The Carnival of Brazil is an annual festival held 46 days before Easter, especially famous for the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Carnival celebrations are believed to have roots in the festival of Saturnalia, which, adapted to Christianity, became a farewell to bad things in a season of religious discipline to regret and prepare for Christ’s death and coming back to life.
Modern Brazilian Carnival dates back to Rio de Janeiro in 1641. It originally copied the European form of the festival, later taking in elements of Native American and African cultures.
In the late 19th century, the strings (弦乐器) were introduced in Rio de Janeiro. These were pageant (游行) groups that paraded through city avenues performing on instruments and dancing. Today they are known as blocks, consisting of a group of people who dress in costumes or special T-shirts with themes or logos. Blocks are generally connected with particular neighborhoods; they include both a music group and a lot of revelers.
Block parades have become an expressive feature of Rio’s Carnival. Today, they number more than 100 and the groups increase each year. Blocks can be formed by small or large groups of revelers with a clear title. Before the show, they gather in a square, then parade in sections of the city, often near the beach.
Carnival time in Rio is very interesting, but is also the most expensive time to visit Rio. Hotel rooms and other lodgings (住宿) can be up to four times more expensive than the regular rates. There are big crowds at some locations and life is far from ordinary in many parts of town.What can we infer from the first paragraph?
| A．The Carnival of Brazil is often held after Easter. |
| B．The Carnival of Brazil comes from Easter and Saturnalia. |
| C．The Carnival of Brazil is a festival to regret and begin a new life. |
| D．The Carnival of Brazil is mainly to celebrate the birth of Christ. |
How long is the history of the people’s celebrating modern Brazilian Carnival?
| A．About 100 years. | B．Less than two centuries. |
| C．About 370 years. | D．Over five centuries. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about the blocks in Rio de Janeiro?
| A．They are always wearing costumes or special T-shirts with themes or logos. |
| B．They always parade through countryside villages singing and dancing. |
| C．There are no more than 50 blocks today. |
| D．They don’t parade before the show. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The famous carnivals in the world. |
| B．How the carnival was introduced in Brazil. |
| C．The carnival in Rio de Janeiro. |
| D．The happy life of the people in Rio de Janeiro. |
When he wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain turned to Hannibal. The relationship between Hannibal and Twain began in November 1839, when Twain’s father decided to leave the village in Florida and move east about 35 miles to the somewhat larger and more prosperous Hannibal, on the banks of the Mississippi River. Twain marked his fourth birthday about a week after the family settled there. He showed little promise of becoming a long-term resident. However, because his health was so poor that his parents probably feared he would not survive childhood.
During the family’s first few years in Hannibal, Twain was too young to understand fully the changes going on around him. About the time the family moved into their new home. Twain’s health improved a lot. Instead of having to lead a quiet indoor life, he could roam the streets of Hannibal. Climb the surrounding hills, explore the area’s caves and splash about in local swimming holes. He reveled in his newfound freedom, spending nearly all his free time playing outdoors with the other boys in town and soon becoming a leader.
Twain’s carefree days did not last long, on March 24, 1847, his father died. For the next six years, his brother Henry, and his sister Pamela lived with their mother in the family home. Twain began taking odd jobs after school to bring in extra money. Within a year of his father’s death, he quit school and became an apprentice (学徒) printer, and when his brother Orion bought the Hannibal Journal in 1851, Twain went to work for him as a printer and editorial assistant. The stories he wrote for Orion’s paper, his first publications, taught him that he much preferred writing to typesetting. Thus, when he decided to leave Hannibal in May 1853, he already had an idea of his future career. Why did little Mark Twain move and live in Hannibal?
| A．Because he wanted to live in a larger and more prosperous city. |
| B．Because his father brought him there. |
| C．Because he wanted to wrote his novels there. |
| D．Because he wanted to become a long-term resident of Hannibal. |
When did Mark Twain become healthy?
| A．As soon as he arrived in Hannibal. |
| B．At the time when his family moved into their old home. |
| C．After his father died. |
| D．At the time when his family moved into their new home. |
The last paragraph mainly tells us _________.
| A．the happy childhood of Mark Twain |
| B．how Mark Twain became a famous writer |
| C．how Mark Twain to earn money to support his family |
| D．why Mark decided to leave Hannibal |
The most important holiday in spring, especially for Christians, is Easter. This Christian holiday is not on the same date every year，but it’s always on a Sunday. It can be any Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Many people celebrate Easter by buying new clothes. Children celebrate by hunting for colored eggs that their parents have hidden around the house. People also give Easter baskets filled with candy and other goodies to one another to celebrate the day.
But the holiday is more than new clothes and good things to eat. On Easter, many people go to church to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection（复活）from the dead. Most people color Easter eggs. Some people hide them. Others just eat them. But no matter what one does with Easter eggs，they are an important Easter tradition throughout the Western world. People from many different cultures celebrate Easter. In both America and Belgium, children look for Easter eggs hidden on lawns and in bushes. In America, children believe the eggs are hidden by the Easter bunny (兔子).But in Belgium, the hidden eggs are supposed to have fallen from church bells. In Bulgaria (保加利亚), red Easter eggs are lucky in churches. Bulgarian families also hit these Easter eggs together to see whose is the strongest. The winner looks forward to good fortune that year. Still dozens of other Easter traditions exist. In parts of Austria，for example，children sing from door to door and are rewarded with colorful eggs.Easter comes _______.
| A．on the same date every year |
| B．on Sunday on March 22 |
| C．on Sunday on April 25 |
| D．on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 |
To celebrate Easter, people ___________.
| A．go shopping, hide colored eggs and children hunt for them |
| B．give Easter baskets filled candy and goodies to one another |
| C．buy new clothes, hide colored eggs and children look for them around the house |
| D．both B and C |
For Christians the more important thing to do on Easter is________.
| A．going to church to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection |
| B．buying new clothes |
| C．eating delicious food and paint color eggs |
| D．exchange beautiful gifts each other |
People from different cultures have different ideas about Easter egg _________.
| A．In both American and Belgium, children hunt for Easter eggs hidden in rooms and in bushes |
| B．In Belgium, the hidden eggs are thought to have fallen from doorbells |
| C．In American, children believe the eggs are hidden by the Easter bunny |
| D．In America, the hidden eggs are supposed to have fallen from doorbells |
In some places of Austria, children sing from door to door for_______.
| A．blesses | B．Easter eggs |
| C．candy and goodies | D．Easter bunny |
Most people know that Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and the first person to win it twice. However, few people know that she was also the mother of a Nobel Prize winner.
Born in September, 1897, Irene Curie was the first of the Curies’ two daughters. Along with nine other children whose parents were also famous scholars, Irene studied in their own school, and her mother was one of the teachers. She finished her high school education at the College of Sévigné in Paris.
Irene entered the University of Paris in 1914 to prepare for a degree in mathematics and physics. When World War I began, Irene went to help her mother, who was using X-ray facilities（设备） to help save the lives of wounded soldiers. Irene continued the work by developing X-ray facilities in military hospitals in France and Belgrum. Her services were recognized in the form of a Military’s Medal by the French government.
In 1918, Irene became her mother’s assistant at the Curie Institute. In December 1924, Frederic Joliot joined the Institute, and Irene taught him the techniques required for his work. They soon fell in love and were married in 1926. Their daughter Helene was born in 1927 and their son Pierre five years later.
Like her mother, Irene combined family and career. Like her mother, Irene was awarded a Nobel Prize, along with her husband, in 1935. Unfortunately, also like her mother, she developed leukemia because of her work with radioactivity（辐射能）. Irene Joliot-Curie died from leukemia （白血病）on March 17, 1956.Why was Irene Curie awarded a Military Medal?
| A．Because she received a degree in mathematics. |
| B．Because she contributed to saving the wounded. |
| C．Because she won the Nobel Prize with Frederic. |
| D．Because she worked as a helper to her mother. |
Where did Irene Curie meet her husband Frederio joliot?
| A．At the Curie Institute. |
| B．At the University of Paris. |
| C．At a military hospital. |
| D．At the College of Sevigne. |
When was the second child of Irene Curie and Frederic Joliot born?
| A．In 1932. | B．In 1927. | C．In 1897. | D．In 1926. |
In which of the following aspects was Irene Cuire different from her mother?
| A．Irene worked with radioactivity. |
| B．Irene combined family and career. |
| C．Irene won the Nobel Prize once |
| D．Irene died from leukemia. |
Accidents and illness are unhappy things to talk about, but no one can expect to live a lifetime without having some kind of accident or becoming ill. Some accidents and illnesses are serious and may result in long periods of invalidism.
The newspapers contain spectacular accounts of accidents in the street and highways and public places, but nearly as many accidents occur around the home. Somebody trips on a rug. Somebody falls off a stepladder. Somebody is careless in cooking dinner, and is burned. Accidents incurred in the playing of sports and swimming also accounts for a large number of injuries, big and little. Despite constant campaigns to reduce the number of accidents, there are still approximately 100,000 accidental deaths and nearly 9,000,000 nonfatal injuries in the United States each year.
It has been estimated that around 3,000,000 people are constantly ill in the United States throughout the year and that over half the illness is caused by respiratory diseases, chiefly colds and influenza.
The pain and suffering caused by accidents and illness tell only half the story. Loss of time from school and work and medical and hospital expenses often make the pain seem worse. Money spent in this country for doctors, services, hospitalization, nursing care, drugs, medicines, Xrays, and special treatments, amounts to a huge annual sum. Added to this expense is another much larger amount that is lost to wage earners throughout the nation by reason of their loss of wages or income while sick or otherwise disabled.
Accident and health insurance is a form of insurance devised to protect against these economic losses. It protects the earning of wage earners and finishes financial aid to the family of the breadwinner by the payment of his doctor and hospital bills. Today, business and professional men, farmers, industrial workers, clerks and those engaged in various occupations, whose earning power is shut off for a week, a month, or sometimes years, because of accidents or illness can insure themselves against this financial loss by accident and health insurance.
Protection is available to all types of workers and the cost(called the premium)ranges from a few cents a day for small or limited policies to a month for policies paying larger amounts(called indemnities). Policy is another name for an insurance contract(合同). Most accident and health policies are cancelable policies—that is, they are sold for a definite term such as a week, a month, or a year, similar to contracts of fire insurance and automobile liability insurance. There are, however, policies which cannot be canceled or terminated(终止)by the insurance company until the policyholder reaches an age at which he usually has no further earning power—most often at sixty or sixtyfive years. These noncancelable policies cost more than the cancelable policies.What is the passage mainly concerned about?
| A．Everyone will have some sort of illness or accident. |
| B．Accident and health insurance is available to everyone. |
| C．Cancelable insurance policies are better than noncancelable one. |
| D．Insurance is a good protection against accidents and illness. |
Every year in the United States there are________.
| A．more people die in accidents than of illness |
| B．more people who are ill than those injured in accidents |
| C．more outdoor accidents than indoor accidents |
| D．more people injured in accidents than those who are constantly ill |
The heaviest pain and suffering caused by accidents and illness are________.
| A．colds and influenza | B．financial losses |
| C．loss of time | D．invalidism |
Accident and health insurance will protect people by________.
| A．covering their medical expenditure |
| B．paying their wages |
| C．restoring their earning power |
| D．providing policyholders with the money they need to survive |
When something goes wrong, it can be very satisfying to say, “Well, it’s soandso's fault.”or “I know I'm late, but it's not my fault; the car broke down.”It is probably not your fault, but once you form the habit of blaming somebody or something else for a bad situation, you are a loser. You have no power and could do nothing that helps change the situation. However, you can have great power over what happens to you if you stop focusing on whom to blame and start focusing on how to remedy the situation.This is the winner's key to success.
Winners are great at overcoming problems. For example, if you were late because your car broke down, maybe you need to have your car examined more regularly. Or，you might start to carry along with you the useful phone numbers, so you could call for help when in need. For another example, if your colleague causes you problems on the job for lack of responsibility or ability, find ways of dealing with his irresponsibility or inability rather than simply blame the person. Ask to work with a different person, or don't rely on this person. You should accept that the person is not reliable and find creative ways to work successfully regardless of how your colleague fails to do his job well.
This is what being a winner is all about—creatively using your skills and talents so that you are successful no matter what happens. Winners don't have fewer problems in their lives; they have just as many difficult situations to face as anybody else. They are just better at seeing those problems as challenges and opportunities to develop their own talents. So，stop focusing on “whose fault it is.”Once you are confident about your power over bad situations, problems are just stepping stone for success.According to the passage, winners __________.
| A．meet with fewer difficulties in their lives |
| B．have responsible and able colleagues |
| C．blame themselves rather than others |
| D．deal with problems rather than blame others |
The underlined word remedy in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to __________.
| A．improve | B．avoid | C．accept | D．consider |
When your colleague brings about a problem, you should __________.
| A．blame him for his lack of responsibility |
| B．tell him to find the cause of the problem |
| C．find a better way to handle the problem |
| D．ask a more able colleague for help |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．A Winner's Opportunity. | B．A Winner's Problem. |
| C．A Winner's Secret. | D．A Winner's Achievement. |