Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But a long time ago, it wasn't easy at all. Before 1750, the idea of skating didn't exist. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin's work was making musical instruments. In his spare time he liked to play the violin. Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams. People called him a dreamer.
One day Merlin received an invitation to attend a fancy dress ball (化装舞会). He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party. He had an idea. He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates. Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of arriving at the party on wheels while playing the violin.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone 
was astonished to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on. Suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. Down fell the mirror, breaking to pieces. Nobody forgot Merlin's grand entrance for a long time!
The text is mainly about _______.
| A．a strange man |
| B．an unusual party |
| C．how roller skating began |
| D．how people enjoyed themselves in the 18th century |
People thought Merlin was a dreamer because he _______.
| A．often gave others surprises | B．was a gifted musician |
| C．invited the roller skates | D．was full of imagination |
Merlin put wheels under his shoes in order to _______.
| A．impress the party guests | B．arrive at the party sooner |
| C．test his invention | D．show his skill in walking on wheels |
What is the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph?
| A．The roller skates needed further improvement. |
| B．The party guests took Merlin for a fool. |
| C．Merlin succeeded beyond expectation. |
| D．Merlin got himself into trouble. |
Linda Evans was my best friend –like the sister I never had ,We did everything to— gether ：piano lessons ,movies, swimming , horseback riding.
When I was 13, my family moved away , Linda and I kept in touch through letters ,and we saw each other on special times – like my wedding and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with childern and moving to new homes, and we wrote less often , One day a card that I sent came back , stamped “Address Unknown”, I had no idea about how to find Linda.
Over the years, I missed Linda very much, I wanted to share happiness of my children and then grandchildren , And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then moth-er died, There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill.
One day, I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman —Linda’s married name.“There must be thousands of Wagmans.”I thought, but I still wrote to her.
She called as soon as she got my letter, “Mrs , Tobin!”she said excitedly, “Linda Ev-ans Wagman is my mother.”
Minutes later I heard a voice that I recognized at once, even after 40 years ,We laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives, Now the empty place in my heart is filled, And there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure; We won’t lose each other again!The writer went to piano lessons with Linda Evans .
| A．at the age of 13 |
| B．before she got married |
| C．before the writer’s family moved away |
| D．after they moved to new homes |
They didn’t often write to each other because they .
| A．got married |
| B．had little time to do so |
| C．didn’t like writing letters |
| D．could see each other on special times |
There was an empty place in the writer’s heart because she .
| A．was in trouble |
| B．didn’t know Linda’s address |
| C．received the card that she sent |
| D．didn’t have a friend like Linda |
The writer was happy when she .
| A．read the newspaper |
| B．heard Linda’s voice on the phone |
| C．met a young woman who looked a lot like Linda |
| D．wrote to the woman whose last name was Wangman |
They haven’t kept in touch .
| A．for about 40 years |
| B．for about 27 years |
| C．since they got married |
| D．since the writer’s family moved awasy |
Scientists Alan M．Goldberg and Thomas Hartung describe recent advances in replacing the use of animals in toxicology(毒物学)testing．Improvements in cell and tissue culture technologies，for example，allow a growing number of tests to be performed on human cells alone．Computer models are becoming increasingly complex and many could one day become more accurate than trials in living animals．
Since the late 1990s，Huntingdon Life Sciences--a company that conducts testing of substances on animals conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration—has become a proving ground for aggressive strategies by animal-rights militants （好战分子）．At a hearing，a Senate．committee listened to testimony（证词） against Huntingdon employees and financial institutions providing services to the company．One experimentation witness at the hearing insisted that any means necessary were justified（辩护） to spare animals’ lives；he has previously accepted the idea of murder to that end．
Use of animals in testing and in biomedical research continues to be necessary in many instances and is ethically（伦理道德地）preferable to experimenting on humans or giving up cures that could save human lives．But for the sake of people and animals alike，the development and acceptance of animal substitutes deserve enthusiastic support．
In some instances, substitutes are already thought as good or better than animals，but supervising agencies（监督机构）have yet to catch up．In both the European Union and the U．S．，scientists and companies wanting to use the new alternative tests complain that regulatory standards for proving a drug or chemical to be safe for humans force the continued use of animals．Thus，animal-loving Americans might turn to persuading the EPA and the FDA to speed validation（确认）of new methods so that they can be more widely employed．And animal advocates（保护者） who want to influence business could consider investing in the small biotech’s and large pharmaceutical（药品的） companies that are working to develop alternatives to animals in research．_____ plays a leading role in replacing the use of animals in testing．
| A．Huntingdon Life Sciences | B．Improvement in technologies |
| C．Animal-fights militants | D．Scientists Alan and Thomas |
Accordingly, the animal-rights militants hold the view that_____．
| A．animals shouldn’t be used in toxicology testing |
| B．animals should enjoy equal rights with human beings |
| C．animals should live wildly and freely |
| D．we should protect animals from being killed casually |
From the passage，we can find _____．
| A．the use of animals in testing has been stopped abruptly |
| B．animal substitutes are not preferable |
| C．supervising standards contribute to the continued use of animals in testing |
| D．only Huntingdon Life Sciences is accused |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Saving animals and people． |
| B．The new trend in toxicology testing |
| C．The use of animals in testing is against human nature |
| D．New technology changes the fate of animals |
The writer’s attitude towards replacing the use of animals in toxicology is____．
| A．arbitrary（武断的，随意的） | B．pessimistic |
| C．indifferent（不关心的 ） | D．optimistic |
The unwanted disturbing of a mobile phone ringing at a critical moment has led to some famously strong reactions
British actor Richard Grif-fiths，stopped a performance at the National Theatre and ordered The offending party to leave
Judge Robert Restaino went considerably further．He was hearing a session of domestic violence offenders in a court when proceedings were interrupted by rings of a phone．
“Everyone is going to jail unless I get that instrument now,” he shouted．
Over the next two hours，the judge entered a period of “incredible madness”．He began by ordering the doors of the court locked，and set the officers to searching for the phone．
When that failed to find the offending item he ordered each of the defendants(被告) present in the room up to his bench and in turn asked them if they had no idea, he sent each in turn to jail(监狱).
All 46 of them．
When a defendant protested the judge’s actions were not fair to those who didn’t possess the phone，Restaino replied：“I know it isn’t．
Judge’s actions caused chaos．Extra officers had to be drafted into the court to control the crowd．and booking officers at the city jail were at full stretch．“We were playing Twister in here”, one said at the time．
Fourteen of the defendants were shackled(束缚 )in irons and sent to the county jail．
The judge cooled off and later that afternoon released all 46．
The “two hours of viral lunacy（疯狂）”, has probably cost Restaino his job．The commission ruled that he should be removed from his $14,000 job．Restaino now has 30 days to appeal(上诉)．
His lawyer pointed out that until that moment he had served 11 years as a judge without any disciplinary issues．“With the exception of two hours．his record is spotless．”The underlined sentence in the passage means _____．
| A．we are just playing games |
| B．we are struggling to control the crisis here |
| C．we can hardly survive the crisis |
| D．we’re searching casually |
Why is British actor Richard mentioned?
| A．To indicate the disadvantage of mobile phone． |
| B．To scold the misusage of mobile phone． |
| C．To provide an excuse for Richard’s offence． |
| D．To support the opinion above |
Two hours of viral lunacy will_____
| A．make Robert pay a large sum of money |
| B．make no difference to Robert |
| C．most likely make Robert lose his job |
| D．make him world famous |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Phone-rage(狂怒) judge | B．Judge，prisoner and mobile phone |
| C．The story in court | D．Mobile phone in court |
From the passage we can find_____．
| A．Robert is always challenging the disciplines |
| B．Robert is now in jail |
| C．judge is not a well-paid job |
| D．all the defendants didn’t follow Robert’s instructions willingly |
Shopping for clothes is not the same experience for a man as it is for a woman. A man goes shopping because he needs something. His purpose is settled and decided in advance. He knows what he wants, and his objective is to find it and buy it; the price is a secondary consideration. All men simply walk into a shop and ask the assistant for what they want. If the shop has it in stock, the salesman promptly shows it, and the business of trying it on follows at once. All being well, the deal can be and often is completed in less than five minutes, with hardly any chat and to everyone's satisfaction.
For a man, slight problems may begin when the shop does not have what he wants, or does not have exactly what he wants. In that case the salesman, as the name implies, tries to sell the customer something else, he offers the nearest he can to the article required. No good salesman brings out such a substitute(替代品)impolitely; he does so with skill: "I know this jacket is not the style you want, sir, but would you like to try it for size? It happens to be the colour you mentioned. Few men have patience with this treatment, and the usual response is: “This is the right colour and may be the right size, but I should be wasting my time and yours by trying it on.”
Now how does a woman go about buying clothes? In almost every respect she does so in the opposite way. Her shopping is not often based on need. She has never fully made up her mind what she wants, and she is only "having a look round". She is always open to persuasion; indeed she sets great store by what the saleswoman tells her, even by what companions tell her. She will try on any number of things. Uppermost in her mind is the thought of finding something that everyone thinks suits her. Contrary(相反的) to a lot of jokes, most women have an excellent sense of value when they buy clothes. They are always on the lockout for the unexpected bargain. Faced with a roomful of dresses, a woman may easily spend an hour going from one rail to another, to and fro(来回地), often retracing her steps, before selecting the dresses she wants to try on. It is a laborious process, but apparently an enjoyable one. Most dress shops provide chairs for the waiting husbands.According to the passage, when a man is buying clothes, ________.
| A．he buys cheap things, regardless of quality |
| B．he chooses things that others introduce |
| C．he does not mind how much he has to pay for the right things |
| D．he buys good quality things, so long as they are not too dear |
What does the passage tell us about women shoppers for clothes?
| A．They welcome suggestions from anyone. |
| B．Women rarely consider buying cheap clothes. |
| C．Women often buy things without giving the matter proper thought. |
| D．They listen to advice but never take it. |
What does a man do when he can not get exactly what he wants?
| A．He buys a similar thing of the colour he wants. |
| B．He usually does not buy anything. |
| C．At least two of his requirements must be met before he buys. |
| D．So long as the style is right, he buys the thing. |
Many jokes make fun of women shoppers by saying that________.
| A．they waste money on inferior(劣质的) goods |
| B．they should buy only the best clothes |
| C．they are much more sensible than men |
| D．they think of the price of clothes and nothing else |
What is the most obvious difference between men and women shoppers?
| A．The fact that men do not try clothes on in a shop. |
| B．Women bargain for their clothes, but men do not. |
| C．Women stand up to shop, but men sit down. |
| D．The time they take over buying clothes. |
Once upon a time, on an isolated island in the Java sea, lived short people who dominated(支配, 占优势) the food chain. Standing no more than three and a half feet tall, these human ancestors hunted giant rats, lumbering lizards（笨拙的蜥蜴), and miniature elephants.
It sounds a bit like a fairy tale, but it's true. Unearthed relics on the island uncovered the remains of a race of tiny human ancestors. Homo floresiensis, as the newly discovered species has been named, apparently could date back to 13,000 years ago. This means they have a lot in common with modern humans.
So how and why did these people get so small? Scientists suspect that it's due to the fact that this race lived on an isolated island with limited resources. Take the miniature elephants for example. When elephants first came to the island either by swimming or by some kind of natural land raft, they were probably close to full size. But since there wasn't much to eat, over time smaller elephants lived longer and better. The smaller the elephant was, the less it had to eat to stay strong and healthy.
Scientists call this the "island role", and it can apply to humans as well as animals. Given the island's sparse(稀少) food supply, it makes sense that the early humans living there would have evolved (进化) a body size requiring less food to survive. So bigger isn't always better.
In the floresiensis, at least, getting smaller was the way to go.According to the passage, the fact Homo floresiensis are very small is based on________.
| A．the islanders in the Java Sea | B．the human ancestors |
| C．the unearthed relics | D．a newspaper report |
The underlined word "miniature" in the first paragraph most probably means______.
| A．tiny | B．active | C．rare | D．wild |
People on the island got so small because____________.
| A．they did not have enough food to eat. |
| B．they gradually developed for lack of food. |
| C．they shared less food with elephants. |
| D．they remained alive as the elephants. |
What might be the most suitable title of the passage?
| A．The history of short people |
| B．Short people from a fairy tale |
| C．The proofs on short people |
| D．Short people on an isolated island |
According to the passage, getting smaller can make people and animals ____
| A．run quickly | B．live longer | C．live weaker | D．run slowly |