Societies all over the world name places in similar ways. Quite often there is no official naming ceremony but places tend to be called names as points of reference by people. Then an organized body steps in and gives the place a name. Frequently it happens that a place has two names: One is named by the people and the other by the government. As in many areas, old habits died hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost.
Many roads and places in Singapore are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generations. Thus we have names such as Stamford Road and Raffles Place. This is in keeping with traditions in many countries ---- in both the West and the East.
Another way of naming places is naming them after other places. Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after. The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases. If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus ---- obviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel.
Some places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places. Bras Basah Road is an interesting example, “Base Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay(马来语). Now why would anyone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road”? The reason is simple. During the pioneering days, wet rice was laid out to dry along this road.
A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes. There is “Circular Road” for one. Other roads may have part of their names to describe their shapes, like “Paya Lebar Crescent”. This road is called a crescent(月牙) because it begins on the main road, makes a crescent and comes back to join the main road again. We learn from Paragraph 1 that _____.
| A．the government is usually the first to name a place |
| B．many places tend to have more than one name |
| C．a ceremony will be held when a place is named |
| D．people prefer the place names given by the government |
What does the underlined phrase “die hard” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
| A．Change suddenly. |
| B．Change significantly. |
| C．Disappear mysteriously. |
| D．Disappear very slowly. |
Which of the following places is named after a person?
| A．Raffles Place. |
| B．Selector Airbase. |
| C．Piccadilly Circus. |
| D．Paya Lebar Crescent. |
Bras Basah Road is named _______.
| A．after a person |
| B．after a place |
| C．after an activity |
| D．by its shape |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Some place names in Singapore are the same as in Britain. |
| B．Some places in Singapore are named for military purposes. |
| C．The way Singaporeans name their places is unique. |
| D．Young Singaporeans have forgotten the pioneers. |
Without proper planning, tourism can cause problems. For example, too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants of a country. If tourists create too much traffic, the inhabitants become annoyed and unhappy. They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely. They forget how much tourism can help the country's economy. It is important to think about the people of a destination country and how tourism affects them. Tourism should help a country ； keep the customs and beauty that attract tourists. Tourism should also advance the wealth and happiness of local inhabitants.
Too much tourism can be a problem. If tourism grows too quickly, people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry. This means that other parts of the country's economy can suffer.
On the other hand, if there is not enough tourism, people can lose jobs. Businesses can also lose money. It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports, air terminals, first-class roads, and other support facilities (配套设施）needed by tourist attractions. For example, a major international class tourism hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build. If this room is not used most of the time, the owners of the hotel will lose money.
Building a hotel is just a beginning. There must be many support facilities as well, including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers to handle waste, and water. All of these support facilities cost money. If they are not used because there are not enough tourists, jobs and money are lost. Which of the followings do you think has been discussed in the part before this selection?
| A．It is extremely important to develop tourism. |
| B．Building roads and hotels is essential. |
| C．Support facilities are highly necessary. |
| D．Planning is of great importance to tourism. |
Too much tourism can cause all these problems EXCEPT __________.
| A．a bad effect on other industries |
| B．a change of tourists' customs |
| C．over-crowdedness of places of interest |
| D．pressure on traffic |
It can be inferred from the text that __________.
| A．the author doesn't like tourism developing so fast |
| B．local people will benefit from tourist attraction |
| C．other parts of a country's economy won't benefit from tourism much |
| D．we can't build too many support facilities |
The author thinks it is good for local people to know that tourism will __________.
| A．waste a lot of money |
| B．weaken their economy |
| C．help establish their customs |
| D．help improve their life |
One of the best-known American writers of children's books is Alfred Strong, or Doctor Strong, as he is better known to readers everywhere. Now, an art show called “ Doctor Strong From Then To Now" is travelling around the United States. The pictures and drawings show the history of Doctor Strong.
Doctor Strong first became famous almost fifty years ago when his first children's book was published. Since then, he has written forty-five books that have sold more than one hundred million copies around the world.
Doctor Strong's books are known for their easy use of words and colorful, hand-drawn pictures. These drawings bring life to his imaginary creatures, The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and hundreds of others.
The San Diego Museum, in California, organized the show. It included about three hundred Doctor Strong's original (最早的）drawings and some of his writings.
Most of Doctor Strong's books, although written in a funny way, have serious messages. For example, in Mc Elligot's Pool, he describes the danger of pollution. He discusses the arms race in The Butter Battle Book, written in nineteen eighty-four.
Doctor Strong is almost eighty-four years old now. He says he never plans to write stories just for children. He says he writes stories that interest people of all ages. He says he uses easy words so that everyone, even a child, can understand. Alfred Strong is a famous __________ in the United States.
| A．doctor | B．artist | C．writer | D．reader |
Doctor Strong first became famous in __________.
| A．his eighties when an art show was travelling around the United States |
| B．his fifties when his drawings and writings were published |
| C．nineteen-eighty-four when his book Mc Elligot's Pool was published |
| D．his thirties when his first book was published |
Doctor Strong's books are very popular in America because __________.
| A．they are stories about animals such as cats, elephants and so on |
| B．they are written in easy words with colorful pictures |
| C．he organized an art show in California |
| D．they are written in a funny way |
His purpose of writing many such books is __________
| A．to show his original pictures and drawings |
| B．to organize a special art show of his own |
| C．to make his readers laugh when they read his books |
| D．not only to interest people but also to expose( uncover) some serious social problems |
Phil White has just returned from an 18，000-mile, around-the-world bicycle trip. White had two reasons for making this epic journey. First of all, he wanted to use the trip to raise money for charity, which he did. He raised £ 70，000 for the British charity, Ox-fam. White's second reason for making the trip was to break the world record and become the fastest person to cycle around the world. He is still waiting to find out if he has broken the record or not.
White set off from Trafalgar Square, in London, on 19th June2004 and was back 299 days later. He spent more than 1，300 hours in the saddle (车座）and destroyed four sets of tyres and three bike chains. He had the adventures of his life crossing Europe, the Middle East, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the America. Amazingly, he did all of these with absolutely no support team. No jeep carrying food, water and medicine. No doctor. Nothing ！ Just a bike and a very, very long road.
The journey was lonely and desperate at times. He also had to fight his way across deserts, through jungles and over mountains. He cycled through heavy rain and temperatures of up to 45 degrees, all to help people in need. There were other dangers along the road. In Iran, he was chased by armed robbers and was lucky to escape with his life and the little money he had. The worst thing that happened to him was having to cycle into a headwind on a road that crosses the south of Australia. For 1，000 kilometres he battled against the wind that was constantly pushing him. This part of the trip was slow, hard work and depressing, but he made it in the end. Now Mr. White is back and intends to write a book about his adventures. When Phil White returned from his trip, he __________.
| A．broke the world record |
| B．collected money for Oxfam |
| C．destroyed several bikes |
| D．travelled about 1，300 hours |
What does the word "epic" in Paragraph 1 most probably mean?
| A．Very slow but exciting. |
| B．Very long and difficult. |
| C．Very smooth but tiring. |
| D．Very lonely and depressing. |
During his journey around the world, Phil White __________.
| A．fought heroically against robbers in Iran |
| B．experienced the extremes of heat and cold |
| C．managed to ride against the wind in Australia |
| D．had a team of people who travelled with him |
Which of the following words can best describe Phil White?
A. Imaginative. B. Patriotic. C. Modest. D, Determined.
The greatest artistic creative geniuses I've ever seen, have been those who can turn garbage into art. Not just gluing together junk, but really making waste into something unique, cool, and well, something you, d put into your home for instance. There's something to be said about recycling of those items we commonly throw away.
The ability to take trash and garbage and turn it into art, or something intriguing that is fascinating to look at is a skill all of its own. I have often said that the true geniuses of our time, that is to say the creative genius artists of our era, are those who can do this-creating art that can command a high price tag from junk. 0ver the years while traveling through the United States I had stopped into museums in many parts of the country.
Some of the best art I've ever seen in my life has come from garbage, trash, or junk that has been reworked and recycled into something spectacular. Best of all the artists don't spend much on material costs, therefore it is mostly profitable. In fact they are using their minds to do a lot with very little. Just think if we all used our minds to do this, how little we might actually throw away, and how more efficiently we could run our factories, production, and even households.
After all, anything that is not used is waste, and it is thrown away. It ends up in a landfill, or a dump somewhere, and eventually it decays in the soil, causing perhaps ground water pollution. However, if we can rework these items for a couple of more rounds, and waste less, then we are providing efficiency for our civilization, and that's a good thing. Any artist who can do this is not only one caring the environment, but also one with humanity, and using his brain power and creative genius to make us all better. What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Garbage in art out |
| B．Recycle garbage in a new way |
| C．A new kind of art |
| D．A new way to protect the environment |
The author believes the art work created from junk __________.
| A．is not suitable to be put in our home |
| B．is of little value |
| C．can be of great value |
| D．will end up in landfills |
What do we know from the third paragraph?
| A．The author can't afford good art from garbage. |
| B．Art made from garbage doesn't cost much in material. |
| C．The author collects a lot of art from garbage. |
| D．The author thinks it's easy to make art from garbage. |
We learn from the last paragraph that __________.
| A．real artists are those with humanity |
| B．creating art from garbage can also help the environment |
| C．there is no good way to deal with waste today |
| D．a great amount of waste has been reused by artists |
What's the author's attitude towards the artists who turn garbage into art?
| A．Neutral. | B．Pitiful. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Supportive. |
Twelve years ago, a young traveler named Rhett Butler from San Francisco, California, visited the Sabah rain forest on Malaysian Borneo. In one area of the rain forest, he watched a bird flying through the trees. The beautiful sight left quite an impression on him. But weeks later, back home, Rhett Butler got the news that trees had been cut down in the area he visited.
That experience led Rhett Butler to begin writing a book about rainforests and the threats to their existence. But he did not publish the book. Instead, in 1999，he used his research for the book to create a website. The site is Mongabay, com. His purpose was to inform the public about tropical rain forests. But the subject quickly developed. As a former businessman , he became a respected writer of science and environmental stories.
The popularity of Mongabay. com attracted advertisers. Small ads on the site pay for its operations. Mongabay. com has grown and led to other sites. For example, there is a site for children which is called kids, Mongabay. com. Another one, Wild Madangascar. org, is also about the island nation that Rhett Butler calls his favorite place.
To keep his website going, he travels around the world on several major trips each year. His working tools are a laptop computer, cameras and sometimes diving equipment. He often calls on experts for information. For example, he interviewed Alison Jolly, a top experts on lemurs (狐猴）. He interviewed Rodney Jackson, a biologist who established the Snow Leopard Conservancy.
Stories like these have made Mongabay a favorite place on the Internet for researchers, students and teachers. In April, Time, com named it one of the fifteen top climate and environment websites in the world. What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．Rhett Butler and his website. |
| B．Rainforest on Malaysian Borneo. |
| C．How Rhett Butler protected rare animals. |
| D．How Rhett Butler made his website popular. |
Rhett Butler didn't publish his book about rain forests because __________
| A．making websites earns more money than writing books |
| B．he didn't want to become a writer |
| C．the book was not about rain forest protection |
| D．he wanted to use the information to create a website |
Which of the followings is NOT true about the Mongabay. com?
| A．It was set up in 1999. |
| B．It attracted many advertisers. |
| C．At least two related websites grew from it. |
| D．Rhett Butler made a lot of money from it. |
To keep his website going, Rhett Butler __________.
| A．kept visiting the rain forest |
| B．traveled around and interviewed experts |
| C．raised rare snow leopards |
| D．made a great number of advertisements |
We can learn from the passage that __________.
| A．Mongabay. com was loved by researchers as well as students |
| B．kids. Mongabay. com has many stories written by kids |
| C．Wild Madagascar, org is better known than Mongabay. com |
| D．Rodney Jackson was once a businessman |