Each Sunday, people can hear the music of the Mission Dolores Basilica in San Francisco. The Spanish missionaries（传教士）built the church in 1791. It was the start of a special kind of neighborhood: the Mission District.
The area is a place with a long and varied history. One community member says that it’s important for people to understand the many levels of history in the neighborhood. He feels that this knowledge is a big part of understanding what it means to be a real San Franciscan.
One of the most interesting parts of the district is its people. Over the years, immigrants have come to the area from Ireland, Germany, and Italy. But the most recent immigrants are mainly from Latin America. It’s easy to see the style that these recent additions give to the neighborhood. You can see it in the art on the walls, taste it in the food, and hear it in the music!
Juan Pedro Gaffney, the director of the Spanish Choir（唱诗班）of San Francisco, says that the people there share the pain and the happiness of their friends and family members and that music has always been a basic part of cultural identity in the district. He feels that the music of the district is colorful and lively.
But it isn’t just its music that’s colorful and lively. Its art is full of life as well.
The local art community stays close to the area’s culture and tradition. A local arts organization often leads people on walks through the district. They visit streets like Balmy Alley, which is famous for its murals （壁画）. Even though the meanings behind the murals are always changing, they are still very powerful. One artist explains that they are fighting for fairness in the community and to help the environment through murals. Apparently, they’re something the community likes.
Many of these artists feel that the district is a successful neighborhood where new immigrants are welcome. “People see that they’re not so different from each other,” says one artist. “There are a lot of things that bind（捆绑）the immigrants through culture and tradition.”The underlined phrase “this knowledge” in Paragraph 2 refers to ____________.
| A．having memories of the Spanish missionaries |
| B．knowing the history of the Mission Dolores Basilica |
| C．realizing what it means to be a real San Franciscan |
| D．understanding the many levels of history in the neighborhood |
The author shows the multi-culture of the Mission District from the aspects of ____________.
| A．literature and sports | B．music and murals |
| C．buildings and clothes | D．customs and festivals |
It can be inferred from the passage that in the Mission District ____________.
| A．immigrants from different cultures live in harmony |
| B．Latin American music and foods are the most attractive |
| C．the Spanish Choir stands out in the competition of different cultures |
| D．new immigrants have to give up their own culture to be welcome |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．The Mission Dolores Basilica |
| B．A Special Type of Neighborhood |
| C．Music of the Mission District |
| D．The Spanish Choir of San Francisco |
Air travel is such an everyday experience these days that we are not surprised when we read about a politician having talks with the Japanese Prime Minister one day, attending a meeting in Australia the following morning and having to be off at midday to sign a trade agreement in Hong Kong. But frequent long-distance flying can be so tiring that the traveler begins to feel his brain is in one country, his digestion（消化吸收）in another and his powers of concentration nowhere---in short, he hardly knows where he is.
Air travel is so quick nowadays that we can leave London after breakfast and be in New York in eight hours, yet what really upsets us most is that when we arrive it is lunch time while we have already had lunch on the plane and are expecting dinner.
Doctors say that air travelers are in no condition to work after crossing a number of time zones. Airline pilots, however, often live by their own watches. After a long air travel, a traveler _______.
| A．finds himself in a different world |
| B．finds his brain apart from his body |
| C．finds himself in Hong Kong the following morning |
| D．has little sense about where he is |
The sentence “Airline pilots often live by their own watches. ” means______.
| A．they don’t trust others’ watches |
| B．they don’t change their watches |
| C．they make a living by their own watches |
| D．they do as they used to do |
Doctors suggest the travelers_______?
| A．should rest when they arrive in New York from London. |
| B．should work in good condition since they just finish a long journey. |
| C．rest in a place with good condition. |
| D．give up long journey since it makes them tired. |
During the school year many parents take on the role of driver as they drive their children from one lesson to 
another. It can be understood that many of us want our children to have a little taste of everything, from organized sports to music, dance and more. But we overdo it, leaving our children feeling a l
ittle tired, and according to parent educator Diane Loisie, it’s their school work that suffers the most. “After school, if they’re busy in a number of sporting events, besides they need to do their homework, then the time they’ll feel sleepy is in the classroom. Your child needs free time. So if you’re filling up that after school time, then it’s during the day they’re going to be taking a break. ”
Professor Claire McDermott agrees that there’s a lot to be gained from sometimes putting those planned lessons and activities away. “Relaxing time is important for children. It’s time just
to do the things they want to do. A child
can go up to their room, or they can play around. It doesn’t look like useful time; parents certainly wouldn’t be saying ‘Wow, are they ever learning things now?’ But this relaxing time gives both the body and the brain just a wonderful chance to relax after a day. It helps a child prepare for sleep, but it also helps to understand the learning that’s gone on that day. ”
It’s hard to prevent signing our kids up for some activities and lessons. After all, many of us want our children to have a head start in life and the chance to join in great activities in the arts or sports is a part of that. However, Loisie feels that in the long run most children feel better with just a few key activities because it gives them an opportunity to master them. “When we get our children in too many activities because we want our children to experience everything, then what we’re doing is setting them up not to be good at one thing or gaining a skill. ” So choose your children’s activities wisely. It may be one of the best things you’ve ever done for your kids… and for the family driver!What is the biggest disadvantage for children to attend too many lessons after school?
| A．They can get bored easily about everything. |
| B．They might have no time to do the homework. |
| C．They might not pay much attention to learning. |
| D．They cannot easily focus on learning during the day. |
What should we think of children’s playing around aimlessly?
| A．It is simple. |
| B．It is helpful. |
| C．It is a bad habit. |
| D．It is a waste of time. |
Why should parents limit the activities our children attend?
| A．Because children have no time. |
| B．Because children cannot learn many things. |
| C．Because children do not have enough sleep. |
| D．Because children cannot focus on too many activities. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Don’t be children’s drivers after school. |
| B．Choose activities for your children wisely. |
| C．Make your children learn as much as possible. |
| D．Let children learn something from various subjects. |
Pupils are ordered not to wade into ankle-deep water unless teachers first carry out a full risk assessment and put “proper measures in place”.
Staff are expected to check rivers, ponds and the sea for currents and rocks before allowing children to dip their feet.
Guidance issued to schools warns that any “impromptu (事先无准备的) water-based activities” could pose dangers to children.
The recommendations were outlined in a document-available to all 21,000 schools in England — to help teachers organize more school trips. Advice from the DepartmentforChildren, Schools and Families is intended to cut red tape (官样文章) and give staff practical tips.
But the guidance caused argument after teachers were presented with a series of orders surrounding swimming and the use of minibuses.
It said: “Swimming and padding or otherwise entering the waters of river, canal, sea or lake should never be allowed as an impromptu activity. The pleas of young people to bathe — because it is hot weather, for example, should be resisted where bathing has not been prepared for.”
“In-water activities should take place only when a proper risk assessment has been completed and proper measures put in place to control the risks.”
Teachers are urged to check the weather, currents, weeds, rip tides, river or sea beds and breakwaters before allowing children into the water. No child should be able to swim deeper than waist height, the guidance added.
Margaret Morrissey, from campaign group Parents Outloud, said: “Wading out into the ocean is one thing but there’s nothing wrong with padding where the waves break.”
“Part of children’s learning is to walk along the water’s edge and get your feet wet. There are dangerous currents further out and you stay at the edge.”
She added: “I want to see schools and youth groups taking advantage of opportunities that learning outside the classroom can provide.”
But the Department for Children, Schools and Families said teachers had to plan activities carefully.
“We are not banning padding,” said a spokeswoman. “We have seen cases in the past where things have not been planned and assessed for the risk. Unplanned activities around water can be dangerous.”Guidance issued to schools in England gives the information that _________.
| A．school trips to oceans are forbidden in the country |
| B．school swimming pools should be surrounded with fence |
| C．school staff must plan water-based activities carefully |
| D．school children shouldn’t have a walk along river banks |
Advice from the Department for Children, Schools and Families shows us that _________.
| A．they are strongly against the guidance |
| B．they are fond of the outline of the guidance |
| C．they don’t understand the aim of the guidance |
| D．they want the guidance to become more useful |
To the guidance, Margaret Morrissey holds the opinion that _________.
| A．oceans are dangerous place for children to visit |
| B．young people should be encouraged to learn outside |
| C．children should learn padding in rough ocean alone |
| D．schools should stop students from walking along beaches |
Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
| A．No padding on school trips, children told. |
| B．No walking along the rivers, teachers told. |
| C．No swimming after school, parents told. |
| D．No learning out of school, students told. |
Watching bison up close is fascinating, like watching a grass fire about to leap out of control. With their huge, wedge-shaped heads and silver-dollar-size brown eyes, the 2,000-pound animals are symbols of another place and time. More than 100 bison now roam the 30,000-acre American Prairie Reserve in eastern Montana — the first time they’ve inhabited that region in a century. Direct descendants of the tens of millions of bison that once populated the Western plains, they represent an epic effort: to restore a piece of America’s prairie to the national grandeur that Lewis and Clark extolled two centuries ago. During that famous expedition across the Western states to the Pacific, the two explorers encountered so many bison that they had to wait hours for one herd to pass.
In order to protect what’s here and reintroduce long-gone wildlife (something the World Wildlife Fund is helping with), the American Prairie Foundation began purchasing land from local ranchers in 2004. It now owns 30,000 acres and has grazing privileges on another 57,000. Its goal over the next 25 years is to assemble three million acres, the largest area of land devoted to wildlife management in the continental United States.
Already, herds of elk, deer, and pronghorn antelope roam the grasslands, where visitors can camp, hike, and bike. Cottonwoods and willows are thriving along streams, creating habitats for bobcats, beavers, and other animals.
Not everyone shares APF’s vision. Some residents of Phillips County (pop. 3,904) worry that the area could become a prairie Disneyland, overcrowded with tourists. But the biggest obstacle is the ranchers themselves, whose cattle compete with prairie dogs and bison for grass and space.
“People like me have no intention of selling their ranches,” says Dale Veseth, who heads the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance of 35 families in Phillips County and whose family has been ranching here since 1886. “They’ve been a labor of love through the generations.” Instead, he wants APF to pay or subsidize ranchers to raise bison. This would be far less costly for the foundation, he argues, than buying the land directly.If you go to the American Prairie Reserve in eastern Montana, you will see ________.
| A．the burning fire moving across the grassland |
| B．hundreds of bison travelling through the prairie |
| C．tens of millions of bison occupying the farmland |
| D．groups of experts examining the dead bison |
What measures have been taken to protect the wildlife by APF?
| A．They have borrowed much money and developed new habitat. |
| B．They have hired many farmers to raise bison on their farms. |
| C．They have turned grassland into Disneyland to attract tourists. |
| D．They have bought large land from farmers for bison to live on. |
The underlined word “subsidize” in this passage means ________.
| A．give money to | B．borrow money from |
| C．provide land to | D．exchange land with |
Which would be the best title for this passage?
| A．The exciting scenery in eastern Montana |
| B．Great changes in raising bison in America |
| C．The return of the American prairie |
| D．The challenge in protecting the grassland |
The days of the hunter are almost over in India. This is partly because there is practically nothing left to kill, and partly because some steps have been taken mainly by banning tiger-shooting to protect those animals which still survive.
Some people say that Man is naturally a hunter. I disagree with this view. Surely our earliest forefathers, who at first possessed no weapons, spent their time digging for roots, and were no doubt themselves often hunted by meat-eating animals.
I believe the main reason why the modern hunter kills is that he thinks people will admire his courage in overpowering dangerous animals. Of course, there are some who truly believe that the killing is not really the important thing, and that the chief pleasure lies in the joy of the hunt and the beauty of the wild countryside. There are also those for whom hunting in fact offers a chance to prove themselves and risk death by design; these men go out after dangerous animals like tigers, even if they say they only do it to rid the countryside of a threat. I can respect reasons like these, but they are clearly different from the need to strengthen your high opinion of yourself.
The greatest big-game hunters expressed in their writings something of these finer motives. One of them wrote:
“You must properly respect what you are after and shoot it clearly and on the animal’s own territory (领地).You must fix forever in your mind all the wonders of that particular day. This is better than letting him grow a few years older to be attacked and wounded by his own son and eventually eaten, half alive, by other animals. Hunting is not a cruel and senseless killing — not if you respect the thing you kill, not if you kill to enrich your memories, not if you kill to feed your people.”
I can understand such beliefs, and can compare these hunters with those who hunted lions with spears and bravely caught them by the tail. But this is very different from many tiger-shoots I have seen, in which modern weapons were used. The so-called hunters fired from tall trees or from the backs of trained elephants. Such methods made tigers seem no more dangerous than rabbits.There is no more hunting in India now partly because ________.
| A．it is dangerous to hunt there | B．hunting is already out of date |
| C．hunters want to protect animals | D．there are few animals left to hunt |
The author thinks modern hunters kill mainly ________.
| A．to make the countryside safe | B．to earn people’s admiration |
| C．to gain power and influence | D．to improve their health |
What do we learn about the big-game hunters?
| A．They hunt old animals. | B．They mistreat animals. |
| C．They hunt for food. | D．They hunt for money. |
What is the author’s view on the tiger-shoots he has seen?
| A．Modern hunters lack the courage to hunt face-to-face. |
| B．Modern hunters should use more advanced weapons. |
| C．Modern hunters like to hunt rabbits instead of tigers. |
| D．Modern hunters should put their safety first. |