On the morning of November 18, 1755, an earthquake shock Boston． John Winthrop, a professor at Harvard College, felt the quake and awoke. “I rose”, Winthrop wrote, “and lighted a candle, looked at my watch, and found it to be 15minutes after four.” John Winthrop hurried downstairs to the grandfather clock．It had stopped three minutes before, at 4:12．Except for stopping the clock, the quake had only thrown a key from the mantel（壁炉台）to the floor．
The clock had stopped because Winthrop had put some long glass tubes he was using for an experiment into the case for safekeeping． The quake had knocked the tubes over and blocked the pendulum（钟摆）．Winthrop, therefore, had the key on the floor． The quake had thrown it forward in the direction of the quake’s motion by a shock coming from the northwest, perhaps in Canada．What does “it” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．the floor | B．the key | C．the clock | D．the case |
The text suggests that ．
| A．earthquakes are common in Boston |
| B．John Winthrop was a scientist |
| C．John Winthrop often had difficulty in sleeping |
| D．Harvard College was a center for earthquake researching |
Which of the following is true? .
| A．Some tubes were broken into pieces and stopped the old clock |
| B．The professor lit a candle because of power failure |
| C．Boston is in the southeast of Canada |
| D．The shocks were slight in one way |
John Winthrop put some tubes into this clock case because ．
| A．he wanted to do an experiment |
| B．he thought an earthquake was probably to happen soon |
| C．he thought it safe for them to be put there |
| D．he wanted to record the exam time of the earthquake． |
More and more Italians are leaving their country because they can not get a job. One in every three Italians say they are willing to go abroad, sometimes even to other continents to get work. Currently, about 300,000 young Italians may be living abroad.
Although emigration has always been a choice for Italians, especially for those who left the country at the beginning of the twentieth century, more young Italians think leaving their home country is the only way to escape economic difficulty. These young Italians, however, are not poor farmers or laborers but bright university graduates and other talented young people.
Many of them want to go to richer places, like northern Europe, but they are also prepared to go elsewhere. Most of them describe a feeling of unhappiness and frustration. They are not sure which direction their country is heading and feel no longer proud of being Italians.
Many leave because they think that getting a good job is possible in other countries where all doors are open to you if you are young and dynamic. However, in Italy everything is boring and old-fashioned. Italy’s economic system is largely based on family structures and the elderly who don’t want to give up power. Corruption(腐败) is also a big problem that simply won’t go away.
The Italian government is aware of the problem and says it must create new opportunities for its younger generation. But even if it starts working on a new style economy right away it may take years before things in Italy really change. The government has already passed laws which will make it easier for doctors, lawyers and other academics to start a career in Italy.
Many economic experts claim that Italy is doing a lot for its older generation but very little for its youth. For example, it spends little on housing, childcare but a lot on pensions. Some people are leaving Italy mainly because they _____ .
| A．want to get a job | B．want to travel abroad |
| C．prefer working abroad | D．no longer love their country |
The Italian government _____ .
| A．is blind to the problem of emigration |
| B．encourages young Italians to go abroad |
| C．has taken some measures to change the situation |
| D．promise to offer more jobs to young Italians soon |
Many economic experts think that the Italian government should _____ .
| A．do more for its youth |
| B．try to improve its economy |
| C．stop its youth from going abroad |
| D．solve the problem as soon as possible |
What problem is Italy facing?
| A．Most of its laborers are old. |
| B．There aren’t any truly talented youngsters. |
| C．The government officials’ attitude is old-fashioned. |
| D．People with power are doing illegal and dishonest things. |
Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Italian emigration history |
| B．More care for old Italians |
| C．Young Italians are leaving Italy |
| D．The influence of economic difficulty |
Not too long ago, our teacher, being a “tree-hugger”(as the kids call her), had us write an essay on an environmental issue. I was eager to start, but something made me stop.
“What is an environmental issue?” one kid asked. “What if we don’t care about the environment?” another complained. “It’s not like it affects me.”
These comments astounded me. I have always cared about the environment and assumed that others did too. From the surprised look on my teacher’s face, I could tell she felt the same way.
In no time, I finished my essay. In my essay I wrote about logging(伐木), which is an important industry, but if we continue to cut down trees without replacing, it will damage the environment.
There are so many things that we can do to save our world. Recycling, of course, is always a good thing, but not everyone has a recycling plant nearby (I don’t). There are other ways to help the environment. Plant a tree. Don’t waste water.
I can’t stand it when a person’s excuse for not caring is “Nothing is going to happen in my lifetime, so why should I care?” Sure, the chances of something terrible happening are slim, but I want people to realize that if we don’t deal with it, someone will have to eventually. Do you want that to be your children? Or your children’s children?
When my teacher told me to read my essay to my class, I was a little embarrassed because I didn’t want everyone to call me “tree-hugger”. I realize now that if being a tree-hugger means you care about the environment, I’m a tree-hugger 100 percent. I just wish more people were. Why do the students call their teacher “tree-hugger”?
| A．She likes hugging trees. |
| B．She knows a lot about trees. |
| C．She grew up in the countryside. |
| D．She cares a lot about the environment. |
At the beginning, the author stopped writing _____ .
| A．to ask some questions |
| B．because of other kids’ comments |
| C．to listen to the teacher’s instructions |
| D．because he had no idea about the topic |
The underlined word “astounded” in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by “_____” .
| A．helped | B．changed | C．shocked | D．interested |
Paragraph 5 is mainly about _____ .
| A．what we can recycle |
| B．how we can save the earth |
| C．why we should protect the earth |
| D．what damage we are doing to the earth |
We can infer from the passage that _____ .
| A．the students don’t like the teacher |
| B．the teacher liked the author’s essay |
| C．the author is ashamed of being a tree-hugger |
| D．the author should have written a better essay |
The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before me at a huge pile of that troublesome stuff（东西） they call “books”.
I was going to have my examination the next day. “When can I go to bed？” I asked myself. I didn’t answer. In fact I dared not.
The clock struck twelve. “Oh，dear！” I cried. “Ten more books to read before I can go to bed！” We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one. I was quite desperate（绝望的） now. I forgot all I had learned. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed， “Oh, God, please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards，Amen.” My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were ________ .
| A．asleep | B．outside | C．working in bed | D．quietly laughing at him |
He underlined word “wretched” in Paragraph 3 probably means _______ .
| A．very happy | B．disappointed | C．very unhappy | D．hopeful |
Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him because .
| A．it was too late at night |
| B．he was very tired |
| C．his eyes lids were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open |
| D．he hadn’t studied hard before the examination |
What do you suppose happened to the author later？
| A．He went to a church to pray again |
| B．He passed the exam by sheer luck |
| C．He failed in the exam |
| D．He was punished by his teacher |
The best title for the passage would be __________ .
| A．The Night Before the Examination |
| B．Working Far into the Night |
| C．A Slow Student |
| D．Going Over My Lessons |
Louis Pasteur, the famous French chemist and bacteriologist(微生物学家), invented “pasteurization”. In 1854 Pasteur was made head of the department of science at the University of Lille, and it was there that he made one of his most famous discoveries. Lille was a major center for wine and beer-making, and some of the local wine-makers asked Pasteur if he could help solve the problem of keeping wine fresh. At that time, it was believed that food and drinks go “bad” due to a purely chemical process. But during a series of experiments Pasteur proved that tiny living organisms(微生物)caused food and drinks to go bad. In the case of wine and beer the organisms are already present in the form of the various yeasts (酵母) that caused the fermentation(发酵) process. Pasteur discovered that heating the wine gently for a few minutes after it had fermented would kill off the yeast that was left in the wine, with the result that the wine would remain fresh for much longer. He also proved that food and drinks could be turned bad by other organisms that were present in the air, and that they too would keep fresh much longer if they were kept in airtight containers.
The heating process was so successful that it made Pasteur famous. It was named “pasteurization” in his honour, and by about 1900 it had been widely used for processing and bottling cows’ milk. The result was a huge drop in the number of bottle-fed babies dying from infant diarrhea(婴儿腹泻)and from that time on it has been a standard treatment for milk and many other food products. This simple process has saved thousands, possibly millions, of lives worldwide. Pasteur became ___________ in 1854.
| A．the chairperson of the science department at the University of Lille |
| B．the director of a chemical laboratory at the University of Lille |
| C．the general manager of a large beer-making company |
| D．the president of the University of Lille |
According to the passage, Lille was a major center for ___________ in the mid-19th century.
| A．growing grain crops | B．making beer and wine |
| C．doing chemical research | D．producing various kinds of yeasts |
In the last sentence of Paragraph 1, the underlined word “they” refers to ___________.
| A．wine and beer | B．food and drinks | C．the various yeasts | D．other organisms |
We can infer from the passage that Pasteur’s discovery __________.
| A．is no longer widely used for treating milk and other food products |
| B．did not bring much profit to the wine makers in Lille |
| C．has done a lot of good to children in the world |
| D．has greatly reduced the number of wars in the world |
According to the passage, we know it isthat causes food and drinks to go bad.
| A．a purely chemical process. | B．tiny living organisms(微生物) |
| C．keeping them in airtight containers. | D．the heating process |
Did anyone find the names of “Great Britain”, “the United Kingdom”, “England” and “the British commonwealth” which have the same meaning? Strictly speaking, these names all refer to something different. None of them are exactly the same as any of the others.
The British isles refer to the main islands and several thousand small ones as well, which you can see on the map. Great Britain, or Britain, refers to the larger of the two main islands. But the word “Britain” is often used as a short form for the United Kingdom or you call it the UK.
Now as for England, it refers simply to the largest of the three countries on the island of Great Britain. The United Kingdom is the name of the state and the official name of the country, which many people popularly refer to England.
Finally, the Britain commonwealth is the usual name for what is left of the British Empire (帝国). This change shows the weakening of British Empire and the rising of the national liberation movements throughout the world today. According to the passage, we know that _____________.
| A．Great Britain has the same meaning as Britain |
| B．all the names refer to England |
| C．the United Kingdom has the same meaning as Britain or England |
| D．all the names in the first paragraph have the same meaning |
It is clear that the British isles refer to _____________.
| A．Britain, England and the UK |
| B．the two main islands and thousands of small ones |
| C．three countries and several islands |
| D．Great Britain or the United Kingdom |
We can infer that .
| A．The country hasn’t an exact name. |
| B．Few people know its real name. |
| C．All the names have exact meaning. |
| D．Generally speaking,the names can all be used to stand for the country. |
Which of the following shows the right relationship (关系) between the British isles (BI), Britain (B) and England (E)?
A. B>BI>E. B. BI>E>B. C. E>B>BI. D. BI>B>E. If you want to write to someone in Edinburgh that lies in Scotland, you should write the address as _____________.
| A．Edinburgh, England |
| B．Edinburgh, Scotland ,Great Britain |
| C．Scotland, Edinburgh, England |
| D．Great Britain, Scotland, Edinburgh |