Mark Twain was a great writer. He was from the USA. He was born in 1835. He was also a famous speaker. He was famous for his sense of humour. Many people liked to listen to him talk because he liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time.
One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because of his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends said to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes in the town and told him that he’d better not go there. Mark Twain waved his hand and said, “It doesn’t matter. The mosquitoes are no relatives of mine. I don’t think they will come to visit me.”
After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in a small hotel near the station. He went into his room, but when he was just about to have a rest, quite a few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. “I’m very sorry, Mr Mark Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town.” One of them said to him.
Mark Twain, however, made a joke, saying to the waiter, “The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They didn’t come into the wrong room.” What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.
But that night Mark Twain slept well. Do you know why? That was because all the waiters in the hotel were driving the mosquitoes away for him during the whole night.
41. That day Mark Twain went to the town _____.
A. to see one of his friends
B. because he wanted to do something there for his writing
C. because he was told there were a lot of mosquitoes there
D. to see one of his relatives
42. The waiters felt sorry because _____.
A. they did something wrong to Mark Twain
B. their hotel was too small
C. the room was not very clean
D. there were quite a few mosquitoes in Mark Twain’s room
43. All the people present laughed heartily because _____.
A. the mosquitoes were very clever and they didn’t come into the wrong room
B. the mosquitoes knew Mark Twain’s room number
C. Mark Twain gave the waiters some nice presents
D. Mark Twain made a joke
44. From the story we know _____.
A. no mosquitoes troubled Mark Twain in the night
B. the owner of the hotel told the waiters to look after Mark Twain well at night
C. Mark Twain didn’t have a good rest that night
D. there were not mosquitoes in the hotel any longer
The world is not hungry, but it is thirsty. It seems strange that nearly 3/4 of the earth is covered with water while we say we are short of water. Why? Because about 97% of water on the earth is sea water which we can’t drink or use for watering plants directly. Man can only drink and use the 3% the water that comes from rivers and lakes. And we can’t even use all of that, because some of it has been polluted.
Now more water is needed. The problem is: can we avoid a serious water shortage later on? First, we should all learn how to save water. Secondly, we should find out the ways to reuse it. Scientists have always been making study in this field. Today, in most large cities water is used only once and then runs to the sea or rivers. But it can be used again. Even if every large city reused its water, still there would not be enough. What could people turn to next?
The sea seems to have the best answer. There is a lot of water in the sea. All that needs to be done is to get the salt out of the sea water. This is expensive, but it’s already in use in many parts of the world. Scientists are trying to find a cheaper way of doing it. So you see, if we can find a way out, we’ll be in no danger of drying up.The world is thirsty because ___________.
| A．3/4 of the earth is covered with water |
| B．we have enough sea water |
| C．we haven’t used all the water in rivers and lakes |
| D．about 97% of water on the earth can’t be drunk or used for watering plants directly |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．3% of drinkable water on the earth is from rivers and lakes. |
| B．75% of water on the earth is in the sea. |
| C．97% of the earth is covered with water. |
| D．3% of water on the earth is sea water. |
From the passage we learn that __________.
| A．if every city reuses its water, we’ll be in no danger of drying up |
| B．man can only drink and use about 25% of water on the earth |
| C．today in most large cities water is used only once |
| D．water can be used only once |
The dream of flying into outer space, cherished by the Chinese people for centuries, will soon come true.
China launched its fourth unmanned spacecraft （飞船）“Shenzhou Ⅳ” on December 30 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu Province. It was the 27th consecutive（连续的 ）and successful launch of China - made rockets since October 1996. This launch has made it more realistic for China to send a person into space on its own following Russia and the USA.
Qi Faren，leading designer of the spacecraft system, said all the functions （功能） designed for manned flights have withstood （经受住）the test of three previous, successful launches and return landings of the “Shenzhou” spaceships.
China launched the “Shenzhou Ⅰ ”, “Shenzhou Ⅱ ”and “Shenzhou Ⅲ ”spacecrafts in 1999,2001 and 2002 respectively.
“Shouzhou Ⅳ” was to make it a more comfortable place in which astronauts can live and work. All parts of the application system for manned flight are aboard the “Shenzhou Ⅳ”craft in all test flights.
China’s manned flight programme began in 1992. A number of unmanned test flights will be launched before Chinese astronauts are sent into space.
Leading scientists in charge of China’s manned space programme said the successful launch of the “Shenzhou Ⅳ” laid a solid foundation for the country’s future task of sending Chinese astronauts to outer space.
The spacecraft returned to the earth on January 5, after completing seven experiments in space.
Officials at the centre said that“ Shenzhou Ⅴ”, a manned spacecraft, is expected to be launched later this year.How many countries can send a person into space on its own by now？
| A．Not mentioned. | B．3. | C．4. | D．2. |
.China’s manned flight programme began in ________.
| A．1992 | B．October 1996. | C．1999 | D．January 2003 |
As a matter of fact, ________ .
| A．“Shenzhou Ⅴ ”has been launched |
| B．“Shenzhou Ⅳ” was a manned spacecraft |
| C．“Shenzhou Ⅲ ”and“ Shenzhou Ⅳ” were not launched in the same year |
| D．the dream of man flying into outer space has come true in China |
.Which is the most suitable title for the passage?
| A．The Successful Launching of “Shenzhou Ⅳ ”. |
| B．The Landing of “Shenzhou Ⅳ ”. |
| C．Chin a’s Manned Flight Programme. |
| D．The Third Country Sending a Person into Outer Space. |
America is growing older. Fifty - eight years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. To day, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect（影响）American society in many ways—education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society—one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior（行为） is suitable（合适）at various , ages.
A person s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29 - year - old university president or a 35 - year -old grandmother, or a 70 year - old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.
Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother— or my father— was at my age. ”No one says“Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America ________ .
| A．has made people feel younger |
| B．has changed people’s social position |
| C．has changed people’s understanding of age |
| D．has slowed down the country’s social development |
The underlined word “one” refers to ________ .
| A．a society | B．America |
| C．a place | D．population |
“Act your age” means people should ________ .
| A．be active when they are old |
| B．do the right thing at the right age |
| C．show respect for their parents young or old |
| D．take more physical exercise suitable to their age |
If a 25 - year - old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it ________ .
| A．normal | B．wonderful |
| C．unbelievable | D．unreasonable |
It is difficult for parents of nearly every family to teach their children to be responsible （有责任的）for housework, but with one of the following suggestions, you really can get your children to help at home.
If you give your children the impression that they can never do anything quite right, then they will regard themselves as unfit or unable persons. Unless children believe they can succeed, they will never become totally independent.
My daughter Carla’s fifth - grade teacher made every child in her class feel special. When students received less than a prefect test score, she would point out what they had mastered and declared firmly they could learn what they had missed.
You can use the same technique when you evaluate （评价）your child’s work at home. Don’t always scold and give lots of praise instead. Talk about what he has done right, not about what he hasn’t done. If your child completes a difficult task, promise him a Sunday trip or a ball game with Dad.
Learning is a process（过程）of trying and failing and trying and succeeding. If you teach your children not to fear a mistake of failure, they will learn faster and achieve success at last.The whole passage deals with ________.
| A．social education | B．school education |
| C．family education | D．pre - school education |
The author thinks that________.
| A．there is no way to get children to help at home |
| B．the more encouragement and praise you give, the more responsible and helpful children will become |
| C．it is very difficult to make children responsible for housework |
| D．children can be forced to help with housework |
The article gives us a good suggestion about how to evaluate（评价）your child’s work at home. That is to ________.
| A．praise his success | B．promise him a trip |
| C．give him a punishment | D．promise him a ball game |
The author advises readers to________.
| A．learn from himself, for he has a good way of teaching |
| B．take pride in Carla’s fifth - grade teacher |
| C．do as what Carla’s teacher did in educating children |
| D．follow Carla’s example because she never fails in the test |
Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, “ You should have goals(目标） like climbing the mountain.” Without the mountain- climbing that we both enjoyed, we couldn’t have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from the mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience.
Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging(挑战) for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing, I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the bird’s singing. But as time passed, I got a pain （痛）in both of my legs. I wanted to give up climbing, but my father said to me, “You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can’t see it before reaching the top. Only there can you see all of the nice things, which is just like your life.”
At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got to know the meaning of hope in life. I found myself standing at the top of the mountain, and the sky was as clear as crystal.According to the passage, which advantage that the writer got from climbing the mountain with his father isn’t mentioned?
| A．Deep thought. | B．Exercise. | C．Patience. | D．Communication. |
The underlined word “crystal” in the passage means _______.
| A．岩石 | B．火焰 | C．水晶 | D．寒冰 |
Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined words in the second paragraph?
| A．You will get all you need at the top of the mountain. |
| B．The sky is always as clear as crystal. |
| C．You can find life is full of nice things. |
| D．Never give up half-way. |
We can infer(推断) from the last paragraph that _______.
| A．the writer was very successful in his life |
| B．the writer reached the top of the mountain |
| C．though the writer was young, he could understand his father |
| D．the writer used to stop half-way when he climbed the mountain |
The best title for this passage is ________.
| A．Reaching the Top of the Mountain |
| B．Standing at the Top of the Mountain |
| C．Conversations between Father and Son |
| D．How to Get to the Top of the Mountain |