Folklore is the branch of the study of man which deals with local customs, tales and traditions. Everybody is a storehouse of folklore, though not everybody realizes it. Often, in deed, those who have never heard the word folklore have the greatest store of it, for the people with least book education commonly cherish most firmly old ideas and superstitions (迷信) which have been passed on by word of mouth for generations. Everyone has heard stories of ghosts, witches, fairies, and giants. We all know some proverbs and have come across such ideas as, for example, that it is lucky to see black cat and unlucky to see a single magpie (喜鹊). We keep certain seasons of the year as festivals, such as Christmas, and we are familiar with the special customs connected with weddings and funerals. All such things are of interest to those who study folklore.
People who study folklore won’t criticize the old beliefs and practices they come across as silly, childish, or old-fashioned. Instead, they will try to collect accurate records of them and then see how these are connected with other ideas and customs of other places or times. By comparing with what is known of olden times or the folklore of other countries, they try to discover how certain beliefs and practices came into being, and what purpose they serve now or used to serve in the past.
Often we find that the beliefs which seem most peculiar and unreasonable, and the customs which appear least practical, are of the greatest interest and importance because they are commonly the oldest. Sometimes they were part of an ancient ritual (惯例) or served a useful purpose when people’s way of life was different from what it is now. So we not only learn about what people thought and did in the past but are better able to understand present customs. People often keep up customs when they have forgotten the original reason for them, and in the course of time a fresh reason gets attached to the custom. Thus, when some joker ties an old shoe to the back of the taxi taking the bride and bridegroom to the station for their honeymoon, he would say it was “for luck”, but actually a shoe is an old fertility (繁殖力) symbol and has a place in the wedding customs of China and Palestine.
51. According to the text, people usually pass on old ideas and superstitions by _________.
A. putting them in a large storehouse B. writing them down in books
C. celebrating them as festivals D. mouth from one generation to another
52. The underlined word “they” (in Para.2) most probably refers to _________.
A. practices and beliefs B. customs and traditions
C. records and tales D. places or times
53. It is most unlikely for people who study folklore to _________.
A. collect as many records of old beliefs and practices as possible
B. compare the present customs with those of the olden times
C. criticize the old beliefs and superstitions as silly or childish
D. find out the purpose the certain beliefs and practices serve or used to serve
54. Which of the following statements is true about customs?
A. The customs which do not appear practical mean nothing to most people.
B. The reasons for certain customs may change in the course of history.
C. People who practice customs are quite familiar with their origins.
D. The wedding customs in China and Palestine are of great similarity.
55. What would be the best title for the passage? A. What Does Folklore Really Mean?
B. How Do People Keep Up Customs?
C. Who Studies Tales And Traditions?
D. When Did Some Old Beliefs Begin?
Every year, major storms cause many problems around the world. There is nothing people can do to stop these powerful forces of nature. But new techniques are helping scientists to predict how, when, and where big storms will happen. The more exact scientists’ warnings are, the better people can prepare for the storms.
Predictions are improving. “We’re gotten better over the years, especially the last few years,” says Phil Klotzbach, a scientist at an American university. How is a storm formed? Even if scientists know where a storm will happen, winds can suddenly change, carrying the storm to a new direction. “For a hurricane to happen, conditions have to be just right, ” Klotzbach says.
First, the ocean water needs to be warm enough so that it evaporates and rises into the air. As it rises, the vapor（水蒸气）cools and turns back into liquid. This process gives off heat. This produces energy like an engine that causes winds to increase. It drives the formation of a hurricane.
If wind speeds reach 40 miles per hour, the system is called a “tropical storm”, and it gets a name. At 75 miles per hour, it becomes a hurricane.
Hurricanes that hit the US start when a thunderstorm forms off the coast of Africa. Storms also develop over tropical waters in other parts of the world.
On average, 60 or 70 storms form off Africa every year. About 10 of them get names. There are usually about six hurricanes. Two tend to be very big, with winds of 115 miles per hour or higher.
The hurricane season lasts from June to November. Ninety percent of all hurricanes hit in August, September, and October.
1. According to the passage, hurricanes usually ________.
A. form off the coast of Africa and America
B. travel at 40 miles per hour and get its name
C. cause sea winds to rise and blow over the sea
D. hit parts of the world in summer and autumn
2. The underlined word “evaporates” (in Paragraph 5) probably means “________”.
A. begins to move B. gets lost C. becomes hot D. changes into gas
3. Which of the following about the information of a hurricane is the correct order?
a. The ocean water evaporates and goes into the air.
b. Heat creates energy and causes winds to increase.
c. The vapor cools.
d. The ocean water is warm enough.
e. The vapor changes back into liquid.
f. This course gives out heat.
A. a, d, e, b, c, f B. a, b, c, f, d, e C. d, a, c, e, f, b D. d, a, b, c, e, f
4. According to the passage, the speed of the biggest two hurricanes reaches ______.
A.115 miles per hour B.110 miles per hour
C.75 miles per hour D.95 miles per hour
We each have a memory. That’s why we can still remember things after a long time. Some people have very good memories and they can easily learn many things by heart, but some people can only remember things when they say or do them again and again. Many of the great men of the world have got surprising memories.
A good memory is a great help in learning a language. Everybody learns his mother language when he is a small child. He hears the sounds, remembers them and then he learns to speak. Some children are living with their parents in foreign countries. They can learn two languages as easily as one because they hear, remember and speak two languages every day. In school it is not so easy to learn a foreign language because the pupils have so little time for it, and they are busy with other subjects, too.
But your memory will become better and better when you do more and more exercises.
1. Some people can easily learn many things by heart because ________.
A．they always sleep very well B．they often eat good food
C．they read a lot of books D．they have very good memories
2. Before a child can speak, he must ________.
A．read and write B．make sentences
C．hear and remember the sounds D．think hard
3. In school the pupils can’t learn a foreign language well because________ .
A．they have no good memories B．they have no recorders
C．they have too much time for it D．they are busy with other subjects
4. Your memory will become better and better ________.
A．if you have plenty of good food
B．if you do more and more exercises
C．if you do morning exercises every day
D．if you get up early
Signs in Chinese will be set up in public areas such as airports, to benefit Chinese travelers, the Italian Government announced in late February. Now many European countries are expected to follow this example.
Despite the different languages, travel across Europe has never been so simple. Just five years ago, if you wanted to visit Germany in the north and Spain in the south in one trip, you had to wait for weeks to apply for different visas from the two countries. You also needed a calculator because both countries had different money.
Today, with a Schengen Visa issued by any member country, you can travel across 15 European countries without stopping. Since 2002, within most of the EU, there is now just one type of money called the Euro. The Euro was designed to be the only money in the EU, and already makes it easier to shop around. If you drive, your driving license and car insurance policy are valid（有效的）in the other European countries. And you can use your mobile phone everywhere.
All the countries in the continent are melting into a united Europe under the EU. For Europeans and visitors, the result is that is more convenient to travel back and forth between the different countries.
1. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To encourage us to travel across Europe.
B. To suggest that the whole world is melting into one like the EU.
C. To praise the tourism policy of the EU.
D. To introduce tourism conditions in the EU.
2. By saying the underlined sentence “Now many European countries are expected to follow this example”, the writer means that ________.
A. more signs will be set up in Chinese in European countries
B. more and more Europeans have a desire to know more about China
C. more and more Chinese people will go to travel across Europe
D. Chinese is now an important language in Europe
3. Compared to five years ago, traveling in Europe has become easier because ______.
A. you needn’t drive a car
B. you can use a calculator to exchange money
C. applying for different visas is much simpler
D. one visa is good enough for traveling in a number of countries
4. It can be inferred from the passage that _________
A. an increasing number of Chinese tend to travel to Europe
B. Chinese has become an important language in Europe
C. the Euro is the only money used in the EU now
D. it is always necessary to unite many countries into one
Many of us like cooking but never have much time for it. Helen Fry’s new book Quick Cooking has been specially written for busy people. It has over 1,000 recipes, from the famous Spanish gazpacho to Swedish smorgasbord. The book is well written and the photographs and drawings are clear. (They are like those in the excellent little Quick Dressmaking and Quick Gardening.) The book has a strong plastic cover. It is easy to find your way around it too. And busy people, notice this! Mrs. Fry tells you how much time you need in order to get each dish ready.
Quick Cooking has 4 parts, one for each season. This helps you to use fresh fruit and vegetables when they are cheaper—and, of course, better. There are a lot of exciting ideas from foreign countries, and most of the recipes are easy to follow. You take something simple like a chicken or some cheese, and make and unusual dish out of it. For example, there are no fewer than 40 recipes for eggs! Mrs. Fry does not plan complete meals for the “quick book”. The beginners will have to find out a lot of things for himself—or herself. But this ought not to be difficult with such a good book. I wanted to try many of the recipes as soon as I read them. For people with little spare time Helen Fry’s Quick Cooking is excellent value.
1. Helen Fry’s book is called Quick Cooking because ___.
A. you can cook all the dishes in it quickly
B. there is over 1,000 recipes in it
C. it is written for people who don’t have much time
D. it tells you how to cook all kinds of food quickly
2. Busy people should notice that _____.
A. all the recipes in the book are easy to follow
B. there are clear photographs and drawings in the book
C. the book has a strong cover
D. they are told how long each dish takes to cook
3. This passage is most probably ____.
A. a book review B. a notice
C. a letter to an editor D. an introduction on cooking
4. We can infer from the passage that _____.
A. Helen Fry is good at writing books quickly
B. complete meals are planned only for beginners
C. there are quite a few “quick books” for busy people
D. beginners are advised to start making meals out of the cheapest materials
三、阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从55～75题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
When Mr. David retired, he bought a small house in a village near the sea. He liked it and hoped to live a quiet life in it.
But to his great surprise, many tourists came to see his house in summer holidays, for it was the most interesting building in the village. From morning to night there were tourists outside the house. They kept looking into the rooms through the windows and many of them even went into Mr. David’s garden. This was too much for Mr. David. He decided to drive the visitors away. So he put a notice on the window. The notice said: “If you want to satisfy your curiosity, came in and look round. Price: twenty dollars.”
Mr. David was sure that the visitors would stop coming, but he was wrong. More and more visitors came and Mr. David had to spend every day showing them around his house. “I came here to retire, not to work as a guide.” he said angrily. In the end, he sold the house and moved away.
1. Mr. David’s house was that many tourists came to see it.
A．so small B．so quiet C．so interesting D．such interesting
2. Mr. David put a notice on the window in order .
A．to drive the visitors away
B．to satisfy the visitor’s curiosity
C．to let visitors come in and look round
D．to get some money out of the visitors
3. The notice made the visitors .
A．more interested in his house
B．lost interest in his house
C．angry at the unfair price
D．feel happy about the price
4. At last he had to sell his house and move away because .
A．he did not like it at all
B．he could not work as a guide
C．he made enough money and wanted to buy a new expensive house
D．he could not live a quiet life in it