The National Trust in Britain plays an increasingly important part in the preservation for public enjoyment of the best that is left unspoiled of the British countryside. Although the Trust has received practical and moral support from the Government, it is not a rich government department. It is a voluntary association of people who care for the unspoiled countryside and historic buildings of Britain. It is a charity which depends for its existence on voluntary support from members of the public. Its primary duty is to protect places of great natural beauty and places of historical interest.
The attention of the public was the first drawn to the dangers threatening the great old houses and the castles of Britain by the death of the Lord Lothian, who left his great seventeenth-century house to the Trust together with the 4500-acre park and estate surrounding it. This gift attracted wide publicity and started the Trust’s “Country House Scheme”. Under this scheme, with the help of the Government and the general public, the Trust has been able to save and make accessible to the public about 150 of these old houses. Last year, about 1.75 million people paid to visit these historic houses, usually at a very small charge.
In addition to country houses and open spaces, the Trust now owns some examples of ancient wind and water mills, nature reserves, 540 farms and nearly 2500 cottages or small village houses, as well as some complete villages. In these villages no one is allowed to build, develop or disturb the old village environment in any way and all the houses are maintained in their original 16th century style. Over 4,000 acres of coastline, woodland, and hill country are protected by the Trust and no development or disturbances of any kind are permitted. The public has free access to these areas and is only asked to respect the peace, beauty and wildlife.
Over the past 80 years the Trust has become a big and important organization and an essential and respected part of national life. It helps to preserve all that is of great natural beauty and of historical significance not only for future generations of Britons but also for the millions of tourists who each year invade Britain in search of a great historic and cultural heritage.The National Trust is a ______.
| A．government agency depending on voluntary services |
| B．non-profit organization depending on voluntary services |
| C．government department but is not rich |
| D．private organization supported by the government |
The National Trust is devoted to ______.
| A．preserving the best public enjoyment |
| B．providing the public with free access to historic buildings |
| C．offering better services to visitors home and abroad |
| D．protecting the unspoiled countryside and historic buildings |
We can infer from Paragraph 2 that Lord Lothian ______.
| A．donated all his money to the Trust |
| B．started the “Country House Scheme” |
| C．saved many old country houses in Britain |
| D．was influential in his time |
All the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT ______.
| A．the Trust is more interested in protecting the 16th century houses |
| B．many people came to visit the historic houses saved by the Trust |
| C．visitors can get free access to some places owned by the Trust |
| D．the Trust has a story which is longer than 80 years |
The underlined word “invade” in the last Paragraph is closest in meaning to _____.
| A．come in without permission |
| B．enter with invitation |
| C．visit in large numbers |
| D．appear all of a sudden |
Americans like to travel on their yearly holiday. Today, more and more travelers in the United States are spending nights at small houses or inns(客栈)instead of hotels. They get a room for the night and the breakfast the next morning.
Rooms for the night in private(私人的)homes with breakfast have been popular with travelers in Europe for many years. In the past five to ten years, these bed-and-breakfast places have become popular in the United States. Many of these America’s bed-and-breakfast inns have only a few rooms; others are much larger. Some inns do not provide telephones or televisions in the rooms, others do.
Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is much different from staying at a hotel. Usually the cost is much less. Staying at an inn is almost like visiting someone’s home. The owners are glad to tell about the areas and the interesting places to visit. Many vacationers say that they enjoy the chance to meet local families.Americans take a holiday trip_________.
| A．all the year round | B．for years |
| C．every year | D．every other year |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Some Americans like to stay at bed-and-breakfast homes instead of at hotels. |
| B．The bed-and-breakfast inns are private homes open to vacationers. |
| C．The bed-and-breakfast inns have been popular in America for a long time. |
| D．The bed-and-breakfast inn owners provide a morning meal for their visitors and a room for the night. |
Staying at the bed-and-breakfast inns, __________.
| A．the travelers needn’t pay anything |
| B．the travelers don’t have to pay for the telephone or television |
| C．the travelers can meet and talk with the local people |
| D．the owners will show the travelers around the area |
Which is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．European and American vacationers like staying at bed-and-breakfast inns. |
| B．All Americans enjoy traveling. |
| C．These bed-and-breakfast inns are all old historic buildings. |
| D．Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is just like at the traveler’s home. |
Bringing Art into Hospitals
The medical world is gradually realizing that the quality of the environment in hospitals may play an important role in helping patients to get better.
As part of nationwide effort in Britain to bring art out of the museums and into public places, some of the country’s best artists have been called in to change older hospitals and to soften the hard edges of modern buildings. Of the 2500 national health service hospitals in Britain, almost 100 now have very valuable collections of present art in passages, waiting areas and treatment rooms.
These recent movements first started by one artist, Peter Senior, who set up his studio at a Manchester hospital in northeastern England during the early 1970s.He felt the artist had lost his place in modern society, and that art should be enjoyed by a wider audience(观众).
A common hospital waiting room might have as many as 5 000 visitors each week. What a better place to hold regular exhibitions of art! Senior held the first exhibition of his own paintings in the out—patient’s waiting area of the Manchester Royal Hospital in 1975.Believed to be Britain’s first hospital artist. Senior was so much in demand that he was soon joined by a team of six young art school graduates.
The effect is striking. Now in the passages and waiting rooms the visitor experiences a full view of fresh colours, playful images(形象)and restful courtyards.
The quality of the environment may reduce the need for expensive drugs when a patient is recovering from an illness. A study has shown that patients who had a view onto gardens needed half the number of strong pain killers compared with patients who had no view at all or only a brick wall to look at. Some best artists of Britain have been called in to__________.
| A．set up new hospitals |
| B．make the corners of the hospital collect paintings |
| C．bring art into hospitals |
| D．help patients recover from serious illnesses |
After the improvement of the hospital environment,__________.
| A．patients no longer take drugs to kill their pains |
| B．patients don’t have to stay long in hospital |
| C．patients need fewer pain killers when they suffer from an illness |
| D．patients feel happy in hospital |
It can inferred from the passage that__________.
| A．the role of hospital environment is important. |
| B．hospital artists have done more than doctors |
| C．exhibitions attract more audience in hospitals than in museums |
| D．the hospital is a better place for people. |
Last year, I met a little boy to whom my heart went out. He would talk to me every single day, and always seemed to have a smile on his face. His problem was that he stuttered (口吃) extremely badly when he tried to talk. It was really hard to understand what he was saying, although he loved to tell big tales!
One morning, I was talking to the teachers who ran the school store. The boy stopped by and said hello to all of us. Afterwards they told me that the boy would stop every day to ask if they would be there the next day. But of course, he never had money to buy anything.
I decided that I would get him a little something just as a surprise. So I picked out a pencil, a rubber, and a small notebook for just $1.00. I cannot describe the look on his face when I gave him the three little things. Then, without a stutter, he loudly said, "Thank you so much!" and just kept repeating, "Thank you! Thank you!" He gave me a big hug before going off to class.
I was touched to see someone appreciate something that much. As he walked off, he was showing his new stuff to other kids walking to class. I have to say that I have never spent a dollar that would mean so much to me.Why did the boy never buy anything from the store?
| A．Because he couldn’t make himself understood. |
| B．Because the teachers were unwilling to sell him anything. |
| C．Because he couldn’t afford anything. |
| D．Because he could never decide what to buy. |
What do we learn from the third paragraph?
| A．Actually the boy had no stutter at all. |
| B．The boy was too excited to stutter at the moment. |
| C．What the author had bought helped the boy speak normally. |
| D．The author wanted to find out whether the boy really had a stutter. |
Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Stuttering Boy |
| B．Kindness Can Do Wonders |
| C．One Dollar Can Buy Anything |
| D．The Best Dollar I Have Spent |
What is the boy’s attitude to his life?
| A．active | B．passive | C．disappointed | D．fearful |
When you watch TV programs about wild animals, it is surprising to see how an antelope can escape a lion’s attack. In the wilderness, everyone has a stunt. Even plants have their own ways of fighting off enemies.
Over millions of years of evolution, plants have developed a unique defence system. Chemicals are wildly used for survival. By making their leaves, flowers, roots and fruits distasteful or poisonous(有毒的) to enemies, plants can fight back.
One such plant is the Golden Wattle tree. The British scientist David Cameron has found when an animal eats the tree’s leaves, the amount of poison increases in the other leaves. “It’s like the damaged leaves telephoning the others telling them to fight together against the enemy, ” he said.
The tree also sends defence messages to neighboring plants by giving out a special smell. Golden Wattle trees in the surrounding 45 meters will get the message and produce more poison within 10 minutes. Now, if an enemy eats too many of the trees’ leaves, it will die.
Every species of plant or tree is good at the production of a particular set of chemicals. A herbivore that can safely eat the leaves of one tree may be poisoned by its neighbor.
In this way, plants have developed not only individual defence system, but also shared it with others. This makes it impossible for a single animal to destroy even a small area of forest. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Plants Fight back with Poisons |
| B．Plants Can Kill Animals |
| C．Animals and Plants |
| D．Lions and Antelopes |
According to the study, if one Golden Wattle tree is attacked by animals, it can________.
| A．tell other trees to protect it |
| B．produce more poison within 10 minutes |
| C．send defence messages to the neighboring plants |
| D．kill the animals with its leaves |
In this passage the underlined word “herbivore” probably means animals which ________.
| A．live on both animals and plants | B．feed on smaller animals |
| C．live on trees | D．feed on plants or grass |
The last paragraph of the passage suggests that this kind of defence system________.
| A．does great harm to the animals | B．does good to the forests |
| C．is helpful to some animals | D．harms the forests |
When most people turn 21, they spend too much time partying and having fun. But when Adele turned 21, she did something completely different.
After going through a tough breakup(分手), the British singer turned her pain into glory and recorded one of the most moving albums of the year.
The album, 21, which was released in January, has already hit the charts in 14 countries, according to the Billboard magazine.
It also noted that Adele made history as the first artist since the Beatles to have two top five singles and two top five albums in the charts at the same time (Adele’s first album, 19, was released in 2008. Each album is named for her age when she wrote it).
Now, after touring around the world for almost a year, the DVD of her live concert, released on November 29, is Adele’s latest work.
Having topped the pre-order list of Amazon. com for over a month already, this one seems set to stay on top for a while.
Born in north London, Adele sang her way up honestly: In 2006, she was signed by England’s XL Recordings on the strength of (基于)a three-song demo(样本唱片) a friend of hers had posted on MySpace;within two years she had won the BRIT Awards ‘Critics’ Choice prize and been tipped by the BBC as the “Sound of 2008”.
In 2009 she got the best new artist Grammy Award, and went on a world tour in support of the album 19 with a sold-out show in Los Angeles.
According to Adele herself, much of the inspiration of her music comes from one single breakup.
That’s probably what has made the singer’s success-that emotional certitude(确信), according to Dickins.
“The key to great singers is believing every single word they sing, ” he said. “And I think you believe every word that comes out of Adele’s mouth. You can feel her life force through her voice. ”When she wrote album 19, she is at the age of______.
| A．21 | B．18 | C．20 | D．19 |
How many awards did Adele get?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
The underlined word “released” can be best replaced by ______.
| A．recorded | B．came out |
| C．sold | D．written |
In Adele’s opinion, where does her inspiration of music mainly come from?
| A．Emotional certitude. | B．One single breakup. |
| C．A three-song demo. | D．A world tour. |