, one of the oldest forms of American folk dancing, developed from several different Old World group dances, mainly English country dances, and the French quadrille(四对方舞).
In the American version of square dancing, four couples form a square and dance to music. An American addition to square dancing is the caller. What do you think a caller does?
The callers---someone who calls out the dance steps in time to the music--- was a completely American invention. At first dancers memorized all the steps for a particular dance, but eventually the dances became so complicated that it was necessary to have someone call out cues (提示) so that dancers didn’t have to remember so many steps. The caller didn’t just call out “do-se-do your partner”; a good caller also came up with colourful sayings or witty lines that he said in between the cues such as “Don’t be shy and don’t be afraid. Swing on the corner in a waltz promenade (步伐).” A caller might also come up with new dance steps and routines.
Although popular for years, square dancing seemed to be going out of style and fading away until the early 1930s, when Henry Ford helped revive interest in it. Ford, the automobile manufacturer, used to vacation at the Wayside Inn in Massachusetts, where he enjoyed the dance programme run by a man named Benjamin Lovett. Ford asked Lovett to come to Detroit and teach dances, but Lovett said he couldn’t because he had a contract with the inn. Ford solved that problem by buying the inn and Lovett’s contract. He took Lovett back to Detroit, where together they established a programme for teaching squares and rounds. Square dancing was updated and groups began forming all over the country.
53. What is the best title for the passage?
A. The Different Steps of Square Dancing
B. The Origin and Development of Square Dancing
C. Who Was the Inventor of Square Dancing?
D. Why Did Square Dancing Go Out of Style? W
54. What does the underlined part “their new home” refer to?
A. The United Kingdom. B. France.
C. Africa. D. America.
55. Why did the caller call out the steps for the dancers?
A. Because the dance was invented by the caller.
B. Because the dancers didn’t know the names of the steps.
C. Because the steps were very particular.
D. Because it was hard for the dancers to remember all the steps.
56. Why did the author mention Henry Ford in the last paragraph?
A. Because he was the man who made the first car.
B. Because he was vey fond of dancing.
C. Because he helped make square dancing popular again.
D. Because he taught people how to dance.
It was about midday. I’d left work early in the morning to cash a cheque. I walked along to the bank, and found that there weren’t too many people about ten or eleven customers in there, which was pretty unusual for those central city banks.
I waited until it was my turn and just went up to the desk and started to talk to the bank clerk. He had a really strange expression
on his face -- just sort of blank stare at least I thought he was looking at me and then I realized he was staring over my shoulder.
I began to turn round to see what he was looking at. At the same moment the outside bank guard came flying through the door and lay face down on the floor and following him through the door were three frightening masked men. They were carrying guns; at least I think the one in front was carrying a gun. Whether or not they said anything at that point I can’t remember to this day, or whether people just automatically put their hands up I’ve just no idea.
For a few moments there was just total silence, suddenly broken by the telephone ringing and I remember thinking and wondering who was on the other end of the telephone. Nobody went to answer the telephone, so this thing just kept on ringing and ringing. Then two of the masked men went to the counter, jumped over it and got the cashiers and the bank clerks to start filling the bags with cash. While the two were getting the money, the one at the door who was covering us with the gun was a bit frightened. He started swearing at them, and telling them to hurry up, to get a move on. They jumped back over the counter. One of them slipp
ed as he landed on the floor and fell over and the other two swore at him again. They left through the door. Warning us, “Don’t move, stay like that with your hands up for ten minutes.” And then they just disappeared. Again back to total silence. People put their hands down, I put my hands down but I just stayed exactly where I was.What does the writer mean by saying “…a pretty unusual number for those central banks” in the first paragraph?
| A．More customers than usual were staying in the bank. |
| B．Less bank clerks than expected were in the bank. |
| C．There were often more than a dozen customers in the bank. |
| D．More banks should be open to serve customers in the city center. |
The bank clerk wore a blank expression on his face probably because ________.
| A．he was feeling upset at that moment |
| B．he felt puzzled and sensed something terrible |
| C．he was required to keep silence |
| D．he was threatened with a gun by robbers |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The customers didn’t wait in line but jumped the queue because of the confusion. |
| B．All the people in the bank except the writer put their hands up automatically. |
| C．Nobody answered the phone because all the clerks were busy with work. |
| D．the bank workers were forced to fill the robbers’ bags with cash. |
What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．A Street Gang | B．A Strange Bank |
| C．A Bank Robbery | D．A Horrible Adventure |
No one is glad to hear that his body has to be cut open by a surgeon（外科医生） and part of it taken out． Today， however， we needn't worry about feeling pain during the operation． The sick person falls into a kind of sleep，and when he awakes，the operation is finished. But these happy conditions are fairly new．It is not many years since a man who had to have operation felt all its pain．
Long ago， operation had usually to be done while the sick man could feel everything． The sick man had to be held down(压制，控制) on a table by force while the doctors did their best for him． He could feel all the pain if his leg or arm was being cut off， and his fearful cries filled the room and the hearts of those who watched．
Soon after 1770, Josept Priestley discovered a gas which is now called “laughing gas”．Laughing gas became known in America．Young men and women went to parties to try it．Most of the
m spent their time laughing，but one man at a party，Horace Wells，noticed that people didn't seem to feel pain when they were using this gas．He decided to make an experiment on himself．He asked a friend to help him．
Wells took some of the gas，and his friend pulled out one of Well’s teeth．Wells felt no pain at all．
As he didn't know enough about laughing gas，he gave a man less gas than he should have. The man cried out with pain when his tooth was being pulled out．
Wells tried again，but this tim
e he gave too much of the gas，and the man died．Wells never forgot this terrible event． It is ＿＿＿＿ since a man being operated felt all the pain．
| A．a few more years | B．not long | C．few years | D．two thousand years |
Long ago，when the sick man was operated on, he ＿＿＿＿．
| A．could feel nothing | B．could not want anything |
| C．could feel all the pain | D．could do anything |
Using the laughing gas，the people did not seem to ＿＿＿＿．
| A．be afraid of anything | B．feel pain | C．want to go to the parties | D．be ill |
If a man took less laughing gas than he should have when an operation went on，he ＿．
| A．felt nothing | B．felt very comfortable | C．still felt pain | D．would die |
One who took too much of the laughing gas ＿＿＿．
| A．would laugh all the time | B．would die |
| C．would never feel pain | D．would be very calm |
Started in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest of all the many colleges and universities in the United States. Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth were opened soon after Harvard.
In the early years, these schools were much alike(*similar).Only young men went to college. All the students studied the same subjects, and everyone learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Little was known about science then, and one kind of school could teach everything that was known about the world. When the students graduated(*毕业),most of them became ministers or teachers.
In 1782, Harvard started a medical school for young men who wanted to become doctors. Later, lawyers could receive their training in Harvard’s law school. In 1825, besides Latin and Greek, Harvard began teaching modern languages, such as French and German. Soon it began teaching American history.
As knowledge increased, Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects. Students were allowed to choose the subjects that interested them.
Today, there are many different kinds of colleges and universities. Most of them are made up of smaller schools that deal with special fields of learning. There’s so much to learn that one kind of school can’t offer it all.The oldest university in the US is _________.
| A．Yale | B．Harvard | C．Princeton | D．Columbia |
From the second paragraph, we can see that in the early years,______.
| A．those colleges and universities were the same |
| B．people, young or old, might study in the colleges |
| C．students studied only some languages and science |
| D．when the students finished their school, they became lawyers or teachers |
Modern languages the Harvard taught in 1825 were ________.
| A．Latin and Greek | B．Latin, Green, French and German |
| C．American history and German | D．French and German |
As knowledge increased, colleges began to teach_______.
| A．everything that was known | B．law and something about medicine |
| C．many new subjects | D．the subjects that interested students |
On the whole, the passage is about___________.
| A．how to start a university | B．the world-famous colleges in America |
| C．how colleges have changed | D．what kind of lesson each college teaches |
Miss Gogers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she explained to one of her classes about sound, and she decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them,“Now I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from across the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?”
Tom at once answered,“Your brother. Because electricity travaels faster than sound waves.”“That’s every good,”Miss Gogers answered; but then one of the girls raised her hand, and Miss Gogers said.“Yes, Kate.”
“I disagree,”Kate said.“Your brother would hear you earlier because when it’s 11 o’clock here it’s only 8 o’clock in Los Angeles.” Miss Gogers was teaching her class_________.
| A．how to telephone | B．about electricity | C．about time zone | D．about sound |
Miss Gogers raised this question because she wanted to know whether______.
| A．it was easy to phone to Los Angeles |
| B．her student could hear her from 75 feet away |
| C．her students had a good command of her lesson about sound |
| D．sound waves were slower than electricity |
Tom thought that electricity was _________.
| A．slower than sound waves | B．faster than sound waves |
| C．not so fast as sound waves | D．as fast as sound waves |
Kate thought Tom was wrong because _______.
| A．clocks in Los Angeles showed a different time from those in New York |
| B．electricity was slower than sound waves |
| C．Tom was not good at physics at all |
| D．Tom’s answer had nothing to do with sound waves |
Whose answer do you think is correct according to the law of phys
ics?
| A．Tom’s | B．Kate’s | C．Bath A and B | D．Neither A nor B |
BEIJING, Oct. 8(Xinhua)——There are ten times as many Chinese newspapers and magazines than there were 30 years ago. That’s when the country adopted the reform and opening-up policy.
Figures from the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP)show there were 186 newspapers and 930 magazines in China in 1978. Today, the country has 2,081 newspapers and 9,363 different magazines.
In the meantime, official figures show China has some 600 publishing houses producing nearly 300,000 kinds of books. That’s a dramatic increase from the 105 publishers of the past that produced only 10,000 different books.
Rapid economic development and universal education since China adopted the reform has helped fuel the need for more information sources.
Under the market economy, hundreds of publishing houses and newspapers have taken steps to restructure management systems into corporations listed on the stock market.
The legal system overseeing the news and publishing industries in China has also changed over the last three decades. Since 1990 a law and five relevant(相关) regulations were adopted in 1990 to govern the sectors.
Since it started in 1993, digital publishing has flourished. Its industrial volume amounted to 20 billion yuan (2.93 billion U.S. dollars) in 2006. More than 500,000 kinds of digital books were produced last year alone in China, which is more than any other country in the world.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Digital books take the place of common ones in China. |
| B．China has more newspapers and magazines. |
| C．More information sources are developing with the economy. |
| D．A law should be adopted to govern the publishing industries. |
There are ten times as many newspapers and magazines because ________.
| A．the publishing houses want to make more money. |
| B．there are more readers along with the bigger population. |
| C．economic and education have developed under the policy. |
| D．the legal system overseeing the publishing industries has changed. |
Which is true according to this text?
| A．The development of publishing industry in the past was out of control. |
| B．Hundreds of publishing houses have closed down and turned to stock market. |
| C．China adopted the reform and opening-up policy about 20 years ago. |
| D．China produces more digital books than any other country. |
The underlined word “flourished” in Paragraph 7 probably means ________.
| A．first appeared | B．fell down |
C． well developed |
D．successfully ended |
You will probably read this text in the ________ column of XINHUA NET?
| A．culture and education | B．entertainment |
C．s cience and technology |
D．business |