Spring is just around the corner and it’s a time to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors．Here is a selection of festivals around the country that are a great excuse to travel and get back in the spring sunshine．
Dana Point Festival of the Whales
Dana Point, California
March 7 to 8 and 14 to 15, 2010
Each year, over two sunny weekends in March the town of Dana Point, California celebrates the return of migratory California gray whales to this part of the Pacific Ocean．Festivities include whale-watching, an arts festival and educational hands-on activities for the entire family．Prices start at $29 per adult and $19 for children．For more information, visit: www．dpfestivalofwhales．com
Chandler Ostrich Festival
Chandler, Arizona
March 13 to 15, 2010
Chandler is the center of ostrich（鸵鸟） ranching （农牧场工作） in the USA．You can see jockeys ride these feathered beasts around the ostrich track at Tumbleweed Park．General admission is $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, $7 for children aged 5 to 12 and kids 4 and under are free．For more information visit:
www．ostrichfestival．com
Festival of Houses and Gardens
Charleston, South Carolina
March 19 to April 18, 2010
The Historic Charleston Foundation gives curious travelers the opportunity to explore gardens of some of the finest private residences in America．Each 3-hour tour （afternoons from 2 to 5 pm and evenings from 6 to 9 pm） lets you visit 8 to 10 properties dating from the American colonial period．Prices range from $25 to $45．For more information, visit:
www．historiccharleston．org
Tulip Time Festival
Holland, Michigan
May 1 to 9, 2010
You don’t need to travel to the Netherlands this spring to see and smell some of the world’s finest tulips （郁金香）．The town of Holland is home to millions of colorful bulbs. The 81st annual Tulip Time Festival, one of the largest flower festivals in America will kick off with fireworks on May 1．Admission fee ranges from $6 for the children’s area to $38 for theatre tickets．Tickets and more information are available at www．tuliptime．com.A couple with their 4-year-old son will go whale-watching, they have to pay _____．
| A．$77 | B．$58 | C．$38 | D．$48 |
The underlined word “jockeys” in the passage is closest in meaning to _____．
| A．judges | B．riders | C．children | D．travelers |
If you want to learn about the history of American colonial period, you can visit .
| A．Tulip Time | B．Houses and Gardens |
| C．Dana Point of the whales | D．Chandler Ostrich |
It can be concluded that .
| A．all the festivals are held in March | B．all the Festivals are concerned with animals |
| C．all the Festivals surely interest children | D．all the Festivals are held in the U.S.A |
Suppose you are working as a manager in a famous company in China, and you will be sent to New York for a further study soon, but you don't think your English is good enough. So you are looking for a place where you can improve your English, especially your spoken English.
Here are some advertisements about English language training from newspapers. You may find the information you need.
. What is special about the 2lst Century English Training Centre?
| A．Its teaching quality is better. |
| B．It is the nearest to the city center. |
| C．Its courses are more advanced. |
| D．It requires an entrance examination. |
. Which school will you choose if you are busy in the daytime?
| A．Global English Center and Modern Language School. |
| B．Global English Center and the International House of English. |
| C．Modern Language School and the 2lst Century English Training Centre. |
| D．The 2lst Century English Training Centre and the International House of English. |
. If you prefer to have English course on weekends, which telephone number will you call?
| A．67353019. | B．67705272. |
| C．67801642. | D．67432308. |
London has become a cycle friendly zone after the launch of a new bike hire scheme. It has been designed to encourage more people to cycle in and around central London.
So how does it work? First you have to sign up to the scheme to be sent a key. The key will unlock one of the bikes, which are kept at docking stations in and around central London. You have to pay an access fee for the key and then you pay as you go, for the length of time you use the bike.
Transport for London, which runs the scheme, is hoping to have 6,000 bikes and 400 docking stations in place by the end of the year. The new hire system is hoping to ease congestion (拥挤 ) in London and is expected to create up t0 40 ,000 extra cycle trips a day into the city centre. London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the scheme and said London had been 6ifilled with thousands of gleaming machines that will transform the look and feel of our streets and become as commonplace on our roads as black cabs and red buses".
However, there have been a few problems since the scheme was launched last Friday. On the first day some people found they couldn't dock their bike properly and their usage of the bike had not registered. Transport for London did admit they had been expecting a few "teething problems" and have said they wouldn't charge for the first day as a "gesture of goodwill". Some other people have criticized the lack of docking stations and locks for the bikes as well as the price it costs to hire the bicycles.
Despite the comments, the green-thinking London Mayor still seems very positive about things, saying, "My campaign for the capital to become the greatest big cycling city in the world has taken a big pedal-powered push forwards. ". London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the new bike scheme in order to______.
| A．reduce the air pollution of the city |
| B．deal with the city's traffic problems |
| C．increase employment opportunities |
| D．encourage the citizens to take exercises |
. If you want to hire a bike, in which order will you do?
a. pay for the key to a bike
b. sign up as a member to get a key
c. cycle in and around central London
d. pay for the bike according to the time you use it
| A．b→a→c→d | B．b→d→c→a |
| C．d→c→b→a | D．d→b→c→a |
. All the following are the problems of the scheme EXCEPT_____.
| A．the high cost to hire a bike |
| B．docking the bikes properly |
| C．not registering their usage of the bikes |
| D．not charging for the first day of the scheme |
. From the passage, we can infer that_______.
| A．the cycling revolution is not successful |
| B．all the citizens in London support the scheme |
| C．the London Mayor is confident in the scheme |
| D．the scheme will be cancelled because of the problems |
Over 500 dogs being delivered to a butcher house were saved by a Chinese animal protection organization. The incident then resulted in a debate among Chinese netizens about the necessity of pouring so much money and efforts into saving dogs.
On Friday, a truck loaded with over 500 dogs was stopped by volunteers from animal protection organization on Beijing section of Jingha expressway.
Beijing Times reported these dogs were being delivered to slaughter houses in the city of Changchun, northeast one in Jilin Province and would be eventually served on dinner tables.
After negotiations (协商) with the truck driver and a philanthropic (慈善) founda tion, Shangshan Foundation purchased these dogs with much money. Dogs were then delivered to the headquarter of China Small Animal Protection Association (CSAPA) , being taken care of and waiting for adoption.
After the dog saving mission was reported, Chinese net users debate over whether saving dogs worth so much efforts and money while there are still many poor and needy people in China lacking assistance.
Some net users argue the dog saving mission is placing too much attention to animals while lots of needy people are still left unattended.
A microblogger "Xiaowulaitajie" said on China's twitter-like website, weibo. com, "Dogs are saved, adopted and they attracted media attention. We'd better spend such money and take such efforts in helping the needy people. "
Another microblogger, Liluping, said "We poured such huge sum of money into saving dogs. I would rather the money be spent on disaster relief. "
Some applaud volunteers' actions and show eagerness of offering their helping hands to those saved dogs.
Still many disapprove those "saving dogs" critics. They argue that such act nevertheless embodies social progress.
A microblogger named "broken bridge" said, saving dogs does not go against taking care of people. Such enthusiasm in public affairs will help raise social awareness in helping the needy.
I think people and animals are created equal. Attention should be paid to people as well as animals.. According to the passage, we know the article probably comes from________ .
| A．a science fiction | B．a TV programme |
| C．the Internet | D．a magazine |
. Which one has the similar meaning to the underlined word “embodies”?
| A．express. | B．share. |
| C．emphasize. | D．prevent. |
. Whose opinion is closest to the writer's?
| A．Some net users'. | B．Liluping's. |
| C． Broken bridge 's. | D． Xiaowulaitajie's. |
. What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．Why some people disagree to save the 500 dogs. |
| B．How the volunteers saved the 500 dogs to be killed. |
| C．These dogs were finally saved and sent back to their owners. |
| D．Different Chinese net users have different opinions on the mission. |
When I left my bag on a train, I lost my most precious possession, a small framed photograph of my great grandparents, Emily and Gordon Baker. The frame was made of silver, with an elegant flower design in one corner. The photograph was taken in March 1939 0n their wedding day. Emily looked very happy, and Gordon looked rather a larmed. A few months later, he was killed in action in North Africa. I received the photograph when my aunt Mabel died.
I'm a student at Edinburgh University and I live in an old Edwardian house. At the end of last term, I packed a large bag and a small bag and set off for London, where I was planning to catch the Eurostar train to Paris. Minutes after getting off the train at Kings Cross Station, I realized that I'd left the small bag in the overhead luggage rack. I ran back to the train, but it had already left the platform. www.com
This all happened several months ago, and I had become resigned to the loss of my most precious possession. then last week, something extraordinary happened. I logged onto the site ~ eBay and looked for a silver photo frame and I found it ! The photo of my great grandparents was on eBay !
I called the person who was advertising it. He was a little suspicious(怀疑 ) at first, and told me that he had bought it from a stall at an antique market. After we talked for a while, he asked if there was any way I could prove it was mine. All I could think of was that the photo was taken in March 1939. He opened the frame and made sure that this date was written by hand on the back of the photograph.
“It ' s definitely yours. " he said. "Come and get it ! ". The author's most precious possession was.
| A．A wedding photo in a silver frame taken in North Africa |
| B．A pretty family portrait in a silver frame taken in 1939 |
| C．A special photo of his great grandparents in a silver frame |
| D．A common photograph of his grandparents taken by Mabel |
. Which of the statement about the author is not wrong?
| A．He left the photo on a train and never got it back. |
| B．He put the photo in a small bag and left it on a train. |
| C．He left the photo on the Eurostar and ran back to get it. |
| D．He left the photo at his old Edwardian house in Edinburgh |
. The man advertising the frame proved it was the author's.
| A．by calling the seller up immediately |
| B．according to the price of the silver frame |
| C．by the author's explanation about the photo |
| D．by the date written on the back of the photo |
. It can be inferred that the author felt______when he found the silver photo on eBay.
| A．nervous | B．excited |
| C．disappointed | D．worried |
The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place. But this is no longer true.
Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must take care of the rise in pollution at the same time. _________, our world is becoming much smaller.
| A．Because of the rise in pollution |
| B．Thanks to science development |
| C．Because the earth is being polluted day and night |
| D．Because the earth is blown away by the wind every year |
. Hundreds of years ago, life was ____ it is today.
| A．much easier than | B．as easy as |
| C．much harder than | D．as hard as |
Pollution comes in many ways. We can even hear it. Here “it” refers to ____.
| A．rubbish | B．noise pollution |
| C．air pollution | D．water pollution |
Air pollution is still the most serious kind of pollution because ________.
| A．it makes much noise |
| B．it makes us angry more easily |
| C．it makes our rivers and lakes dirty |
| D．it’s bad for all living things in the world |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. |
| B．The pollution of the earth grows as fast as the world population does. |
| C．The problem of pollution is not so serious because there are not so many people on the earth. |
| D．If people could go to work by bus or bike instead of car or motorbike, it would be helpful in fighting against the problem of SO2. |