There is a joke among flu researchers: “If you've seen one flu season, you've seen one flu season.” The joke is about the unpredictable nature of the flu virus．Every year it looks different, and every strain (类型) follows its own pattern — it's the reason why new strains like H1N1 are extremely difficult to predict.
Dr．Michael Osterholm is a former adviser to the U.S．Department of Health and Human Services．“I know less about influenza today than I did 10 years ago,” he says in a joking way．“Every stone we've turned over, we get more questions.”
The flu rectums every season and the world experiences terrible pandemics (全国或全世界范围流行的疾病), but researchers still do not understand why some strains infect people and others do not; they are not entirely sure about how the flu is transmitted; nor do they understand why some patients become seriously ill while others develop mild symptoms (症状)．As a result, when a new strain shows up — like H1N1 — they often have little information to fall back on, and the lessons of previous pandemics are only somewhat helpful．While researchers are still putting together a complete picture of H1N1, for example, its most striking difference with the seasonal flu is that the elder1y are not the most vulnerable (易受攻击的) population.
Influenza's unpredictable nature makes it a moving target for researchers, says researcher Allison Aiello
at the University of Michigan．“Even if we had complete seasonal flu data from the past, it wouldn't be much helpful for a new strain of influenza,” she explains.
Whi1e researchers are frustrated by the holes in their knowledge, they say, however, that the pub1ic--health community is generally doing a very good job responding to H1N1 with seasonal flu data that do exist．Studying influenza, says Osterholm, is “like looking through the windows of a house you can't get into because the door is locked.” Gathering the data researchers do have is like “looking through the windows to get a pretty good picture of what the inside looks like.”
One thing researchers do know for sure: the best way for people to protect against H1N1 is to get the vaccine once it becomes available to them.What do we learn about H1N1 from the passage?
| A．In fact it is not a kind of influenza virus. |
| B．It is quite possible to predict it in theory. |
| C．Old people are more likely to contract it than kids. |
| D．Receiving vaccines will be effective to protect against it. |
The underlined phrase
“fall back on” in Para．3 probably means .
| A．rely on | B．pass on | C．col1ect | D．exchange |
What do we know about p
revious seasonal flu data?
| A．It is useless to study them. |
| B．It is still necessary to study them. |
| C．They are misleading most of the time. |
| D．They are much more helpful than expected. |
Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?
| A．Outbreaks of the flu | B．Symptoms of the flu |
| C．Mysteries of the flu | D．Risks of the flu |
Happy birthday
The China Nation Opera (CNO)will give a concert to celebrate its 50th birthday.
Different generations of CNO vocalists(歌手), like Li Guangxi, Yao Hong and Ma Mei, will present the concert which will feature both songs from famous Chinese operas like “The White-haired GM “and “The Hundredth Bride”, as well as, arias (咏叹调) of such Western opera classics as “Madame Butterfly”, “La Traviata” and “Rigoletto”.
Time/date : 7:30 pm, September 7, 8
Location : Tianqiao Theatre
Tel : 6551-4787, 8315-6170
Tickets : 60—50 yuan (US $7.2-60.2)
Folk music
A concert will be held to feature some recently-composed traditional Chinese music works.
The concert, given by the Folk Orchestra of the China Opera and Ballet Theatre, will include such pieces as “Memory of Childhood”, “Memorial Ceremony for God” and “Wine Song”.
Time/date : 7:30 pm, September 13
Location: Concert hall at the National Library of China
Tel: 6848-5462, 6841-9220
Tickets : 30-200 yuan (US $ 3.6—24.1)
Moon music
A concert of traditional Chinese music will be given on the eve of the Moon Festival which falls on September 21st this year.
The concert will feature a number of famous pieces centered on this theme of the moon, such as “Moonlight”, “Spring Night on a Moonlit River” and “Lofty Mountain and Flowing River.”
A number of established traditional Chinese music performers, like Zhou Yaokun and Fan Weiqing, will play solos（独奏）as well as collaborate（合奏）with the folk music orchestra.
Time/ date: 7:30 pm, September 21st
Location: Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities
Tel: 6606-8888, 6606-9999
1. If you want to buy tickets for listening to the music “Memory of Childhood”, you will dial .
| A. 6551-4787 |
B. 6848-5462 |
C. 8315-6170 |
D. 6606-9999 |
2. “Madame Butterfly” is .
| A. a Chinese opera |
B. a song |
C. a piece of music |
D. a Western opera |
3. The passage will most probably appear in the column “ ”of a newspaper.
| A. Animals |
B. People |
C. Entertainment |
D. Sports |
Dear Earthmen,
I have enjoyed my stay on your interesting unusual planet. I think I understand the life on earth now and I would like to give you my impressions.
First of all you live in boxes. Every morning you leave your big boxes and get into smaller boxes on wheels. All these small boxes race around and around, and finally stop to rest. You then leave these boxes on wheels and go to very large tall boxes.
After testing all days you get back in your little boxes and return to your big boxes. There you sit and stare at tiny glowing boxes with moving pictures on the front.
Only one thing puzzles me. One day, I went to a football game. A bunch of angry boys fought over a little round ball. Everyone yelled for them to stop but they kept on fighting. They were angry, I suppose, about being cooped up（被关起来）in boxes all day.
Thank you earthmen for this chance to get to know you.
Gratefully,
The man from the Mars（火星）
1. The small boxes on wheels are ________.
| A. toys |
B. cars |
|
| C. houses that can be moved |
D. boxes in which there are wheels |
2. The tiny glowing boxes with moving pictures on the front are ______.
| A. cameras |
B. cinema screens |
C. telescopes |
D. TV sets |
3. In the football game ________.
A. the players were very angry because there was only one ball on the playground
B. the players were very angry because everyone yelled at them
C. the man from the Mars saw fighting among the angry boys
D. the man from the Mars saw a close match
4. The best title of this passage is ______.
| A. The Man from the Mars |
B. Something about Boxes |
|
| C. A Letter from the Mars |
D. A football Game |
5. The man from the Mars thinks _______.
A. it is interesting to live on our unusual planet
B. there are so many boxes on the earth
C. the tiny glowing boxes are moving pictures
D. the angry boys are too foolish to fight over a little round ball
Every people（民族）uses its own special（特殊的）words to show its ideas and feelings. Some expressions are commonly used for many years. Others are popular for just a short time. One such American expression is“Where’s the beef?”It is used when something is not as good as it is said to be In the early 1980s “Where’s the beef?”was one of the most popular expressions in the United States. It seemed as if everyone was using it at the time.
Beef, of course, is the meat from a cow, and no food is more popular in America than a hamburger（汉堡包）made from beef. In the 1960s a businessman named Ray Kroc began building small restaurants that sold hamburgers at a low price. Kroc called his restaurants“McDonald’s”. Ray Kroc became one of the richest businessmen in America.
Other business people watched his success. Some of them opened their own hamburger restaurants. One company（公司）called“Wendy’s”said its hamburgers were bigger than those sold by McDonald’s or anyone else’s .The Wendy’s Company began to use the expression“Where’s the beef?”to make people know that Wendy’s hamburgers were the biggest. The Wendy’s television advertisement（广告）showed three old women eating hamburgers. The bread that covered the meat was very big, but inside there was only a bit of meat. One of the women said she would not eat a hamburger with such a little piece of beef.“Where’s the beef?”she shouted in a funny way. The advertisement for Wendy’s hamburger restaurants was a success. As we said, it seemed everyone began using the expression“Where’s the beef?”
1.______________started Mc Donald’s restaurant.
| A. Ray Kroc |
B. McDonald |
C. Wendy |
D. Three old women |
2. Other people wanted to open hamburger restaurants because they thought .
A. they could sell hamburgers at a low price
B. hamburgers were easy to make
C. beef was very popular in America
D. they could make a lot of money
3. Wendy’s made the expression known to everybody .
A. with many old women eating hamburgers
B. by a television advertisement
C. while selling bread with a bit of meat in it
D. at the McDonald’s restaurant
4. We can learn from the passage that the expression“Where’s the beef?”means .
A. the beef in hamburgers is not as much as it is said to be
B. the hamburgers are not as good as they are said to be
C. something is not so good as one says
D. Wendy’s is the biggest
Once a group of 17-year-old schoolboys decided to break the world basketball marathon（马拉松）record. They wanted to play for 90 hours, which adds 6 hours to the record. Each team had 9 players, with 5 at a time. The boys decided each person would play 21.5 hours and then rest for 2 hours. Then they started at 6 o’clock in the evening.
The first night was very hard for the players. When it was their turn to rest, they were too excited to fall asleep at once. After sleeping for a short time, they had to play again. On the second night, they fell asleep as soon as they stopped, Some of them had trouble with their feet and hands, but the only serious problem was a psychological（心理学的）one. Each boy was thinking: Why am I doing this? How can I play any longer? After the third night, the players knew they could finish the 90 hours. The basketball on the fourth night was very slow. But in the final hours, the players got better. For the last few minutes, the players looked as fresh as when they started. How happy everyone was!
1. Before this basketball marathon, the world record was .
| A. 84 hours |
B. 86 hours |
C. 90 hours |
D. 96 hours |
2. The first night was hard for the players because .
| A. they were too excited |
B. they only slept for a short time |
|
| C. no one watched them play |
D. it was very long |
3. “…the players looked as fresh as when they started.”Here “fresh”means .
| A. 不熟练的 |
B. 兴奋不己的 |
C. 精神饱满的 |
D. 伤痕累累的 |
4. Which of the following is Not true？
A. Some of the boys were hurt when they played
B. It was hard for the players to fall asleep at night
C. The boys started playing at 6 o’clock in the evening
D. In the end, all the boys felt happy
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
One day an old man is selling a big elephant. A young man comes to the elephant and begins to look at it slowly. The old man goes up to him and says in his ear, “Don’t say anything about the elephant before I sell it. Then I will give you twenty dollars.” “All right,” says the young man. After the old man sells the elephant, he gives the young man twenty dollars and says, “Now, can you tell me how you found the elephant’s bad ears?” “I didn’t find the bad ears,” says the young man. “Then why are you looking at the elephant slowly?” asks the old man. The young man answers, “Because I have never seen an elephant before, and I want to know what it looks like.”
1. _____________ the elephant.
| A. The young man sells |
B. The old man buys |
|
| C. The two men sell |
D. The old man sells |
2. The young man is looking at the elephant slowly. He wants to find out _______.
| A. what it looks like |
B. how heavy it is |
|
| C. which ear of the elephant is bad |
D. which foot of the elephant is bad |
3. The young man _______.
| A. knows the elephant has bad ears |
B. gets some money from the old man |
|
| C. looks after the elephant |
D. wants to buy the elephant |
4. Hearing what the young man said, the old man will probably be ______
| A. dangerous |
B. happy |
C. angry |
D. hungry |