The flag, the most common symbol of a nation in the modern world, is also one of the most ancient. With a clear symbolic meaning, the flag in the traditional form is still used today to mark buildings, ships and other vehicles related to a country.
The national flag as we know it today is in no way a primitive artifact. It is, rather, the product of thousands of years’ development. Historians believe that it had two major ancestors, of which the earlier served to show wind direction.
Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats. Often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause high waves that endangered travelers. People’s food supplies were similarly vulnerable. Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests. Therefore they feared and depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction and cold from another.
Using a simple piece of cloth tied to the top of a post to tell the direction of the wind was more dependable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire. The connection of the flag with heavenly power was therefore reasonable. Early human societies began to fix long pieces of cloth to the tops of totems (图腾) before carrying them into battle. They believed that the power of the wind would be added to the good wishes of the gods and ancestors represented by the totems themselves.
These flags developed very slowly into modern flags. The first known flag of a nation or a ruler was unmarked: The king of China around 1,000 B.C. was known to have a white flag carried ahead of him. This practice might have been learned from Egyptians even further in the past, but it was from China that it spread over trade routes through India, then across Arab lands, and finally to Europe, where it met up with the other ancestor of the national flag. The underlined word “ vulnerable” in paragraph 3 means _______.
| A．easy to damage | B．likely to be protected |
| C．impossible to make sure of | D．difficult to find |
The earliest flags were connected with heavenly power because they _______.
| A．could tell wind direction | B．could bring good luck to fighters |
| C．were believed to stand for natural forces | D．were handed down by the ancestors |
What does the author know of the first national flag?
| A．He knows when it was sent to Europe. | B．He doubts where it started. |
| C．He thinks it came from China. | D．He believes it was made in Egypt. |
What will the author most probably talk about next?
| A．The role of China in the spread of the national flag. |
| B．The importance of modern flags. |
| C．The use of modern flags in Europe. |
| D．The second ancestor of the national flag. |
Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers. But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son: suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. “The door to his room is always shut.” Joanna noted.
Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter. ”She used to cuddle up with me on the sofa and talk,” said Mark. “Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is figuring out which time is which.”
Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their minds. “ In fact, parents are first on the list.” Said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. “This completely changes during the teen years.” Riera explained. “They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last.”
Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.
65．“The door to his room is always shut” suggests that the son________.
A．is always busy with his studies
B．doesn’t want to be disturbed
C．keeps himself away from his parents
D．begins to dislike his parents
66．What troubles Tina and Mark most is that_______
A．their daughter isn’t as lovely as before
B．they can’t read their daughter’s mind exactly
C．they don’t know what to say to their daughter
D．their daughter talks with them only when she needs help
67．Which of the following best explains ”the wall of silence” in the last paragraph?
A．Teenagers talk a lot with their friends.
B．Teenagers do not want to understand their parents.
C．Teenagers do not talk much with their parents.
D．Teenagers talk little about their own lives.
68．What can be learned from the passage?
A．Parents are unhappy with their growing children.
B．Parents have suitable ways to talk with their teenagers.
C．Parents should be patient with their silent teenagers.
D．Parent should try to understand their teenagers.
“Lately, I have been feeling very stressed and easily lose my temper at people around me,” said Susan Huang. Her troubles are typical of someone her age, according to a survey by the Chinese Academy of Science’s Psychology Institute. In 2000, the institute’s researchers began surveying close to 8,000 people nationwide. People were studied in relation to the pressures they felt during periods of transition.
The results of the survey were released last week, and they make for the interesting reading. For example, people used to take for granted that the older they were, the more pressure they felt.
But, surprisingly, the results have shown that young people in their twenties are the most stressed. This is because young people are forming their values at a time when Chinese society is undergoing great changes, explained Chen Long, a member of the survey team.
“Society is changing and neither their parents nor their teachers can teach them enough to know how to cope with it,” Chen said. Some of them get anxious from the overwhelming amount of information in the wired world, Chen added.
Another problem is that the economic reforms have forced people to develop a more competitive attitude. Those surveyors said they felt more pressure from heavier work-loads, increased peer competition, and greater responsibilities.
Medical disputes and business activities increasingly find their way into people’s free time and simply add to their stress, the survey showed.
Then there is the pressure to achieve more also weighing heavily on people. This is particularly true for those with higher education. Those people really want to acquire new knowledge and use their ability to get ahead and get more out of society.
The researchers hope their survey will throw some light on the state of mental health among the Chinese during this period of major economic and political reforms.
61．Which of the following is one of the reasons for the pressures people felt?
A．people are forming their values.
B．Chinese society is not undergoing a period of transition.
C．The economic reforms have forced young people to develop a more competitive attitude.
D．People with higher education really want to achieve more.
62．What does the underlined word “they” refer to?
A．People getting stressed. B．The results of the survey.
C．Periods of transition. D．The researchers.
63．According to Huang, people with pressure are likely to ____.
A．form their values B．achieve more out of society
C．lose their temper D．make for interesting reading
64．The purpose of the author in writing this article is to ____.
A．share the state of people with pressure
B．tell us how to deal better with pressure
C．advise people to develop an active attitude to life
D．attract more attention to people’s mental health
How did Ancient People Tell Time?
Natural ways of keeping time．
In ancient time, people had to use the sun and the moon to tell time. They got up when the sun came up and worked in the fields until the sun went down．
Man-made things
The sand c1ock is made of two glass balls joined by a narrow neck．The
top ball was filled with sand．The sand slowly moved through the neck into the bottom ball．People knew how much time had passed when all the sand had fallen to the bottom ball．
People also made the water clock．They made a small hole near the bottom of a pot．Then they filled the pot with water．Markings inside the pot showed how much time passed as the water dripped(滴)out of the hole．
Nature’s C1ocks in Living Things
Animals’ Body Clock
Animals do not need clocks to know time．They have a way of telling time by their bodies．Birds know when to fly to warmer places before winter．some animals know when to keep more food for the cold winter months．Some fish know when it is time to move up the river and lay eggs．
Plants have their own clocks
Plants also have their own clocks to keep time．Plants know when to open flowers or when to drop their leaves．
The Body Clock in Human Beings
People also have their own body clocks．When we get used to our lives，our body clocks can be very accurate．It can tell us when it is time to wake up．It can also tell us when to eat or to go to sleep.
68．How could an ancient farmer know when to go back home from the field in the daytime?
A．By looking at the stars． B．By looking at the moon．
C．By looking at the sun． D．By feeling whether tired or not．
69．In what way is the sand clock the same as the water clock in telling time?
A．Both of them have a neck． B．Both of them have two glass balls．
C．Both of them can be used only once． D．Both of them give the time by quantity．
70．What is the best title for the whole passage?
A．Man—made clocks B．Nature’s clocks C．Time and clock D．How people keep time
Not long ago, people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old. Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life.
Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment. They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes. A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregiver. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human beings.
One study shows that babies can learn before they are born. The researchers placed a tape recorder on the stomach of a pregnant woman. Then, they played a recording of a short story. On the day the baby was born, the researchers attempted to find if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while in his mother. They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby.
The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way. If the baby moved his mouth the other way, he would hear a different story. The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born. They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again.
Another study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in their children.
Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years. The researchers attempted to measure the sensitivity of the mothers. The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children’s activities and did not interfere unnecessarily. They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old. Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression.
The children of depressed women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not suffer from depression. The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they hear.
These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people. The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their children. Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when they suffered from depression.
64. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT the factor that influences intelligence development in babies?
A. The environment. B. Mother’s sensitivity.
C. Their peers(同龄人) D. Education before birth.
65. What is the purpose of the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories?
A. To prove that babies can learn before they are born.
B. To prove that babies can learn on the first day they are born.
C. To show mothers can strongly influence intelligence development in their babies.
D. To indicate early education has a deep effect on the babies’ language skills.
66. Which group of children did the worst in tests of language skills?
A. The children of depressed mothers who cared little for their children.
B. The children of women who did not suffer from depression.
C. The children of depressed but caring mothers.
D. Children with high communication abilities.
67. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Scientific findings about how babies develop before birth.
B. Scientific findings about how the environment has an effect on babies’ intelligence.
C. A study shows babies are not able to learn things until they are rice or six months old.
D. Scientific findings about how intelligence develops in babies.
“Clothes make the man” goes the old saying. Many people believe clothing choices say a lot about character as well as social status.
People adopt some kind of style in daily life, usually because they are trying to fit in with certain surroundings or show their connection to a particular group, says German image consultant Beatrix Isabel Lied. This means that people use clothing to send signals to those around them: The wearer of a black polo-neck sweater (套头圆领毛衣) might be an artist, an educated man or an architect. Outdoor and nature-loving types tend to choose weatherproof （防风雨的）jackets and durable shoes instead. Women usually spend more time on clothes than men.
“Clothing is not only an expression of taste, but also an expression of attitude,” says Lied.
According to style advisor Lisa Zimmermann from Berlin, there is nothing superficial (肤浅的) about judging people by the clothes they wear. “It's about the famous first 10 seconds, which is all it takes to make an impression,” she says.
Apart from material, Zimmermann believes people, whether consciously or unconsciously, choose a color, which they believe suits them and the situation.
Different colors can produce different effects. Black signals a sense of being something special, and it also stands for concentration. Blue, the color of the sky, stands for pragmatism (实用主义) and intellect (知识分子). “It is the color of power,” says Zimmermann. Red clothing gets the wearer noticed and can indicate an outgoing character. Yellow stands for cheerfulness and optimism, while pink is naturally the most romantic of colors.
Experts say it is important to be aware of the meanings of particular colors, which can vary a lot between different cultures.
What does the underlined sentence in the first paragraph mean?
Clothes can decide what a man’s job is.
Clothes can tell us whether a person is really a man.
Clothes can tell us about a man’s character and social position.
Clothes can help us choose our life style.
According to Lied, an artist might wear ____________.
A. a black polo-neck sweater B. weatherproof jackets
C. nature-loving types D. a red sweater
Lisa Zimmermann believes____________.
A. there is something wrong with judging people by what they wear
B. there is nothing wrong with judging people by what they wear
C. people usually choose what they believe suits them and the situation consciously
D. people usually choose what they believe suits them and the situation unconsciously
What color stands for concentration?
A. Black. B. Blue. C. Red D. Pink
Which sentence is true according to the passage?
In different cultures, colors mean the same.
In different cultures, colors mean different things.
In different cultures, different colors can produce the same effect.
In different cultures, different colors can produce different effects.