A New Zealand volcano dormant for more than a century has erupted，sending up ash clouds，disturbing flights and closing roads．
Mount Tongariro, one of three volcanoes in the centre of the North Island, became active just before midnight local time, with reports of loud explosions，pouting rocks and steam.
The 1, 978m peak is in a national park popular with hikers. No damages have been reported after the eruption.
Witnesses described a dramatic scene as the volcano erupted.
“I saw this beautiful. big cloud and I thought: ‘Gee that looks like a volcanic plume’. Just as I thought that there was a great big orange flash,” truck driver Bryn Rodda told New Zealand National Radio. “It was quite impressive.”
Mount Tongariro last erupted 115 years ago. And scientists said they did not yet know if this eruption was a single event.
Experts said they were caught by surprise—they had recorded some activity like an earthquake in recent weeks but were not expecting an eruption．
“This might just be a quiet period and we should expect it to start again at any time. So we are watching things Very closely,” volcanologist Michael Rosenberg told TVNZ.
Eruption activity has currently reduced, New Zealand media said．Meteorologists(气象学家)said the ash was blowing east towards the Pacific Ocean.
A number of inland flights from the North Island to the South Island had been affected by the volcanic activity, Air New Zealand said.
Police said highways that had been closed because visibility was affected after the eruption are now open.
Some residents in the nearby areas had temporarily left their homes. Officials have not ordered an evacuation(撤离), but advised those affected by the ash cloud to stay indoors and close their doors and windows.What effect did the eruption cause?
| A．Flood. | B．Road block. | C．Strong wind. | D．Air crash. |
What does the underlined word“dormant”in the first paragraph probably mean?
| A．Inactive. | B．Movable. |
| C．Silent. | D．Covered. |
Which of the following is true of the passage?
| A．Some international flights were cancelled after the eruption. |
| B．All residents had to move away from their homes after the eruption. |
| C．Some witnesses thought it was very interesting and attractive. |
| D．Loud explosions caused great damage to the highways and airports. |
What do the experts expect might happen next?
| A．Another eruption. |
| B．An earthquake. |
| C．Diseases caused by the ashes. |
| D．An overall evacuation. |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．National Park in New Zealand Damaged |
| B．Nothing Is Impossible. |
| C．Volcano or Earthquake? |
| D．Sudden Eruption of a Volcano in New Zealand. |
When you are in England, you must be very careful in the streets because the traffic drives on the left.
Before you cross a street, you must look to the right first and then the left.
If the traffic lights are red, the traffic must stop. Then the people on foot When you are in England, you must be very careful in the streets because the traffic drives on the left.
can cross the road.
If the traffic lights are green the traffic can go. People on foot mustn’t cross.
In the morning and in the evening when people go to or come from work the streets are very busy. Traffic is most dangerous then.
When you go by bus in England, you have to be careful, too. Always remember the traffic moves on the left. So you must be careful. Have a look first or you will go the wrong way.
In many English cities, there are big buses with two floors. You can sit on the second floor. From there you can see the city very well. It’s very interesting.In China, before you cross a street, you must look to first and then .
| A．the left, the right | B．the right, the left |
| C．the front, the back | D．the back, the front |
You must be careful when you go by bus in England because .
| A．there are too many buses there | B．the traffic lights are different |
| C．crossing the street is dangerous | D．you may go the wrong way |
In England, it is very interesting to .
| A．cross the streets | B．look at the traffic lights |
| C．sit on the second floor of a big bus and see the beautiful city | |
| D．look at the busy streets in the morning |
Which is the best title?
| A．Buses in England | B．Traffic in England | C．Traveling in England | D．Traffic Lights in England |
Modern life is impossible without travelling. The fastest way of travelling is by plane. With a modern airline you can travel in one day to places which it took a month or more to get to hundred years ago.
Travelling by train is slower than by plane, but it has its advantages(便利). You can see the country you are travelling through. Modern trains have comfortable seats and dining-cars. They make even the longest journey enjoyable.
Some people prefer to travel by sea when possible. There are large liners and river boats. You can visit many other countries and different parts of your country on them. Ships are not so fast as trains or planes, but travelling by sea is a very pleasant way to spend a holiday.
Many people like to travel by car. You can make your own timetable. You can travel three or four hundred miles or only fifty or one hundred miles a day, just as you like. You can stop wherever you wish where there is something interesting to see, at good restaurant where you can enjoy a good meal, or at a hotel to spend the night. That is why travelling by car is popular for pleasure trips, while people usually take a train or plane when they are travelling on business.From the passage, we know the fastest way of travelling is .
| A．by train | B．by sea | C．by plane | D．by car |
If we travel by car, we can .
| A．make the longest journey enjoyable | B．travel to a very far place in several minutes |
| C．make our own timetable | D．travel only fifty or one hundred miles a day |
When people travel on business, they usually take .
| A．a plane or a car | B．a car or a boat | C．a boat or a train | D．a train or a plane |
How many ways of travelling are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Four | B．Three | C．Two | D．Six |
Billy and Bobby were small boys. They were brothers, and they often fought each other.
Last Saturday their mother said to them, “I’m going to cook our lunch now, go out and play in the garden……and be good.”
“Yes, Mum,” the two boys answered, and they went out.
They played in the garden for half an hour, and then Billy ran in. “Mum,” he said, “Bobby’s broken a window in Mrs Allen’s house.” Mrs Allen was one of their neighbours.
“He’s a bad boy,” his mother said. “How did he break it?”
“I threw a stone at him,” Billy answered, “and he quickly moved down.”Billy and Bobby were .
| A．sisters | B．classmates | C．not often kind to each other | D．always kind to each other |
Last Saturday their mother asked them .
| A．not to play in the garden | B．to cook their lunch |
| C．not to go out | D．to be good |
broke the window.
| A．Mrs Allen | B．Billy | C．Bobby | D．The mother |
Mrs Allen was .
| A．Billy’s mother | B．their neighbour | C．their mother | D．Bobby’s aunt |
Michael Jackson fans are coming a Chicago museum to see a 3,000 year old Egyptian statue which looks remarkably like the late king of pop. Staff have been rushed off their feet since Jackson's death as thousands of mourners visit the exhibition to pay tribute to the star.
The statue has skinny cheeks and - most strikingly - a tipless nose. It is on display at the Ancient Egypt exhibition at The Field Museum in the United States. The bust(半身像) was bought in Cairo in 1889 and has been on display at the museum for 21 years.
But its popularity has risen rapidly since Michael Jackson's death after fans started writing about the ancient statue on internet blogs. The bust was carved during the New Kingdom Period, which ran between 1550 BC to 1050 BC. This was around the same time as famous Egyptians Ramesses and King Tut.
The museum's 4,500 daily visitors are banned from touching or kissing the statue, which is protected behind a glass screen. Astonished fans stand admiring the statue and discussing its likeness with others who have travelled to see it.
Darnell Williams, the director of guest relations, said some fans were treating a visit to the museum like a pilgrimage(朝圣). He said: "The statue has been here for years but interest has been raised since Michael Jackson's death. People are coming from all over the country to see the statue and compare its likeness to the king of pop.
"They want to touch and kiss the model like it is some sort of God but it is behind a screen to protect it from damage. Once people see it they are astounded and can't stop talking about its likeness. It really is remarkable."
James Phillips, manager of near east and north African exhibits, said little was known about the origins of the model.
He said: "The likeness is astonishing but I think it is probably a coincidence. We do not believe Michael Jackson ever visited the museum or saw the exhibit and there is therefore little chance he based his image on it. We believe the model is missing a nose because early Christians or Muslims removed noses from paintings and models to make them non-human.Many people are streaming to see the Egyptian statue to _______.
| A．satisfy their curiosity |
| B．show their respect to Jackson |
| C．enjoy the splendid Egyptian culture |
| D．learn about the history of Egyptian |
The underlined words “rushed off their feet” in the first paragraph mean”______”.
| A．extremely busy | B．rather tired |
| C．very annoyed | D．quite surprised |
The statue is rapidly getting popular mainly because of ________.
| A．Jackson’s death | B．its archaeological value |
| C．the Internet | D．its long history |
It can be inferred that the exhibits at the Ancient Egypt exhibition are classified by _________.
| A．age | B．area | C．kind | D．value |
It is true that good writers rewrite and rewrite and then rewrite some more. But in order to work up the desire to rewrite, it is important to learn to like what you write at the early stage.
I am surprised at the number of famous writers I know who say that they so dislike reading their own writing later that they even hate to look over the publishers’ opinions. One reason we may dislike reading our own work is that we’re often disappointed that the rich ideas in our minds seem very thin and plain when first written down. Jerry Fodor and Steven Pinker suggest that this fact may be a result of how our minds work.
Different from popular belief, we do not usually think in the works and sentences of ordinary language but in symbols for ideas (known as ‘mentalese’ ), and writing our ideas down is an act of translation from that symbolic language. But while mentalese contains our thoughts in the form of a complex tapestry (织锦)，writing can only be composed one thread at a time. Therefore it should not be surprising that our first attempt at expressing ideas should look so simple. It is only by repeatedly rewriting that we produce new threads and connect them to get closer to the ideas formed in our minds.
When people write as if some strict critics (批评家) are looking over their shoulder, they are so worried about what this critic might say that they get stuck before they even start. Peter Elbow makes an excellent suggestion to deal with this problem. When writing we should have two different minds. At the first stage, we should see every idea, as well as the words we use to express it, as wonderful and worth putting down. It is only during rewrites that we should examine what we excitedly wrote in the first stage and check for weaknesses.What do we learn from the text about those famous writers?
| A．They often regret writing poor works. |
| B．Some of them write surprisingly much. |
| C．Many of them hate reading their own works. |
| D．They are happy to review the publishers’ opinions. |
What do people generally believe about the way human minds work?
| A．People think in words and sentences. |
| B．Human ideas are translated into symbols. |
| C．People think by connecting threads of ideas. |
| D．Human thoughts are expressed through pictures. |
What can we conclude from the text?
| A．Most people believe we think in symbols. |
| B．Loving our own writing is scientifically reasonable. |
| C．The writers and critics can never reach an agreement. |
| D．Thinking and writing are different stages of mind at work. |