Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904. He was famous because of the books he wrote for children. They combine funny words, pictures, and social opinion.
Dr Seuss wrote his first book for children in 1937. It is called And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street. A number of publishers refused to publish it. They said it was too different. A friend finally published(出版) it. Soon other successful books followed. Over the years, he wrote more than forty children’s books. They were fun to read. Yet his books sometimes dealt with serious subjects.
By the middle 1940s, Dr Seuss had become one of the best-loved and most successful writers of children’s books. He had a strong desire to help children. In 1954, Life magazine published a report about school children who could not read. The report said many children’s books weren’t interesting. Dr Seuss decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read.
In 1957, Dr Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 225 words to write the book. This was about the number of words a six-year-old should be able to read.
The story is about a cat who tries to entertain two children on a rainy day while their mother is away from home. The cat is not like normal cats. It talks. The book was an immediate success. It was an interesting story and was easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today many adults say it is still one of the stories they like best.What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．Some of Dr Seuss’ books for children. |
| B．What are Dr Seuss’s books mainly about? |
| C．Dr Seuss — a famous writer of children’s books. |
| D．Why are Dr Seuss’ books different? |
What do we know about Dr Seuss’s first book for children?
| A．It was Dr Seuss’ worst book. |
| B．It dealt with a very serious subject. |
| C．Neither children nor adults like it. |
| D．Many publishers didn’t take it seriously at first. |
How did Dr Seuss help children according to Paragraph 3&4?
| A．By asking others to help them in magazines. |
| B．By writing interesting and simple books. |
| C．By changing his old books into simpler ones. |
| D．By giving them books for free. |
Adults most probably think that Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat is _________
| A．interesting | B．serious | C．difficult |
D．boring |
What does the underlined word “combine” mean?
| A．like very much | B．fall in love with |
| C．bring something together | D．pay attention to |
People can enjoy visiting some major imperial temples (帝王庙宇) where emperors worshipped nature on various sacred days•
Temple of Moon (Yuetan)
Built in 1530，the roughly 8 hectare Temple of Moon，or Yuetan Park，to west of the imperial city was the site of imperial sacrifices to the moon.
In the past decades, bushes and fruit trees have been planted here．In 1969，a 180 meter--all television broadcasting tower was erected in the park，taking up about one eighth of its total space•
Opening hours：6 am～9 pm
Location：6 Yuetan Beijie，Xicheng District．Buses to get there：15，19，823．
Temple of Earth (Ditan)
The Temple of Earth，or Ditan Park，near the North Second Ring Road，is where emperors prayed to the earth for favorable weather and national prosperity．Built during the Ming Dynasty in 1 530，it is the only existing place to worship the earth．
The surrounding areas have become an open space for people to engage in leisurely activities．Since the late 1980s，traditional temple fair have been held here regularly during the Chinese lunar new year．
Opening hours：6 am～9 pm
Location：A2 D
i’anmenwai，Chaoyang District．Buses to get there: 104，108，116，or take the subway to get off at Yonghegong to go north.
Temple of Sun (Ritan)
The Temple of Sun，or Ritan Park，in eastern Beijing，is located near the Jianguomen area and adjacent(邻近的) embassy district．It is a short walk from the Yong'anli subway station on the Line 1．The altar (祭坛) was built in l530 as a place for emperors to make ritual sacrifices to the sun．
It features expansive gardens and a small lake．A mural (壁画)wall, the park’s main scenic attraction now，was a piece of artwork created about 20 years ago to draw more sightseers．The park is also known for its blossoming lotuses．
Opening hours：6 am～9 pm
Location：6 Ritan Beilu，Chaoyang District．Buses to get there：1，4，28，43，57．120．What kind of people is the text mainly written for?
| A．Parents． | B．Students． | C．Tourists． | D．Teachers- |
You can take a No．______ bus if you want to visit The Temple
of Sun
| A．19 | B．104 | C．108 | D．120 |
If you want to worship the earth，you must go to _____.
| A．Yuetan Park | B．Ditan Park | C．Ritan Park | D．Beilu Park |
The purpose of building a mural wall in Ritan Park was to_____．
| A．defend the park | B．prevent people from coming into the park |
| C．attract more sightseers | D．make ritual sacrifices to the sun |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings.
Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is
the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend | B．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
| C．My Father | D．My Childhood |
What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?
| A．Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me. |
B．She had made a  list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer. |
| C．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
| D．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
Why did her father listen to her quietly?
| A．Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. |
| B．Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while. |
| C．Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment. |
| D．Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?
| A．He told her not to pay any attention to what her“enemy” had said. |
| B．He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
| C．He told her to write down all that her“enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true. |
| D．He refused to take the list and have a look at it. |
“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”
This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 wrote it.
We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives.
But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives?
Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up al
l night to get it done. How calm and happy do you feel?
Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have not telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simpler lives.
One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.
The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally.” She believed life was less materialistic. “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” She said. The boys said they fought less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy（时髦的）, beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.”
Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!
Don’t be available all the time, turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every day.
Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying.The passage is mainly about .
| A．problem with technology |
| B．improvements of our life with technology |
| C．the important roles technology plays in our everyday life |
| D．major changes which will be likely to happen to technology |
The writer quoted（引用） what a citizen in ancient Rome said at the beginning of the story in order to .
| A．share a truth about life |
| B．tell us what life was like long time ago |
| C．make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen |
| D．point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same |
Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940’s house? Because.
| A．they liked to live simple lives |
| B．they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions |
| C．they were troubled by modern inventions |
| D．living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them |
What do you think the underlined word “available” in the 1st suggestion offered by the writer mean?
| A．Busy on line | B．Free. | C．Be able to | D．Be found by others. |
My topic today is the Internet. It was prompted(引出)by the first letter, which I am unable to answer fully for the reasons given!
Dear David,
I’m a middle school student. Now I am preparing for a writing competition. Could you please check the mistakes in my article about using the Internet and
Give me some advice? No name 
David writes: I’m very sorry to say that I think it would be very unfair for me to help you win a competition--- unfair to the other competitors!
But I’ll say that your article is very interesting and I wish you good luck.
Dear David,
I’m now learning English by myself. Can you introduce some useful websites where I can make friends with foreigners? Please help me.
Moonlight
David writes: Well, dear moonlight, I think you made a good choice by using the Net in your self-studies. Two very good websites I’d suggest to you are:
www.britishcouncil.org.cn and www.britishcouncil.org.cn/learn.
By the way, for those readers interested in the teaching of English, there is an Internet
discussion group called ELTCSChi-L (English Language Teaching Contacts Scheme China List).
And also, a healthy warning to all my readers: If over-used, the Internet can be a WOMBAT—A Waste of Money, Brains and Time!David is probably a ________.
| A．language expert | B．computer expert |
| C．college student | D．club chairman |
What is the reason why the first letter is unable to be fully answered?
| A．David is unable to think out good advice. |
| B．David thinks it is expected to play fair in the competition. |
| C．David is going to talk on another topic-Internet. |
| D．David finds no mistakes in that article. |
“www.britishcouncil.org.cn” is a (an)________.
| A．English newspaper for students and language teachers. |
| B．website where one can join a discussion group. |
| C．newspaper column for answering readers’ questions . |
| D．website where one can make foreign friends. |
A recent trend(趋势) in Californian restaurants shows new eating habits among those people out to have an interesting dining experience. Appetizers(开胃品)seem to be the name of the games as diners turn away from the more traditional three-course meal in favor of smaller snacks served in various types of restaurants, bars and cafes. In this way, in the course of an evening out, you might go to a restaurant for a tasty dish to eat at one end of town, to a bar with some live music at the other end, then for a coffee, and finally back to the restaurant for a further appetizer.
Reasons for this trend are the fact that so many different types of restaurants have been set up recently, each with their own particular type of food and special atmosphere, together with the increased specialty in the type of snacks being offered. Gone are the cheese sticks of the old days, when appetizers were not really taken seriously. Some favorite snacks of the moment are slices of hot pizza, creamy fish-based dishes and crispy cakes and so on.
Prices for appetizers are not equal to a full meal; however, their new popularity has meant that they are by no means as cheap as they used to be. Certainly, for that special occasion, a meal in a nice restaurant, complete with the piano performance, is hard to beat. However, if we see this trend for “butterfly eating”---moving around several different places in one evening continues, then all the traditional style restaurants may well have to provide their own appetizer bars as well!How are the eating habits of the Californians changing?
| A．People are dining out less. |
| B．Californian restaurants are becoming less popular. |
| C．Most people eat less than they used to. |
| D．A full restaurant meal is less popular. |
All the places that serve appetizers _.
| A．have much the same menu |
| B．have their own particular characteristics |
| C．have a bar with live music |
| D．are located at the end of the town |
If you go out for an evening of appetizers, you are likely to _.
| A．need a car or take a bus or other transport |
| B．be bored with some kinds of snacks |
| C．spend more time for a full meal than you would |
| D．eat too much meat |
Appetizers used to be seen as .
| A．relatively important | B．a full meal |
| C．a cheap meal | D． an expensive meal |