Thomas Alva Edison was awarded more patents on inventions than any other American. When he died in 1931, Americans wondered how they could best show their respect for him. One suggestion was that the nation observe a minute or two of total blackout. All electric power would be shut off in homes, streets, and factories. Perhaps this suggested plan made Americans realize fully what Edison and his inventions mean to them. Electric power was too important to the country. Shutting it off for even a short time would have led to complete confusion. A blackout was impossible.
On the day of Edison's funeral, many people silently dimmed their lights. In this way they honored the man who had done more than anyone else to put the great force of electricity at his countrymen's fingertips.This selection says that Thomas Edison ________.
| A．was the only important American inventor |
| B．received the first American patent |
| C．received more patents than any other American |
| D．was the first American inventor |
People decided to honor Edison when ________.
| A．he made the first electric light |
| B．electric power was 100 years |
| C．the country realized electricity's importance |
| D．he died in 1931 |
The suggested plan was to ________.
| A．turn off the lights in factories and schools |
| B．observe a few minutes of total silence |
| C．dim all electric lights |
| D．shut off all electricity for a short time |
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题2分）
Bamboo (竹子) is one of nature’s (自然) most surprising plants． Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass．
Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly． A Japanese scientist reported one bamboo plant which grew 1.5 meters (4 feet) in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe． There are more than 1, 000 kinds of bamboo．
Not all bamboo looks the same． Some bamboo plants are very thin． They may only grow to be a few centimeters wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters (1 foot) across． This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green．
Bamboo has been used to make many things such as hats and kitchen tools(厨房用具)． Because it is strong, bamboo is also used to build buildings．
Many Asian countries have used bamboo for hundreds of years． They often use bamboo for buildings and supporting (支撑) new buildings and bridges while they are being built．
In Africa, poor farmers are taught how to find water using bamboo． These African countries need cheap way to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water．Bamboo pipes (管子) help poor farmers bring water to their thirsty fields without spending a lot of money．
1．How is bamboo like grass?
A．It grows quickly． B．It’s wood． C．it is easy to cut． D．It is very thin．
2．Though you can see bamboo everywhere, it doesn’t grow．
A．in China B．in Europe C．on mountains D．in Africa
2．Why is bamboo used by African poor farmers? Because．
A．it is cheap B．it has different colors C．it is strong D．it has been used by Asians
3．In Asia, bamboo has been used for．
A．a short time B．many thousands of years
C．many hundreds of years D．about 100 years
BEIJING——China will further open its financial sector in “an active and safe” way, the country’s central bank vowed on Friday.
“China will gradually broaden the chance for the participation of foreign capital in the domestic financial market,” said the People’s Bank of China in a report.“We will strengthen the connections between China’s financial market and international ones by attracting more foreign capital in Renminbi-denominated financial products,” the report said.
Meanwhile, channels will also be expanded to allow Chinese investment in foreign financial markets.
The bank said it would ease restrictions on enterprises and individuals possessing and using foreign currencies and increase the number of qualified foreign institutional investors and the value of their investment quotas(份额). “We will make use of the financial market to achieve balanced international payments,” said the bank.
Last year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) raised the annual quota for individuals buying foreign currency from US $ 20,000 to US $ 50,000.
“China will work hard for a more efficient and vigorous financial market that can better serve international needs,” the bank said.
The country will adjust its financial market rules so they are accepted around the world, encourage reforms and promote more flexible, diversified ways of trading, according to the bank.
China fully opened its financial market to foreign capital on December 11 last year, ending a five-year transitional (过渡的) period after entering WTO.
1. The passage is_______________
A. a piece of news B. an advertisement
C. a poster D. an explanation
2. China is working hard to_____________
A. reduce the interest rate of foreign currencies
B. increase the interest rate of foreign currencies
C. bring in more foreign investment by promising to further open its financial sector
D. adjust its financial markets to resist the invasion of foreign investment
3. To further open financial sector, China has taken many measures EXCEPT
A. Giving more chances to the participation of foreign capital
B. Stren
gthening the connections between China and other countries by the leaders’ paying visits to each other’s countries
C. Broadening the quotas of enterprises and individuals possessing and using foreign currencies
D. Opening its domestic financial market step by step
4. We can draw a conclusion that___________
A. China’s financial market will be conquered by foreign one
B. China will create a more active and various way of trading and its market will become stronger
C. China will end the transitional period of opening financial sector in five years
D. China will be blind to the foreign investment
Primary teachers are responsible for guiding children through the formation of many important life skills, and also watching over their students’ social development. Primary teachers come into contact with about 30 students every day, and teach them a variety of subjects. Many hours are spent before and after class on planning, preparation and correction. One should be a very patient, caring, yet firm person to be able to deal with the demands of children in the four to twelve-year-old age group.
Secondary teachers teach specific subjects to various groups of students. Just like primary teachers, they spend an amount of time planning and preparing lessons and correcting homework—their duties are not restricted to face-to-face teaching. Dealing with twelve to eighteen-year-olds requires a wide range of skills.
If you become a primary teacher, you will need to decided whether to be a “generalist (多面手)”, teaching a wide range of subjects, or a "specialist", teaching only one or two. Most primary teachers are specialists. Generalist teachers spend the greatest part of th
eir day with one class, which means that they spend more time with the same children. Specialist teachers have more time away from their students. It is therefore very important for generalist teachers to develop a strong working relationship with their students.
The unique rapport (和谐) you can develop with a particular set of students is one of teaching’s greatest pleasures. However, the disadvantage of primary teaching is that if you have a difficult student, you will be forced to deal with him or her, all day, every day, throughout the school year. Teachers need to work out strategies to get themselves and their students through such difficulties.
Primary teachers today are generally four-year trained. They usually do a three or four-year undergraduate degree, and if this degree does not include teacher training, they will have to undertake postgraduate study in education as well.
1. After class primary teachers usually_____________
A. come into contact with students
B. teach students a variety of subjects
C. deal with the demands of children
D. make planning, preparation and correction
2. What does the third paragraph mainly discuss?
A. What a primary teacher needs to do in the classroom.
B. The differences between generalist and specialist teaching.
C. How a primary teacher should try his best in the school.
D. The relationship between the primary teachers and students.
3. We can learn from this passage that___________
A. a primary teacher needs a wide range of skills
B. the disadvantage of primary teaching is having difficult students
C. teacher training is not important for a primary teacher
D. secondary teachers mainly teach children two subjects
4. The author writes the article in order to_________
A. tell teachers how primary teachers guide students
B. tell teachers what you should do as a primary teacher
C. let readers know more about primary teachers
D. let readers know how to be a primary teacher
Cellphone feels like a part of your body? A global survey has found that most people can’t live without 
their mobiles, never leave home without them and, if given a choice, would rather lose their wallet.
Calling mobile phones the “remote control” for life, market research firm Synovate’s poll said cell phones are so ubiquitous that by last year more humans owned one than did not.
Three-quarters of the more than 8,000 respondents polled online in 11 countries said they take their phone with them everywhere, which Russians and Singaporeans the most attached.
More than a third also said they couldn’t live without their phone, topped by Taiwanese and again Singaporeans, while one in four would find it harder to replace the mobile than their purse.
Some two thirds of respondents go to bed with their phones nearby and can’t switch them off, even though they want to, because they’re afraid they’ll miss something.
Mobiles have changed the nature of relationships, with the survey finding a fifth of all respondents set up first dates via text and almost the same number use the same method to end a love affair.
Apart from the obvious calling and SMS-ing, the top three features people use regularly on their mobile phones globally are the alarm clock, the camera and the games.
As for email and Internet access, 17 percent of respondents said they checked their inboxes or surfed the Web on their phones, led by those in the United States and Britain.
One in 10 respondents log onto(注册) social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace regularly via mobile, again led by Britain and the United States.
Not everyone is tech savvy(科技通), however,37 percent of respondents said they don’t know how to use all the functions on their phone.
1. How many people of all respondents end a love affair via text?
A. About 4,800. B. About 3,600.
C. About 2,400. D. About 1,600.
2. According to the survey, like surfing the Internet with a cellphone most.
A. Singaporeans B. RussiansC. Americans D. Chinese
3. Which of the following functions of cellphones is the least used?
A. Calling. B. Playing games.
C. Taking photos. D. Surfing the Internet.
4. Which would be the best title of the passage?
A. People can live better without the cellphone.
B. People would rather lose their wallet than their cellphone.
C. Different uses of the cellphone.
D. New functions of the cellphone.
Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask. But, as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history, I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history. Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history.
The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past. I am convinced that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the things that made these successes and failures. However, as the unfortunately true statement goes “the one thing we seem to learn from history is that we don’t seem to learn from history. ”Perhaps at least in teaching history, to my children I can do a small part in changing this.
A second major reason for studying history is that it is hard to understand the current political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context. We can not even understand who we are and where we are without history, much less try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be.
I teach my children history, for one more reason. I purchased a set of historical audio tapes for our children. My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over. It was my hope that he would become inspired by the accomplishments of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himself. I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr. In doing so, young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he accomplished. I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler, people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for.
1. What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?
A. Many people aren’t clever enough to learn well from the past.
B. Many people fail to make good use of history and make the same mistakes.
C. Many people feel it hard to understand history.
D. Many people have no interest in studying history.
2. In Paragraph 3, the author shows that history is useful because
A. it makes the current political situation go smoothly
B. it helps us realize the importance of historical events
C. it helps us understand why things are the way they are
D. it helps people accept the present situation where they live
3. Some historical figures are mentioned in the last paragraph to show
A. people can be inspired to do good, while also learning to fight against evil
B. people may also learn from bad historical figures
C. more celebrations should be held to honor their achievements
D. today’s people can also achieve what they achieved
4. What would be talked about in the following paragraph?
A. How to teach history effectively.
B. Some negative reasons for studying history.
C. How to get more people to study history.
D. Some bad historical figures.