English is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. One in every seven human beings can speak it. More than half of the world’s books and three quarters of international mail are in English. Of all languages, English has the largest vocabulary—perhaps as many as two million words.
However, let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no eggs in an eggplant, neither pine nor apple in a pineapple and no ham in a hamburger. Sweet-meats are candy, while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But when we explore its paradoxes ( 探讨它的矛盾)， we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, public bathrooms have no baths in them.
And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, and hammers don’t ham? If the plural(复数形式) of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be teeth? One goose, two geese—so one moose, two meese?
How can a slim chance and a flat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects( 反映) the creativity of human beings. That’ why, when stars are invisible. And why , when I wind up my watch, I start it; but when I wind up this essay, I end it.According to the passage ______.
| A．sweet-meats and sweetbreads are different things |
| B．there should be an egg in an eggplant |
| C．pineapples are the apples on the pine tree |
| D．boxing rings should be round |
Which of the following is the correct plural?
| A．Beeth | B．Greese | C．Meese | D．Tooth |
Which of the following includes two items which have the similar meaning?
| A．A wise man and a wise guy | B．Overlook and oversee |
| C．Quite a lot and quite a few. | D．Hot as hell and cold as hell. |
The underlined words “wind up” in the last paragraph probably mean “___”.
| A．blow | B．roll up | C．get hurt | D．finish |
Through the many paradoxes in the English language, the writer wants to show that human beings are _______.
| A．clever | B．crazy | C．lazy | D．dull |
A holiday is any day when people lay aside their ordinary duties and cares. The word came from Old English. At first, holidays honored some holy events or persons. People in Great Britain and other countries speak of holidays as Americans speak of vacations.
Every nation has its special holidays. China observes New Year’s Day (January 1), May Day and National Day as legal (法定的)holidays , as it was on Oct.1,1949 that the People’s Republic of China was founded. The Chinese have long celebrated the Chinese lunar year. In the United States, congress has declared several days as legal holidays such as New Year’s Day (January 1), Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, Washington’s birthday, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and so on. Some holidays celebrated special events in the development of a country, such as Greece’s Independence Day, Italy’s Liberation Day and India’s Independence Day.
In the United States, banks and schools usually close on a legal holiday. When such a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is usually observed. Schools and organizations often observe days known as traditional holidays, although schools and business do not close then. Those holidays include Valentine’s Day and Halloween.From the passage we know that China’s National Day is _______
| A．January1 | B．May 1 |
| C．October1 | D．December25 |
In the sentence “China observes New Year’s Day (January 1)’’, observe means ______
| A．praises | B．spends | C．celebrates | D．cares |
From the passage we can infer that _______
| A．Chinese will no longer observe the Spring Festival |
| B．students don’t have to go to school on any holiday |
| C．Chinese and Americans share at least one holiday |
| D．Americans can easily draw money from banks on legal days. |
Which of the following holidays has nothing to do with a country’s development?
| A．China’s National Day | B．Valentine’s Day |
| C．Italy’s liberation Day | D．Independence Day |
If a legal holiday falls on Sunday in the USA, people usually celebrate on ______.
| A．Sunday | B．the following |
| C．the following Monday | D．the following Tuesday. |
Poor families in some countries spend as much as eighty percent of their money on food. Rising prices in recent months have created the worst food crisis(危机) in more than thirty years. The United Nations World Food Program says high food prices could push one hundred million people into hunger.
Nathan Childs is an expert on rice markets. He notes that the harvest for the latest growing season was the largest on record. But India, Vietnam and others have restricted exports(限制出口) to keep prices down at home and protect supplies.
Thailand’s agriculture minister says his country will never restrict rice exports. He told the Reuters news agency Thursday that Thailand has enough supplies to meet demand at home and for export.
Thailand is the world’s largest rice exporter. Recent signs of an increase in supplies have helped ease record prices for Thai rice. Prices rose last week above one thousand dollars a ton.
Vietnam, the second biggest exporter, has banned(禁止) exports until June. And Vietnamese officials have now warned that non-food traders who buy rice for speculation(投机活动)will be severely punished.
Some experts say speculation is a necessary part of market activity. But the head of the U.N. Environment Program blames it for the high food prices. “We have enough food on this planet today to feed everyone.” Achim Steiner told the Associated Press.
Earlier, a member of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission didn’t accept the idea that speculators are the main cause. Bart Chilton blamed reduced harvests and grain supplies and the falling value of the dollar.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called heads of major international agencies to a meeting this week in the Swiss capital, Bern. He says high food prices could harm world trade, economic growth, social progress and political security.What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Vietnam has banned rice exports to other countries. |
| B．Thailand is the largest rice exporter in the world. |
| C．Some families are too poor to afford enough food. |
| D．Rising prices of food have led to the world food crisis. |
Which country restricted food exports according to the passage?
A. Thailand. B. Switzerland. C. Vietnam. D. The USA.All of the following are the results of rising prices of food EXCEPT ____.
| A．the worst food crisis |
| B．reduced harvests and grain supplies |
| C．people spending more money on food |
| D．pushing one hundred million people into hunger |
What is the reason for the speculation according to the head of the U.N. Environment Program?
| A．High food prices. |
| B．The falling value of the dollar. |
| C．Enough rice supplies in some countries. |
| D．Restricted food exports in some countries. |
Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.
The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts hardly lose their pumping power with age.
“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age.” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. “Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70. one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the ageing process.”
What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.
“This gender(性别)difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink.
They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on heahhy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease.
The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart, said Goldspink.
The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.The underlined word “longevity” in the second paragraph probably refers to _____.
| A．health | B．long life | C．ageing | D．effect |
The text mainly talks about ______.
| A．men’s heart cells | B．women’s ageing process |
| C．the gender difference | D．hearts and long life |
According to the text, the UK scientists have known that _____.
| A．women have more cells than men when they are born |
| B．women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat |
| C．the female heart loses few of the cells with age |
| D．women never lose their pumping power with age |
We can know from the passage that ______.
| A．scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells |
| B．the reason why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out |
| C．the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss |
| D．wome over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20 |
When you learn reading, nlath, and other subjects taught in school from your parents or teaehers who come to your house, it’s called homeschooling. A kid may be the only one, or he may be taught with brothers, sisters, or kids from the neighborhood.
Parents choose to homeschool their children for many different reasons. Sometimes a kid is sick and can’t go to regular school. But more often, kids are homeschooled beeause their parents feel they can give their children a better education than the local school can. Patents also may choose homeschooling because they want their children’s education to include religious (宗教的) instruction, which isn’t offered at puhlie schools.
If you don’t like school, homeschooling might seem like the perfect solution. But it’s better for everyone if homeschooling isn’t chosen just as an escape from school or prohlems there. Finding solutions to the problem should be the first step.
Kids who are homeschooled may benefit from the one-on-one attention. For example, if you don’t understand something in math, the whole class won’t he moving on without you. You might be the whole class! It’s also possible that you might learn more than you would in a regular classroom, because if you really good at something, you can keep learning more at your own pace.
Kids who are homeschooled also may get out in their communities more than other kids. They may get to experience hands-on education at museums, libraries, businesses and other community resources. They also might volunteer or take part in “service learning” where they take on local projects.
No matter where a child goes to school, the key to learning is listening to the teacher and asking for help when you need it. A homeschooled child might feel more comfortable with his teacher (a parent), but the child still needs to pay attention and cooperate. Just like in a traditional school, teachers and students need to work together to achieve goals in the classroom.The passage mainly tells us ____.
| A．every kid should be taught at home |
| B．what homeschooling is and how it works |
| C．the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling |
| D．homeschooled kids should go out to do volunteer work |
What does the author think of homeschooling?
| A．It shouldn’t be encouraged at all. |
| B．It is not a good way to get educated. |
| C．It can offer kids what suits their needs. |
| D．It is only good for the kids who can’t go to school. |
The similarity of homeschooling and learning at school is that ____.
| A．students all should cooperate with their teachers |
| B．students don’t feel lonely |
| C．students all have many classmates |
| D．studenls all have more opportunities to get out |
Which of the following should NOT belong to the reasons why kids get homeschooled?
| A． They can get more benefits from homeschooling. |
| B．They can’t go to school because of their bad health. |
| C．They can learn something that is not taught in school. |
| D．They escape from school because they hate going to school |
Founded in 1764 by French traders, St. Louis today is the fifteenth largest urban area in the United States. There are many attractive destinations for touists．
★American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog
Dog lovers who visit St. Louis won’t want to miss this 14,000-square-foot museum. Inside are over 500 paintings，prints, watercolors，and a variety of other dog art objects.
The Museum is open year round，Tuesday through Saturday 10 AM to 4 PM, and Sunday 1 PM to 5 PM. Admission is ＄5 for adults，＄2.50 for seniors, and ＄1 for children up to 14.
★Anheuser Busch Brewery
The Anheuser Buxch Brewery tour is not just for beer lovers．The tour includes the historic Brew House．Then the tour continues to the modern Bevo Packaging Plant. The best will be the Budweiser Clydesdale stables. The tours are always free．
★Gateway Arch
Designed by Eero Sarinen and Hannskari Bandel, it took over two years and 900 tons of stainless steel to build. It is the tallest of the country’s National Monuments. The Arch is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. About one milion people per year come to the top of the Arch, where there is an observation platform providing a great view of the city.
★The St. Louis Zoo
First version of the St. Louis Zoo opened in 1904 at the St. Louis World’s Fair, but in the century since it has grown into one of the chief zoos in the world. The passenger train takes visitors around the Zoo，which contains over 9,000 animals of over 800 species.
The Zoo is open every day but Christmas and New Year，with summer hours of 8 AM to 7 PM，and hours the rest of the year of 9 AM to 5 PM．Admission to the Zoo is free．If a senior high school student plans to visit American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog with his parents and his five-year-old brother，he has to pay ______．
| A．＄8.5 | B．＄12 | C．＄13.5 | D．＄16 |
If you are interested in how to make beer，you can visit ________．
| A．The St. Louis Zoo |
| B．Anheuser Busch Brewery |
| C．Gateway Arch |
| D．American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog |
Which of the following statements about Gateway Arch is TRUE?
| A．People can see the city clearly on the top of the Arch. |
| B．It was designed by two famous Italian architects. |
| C．It took 900 tons of stainless steel and cement to build. |
| D．It is the largest of the country ‘s National Monuments. |
If you plan to visit the St. Louis Zoo, you can go there _____.
| A．on New Year ‘Day |
| B．on ChristmasDay |
| C．at 5:30 p.m. in winter |
| D．at 8:30 a.m. in summer |