Schoolgirls have been wearing such short skirts that a Staffordshire school has ordered them to wear trousers instead. All skirts will be banned（禁止）from September at Paget High School in Branston. Tight-fitting(紧身的) trousers will also be banned and Muslim head-dressed will have to be “School blue” colour.
Head teacher Don Smith said, “one of the big problems for us at the school has been the number of girls who have been wearing improperly(不适当地) short skirts. This has been an area of special concern at a time when there have been a lot of wrong ideas of being beautiful.” Mr Smith said it would be impossible to determine(决定) how long girls’ skirts should be and that a blanket ban would be easier for teachers to carry out.
The head teacher said pupils’ and other teachers’ opinions were asked for before the new rule was set. The new clothing policy(政策) has been explained in a letter sent to parents of the school’s 1,000 pupils and will come into force after the summer holiday.
The school also wants pupils to wear clip-on ties(夹式领带) instead of traditional neckwear. This rule will be gradually out over the next year and support will be given to parents unable to afford the new tie.
One parent, whose teenage daughter studies at school, said, “I completely agree some girls were wearing skirts that were too short. However, I think girls should be allowed to wear skirts. Other school manage to let girls wear skirts while making sure they are not improperly dressed. I don’t see why Paget can’t do the same”What can we know about schoolgirls at Paget High School from the first
Paragraph?
| A．Trousers will have to give way to their skirts. |
| B．They will have to say goodbye to skirts on school days. |
| C．They will be allowed to wear head-dresses in different colours. |
| D．They will be allowed to wear tight-fitting trousers instead of short skirts. |
The underline phrase “ a blanket ban” probably means “ __________”.
| A．a ban on blankets | B．a ban on short and tight clothes |
| C．a complete ban | D．a sudden ban |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．Teachers called the pupils’ parents to explain the new rule. |
| B．Pupils will have to wear clip-on ties after the summer holiday. |
| C．Paget High School will provide clip-on ties for pupils for free. |
| D．Opinions were collected before the new clothing policy was made. |
What does the parent mentioned in the last paragraph think of the new rule?
| A．He isn’t satisfied（满意）with it. |
| B．He shows no interest in it. |
| C．He is pleased with it. |
| D．He doubts whether it can be carried out. |
Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories，destroying(摧毁)fourteen homes.Seven others were so badly damaged(破坏)that their owners had to leave them，and fifteen others had broken windows or broken roofs.One person was killed，several were badly hurt and taken to hospital，and a number of other people received smaller hurt.Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm.
A farmer，Mr.Tan，said that the storm began early in the morning and lasted for over an hour.
“I was eating with my wife and children，”he said，“when we heard a loud noise.A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us.We tried our best to climb out but then I saw that one of my children was missing.I went back inside and found him，safe but very frightened.”
Mrs.Wu Meifeng said that her husband had just left for work when she felt that her house was moving.She ran outside at once with her children.
“There was no time to take anything，”she said.“A few minutes later，the roof came down.”
Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded(水淹的)area and the welfare department(福利机构)brought them food，clothes and shelter.How many homes altogether(总共)were damaged in the storm？
| A．Fourteen. |
| B．Twenty-one. |
| C．Twenty-nine. |
| D．Thirty-six. |
Where was Mr.Tan when the storm first began？
| A．He was in bed. |
| B．He was inside the house. |
| C．He was outside the house. |
| D．He was on the roof. |
Mrs.Wu and her family didn’t get hurt because________.
| A．her husband knew there would be a storm |
| B．they were all outside the house when the storm became worse |
| C．they rushed out of her house in time |
| D．the welfare department helped them |
The underlined word“shelter”in this passage means“________”.
| A．something to eat |
| B．something to wear |
| C．somewhere to study |
| D．somewhere to stay |
Which of the following may be the best title for this passage？
| A．A Terrible Storm |
| B．A Lucky Woman |
| C．Good Soldiers |
| D．Clever People |
On Children’s Day 2004，Hong Kong held an interesting activity．In this activity，children and their parents played the rich and the poor．In the dinner，the rich could have delicious food，but the poor could only have bread with porridge．
Parents all hoped to have the dinner for the poor with their children．They hoped that their children could be taught a lesson from the dinner．
Now many people on earth don’t have enough food or clothing．Every day only half of the world could enjoy enough food．
The activity was held to make the families understand the differences between the poor and the rich and also make parents know that too much material life won’t always do good to the children．Which of the following sentences is true？
| A．Half the poor and half the rich joined in the activity． |
| B．Children played the rich and parents played the poor． |
| C．Parents played the rich and children played the poor． |
| D．Some of the children and their parents played the poor． |
In the dinner，parents hoped to________．
| A．have bread and porridge with their children |
| B．give the poor delicious food |
| C．give delicious food to both the rich and the poor |
| D．give their children delicious food |
Today only half the people in the world________．
| A．enjoy material life |
| B．have enough to eat |
| C．live in the West of the earth |
| D．can go to Hong Kong |
From the activity，parents knew________．
| A．the poor wanted to be rich |
| B．the rich wanted to have the life of the poor |
| C．the poor were different from the rich |
| D．the rich could have better care from the school |
From the news report we’re clear that________．
| A．children often change their minds |
| B．children of the poor work harder at school |
| C．children of the rich don’t like the activity |
| D．children shouldn’t be given too much material life |
Women’s fashions change more rapidly than men’s．In the early 1990’s，all women wore their skirts to the ankle．Today，some skirts are even longer than before，but some are very short．Women’s shoes have also gone through all sorts of changes in the last 17 years．For example，boots for women were very common at the beginning of this century．Then for years，they were not considered fashionable．Today，they’re back in style again in all colors，lengths and materials．In fact，today’s women can wear all types of clothes on almost any occasion．While all of these changes were taking place in women’s fashions，men’s clothing remained almost the same until a few years ago．And，in fact，most men are still dressed in the kinds of clothes they used to wear．What kind of skirts do women like to wear today？
| A．Long skirts． |
| B．Short skirts． |
| C．Both long skirts and short skirts． |
| D．Neither long skirts nor short skirts． |
Now boots are considered________．
| A．fashionable |
| B．unfashionable |
| C．uncommon |
| D．fit for girls most |
When today’s women go to the party，they wear________．
| A．skirts down to the ankle |
| B．long red boots |
| C．long skirts and short boots |
| D．any kinds of clothes they like |
Men’s fashions________．
| A．are changing fast these years |
| B．have changed as well |
| C．keep unchanged |
| D．change as women’s fashions do |
The passage tries to tell us________．
| A．boots for women have been thought fashionable since the beginning of this century |
| B．women’s shoes are back again in all colors，lengths，etc． |
| C．today men are dressed in the kinds of clothes they used to wear |
| D．fashions for clothes，shoes and so on always change |
Was the Dog Clever？
It was Monday．Mrs.Smith’s dog was hungry，but there was not any meat in the house．
Considering that there was no better way，Mrs.Smith took a piece of paper，and wrote the following words on it，“Give my dog half a pound of meat．”Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently，“Take this to the butcher’s，and he’s going to give you your lunch today．”
Holding the piece of paper in its mouth，the dog ran to the butcher’s shop．It gave the paper to the butcher．The butcher read it carefully，recognized that it was really the lady’s handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to．The dog was very happy，and ate the meat up immediately．
At midday，the dog came to the shop again．It gave the butcher a piece of paper again．After reading it，he gave it half a pound of meat once more．
The next day，the dog came again exactly at midday．And as usual，it brought a piece of paper in the mouth．This time，the butcher did not take a look at the paper，and gave the dog its meat，for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers．
But，the dog came again at four o’clock．And the same thing happened once again．To the butcher’s more surprise，it came for the third time at six o’clock，and brought with it a third piece of paper．The butcher felt a bit puzzled．He said to himself，“This is a small dog．Why does Mrs.Smith give it so much meat to eat today？”
Looking at the piece of paper，he found that there were not any words on it！Mrs.Smith treated her little dog quite________．
| A．cruelly |
| B．kindly |
| C．badly |
| D．unfairly(不公平地) |
It seemed that the dog knew well that the paper its master gave it________．
| A．might do it much harm |
| B．could do it much good |
| C．would give the butcher some meat |
| D．was worth many pounds |
The butcher did not give any meat to the dog________．
| A．when he found the words on the paper were not very clear |
| B．because he happened to have sold out all the meat in his shop |
| C．before he felt sure that the words were really written by Mrs.Smith |
| D．until he was paid enough by Mrs.Smith |
From its experience，the dog found that________．
| A．only the paper with Mrs.Smith’s words on it could bring it meat |
| B．the butcher would give the meat to it whenever he saw it |
| C．a piece of paper could bring him half a pound of meat |
| D．Mrs.Smith would pay for the meat he got from the butcher |
At the end of the story，you’ll find that________．
| A．the butcher found himself cheated by the smart animal |
| B．the dog was clever enough to write on the paper |
| C．the dog dared not go to the butcher’s any more |
| D．the butcher was told not to give any meat to the dog |
The Biggest and the Gentle
The elephant is the biggest four-legged animal in the world．It is also the gentlest，but not always！
Elephants are like us in some ways．They live for a long time—fifty or sixty years．They can remember things very well．They never forget great sadness or great happiness．When female elephant dies，her daughters and her granddaughters are sad for many months．They stay with the dead body．Then they carry a bit of it away with them．They never forget a dear friend．
Elephants are like us，but they are also different．They live in families of females．There will be a few young males a few“baby boys”．But the females will soon send them away．And elephant family keeps only its daughters，mothers and grandmothers．And its great-grandmothers．
The females stay together for fifty，sixty…a hundred years．The older animals look after the younger ones．The mothers teach their daughters and set a good example．
And what happens to male elephants？Well，the young males stay with their family．Then the females just send them away．A bull elephant does not often have a friend．He lives apart，away from the family，and often away from other bulls．
Sometimes the females call a bull．He can visit them then，and stay for some time．But soon his“wives”and sisters send him away again．The females have a very happy family life．What do the bulls think about it？We don’t know．Elephants are very sad when________．
| A．their parents die |
| B．a bull leaves their family |
| C．they are attacked by men |
| D．they lose a female in the family |
When a female elephant dies，the others________．
| A．leave its dead body there |
| B．shed(流出)tears together |
| C．take a bit of the dead body away sadly |
| D．bury the dead |
Elephants are usually________towards other animals．
| A．fierce(凶的) |
| B．friendly |
| C．rude |
| D．grateful |
In the elephant family，there are________．
| A．parents living together |
| B．parents and all their babies living happily |
| C．only bulls with their male friends |
| D．females and sometimes a few young males |
An adult bull elephant often________．
| A．lives alone |
| B．lives together with his“wife” |
| C．has many female friends |
| D．has many male friends |