The Nadam Festival, usually held from June 4 to 9(lunar calendar), is one of the most exciting and colorful festivals in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. At the center of the festivities are the fierce horse racing, archery(射箭) and wrestling competitions, the traditional sports of the Mongolian warriors (the three “manly” sports, though young girls and women participate in the horse racing and archery contests).
In Mongolian, the word “Nadam” means “amusement and entertainment” and the festival began in 1225 AD, when Genghis Khan organized an expedition to the west and got control of Khwarezm. In order to celebrate the victory they held the magnificent Nadam Fari. The Mongolians used this exciting gathering as a big occasion to compete in the horse racing, Mongolian wrestling and archery, which were regarded as the three basic skills of men.
Gradually more and more events were added to the festival, such as marksmanship(射击), chess, reciting epics, polo(马球), film, drama, singing, dancing, track and field competitions and so on.
There are three kinds of Nadam, the big one, the medium one and the small one. The big Nadam requires the participation of 512 wrestlers and 300 horses and usually lasts 7-10 days while the medium Nadam will have the participation of 256 wrestlers and 100-150 horses, lasting 5-7 days. And 64 or 128 wrestlers and 30 or 50 horses will take part in the small Nadam, which lasts 3-5 days. Anyone can apply to compete in Nadam, regardless of his or her ethnic origin and religious belief.
Nadam has become a popular artistic and sports event participated in by people of all ages. Boys and girls can also take the opportunity to show their love, i. e. the so-called “meeting at aobao”.
In addition to sports competition, people also make good use of this gathering to hold talks and establish relations in economic trade or to interchange goods.We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．girls are not allowed to take part in horse racing |
| B．foreigners also have a chance to compete in the Nadam Festival |
| C．the Nadam Festival is only for sports competition |
| D．Business activities can’t be held in the Nadam Festival |
It can be inferred that “meeting at aobao” expresses ______.
| A．love of parents to kids | B．old friends’ friendships |
| C．deep feelings between brothers | D．love between boys and girls |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．The introduction of the Nadam Festival. |
| B．The origin of the Nadam Festival. |
| C．The sports events of the Nadam Festival. |
| D．The modern style of the Nadam Festival. |
In a cold winter, a couple had to move out from the luxury villa because of bankruptcy. The husband worked day and night to support the family but with no care of his wife. So she thought, “he doesn't love me anymore, he just cares his business...not me”.
One day, she began to take a bath, he stopped her at the door, "Let me take it first, OK?" "Why not let me shower first," she asked. "I was tired, sweetie, you take it later, OK?" She was totally depressed.
On a morose day, she found nothing to do and turned on his computer, a few words blurred her eyes...it was his diary:
Today, I was quite sad, she asked me why I was always taking the bath first, and I said to her, I was exhausted. She was unhappy, in her mind, I treated her not as well as usual, but how can I do? I wasn’t as rich as before! We moved to the small apartment, there was only a shower in such a freezing winter. But I found that if one person took the shower first, the room could get a little warm, so every time I rushed to the bathroom first. I was thinking that, when she took the shower, the room would get warmer, at least1℃, 2℃or 3℃
Now I can't give her comfortable life, bring her the luxury restaurant, buy expensive dresses for her, but at least, I can give her 1℃love.Why was the husband always taking the bath first?
| A．Because he was tired from work. |
| B．Because he wanted to get the bathroom warmer. |
| C．Because he didn’t love her anymore. |
| D．Because he treated his wife not as well as usual. |
What does the underlined word “bankruptcy” in the first paragraph probably mean?
| A．crash | B．failure | C．moving | D．diseases |
The best title of the passage may be ______.
A troubleB. Husband and wife
C. A romantic love story D.1 ℃love
The most famous statue-the Sphinx in Egypt has been damaged. The experts are trying to find out the cause to protect it.
As we all know, the Sphinx has the body of a lion and the face of a man. It was cut from limestone(石灰石) near Egypt's pyramids about 4, 500 years ago. Not long ago a large piece of stone fell from the Sphinx's right shoulder.
In order to protect the statue from more harm, a computer was placed on it to measure rainfall, wind speed and air temperature. The computer also measured the amount of water and air pollution, the direction of wind and the temperature of the statue itself. The effects of age, wind, water and pollution have greatly weakened the Sphinx. Sunlight, wind, water and pollution have been eroding the outside of the statue for centuries. The experts hope that the information from the computer will help protect it from more damage. They say the more they know about what is destroying the Sphinx, the more they can do to protect it.What does this passage mainly tell us?
| A．The reason why the Sphinx was set up. |
| B．The great importance of the Sphinx in Egyptian history. |
| C．The detailed(详尽的) course and cause of the damage to the Sphinx. |
| D．The experts are trying to find out the cause so as to protect the Sphinx. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The Sphinx has completely fallen down. |
| B．The Sphinx is made of a kind of rock, which can be destroyed by wind, rain and so on. |
| C．The Sphinx is made of a kind of rock, which is hard enough not to be damaged by anything. |
| D．The Sphinx is in too poor condition to be protected. |
Which of the following is wrong?
| A．The Sphinx is more than 4, 500 years old. |
| B．The advanced instruments(仪器)can help protect cultural relics. |
| C．Both the Sphinx and the pyramids are well known to the world. |
| D．From now on no damage will happen to the Sphinx. |
Friendship Day in India falls on the first Sunday of August every year. It is celebrated with many activities.
Young people in India spend the day with their closest friends and have fun together. Most youngsters in India plan a movie or have a meal with their friends. Many friends may go on a drive to tourist places or make a plan for camping. Some friends go to the supermarket to do some shopping. On Friendship Day, most stores offer discounted prices for customers and it is the perfect day to buy something for friends.
Some friends go to parties that are organized by many restaurants in order to attract youngsters. Such parties are very enjoyable. You can get food at a discounted price. Some friends just decide to meet up (碰头，相聚) at someone’s home and talk about their happy time. The time good friends spend sitting together and talking over a cup of coffee is precious and unforgettable.
Long-distance friends call up each other on this day and wish each other with warm feelings. Some of them even plan to meet up on this particular day. Yet some others plan a surprising visit just to see their friend gasp (喘息) in shock!
In 2009, Friendship Day in India falls on August 2nd. So don’t forget to celebrate it with your friends.When is Friendship Day celebrated in India?
| A．On August 2nd every year. |
| B．On the third weekend of August every year. |
| C．On August 1st every year. |
| D．On the first weekend of August every year. |
According to the text, which of the following is the most popular way that youngsters in India celebrate Friendship Day?
| A．Traveling with friends | B．Seeing a film with friends |
| C．Dancing with friends | D．Going shopping with friends. |
How many ways are discussed in Paragraph 3 that friends spend Friendship Day together?
| A．Two | B．Three | C．Four | D．Five |
The underlined phrase “a surprising visit” in Paragraph 4 refers to “____”.
| A．a visit to a friend who hasn’t expected it |
| B．a visit to a friend who has dreamed of it for a long time |
| C．a visit to a friend who tries to avoid it |
| D．a visit to a friend who lives in a faraway place |
You may know the English letters A, B and C. But do you know there are people called ABC? You may like eating bananas. But did you know there is a “banana person”? How strange! Are these people from “another Earth”? No. They are just Chinese people like you and me.
ABC means American-Born Chinese. An ABC is a Chinese, but was born in the United States. Sometimes, people call an ABC a “banana person”. A banana is yellow outside and white inside. So, when a person is a banana, he or she is white inside--thinking like a Westerner and yellow outside--looking like a Chinese.
Do you know why? Usually, ABCs know little about China or the Chinese language. Some of them don’t speak Chinese.
But if ABCs cannot speak Chinese, can we still call them Chinese people? Yes, of course. They are Chinese. They are overseas (海外) Chinese. These people may be citizens(公民) of another country like the US, Canada or Singapore. But they have Chinese blood. Their parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents were from China. They all have black eyes and black hair.
But they are not Chinese citizens. They are not the people of the People’s Republic of China. For example, we all know the famous scientist? C.N. Yang(杨振宁). He got the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1957. The Chinese love him, but he is an American citizen.“ABC” in this passage means “____________”.
| A．three English letters | B．a kind of banana |
| C．Chinese born in America | D．Americans born in China |
What’s the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
| A．He wants to tell us something about “ABC”. |
| B．He wants to show that Chinese are well respected in America. |
| C．He wants to tell us some knowledge about the English language. |
| D．He wants to introduce the American culture to us. |
Chinese in Western countries are called “banana persons” because ____.
| A．their bodies are white inside but yellow outside |
| B．they think like Westerners but look like Chinese |
| C．they were born in China but go to study in America |
| D．they like to eat bananas |
C.N. Yang is mentioned here to show that ____.
A. American Chinese are great.
B. we love American Chinese
C. The Chinese can win Nobel Prizes
D. American Chinese are not Chinese citizens
A beautiful woman took a plane on business. She found her seat and sat down next to a young man. The man was just thinking of making a few dollars on the plane. When he saw the woman, he got an idea.
“Hey! Would you like to play a game?” he asked the woman. “No, thank you. I just want to take a nap (打盹),” the woman answered.
“It’s really easy. All you have to do is to answer the questions that I ask you. If you don’t know the answer, you give me five dollars. If I don’t know the answer to your question, then I’ll give you five dollars.”
“No,” the woman still refused.
“OK. If I don’t know the answer to your question, I’ll give you five hundred dollars. How about that?” the man said. Then the woman became interested and decided to join in the game.
“OK. How many moons does Jupiter (木星) have?” asked the young man. The woman reached into her purse and took out a five-dollar bill.
“What goes up the mountain with three legs and comes back with four?” the woman asked. Then the young man took out his computer and searched the Internet for an answer. Minutes later, the young man handed five hundred dollars to the woman.
After a few hours, the young man really wanted to know the answer to the question. So he asked the woman, “What is the answer to your question?” The woman reached into her purse and handed the young man a five-dollar bill.Why did the man ask the woman to play a game?
| A．He wanted to show his kindness. |
| B．He wanted to have a pleasant journey. |
| C．He wanted to earn some money from it. |
| D．He wanted to make friends with the woman. |
How much did the woman get at the end of the story?
| A．$ 500. | B．$ 5. | C．$ 10. | D．$ 490. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．The woman told the man the answer to her question. |
| B．The woman gave the man’s money back to him. |
| C．The woman asked the man another question. |
| D．The woman didn’t know the answer, either. |
We can learn from the story that the woman is ______.
| A．clever | B．friendly |
| C．polite | D．honest |