Blind photography sounds strange．But a striking exhibition of photographs in California argues that it develops as a result of the contemporary art．The show "Sight Unseen", at the California Museum of Photography until Aug．29, includes everything: underwater scenes, landscapes, abstracts and everything else you might expect from a "sighted" photographer．
How do the blind take their photographs? Some rely on assistants to set up and then describe the shots （镜头） , and others just point and shoot in the right place．"Just like any good artists," says McCulloh．"They have their unique ways of operating．" One participating photographer is Pete Eckert, an artist with multiple degrees in design and sculpture who only turned to photography after losing his vision in the mid-1990s．He opens the shutter （快门） on his camera and then uses flashlights, lights, and candles to paint his scene on film．A former fashion photographer in Chicago, Weston, lost his vision due to AIDS in 1996 and focuses on images of destruction and disability．His photos are also a star of the show．
What do gallery-goers say? "I was very impressed by it．The technique and experience was amazingly different," says John Hesketh, a printmaker in Anaheim．"You never have a sense of feeling sorry for these people because they've worked very hard to prove their value．"
Beyond the praise, however, the exhibition also makes a great example for disabled people everywhere．That point was explained in early May during a discussion on the TV show．At the very end of the talk, one attendee expressed his opinion．"This exhibition is extraordinary and revolutionary for many reasons．I think that by being an artist with a disability, you are continuing the work of those people who fought for basic civil rights to gain access and to have a voice．In that way, it's so wonderful that your photographs say it all．"From the passage we know that some blind people take photos by .
| A．describing the things to their assistants. |
| B．holding the camera and shooting randomly. |
| C．opening the shutter with the help of others. |
| D．using special equipment designed for them. |
We can learn from the passage that blind photographers ______.
| A．were not born blind. |
| B．do jobs related to art. |
| C．focus on different subjects. |
| D．like photos of destruction. |
What is people's reaction to the blind photography show?
| A．They admire the blind photographers' hard work． |
| B．They feel really sorry for those blind photographers． |
| C．They think some have good techniques while others not． |
| D．They can understand the real meaning of each photograph． |
The significance of the exhibition lies in the fact that ______．
| A．the California Museum of Photography receives praises for holding the show. |
| B．the public have a chance to know what the blind people are concerned about. |
| C．the blind photographers have a good place to show their works. |
| D．the exhibition can be very inspiring to the blind in the world. |
How to apply (申请) for a free mailbox (邮箱)? First you have to connect to the Internet and go to the homepage of the ICP providing free mailboxes. Then you will find an icon (图标), an agreement about the rules for using the free mailbox will appear. If you want to go, click the icon “I agree”. Then you have to fill in a form about your basic personal data, and the name and PIN (密码) of the mailbox. The PIN is the key to the mailbox. After finishing these, you will get a mailbox like this：your name @ mail server (for example：tvguide@mail.cctv.com.cn. “tvguide” is the name of the mailbox, and “mail.cctv.com.cn” is the name of the mail server.). The mailbox is separated (分隔) into two parts by a separator “@”, which is read as “at”. The former part is the name of the mailbox. The latter is the domain name (域名) of the mail server. All mails to you will be received by the server and put into your mailbox. You can read these mails on any computer on the Internet in the world, if you have the name and PIN of the mailbox.
1 If you want to send or receive an e-mail, you should first ____ .
A. apply for a mailbox B. buy a computer
C. go to the post office D. fill in a form
2 When you get a FREE mailbox, you can send an e-mail ____ .
A. by paying some money B. to anyone
C. without paying money D. anywhere
3 The mailbox’s name in the e-mail address “editor@ew.com.cn.” is ____ .
A. ew B. ew.com.cn C. com.cn D. editor
4 The writer mainly wants to tell us how to ____ in this passage.
A. send a letter by e-mailB. read the e-mail on computers in the world
C. get a free mailbox D. find out one’s e-mail address
5 We can find the similar information in the book “____”.
A. Who Moved My Cheese B. Surfing on the Internet
C. Bill Gates’ Story D. Harry Potter
Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how languages first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about 3,000 languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.
There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 yeas ago.
Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even died out completely. About 1,000 years ago, English was a little-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.
If a language has a large number of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can’t understand speakers from other parts.
1 The first paragraph mainly tells us that ____ .
A. most people in the world speak Chinese
B. there are thousands of languages in the world today
C. man has much knowledge about languages
D. some people know several languages
2 According to the passage, most European and Indian languages ____ .
A. will soon die out completely B. were once a relative of English
C. are no longer spoken D. come from the same family
3 According to the passage, ____ has the most speakers.
A. Chinese B. English C. Spanish D. German
4 According to the passage, ____ seems to have changed a lot.
A. German B. English C. Spanish D. Chinese
5The underlined word dialect in the last paragraph probably means ____ .
A. a special language spoken by Chinese
B. the sign used by the Chinese people in a special area
C. the difference between the old and today’s Chinese
D. the form of a language used in one part of the country
第二部分阅读理解 (满分35分)
第一节 语篇阅读 (每小题2分)
阅读理解下面的短文，然后根据短文内容，指出能完成所给句子或回答所提问题的最佳答案。
Astronomy (天文学) is the oldest science known to man. Thousands of years ago man looked at the stars and wondered about heavens (天堂). But the six planets that he could see with his eyes alone limited man.
The Greeks studied astronomy over 2,000 years ago. They could see the size, color, and brightness of a star. They could see its place in the sky. They watched the stars move as the seasons changed. But the Greeks had no tools to help themselves study the heavens.
Each new tool added to the field of astronomy helped man reach out into space. Until there were telescopes (望远镜), man did not know much about the moon. He did not know that the planet called Saturn (土星) had rings around it. His sight was so limited that he could not see all the planets. In the early 1700s, people thought there were only six planets. Pluto (冥王星), the last of the nine planets to be discovered was seen until 1930.
Before the spectroscopes (分光镜), man didn’t know what kind of gas was in the sun or other stars, without radio telescopes (射电望远镜), we did not know that radio noise came from far in space.
Today, astronomy is a growing science. We have learned more in the past fifty years than in the whole history of astronomy.
1Thousands of years ago, man watched ____ with his eyes.
A. the moon B. the stars C. the universe D. all the planets
2 When the Greeks watched the stars, they could ____ .
A. know what the stars were made of B. not see their places in the sky
C. help themselves study the heavensD. watch the stars move as the seasons changed
3Until there were ____ , man knew very little about the moon.
A. telescopes B. spectroscopes C. radio telescopes D. spaceships
3People didn’t know about Pluto until ____ .
A. the 1700sB. 2,000 years ago C. 1930D. thousands of years ago
5____ people began to do research on astronomy.
A. 50 years ago B. 90 years agoC. In the early 1700s D. Over 2,000 years ago
In every language, there are words or phrases that have some interesting stories behind them. The word “sandwich”, for example, is very common in English. If we want to know the story behind it, we must know something about an English nobleman (贵族) called Sandwich.
Sandwich lived in the 18th century. He liked to play cards for money. He often played for twenty four hours, and not even stop to have his meal. He ordered his servants to bring some meat and bread, and he played while eating. He put the meat between two pieces of bread, and he held the food in his left hand while he played with his right hand. People liked Sandwich’s idea and began to eat bread and meat in this way.
From the name of the man Sandwich, we have the word “sandwich” today.
1 Sandwich is very popular food today, which comes from ____ .
A. a man’s name B. people’s idea C. a servant’s name D. a nobleman’s play
2 What did Sandwich play cards for?
A. Pleasure. B. Living. C. Food. D. Pounds.
3Which of the following can best explain the reason why Sandwich did not stop to have his meals?
A. He played cards with his right hand.
B. He put the meat between two pieces of bread.
C. He played cards for twenty four hours.
D. He played cards while eating.
4 The best title for the passage should be “____”.
A. How Sandwich Played Cards
B. How the Word “Sandwich” Came into Use
C. A Bright Idea
D. An Interesting Story
Now I’d like to talk to you about your final exam. The exam will be held next Thursday, the last day of the exam week. Remember to bring two or three pens in case you run out of ink. And unlike the midterm exam, this test will not include multiple-choice questions; it will consist (由…组成) entirely of essays (文章). You’ll have to answer three of the five essay questions. The exam will be comprehensive (理解性的), which means you’ll be responsible (负责) for all of the subject matters we covered in class this term. I would suggest you review your midterm exam as well as textbooks and your class notes. The research project will count as 20 percent and the midterm exam 30 percent. I’ll be in my office almost all day next Tuesday. If you run into any problems, please drop in. Gook luck to you and I’ll see you on Tuesday.
1 The final exam take place on a ____ .
A. Tuesday B. Wednesday C. Thursday D. Friday
2 What will be included in the exam?
A. There will be only multiple-choice questions.
B. The exam will contain both multiple-choice and essay questions.
C. The exam will have an oral and written section.
D. There will be only essay questions.
3 Why does the teacher call the exam comprehensive?
A. Because it will be easy to understand.
B. Because it will cover topics from a variety (多种多样) of subjects.
C. Because students will be tested on all the material discussed in class.
D. Because students must complete all parts of it.
4 The underlined phrase run into probably means ____ .
A. meet somebody unexpectedly B. go into
C. come across (偶然遇见) D. come up against something with force