The Wife-carrying World Championship has been celebrated in a small town in central Finland since 1992．In 1992, the people of the town decided to restart some long-forgotten traditions．Back in the late 1800s, there was a robber called Rosvo-Ronkainen in that area．He was said to only accept men as members of his gang who proved their worth in challenges．At that time, it was also a common practice to steal women from neighboring villages．
This event is becoming increasingly popular．A large number of competitors, people, and journalists from Finland to Canada attend the Wife-carrying World Championship every year．
The event is famous for its warm and humorous atmosphere．The Wife-carrying World Championship is held on a 253．3 meters long official track．The track has two dry obstacles （障碍物）and a water obstacle, about a meter deep．
There are a few basic rules and the winner is the couple who complete the course in the shortest time．The wife to be carried may be your own, or your neighbor’s．The minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49 kg．If she is less than 49kg, the wife will be given a heavy bag to carry．Each time a competitor drops his wife, that couple will be fined 15 seconds．
Alongside with the Wife-carrying World Championship, there is also a team competition．The distance is the same but three men in the team carry the wife in turns．At the exchange point the carrier has to drink official “wife-carrying drink”．Then he may continue the race．A special prize is awarded to the team with the best costumes．
While the Wife-carrying World Championship is being held, there are bands playing music, a wife-carrying dance and other forms of entertainment．The Wife-carrying World Championship is famous because ________．
| A．it is held on a 253．3 meters long official track |
| B．many competitors take part in it |
| C．it has a pleasant atmosphere |
| D．the winner will be awarded a lot of money |
If a husband drops his wife 3 times in the competition, he will be fined ________．
| A．15 seconds | B．30 seconds |
| C．45 seconds | D．60 seconds |
Compared with the Wife-carrying World Championship, the team competition ________．
| A．is more exciting | B．has a special prize |
| C．has a different track | D．has three teams altogether |
The passage is written mainly to ________．
| A．warn people that the competition is dangerous． |
| B．attract more visitors to the Wife-carrying World Championship． |
| C．introduce how the Wife-carrying World Championship has become popular． |
| D．tell us something about the Wife-carrying World Championship． |
Do you know that a Mom deserves a special gift this year for Mother’s Day? Sure, flowers can always brighten Mother’s day and a dinner out is always appreciated. However, doesn’t she deserve something more personal or something that lasts longer than an evening?
I’m talking about the gift of fitness. Improved fitness is a gift that is invaluable to everyone. When you give a woman the gift of fitness, you are helping her open a door to better health. I can’t think of a more thoughtful gift that shows the recipient(接受者) how much you care about their well-being. By giving the gift of fitness you are providing them with unlimited health benefits. And, its a gift that you can truly feel proud to give.
Of course, we all know that exercising can help people stay slim and fit. But, do you also know about all the other great benefits of exercising? Daily physical activity reduces stress and can help you sleep better. Fitness has been linked to reducing the risk of some diseases and to warding off depression. Researchers also believe that strength training can help prevent osteoporosis(骨质疏松). Not to mention that exercising also improves self-esteem, increases energy and helps you be able to do continuous work for longer.
All Moms would find these fitness benefits extremely invaluable. If they are like most of us, they have probably even mentioned how they would like to drop a few pounds or just get in better shape. In fact, experts say that about 62% of Americans are currently on a diet. By giving the gift of fitness you are helping provide your mom with extra motivation. She may be more motivated to actually get fit because she doesn’t want to feel guilty about ignoring such a thoughtful gift . The first paragraph is most likely to tell us that___________.
| A．we should invite our mom to a dinner for Mother’s Day |
| B．it is good to send flowers to moms for Mother’s Day |
| C．we should give a special gift to our Mom for Mother’s Day |
| D．moms aren’t worth special gifts for Mother’s Day |
You would like to send the gift of fitness to your mother because__________.
| A．it is very expensive |
| B．it doesn’t cost you too much |
| C．it makes your mother healthy |
| D．you will be proud of it |
You want to keep healthy you should__________.
| A．reduce stress and have a good sleep |
| B．try your best to get rid of depression |
| C．increase your energy and work longer |
| D．take an active part in physical activity |
According to this passage the gift of fitness will____________.
| A．help moms to lose some more weight |
| B．encourage moms to do more exercise |
| C．keep moms having a healthy diet |
| D．make moms look even more beautiful |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．This Mother’s Day, Give the gift of Fitness |
| B．Better Pay Attention to Your Mom’s Health |
| C．Mom Like to Accept the Gift of Fitness |
| D．Help Your Mom Keep a Good Shape |
“The pen is more powerful than the sword（刀）.” There have been many writers who used their pens to fight things that were wrong. Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of them.
She was born in the U.S.A. in 1811.One of her books not only made her famous but has been described as one that excited the world, and was helpful in causing a civil war and freeing the enslaved race. The civil war was the American Civil War of 1861, in which the Northern States fought the Southern States and finally won.
This book that shook the world was called Uncle Tom's Cabin. There was time when every English-speaking man, woman, and child has read this novel that did so much to stop slavery. Not many people read it today, but it is still very interesting. The book has shown us how a warm-hearted writer can arouse (唤起) people's sympathies. The author herself had neither been to the Southern States nor been a slave. The Southern Americans were very angry at the book, which they said did not at all represent true state of affairs, but the Northern Americans were wildly excited over it and were so inspired by it that they were ready to go to war to set the slaves free. According to the passage______
| A．every English-speaking person has read Uncle Tom's Cabin |
| B．Uncle Tom's Cabin was not very interesting |
| C．those who don't speak English cannot have read Uncle Tom's Cabin |
| D．the book Uncle Tom's Cabin did a great deal in the American Civil War |
What do you learn about Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe from the passage?
| A．She had been living in the north of America before the American Civil War broke out. |
| B．She herself encouraged the Northern Americans to go to war to set the slaves free. |
| C．She was better as writing as swinging (挥舞) a sword. |
| D．She had once been a slave. |
Why could Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe's book cause a civil war in America?
| A．She wrote so well that Americans loved her very much. |
| B．She disclosed the terrible wrongs that had been done to the slaves in the Southern States. |
| C．The Southern Americans hated the book while the Northern Americans like it. |
| D．The book had been read by many Americans. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．We needn't use weapons (武器) to fight things that are wrong. |
| B．A writer is more helpful in a war than a soldier. |
| C．We must understand the importance of literature and art. |
| D．No war can be won without such a book as Uncle Tom's Cabin. |
PAINTER
Must have at least 3 years’ painting experience. Commercial and new construction work.
$ 10/hr. Immediate opening. Call 435-9201 with work history.
SECRETARY
Part-time position available in friendly, busy office. Good typing and general office skills.
Some weekends required. High pay. Various duties. Apply at East Side Management,
VETERINARIAN ASSISTANT（兽医助理）
Person needed for busy animal hospital. Some nights and weekends. Apply personally to Johnson-Marks Animal Hospital, 404 Snow Road, Syracuse, NY. 13224.
After 4 p. m. only please.
NURSES’ ASSISTANTS
Full-time and part-time positions available for modern nursing home. High pay. Call Mrs. Downes, R. N. at 534-7618.
COOK NEEDED
Immediately. Busy downtown restaurant. Must be good and dependable. Experience preferred. Weekends required. Call 324-9817.
SALESPERSON
Experienced. Must have some knowledge of men’s clothing industry. Available to work evenings and some Saturdays. Send resume（个人简历）to: Martin’s Apparel, 237 Rockledge St. Syracuse, NY. 13224.
TEACHER
Small private school needs English and math teachers. Must have BS degree and at least 4 years’ teaching experience. Send resume to: Wales Charter School 19 South 8th St. NY. 13214.
HOTEL
Needs part-time FRONT DESK CLERK. No experience necessary. Excellent people and phone skills a must. Some computer skills helpful. $13/hr. Call: Mr. Jones 357-2897. If you want to get a job as a maths teacher, send your resume to ______.
| A．237 Rockledge St. Syracuse, NY. 13224 |
| B．404 Snow Road, Syracuse, NY. 13224 |
| C．500 Park Drive, DeWitt, NY. 13214 |
| D．19 South 8th St. NY. 13214 |
If you dislike working on Sundays, being a ______ should be your best choice.
| A．cook | B．secretary | C．salesperson | D．veterinarian assistant |
If you want to get a job at ______, you must have office skills.
| A．Martin’s Apparel | B．East Side Management |
| C．Wales Charter School | D．Johnson-Marks Animal Hospital |
Not many years ago， a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was seventy-five， he gave ￡ 12，000 to the village school to buy land and equipment for a children‘s playground.
As a result of his kindness， many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaperman. During their talk， Johnson remarked that he was seventy-five and expected to live to be a hundred. The newspaperman asked him how he managed to be healthy at seventy—five. Johnson had a sense of humor. He liked whisky and drank some each day. “I have an injection （注射） in my neck each evening.” he told the newspaperman， thinking of his evening glass of whisky.
The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was seventy-five and had a daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain， asking him for the secret of his daily injection.Johnson became a rich man through _________.
| A．doing business. |
| B．making whisky. |
| C．cheating. |
| D．buying and selling land. |
Many people wrote to Johnson to find out __________.
| A．what kind of whisky he had. |
| B．how to live longer. |
| C．how to become wealthy. |
| D．in which part of the neck to have an injection. |
When Johnson said he had an injection in his neck each evening，he really meant that ______.
| A．he liked drinking a glass of whisky in the evening. |
| B．he needed an injection in the neck. |
| C．a daily injection in the evening would make him sleep well. |
| D．there was something wrong with his neck. |
Scientists from the Max Plank Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tubingen, Germany, have presented the first experimental evidence that people do end up walking in circles if lost in unfamiliar areas．The study, published in the journal Current Biology, examined the tracks of people who walked for several hours in the Sahara desert in Tunisia and in the Bienwald forest in Germany．Researchers Jan Souman and Marc Ernst said the scientists used the global positioning system （GPS） to record these paths．The results showed that the walkers were only able to keep a straight line when the sun or moon was visible．As soon as the sun disappeared behind some clouds, people started to walk in circles without even noticing it．
Souman said one explanation offered in the past for people walking in circles was that most people have one leg longer or stronger than the other, which would produce a systematic bias（偏差） in one direction．To test this．the researchers asked people to walk straight while blindfolded which removed the effects of vision．They found that these circles were rarely in a systematic direction, with the same person sometimes switching to the left and sometimes to the right．
"Most of the participants in the study walked in circles, sometimes in extremely small ones．Walking in circles is therefore not caused by differences in leg length or strength, but more likely the result of increasing uncertainty about where straight ahead is," said Souman, "Small random errors （随机性误差） in the various sensory signals that provide information about walking direction add up over time, making what a person perceives to be straight ahead drift away from the true straight ahead direction．"The underlined word "this" in Paragraph 2 refers to _____．
| A．the effects of vision | B．a systematic bias |
| C．the leg length differences | D．one explanation offered in the past |
What is the probable reason for people's walking in circles?
| A．The invisible sun or moon． |
| B．The increasing uncertainty about directions． |
| C．Differences in leg length or strength． |
| D．Wrong signals providing information about areas． |
Why are the subjects required to be blindfolded?
| A．To encourage them to walk straight． | B．To stop them from seeing each other． |
| C．To dismiss the effects of vision． | D．To keep the test a top secret． |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．People walk straight in the day． |
| B．The farther people walk, the greater the direction bias grows． |
| C．People walk only in large circles． |
| D．Researchers use the global positioning system to record their tracks． |