People visit other countries for many reasons．Some travel on business；others travel to visit interesting places that are only found in other countries，such as the Taj Mahal (泰姬陵)in India．
Wherever you go, and for whatever reason，it is important to be safe．While the majority of people you will meet when traveling are sure to be friendly and welcoming, there are dangers—theft being the most common．Just as in your home country, do not expect everyone you meet to be friendly and helpful．It is important to prepare for your trip in advance, and to take precautions (预防措施)while you are traveling．
As you prepare for your trip, make sure you have the right paperwork．You don't want to get to your destination only to find you have the wrong visa，or worse，that your passport is about to expire．Also, make sure you travel with proper medical insurance, so that if you are sick during your travels，you will be able to get treatment．If you want to drive while you are abroad，make sure you have an international driver's license．
Buy a guidebook and read about the local customs of the country you are going to．Also, try to learn a few basic words and phrases。
When you get to your destination, use official transport．Always go to bus and taxi stands; don't accept rides from strangers who offer you a lift．If there is no meter(计时器) in the taxi, agree on a price before you get in．If you prefer to stay in cheap hotels while traveling，make sure you can lock the door of your room from the inside．If you are traveling with valuables such as jewelry, or a lot of cash, you should ask about a safe for storing them in．Finally, remember to smile．Smiling is the friendliest and most sincere form of communication, and is sure to be understood in any part of the world!Who is the passage intended for?
| A．Students who study abroad |
| B．High school English teachers |
| C．Exchange students |
| D．Tourists who plan to travel abroad |
Which of the following will expire?
| A．Hotel | B．Luggage |
| C．ID card | D．Name |
Which of the following details about the passage is true?
| A．People mainly travel to other countries for business reasons. |
| B．It is important to be prepared , as well as cautious, when you travel. |
| C．You should carry your insurance with you so that you can rent a car. |
| D．You should store your valuables in the front desk of a hotel. |
Choose the best title for the passage.
| A．Some precautions when traveling abroad. |
| B．The two main reasons for people traveling. |
| C．The official documents a traveler needs. |
| D．Advice on using local transportation. |
Where can you read this kind of passage?
| A．Economy | B．Education |
| C．Sports | D．Tourism |
His first successful fight was for the equal rights of black people in South Africa. Then, as the first black president, he fought to unite the country and organize the government. Now Nelson Mandela has set his sights on a new enemy, AIDS.
On March 19 the former president, hosted his second AIDSawareness concert. He warned that 25 million people in Africa were already infected with the fatal disease.
Mandela was born in a small village in South Africa in 1918. He was adopted by the chief of his tribe and could have been a chief himself and lived a happy country life.
But he refused to be a chief when his people lived under racial discrimination(歧视). He decided to fight for equal rights for all the people in South Africa. Before 1990, under the country's Racial Segregation Law, coloured people and white people lived separately. Black people were treated unfairly even when taking a bus. Blacks had to stand at the back of the bus to make room for white people even when there were only a few of them on board.
For his opposition to the system, Mandela was arrested and spent 27 years in prison. He was freed in 1990 and became the president of the country after the first election was held in which everyone could vote.
Mandela was not only a political fighter who attacked with speeches. He was also a trained boxer and fought in the ring when he was young.
“Although I did not enjoy the violence of boxing, I was interested in how one moved one's body to protect oneself, how one used a strategy both to attack and retreat，”he wrote in his autobiography.
As a skillful fighter, he chose music as his weapon against AIDS. He hopes to win another victory against AIDS.When was Mandela arrested?
| A．In 1963. |
| B．In 1990. |
| C．When he refused to be a chief. |
| D．When he became the president. |
Nelson Mandela succeeded in doing the following EXCEPT ________.
| A．winning the equal rights for the black people in South Africa |
| B．uniting South Africa |
| C．organizing a government in South Africa |
| D．controlling the spread of AIDS |
Which of the following statements can best describe the life of Nelson Mandela?
| A．Struggle is his life. |
| B．Sports make his fame. |
| C．Fight for equal rights. |
| D．A great fighter against the government. |
Travel Information
It is said that the love story about Xu Xian and the White Snake happened on _____.
A. Dragon Tower
B. West Lake
C. Water Cube
D. Disneyland
D. DisneylandIf a person in Hangzhou feels like visiting Water Cube, he should call _____to get information.
| A．00852-28029822 |
| B．0451-82187899 |
| C．0571-68345576 |
| D．0l0-28135589 |
Disneyland, which attracts a lot of tourists from home and abroad every year, is in _____ according to the travel information.
| A．Beijing |
| B．Harbin |
| C．Hong Kong |
| D．Hangzhou |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the travel information?
| A．Water Cube is special in design. |
| B．The price of a ticket for West Lake is the highest. |
| C．In Disneyland.you can't see any cartoon characters. |
| D．The price of a ticket for Dragon Tower is the lowest. |
Many people have tried to simplify (简化) the spelling of English words. Unlike other languages, English sometimes spells the same sounds in very different ways. For example, there is "light" but "white", "loan" but "phone", and there are at least seven different ways of pronouncing "ough": "though", "through", "bough"," cough", "enough", "ought" and "thorough"．
The American President Theodore Roosevelt almost succeeded in simplifying English spelling. In 1906,Andrew Carnegie started the Simplified Spelling Board. He was one of the richest men in the United States of America. The board's plan was to make the spelling of words nearer to the way they sound. For example, the word "though" would be spelt "tho" and "through" would become "thru"． Other people on the board were Melvil Dewey, the head of the New York libraries, and Professor Brander Matthews of Columbia University. They explained their idea to President Roosevelt, who thought that it was indeed logical. He immediately asked the government printer to use simplified spelling in all government letters.
But people didn't like the change, even if it made life easier. So the new simpler spelling was not popular. More importantly, when the American politicians (政客) discussed the plan, they did not like it either.
Because Roosevelt did not want to have any problems with the politicians, he changed his mind and told the printer to go back to the old way of spelling.
Since then no one in any government has dared to simplify English spelling. However,people do simplify some words, mainly in advertisements. For example, we often see "tonite" instead of "tonight" and "thru" instead of "through"．Many people have tried to simplify English spelling because________.
| A．English words are too long to remember |
| B．there are many mistakes in English words |
| C．lots of words are spelt in many different ways |
| D．sometimes the same sounds have different spellings. |
Who is NOT a member of the Simplified Spelling Board?
| A．Andrew Carnegie. |
| B．Melvil Dewey. |
| C．Theodore Roosevelt. |
| D．Brander Matthews. |
What was Theodore Roosevelt's attitude towards simplified spelling?
| A．Worried. |
| B．Supportive. |
| C．Uncertain. |
| D．Doubtful. |
According to the passage, simplified spelling________.
| A．was welcomed by the US politicians |
| B．changed the way the words sound |
| C．has been used widely for over a century |
| D．was first used in US government letters. |
An English traveler found himself in Norway with only enough money to buy the ticket for him to go back home. As he knew that it would take him only two days to get to England, he decided that he could
easily spend the time without food. So he bought a ticket and got on the ship. The man closed his ears to the sound of the lunch bell. When dinnertime came, he didn't go to dinning room, saying that he was not feeling very well.
The next morning he still didn't have breakfast and at lunchtime he again stayed in his room. But at dinnertime he was so hungry that he went to the dinning room and ate everything the waiter put in front of him. He got ready for the quarrel (争执).
"Bring me the bill," he said. "The bill, sir?" said the waiter in surprise. "There isn't any bill. On our ship meals are included (包括) in the money for the ticket," said the waiter.The story happened _____.
| A．in England |
| B．on a ship from Norway to England |
| C．in Norway |
| D．on a ship from England to Norway |
The traveler didn't go to the dinning room first because _____.
| A．he had no money |
| B．he didn't feel very well |
| C．he didn't want to eat anything |
| D．he didn't hear the sound of the bell |
The traveler went to the dinning room to eat something because _____。
| A．his friend had given him some money |
| B．the waiter had asked him to change his mind |
| C．he learned that there was no bill on the ship |
| D．he was too hungry. |
After the traveler finished eating, _____.
| A．he had a quarrel with waiter over the bill |
| B．he drank a lot |
| C．he asked the waiter to bring him the change (零钱) |
| D．he came to know that travelers on the ship had free meals |
Some scientists say that animals in the oceans are increasingly threatened by noise pollution caused by human beings.
The noise that affects sea creatures comes from a number of human activities. It is caused mainly by industrial underwater explosions, ocean drilling, and ship engines. Such noises are added to natural sounds. These sounds include the breaking of ice fields, underwater earthquakes, and sounds made by animals themselves.
Decibels (分贝) measured in water are different from those measured on land. A noise of one hundred and twenty decibels on land causes pain to human ears. In water, a decibel level of one hundred and ninety－five would have the same effect.
Some scientists have suggested setting a noise limit of one hundred and twenty decibels in the oceans. They have observed that noises at that level can frighten and confuse whales（鲸鱼）.
A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that louder noises can seriously injure some animals.
The research team found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing. This seriously affected the whales' ability to exchange information and find their way. Some of the whales even died. The explosions had caused their ears to bleed and become infected(被感染的).
Many researchers whose work depends on ocean sounds are against a limit of one hundred and twenty decibels. They say such a limit would mean an end to important industrial and scientific research.
Scientists do not know how much and what kinds of noises are harmful to ocean animals. However, many scientists don’t think that noise is a greater danger than they believed. They want to prevent noises from harming creatures in the ocean. According to the passage, which of the following is increasingly dangerous to sea creatures?
| A．The sound of cars. | B．The sound of voices. |
| C．Man-made noise pollution. | D．The sound of steps. |
According to the passage, natural sounds include all of the following EXCEPT________.
| A．sounds made by animals themselves | B．ocean drilling |
| C．underwater earthquakes | D．the breaking of ice fields |
Which of the following is discussed in the third paragraph?
| A．The same noise level produces a different effect on land and in the ocean. |
| B．Different places may have different types of noises. |
| C．The decibel is not a right unit (单位) for measuring underwater noise. |
| D．Different ocean animals may have different reactions to noises. |
Which of the following is true of whales?
| A．They won't be confused by noises. |
| B．They are deaf to noises. |
| C．Their ability to reproduce will be lowered by high-level noises. |
| D．Their hearing will be damaged by high-level noises. |
According to the passage, what will scientists most probably do in the future?
| A．They will work hard to reduce ocean noise pollution. |
| B．They will protect animals from harmful noises. |
| C．They will try to set a limit of 120 decibels. |
| D．They will study the effect of ocean noise pollution. |