Songkran（泰国泼水节）is the traditional Thai New Year that starts on April 13 annually. It’s also callled the “Water Festival” because people believe that water will wash away bad luck and make people fresh.
On the day, we spinkle洒small drops of water to bless monks and elders. Their hands are spinkled with perfumed(有香味的) water. In addition, this festival is for rain because it is the hottest season.
Nowadays, during the Songkran Festival, people always wet down everybody who walks past their houses or walks down the streets with cups or buckets水桶 of water. Everyone gets wet, but it is all in a spirit of friendliness, blessing and fun. People who get wet actually do not get angry because they know that it is traditional.
People will go to the temples to bathe沐浴Buddha images佛像and give special food to the monks. People do good things such as fish or birds and other animals released释放from their cages. On this day, everywhere in Thailand, people celebrate and enjoy the festival, especiallly in the northern part of Thailand.
We can see many foreigners join in the events and enjoyed this festival with Thais. Everybody also enjoys public events such as beauty contests, parades游行, and marching bands. 游行乐队
The Water Festival gives us freshness, happiness and fun because the weather is very hot. I hope everyone will travel to Thailand and enjoy this festival.The traditional Thai New Year ________.
| A．is celebrated at the beginning of each year. |
| B．comes three months before that of each countries. |
| C．is celebrated in a special way with its own activities. |
| D．is the same as in other parts of the world. |
People sprinkle water during the Songkran Festival, because they______.
| A．have nothing else to do |
| B．believe it will bring good luck |
| C．have too much water in their country |
| D．want to use water to fight with each other. |
When Thai New Year comes, people think it ________ to make others wet through.
| A．traditional | B．unfriendly | C．curious | D．strange |
Besides sprinkling water, people also_______ in this festival.
| A．invite honorable foreign guests to join in them |
| B．give freedom to some animals |
| C．attend rich feasts宴会 and have fun with others |
| D．bathe together to wash away bad luck |
Feeling tired lately? Has the doctor said he can’t find anything wrong with you? Perhaps he sent you to a hospital, but all the advanced equipment there shows that there is nothing wrong.
Then consider this, you might be in a state of subhealth（亚健康）.
Subhealth, also called the third state or grey state, is explained as an indefinate state between health and disease. According to an investigation by the National Health Organization, over 45 per cent of subhealthy people are middle-aged or elderly. The percentage is even higher among people who work in management position as well as students around exam.
Symptoms（症状）include a lack of energy, depression, slow reactions, insomnia（失眠）,Worries and poor memory. Others symptoms include shortness of breath, sweating and aching in the waist and legs.
The key to preventing and recovering from subhealth, according to some medical experts, is to form good living habits, alternate work with rest, exercise regularly, and take part in open-air activities.
As for meals, people are advised to eat less salt and sugar. They should eat more fresh vegetables, fruits and fish, because they are rich in nutritional（营养的）elements—vitamins and tiny elements—that are important to the body.
Nutrition experts point out that it is not good to eat too much at one meal because it may cause unhealthy changes in the digestive tract. They also say that a balanced diet is very helpful in avoiding subhealth.According to this passage, when you are in a state of subhealth, you should .
| A．stay home and keep silent | B．go to see a doctor and buy some medicine. |
| C．have yourself examined in foreign countries | |
| D．find out the reasons and relax yourself |
Middle-aged people may feel subhealthy, because they .
| A．have used up their energy | B．have lost their living hopes |
| C．have more pressure in life and work | D．began to get older and older |
As for food, experts suggest that we should .
| A．never eat meat | B．have meals with less salt and sugar |
| C．eat less | D．have meals without salt or sugar |
The underlined word “alternate” in this passage means .
| A．arrange by turn | B．cause to take place | C．keep up | D．take up |
Mr. Reese was born in a big city. His father had several companies and got a lot of money. He could give his son all the young man wanted. He was busy with his business and never asked him how he got along with his studies. So the boy spent most time in the restaurants or cinemas. Of course he was weak at his lessons and learned nothing at school. He made many friends but none of them was good and when they knew he came from a rich family, they began to teach him to gamble(赌博). Of course he lost much money.
Now Mr. Reese was twenty and finished middle school. He could not do anything. But his father didn't mind it until one day he found the young man had sold one of his companies. He became so angry that he made him leave his house. The young man couldn't gamble any longer. His friends made him pay his debt. He had to ask his mother to help him and the woman often gave him some money. But one evening his father happened to find it. The old man stopped his wife from doing so. They began to fight in the room. The young man brought out a knife and killed his father. His mother helped him to run away, but soon after that he was caught and sentenced(判刑)to death.
It was a cold and wet day. Suddenly it began to rain hard when Mr. Reese was being sent to the execution ground(刑场). Soon both he and the soldiers were wet through. He said angrily,“Bad luck! I shall be shot in such bad weather!”
“Don't complain(抱怨), brothers” said one of the soldiers. “You're luckier than us all. We'll have to go back to the city after that!”Old Reese never wanted to know about his son's studies because _________.
| A．he was sure his son was good at his lessons |
| B．he spent all his energies on his business |
| C．he knew nothing about the education |
| D．his wife looked after their children |
The bad young men taught Young Reese to gamble in order _________.
| A．to play with him |
| B．to spend spare time |
| C．that the could get much money from him |
| D．that they could find jobs in his father's companies |
Old Reese became angry because _________.
| A．him son had learned nothing at school |
| B．his son was weak at all his lessons |
| C．his son couldn't do anything in the companies |
| D．his son had lost one of his companies |
Mr. Reese complained _________.
| A．he was sentenced to death |
| B．he would be shot |
| C．he went to the execution ground on foot |
| D．he would be shot in bad weather |
The teacher was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry. The miller at Cresscombe lent him the small cart and horse to carry his goods to Christminster, the city of his destination, such a vehicle proving of quite enough size for the teacher's belongings, for his only article, in addition to the packing-case of books, was a piano that he had bought when he thought of learning instrumental music. But the eagerness having faded he had never acquired any skill in playing, and the purchased article had been a permanent trouble to him.
The headmaster had gone away for the day, being a man who disliked the sight of changes. He did not mean to return till the evening, when the new teacher would have arrived, and everything would be smooth again.
The blacksmith, the farm bailiff and the teacher were standing in confused attitudes in the sitting room before the instrument. The teacher had remarked that even if he got it into the cart he should not know what to do with it on his arrival at Christminster, since he was only going into a temporary place just at first.
A little boy of eleven, who had been assisting in the packing, joined the group of men, and said, ‘Aunt has got a fuel-house, and it could be put there, perhaps, till you’ve found a place to settle in, sir.’
‘Good idea,’ said the blacksmith.
The smith and the bailiff started to see about the possibility of the suggested shelter, and the boy and the teacher were left standing alone.
‘Sorry I am going, Jude?’ asked the latter kindly.
Tears rose into the boy’s eyes. He admitted that he was sorry.
‘So am I,’ said Mr. Phillotson.
‘Why do you go, sir?’ asked the boy.
‘Well—don't speak of this everywhere. You know what a university is, and a university degree? It is the necessary hallmark (标志) of a man who wants to do anything in teaching. My scheme, or dream, is to be a university graduate. By going to live at Christminster, I shall be at headquarters, so to speak, and if my scheme is practicable at all, I consider that being on the spot will afford me a better chance.’
The smith and his companion returned. Old Miss Fawley's fuel-house was practicable; and she seemed willing to give the instrument standing-room there. So it was left in the school till the evening, when more hands would be available for removing it; and the teacher gave a final glance round.
At nine o'clock Mr. Phillotson mounted beside his box of books, and waved his friends good-bye.It seemed that the teacher _____.
| A．was not getting on well with the headmaster |
| B．had lived a rather simple life in the village |
| C．was likely to continue to practice playing the piano |
| D．would get help in the city on arriving there |
The motivation of the teacher’s moving lay in his _____.
| A．ambition | B．devotion | C．admiration | D．inspiration |
The boy named Jude may be described as _____.
| A．polite, generous and cheerful | B．active, modest and friendly |
| C．kind, bright and helpful | D．calm, confident and humorous |
In the passage the writer describes both the teacher’s _____.
| A．love for music and his dislike for musical instruments |
| B．hard work in the village and his strong interest in city life |
| C．friendship with some villagers and also conflicts with others |
| D．eagerness to go to the city and his affection for the village |
Great literary works do not fade with time. Shakespeare’s plays, for example, have been read again and again by generation after generation; they have also been adapted for the big screen and shown at places other than the theater. Great literature also knows no language boundaries. For example, Chinese classical novels like The Dream of the Red Chamber and Journey of the Monkey have been widely read not only by Chinese but also by sinologists, people who study Chinese culture, from many language backgrounds.
People read literature to enjoy great writers’ ways with words and their humor. In the English language world, William Somerest Maugham is a novelist who is good at irony, i.e., saying the opposite of what is meant, to create humor. Another reason why Maugham’s novels are well-loved is that he never fails to provide a surprise ending to amuse his readers.
When readers become involved with what they are reading, they may behave as if they have traveled through time to live with the characters in the story. Readers of Maugham’s short story, The Luncheon, may often stop and wonder about how the main character is so easily fooled when hehas lunch with a woman he met once in Paris. They may also grow to love or hate this woman in the course of their reading.
Literary works often provide room for different interpretations. For example, poetry, because of its succinct use of words, can often be interpreted in a number of different ways. Short plays, on the other hand, contain more elaborate descriptions of the setting and the moods of the characters, not to mention the stage directions. However, almost all literary works make use of symbols to suggest ideas indirectly. Because symbols can carry different meanings in different cultures, one person’s interpretation of a symbol can be very different from another person’s.
Great literature is not bound by time or language barriers. It will continue to speak to generations of people.In Paragraph 3, whom does “he” refer to?
| A．The author. | B．The reader. | C．The main character. | D．Somerest Maugham. |
What would be the best title for this article?
| A．The Many Languages of Literature | B．Great Literature Has No Barriers |
| C．Great Literature Has Time | D．The Irony of Literature |
According to the passage, all the following things may draw readers’ attention EXCEPT______
| A．language backgrounds | B．humorous words |
| C．surprising endings | D．the use of symbols |
Boeing said Wednesday that it was entering the space tourism business, an announcement that could bolster（增强）the Obama administration’s efforts to transform the National Aeronautics and Space Administration into an agency that focuses less on building rockets and more on nurturing a commercial space industry.
The flights, which could begin as early as 2015, would most likely launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida to the International Space Station. The Obama administration has proposed turning over to private companies the business of taking NASA astronauts to orbit, and Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas won an $18 million contract this year for preliminary (初步的)development and testing of a capsule that could carry seven passengers.
Current NASA plans call for four space station crew members to go up at a time, which would leave up to three seats available for space tourists. The flights would be the first to give nonprofessional astronauts the chance to go into orbit aboard a spacecraft launched from the United States. Seven earlier space tourists have made visits to the space station, riding in Russian Soyuz capsules.
“We’re ready now to start talking to possible customers,” said Eric C. Anderson, co-founder and chairman of Space Adventures, the space tourism company based in Virginia that would market the seats for Boeing.
Boeing and Space Adventures have not set a price, although Mr. Anderson said it would be competitive with the Soyuz flights, which Space Adventures arranged with the Russian Space Agency. Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil, paid about $40 million for a Soyuz ride and an eight-day stay at the space station last year. But the possibilities that anyone buying a ticket will get to space on an American vehicle depend on discussions in Congress about the future of NASA. Which of the following is most probably a private travel company?
A. Boeing. B. Space Adventure.
C. NASA. D. Russian Space Agency. How many people can be carried along on a capsule to the space station?
| A．3. | B．4. | C．7. | D．11. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The American space tourism company is located in Virginia. |
| B．Russia has already taken lead in working on the space tourism business. |
| C．NASA has decided to focus less on building rockets because of the financial crisis. |
| D．In 2015, America would be the first country in the world to run the space tourism business. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Taking NASA Astronauts to Orbit. | B．Living in the Space Station Space. |
| C．Ticket Price under Discussion. | D．Boeing Could Fly You to Orbit by 2015. |