Olaf Stapledon wrote a book called First and Last Men, in which he looked millions of years ahead. He told of different men and of strange civilisations（文明）, broken up by long 'dark ages' in between. In his view, what is called the present time is no more than a moment in human history and we are just the First Men. In 2,000 million years from now there will be the Eighteenth or Last Men.
However, most of our ideas about the future are really very short-sighted. Perhaps we can see some possibilities for the next fifty years. But the next hundred ? The next thousand? The next million? That's much more difficult.
When men and women lived by hunting 50,000 years ago, how could they even begin to picture modern life? Yet to men of 50,000 years from now, we may seem as primitive（原始的）in our ideas as the Stone-Age hunters do to us. Perhaps through the spundels and ballalators, these words, which I have just made up, have to stand for things and ideas that we simply can't think of .
So why bother even to try imagining life far in the future ? Here are two reasons. First unless we remember how short our own lives are compared with the whole human history, we are likely to think our own interests are much more important than they really are. If we make the earth a poor place to live because. we are careless or greedy（贪婪） or quarrelsome,our grand-children will not bother to think of excuses for us.
Second, by trying to escape from present interests and imagine life far in the future, we may arrive at quite fresh ideas that we can use ourselves. For example, if we imagine that in the future men may give up farming, we can think of trying it now. So set your imagination free when you think about the future .
53．A particular mention made of Stapledon's book in the opening paragraph ____________
A．serves as a description of human history
B．serves an introduction to the discussion
C．shows a disagreement of views
D． Shows the popularity of the book
54．The text discusses men and women 50,000 years ago and 50,000 years from now in order to show that _________.
A．human history is extremely long B．life has changed a great deal
C．it is useless to plan for the next 50 years
D．it is difficult to tell what will happen in the future
55．Spundels and ballalators are used in the text to refer to _________.
A．tools used in farming B．ideas about modern life
C．unknown things in the future D．hunting skills in the Stone Age
56．According to the writer of the text, imagining the future will _________.
A．serve the interests of the present and future generations
B．enable us to better understand human history
C．help us to improve farming
D．make life worth living
When Callie Rogers won almost 1.9 million pounds on the lottery(彩票)at l6，she hoped it would help her put her troubles behind her．The teenager came from a broken home,had dropped out of school and was living in lotal authority care．
Rogers, from Cumbria, England, won the National Lottery in 2003. Then she went on a massive spending spree, splashing out on four homes for her family, flash cars, designer clothes, partying and breast implants. A fortnight after her win she married and had two children. But then she spent 250,000 pounds on cocaine and suffered depression. Earlier this year she lost custody of her children because of her mental state.
She became addicted to drugs and attempted suicide three times as her life unraveled. Sh
e says the money brought her only misery - and now she is down to her last 100,000 pounds, she has never been happier.
Now 22, she said: “Just a few months ago I was taking too many drugs and hated myself. I simply did not want to live any more. But now I have a new man and am finally becoming the woman I want to be.”
“I need to get my act together and make my kids proud, and for the first time I really do think that's possible.” She credits her new boyfriend with giving her the stable home life she has always craved, and she now hopes to go to college and eventually become a counselor. “After all I've endured, I think I have a lot of advice to offer,” she said.Why was Rogers not allowed to look after her children?
| A．She was in a bad mental state． | B．Her children hated her． |
| C．She was not responsible for them． | D．She was too poor to support them． |
What can we learn about Rogers from Paragraph 3?
| A．Being addicted to drugs cost her everything． |
| B．Money didn’t bring her happiness as expected． |
| C．Rogers felt sad with her money gone． |
| D．Too much money allowed her to do what she wanted． |
What caused Rogers to change and start a new life?
| A．The loss of money． | B．Her bitter past． |
| C．Her husband and children． | D．Her new boyfriend． |
Thanksgiving Day is a special holiday in the United States and Canada.Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.
Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival.This is why it is celebrated in late fall，after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest.On December 4,1619，the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City，Virginia.They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest.The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth，Massachusetts，in 1620.They had a difficult time
and the first winter was cruel.Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year，they had a good harvest.So Governor Bradford declared a threeday feast (盛宴).The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time，other colonies (殖民地) began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War，Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed (宣布) the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November.Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbours.But the Canadian Thanksgiving Day falls on the second Monday in October.Thanksgiving Day is celebrated .
| A．in spring | B．in summer |
| C．in autumn | D．in winter |
The first to celebrate thanksgiving were .
| A．some people from England |
| B．the American Indians |
| C．Sarah Josepha Hale |
| D．Governor Bradford |
We can infer from the passage that New England must be .
A.in the U.S.A.
B.in Great Britain
C.in Canada
D.on some island off the AtlanticWhich of the following is NOT true?
| A．Thanksgiving Day used to be a holiday to celebrate a good harvest. |
| B．Abraham Lincoln was not the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations. |
| C．Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God. |
| D．There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. |
The passage mainly tells us .
A.how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U.S.A.
B.how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated
C.that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday
D.how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places
Science has told us too much about the moon that it is fairly easy to imagine what it would be like to get there. It is certainly not a friendly place. Since there is no air or water, there can be no life of any kind. There is not much variety of scenery either. For mile after mile there are only flat plains of dust with mountains around them. Above, the sun and stars shine in the black sky. If you step out of the mountain shadow, it means moving from the severe cold into intense (强烈的) heat. These extreme temperatures continually break rocks away from the surface of the mountains. The moon is also a very silent world, for sound waves can only travel through air. But beyond the broken horizon, you see a friendly sight. Our earth is shining more brightly than the stars. From this distance, it looks like an immense (巨大的) blue, green and brown ball.The moon is an unfriendly place because .
| A．there is no air, no water, no life, no scenery | B．the sun and stars shine in the sky |
| C．temperature breaks rock away | D．all of the above |
Without , the moon is a silent world.
| A．man | B．air | C．sound | D．water |
According to the passage we know that .
| A．the earth looks like a colored ball |
| B．we can enjoy the scenery on the moon |
| C．every inch of the moon is very hot |
| D．the extreme temperature breaks rocks away from the surface of mountains |
We can conclude（断定） that “continually” means .
| A．sometimes | B．always | C．without break | D．frequently |
The best title for the passage is .
| A．An Unfriendly and Friendly Place | B．The Geography of the Moon |
| C．Moon, a Silent World | D．The Moon |
“Mark Twain” was the name used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835～1910) when he wrote books.His father was a lawyer，but a poor one，who lived in Florida，Missouri.The family was so poor that Samuel did not receive much teaching.He had to learn all that he could from the people whom he met.His father died when he was very young，and then there was even less m
oney than before.
Many of the men in this part of America worked in the ships on the great Mississippi River，and he did this himself at one time (1857).
Where did he find the nam
e “Mark Twain”？ It came from the great river itself.It was part of one of the cries used by men who worked in the ships.When a man called “By the mark twain！” he meant that the river was “two marks deep” there，that is to say，six feet deep ( “Twain” is an old form of the word “Two”.) Samuel Clemens often heard these words when he was young，and he used them as a pen name all his life.
During his work on the Mississippi he met travelers of all kinds，and this helped him a great deal when he started to write.But the number of travelers became smaller when war started in Americ
a
in 1861.Many of the great ships on the river stopped work.Samuel left then and went to Nevada with his brother，who was at that time Governor of Nevada.There，near the town of Carson，Samuel became a gold miner，but he never made much money at the time.He soon saw that life in the gold mines was not for him.He also tried writing for the newspapers in Nevada，and this seemed more hopeful.He found that he could write.
He went to Europe in 1867 and visited France and Italy.In 1870 he married Olivia Langdon，and two years later he was spending nearly all his time writing.Among his books is his own story (1908).
He is now always known as Mark Twain，and many people do not even know that his family name was Clemens.He traveled in America and in England，and went to Oxford in 1907.He was one of the great American writers of the time，and could make his readers laugh—a thing which few writers can do.He died in 1910.“Mark Twain” was .
| A．a famous American writer |
| B．name of a book |
| C．a great river in America |
| D．a large ship |
As a child，Samuel did not get much education because .
| A．his father died too early |
| B．the family was very poor |
| C．he disliked school very much |
| D．he could learn what he liked from the people he met |
What gave him a great deal when he started writing?
| A．His poor childhood. |
| B．The Mississippi River. |
| C．All kinds of travelers he met. |
| D．His brother. |
We can infer（推断）from the passage that .
| A．Samuel loved writing from his early age |
B．S amuel did not love writing at the beginning |
C．his writings to  the newspaper were successful |
| D．his brother encouraged him to write more |
According to the writer of the passage，a good writer could .
| A．write a lot for his readers |
| B．make a lot of money for his family |
C．cause his readers to l augh |
| D．travel everywhere he wanted |
Canada is a very large country .It is the second largest country in the world .By contrast it has a very small population. There are only about 30 million people there. Most Canadians are of British or French origin, and French is an official language of Canada as well as English. About 45% of the people are of British origin, that is, they or their parents or grandparents, etc, come from British. Nearly 30% are of French origin. Most of the French –Canadians live in province of Quebec.
Over the years, people have come to live in Canada from many countries in the world. They are from many countries in the world. They are from most European countries and also from China, besides other Asian countries.
However, Ca
nada was not an empty country when the Europeans began to arrive. Canadian Indians lived along the coast, by the rivers and lakes and in forests. Today, there are only about 350 000 Indians in the whole country, with their own languages. In the far north live the Inuit. There are only 27 000 Canadian-Inuit. Their life is hard in such a difficult climate. About ________ live in Quebec.
| A．35% of the French –Canadians | B．45% of the Canadians |
| C．30 000 000 people | D．8 700 000 French –Canadians |
The official languages of Canada are ________ .
| A．English and Chinese | B．French and English |
| C．Indian and French | D．Chinese and Inuit |
The word “origin” in the passage means ________.
A 血统 B .后裔 C . 先驱
D . 猿人 About 23% of people came from _________ .
A China
B. England
C. FranceD. some other countries except France and Britain Which of the following is TRUE according to this passage?
| A．There are 27 000 Canadian-Indians in Canada |
| B．More than 13 million people have come from Britain and France recent years. |
C．There are 30% of the population whose p arents or grandparents come from France |
| D．There are no people when the Europeans began to arrive in Canada |