It’s such a happylooking library，painted yellow，decorated with palmtree stickers and sheltered from the Florida sun by its own roof.About the size of a microwave oven，it’s pedestrianfriendly，too，waiting for book lovers next to a sidewalk in Palm Beach County Estates，along the northern boundary of Palm Beach Gardens.
It’s a library built with love.
A year ago，shortly after Janey Henriksen saw a Brian Williams report about the Little Free Library organization，a Wisconsinbased nonprofit that aims to promote literacy and build a sense of community in a neighborhood by making books freely available，she announced to her family of four，“That’s what we’re going to do for our spring break！”
Son Austin，now a 10thgrader，didn’t see the point of building a library that resembles a mailbox.But Janey insisted，and husband Peter unwillingly got to work.The 51yearold owner of a ship supply company modified a small wooden house that he’d built years earlier for daughter Abbie’s toy horses，and made a door of glass.
After adding the library’s final touches (装点)，the family hung a signboard on the front，instructing users to“take a book，return a book，”and making the Henriksen library，now one of several hundred like it nationwide and among more than 2,500 in the world，the only Little Free Library in Palm Beach County.
They stocked it with 20 or so books they’d already read，a mix of science fiction，reference titles，novels and kids’ favorites.“I told them，keep in mind that you might not see it again，”said Janey，a stayathome mom.
Since then，the collection keeps replenishing (补充) itself，thanks to ongoing donations from borrowers.The library now gets an average of five visits a day.
The project’s best payoff，says Peter，are the thankyou notes left behind.“We had no idea in the beginning that it would be so popular.”In what way is the library “pedestrianfriendly”？
| A．It owns a yellow roof. |
| B．It stands near a sidewalk. |
| C．It protects book lovers from the sun. |
| D．It uses palmtree stickers as decorations. |
Janey got the idea to build a library from________.
| A．a visit to Brian Williams |
| B．a spring break with her family |
| C．a book sent by one of her neighbors |
| D．a report on a Wisconsinbased organization |
The library was built________.
| A．by a ship supply company |
| B．on the basis of toy horses |
| C．like a mailbox |
| D．with glass |
What can we infer about the signboard?
| A．It was made by a user of the library. |
| B．It marked a final touch to the library. |
| C．It aimed at making the library last long. |
| D．It indicated the library was a family property. |
The passage tells us that the users________.
| A．donate books to the library |
| B．get paid to collect books for the library |
| C．receive thankyou notes for using the library |
| D．visit the library over 5 times on average daily |
“Migrant workers”(外来务工人员) is a familiar term for 17-year-old Shi Jian. Her father and uncle often talk about the problems surrounding this group of people. However, Shi cares more about the children of these migrant workers.
Last year Shi’s housekeeper’s daughter had to give up her schooling in Beijing because she would not be allowed to sit the national college entrance exam. She was forced to continue her high school education in her hometown in Sichuan Province.
Shi thinks the current law is unfair for migrant workers’ children, as it prevents them from studying at public schools, unless their parents pay huge sums. So, Shi decided to do a survey of migrant workers so that she could find some solutions to help solve the problem.
In the last six months Shi spoke to 186 migrant workers in Beijing. Her interviewees include babysitters, guards, keepers, supermarket clerks, house cleaners and construction site workers. Shi found out that 55 of them were parents. Among this group, only eight have children who attend schools in Beijing. The other 47 had to leave children with relatives in the countryside. However, 40 of the 47 would like to enroll(使入学) their children in city schools.
From her interviews, Shi found that the workers’ lowest income was 400 yuan each month. Over one-third earn a monthly wage of or below 1000 yuan. “Even schools for migrant workers’ children charge more than public schools. Morever, parents constantly worry about these schools closing or relocating,” she explained.
Shi has recently completed a report about her survey, in which she makes a series of recommendations. “The government can set up public schools for migrants’ children equal to schools for city children. Second, to offset(弥补) migrant workers’ very low pay, public schools should offer them special rates so they can afford their children’s tuition(学费).What drove Shi to do the survey of migrant workers?
| A．Her curiosity about migrant workers’ lives |
| B．She was asked to do a survey of migrant workers as part of a school project. |
| C．Her housekeeper’s daughter was forced to move to her hometown to continue studying. |
| D．She wanted to draw people’s attention and become famous |
According to Shi’s survey, most migrant workers’ kids _____.
| A．don’t live together with their parents |
| B．attend schools near their parents’ working places |
| C．have to help their parents support the family |
| D．always do better in schools than children from the city. |
All of the following prevent migrant worker’s kids from attending schools in cities EXCEPT___
| A．their parents’ low income |
| B．their lack of confidence to face the fierce competitions in city schools |
| C．school’s high tuitions |
| D．that schools for migrant workers’ children may close or relocate |
Shi suggested in her survey that ____
| A．more private schools for migrants’ children should be built |
| B．more money should be collected for migrants’ children |
| C．children’s tuition should be reduced |
| D．students from the city and the countryside should be encouraged to communicate more |
Simply, language is what people and animals use to communicate their thoughts, ideas and feelings. Of course, animals communicate with each other differently from humans, and each type of animal communicates differently. For example, a bee uses a dance to tell the rest of the bees in the hive (蜂窝) where there is food, while whales communicate through the use of pleasant-sounding sounds. One could say then, that animals use different languages.
Like animals, people also use different languages. Each culture has its own words and symbols that are used by people within that culture to communicate with others in the same culture. For example, a person living in Japan will use the Japanese language to communicate with other Japanese. Unlike animals though, some cultures use more than one language. People within these cultures are said to be either bilingual (双语的) or multilingual (多语的). One such place is Canada. It is very likely that a person living in Canada may speak both French and English. Likewise, a person living in Switzerland may speak Italian, German and French.
Not only do people use different languages to communicate, but languages also have different dialects. A dialect is a difference of a language which uses words and grammar somewhat differently from the standard form of the same language. For example, people who live in Manchester, England speak a dialect that is a little different from people who live in London, England; however, people in both cities speak English.
There are also some people who don’t use a spoken language at all. These people use their hands to communicate. This type of language is called sign language and is most commonly used by people who are deaf.
Now that we know how people communicate, we are faced with a question. Are we part of a certain culture because of the language we speak, or do we speak a particular language because we are part of that culture? To put it more simply, is a Chinese person Chinese because he speaks Chinese, or does he speak Chinese because he was born in China? What part does language play in the definition (定义) of culture?The examples of bees and whales are used to show ______.
| A．animal languages are simple to learn |
| B．people can understand animal languages |
| C．different animals use different languages |
| D．animals communicate with each other |
The main idea of the second paragraph is that ______.
| A．people communicate with those in the same culture |
| B．there can be different languages in the same culture |
| C．a culture can be expressed in several languages |
| D．the symbol of a culture is the language spoken by its people |
To judge whether a person speaks a dialect, you can depend on ______.
| A．what words and grammar he uses |
| B．whether he uses sign language |
| C．where he lives |
| D．who he communicates with |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．The culture of different countries |
| B．The language in different cultures |
| C．The development of language |
| D．The meaning of the language |
Governors, lawyers and business leaders have to deal with scientists, and every educated person finds his views affected by science. Yet our science teaching of non-scientists, in school and college, has built up mistaken ideas, dislikes, and the common boast, "I never did understand science.' Even those students who arrive at college with plans to become scientists usually bring a mistaken picture of science: some have a collection of unorganized facts about science, and some regard the study of science as a game which includes getting the right answer.
The first of these attitudes seems to come from a kind of course which provides various kinds of information; the second, from a training course on how to pass examinations that do not ask about the student's understanding but simply require him to put the numbers in the right formulas(公式). Neither type of courses (in school or college) seems to give students and understanding of science as we find it among scientists. Neither shows students how real scientists work and think how the facts are gathered, how discoveries are made, and what they mean. Young people need good teaching of science, not so much a great wealth of knowledge as a healthy understanding of the nature of science. They need an understanding of knowledge leading to sympathy with science and an eagerness of the way scientists work. Given these, it is easy to encourage later reading and learning. One of the reasons that cause mistaken ideas of science is _____. .
| A．a mistaken picture in students' mind |
| B．the unscientific way of teaching of science |
| C．the fact that students fail to see the influence of science |
| D．the fact that students have a collection of unrelated facts about science |
According to the passage, we can safely say that the subject of the passage is _______.
| A．need for good science teaching |
| B．every person, including governors, lawyers and business leaders should study science |
| C．young people should form a correct attitude to science |
| D．students must know what science is and how scientists work and think |
A good course of science is_______.
| A．to teach students to do things according to formulas |
| B．to provide students with all kinds of information |
| C．to help students have a good understanding and form a correct attitude to science |
| D．to encourage students to have a good command of knowledge |
People such as governors, lawyers and business leaders deal with scientists mainly because _______.
| A．scientists are great persons |
| B．scientists make discoveries and apply them to help people live a more comfortable, stable and safe life |
| C．they owe much to scientists' contributions |
| D．they can be affected by scientists when they are together |
Some wonderfully creative uses of X-rays have been in the world of art．But the most impressive one is to uncover what has been covered up．Details unfolded by an X-ray of a painting can ' t be seen any other way．For example, in the past, paintings were often repaired if small pieces of paint fell off the canvas（帆布）.These repairs cannot be seen just by looking at the painting．It takes an X-ray to discover where the repairs have been made．
An X-ray of a painting is one of the best ways to tell if it was created by a famous painter or if it is a forgery．If there is a question as to whether an old master has painted a certain painting or not, X-rays are made and compared to those of paintings that are known to be original．If the brushstrokes （笔迹） , for example, are shown to be totally different than in other work done by a certain artist, then the painting is proved to be a fake copy．
Since modern paints are usually made from different materials than paints of hundreds of years ago, the image they leave on an X-ray film looks different．This is another way X-rays can be used to spot a forgery．A modern artist will try to make a forgery (伪造物) look hundreds of years old by painting dirty varnish（清漆）on it or by using artificial means to get the varnish to look cracked（破裂的）．To the naked eye the forgery may look old, but when a careful study of the X-ray image is made, the deception is obvious．
It was common many years ago for an artist to finish a painting, decide it wasn't any good, and paint a completely different picture on top of it．Or artists would paint over others' work —it was their version of recycling．Taking an X-ray is the only way to find out if there is a picture underneath the picture you see with your eyes．Sometimes museums will be more interested in the painting beneath than the one on top, and will restore the older one by having the top layer painstakingly removed．What is the main purpose of the article?
| A．To provide information to police who are looking for stolen art． |
| B．To persuade art dealers to check for fake copies before selling art． |
| C．To explain how modern technology can be applied in unique ways． |
| D．To help artists restore damaged artwork to its original appearance． |
According to the passage．X-rays are used to ______．
| A．make repairs on paintings in the past |
| B．identify the authenticity of an artwork |
| C．change the materials of a forgery |
| D．remove the recyclable paints |
In Paragraph 3, the word "deception" probably means ______．
| A．comparison | B．drawback | C．trickery | D．judgement |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．X-ray Detectives | B．Creative Uses of Technology |
| C．Forgery Studies | D．X-ray Painting Techniques |
Preliminary English Test(PET)covers all four language skills---reading, writing, listening and speaking. Each skill carries 25% of the total marks. PET has three papers:
Reading and Writing: 1 hour 30 minutes
Listening : about 30minutes
Speaking: up to 10 minutes
There are two Pass grades(Pass with merit(优秀)and Pass) and certificates are awarded to candidates who achieve these grades. Candidates who achieve a grade Narrow Fail or Fail are judged not to have reached the required standard for PET.
Exam dates
Reading and Writing (paper1) |
Saturday 15March AM Saturday 24 May AM Friday 30 May AM Saturday 07 June AM Saturday 22 November AM Friday 05 December AM |
Listening (paper 2) |
Saturday 15 March AM Saturday 24 May AM Friday 30 May AM Saturday 07 June AM Saturday 22 November AM Friday 05 December AM |
Speaking (paper 3) |
This paper is held by separate arrangement, within specified periods—contact your centre for more details. UK 07 March to 29 March 16 May to 07 June 23 May to 14 June 30 May to 21 June 14 November to 06 December 21 November to 13 December Overseas 07 March to 17 March 16 May to 26 May 23 May to 02 June 30 May to 09 June 14 November to 24 November 21 November to 08 December |
The passage is most probably taken from________.
| A．an advertisement | B．a teaching program | C．a book review | D．an exam notice |
According to the passage, altogether PET lasts about_______.
| A．90 minutes | B．130 minutes | C．180 minutes | D．210 minutes |
A candidate will receive a PET certificate if he gets_______.
①a Pass with Merit grade② a Pass grade③a Narrow Fail grade④a Fail grade
| A．①or② | B．③or④ | C．①or③ | D．②or③ |