Sandstorms hit northwestern China's Gansu Province and North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on the first day this year. According to Sun Landong， a meteorologist with the Lanzhou Meteorology Observatory，visibility was less than 100 meters in Minqin， a Gansu county near Inner Mongolia， because of sand. When visibility drops to less than 1 
kilometer，it is called a sandstorm. The sandstorm in Minqin blew up dust in neighboring towns， such as Baiyin， Wuwei， Jinchang and Lanzhou， the capital city of Gansu Province. Dust-laden winds also
swept into Beijing. Brought by northwesterly blowing at more than 20 meters per second，dust first reached the capital's suburbs at 7 a. m，downtown areas at 9 a. m. The winds，which died down during the night，brought the temperature down to as low as 80C below zero and many flights put off their planned time from the city's airport.
It is quite rare for sandstorms，which are frequent between March and June，to happen in winter，when the earth is frozen. The sandstorms in Gansu and Inner Mongolia do not necessarily mean there will be more of them in the spring than last year，when they were serious，but Beijing is taking it very seriously. It is reported that Beijing will spend 6 billion yuan ( US 725 million) in preventing sandstorms in the capital and has already set up a special team to make sure what causes them. What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Sandstorms took place in Gansu. |
| B．Sandstorms happened on the first day of the new year. |
| C．Sandstorms are very serious，compared to last year. |
| D．Experts are trying their best to determine the cause of the sandstorm formed this year. |
Suppose the dust was 300 kilometers away from Beijing， it would reach Beijing about
hours later if it travels at a speed of 20 meters per second?
| A．4. 2 | B．1. 5 | C．2. 0 | D．2. 5 |
Why did sandstorms begin in the winter this year?
| A．Because there was little snow this season. |
| B．Because a lot of trees have been cut down. |
| C．Because people took few measures to control them. |
| D．It is not mentioned in the passage. |
Which of the following doesn't belong to the bad effect the sandstorms have do
ne in Beijing?
| A．The temperature fell. | B．Flights put off their  time to take off. |
| C．The air is dirty. | D．People had three days off. |
The author wrote the passage to .
| A．tell us the environments are becoming worse and worse |
| B．explain what measures people have taken to control sandstorms |
| C．make people realize the need to protect the environment. |
| D．call on us to do what we can to save the earth |
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is also the most neglect (忽视). Common reasons for not eating breakfast include having no time, not feeling hungry, traditional dislike and dieting.
Breakfast simply means “break the fast’’. Your body spends at least 6 to 12 hours each night in a fasting state. In the morning your body needs energy for the day’s work ahead.
A good breakfast should provide 1/3 of your total calorie needs for the day. On average, we eat 400 less calories for breakfast than for dinner. If you don’t feel like having breakfast in the morning, try eating a lighter dinner earlier in the evening or save half of your dinner for breakfast in the morning.
If you still aren’t hungry in the morning, start with something small like juice or toast or have a nutritious(有营养的) mid-morning snack later when you are hungry.
So, you say you are on a diet. Some people fear that eating breakfast will make them hungrier during the day and they will eat more. It is true that eating breakfast is likely to make you feel hungry throughout the day. That is because your body is working correctly. Although you may feel as if you are eating more all day long, in reality you are probably not.
Not eating breakfast can also cause you overeat, since a fall in blood sugar often makes you feel very hungry later. To make matters worse, since your body is in a slow state, it will not be able to burn those extra calories very efficiently(有效). If you feed your body healthy snacks and meals throughout the day, you are less likely to become hungry and stuff (填饱) yourself as soon as you begin to eat.
Since breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day, choosing the right food is important. The best breakfast foods are fruits, juice, lean meat and grain products such as bread, rice, noodles and cereals.What is the meaning of the word “fast” in the phrase “break the fast”?
| A．Movement. | B．Going without food. |
| C．Quickness. | D．Certain kind of food. |
If you don’t want to have breakfast in the morning, according to the writer’s suggestion, you should ________.
| A．see a doctor to have an examination |
| B．have a good supper |
| C．go to a restaurant to enjoy a good meal |
| D．have a little supper |
Eating breakfast, in fact, makes your body ________.
| A．work out of order | B．produce too much energy |
| C．work well | D．feel hungry quicker |
In the last paragraph, the writer mainly ________.
| A．persuades us to have a good breakfast |
| B．tells us what food isn’t suitable for breakfast |
| C．tells us what food we should have for breakfast |
| D．describes when and how we should have our breakfast |
Where can you find a nice place to relax on holiday for both you and your children? Well, I suggest you try the beautiful and green Isle of Wight (IOW). The Isle of Wight is one of the main tourist attractions. Here is some information on a few of the attractions on the IOW.
Dinosaur Isle
It is located in Sandown, a seaside town on the southeast coast. It's a large, lovely museum, both fun and educational. Here you can see a large fossil collection of all kinds of dinosaurs, as well as a gift shop. You can walk into the past and then the future, learning about the history and the development of the civilization of dinosaurs that lived 120 million years ago.
Robin Hill Country Park
The park is in the beautiful countryside, and is suitable for children's parties and games. It has five new gardens, and offers great opportunities to see and take pictures of the rare red squirrels.
The West of the Wight
Here we have the Marine Aquarium, the Archaeology Exhibition and the Model Railway. They offer another opportunity to combine fun with learning. This is a great place to see ancient boats crossing the narrow strait between the island and the mainland.
The Wight Bus Museum
This museum is run completely by unpaid volunteers. It has a bus collection stored in what was once a warehouse(仓库). Most of the buses in the museum date back to around the 1910's.
With all of these choices, what are you waiting for? IOW Tourism welcomes you!Where can you learn something as well as have a good time?
| A．Dinosaur Isle and Robin Hill Country Park. |
| B．Dinosaur Isle and the West of the Wight. |
| C．The Wight Bus Museum and Robin Hill Country Park. |
| D．The Wight Bus Museum and the West of the Wight. |
It can be learned from the passage that ____.
| A．those running the Wight Bus Museum work for free |
| B．on Dinosaur Isle we can learn about all kinds of animals |
| C．there are five new gardens on Dinosaur Isle |
| D．the Wight Bus Museum can be visited free of charge |
The purpose of this passage is to ____.
| A．show the development of tourism on the IOW |
| B．tell readers what is worth visiting |
| C．attract readers to come to the IOW |
| D．advise readers how to relax on holidays |
You can read this article in a ______.
| A．travel magazine | B．science journal |
| C．book review | D．film advertisement |
On a Friday night, a poor young artist stood at the gate of the New York railway station, playing his violin. The music was so great that many people stopped to put some money into the hat of the young man.
The next day, the young artist came to the same place, and put his hat on the ground gracefully. Different from the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it under his hat. Then he began to play the violin. It sounded more pleasant than ever.
Soon he was surrounded with people who were attracted by the words on that paper. It said, “Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an important thing into my hat by mistake. Please come to claim(认领) it soon.”
After about half an hour, a middle-aged man rushed through the crowd to the violinist and said, “Yes, it’s you. I knew that you were an honest man and would certainly come here.” The young violinist asked calmly, “Are you Mr. George Sang?” The man nodded. The violinist asked, “Did you lose something?” “It’s a lottery ticket,” said the man. The violinist took out a lottery ticket on which George Sang’s name was seen. “Is it?” he asked. George nodded and took the lottery ticket and kissed it, then danced with the violinist.
The violinist was a student at an arts college and had planned to attend advanced studies in Vienna. Later his classmate asked the violinist, “At that time you needed money to pay the tuition(学费) and you had to play the violin in the railway station every day to make money. Why didn’t you keep the lottery ticket for yourself?” The violinist said, “Although I don’t have much money, I live happily. But if I lose honesty I won’t be happy forever.”
Through our lives, we can gain a lot and lose so much. But being honest should always be with us. What did the young artist do at the railway station on Friday?
| A．He played the violin to make some money. |
| B．He waited for the train to Vienna. |
| C．He came to buy a train ticket to Vienna. |
| D．He walked around the New York railway station. |
According to the words on the paper, which sentence below is TRUE?
| A．It asked a gentleman named George Sang to claim his hat. |
| B．It asked a gentleman named George Sang to claim his important thing. |
| C．It was a lottery ticket and he needed to find the owner. |
| D．It was a lottery ticket and the owner is unknown. |
From this article, we can learn that ________.
| A．we should share with others if we find something valuable |
| B．playing the violin could make you feel happy |
| C．keep the lottery if you find one |
| D．we should know the importance of honesty and lead a happy life |
In the early part of the twentieth century, racism was widespread in the United States. Many African Americans were not given equal opportunities in education or employment. Marian Anderson (1897-1993) was an African American woman who gained fame as a concert singer in this climate of racism. She was born in Philadelphia and sang in church choirs during her childhood. When she applied for admission to a
local music school in 1917, she was turned down because she was black. Unable to attend music school, she began her career as a singer for church gatherings. In 1929, she went to Europe to study voice and spent several years performing there. Her voice was widely praised throughout Europe. Then she returned to the US in 1935 and became a top concert singer after performing at Town Hall in New York City.
Racism again affected Anderson in 1939. When it was arranged for her to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, the Daughters of the American Revolution opposed it because of her color. She sang instead at the Lincoln Memorial for over 75 000 people. In 1955, Anderson became the first black soloist to sing win the Metropolitan Opera of New York City. The famous conductor Toscanini praised her voice as “heard only once in a hundred years”. She was a US delegate to the United Nations in 1958 and won the UN peace prize in 1977. Anderson eventually triumphed over racism.According to this passage, what did Marian Anderson do between 1917 and 1929?
| A．She studied at a music school. |
| B．She sang for religious activities. |
| C．She sang at Town Hall in New York. |
| D．She studied voice in Europe. |
Toscanini thought that Marian Anderson .
| A．had a very rare voice |
| B．sang occasionally in public |
| C．sang only once in many years |
| D．was seldom heard by people |
Anderson’s beautiful voice was first recognized .
A．at the Lincoln Memorial
B．in Washington, DC.
C．in Europe
D．at the United NationsThis passage shows that Anderson finally defeated racism in the US by .
| A．protesting to the government |
| B．appealing to the United Nations |
| C．demonstrating in the streets |
| D．working hard to perfect her art |
London Summer School in Classics
Dates
The London Summer School in Classics 2008 will be held at King’s College London. It will run from 8th July until 17th July. Applications close on 2nd June, 2008.
For an application form, please download either the 2-page PDF or the word format document from the foot of the page.
If you have any problems downloading the application form or any questions, please contact: London Summer School in Classics, King’s College London.
Tel: 020 7848 2299
Fax: 020 7848 2545
Organization
The school is organized by the colleges of the University of London. The summer school offers eight days of intensive teaching in Greek and Latin. There are four language classes each day as well as lectures and a debate, between 10:30 am and 4:30 pm. The course is not residential (提供住宿的), and there is no teaching during the weekend of 12th to 13th July.
The fee is £85.00. Travel grants (旅行补助金) are available as a contribution to your travel costs, but may not cover all your expenses. The travel grants are arranged during the summer school.
Teaching is generally in groups of 12-15 people and it, as far as possible, comprises (包含) of students of roughly the same level of experience. The style of teaching is friendly, but demanding: a lot of work is expected from students during the school, but they usually find the whole experience both stimulating and valuable. Some classes concentrate chiefly on reading, while others offer a mixture of grammar and translation practice. Our tutors include some of the most experienced and talented teachers of Classics in the London area and beyond.
The Summer School in Classics caters for a wide range of interests and for both school & university students as well as those who wish to learn Greek or Latin, or to revive their knowledge of the languages. Our principal concern is to provide a thorough program of language learning in a lively university environment.To join in the school, you have to apply before ________.
| A．8th July, 2008 | B．2nd June, 2008 | C．17th July, 2008 | D．13th July, 2008 |
As a student of the school, you are probably asked to _______.
| A．do a lot of reading in Greek and Latin |
| B．learn the grammar of Greek and Latin only |
| C．do some translation work only |
| D．speak Greek and Latin with experienced teachers |
What is the London Summer School in Classics most concerned about?
| A．Providing a stimulating experience for students. |
| B．Promoting students to develop a wide range of interests. |
| C．Teaching students languages in a lively environment. |
| D．Improving students’ level of debating in the argument. |
Which is one of the teaching ways of the school?
| A．Student groups consist of the same level students strictly. |
| B．Students needn’t do any work in the class. |
| C．Students learn Greek and Latin by listening to teachers all day. |
| D．Students are generally divided into groups of 12-15. |
Which of the following can we know from the passage?
| A．The fee is £85, including the travel costs. |
| B．Students needn’t go to class on 12th and 13th July. |
| C．People should fill in two application forms. |
| D．People can contact the school by phone or email. |