The drug store was closing for the night. Young Alfred Higgins, the shop-assistant, was ready to go home. Mr. Carr, the boss, stared at him and said: “Hold on, Alfred. Maybe you'd be good enough to take the things out of your pockets and leave them here before you go.”Alfred's face got red. After a little hesitation, he took out what he had stolen. Mr. Carr said, “Maybe I should call your mother and let her know I'm going to have to put you in prison.”
Alfred thought his mother would come rushing in, eyes burning with anger. But, to his surprise, she arrived wearing a smile. “Hello, I'm Alfred's mother. Is he in trouble?”she said. Mr. Carr was surprised, too. He had expected Alfred's mother to come in nervously, shaking with fear, asking with wet eyes for a mercy for her son. But no, she was most calm, quiet and pleasant and was making Mr. Carr feel guilty…. Soon Mr. Carr was shaking his head in agreement with what she was saying. “Of course”, he said, “I don't want to be cruel. You are right. Sometimes, a little good advice is the best thing for a boy at certain times in his life and it often takes the youths long time to get sense into their heads.”And he warmly shook Mrs. Higgins's hand.
Back home, without even looking at Alfred, she said, “You are a bad luck. It is one thing after another, always has been. Why do you stand there so stupidly? Go to bed.”In his bedroom, Alfred heard his mother in the kitchen. There was no shame in him, just pride in his mother's strength. He felt he must tell her how great she was. As he got to the kitchen, he saw his mother drinking a cup of tea. He was shocked by what he saw. His mother's face was a frightened, broken one. It was not the same cool, bright face he saw earlier in the drug store. As she lifted the tea cup, her hand shook. And some of the tea splashed on the table. Her lips moved nervously. She looked very old. He watched his mother without making a sound. The picture of his mother made him want to cry. He felt his youth coming to an end. He saw all the troubles he brought his mother in her shaking hand and the deep lines of worry in her grey face. It seemed to him that this was the first time he had ever really seen his mother.The reason why Mr. Carr felt guilty was that ________.
| A．he found Alfred was in fact innocent |
| B．he should have called a policeman in first |
| C．Alfred's mother appeared polite and gentle |
| D．he thought he was partly responsible for it |
Which of the following is probably said by Mrs. Higgins while talking to Mr. Carr?
| A．“Please, for God's sake, you know, he is just a kid.” |
| B．“I can't believe it! You are treating my son like that!” |
| C．“You know, it takes time for a youth to truly grow up.” |
| D．“Punishment makes sense because it teaches about the law.” |
What does the underlined phrase "his mother's strength"(Para. 3) refer to?
| A．Mrs. Higgins's calmness and communicating skills. |
| B．Mrs. Higgins's attitude towards parental sufferings. |
| C．Mrs. Higgins's love and care for her son Alfred. |
| D．Mrs. Higgins's greatness as a woman. |
After the incident, young Alfred would probably ________.
| A．feel ashamed of her mother |
| B．change his attitudes towards life |
| C．learn to live an independent life |
| D．hate Mr. Carr for hurting her mother |
If the world were a village of 1,000 people it would include:
• 584 Asians
• 124 Africans
• 95 Eastern and Western Europeans
• 84 Latin Americans
• 55 former Soviets （including Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and other national groups）
• 52 North Americans
• 6 Australians and New Zealanders
The people of the village would speak:
• 165 Mandarin
• 86 English
• 83 Hindu/Urdu
• 64 Spanish
• 58 Russian
• 37 Arabic
The above list covers the mother tongues of only half the village．
One-third of the people in the village are children, and only 60 are over the age of 65．Just under half of the married women in the village have access to modem equipments．
This year 28 babies will be born．Ten people will die, 3 of them for lack of food, 1 from cancer．Two of the deaths will be of babies born within the year．With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village next year will be 1,018．
In this village of 1,000 persons, 200 people receive 75 percent of the income; another 200 receive only 2 percent of the income．
About one-third have access to clean, safe drinking water．
Of the 670 adults in the village, half can not read nor write．
The village has a total yearly budget, public and private, of over $3 million—$ 3 ,000 per person if it is distributed evenly．Of the total $3 million:
$ 181,000 goes to weapons and warfare
$ 159,000 to education
$ 132,000 to health care
These weapons are under the control of just 100 of the people．The other 900 are watching them with deep anxiety, wondering whether they can learn to get along together．Which of the following is true about Mandarin according to the text?
| A．Nearly one-third of Asian people speak Mandarin in the village． |
| B．About 8．25 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village． |
| C．About 16．5 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village． |
| D．Nearly all the Mandarin-speaking people are from Asia in the village． |
Which of the following problems is NOT mentioned in the text?
| A．Poverty． | B．Education． | C．Environment． | D．Marriage． |
The underlined part “have access to” （in Para. 4） means_____．
| A．use | B．buy | C．produce | D．try |
The last sentence in the text implies that most of the people long for _____．
| A．a peaceful world | B．good education |
| C．better health care | D．a life without anxiety |
I fell in love with England because it was quaint （古雅）—all those little houses, looking terribly old-fashioned but nice, like dolls’ houses．I loved the countryside and the pubs, and I loved London．I’ve slightly changed my mind after seventeen years because I think it’s an ugly town now．
Things have changed. For everybody, England meant gentlemen, fair play, and good manners．The fair play is going, unfortunately, and so are the gentlemanly attitudes and good manners—people shut doors heavily in your face and politeness is disappearing．
I regret that there are so few comfortable meeting places．You’re forced to live indoors．In Paris I go out much more, to restaurants and nightclubs．To meet friends here it usually has to be in a pub, and it can be difficult to go there alone as a woman．The cafes are not terribly nice．
As a woman, I feel unsafe here．I spend a bomb on taxis because I will not take public transport after 10 p．m．I used to use it, but now I’m afraid．
The idea of family seems to be more or less non-existent in England. My family is well united and that’s typically French．In Middlesex I had a neighbour who is 82 now．His family only lived two miles away, but I took him to France for Christmas once because he was always alone．The writer doesn’t like London because she ______．
| A．is not used to the life there now |
| B．has lived there for seventeen years |
| C．prefers to live in an old-fashioned house |
| D．has to be polite to everyone she meets there |
Where do people usually meet their friends in England?
| A．In a cafe． | B．In a restaurant． | C．In a nightclub. | D．In a pub． |
The underlined part “it” （in Par A．4） refers to______．
A．a taxi B．the money C．a bomb D．public transportThe writer took her neighbour to France for Christmas because he ______．
| A．felt lonely in England | B．had never been to France |
| C．was from a typical French family | D．didn't like the British idea of family |
The oldest forms of medicine are enjoying a comeback. Modern holistic medicine（整体医学） is an approach that treats the whole patient, not just the disease. It is a way to maintain good health rather than cure illness. The most important influences on today’s holistic medicine are ancient Chinese medicine and Indian Ayurvedic medicine, both of which promoted whole body health.
Holistic medicine usually combines diet, physical exercise and meditation, together with other alternative techniques such as massage（按摩）and acupuncture（针炙）. Herbal treatment, a practice of treating illness by using plants, is influenced by the writings of Culpeper as well as Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. Homeopathy（顺势疗法）is one of the forms of holistic medicine which is widely practiced in Europe and the USA. Homeopathy began in Germany in the early 1800s, when Samuel Hahnemann bescribed how very tiny doses（剂量）of a drug had an effect on his patients. According to Hahnemann, the more the drug was diluted（稀释）, the stronger its effects. The substance selected would produce similar effects to the disease itself if given in large doses. In the UK homeopathy is regarded as a non-traditional but just about acceptable treatment.
Meditation and contemplation have an important role in holistic medicine. They were brought to Europe by Indian teachers who combined Indian Ayurvedic medicine with Western beliefs. Transcendental meditation（超脱静坐）is one of the best known of these techniques. People repeat words inside their head to reach a state of deep relaxation.
The holistic movement has made many doctors look at the whole patient, not just the disease. Life-style, emotional problems an
d diet are just some of the factors that can affect a person’s health. Holistic medicine emphasizes good diet, exercise and fresh air, all of which contribute to health.Some clinics now offer holistic medicine along with traditional treatments, so that their patients can choose a combination of treatments that suits them. One problem with holistic medicine is that it is difficult for people to be sure a doctor is reliable. To solve this, many countries want alternative doctors to form professional bodies.Modern holistic medicine centers upon____________.
| A．curing a disease | B．herbal treatment |
| C．continuous development | D．keeping patients healthy |
Which of the following does NOT belong to holistic medicine?
| A．massage | B．meditation | C．a balanced diet | D．a knee operation |
The principle of homeopathy is that___________.
| A．the large doses of medicine that will not be harmful will take better effect |
| B．the disease will be cured sooner by taking larger doses of medicine |
| C．a small thinner dose of medicine will be more effective |
| D．the doses of medicine depend on how serious the illness is |
Which is the best title of the passage?
| A．Holistic Medicine | B．Traditional Medicine Returns |
| C．History of Medicine | D．Combination of Treatments Works |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Relaxation is the key of holistic treatment. |
| B．Holistic medicine needs to become more trustworthy. |
| C．Holistic treatment is more beneficial than traditional treatments. |
| D．Holistic medicine will become the most welcome treatment soon. |
Wednesday, October 29,2008.
The United States federal government had two young men in the state of Tennessee arrested on October 22 on unknown charges.
In court documents published on Monday, it came to light that the men had discussed attacking an African – American school and killing 14 of them.
Another crime was about planning to murder Presidential candidate Barack Obama. According to their affidavits (口供), the suspects’ “final act of violence” would be like this: when
they attacked Obama they would wear white suits and top hats and drive “their vehicle as fast as they could toward Obama shooting at him from the windows.”
The two suspects are Paul Schlesselman, 18, of West Helena, Arkansas and Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tennessee. According to the court papers, they met last month over the Internet through a friend. Schlesselman and Cowart are believed to share “very strong views” about White Power.
Schlesselman listed “being racist” as his occupation on his MySpace page. He further wrote: “I'm white. I'm proud. I get angry. I like guns.”
Cowart also had a MySpace page on which photos of guns were presented under a heading of “My Guns”. On his page he wrote, “Better to die quick fighting on your feet than to live forever begging on your knees.”
Some have questioned the pair's ability to carry out the charged plan, but authorities have been very concerned about Obama as the first black presidential candidate from a major party.
“We honestly don't know if they had the ability or the skill to carry out the kind of plan that they talked about.” said Malcolm Wiley, of the United Satates Secret Service in an interview with The New York Times. “But we take any threat seriously no matter how big or how small it is.”
Cowart and Schlesselman are scheduled to appear before a judge on Thursady. The passage is mainly about____________.
| A．Americans’ attitudes towards Barack Obarma | B．two young men planning to commit violence |
| C．the violence in the United States | D．the disadvantages of the Internet |
From the passage, we can know that the two young men_________.
| A．shot 14 students in an African – American school | B．came from the state of Tennessee |
| C．were proud of Barack Obama | D．have not been sentenced yet |
Which of the following shows the right order of the events?
a．The two suspects were arrested.
b．The two suspects will be tried in the court.
c．Cowart set up his MySpace page on the Internet.
d．Malcolm Wiley was interviewed by The New York Times.
| A．a; b; c; d | B．d; c; b; a | C．c; a; d; b | D．c; a; b; d |
What can we infer from the news?
| A．Most of the white people in the United States don’t like Barack Obama. |
| B．The two young men planned to shoot President Barack Obama. |
| C．The two young men were innocent in fact. |
| D．The two young men strongly believed that the president should be a white man |
Many different tribes live in the Ituri rain forest of Africa, but the Pygmies are the most unusual. Most of the men are
not much more than four feet tall. They weigh only about eighty pounds. The women are even smaller and thinner. But in spite of the fact that they are small, these people are perfectly formed men and women.
It is an exciting experience to visit a Pygmy encampment for the first time. Before you go, you must send word ahead that you are coming. Some friendly native or trader must take the message to the Tiki-Tikis. Otherwise the whole tribe will disappear into the depths of the jungle long before you have come close enough to be welcomed.
The great Ituri rain forest seems cut off from the rest of the earth. There are living, dead, and dying trees on every side. Except where a clearing has been burned and chopped out, a man may live his whole life in the Ituri and never see farther than twenty yards.
It takes sharp eyes to discover the almost hidden path to the Pygmy camp. The path is no wider than a small man’s foot. No sound breaks the silence in this part of the forest. There are no signs of people.
The stranger must walk carefully. What appears to be a bent branch may prove to be a deadly snake. A spotted gold patch of sunlight may be a crouching leopard(豹).
Even the Pygmy camp comes as a surprise. The leafy shelters in which the little people live are hardly three feet high. They look so much like the surrounding undergrowth that they might easily be passed by. These houses contain no furniture of any sort. The beds are merely plantain leaves spread out on the earth floor. There are no cooking pots: food is eaten raw or smoked over a fire. Spears, bows and arrows are the only possessions of these people. When the tribe moves to a new camp there is nothing to carry except these weapons and babies too small to walk.According to the passage, we can conclude _____.
| A．the Pygmies are the shortest tribe worldwide |
| B．the Pygmies are short but normal in mentality |
| C．most of the Pygmy men are more than four feet |
| D．the Pygmies live in the forest of America |
Paragraph 2 mainly suggests that the Pygmies ______.
| A．are unwilling to communicate with people outside |
B．are very cruel and they will  kill you with the spears |
| C．are friendly to the tourists visiting them for the first time |
| D．move so fast and often that can’t be caught up with easily |
Which of the following w
ord can describe the life of Pygmy?
| A．Quiet. | B．Active. | C．Hard. | D．Busy. |
Which of the following is TRUE of the Pygmy?
| A．Their houses can’t be easily found in the hurt rain forest. |
| B．Their houses, which are three feet high, are made of wood. |
| C．Weapons and cooking pots are their most valuable possessions. |
| D．They are living in harmony with dangerous animals around. |