阅读理解
While popular in the US，the April Fool’s Day tradition is even more popular in European countries，such as France and Great Britain．Although the roots of the traditional tricking are unclear，the French and the British both have their own stories about the origin of the celebration．
One story holds that the first April Fool’s Day was on April 1 of the year when the king of France introduced the new calendar．This new system placed the day that had formerly been the first day of a new year on April l．Many people were not used to the new calendar and continued(继续)to celebrate New Year’s Day on what had become the first day of April．Thus，they became the first April Fools．Others began to give funny gifts on the day to laugh at the fools who continued to celebrate the New Year on April 1．
An English story about the day，however，says that it began sometime during the 1200s．At the time，King John was in the habit of making roads out of the paths he most often walked along．The people of one particular farm village were aware of this．To avoid having their green grasslands and pastures(牧场)disturbed by one of the king’s roads，they built a fence that prevented the king from walking through their countryside．
The king sent a group of messengers(使者)to inform the villagers that they must remove the fence．Upon hearing that the king was planning to do this，however，the villagers developed a plan of their own．When the king’s messengers arrived，they were met by the villagers pretending to be mad．The people just throw things and ran around wildly．The messengers were surprised by this and reported to King John that these people were so mad that there was no necessity of punishing them．So，the villagers saved their farmland by tricking the king．In Great Britain，tradition only allows April Fool’s tricks from midnight to noon on April l．Those who try to play tricks in the afternoon become the fools themselves．Which country has the origin of the celebration of April Fool’s Day？
A．Japan．
B．France．
C．Great Britain．
D．Both B and C．When was the first April Fool’s Day？
| A．It was on April lst． |
| B．It was on April 2nd． |
| C．It was on March lst． |
| D．It was on May lst． |
Why did French people become the first April Fools？
| A．Because they were stupid． |
| B．Because they were not used to the new calendar and continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on what had become the first day of April． |
| C．Because they were happy to become the first April Fools． |
| D．Because they were given funny gifts on the day． |
The underlined word“avoid”probably means“________”in Chinese．
| A．加强 |
| B．倡议 |
| C．避免 |
| D．建造 |
From the passage we can know that________．
| A．April Fool’s Day is very popular in Asian countries |
| B．according to the English story，April Fool’s Day began sometime during the 1300s |
| C．according to the English story，King John of England was in the habit of making a building |
| D．according to the English story，the citizens of one particular farm village were against what the king did |
The Quest Centre
Set in the wild Welsh countryside, the Quest Centre offers a wide range of activities for teenagers, from archery to rope climbing. Want to try something new? Why not take part in one of our special adventure activities?
MOUNTAIN BIKING
25th March—8th April, 10:00 a.m.—6:00 p.m.
Want to put your mountain bike to the test? Join our guide for a ride on the wild side. Cost: £15 per ride.
CLIMBING
1st—30th April, 10:00 a.m.—6:00 p.m.
Try out your mountain-climbing skills in the local countryside. Don’t worry! We won’t be doing anything dangerous: just short, safe climbs. Cost: £130 per person.
SURVIVAL TECHNIQUES
Daily, all year round, 10:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m.
Equip yourself with basic survival skills by taking part in this special 1-day course absolutely free of charge. Learn survival techniques like how to light a fire, build a shelter, find food and water, and cook over a campfire.
ABSEILING AND ROPE CLIMBING
27th August, 10:00 a.m.—8:00 p.m.
If you’ve been dying to learn about abseiling and rope climbing, now is your chance! Ken Wallace, our professional coach, will teach you everything you need to know on this special 1-day course. Cost: £150 per person.
Please note:
Phone the number at the bottom of the page for an application form.
All activities are suitable for beginners.
20% DISCOUNT (折扣) for groups of 6 or more.
The Quest Centre: St Davids, Wales Telephone: (0800)34655Kate and her family want to choose an activity during the May Day holiday, they can choose .
| A．climbing | B．survival techniques |
| C．mountain biking | D．abseiling and rope climbing |
If a group of 20 students go to the centre, ten of them want to take part in abseiling and rope climbing and the rest choose survival techniques, they have to pay .
| A．£3000 | B．£1500 | C．£2400 | D．£1200 |
“If you’ve been dying to learn about ….” Here “dying” perhaps means “ ”.
| A．冒险 | B．避免 | C．渴望 | D．同意 |
People like to tell me rubbish. Not just friends, but strangers ,too.
Once, at the airport, my husband stepped off an escalator(自动扶梯) before me. When he realized I wasn’t with him, he looked back and saw me hugging ( 拥抱) a stranger.
I’d asked the man behind me: “Did you have fun in Vegas?”
His answer broke me heart. After 50 years away, I’d come to say goodbye to the lover of his life, who was dying of cancer.
“I should have married her 50 years ago,” he said. I hugged him, and then he was gone.
Moments later, my husband said: “He told you all that on the escalator?” I nodded.
“Maybe he just needed to tell somebody, And I happened to ask.”
When someone wants to talk, you just need to ask a question. The words don’t matter. It’s the tone (语调) in your voice and the look in your eyes and the caring in your heart that count.
Sometimes I think the whole world is crying out to be heard.
And yet, we don’t ask the question or say the things we need to say to those who matter most to us while there is still time, and a chance, to do so.
Recently I heard from a reader who shared with me the eulogy(悼词) she’d written after losing her mother.
I wish her mother could have read it. I can only hope her mother knew all the things her daughter wrote about her—that she was known so well and loved so much.
I like to think people will say a few nice things about me when I’m gone. But given a choice, I would rather hear those things before I go. Wouldn’t we all?
That started me thinking. I need to tell my children I am proud of them. They know it, but it can’t hurt to say it again.
I need to tell my sister I will forever in her debt(欠她的情). I was the one who left. She was the one who stayed, who’s “been there” for our family—for our mother, our dad, our brothers and me.
And to my husband, I need to say, well, he puts up with a lot.
In fact, I need to say a lot of things to whole lot of people. Maybe you do, too. You can tell me, if you want. But maybe you should tell them first.What happened to the writer at the airport in Los Vegas?
| A．She developed a friendship with a stranger. |
| B．She helped a stranger with cancer on the escalator. |
| C．She listened to a stranger’s story and hugged him. |
| D．She told a stranger the story of her stay in Los Vegas |
According to the writer, what matters least when someone wants to talk?
| A．The question you ask. |
| B．The way you speak. |
| C．The way you look at someone. |
| D．the caring in your heart. |
What does the underlined word “who” stand for in the article?
| A．A woman the stranger loved very much but failed to marry. |
| B．A woman the stranger married 50 years ago and left for some reason. |
| C．A woman the stranger loved very much and succeeded in marrying. |
| D．The writer’s sister whose debt the writer will be forever in. |
What does the writer want to tell us with the article?
| A．It’s never too late to express your love. |
| B．It’s better to say what you need to say before it’s too late. |
| C．We should care about strangers to make the world better. |
| D．We should be careful about what we say to our beloved ones. |
FOOD, football, and fashion – Milan has it all. The city is perhaps most famous for its annual (一年一度的) Milan Fashion Week and its world-class soccer teams AC Milan and Inter Milan. And May will see it host the six-month Milan Expo(米兰世博会), the theme of which is food and nutrition（营养）.
Milan may not be the first place tourists think of when they think of Italy. Rome is the most famous city in Italian history, Venice draws visitors who want to travel along its canals(运河) and Florence is popular with the art lovers. Yet Milan can often be let off tourists’ lists. But although some see Milan as the “Ugly Sister” of these cities, in 2015, the city is “Suddenly back in fashion in a big way”.
The delicious Milan Expo will look at the future of food, trying to answer the question of how Earth’s fast-growing population can be fed in the future. According to the Lonely Planet website, “144 countries will set up shops in northwest of central Milan, forming a mini city-within-a-city”.
Milan’s famous opera house, La Scala, normally(通常地) closed in the summer, will also host daily performances during the Expo, reported Fox News.
Not interested in opera? Don’t worry. Visitors who prefer sports may want to visit the San Siro Stadium(体育馆), home of the soccer teams AC Milan and Inter Milan. The stadium is one of the most famous in Europe and has seen many important games over the years, both in Series A (甲级联赛) and the European Champions league（欧比赛）.
So even if all of its fashion and beautiful people can make Milan seem “Soulless(缺乏灵魂的)” as Lonely Planet said, it still has “a serious sense of history and place”. Many people will be discovering it this year, and eating great food from all over the world to help solve world problems. Will you?Which of the following statements is TRUE about the city of Milan?
| A．It is the largest city in Italy and has the longest history. |
| B．It is hosting the world’s largest Fashion Week in 2015. |
| C．Football, fashion and ancient canals are three features of the city. |
| D．The city’s La Scala opera house will offer additional performances in 2015. |
Which of the following features of Milan are mentioned in the article?
a. economy
b. sports
c. cultural performances and activities
d. geography and population
e. fashion
| A．acd | B．bce | C．bde | D．bcd |
The author’s purpose in writing this article is to ______.
| A．give an introduction to Milan as a good choice for traveling |
| B．tell readers about the theme and activities of the 2015 Milan Expo |
| C．give an proper review of the food culture in Milan |
| D．explain why Milan will be holding the world Expo in 2015 |
Education is not an end, but a means（手段） to an end. In other words, we do not educate children only for the purpose of educating them. Our purpose is to fit them for life.
In some modern countries it has for some time been fashionable to think that by free education for all whether rich or poor, clever or stupid-one can solve all the problems of society and build a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not enough; we find in such countries a far larger number of people with university degrees(学历) refuse to do what they think to be "low" work, and, in fact, work with hands is thought to be dirty and shameful(害羞) these days. But we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer is far more important than that of a professor. We can live without education, but we will die if we have no food. If no one cleaned our streets and took the rubbish away from our houses, we should get terrible diseases in our towns.
In fact, when we say that all of us must be educated to fit us for life, it means that we must be educated in such a way that, firstly, each of us can do whatever work suited to his brains and ability and, secondly, that we can realize that all jobs are necessary to society, and that is very bad to be ashamed of one's work. Only such a type of education can be considered valuable to society.The writer wants to prove that _____.
| A．our society needs all kinds of jobs |
| B．our society needs free education for all |
| C．a farmer is more important than a professor |
| D．people with university degrees earn more money |
According to the passage _____.
| A．work with hands is dirty and shameful |
| B．work with hands is low work |
| C．work with hands is the most important |
| D．we can't regard work with hands as low work |
The purpose of education is _____.
| A．to choose a system of education |
| B．to let everyone receive education |
| C．to prepare children for their future work |
| D．to build a perfect world |
An Englishman, a Frenchman and a Russian were discussing happiness. "Happiness," said the Englishman, "Happiness is when you return home tired after work, yet find your slippers(拖鞋) warming by the fire."
"You English have no romance," said the Frenchman. "Happiness is when you go on a business trip, meet a pretty girl who entertains(招待) you －then afterwards you part（分手）without regrets."
"You are both wrong," said the Russian. "True happiness is when you are at home in bed and at 4:00 a.m., you hear a ring at the door and outside stand the secret police, who say to you, 'Ivan ,Ivan, you are under arrest(逮捕)', and you say, 'Sorry, Ivan lives next door.'"The Englishman's happiness suggests that _______.
| A．he should have no time to warm his slippers |
| B．he enjoys the warmth of the family |
| C．he thinks it the most important to have slippers |
| D．he wants someone to warm his slippers |
The meaning of the Russian's words is that _______.
| A．he would like to have a good sleep at night |
| B．he will feel happy if his neighbour is arrested |
| C．he thinks it happiness to feel safe |
| D．he will feel afraid if anyone knocks at his door at night |
The best title for this story is “__________”.
| A．The difference in Happiness |
| B．How to Get Happiness |
| C．The Definition (定义) of Happiness |
| D．The Importance of Happiness |