Millions of Americans return from long-distance trips by air, but their luggage doesn’t always come home with them. Airline identification tags（标签） can come loose, and the bags go who-knows-where. And passengers leave all kinds of things on planes.
The airlines collect the items and, for 90 days, attempt to find their owners. They don’t keep them, since they’re not in the warehouse business. And by law, they cannot sell the bags, because the airlines might be tempted to deliberately misplace luggage.
So once insurance companies have paid for lost bags and their contents, and they no longer belong to passengers, a unique store in the little town of Scottsboro, Alabama, buys them. The “Unclaimed Baggage Center,” is so popular that the building, which is set up like a department store, is the number-one tourist attraction in all of Alabama. More than one million visitors stop in each year and take one of the store’s shopping carts on a hunt for treasures.
Each day, clerks bring out 7,000 new items, and veteran（老练的）shoppers rush to paw over them. You can find everything from precious jewels to hockey sticks, best-selling novels, leather jackets, tape recorders, surfboards, even half -used tubes of toothpaste.
The store’s own laundry washes or cleans all the clothes found in luggage, then sells them. The Unclaimed Baggage Center has found guns, illegal drugs and even a live rattlesnake.
The store has a little museum where some of its most unusual acquisitions（获得物） have been preserved. They include highland bagpipes, a burial mask from an Egyptian pharaoh's tomb, and a medieval suit of armor.
Statistics indicate that less than one-half of one percent of luggage checked on U.S. carriers is permanently lost and available to the store.Paragraph1 shows that many passengers lose their luggage because______.
| A．they are forgetful |
| B．the owners of some luggage can’t be identified |
| C．they are in a hurry |
| D．there is no lost and foundoffice in many airports |
The reason why the airlines cannot sell the bags is that ______.
| A．they have to find the owners |
| B．they have to keep the bags as long as possible |
| C．some bags are expensive |
| D．they are likely to make a profit on the bags on purpose |
The Unclaimed Baggage Center is very popular because______.
| A．visitors may purchase something undervalued. |
| B．all thethings there are very cheap. |
| C．there's a large variety of goods. |
| D．visitors will enjoy some amusing activities there. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．A little museum will keep all the precious unclaimed baggage. |
| B．The things in the Unclaimed Baggage Center are articles for daily use. |
| C．The percentage of passengers who lose their baggage for ever is small. |
| D．People are not allowed to buy the illegal things in the store. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To introduce an attractive place to tourists. |
| B．To remind passengers of taking care of their baggage. |
| C．To advise the airlines to find the owners of the unclaimed baggage. |
| D．To introduce how the unclaimed baggage in the airports is handled in America. |
Arthur Miller( 1915 - 2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria-Hungary, drawn like so many others by “the Great American Dream". However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system，with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is “ burnt out ” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment ： if he can't do the work，then he is no good to his employer，the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this，and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949，the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play，the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award，and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut , on the evening of February 10,2005 , the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway. Why did Arthur Miller's father move to the USA?
| A．He suffered from severe hunger in his home country. |
| B．He was attracted by"the Great American Dream". |
| C．He hoped to make his son a dramatist. |
| D．His family business failed. |
The play Death of a Salesman __________.
| A．exposes the cruelty of the American business world |
| B．discusses the ways to get promoted in a company |
| C．talks about the business career of Arthur Miller |
| D．focuses on the skills in doing business |
What can we learn about Willy Loman?
| A．He treats his employer badly. |
| B．He runs the Wagner Company. |
| C．He is a victim of the American system. |
| D．He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues. |
After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman __________.
| A．achieved huge success |
| B．won the first Tony Award |
| C．was warmly welcomed by salesmen |
| D．was severely attacked by dramatists |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Arthur Miller and his family. |
| B．The awards Arthur Miller won. |
| C．The hardship Arthur Miller experienced. |
| D．Arthur Miller and his best-known play. |
In the US, elementary and middle schools are advised to give students two and a half hours of physical activity a week. That is what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Heart Association recommend. They say high schools should provide about four hours of physical activity each week.
Yet many schools across the country have reduced their physical education programs. Criticism of the cuts has led in some places to efforts to give students more time for exercise, not less. The future health of Americans may depend on it. A study reports that life expectancy has fallen or is no longer increasing in some parts of the United States. The situation is worst among poor people in the southern states, and especially women. Public health researchers say it is largely the result of increases in obesity，smoking and high blood pressure. They also blame differences in health services around the country.
In 2006, a study found that only 4% of elementary schools provided daily physical education all year for all grades. This was true of 8% of middle schools and 2% of high schools. The study also found that 22% of all schools did not require students to take any P. E. One problem for P. E. teachers is that schools are under pressure to put more time into academic subjects.
Also, parents may agree that children need exercise in school. Yet many parents today still have bad memories of being chosen last for teams because teachers favored the good athletes in class.
But experts say P. E. classes have changed. They say the goal has moved away from competition to personal performance, as a way to build a lifetime of activity. These days, teachers often lead activities like weight training and yoga.
Some parents like the idea of avoiding competitive sports in P. E. class. Yet others surely dislike that idea. In the end，schools may find themselves in a no-win situation. The best title of the passage is __________.
| A．Physical education aims for active lives |
| B．The future health of Americans |
| C．22% of all schools in the US don't require students to take any P. E. |
| D．Avoid competitive sports in P. E. |
Which statement is TRUE?
| A．High schools in the US should provide fewer hours of physical activity than that in elementary and middle schools. |
| B．Not all schools in the US have reduced their physical education programs. |
| C．22% of all schools in the US require students to take any P. E. |
| D．8% of middle schools provide daily physical education all year for all grades now. |
The reason why the author gives Paragraph 3 is __________.
| A．to explain schools are under pressure to put more time into academic subjects |
| B．that students don't like P. E. classes at all |
| C．to support his opinion in Paragraph 2 |
| D．to explain why life expectancy has fallen in some parts of the US |
Paragraph 4 implies __________.
| A．parents may agree that children need exercise in school |
| B．P. E. teachers lay particular stress on competition |
| C．many parents didn't like P. E. class when they were young |
| D．many students spent more time on academic subjects |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means __________.
| A．schools will go on reducing their physical education programs |
| B．schools must listen to different opinions from different parents |
| C．schools will think much of life expectancy |
| D．schools will be trapped in failure or disappointment |
The summer I was ten, my mother decided to bring us to the world of art. My brother and I were not very excited when we realized what my mother meant. What she meant was not that we could take drawing classes or painting classes but that we would have to spend one afternoon a week with her at the Fine Arts Museum. Before each visit to the museum，she made us read about artists and painting styles. It was almost as bad as being in school. Who wants to spend the summer thinking about artists when you could be with your friends at the swimming pool?
First we had to read about ancient Egyptians (古埃及人)and their strange way of painting faces and then go to look at them at the museum. My 12-year-old brother thought this was so funny, but I was not interested. Later we had to learn about artists in the Middle Ages who painted people wearing strange long clothing. We had to look at pictures of fat babies with wings and curly hair and with no clothes on flying around the edges of paintings. I certainly couldn't see what was so great about art.
On our last visit to the museum，something happened when I saw a painting by a woman called Mary. In it, a woman was reading to a child. The colors were soft and gentle, and you could tell by the mother's expression how happy she was just to be with the child. I couldn't stop looking at this painting ！ I wanted to see every painting Mary had ever made! It was really worthwhile looking at so many paintings to find a painter who could interest me so much. The aim of the mother's plan was to __________.
| A．take them to visit the museum |
| B．introduce them to the world of art |
| C．ask them to read about artists |
| D．show them different painting styles |
What was the writer's experience at the museum before the last visit?
| A．She came to feel her mother's love |
| B．She liked many paintings. |
| C．She hardly enjoyed herself. |
| D．She could understand the pictures of fat babies. |
What made the writer change that summer?
| A．One of Mary's paintings. |
| B．A strange way of painting. |
| C．Artists in the Middle Ages. |
| D．Her mother's instruction. |
From the text, we can see __________.
| A．the importance of curiosity |
| B．the effect of art |
| C．the value of learning |
| D．the power of family education |
The writer and her brother had thought that they could __________ in their summer vacation.
| A．have visited some art museums |
| B．have been to Egypt for a visit |
| C．have taken drawing or painting classes |
| D．have played with their friends |
Pablo Picasso, born in Spain in 1881, was one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. Picasso began painting when he was a small child and took advanced art courses when he was only fifteen. Between 1904 and 1947 Picasso lived in Paris. In 1947 he moved to Riviera, in the south of France.
Many people thought Picasso's works were strange and unpleasant. Still，he had a great influence on artists in every country. Today, Picasso is regarded as a genius (天才), and his paintings are in the museums all over the world.
In 1912, Picasso actually invented a new type of art. He painted a picture，then he pasted bits of paper and something else on the picture. This picture of art is called collage(拼贴艺术).
Picasso was not only a painter, he was also a sculptor (雕塑家)and a designer of scenery for plays. There are even some photographs of “ light paintings ” that he created. These paintings were produced by moving a light pencil, or a small flashlight in the air. Although the images could be seen only briefly by anyone watching them happen, the camera was able to catch the images as they occurred.
By the time he died in France in April of 1973 , he had created a staggering 22,000 works of art.
When Picasso was asked how someone could become an artist, he would reply, If you want to draw, you must shut your eyes and sing. After reading the text, we can learn that Picasso was a __________.
| A．French artist |
| B．Spanish artist |
| C．English artist |
| D．Australian artist |
The meaning of the underlined word "pasted" in this text means __________
| A．stuck with |
| B．struck on |
| C．drew |
| D．mixed with |
Which of the following statements best explains the meaning of Picasso's advice about how to become an artist?
| A．Study hard and practise painting. |
| B．Only people who sing can become painters. |
| C．Painters should learn to paint with their eyes closed. |
| D．There is more to painting than just study and hard work. |
Which would be the best title for the text?
| A．How to Become a Great Artist |
| B．A Genius |
| C．Pablo Picasso ： More Than Just a Painter |
| D．Picasso's Life in France |
According to the text, which of the statements is right?
| A．Even Picasso was a great artist, he was not clever at all when he was young. |
| B．Picasso didn't leave Paris until he was 23 years old. |
| C．People didn't like Picasso's works at first. |
| D．Picasso was only good at collage. |
Going green seems to be fad （时尚）for a lot of people these days. Whether that is good or bad, we can’t really say, but for the two of us, going green is not a fad but a lifestyle.
On April 22, 2011, we decided to go green every single day for an entire year. This meant doing 365 different green things, and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond easy things. Rather than recycle and reduce our energy, we had to think of 365 different green things to do and this was no easy task.
With the idea of going green every single day for a year, Our Green Year started. My wife and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all the green things that could be done to help the environment. We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps.
Over the course of Our Green Year, we completely changed our lifestyle. We now shop at organic（有机的）stores. We consume less meat, choosing green food. We have greatly reduced our buying we don’t need. We have given away half of what we owned through websites. Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice, with no chemical cleaners. We make our own butter, enjoying the smell of home-made fresh bread. In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished.
Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year. We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others. We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planet.What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Going Green. |
| B．Protecting the Planet. |
| C．Keeping Open-Minded. |
| D．Celebrating Our Green Year. |
It was difficult for the couple to live a green life for the whole year because.
| A．they were expected to follow others |
| B．they didn’t know how to educate other people |
| C．they were unwilling to reduce their energy |
| D．they needed to perform unusual green tasks |
What is the couple’s main reason for going green every day for a whole year?
| A．To follow a green fad like many other people. |
| B．To completely change their unhealthy lifestyle. |
| C．to show people how to go green to help our planet. |
| D．to show they never do anything ungreen. |
What did the couple do over the course of their Green Year?
| A．They sold their home-made food. |
| B．They ignore others’ ungreen behavior. |
| C．They tried to get out of their ungreen habits. |
| D．They chose better chemical cleaners. |
What can we infer form the last paragraph?
| A．The government will give support to the green people. |
| B．The couple may continue their project in the future. |
| C．Some people disagree with the couple’s green ideas. |
| D．Our Green Year is becoming a national action. |