Folklore is the branch of the study of man which deals with local customs, tales and traditions. Everybody is a storehouse of folklore, though not everybody realizes it. Often, in deed, those who have never heard the word folklore have the greatest store of it, for the people with least book education commonly cherish most firmly old ideas and superstitions (迷信) which have been passed on by word of mouth for generations. Everyone has heard stories of ghosts, witches, fairies, and giants. We all know some proverbs and have come across such ideas as, for example, that it is lucky to see black cat and unlucky to see a single magpie (喜鹊). We keep certain seasons of the year as festivals, such as Christmas, and we are familiar with the special customs connected with weddings and funerals. All such things are of interest to those who study folklore.
People who study folklore won’t criticize the old beliefs and practices they come across as silly, childish, or old-fashioned. Instead, they will try to collect accurate records of them and then see how these are connected with other ideas and customs of other places or times. By comparing with what is known of olden times or the folklore of other countries, they try to discover how certain beliefs and practices came into being, and what purpose they serve now or used to serve in the past.
Often we find that the beliefs which seem most peculiar and unreasonable, and the customs which appear least practical, are of the greatest interest and importance because they are commonly the oldest. Sometimes they were part of an ancient ritual (惯例) or served a useful purpose when people’s way of life was different from what it is now. So we not only learn about what people thought and did in the past but are better able to understand present customs. People often keep up customs when they have forgotten the original reason for them, and in the course of time a fresh reason gets attached to the custom. Thus, when some joker ties an old shoe to the back of the taxi taking the bride and bridegroom to the station for their honeymoon, he would say it was “for luck”, but actually a shoe is an old fertility (繁殖力) symbol and has a place in the wedding customs of China and Palestine.The underlined word “they” (in Para.2) most probably refers to _________.
| A．practices and beliefs | B．customs and traditions |
| C．records and tales | D．places or times |
It is most unlikely for people who study folklore to _________.
| A．collect as many records of old beliefs and practices as possible |
| B．compare the present customs with those of the olden times |
| C．criticize the old beliefs and superstitions as silly or childish |
| D．find out the purpose the certain beliefs and practices serve or used to serve |
Which of the following statements is true about customs?
| A．The customs which do not appear practical mean nothing to most people. |
| B．The reasons for certain customs may change in the course of history. |
| C．People who practice customs are quite familiar with their origins. |
| D．The wedding customs in China and Palestine are of great similarity. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．What Does Folklore Really Mean? |
| B．How Do People Keep Up Customs? |
| C．Who Studies Tales And Traditions? |
| D．When Did Some Old Beliefs Begin? |
Mary Buendia once spent a day in an airplane, looking for a cat．She didn't find it that day．The plane flew around all over the world for three weeks with the cat on board. She finally found it in the cargo hold and sent it home first-class．Another time, she found two suitcases full of birds from Turkey．But her strangest experience was when she pulled a snake out of a man's pants．
Mary Buendia is an animal health inspector at JFK Airport in New York．She takes care of all the animals that pass through the airport and checks that they are healthy．In the Animal Health Center, there are areas for dogs, cats, reptiles, birds, and fish. There is also an area for very big animals．The biggest they ever had was a black rhino．"It was no pro
blem," she says．
At the center, they receive all types of animals—monkeys, wild cats, poisonous spiders．It's impossible for one person to know about all of these, but there are 20 people working with Mary．Between them, they understand how to take care of the animals．She recently had to feed a group of toucans, which are rare birds．"Luckily," she says, "there is a supermarket nearby which is open 24 hours．I had to go at 2 a．m．to buy bananas．"
Mary often works at night． "It's quiet between 1 a．m． and 4 a．m．," she says, "because we don't have night flights． We try to give the animals a quiet night．" Mary clearly loves her job. "You never know what the day will bring," she says, and goes off to feed the birds．
71．The best title of the passage will probably be ____________．
A．JKF Airport in New York． B．Airport Health Inspector．
C．Mary Buendia D．Animal Health Center．
72．From the first paragraph, we can know that ___________．
A．Working as an Airport Health Inspector, Mary Buendia has various experiences．
B．After the cat was found, it was sent home to New York．
C．Mary got frightened when she pulled a snake out of a man’s pants．
D．Mary was tired of dealing with animals at the airport．
73．We can infer from the passage that ______．
A．Mary often works at night during flights．
B．It took Mary a whole day to find a lost cat in an airplane
C．Only healthy animals can be permitted to go aboard the airplane．
D．Mary knows everything about the animals by working with 20 other people．
74．An Airport Health Inspector should do the following Except ___________．
A．inspect whether the animals are healthy．
B．go shopping at night
C．take care of animals
D．work with colleagues and learn from each other
75．What kind of animals is "reptile" (in Para2) _________
A．a kind of large animals B．a kind of wild spiders
C．a kind of rare birds D．The passage doesn't mention
For all the dinner table, a glass of milk seems to be a constant , at least it was when I was growing up．It was widely believed that milk was integral in building strong bones and teeth. There’s no doubt that dairy products(乳制品), and milk in particular, are high in protein and calcium, and most milk products are supplemented with Vitamin D and A．
While it’s well known that our bones need calcium, some studies suggest that high calcium intake doesn’t necessarily lower a person’s risk for fractures（骨折）． A Harvard study found that people who drank two or more glasses of milk had no greater protection from breaking a bone than those who drank a glass or less a week．
There’s no doubt that we need calcium, Some anti-dairy supporters claim that dairy can lead to heart disease． Much of this claim is based on high fat and high dairy products, like cheeses and creams, which may indeed contribute to cardiovascular problems． Some studies have linked high milk intakes with a risk of prostate cancer; this seems to be caused by high-fat dairy products, not dairy in general．
Although milk was always regarded as one of the most important thing we need for our bones, yet least promoted, factors involved in strengthening bones. Perhaps we should think of dairy as less like a nutrient and more like a food. If you like it, eat it．If not, find some others． Because some claims may not be completely true, when I eat a cream, I’m not thinking about calcium, protein, or any such thing. I’m thinking delicious．
61．Which of the following is TRUE on the milk?
A．The more milk you drink, the more risk for fractures you might be．
B．The more milk you drink, the less risk for fractures you might be．
C．The less milk you drink, the less risk for fractures you might be．
D．There is no link between them．
62．Some anti-dairy supporters claim that dairy can lead to except______．
A．cardiovascular problems B．heart disease
C．prostate cancer D．stomach cancer
63．The underlined words “some others” in the last paragraph refer to_____．
A．dairy products B．milk C．food D．cream
64．What’s the author’s attitude towards milk?
A．He doesn’t like milk any more
B．He used to drink milk as a child．
C．He regards milk as a nutrient．
D．He always cares about calcium, protein when he eats something．
65．We can learn from the text that_____
A．All the claims are not completely true ．
B．High milk intakes can lead to cancer．
C．It’s necessary for you to reduce milk intakes．
D．Give up milk for your health．
When I was in high school, I had a recurring(反复的) dream of my teeth falling out. I dreamt about my teeth just about every night for at least three weeks. Sometimes they would fall out one at a time, sometimes all at once. I became terrified that my dreams meant I would actually lose my teeth. Nine years later and about a million trips to the dreams, I still have a full set of teeth, but I’ve learned that when we’re experiencing stress in our lives, it tends to show up in our dreams as well．
Miller says losing teeth indicates burdens that crush your pride. If your teeth are knocked out, you’ll have sudden misfortune． Other explanations for dreams about lost teeth are that the dreamer is feeling powerless in life and may be in a transitional（过度的） period from one situation of life to another. Some experts believe that dreams of l
osing teeth today show we’re just as insecure and uncertain as we were in
childhood．
When I dreamt about my teeth back in high school, I was trying to choose a college— a stressful decision． The dreams resurfaced when college graduation rolled around four years later and I’m sure they’ll start again when I graduate．
A little of stress in our everyday lives is normal. But sometimes it becomes such a regular occurrence in our lives that it influences our dreams and causes us to lose valuable sleep. Understanding our dreams is key to identifying and ending stress in our waking hours and restoring peace to our nighttime hours．
56．We know from the text that those who dreamt about lost his teeth indicates that________．
A．They will have sudden misfortune．
B．They are feeling powerless in life
C．They are as insecure and uncertain as they were in childhood
D．They are experiencing stress in their lives
57．How many different kinds of explanations are mentioned in the text about losing teeth?
A．Two B．Three C．Four D．Five
58．The underlined expression “rolled around” means_______
A．came about B．came down C．came near D．rolled out
59．We can infer from the text that___________．
A．Our dream can reflect what we go through in our real life．
B．Dreams can damage our valuable sleep．
C．We only dream when we are under great pressure．
D．Our dreams can show us what will happen in the future．
60．The author wrote the passage to tell us that______.
A．He wanted to show us his strange dreams．
B．He tried to explain why we dream．
C．Different people have different dreams
D．It is important for us to understand the meaning of our dreams
News (March 6, 2008) that Microsoft was making a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo was greeted with heated discussion by many Internet users on Friday. Here are some responses:
Mark Galeassi of Kansas City, Missouri
This is the best move for both parties. Yahoo has the ideas and Microsoft has the money to finally market these ideas correctly. Microsoft and Yahoo are a perfect fit and the deal will be good for consumers.
Scott G. of New Jersey
I was a Yahoo user for years along with Hotmail from Microsoft. Then Google came along... Google Earth, Google Toolbar and Gmail. Google is so innovative (创新的) with everything they do. Yahoo and Microsoft... same old story... I don’t think the merger(合并) will do anything for either company except improve the Yahoo shareholders’ bank accounts:
Michael Glosser of Estero, Florida
Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Intemet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.
Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California
Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!
Antonio Simmons of Parkville, Maryland
Microsoft purchasing Yahoo would be nothing more than an attempt from Microsoft to further impose upon the users their poor-quality software and obtain more wealth for the company. In my opinion, they will never be able to compete with Google because Yahoo and Microsoft’s current search engines are too inferior (差的) to compete. Even if combined, they still lack.
77. Who is in favor of the merger of Microsoft and Yahoo?
A. Antonio Simmons. B. Michael Grosser. C. Scott G. D. Mark Galeassi.
78. In the opinion of Scott G.,
A. the merger will contribute to Microsoft
B. Yahoo and Microsoft are lacking in innovation
C. Google is getting short of management experience
D. the merger will allow Microsoft to overtake Google
79. Michael Grosser is afraid that
A. the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features
B. the merger will lead to Microsoft’s monopoly (垄断) of the market
C. the increased competition will force Google out of the game
D. Intemet users will have to buy Microsoft’s costly software
80. What is Antonio Simmons’ attitude towards Google?
A. Doubtful. B. Disapproval. C. Positive. D. Negative.
The new model is the highly interactive（互动的）learning model. We could also call it the conversational model, or the tutorial model. It is computer based, with the interaction between the student, or a small group of students, and learning programs are like the conversation between a student and a skilled tutor. Distance learning will be the main delivery method.
Student interaction with the learning material on the computer will use the student's natural language; it will seem like a conversation between a student and a human tutor. This is the key point of highly interactive, or conversational, learning units. Programs will ask questions in the student’s native language, and respond reasonably to free-form student input. Multiple choice and pointing will seldom be used; they often do not allow individualization (个体化) of education.
An important aspect of this model is that the computer will frequently store information about the student, about problems and about how far individual students have progressed. These records will be used often within the programs. Thus when a student returns to the learning activity, the computer knows about that student and knows where to begin the new part.
Global education is critical for the future, to get rid of poverty, corruption (腐败), violence and war, to solve major problems such as the lack of drinkable water, and to insure a happy life for all. Education should no longer be limited to the wealthy of the world, but should be available to everyone.
In the new distance learning environment learning can take place in markets, libraries, public buildings, learning centers, and the home. Gradually schools and universities will play a smaller role in learning, both because better learning can be delivered through such highly interactive material, and because such learning will be less costly for the individual student. Motivation (动机)is particularly important in a mastery-based distance learning, as the usual threats of traditional classrooms such as that of low grades are no longer possible.
Voice input will probably be the mode(模式) for this interaction. The new voice input systems from several companies are useful, cheap, and speaker independent in highly interactive learning. Keyboards may not be needed. Speech is a natural way for humans to communicate.
Students will work in small peer groups, about four. Other contacts with people, learning circles, will be possible, directly or electronically.
68. What is not the new model also called?
A. interactive model B. conversational model
C. tutorial model D. linguistic model
69. What does the model often use?
A. individualization of education B. multiple choice and pointing
C. questions in students’ native language D. fixed-form student input
70. What do computers detect(检查) students about?
A. Their future achievements B. Their intelligences
C. Their problems D. Their families
71. According to the passage, distance learning ____________ .
A. is still expensive for ordinary students
B. will take place mainly in classrooms.
C. will play a more important role in students’ learning.
D. will still affect badly on the low-graded students