Argentina in the late nineteenth century was an exciting place. Around 1870,it was experiencing an economic boom(繁荣), and the capital, Buenos Aires, attracted many people. Farmers, as well as a flood of foreigners from Spain and Italy, came to Buenos Aires seeking jobs. These jobs didn′t pay well, and the people felt lonely and disappointed with their new life in the city. As the unhappy newcomers mixed together in the poor parts of the city, the dance known as the tango(探戈舞)came into being
At the beginning the tango was a dance of the lower classes. It was danced in the bars and streets. At that time there were many fewer women than men, so if a man didn′t want to be left out, his only choice was to dance with another man so that he could attract the attention of the few available women. Gradually, the dance spread into the upper classes of Argentinean society and became more respectable.
In Europe at this time, strong interest in dance from around the world was beginning. This interest in international dance was especially evident in Paris. Every kind of dance from ballet(芭蕾舞)to belly dancing could be found on the stages of the Paris theaters. After tango dances from Argentina arrived in Europe, they began to draw the interest of the public as they performed their exiting dance in cafes. Though not everyone approved of the new dance, saying it was a little too shocking, the dance did find enough supporters to make it popular.
The popularity（流行）of the tango continued to grow in many other parts of the world. Soldiers who returned to the United States from World War I brought the tango to North America. It reached Japan in 1926, and in 2003 the Argentinean embassy in Seoul hired a local tango dancer to act as a kind of dance ambassador, and promoted tango dancing throughout South Korea.The origin of the tango is associated with _____________.
| A．Belly dancers | B．American soldiers |
| C．Spanish city | D．the capital of Argentina |
Which of the following is true about the tango?
| A．It was created by foreigners from Spain and Italy. |
| B．People of the upper classes loved the tango most |
| C．It was often danced by two males in the beginning |
| D．A dancer in Seoul became the Argentinean ambassador. |
Before World War I, the tango spread to __________.
| A．America | B．Japan | C．France | D．South Korea |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．How to Dance the Tango | B．The History of the Tango |
| C．How to Promote the Tango | D．The Modern Tango Boom |
Mary Jean Price Walls graduated second in her class in 1950.She had high hopes when she applied to a local college,Southwest Missouri State College.But after sending off her application，she spent months waiting for a reply.It never came.
Worse than simply being denied admission(拒绝接收)，the school didn’t reply to her at all.It wasn’t a matter of her school records，but of her skin color：Wallsis African American，and in those days，that fact alone closed a lot of doors. “I was sad and I was hurt,”Walls told ABC News.“I did not expect the skin color would affect my application.I thought I could go to university like other students.”
Four years later，the government declared that all schools should not discriminate against(歧视)African Americans— but it was too late for Walls.She’d moved on with her life, becoming a wife and a mother，and working as an elevator operator.She retired last year，at the age of 77.
She stayed quiet about the unfairness she’d faced in Missouri State.Her son，Terry，went through school records and found that she’d been the first black student to ever apply to the college.Today,four percent of the Southwest Missouri State College body is African American—including Terry.
Although it’s too late for Missouri State to change the past，the school is awarding Walls with an honorary degree(荣誉学位)from the school.While she knows it’s too late for herto change the course of her own life with the degree，it’s a chance for her to show her family that Missouri State has changed in the last 60 years，and there’s not a single door closed to them anymore.Walls couldn’t enter the local college because________.
| A．her examination performance is too bad |
| B．girls were not allowed to go to college |
| C．she was an AfricanAmerican student |
| D．her parents had no enough money to support her |
Before she was denied Walls thought that________.
| A．her application would be accepted as others’ |
| B．it was hard to become a college student |
| C．it was impossible for her to be admitted |
| D．she could be the best student in her college |
What can we know about Walls’s son?
| A．He helped his mother get the honorary degree. |
| B．He is a good student who teachers like best. |
| C．He was admitted by the college once his mother applied to. |
| D．He wants to be a government official who can help his mother. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Walls did not fight for her right to education. |
| B．The college did not receive Walls’s application. |
| C．Walls got a good job after she received the degree. |
| D．The government gave Walls some money for the wrongs. |
Walls’s honorary degree suggests that________.
| A．she could change her life with the degree |
| B．her dream of going to college has come true |
| C．she has been leading a happy life with her family |
| D．great changes have taken place in Missouri State |
I began working in journalism（新闻工作）when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.
With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was suppertime, I walked back home.
“ How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.
“ None.”
“ Where did you go?”
“ The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”
“ What did you do?”
“ Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”
“ You just stood there?”
“ Didn’t sell a single one.”
“ My God, Russell!”
Uncle Allen put in, “ Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickle（五分镍币）. It was the first nickle I earned.
Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence（自信）, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.
One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.
“ If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “ you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.
My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.Why did the boy start his job young?
| A．He wanted to be famous in the future. |
| B．The job was quite easy for him. |
| C．His mother had high hopes for him. |
| D．The competiton for the job was fierce. |
From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.
| A．excited | B．interested | C．ashamed | D．disappointed(失望的) |
What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?
| A．She forced him to continue. | B．She punished him. |
| C．She gave him some money. | D．She changed her plan. |
What does the underlined phrase “this battle”（last paragraph） refer to?
| A．The war between the boy’s parents. |
| B．The arguing between the boy and his mother. |
| C．The quarrel between the boy and his customers. |
| D．The fight between the boy and his father. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The early life of a journalist. |
| B．The early success of a journalist. |
| C．The happy childhood of the writer. |
| D．The important role of the writer in his family. |
Below is a web page from Google.
Olympic—Modern Olympic Games
The completer results archive of summer and winter Olympic games, with winners lists, statistics, national anthems and flags of all contries since 1896.
www. olympic. it/english/home-16k
Environment
Beijing steel plants to run at the lowest level of cost during 2008 Olympics [2007-03-11] Beijing able to treat 90 pct of waste water [2007-02-05] ·Air quality in Beijing has improved over the past six years [2007-02-01]·Green Olympics dream coming true …
en. Beijing2008.com/80/67/column211716780.shtml-52k
Beijing announces planned roule of Olympic torch relay
Beijing announced the 2008 Olympic Games torch relay route and set off the Olympic Games torch on Thursday. … Green Olympics is one of the three concepts of the Beijing Games. …
english.china.com/zh_cn/news/sports/110592227/14069663.html-26k
Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’
Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’, officially announced on Saturday, 24 September 2005. The symbol, created using a calligraphic art form, is composed of human and tree-like shapes, …
my.opera.com/green_head/blog/show.dml/92155-18k
Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004
On behalf of BOCOC, Wang Wei, executive vice president of BOCOC, gave a presentation about Green Olympics, introduced the environment protection work of BMC and BOCOC, and answered several questions such as protection of cultural relics …
en.beijing2008.com/84/91/article211929184.shtml-36k
Olympic Games Quizzes and Olmpic Games Trivia
Who was the founder of the Modern Olympics? In which cities were the modern Olympic Games due to be held/ scheduled during the ‘war years’, i.e., 1916, 1940, and 1944? … In which three years of the Modern Olympic Games were … More questions …
www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/sports/ olympic_games.html-12k
OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT
… aimed at young researchers engaged in scholarly research on the Olympic Movement, its history and values, and the impact of the …[ Full story] SPORT ACCORD[2005-01-23]…
www.olympic.org/
Ancient Olympic Heritage and Modern Olympic Games in Athens 2004
As put forward in the various official texts, the Olympic symbols of ancient Olympia, the Olympic flame and the Marathon race are bridges between the ancient and the modern Olympic Games, …
www.c2008.org/rendanews/knowledge_detail.asp?id=911-106kWhen was the environmental symbol of Beijing Olympics made public?
| A．On January 23, 2005. | B．On September 24, 2005. |
| C．On February 5, 2007. | D．On March 11, 2007. |
Which of the following websites is designed for young researchers interested in the Olympics?
| A．Environment |
| B．Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004 |
| C．Olympic Games Quizzes and Olmpic Games Trivia |
| D．OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT |
Which website provides a complete list of the winners in the Olympic Games?
| A．Olympic—Modern Olympic Games |
| B．Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004 |
| C．Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’ |
| D．Ancient Olympic Hertiage and Modern Olympic Games in Athens 2004 |
What do we learn from the above web page?
| A．Beijing has made efforts to improve its air quality. |
| B．The Olympic torch relay route has not been planned. |
| C．The Olympic flag will be on display in Athens. |
| D．A quiz on the Olympics will be held in Beijing. |
There are many special hotels around the world. In Greenland, there is a hotel made out of ice. In Turkey, there is a cave hotel. And in Bolivia, there is the Salt Palace Hotel.
Thousands of years ago, the area around the Salt Palace Hotel was a large lake. But over time, all the water disappeared. Today, the area has only two small lakes and two salt deserts.
In the early 1990s, a man named Juan Quesada built the hotel. He cut big blocks of salt from the desert and used the blocks to build it. Everything in the hotel is made out of salt: the walls, the roof, the tables, the chairs and the beds.
The sun heats the walls and roof during the day. So the rooms stay warm at night, though it’s cold outside in the desert. The hotel has twelve rooms. A single room costs $40 a night, and a double room $60.
A sign on the hotel’s wall tells guests, “Please don’t lick (舔) the walls.”Where did the salt for the hotel come from?
| A．A cave. | B．The lake. | C．The salt desert. | D．A salt field. |
What keeps the rooms in the Salt Palace Hotel warm at night?
| A．The water in the lake. | B．The sand in the desert. |
| C．The furniture in the rooms. | D．The heat from the walls and roof. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A large lake. | B．A special hotel. | C．A beautiful wall. | D．A famous desert. |
Most schools are named after famous people. Other schools are named after the streets on which they are located. Some school names are most unusual. How they were chosen is anyone’s guess.
There are schools with names that would make a person think twice before opening the door. The school named Lookout at least warns pupils in advance. You would need the most courage of all to enter the school in Oregon named Tenkiller!
Not all unusual school names are strange in a fearful way. Many of the names are pleasant. Who would not feel at home in the school named Welcome? What could go wrong in the school called Allgood? The Bright School, located in Montana, seems to promise that much learning will take place.
Other schools have names neither pleasant nor fearful. Their names are simply funny. There are schools with names such as Telephone, and Ducktown. For names to make us smile, what can match Bushyhead in the state of Georgia?
Do you think you can find the Nonesuch School? If you look carefully at the word, you will see that its name says there is no such school, but there is. The Nonesuch School is found in Kentucky.One pleasant school name in the passage is _______.
| A．Telephone | B．Tenkiller | C．Lookout | D．Allgood |
When you hear of the school name Bushyhead, you will find it _______.
| A．terrible | B．fearful | C．funny | D．familiar |
The Bright School is found in the state of _______.
| A．Georgia | B．Kentucky | C．Oregon | D．Montana |