On October 19, 1959, the first Special English program was broadcast on the Voice of America. It was an experiment. The goal was to communicate by radio in clear and simple English with people whose native language is not English. Experts said the goal was admirable, but the method would not work. They were proved wrong. The Special English programs quickly became some of the most popular on VOA. And they still are.
Forty years later, Special English continues to communicate with people who are not fluent in English. But during the years its role has expanded. It also helps people learn American English. And it provides listeners, even those who are native English speakers, with information they cannot find elsewhere.
Today, Special English broadcasts around the world seven days a week, five times a day. Each half-hour broadcast begins with ten minutes of the latest news followed by 20 minutes of feature programming. There is a different short feature every weekday about science, development, agriculture and environment, and on the weekend, about news events and American idioms.
Three elements make Special English unique. It has a limited vocabulary of 1500 words. Most are simple words that describe objects, actions or emotions. Some are more difficult. They are used for reporting world events and describing discoveries in medicine and science. Special English is written in short, simple sentences that contain only one idea. No idioms are used. And Special English is spoken at a slower pace, about two-thirds the speed of Standard English. This helps people learning English hear each word clearly. It also helps people who are English speakers understand complex subjects.
Through the years, Special English has become a very popular tool for teaching English, even though it was not designed as teaching program. It succeeds in helping people learn English in a non-traditional way. Individuals record the programs and play them over and over to practice their listening skills. In countries around the world, English teachers assign Special English to their students. They praise it for improving their students' ability to understand American English and for the content of the programs. Universities and private companies in many countries produce packages of Special English materials for student use.At the beginning, Special English program was .
| A．well received |
| B．rejected by native people |
| C．doubted by some professionals |
| D．intended for teaching English |
What kind of English is spoken on Special English?
| A．British English. |
| B．American English. |
| C．Both British and American English. |
| D．Not certain. |
Which of the following are the elements that make Special English unique?
a．limited vocabulary
b．short simple sentences
c．good communication method
d．slow speed
e．interesting feature programming
| A．a, b, c | B．a, c, d | C．a, b, d | D．b, d, e |
From the last paragraph we can infer that .
| A．listening to Special English can be a student’s homework |
| B．listening to Special English can improve the content of the program |
| C．some student record the Special English material for sale |
| D．learning English from VOA is a traditional way for English learner. |
Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human conditions is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful（有压力的）conditions. Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely. Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting（转移注意力）us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support — money aid, material resources, and needed services — that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems.
1. Interpersonal relationships are important because they can _______.
A. make people live more easilyB. smooth away daily problemsC. deal with life changesD. cure types of illnesses
2. The researches show that people's physical and mental health _______.A. lies in the social medical care systems which support themB. has much to do with the amount of support they get from othersC. depends on their ability to deal with daily worries and troublesD. is related to their courage for dealing with major life changes
3. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “cushions” ?A. takes place of B. makes up ofC. lessens the effect ofD. gets rid of
4. Helping a sick neighbor with some repair work in spare time is an example of _______.A. instrumental support B. informational supportC. social companionship D. the strengthening of self-respect
All plant cells are capable of taking up water. Even dead ones do to a certain degree. Absorption（吸收）of water by dead cell walls makes wood become larger. In common land plants, the living cells of roots take up most of the water. Land plants without roots do exist, however. Those greenish-yellow lichens（苔藓）you see on rocks in the high mountains have no roots. Half a billion years ago, when water plants started to enter the land, the first land plants did not have roots.
Even among the flowering plants, one finds rootless forms. These flowering plants are “the higher plants” because they evolved（进化）recently and are thus considered higher on the evolutionary scale（进化度）. In the Peruvian desert, there grows one of these rootless higher plants, a bromeliad. It is a relative of the pineapple. Even if this plant had roots, they would be of no use, because where the plant grows, it never rains. The plant gets its water only from the dew（露水）it collects at night, when its leaves cool off. Such rootless plants, of course, can be moved with ease, but they will only grow when they are placed out in the open. If they are placed too near a house, the radiation from the heat of the house prevents the leaves from cooling and so prevents dew from forming, and the plant dies. In the southern United States and in Puerto Rico, one sees bromeliads growing high above the streets on the insulation（绝缘物）of electric wires. These plants get their water from rain, and the only soil they ever come in contact with is the dust that may blow on their leaves.
1．Wood becomes larger because of .
A．dead cell walls B．water entering dead cells
C．the growth of cells D．the death of cells
2．The “bromeliad” is a plant that .
A．has useless rootsB．is a pineapple
C．can grow anywhere D．takes up water through its leaves
3．The most suitable title for this passage is “ ”.
A．Absorption of water by plants B．Rootless plants
C．Plants in the desert D．Higher plants
Banks are not ordinarily prepared to pay out all account; they depend on depositors(储户) not to demand payment all at the same time. If depositors come to fear that a bank is not sound, that it can not pay off all its depositors, then that fear might cause all the depositor to appear on the same day .If they did, the bank could not pay all accounts. However, if they did not all appear at once, then there would always be funds to pay those who wanted their money when they wanted it. Mrs Elsie Vaught has told us of a terrifying run on the bank that she experienced.
One day in December of 1925, several banks failed to open in the city where Mrs Vaught lived. The other banks expected a run the next day, and so the officers of the bank in which Mrs Vaught worked as a teller(出纳员) had enough funds on hand to pay off as many depositors as might appear. The officer simply instructed the tellers to pay on demand. The next morning a crowd gathered in the bank and on the sidewalk outside. The length of the line made many believe that the bank could not possibly pay off everyone. People began to push and then to fight for places near the tellers’ windows. Clothing was torn, legs and arms broken, but the crowd continued for hours. The power of the panic atmosphere was so great that two tellers, though they knew that the bank was sound and could pay out all depositors, drew their own money from the bank. Mrs Vaught says that she had difficulty preventing herself from doing the same.
1. When would a bank run happen?
A. A bank is closed for one or more days.
B. Too many depositors attempts to draw out their money at the same time.
C. Other banks don’t have enough money.
D. Clerks of a bank take their own money out of the bank
2. The crowd in the bank and on the sidewalk gathered because of _________.
A. demand B. hunger C. doubt D. anger
3. The basic cause of a run on the bank is __________.
A. loss of confidence B. lack of enough funds
C. crowds of people D. inexperienced tellers
第四部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每小题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项
This story took place in Central Africa more than 30 years ago. One day two Europeans got to a small village in which the Negroes lived. One of them looked like the boss, the other was his assistant. The boss looked Sambo up and down said,“Young fellow, you look strong. Would you like to work for me? I will give you more money than at the rubber plantation(橡胶园).”At first Sambo wasn’t able to make up his mind, but a few minutes later he agreed.
Sambo’s new work wasn’t hard. He had only to carry light parcels from the village to the camp of the Europeans. He went a short distance along the road, then into the forest and straight to the camp. On the fifth day, when he went through the woods, he saw a big cage with a lion in it. He hesitated a little and went on. All of a sudden the cage was opened and out jumped the lion with a horrible roar(吼叫).
Sambo dropped the parcel and ran as fast as possible, so as to reach the camp in time. for the white man there were armed with guns. All at once Sambo saw two men high up in the tree. They were the two Europeans for whom he was doing. The assistant was turning the handle of the camera with a smile. It was now clear to him that he had been cheated. His eyes were filled with hatred. He wished to kill them, but it was too late.
1. The young man named Sambo was probably _____.
A. the assistant of the two Europeans
B. an African who worked at the rubber plantation
C. an African who acted as a hunter in the forest
D. the servant of the two Europeans.
2. The two Europeans went to the African village_____.
A. so as to take some photos for the villagers there
B. in order that they could write a book on travels.
C. to take a picture which showed how a real lion ate a real man
D. in order to save Sambo in time of danger
3. What did the boss say to Sambo?
A. He asked Sambo to serve as his servant in his country.
B. He wanted Sambo to guard against the lion.
C. He asked Sambo if he was afraid of a lion.
D. He told Sambo that he would be well paid if he would work for him
4. Not until Sambo _____ did he find out that he was cheated.
A. caught sight of the lion
B. saw the cage with a lion
C. found the white men on the branch of the tree
D. ran before the lion as fast as he could
5. In this story the writer mainly told us_____.
A. how Negroes were not so clever as the white
B. how cruel the two white men were
C. what a silly young man Sambo was
D. Sambo carted so much for money that he lost his life at last
If you go into the forest with friends， stay with them. If you don‘t， you may get lost. If you get lost， this is what you should do. Sit down and stay where you are. Don’t try to find your friends—let them find you. You can help them find you by staying in one place. There is another way to help your friends or other people to find you. You can shout or whistle three times. Stop. Then shout or whistle three times again. Any signal given three times is a call for help. Keep up shouting or whistling. Always three times together. When people hear you， they will know that you are not just making a noise for fun. They will let you know that they have heard your signal. They will give you two shouts or two whistles. When a signal is given twice， it is an answer to a call for help. If you don’t think that you will get help before night comes，try to make a little house with branches. Make yourself a bed with leaves and grass. When you need some water，you have to leave your little branch house to look for it. Don’t just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk in order to go back again easily. When you are lost，the most important thing to do is to stay in one place.
1. Which signal is a call for help？
A.shouting here and there
B.crying twice
C.shouting or whistling three times together
D. whistling every where in the forest
2.When you hear two shouts or two whistles，you know that ___________.
A. someone is afraid of an animal B. people will come to help you
C. someone needs helpD. something terrible will happen
3.The main idea of the passage is_______________.
A. how to travel in the forest
B. how to spend the night in the forest
C. what you should do if you want to get some water
D. what you should do if you are lost in the forest