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 |
Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the
reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.
The latest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age.
“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
“Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the ageing process.”
What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.
“This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink. They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease. “The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart,” said Goldspink.
The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.The text mainly talks about ________.
| A．men’s heart cells | B．women’s ageing process |
| C．the gender difference | D．hearts and long life |
According to the text, the UK scientists have known that ________.
| A．women have more cells than men when they are born |
| B．women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat |
| C．the female heart loses few of the cells with age |
| D．women never lose their pumping power with age |
We can know from the passage that ________.
| A．the reason why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out |
| B．scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells |
| C．the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss |
| D．women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20 |
Without proper planning, tourism can cause problems. For example, too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants(居民) of a country. If tourists create too much traffic, the inhabitants become angry and unhappy. They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely. They forget how much tourism can help the country’s economy. It is important to think about the people of a destination(目的地) country and how tourism affects them. Tourism should help a country keep the customs and beauty that attract tourists. Tourism should also advance health and happiness of local inhabitants.
Too much tourism can be a problem. If tourism grows too quickly, people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry. This means that other parts of the country’s economy can suffer.
On the other hand, if there is not enough tourism, people can lose jobs. Businesses can also lose money. It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports, first-class roads, and other support facilities(设施) needed by tourist attractions. For example, a major international-class tourist hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build. If this room is not used most of the time, the owners of the hotel lose money.
Building a hotel is just a beginning. There must be many support facilities as well, including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers(阴沟) to handle waste, and water. All of these support facilities cost money. If they are not used because there are not enough tourists, jobs and money are lost.Which of the following has most probably been discussed in the paragraph that goes before the passage?
| A．It is not important to develop tourism. |
| B．Building roads and hotels is important. |
| C．Support facilities are highly necessary. |
| D．Planning is of great importance to tourism. |
Too much tourism can cause all these problems except _____.
| A．a bad effect on other industries |
| B．a change of the customs of the country |
| C．air and water pollution |
| D．pressure on traffic |
Not enough tourism can lead to _____.
| A．the fact that some people may be out of work |
| B．an increase in tourist attractions |
| C．the higher cost of support facilities |
| D．a rise in price and a fall in pay |
The word “handle” in the last paragraph most probably means _____.
| A．carry away | B．pick up | C．get in | D．take down |
A special laboratory at the University of Chicago is busy only at night. It is a dream laboratory where researchers are at work studying dreamers. Their findings have discovered that everyone dreams from three to seven times a night, although in ordinary life a person may remember none or only one of his dreams.
While the subjects—usually students—sleep, special machines record their brain waves and eye movements as well as the body movements that signal the end of a dream. Surprisingly, all subjects sleep soundly.
Observers report that a person usually fidgets(烦躁不安) before a dream. Once the dream has started, his body relaxes and his eyes become more active, as if the curtain had gone up on a show. As soon as the machine shows that the dream is over, a buzzer wakens the sleeper. He sits up, records his dream, and goes back to sleep—perhaps to dream some more.
Researchers have found that if the dreamer is wakened immediately after his dream, he can usually recall the entire dream. If he is allowed to sleep even five more minutes, his memory of the dream will have disappeared.According to the passage, researchers at the University of Chicago are studying ____.
| A．contents of dreams | B．dreamers while they dream |
| C．the meaning of dreams | D．the progress of sleeping |
Their finding has discovered that _____.
| A．everyone dreams every night |
| B．dreams are easily remembered |
| C．dreams are likely to be frightening |
| D．One person dreams only one dream a night |
The machines being used in the experiment record _____.
| A．the depth of sleep |
| B．the subjects’ brain waves and eye movements |
| C．how many dreams a person has |
| D．what a sleeper dreams during his sleep |
A person would be most likely to remember the dream that _____.
| A．was of most interest to him |
| B．occurred immediately after he went to sleep |
| C．occurred just before he woke up |
| D．was the longest one to him |
A fried of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a naughty street boy was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it. “Is this your car, Mister?” he asked..
Paul nodded, “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you anything? I wish…” He hesitated（犹豫）.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said made Paul think all the way.
“I wish ,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.”
Paul looked at the boy in surprise, adding, “Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?”
“Yes, I’d love that.” After a short ride, the boy turned and said, “Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?”
Paul smiled, He thought he knew what the boy wanted. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.
He ran up the steps. Then in a while Paul heard him coming back, but he didn’t come fast. He was carrying his little crippled（伤残） brother. He pointed to the car and said, “There it is, Buddy, just like I told you up stairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas. And some day I’m going to give one just like it and then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying tell you about. ”
Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride.
That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what “It is more blessed to give” means.The naughty street boy wished to _____________ .
| A．have a brother like Paul’s |
| B．get a present from his brother |
| C．become a brother like Paul’s |
| D．take a ride in his automobile |
When the boy asked for a ride home, Paul thought the boy wanted to ______________.
| A．play a trick on him |
| B．own a car like Paul’s |
| C．pick up someone important to him. |
| D．show off by riding home in a car |
What did the boy want to show to his crippled brother?
| A．His pride. | B．His bravery. | C．His love. | D．His generosity. |
What would be the best title for text?
| A．A brother like that |
| B．A Christmas present |
| C．A boy’s crippled brother |
| D．An unforgettable Christmas |
(Originally created) The last sentence “It is more blessed to give” in this story means following EXCEPT____.
| A．It is better to help than to get helped. |
| B．The more help you give to others, the happier you will feel. |
| C．To help other people is a way to make a person to become a true man. |
| D．To give away all your wealth, otherwise, you won’t be blessed by God. |
Whether you admit or not, music is rooted in our daily life, weaving its beauty and emotion through our thoughts, activities and memories. So if you’re interested in music theory, music appreciation, Beethoven, Mozart, artists and performers, we hope you’ll spend some time here and learn from those music articles of note for all ages and tastes.
When I first started studying the history of music, I did not realize what I was getting into. I had thought that music history was somewhat of an unimportant pursuit（追求）. In fact, I only took my history of classical music class because I needed the credits（学分）. I did not realize how really attractive music history was. You see, in our culture many of us do not really learn to understand music. When I began to learn about the history of Western music, however, it changed all that for me.
When most of us think about the history of music, we think of the history of rock music, we assume that the history is simple because the music is simple. In fact, neither is the case, The history of music, whether you’re talking about classical music, rock music, jazz music, or any other kind, is never simple.
Even when the class was over, I would not stop learning about the history of music. It had attracted my interest, and I wanted more.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
| A．To advise readers to learn about music. |
| B．To show he has a good knowledge of music. |
| C．To ask readers to share their experience. |
| D．To prove that music has a long history. |
Why did the author take the history of classical music class?
| A．He was very interested in classical music. |
| B．Classical music would bring him fame. |
| C．Classical music was very important to him. |
| D．He wanted to get the points from the course. |
The underlined word “assume” in the third paragraph probably means “____________ ”.
| A．see | B．mean | C．think | D．wonder |
What did the author do after the class was over?
| A．He became tired of music history. |
| B．He kept on learning about music history. |
| C．He found music was difficult to learn. |
| D．He began to take part in music activities. |
(Originally created) What can we infer about the author according to the passage?
| A．He didn’t like music at the beginning. |
| B．He prefers history to music. |
| C．He doesn’t study hard at school. |
| D．The students in his school need some credits in other subjects besides the credits in their majors before they graduate from their college. |