Many Americans take their summer vacations in August. President Obama and his family are among them. This August the first family visited the Florida Gulf Coast. The president wants to promote tourism in the area after the BP oil spill (漏油). The first family took a ten-day vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts.
Martha’s Vineyard is known for the sailing, sunsets and its tall cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The island is about 13 kilometers off the coast and is less than 260 square kilometers. Homes designed like those of earlier times line the streets of Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven. These are the major towns on Martha’s Vineyard.
For most of the year, the population of Martha’s Vineyard is about 15 000. In summer, more than 100 000 people crowd the island. In addition to the Obamas, you might see some Hollywood stars and other rich and famous people. Many visitors return year after year.
During warm weather the Vineyard is a good place for many different activities. People can play golf or catch fish. They can rid
e in sailboats or motor boats. They can waterski and swim. They can take quiet walks along sandy beaches and among the thick green trees.
One of the popular places for families with children is the Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs. It is the oldest continually operated merry-go-round ride in the United States. The colorful wood horses that turn in a circle were created in 1876. One of the best places for children to swim is the Joseph A. Sylvia state beach. The water there is warmer and calmer. Families also enjoy the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary where they can observe much of the island wildlife.
Visitors watch the sunsets sitting on the beach and on rocks in the fishing village of Menemsha. As the sun goes down in the sky it paints yellow, red, and other colors on the clouds. Fishing boats rise and fall with the waves. Bells sound to help guide the boats to land as darkness covers the water.
Historians say British mapmaker Bartholomew Gosnold first made a map of the island for the rulers of England in 1602. Gosnold named the island to honor his baby daughter, Martha. The Vineyard part of the name came from the many wild grape vines Gosnold found on the island. Later, King Charles of England gave the island to businessman Thomas Mayhew of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, whose son established the first European settlement on the island in 1642. By the middle of the nineteenth century, ships from the 
American mainland began bringing visitors to the island. Big hotels were built near the edge of the water. Martha’s Vineyard was on its way to becoming the visitors center that it is today. .
We can infer that ______.
| A．the BP oil spill has a negative effect on the tourism along the Florida Gulf Coast |
| B．the BP oil spill has contributed to the tourism along the Florida Gulf Coast |
| C．President Obama went to the Florida Gulf Coast to deal with the BP oil spill |
| D．this was the first time that President Obama and his family had taken the vacation on Martha’s Vineyard |
.
Which month is the peak time for tourism in Martha’s Vineyard?
| A．January. | B．August. | C．December. | D．March, |
.
If children want to see wild animals, the family should go to ______.
| A．the Flying Horses Carousel | B．the Sylvia state beach |
| C．the fishing village of Menemsha | D．the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary |
.
Bartholomew Gosnold named the island Martha in honor of _______.
| A．his mother | B．the king of England |
| C．his daughter | D．his father |
If you go to Brisbane, Australia, you can easily get a small book called Discover Brisbane free. The book tells you almost everything in Brisbane: the restaurants, the shops, the cinemas, the streets, the buses, the trains, the banks, etc. Here is something about banks on page 49:
ANZ Banking Group
Cnr. Greek && Queen Sts ……………… 228 3228
Bank of New Zealand
410 Queen Street ……………………… 221 0411
Bank of Queensland
229 Elizabeth Street …………………… 229 3122
Commonwealth Banking Group
240 Queen Street ……………………… 237 3111
National Australia Bank Ltd
225 Adelaide Street …………………… 221 6422
Westpac Banking Corp
260 Queen Street ……………………… 227 2666
Banking hours are Mon.-Thu. 9:30 am to 4 pm. Fri. 9:30 am to 5 pm. All banks close Sat. Sun. && Public Holidays.
Australia has a decimal currency(十进币制) with 100 cents to the dollar.
Notes available are: $100, $50, $20, $10, $5
Gold coins are: $2 && $1
Silver coins are: 50, 20, 10&&5 cent
Copper coins are: 2 && 1 cent You can find ANZ Banking Group on ______.
| A．Queen Street | B．Elizabeth Street |
| C．the corner of Greek Street and Queen Street | |
| D．the corner of Queen Street and Elizabeth Street |
______ seems to be the most important street inBrisbane.
| A．Greek Street | B．Elizabeth Street |
| C．Queen Street | D．Adelaide Street |
On Saturdays, you can go to ______ to put your money in or take your money out.
| A．ANZ Banking Group | B．Bank of Queensland |
| C．National Australia Bank Ltd | D．no bank |
In Australia, the banks have their longest servicehours on ______.
| A．public holidays | B．Sundays | C．Saturdays | D．Fridays |
Switzerland is famous for its watches. However, this country didn’t invent the watch. It was the British who did it. Here is a story of how the watch was brought to Switzerland.
Many years ago, an Englishman was traveling to Italy, on his way he stopped in a small town in south Switzerland. This Englishman traveled in a carriage inside which there was a carriage watch. This was the earliest kind of watch. A native shop assistant happened to see the watch. He wondered what it was and asked the Englishman about it, “it is a carriage watch,” said the man. “This machine tells the time but now it isn’t working.”
At once the shop assistant offered to try to repair it. So the traveler handed him the watch. The assistant was a very wise man. So it was not very surprising that he managed to repair it. He even remembered how it was made. As soon as the traveler had gone on his journey, he made a watch exactly the same type.
Thus the watch-making was started in Switzerland. Today Swiss watches are sold in stores all over the world.Switzerland is famous for______.
| A．making watches. | B．selling watches. |
| C．inventing watches. | D．the carriage watch |
The earliest watches were made in_______.
| A．Switzerland | B．England | C．Italy | D．a small town |
The first Swiss watch was made by_______.
| A．an Italian shop assistant. |
| B．an English shop assistant. |
| C．a shop assistant in Switzerland. |
| D．a man who was traveling to Italy. |
The carriage watch was a machine which________.
| A．was put in the carriage | B．wasn’t working |
| C．told people time | D．had to be repaired |
Great British is an island that lies off the northwest coast of Europe. The nearest country is France which is 20 miles away. Great British is separated from France by the English Channel. The island is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west, and the North Sea, to the east. It includes the main lands of England, Wales and Scotland. Scotland is in the north while Wales is in the west. Ireland, which is also an island, lies off the west coast of Great Britain. It is made up of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Great Britain together with Northern Ireland forms the United Kingdom (U.K.). So the U.K. is made up of four countries. The largest of these is England which is divided into 43 countries. The capital city is London which is on the river Thames. Great Britain is separated from France by_______.
| A．the North Sea | B．Suez Canal | C．English Channel | D．Thames |
Great Britain lies on the ______of the Atlantic ocean.
| A．west | B．north | C．east | D．south |
The United Kingdom is made up of _______.
| A．England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland |
| B．England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland |
| C．Great Britain and Ireland |
| D．Great Britain and the Irish Republic |
It is true that England is________.
| A．the smallest of the four countries in U.K. |
| B．only larger than Wales |
| C．as large as Ireland |
| D．the largest country in U.K. |
School education is very important and useful. Yet no one can learn everything from school. A teacher, no matter how much he knows, can not teach his students everything they want to know. The teacher’s job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.
It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to learn some facts or a formula by heart. It is actually quiet easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula(公式) in mathematics. But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem. Great scientist, such as Einstein, Newton and Galileo, didn’t get everything from school. But they were all so successful and invented so many things for men. They worked hard all their lives, wasting not a single moment. They would ask many questions as they read and they did thousands of experiments.According to the passage, a good teacher should be one who is to_________.
| A．help his students to gain a good memory. |
| B．train his students’ ability to learn |
| C．teach his students everything he knows |
| D．have his students studying long hours |
If a student want to learn better, the most important thing for him to do is_______.
| A．to learn all the useful facts and formula by heart |
| B．to do everything as his teacher have said in class |
| C．to absorb (吸收) as much knowledge from his teacher as possible |
| D．to think more while he is studying |
The main reason for the success of the great scientists is that________.
| A．the teachers who had taught them were all experienced. |
| B．they used to work and study without a moment’s rest. |
| C．they had received more schooling than other people |
| D．they know how to study and worked hard |
What’s the good advice the writer gives us?
| A．We can learn better without teachers |
| B．We should do more asking and thinking while studying |
| C．We should pay enough attention to classroom |
| D．Book knowledge is little use |
Our surrounding(周围) is being polluted faster than nature and man’s present efforts can’t prevent it. Time is bringing us more people, and more people will bring us more industry, more cars, larger cities, and the growing use of man-made materials.
What can explain and solve this problem? The fact is that pollution is caused by man—by his desire for a modern way of life. We make “increasing industrialization” our chief aim. So we are always ready to offer everything: clean air, pure water, good food, our health and the future of our children. There is a constant flow of people from countryside to cities, eager for the benefit of our modern society. But as our technological achievements have grown in the last twenty years, pollution has become a serious problem.
Isn’t it time we stopped to ask ourselves where we are going—and why? It makes one think of the story about the airline pilot who told his passengers over the loudspeaker, “I’ve some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we’re making rapid progress at 530 miles per hour. The bad news is that we’re lost and don’t know where we’re going.” The sad fact is that this becomes a true story when spoken of our modern society. Man can’t prevent the world from being polluted mainly because .
| A．many man-made materials |
| B．more cars, trucks and buses |
| C．more people and more industry |
| D．more cities |
People crowd into the cities because_________.
| A．they want very much to find well-paid jobs |
| B．they eager for the achievement of our modern society |
| C．they have become tired of their homeland |
| D．they have a strong wish to become industrial workers |
The story about the airline pilot tells us that_________.
| A．man knows where the society is going |
| B．people do not welcome the rapid development of modern society |
| C．man can do little about the problem of pollution |
| D．the writer is worried about the future of our society |
What does the writer really want to say in this passage?
| A．With the development of technology, pollution has become a serious problem. |
| B．Lower the speed of development to stop pollution. |
| C．It’s time we did something to reduce pollution. |
| D．As industry is growing fast, pollution is the natural result. |