Several different stories are told about the origin of Saint Valentine's Day. One legend dates as far back as the days of the Roman Empire. According to the story, Claudius, the Emperor of Rome, wanted to increase the size of his army. He knew that it would be easier to get young men who were not married to join. Therefore he made a rule that no young man could marry until he had served a certain number of years in the army.
A priest(牧师)named Valentine broke the rule and secretly married a great many young people. Finally, Claudius found out Valentine and put the priest in prison, where he remained until his death on February 14.
After his death, Valentine was made a saint (圣人），and the day of his death was named Saint Valentine's Day. It became the custom for lovers to send each other message on this day. Now Saint Valentine's Day is a time for people to send one another greetings of many kinds.
February 14，Valentine's Day, is sweethearts, day, on which people in love with each other express their tender(温柔的）emotions.
People sometimes put their love message in a heart shaped box of chocolates, or a bunch of flowers tied with red ribbons(带子）. Words of letters may be written on the flower-covered card, or some-thing else. Whatever the form may be, the message is almost the same ： " Will you be my Valentine?" Valentine was put in prison because __________.
| A．he secretly got married |
| B．he didn't serve in the army |
| C．he married many young people secretly |
| D．he broke the rule |
This passage mainly tells us about __________.
| A．how Valentine died |
| B．the Emperor of Rome |
| C．how Valentine's Day is celebrated |
| D．the origin of Valentine's Day |
February 14 is chosen as Valentine's Day because __________.
| A．lovers express their tender emotions on this day |
| B．people want to remember Valentine |
| C．people send one another greetings of many kinds on this day |
| D．people want to fix a date for lovers to express their emotions |
According to the rule，__________.
| A．no young men could get married unless they were old enough |
| B．young men could marry if they served in the army for several years |
| C．no one could get married without the emperor's permission |
| D．young men could many only in the army |
More than one million children in the United States do not go to school. Instead, they learn at home. Most often, their parents are their teachers. Educational companies, libraries and the Internet provide many families with teaching materials.
Parents choose home schooling for several reasons. Some choose it because of their religious beliefs. Others say it provides more time for the family to be together. They say the home offers a better place for learning. Some parents believe home schooling avoids learning. Some parents believe home schooling avoids problems of national schools. Critics, however, say children need to attend school with other children.
All fifty American states and the District of Columbia permit home schooling. Some states do not require much preparation by parents or testing of children. Other states have more requirements for home schooling. Home schooling in the United States began when the country was established. In farm areas, people often lived far from a school. Widespread home schooling took place until about the middle of the nineteenth century. Then, in 1852, the state of Massachusetts passed the first law requiring children to attend school.
Over the years, the American public education system strengthened and grew. By the 1960s and 1970s, however, some Americans believed that traditional education was not helping their children. So a number of parents began home schooling.
Home schooling expert Linda Dobson says many people have helped the movement grow. She says many kinds of people have joined the movement. These include rich people and poor people. They represent many races, religions and political beliefs. Ms. Dobson says the number of home-schooled children has increased an estimated fifteen to twenty percent each year during the last fifteen years.Teaching materials for home schooling do NOT come from _______.
| A．parents | B．libraries |
| C．the Internet | D．educational companies |
Which of the following is one of the reasons why parents choose home schooling?
| A．it makes parents and their children have less time together. |
| B．Some people have different religious beliefs from the others. |
| C．It can’t provide a comfortable place for children to be in. |
| D．There are too many students in a home classroom. |
Home schooling was started in ________.
| A．the 1960s | B．the 1970s | C．the 1850s | D．the 1776 |
Home schooling in the United States now is __________.
| A．facing many difficulties | B．struggling |
| C．growing fast | D．decreasing in large numbers |
About 90 percent of Chinese believe the polarization(分化) between the rich and poor is “serious” in China, according to a survey conducted by China Youth Daily. And more than 80 percent of the respondents(对象) surveyed said something must be done to narrow the expanding gap between the rich and poor, while 14.1 percent said it was necessary.
The polarization has aroused wide concern among the public in recent years. The State Development and Reform Commission(国家发改委) said the Gini Coefficient had reached 0.47 for China, up from o.29 two decades ago. Usually, a country with a number above 0.4 is warned to pay attention to the income inequality problem.
To find out the people’s view, the survey covered 10,250 respondents, between the ages of 20 and 30 with a college education and a monthly salary between 1,000 and 3,000 yuan. Surprisingly, most disagreed with the view of experts who claim the urban-rural difference is causing the widening gap. More than 70 percent of the respondents believed that “ the group of special interests” is the prime reason for the polarization, followed by “people in power” 68 percent, and “bosses” 50 percent.
Another unexpected finding is that almost all agreed that a good educational background and knowledge were not the decisive factors in gaining wealth. About 95 percent said rich people are not necessarily those who are able to speak English or have a college education.
Today in China, rich people , accounting for 10 percent of the population, control 45 percent of the total social fortune, and poor people, also 10 percent of the population, only control 1.5 percent, according to an investigation published by the National Bureau of Statistics last June. It can be inferred that the Gini Coefficient ( in paragraph 2) would probably be _____.
| A．the unit used in advanced mathematics |
| B．the degree of a country’s development |
| C．the level of the citizen’s living standard |
| D．a measure of income inequality |
Experts hold the view that the main reason for the polarization is _____.
| A．the urban-rural difference | B．the group of special interests |
| C．the people in power | D．the bosses |
Which of the following can show the correct proportion(比例) of the social fortune among population?
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Close the Gap between the Rich and Poor |
| B．Surveys conducted by China Youth Daily |
| C．Higher education, Higher pay |
| D．Rich-Poor Divide Serious, Study Finds |
In ancient times the most important examinations were spoken, not written. In the schools of ancient Greece and Rome, testing usually was made up of saying poetry aloud and giving speeches.
In the European universities of the Middle Ages, students who were working for advanced degrees had to discuss questions in their field of study with people who had made a special study of the subject. This custom exists today as part of the process of testing candidates(应试者) for the doctor’s degree.
Generally, however, modern examinations are written. The written examination, where all students are tested on the same questions, was probably not known until the nineteenth century. Perhaps it came into existence with the great increase in population and the development of modern industry. A room full of candidates for a state examination timed exactly by electric clocks and carefully watched over by managers, looks like a group of workers at an automobile factory. Certainly, during examinations teachers and students are expected to act like machines.
One type of test is sometimes called an “objective” test. It is intended to deal with facts, not personal opinions. To make up an objective test, the teacher writes a series of questions, each of which has only one correct answer. Along with each question the teacher writes the correct answer and also three statements that look like answers to students who have not learned the material properly. The main idea of Paragraph Three is that ___________ .
| A．workers now take examinations | B．the population has grown |
| C．there are only written exams today | D．examinations are now written and timed |
The kind of exams where students must select answers are ___________ .
| A．objective | B．personal | C．spoken | D．written |
Modern industry m
ust have developed ____________ .
| A．around the 19th century | B．before the Middle Ages |
| C．in Greece or Rome | D．machines to take tests |
It may be concluded that testing __________ .
| A．should test only opinions | B．should always be written |
| C．is given only in factories | D．has changed since the Middle Ages |
D
The Life Lab Garden Classroom is a two-acre, interactive （互动的）and educational garden located at the Center for Agro-ecology（农业生态） and Sustainable Food Systems Farm on the university of California, Santa Cruz campus. People of all ages can discover ecological concepts in this hands-on, living laboratory. Learn about plants, nature, weather, organic（绿色的） gardening, life cycles.
The Garden Classroom is open to the public every day from 8 am to 6 pm. Free Admission!
The Garden Classroom offers:
| Field Trips |
The Garden Classroom offers guided garden-based field trips for elementary school classes in the spring and fall. Themes include food systems, soil, recycling and so on. |
| Summer Camp |
Each summer students explore the garden and surrounding natural areas to learn science concepts, gardening basics, crafts and cooking skills . |
| Workshops |
A variety of garden-based workshops are offered for teachers and the public in the Garden Classroom and at school sites and conferences. |
| Special Events |
Life Lab offers classes for students, after-school and home school programs, teacher conferences, and private events in the Garden Classroom. |
The Garden Classroom was made possible through generous contributions from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and many other organizations and individuals.
68. The text is probably taken from .
A. a history book B. a hotel instruction
C . an English dictionary D. a tourist guidebook
69. The Life Garden Classroom is a place where people .
A. grow plants and flowers B. see different kinds of rare plants
C . learn about plants and living creatures D. know about the University of California
70. Tony is in Senior 1. He is quite interested in exploring the science concepts and making crafts. Which program will he choose?
A. Field Trips B. Summer Camp C . Workshops D. Special Events.
71. We can know all the following from the text except.
A. where the Life Lab Garden Classroom lies and its exact size
B. when people can come to the Life Lab Garden Classroom
C . that people are free to visit the Life Lab Garden Classroom every year
D. that the Life Lab Garden Classroom is supported by the government.
C
A man living absolutely alone in a desert or forest is free from other people; but he is not absolutely free. His freedom is limited in several ways. Firstly, by the things around him, such as wild animals or cliffs. Secondly, by his own needs: he must have sleep, water, food and shelter from extreme heat or cold. Lastly, by his own nature as a man: disease may attack him, and death will certainly come to him sooner or later.
On the other hand, when men become organized into very large groups and civilization develops, it is possible to get freedom from hunger, thirst, cold, heat, and many diseases, so that each person can live a happier life than he could if he were living alone; but such a society can not work successfully unless the freedom of each human being is to some extent limited so that he is kept from hurting others. I am not free to kill others, nor to steal someone else’s property , nor to act in a way that does wrong against the moral sense of the society in which we live. I have to limit my own freedom myself so that others will not limit it too much: I agree to respect the rights of others, and in return they agree to respect mine.
The advantages of such an agreement are great: one can become a doctor knowing that others will grow food, make clothes and build a house for him, in return for the work he does to keep them healthy. If each man had to grow his own food, make his own clothes, build his own house and learn to be his own doctor, he would find it impossible to do any one of these jobs really well. By working together, we make it possible for society to provide us all with food , clothes, shelter and medical care, while leaving each of us with as much freedom as it can.
64. A man living alone in a desert or forest .
A. is absolutely free B. feels happy
C . has limited freedom D. enjoys no freedom
65. According to the writer, he limits his freedom because .
A. hunger, thirst and disease limit him B. others won’t limit theirs
C . the moral sense of the society limits him D. others will respect his
66. The author suggests that when men live together .
A. they have a safer and easier life B. they are not free at all
C . they must build shelters for others D. they can get more protection
67.This text is written mainly to show that .
A. one can have all his freedom by living on his own
B. one has limited freedom just because of his own nature
C . one must fight for his freedom if he’s free from other people
D. one will have much freedom by working together with others