London will stage its biggest political funeral in almost half a century on Wednesday when Britain's governing elite join the Queen and global leaders to bid farewell to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, better known as the “ Iron Lady".
In an event comparable to that of Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965, Thatcher's coffin will be carried on a horse-drawn gun carriage through streets lined with admirers from parliament to the city's most famous cathedral.
The bells of London's symbolic Big Ben clock tower will fall silent for the first time since Churchill's funeral and more than 700 men and women from Britain's armed forces will honor a woman who led them to victory in the 1982 Falklands War as foreign politicians from around 170 nations look on.
Surveys have shown that many are unhappy that the estimated l0-million($15 million)pound bill for the funeral is being picked up by the taxpayer, while some left-wing lawmakers say the luxurious funeral is too expensive.
But her admirers, of whom there are many in her party and in southern England, argue that her historical profile deserves such a funeral. She was the country's first and only woman premier, was Britain's longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century, and won three general elections.
More than 2,300 mourners will attend including 11 serving prime ministers from around the world, the British government's entire cabinet, two heads of state and 17 foreign ministers.
But there will be notable absences. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is too ill to attend and Nancy Reagan, the widow of Thatcher's great U·S. ally Ronald Reagan, is also unable to come.
Thatcher struck up a close relationship with Reagan during the Cold War, backed the first President George Bush during the 1991 Gulf War, and was among the first to discover that Gorbachev was a man she could "do business with. ”
Covered in the red, white and blue British flag, Thatcher's coffin lay overnight in a 13th-century church in Britain's parliament, a forum she dominated for years. From the passage we know that Big Ben clock tower will fall silent to .
| A．get repaired for the first time |
| B．honour the passing away of the great woman |
| C．tell the specific time to the public |
| D．welcome the officials from all over the world |
Who that are still alive will be absent from the funeral?
| A．Mikhail Gorbachev and Nancy Reagan. |
| B．Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan. |
| C．Nancy Reagan and Ronald Reagan. |
| D．George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. |
From the passage we can learn that Margaret Thatcher was .
| A．strong and smart | B．weak and disappointing |
| C．aggressive and warlike | D．stubborn and luxurious |
Which of the following might serve as the best title of the passage?
| A．The legend of Thatcher, the “Iron Lady". |
| B．Why Big Ben falls silent for the first time? |
| C．Who will pay for such a luxurious funeral? |
| D．London will witness its biggest political funeral. |
Although English is not as 0old as Chinese it is spoken by many people around the world every day. English speakers are always creating（创造）new words, and we should be able to know where most words come from.
Sometimes, however, no one may really know where a word comes from. Did you ever think about why hamburgers are called hamburgers, especially when they are not made with ham（火腿）? About a hundred years ago, some men went to America from Europe. They came from a big city in Germany called Hamburg. They did not speak good English. But they ate good food. When some Americans saw them eating round pieces of beef（牛肉）,they asked the Germans what it was. The Germans did not understand the question and answered, “We came from Hamburg.” One of these Americans owned a restaurant, and had an idea. He cooked some round pieces of beef like what the men from Hamburger ate. Then he put them between two pieces of bread and started selling them. Today “hamburgers” are sold in many countries around the world.
Whether this story is true or not, it certainly is interesting. Knowing why any word has a certain meaning is interesting, too. The reason may be found in any large English dictionary. According to the writer, English ____.
| A．is as old as Chinese | B．is older than German |
| C．is not so old as Chinese | D．is very difficult to learn |
Hamburger is____.
| A．a kind of food | B．a round piece of beef |
| C．the name of a village | D．a city in Germany |
According to the story, _____.
| A．few Americans like hamburgers |
| B．hamburgers are made with beef |
| C．hamburgers are made with ham |
| D．Hamburgers were sold all over the world about a century ago. |
According to the writer, which of the following can be found in any large English dictionary?
| A．Where all the new words come from. |
| B．Where those Germans came from. |
| C．The reason why any word has a certain meaning. |
| D．The reason why English is spoken around the world. |
According to the story, the word “hamburgers” comes from_______.
| A．China because it has a long history. |
| B．England because Germans don’t speak good English. |
| C．The round pieces of beef those people from Hamburg brought to America. |
| D．English speakers because they always create new words. |
Tom was taken to the police station and put in a room with another thief, an older man.
The man looked at Tom and said, “Why have they brought you here, boy?” “I stole a small radio one day after lessons,” Tom said. The man laughed rudely at him, “you should steal something which is worth a lot if you want to be a thief. You ought to steal something really expensive, so that your name is put in the newspaper. Go and steal a lot of money from a bank next time!”
Tom thought for a few seconds and then said, “I can’t do that!” “Why can’t you?” said the older man. “Are you afraid?” “No,” said Tom, “I’m not afraid at all, but the banks are all closed at three o’clock, and my lessons don’t finish until four.” Tom was taken to the police station ________.
| A．by mistake | B．to see another thief | C．as a thief | D．on business |
Why did the older thief laugh rudely at Tom ?
| A．Because Tom lied to him |
| B．Because Tom was only a student. |
| C．Because he didn’t think a small radio was worth stealing |
| D．Because he thought Tom was too young to be a thief. |
From what Tom said, we can draw the conclusion(得出结论) that _________.
| A．He would go on stealing after he was set free. |
| B．He must have been taught while stealing |
| C．He wasn’t planning to steal from a bank |
| D．He would never be out of prison again |
Having heard what the older man said, Tom thought carefully about_______.
| A．his lessons |
| B．how to be a famous man |
| C．stealing something worth a lot |
| D．the plan to steal from a bank |
. Tom couldn’t steal from a bank because ______
| A．he was afraid of being put into prison |
| B．he wouldn’t have time to do that though he dared to |
| C．he wanted to be a good student |
| D．he did not believe in the older man |
Suppose you are a visitor in the land of Mongolia(蒙古), some friends ask you to eat with them. What kind of manners do they want you to have? They want you to give a loud “burp(打嗝)” after you finish eating. Burping shows that you like the food.
In some countries, if you give a loud burp, you are told to say “Excuse me, please.”
In many places people like to eat together. But in some parts of Polynesia(波利尼西亚)it is bad manners to be seen eating at all. People show good manners by turning their backs on others while they eat.
What are manners like in an East African town? People try not to see you. They are being polite. You may see a friend. He may not see you at all. If you are polite, you will sit down beside him. You will wait until he finishes what he is doing. Then he will talk to you.
Manners are different all over the world. But it is good to know that all manners begin in the same way. People need ways to show that they want to be friends.In Mongolia, burping is a way to show that__________.
| A．the host is very friendly with the visitors |
| B．one doesn’t want to eat anything at all |
| C．one enjoys the meal that is prepared by the host |
| D．one is not polite at table |
In some parts of Polynesia, to be polite while eating, one should____________.
| A．eat as fast as possible | B．eat with his mouth full of food |
| C．turn his back on others | D．sit still without doing anything |
It is good manners for people in East African towns__________.
| A．to sit down beside others and wait for them to talk |
| B．to say “hello” to others on the street |
| C．to try to talk to others when they are working |
| D．never to speak to anyone on the street |
We have good manners to show that we________.
| A．are different from other |
| B．begin all manners in the same way |
| C．want to be friendly to other people |
| D．don’t want people to trouble us |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．Manners are not the same in different countries. |
| B．It is good manners to give a burp when you’ve had enough in any place. |
| C．Sometimes manners are different in different places in the same country. |
| D．A person with good manners is liked by other people. |
The English language started about 1500 years ago in England. Three groups of people came to the country. They were the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. These three groups brought their languages with them to England. After some time, the three languages became one new language—English. The name "English" comes from the Angles. They lived in most of England. "England" means "Angle Land" or "Country of the Angles".
The language that we speak today—Modern English—is not the same as the English that people used 1500 years ago, including Old English（before ll50）and Middle English（up till 1500）. That language—Old English—sounds different, and it has some different rules of grammar. There were only a few thousand words in Old English. But Modern English does come from Old English, and it is still like it in many important ways.When did Modern English start?
| A．About the year 1150. |
| B．Before the year 1500. |
| C．Between the 12th century and the 16th century. |
| D．About 1500 years ago. |
How many languages did Old English come from?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
Which language did the name "English" come from?
| A．Modern English. | B．The Angles. | C．The Jutes. | D．The Saxons. |
According to the passage, Modern English differs from Old English in ________.
| A．grammar | B．pronunciation | C．words | D．All of the above |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Modern English has nothing to do with Old English. |
| B．Modern English has more words than Old English. |
| C．Modern English has a vocabulary（词汇量）twice as large as old English. |
| D．There is no difference between Old English and Middle English. |
It’s not easy growing up. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. Sometimes we feel trapped, sometimes we feel sad, sometimes we are fearful, and sometimes we just don’t understand why we can’t stay young forever. But we should take a look back on all the hardships in life with a positive attitude and learn from them. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. We should realize that all of our growing pains actually turn into growing gains!
Throughout our lives we are going to face many challenges and pains, but we should never let these obstacles keep us from following our dreams. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time.
As a young girl, my parents forced me to do so many things that I didn’t like. They made me learn to play the violin and then the piano. At that time I hated music and I also hated them. But looking back now, I am so glad that my parents encouraged me to take music lessons. Music has enriched(丰富) my life in so many ways. I now realize that my parents and teachers wanted me to have a better life than they did themselves.
We are all going to experience growing pains, but they are just part of our life. They might seem so huge at the time, but we must be strong. Think about how we would feel if we had no challenges and lived a life like that. Life would be really boring and meaningless. The future is ours! A little hard work and sweat never hurt anyone! If we realize that these pains are just small bumps(碰撞) on our road to success, we will realize that our growing pains are actually growing gains! The underlined word “obstacles” (in Paragraph 2) roughly means things that ______.
| A．are related to your studies |
| B．you easily achieve |
| C．make you happy |
| D．make it difficult for you to do something |
How does the author now feel when remembering what her parents did for her in the past?
| A．She is fearful | B．She is grateful |
| C．She feels trapped | D．She feels hateful |
We can know from the last paragraph that _____________.
| A．life without challenges is dull |
| B．life needs no pains but sunshine and happiness |
| C．we should give up faced with challenges as the future is ours |
| D．we shouldn’t easily pay a little hard work in growing up |
The purpose of the passage is to tell readers____________.
| A．life is full of hardships |
| B．growing pains can turn into growing gains in a positive way |
| C．everyone is painful in growing up |
| D．everyone should do what they don’t like when young |