To take the apple as a forbidden fruit is the most unlikely story the Christians (基督教徒) ever cooked up. For them, the forbidden fruit from Eden is evil. So when Colu brought the tomato back from South America, a land mistakenly considered to be Eden, everyone jumped to the obvious conclusion. Wrongly taken as the apple of Eden, the tomato was shut out of the door of Europeans.
What made it particularly terrifying was its similarity to the mandrake, a plant that was thought to have come from Hell. What earned the plant its awful reputation was its roots which looked like a dried-up human body occupied by evil spirits. Though the tomato and the man were quite different except that both had bright red or yellow fruit, the general population considered them one and the same, too terrible to touch.
Cautious Europeans long ignored the tomato, and until the early 1700s most of the Western people continued to drag their feet. In the 1880s, the daughter of a well-known plant expert wrote that the most interesting part of an afternoon tea at her father's house had been the "introduction of this wonderful new fruit -- or is it a vegetable?" As late as the twentieth century some writers still classed tomatoes with mandrakes as an "evil fruit".
But in the end tomatoes carried the day. The hero of the tomato was an American named Robert Johnson, and when he was publicly going to eat the tomato in 1820, people journeyed for hundreds of miles to watch him drop dead. "What are you afraid of?" he shouted. "I'll show you fools these things are good to eat!" Then he bit into the tomato. Some people fainted. But he survived and, according to a local story, set up a tomato-canning factory.The tomato was shut out of the door of early Europeans mainly because _______.
| A．it made Christians evil | B．it was the apple of Eden |
| C．it came from a forbidden land | D．it was religiously unacceptable |
What can we infer from the underlined part in Paragraph 3?
| A．The process of ignoring the tomato slowed down. |
| B．There was little progress in the study of the tomato. |
| C．The tomato was still refused in most western countries. |
| D．Most western people continued to get rid of the tomato. |
What is the main reason for Robert Johnson to eat the tomato publicly?
| A．To make himself a hero. |
| B．To remove people's fear of the tomato. |
| C．To speed up the popularity of the tomato. |
| D．To persuade people to buy products from his factory. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To challenge people's fixed concept of the tomato. |
| B．To give an explanation to people's dislike of the tomato. |
| C．To present the change of people's attitudes to the tomato. |
| D．To introduce the establishment of the first tomato-canning factory. |
That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines(台词). I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me.
As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers (抢劫犯). Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets.
About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk.
Suddenly I wasn’t cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back to where I’d heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found.
Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck (垃圾车) pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside, “ Alisa Camacho ?” I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name? The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye. “Is this what you’re looking for?” he asked, holding up a small square shape.
It was nearly 3 A.M. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn’t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.How did the writer feel when she was walking home after work?
| A．Cold and sick. |
| B．Fortunate and helpful. |
| C．Satisfied and cheerful. |
| D．Disappointed and helpless. |
On her way home the writer _______.
| A．lost her wallet unknowingly |
| B．was stopped by a garbage truck driver |
| C．was robbed of her wallet by an armed man |
| D．found some homeless people following her |
In the fifth paragraph, why did the writer say she was dreaming?
| A．Someone offered to take her back home. |
| B．A red-haired man came to see her. |
| C．She heard someone call her name. |
| D．Her wallet was found in a garbage truck. |
From the text, we can infer that the writer _________.
| A．would stop working at night |
| B．would stay on in San Francisco |
| C．would make friends with cleaners |
| D．would give up her job at the bank. |
Pango was a village in India. The people were poor. However, they were not unhappy. After all, their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries.
Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog’s legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, and so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.
This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was catch them. Agreement was reached, and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money. For the first time, the people were able to dream of a better future. But the dream didn’t last long.
The change was hardly noticed at first, but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well. More worrying was that the children fell ill more often, and, there seemed to be more insects around lately.
The villagers decided that they couldn’t just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides (杀虫剂）and medicines. Soon there was no money left.
Then the people realized what was happening. It was the frog. They hadn’t been useless. They had been doing an important job—eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.
Now, the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.From Paragraph 1 we learn that the villagers ________.
| A．worked very hard for centuries |
| B．dreamed of having a better life |
| C．were poor but somewhat content |
| D．lived a different life from their forefathers |
Why did the villagers agree to sell frogs?
| A．The frogs were easy money. |
| B．They needed money to buy visitors. |
| C．They wanted to please the visitors. |
| D．The frogs made too much noise. |
What might be the cause of the children’s sickness?
| A．The crops didn’t do well. |
| B．There were too many insects. |
| C．The visitors brought in diseases. |
| D．The pesticides were overused. |
What can we infer from the last sentence of the text?
| A．Happiness comes from peaceful life in the country. |
| B．Health is more important than money. |
| C．The harmony between man and nature is important. |
| D．Good old days will never be forgotten. |
The physical education office of Peking University announced on Aug 27 that the university would build a golf course near Weiming Lake. Golf would thus become an elective course for Peking University's students in the near future.
Peking University's eastern sports ground will be rebuilt into two soccer fields and one golf course. The latter will be designed as 90 meters long and 40 meters wide, occupying only a quarter of the whole sports ground.
The director of the physical education office revealed that a student would make only one stroke on the ground, and one class session would hold no more than 30 students.
Some teachers suspect such an activity will be a waste of university's limited land resources, but the director thinks otherwise, for the place can also be used for such sports as javelin or discus throw.
It is reported that currently Peking University is still discussing about fees to be charged for the after-class use of the golf links.What is the best heading of the news?
| A．Golf in Peking University |
| B．One Golf Course to be Built in Peking University |
| C．Peking University to Teach Students Golf |
| D．Come to Peking University to Play Golf |
What does the underlined word “suspect” mean in the sentence?
| A．think | B．praise | C．hate | D．add |
We can learn from the news that _______.
| A．all the teachers support the building of the Golf course |
| B．the fees for the after-class use of the golf links has been set |
| C．students of Peking University must attend the golf course |
| D．there are only 30 students in one Golf class period |
A
Fun day
To celebrate the Year of the Snake
Organized by Lam Tin Youth Centre and Kwun Tong High school
Date：2 February 2013
Time：10 am – 5 pm
Place：Kwn Tong Playground
Fee: $ 20 (buy three get one free)
Programmes：drama, lion dance, magic show and ballet performance
Highlights: 1) enter the lucky draw to win a digital camera
2) learn to make festival food
John us on the Fun day! 
All are welcome!
Note:
★Ticket are available at the General Office of Lam Tin Youth Centre.
★For those who would like to be a volunteer, please contact Miss Olivia Wong one week before
the activity.What you have just read is a .
| A．note | B．report | C．schedule | D．poster |
What is going to take place on 2 February, 2013?
| A．A big event to welcome a Chinese new year. |
| B．A social gathering to raise money for wildlife. |
| C．A party for close friends to meet and have fun. |
| D．A meeting of Kwun Tong High School students. |
How much do you have to pay in total if four of you go together?
| A．$ 20. | B．$ 40 | C．$ 60. | D．$ 80. |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．Tickets are sold in Kwun Tong High School. |
| B．It’s unnecessary to take soft drinks with you. |
| C．Free digital cameras are provided for everybody. |
| D．Festival food will be served without extra charge. |
D
Experts estimate that one out of every five fish sold was caught illegally. It threatens(威胁) food security and hurts the environment. Officials are using new observational technology to fight illegal fishing.
“Thank you for taking the time to join us here in Harwell (UK) in the Operations Center to what we call ‘Project Eyes on the Seas.’” says Tony Long, who leads the Ending Illegal Fishing program for Pew Charitable Trusts. The group created Project Eyes on the Seas. Large three-dimensional images of a globe can be seen on a video.
“It looks different from what you might expect because this globe only shows you the boats that are coming into this system from a live automated information system or AIS.”
The screen shows 120,000 fishing boats have AIS. They are required to have the technology. But those who are fishing illegally often turn it off. The technology does not tell observers when that happens. Project Eyes on the Seas combines satellite information with secret government records on every ship’s past activities.
Mr. Long says that permits researchers to understand exactly where the fishing boats are operating. The Pew team gives the information it gathers to port officials to help them decide if they should take action against a ship. Tony Long says he would like to be able to provide port officials all over the world with clear lists. They would inform the officials about ships to inspect, ships to bar from entrance, and ships to permit entrance for trade activities.
The Pacific island nation of Palau was an early user of the technology. Palau has one of the richest fishing areas in the world. Last year, it announced a plan to ban commercial fishing in a 630,000 square kilometer area. K.B. Sakuma is a special adviser to the president of Palau. He says Palau is trying to deal with a recent increase in illegal, unsupervised（无人监管的）and unreported fishing.
“And it’s come to a head in the last year or two. From our southern island in the evening you can see on the horizon just dotted lights of these illegal fishermen that come into our waters, fill their ships with our fish, our resources, our food security...”According to the estimation, what is the percentage of illegal fishing?
| A．1% | B．5% | C．23.5% | D．20% |
The information is collected by the Pew team so as to ________.
| A．leave written records for the country only |
| B．help fishermen to catch more fish on the Seas |
| C．prevent all of the fishing practices on the Seas |
| D．assist port officials in deciding whether to ban a ship from fishing |
What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 5 refer to?
| A．The clear lists. |
| B．The investigators. |
| C．The fishing boats. |
| D．The Project Eyes. |
Which of the following statements is closest in the meaning to the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?
| A．The issue is urgent. |
| B．The problem begins to appear. |
| C．The number of fishermen is increasing. |
| D．The head of the fishermen is coming. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．When the fishermen turn off the AIS, the inspector will know the situation. |
| B．The special adviser to the president of Palau leads the Ending Illegal Fishing program. |
| C．The new technology contributes to solving the problem of illegal fishing. |
| D．Commercial fishing is permitted in Palau. |