Beijing opera or Peking opera （Pinyin: Jīngjù） is a form of Chinese opera which arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century．The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China．Major performance troupes （剧团，戏班子） are based in Beijing and Tianjin in the north，and Shanghai in the south．The art form is also enjoyed in Taiwan，and has spread to other countries such as the United States and Japan.
Beijing opera features four main types of performers．Performing troupes often have several of each variety，as well as numerous secondary and tertiary performers．With their elaborate （认真的，精心的） and colorful costumes，performers are the only focal points on Beijing opera's characteristically small stage．They make use of the skills of speech，song，dance，and combat in movements that are symbolic and suggestive，rather than realistic．Above all else，the skill of performers is evaluated according to the beauty of their movements．Performers also hold a variety of stylistic conventions that help audiences navigate the plot of the production．The layers of meaning within each movement must be expressed in time with music．The music of Beijing opera can be divided into the Xipi and Erhuang styles．Melodies include arias （唱腔），fixed-tune melodies，and percussion patterns．The repertoire of Beijing opera includes over 1,400 works，which are based on Chinese history，folklore，and，increasingly，contemporary life.
In recent years，Beijing opera has attempted numerous reforms in response to sagging audience numbers．These reforms，which include improving performance quality，adapting new performance elements，and performing new and original plays，have met with mixed success．Some Western works have been adopted as new plays，but a lack of funding and an adverse political climate have left Beijing opera's fate uncertain as the form enters the 21st century．How long has Beijing Opera become a popular art form?
| A．About one and a half centuries. |
| B．More than two centuries. |
| C．More than one century. |
| D．About half a century. |
How many art forms of Beijing Opera at present?
| A．Two including Beijing and Tianjin，and Shanghai in the south. |
| B．Two including Beijing and Tianjin in the north. |
| C．Three including Beijing and Tianjin，and Shanghai in the south and Taiwan. |
| D．Five including Beijing and Tianjin，and Shanghai in the south，Taiwan，US and |
What are the features of the performers’ movements of Beijing Opera?
| A．Elaborate. | B．Colourful. |
| C．Realistic . | D．Representative. |
Which of the followings is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Performers can take different stylistic traditions in the plays. |
| B．The standard to estimate a performer is the amount of his/her movements. |
| C．It’s necessary to keep movements along the music in time. |
| D．The content of Beijing Opera is plentiful but much fixed. |
What will be the future of the Beijing Opera?
| A．Very bright. | B．Certainly good. |
| C．Much uncertain. | D．More popular. |
Today, nearly 400 animals are listed as threatened or endangered animals in the United States. Many are at risk of becoming extinct or disappearing permanently. Unless efforts to save these vulnerable(易受攻击的) animals succeed, many of the country's greatest creatures will be lost forever. From the facts listed, guess which animals are endangered. Click on the picture to find out more about each of these animals in trouble.
American Crocodile
●American crocodiles are about 12 feet long. They live on land and in shallow water, swamps and marshes.
●American crocodiles like to float in the water with only their eyes and noses above the water surface.
●American crocodiles eat mostly small animals, which they grab with their strong jaws and sharp teeth.
●American crocodiles lay eggs. They hide their eggs under twigs and leaves, or bury them in the sand.
●Some crocodiles help their young hatch, and then carry them to the water in their mouth.
Habitat
Southern Florida, Mexico, Central and South American, Caribbean islands.
Why It's Endangered
Overhunted for its skin and habitat destruction.
Peninsular Bighorn Sheep
●Bighorn sheep can weigh as much as 280 pounds and stand about 3 feet tall.
●They live in dry, desert mountain ranges, near rocky cliffs.
●Bighorn sheep eat grass, twigs and leaves.
●Male sheep are called rams and can be recognized by their huge, brown horns. The horns curl back over the ears, down，and up past the cheeks.
●They live in herds or groups. The male sheep with the biggest horns are usually in charge. Male horns can weigh as much as 30 pounds.
●Males will use their massive horns to fight. The fights can last as long as 24 hours.
●Females are called ewes. They are smaller than rams and have shorter, smaller horns.
Habitat
Nevada and California to west Texas and south into Mexico.
Why It's Endangered
Loss of habitat, hunting illegally, drought and disease.Where can the article be found according to the passage?
| A．Newspaper. | B．Website. |
| C．Student book. | D．Magazine. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the description about American crocodiles?
| A．American crocodiles live on land and in swamps and marshes. |
| B．American crocodiles hide their eggs under leaves, or bury them in the sand. |
| C．American crocodiles grab small animals with their strong jaws and sharp teeth. |
| D．American crocodiles like to float with their eyes and nose below the water surface. |
Where can we find both American crocodiles and Bighorn sheep according to the passage?
| A．Southern Florida. | B．California. |
| C．Mexico. | D．West Texas. |
Rams make use of their massive horns to ________.
| A．master the herds | B．show their beauty |
| C．fight with others | D．hunt for food |
What can be the best title?
| A．Animals in Danger |
| B．American Crocodile |
| C．Peninsular Bighorn Sheep |
| D．How to Save Animals in Danger |
Most young people enjoy some forms of physical activities. It may be walking, cycling or swimming, or in winter, skating or skiing. It may be a game of some kind, football, hockey, golf, or tennis, it may be mountaineering.
Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take risks on high mountaineering? This astonishment is caused probably by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give their leisure.
Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no manmade rules, as there are for such game as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of a different kind, which would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from manmade rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.
If we compare mountaineering with other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a “game”. We would be mistaken in this assumption. There are, it is true, no “matches” between “teams” of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously teamwork.
The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport requires high mental and physical capacities.
A mountain climber continues to improve in skill year after year. A skier is probably past his prime by the age of thirty, and most international tennis champions are in their early twenties. But it is not unusual for a man of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men, but they probably climb with more skill and less wasted effort, and they certainly experience enjoyment.Mountaineering is a sport which involves all the following things EXCEPT ______.
| A．hardship | B．comfort |
| C．physical risk | D．cold |
The main difference between a sport and a game lies in origin of the ________.
| A．uniform | B．activity |
| C．skills | D．rules |
Mountaineering is also a team sport because ________.
| A．it involves rules as well |
| B．it involves matches between teams |
| C．mountaineers depend on each other while climbing |
| D．it requires mental and physical qualifications |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Mountaineers compete against nature. |
| B．Mountaineers compete against teams. |
| C．Mountaineers compete against each other. |
| D．Mountaineers compete against international standard. |
What is the best title for the text?
| A．Mountain Climbers. |
| B．Mountaineering. |
| C．Mountaineering is gaining popularity. |
| D．Mountaineering is More Dangerous than Other Sports. |
It is difficult for doctors to help a person with a damaged brain. Without enough blood, the brain lives for only three to five minutes. More often the doctors can’t fix the damage. Sometimes they are afraid to try something to help because it is dangerous to work on the brain. The doctors might make the person worse if he operates on the brain.
Dr. Robert White, a famous professor and doctor, thinks he knows a way to help. He thinks doctors should make the brain very cold. If it is very cold, the brain can live without blood for 30 minutes. This gives the doctor a longer time to do something for the brain.
Dr. White tried his idea on 13 monkeys. First he taught them to do different jobs, and then he operated on them. He made the monkeys' blood go through a machine. The machine cooled the blood. Then the machine sent the blood back to the monkeys' brains. When the brain’s temperature was 10°C, Dr. White stopped the blood to the brain. After 30 minutes he turned the blood back on. He warmed the blood again. After their operations the monkeys were like they had been before. They were healthy and busy. Each one could still do the jobs the doctor had taught them.The biggest difficulty in operating on the damaged brain is that _______.
| A．the time is too short for doctors |
| B．the patients are often too nervous |
| C．the damage is extremely hard to fix |
| D．The blood cooling machine might break down |
The brain operation was made possible mainly by _______.
| A．taking the blood out of the brain |
| B．trying the operation on monkeys first |
| C．having the blood go through a machine |
| D．lowering the brain’s temperature |
With Dr. White’s new idea, the operation on the damaged brain ______.
| A．can last as long as 30 minutes |
| B．can keep the brain’s blood warm |
| C．can keep the patient’s brain healthy |
| D．can help monkeys do different jobs |
The role of a newspaper is to present and comment on the news. It is vital for keeping people well-informed on current affairs. In most Western countries, journalists try to shape the ideas and opinions of their readers, since in Western countries all newspapers are independent of the government. Some newspaper owners support liberal ideas including economic policies that help poor people. Other owners want policies such as lower taxes for rich people and less money to be given to poor people. You can almost judge the political ideas of a person in the West by looking at the newspaper he reads.
All newspapers report national and international news. They give the facts but also provide opinions on controversial issues in the editorials and columns of opinion. The readers of the newspaper can also comment on these editorials or articles. There are many informative articles too as well as reviews of new films and books, etc. These are very important, for if a film or book gets good reviews it will often become more successful.
All these articles require many journalists who are experts in different areas of life. All these articles come together and are checked by the chief editor of the newspaper. When he or she has made a decision on the articles, the newspaper is prepared for printing. All this work means that the journalists must work together as a team because there is a lot of pressure when you work in a newspaper office. There are constant deadlines and articles have to be fitted round advertisements, photographs and much, much more.What articles comment on controversial issues?
| A．Editorials and opinion columns. |
| B．News stories. |
| C．Some of the informative articles. |
| D．Jokes and humor. |
Which is true about the journalists in Western countries?
| A．There’s no time limit for their report articles. |
| B．They have no right to influence the readers’ opinions. |
| C．A newspaper can come out with just a journalist working individually. |
| D．Journalists must submit their articles before the due date. |
Why are good reviews important to books?
| A．Good reviews are excellent introduction to books. |
| B．Readers especially favor books with good reviews. |
| C．Good reviews can make readers feel relaxed and comfortable. |
| D．Good reviews can bring a large circulation of the books reviewed. |
Which of the following sentences best fits at the end of the last paragraph?
| A．The number of people needed to produce a newspaper varies greatly. |
| B．The staff of a daily newspaper is headed by a publisher. |
| C．The articles printed in the newspaper should cover national and international affairs. |
| D．The entire staff must operate as a well-drilled team if the papers are to reach homes and news-stands on schedule. |
Let’s say a person gets up at 7:00 in the morning and goes to bed at 11:00 at night. He comes home from work about 6:30, and by the time he has finished with dinner it is after 8:00. He steps outside in the summer to relax — but it’s already getting dark! Not much time to enjoy the summer day.
Now suppose you set the clock ahead one hour. This person still does everything at the same time — but this time, when he steps out at 8:00 there’s still plenty of light to enjoy. An hour of daylight has been “saved” for him!
Daylight saving time doesn’t, of course, add any hours to a day. This is impossible. All it does is to increase the number of useful hours of daylight during the seasons when the sun rises early.
Daylight saving is most popular in cities. It allows the closing of offices, shops, and factories at the end of the working day while the sun is still high. Farmers, who do their work by sun time, usually do not observe daylight saving time. They cannot work in the field before the morning dew(露水) has dried or after it appears in the evening.
Did you know who first thought of daylight saving time? It was Benjamin Franklin! When he was living in France in the 18th century, he suggested the idea to the people in Paris. But it was not adopted then.
Daylight saving laws were first passed during World WarⅠ, when materials for making electricity was hard to find, and when it was necessary to save on artificial light. With daylight saving, the bedtime of many people comes soon after it gets dark, while without it, if people stay up until the same hour they may have to use artificial light.
Germany was the first country to adopt daylight saving time in 1915. Then England used it in 1916, and the United States adopted it in 1918.What does the underlined word “artificial” mean?
| A．natural | B．man-made |
| C．bright | D．sun |
What’s the purpose of adopting daylight saving time?
| A．To have more artificial light. |
| B．To have one more hour to work. |
| C．To make better use of daylight in certain seasons. |
| D．To have one more hour to rest. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Once the idea of daylight saving time is proposed, it was adopted. |
| B．The idea of daylight saving time went through a long process of being adopted. |
| C．It was a French scientist that put forward the idea of daylight saving time. |
| D．The idea of daylight saving time didn’t make any difference at all. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Winter is a good season for daylight saving time. |
| B．Daylight saving time is especially good for wars. |
| C．Daylight saving time is good for anyone in any places. |
| D．Not all seasons are good for daylight saving time. |