Every year, thousands of young Europeans set off to explore their continent by train in the summertime. It is a necessary part of growing up and often the first time many Europeans travel without their parents. Now you too can share this adventure.
There are so many places you can not afford to miss while travelling in Europe: the Eiffel Tower of France, windmills of the Netherlands and the Colosseum of Rome. How do young people afford to visit everything they want?
The answer lies with the Eurail Pass. This ticket allows a traveller unlimited journeys by rail in European countries which are members of the scheme. Ambitious Chinese travellers can buy the ticket in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The most popular type of Eurail Pass amongst young people, according to Zhao Jiaji, from China Air Service Ltd, is the Eurail Selectpasses. With this you can design your own trip by selecting three, four or five neighbouring countries from a total 18 nations including Liechtenstein, Monaco, Hungary and Romania.
“There is plenty of choice with this pass: in total this range offers over 400 different combinations of countries to choose from!” said Zhao.
The Eurail Selectpass gives 5 to 10 travel days within a 2-month period.
For more flexibility there are the Eurail Passes which allow you to take trains in 17 countries on any day you like. It is valid (有效的)for a period of either 15 or 21 days, one, two or three months.
If you just want to travel in one or two countries to learn more about the local culture, Eurail Pass also offers two-country passes such as Spain-Portugal, France-Switzerland and Belgium-Luxemburg. And countries like Britain, France and Germany offer a kind of Eurail Pass which allows unlimited train travel in their country.
Before buying the Eurail Pass, you should know some tips to save money. The 2nd class train travel ticket is cheaper than 1st class. And youths under 26 years old or groups of 2 or more people traveling together can enjoy discounts.
For more information, please check out http://www.tt-europe.com. Why are the three tourist spots introduced in Paragraph 2?
| A．Because they are expensive places. |
| B．Because you will have to travel a long distance to visit all. |
| C．Because they are famous places for sightseeing |
| D．Because they are located in different countries |
Which of the following is not an advantage of Eurail Pass?
| A．Reasonable price. | B．Various choices. |
| C．Wide coverage. | D．All kinds of discounts. |
With the Eurail Selectpasses, you can ______.
| A．stay in Europe for 2 months or even longer |
| B．enjoy a wide range of combinations of countries |
| C．take trains on any day you like |
| D．focus your trip in one or two countries |
Which of the following is true according to this passage?
| A．Eurail Pass is a passport. |
| B．Under 26 year olds cannot buy 1st class Eurail pass. |
| C．In Switzerland you cannot use Eurail Selectpasses. |
| D．Train service is probably the first and best choice for the young to travel Europe. |
How many major kinds of Eurail passes are introduced here?
| A．Three | B．Four | C．Five | D．Six |
B
London Underground
The world’s first subway was built in London in 1863. At the time, the government was looking for a way to reduce traffic problems in the city of London. The poor areas of the city were so crowded with people that it was almost impossible for horse carriages to get through. The city officials were interested in trying to make it possible for workers to live outside of London and travel easily to work each day. If people had a cheap and convenient way that they could depend on to go to and from work, they would relocate their homes outside of the city. This would help ease(减轻) the pressure of too many people living in the poor parts of London. From these problems, the idea of the London Underground, the first subway system was born.
The plans for building the Underground met with several problems and delays, but the fast track was finally opened in January 1863. A steam train pulled the cars along the fast underground track which was 6 kilometers (3. 7 miles) long. About 30,000 people got on the subway the first day. Riders were treated to comfortable seats (standing up while the train was moving was not allowed), and pleasant decorations inside each of the cars. However, the smoke from the engine soon filled the air in the tunnels with ash and soot(煤灰), as well as chemical gases. Fans had to be put in the tunnels later to keep the air clean enough for people to breathe. Even with its problems, riding in the Underground did catch on. It carried 9 million riders in its first year.
50. What led the British government to build the London Underground？
A. Traffic jams and pollution. B. Population and pollution.
C. Overcrowding and traffic jams. D. The poverty and subway problems.
51. How did the London Underground solve the smoke problem？
A. It made the tunnels larger.
B. It put fans in the tunnels.
C. It cleaned the chemical gases in the tunnels.
D. It reduced the number of passengers riding in the train.
52. The underlined phrase “catch on” most probably means “______”.
A. be troublesome B. become popular and fashionable
C. keep up with D. seize
53. Which of the following is TRUE？
A. To relocate the workers’ homes outside London，the government built the subway.
B. There were so many problems and delays that in 18th century the first subway opened.
C. The subway greatly eased the pressure of traffic.
D. There were not enough seats for the passengers the first day the subway opened.
四：阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，共30分）。
阅读下列短文，从短文后各题的四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
A
A beautiful woman took a plane on business. She found her seat and sat down next to a young man. The man was just thinking of making a few dollars on the plane. When he saw the woman, he got an idea.
“Hey! Would you like to play a game?” he asked the woman. “No, thank you. I just want to take a nap (打盹),” the woman answered. “It’s really easy. All you have to do is to answer the questions that I ask you. If you don’t know the answer, you give me five dollars. If I don’t know the answer to your question, then I’ll give you five dollars.” “No,” the woman still refused. “OK. If I don’t know the answer to your question, I’ll give you five hundred dollars. How about that?” the man said. Then the woman became interested and decided to join in the game.
“OK. How many moons does Jupiter (木星) have?” asked the young man. The woman reached into her purse and took out a five-dollar bill. “What goes up the mountain with three legs and comes back with four?” the woman asked. Then the young man took out his computer and searched the Internet for an answer. Minutes later, the young man handed five hundred dollars to the woman.
After a few hours, the young man really wanted to know the answer to the question. So he asked the woman, “What is the answer to your question?” The woman reached into her purse and handed the young man a five-dollar bill.
46. Why did the man ask the woman to play a game?
A. He wanted to show his kindness.
B. He wanted to have a pleasant journey.
C. He wanted to earn some money from it.
D. He wanted to make friends with the woman.
47. How much did the woman get at the end of the story?
A. $ 500. B. $ 5. C. $ 10. D. $ 490.
48. What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A. The woman told the man the answer to her question.
B. The woman gave the man’s money back to him.
C. The woman asked the man another question.
D. The woman didn’t know the answer, either.
49. We can learn from the story that the woman is ______.
A. clever B. friendly C. polite D. Honest
E
Astronauts’ meals have come a long way from the free-dried powders and semi-liquid pastes of decades ago, now US scientists want to grow vegetables in mini-greenhouses on the moon.
Scientists say they are looking forward to a time when residents of future lunar or even Martian outsteps will be able to dine on fresh vegetables. Paragon Space Development Corporation has unveiled what it called the first step toward growing flowers—and eventually food-oh the moon.
This is a sealed greenhouse that looks like a bell jar encased in a 46-cm triangular aluminum frame. It is designed to safely land a laboratory plant on the lunar surface, and protect it while it grows.
The miniature greenhouse is to be launched into space by Odyssey Moon Ltd, a participant in the Google Lunar X Prize. This competition offers $20 million to any entrant who can launch, hand and operate a rover on the lunar surface.
Paragon officials say future testing of the “Lunar Oasis” will be driven by Odyssey’s flight schedule, which will not happen until 2012 at the earliest.
When it does lift off the greenhouse will contain the seeds of Brassica, a hardy plant related to Brussels sprouts and cabbage. Because Brassica goes from seed to flower in just 14 days, it can complete its life cycle in single lunar night.
“Coloizing the Moon or Mars seems so far away, but it is important that we do this research now, ” Paragon president Jane Poynter said.
“It takes a long time to get a lot of research, and to get integrated, reliable efficient systems before colonists move in,” she said.
57．The article is written mainly to________.
A．predict the astronauts’ meals in the future
B．introduce an experiment “Lunar Oasis”
C．tell us the future development of astronomy
D．focus on the human’s great progress
58．The article implies that_________.
A．astronauts can grow flowers in space at present
B．Paragon and NASA will carry out the test separately
C．Lunar Oasis is a series of experiments carried out in space
D．the earliest testing of the Lunar Oasis may be in 2012
59．The underlined word “colonists” in the last paragraph probably has the meaning of________.
A．plants B．wild beasts C．human beings D．scientists
60．The sees of Brassica will be contained in the greenhouse mainly because__________
A．their life cycle is much shorter
B．they are more nutritious than other food
C．they are related to Brussels sporouts and cabbage
D．they are very delicious
D
The Harvard Student-led Walking Tour
Let a student show you Harvard …on a free walking tour.
We welcome our neighbors to stop by the Harvard University Even & Information Centre, located in the Holyoke Centre Arcade at 1350 Massachusetts Avenue in the heart of Harvard Square in Cambridge.
Let a student take you and your family, school, or organization on an engaging, hour-long free historical tour of the Harvard Campus. The tours leaves form be Events & Information Centre. Not only will you discover the location of fascinating exhibition and programmers on campus, you will also see Harvard’s rich sampling of American history and architecture from the Colonial period to the present. Schedule of Tours.
Schedule of Tours
Tours leave the Events & Information Centre at 10 a. m. and 2 p. m. Monday through Friday, and at 2 p. m. on Saturday through the academic year(February 4 through May 2; September 23 through December 16). Summer tours (June 24 through August 15) are offered at 10 a.m. , 11:15 a.m., 2p.m., and 3:15 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Reser-vacations for special tours of 20 or more people may be made b calling the Events & Information Centre at (617) 495-1583 or emailing icenter@ camail. harvard, edu. Tours are suspended March 23 trough April 2 for Spring Break, May 3 through June 23 for Spring intercession（祷告）,and August 16 through September 22 for Summer intercession.
NOTE: Prospective（未来的）students may take tours originating at the Harvard Admission Office, located at Byerly Hall on 8 Garden Street in Cambridge. Form April through August, the Admissions staff conducts an information session at 10 a. m. , followed by an 11 a. m. tour. Monday through Friday. On Saturdays, there is no information session but the 11 a. m. tour is still scheduled. Another session is held year-round at 2p. m. with a 3 p.m. tour following. For more information on tours for prospective students, please call at (617)495-1551.
Harvard University Events & Information Centre.
Location: Holyoke Centre Arcade. 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138
Phone: (617) 495-1537
53．A person can join in a tour at________on Saturday through the academic year.
A．10 a. m. B．2 p. m. C．11:15 a. m. D．3:15 p. m.
54．If you want to go for an information session, you can go on__________.
A．May 2 B．June 23 C．August 20 D．September1
55．A student who wants an information session may___________for more information.
A．call (617) 495-1573 B．call(617) 495-1551
C．email iceter@ camail. Harvard, edu D．go to the Events & Information Centre
56．The above ad. is mainly intended for________ .
A．foreign visitors B．freshmen
C．high school students D．those living near Harvard University
C
Depression （抑郁症）is a serious problem today. Depression causes workers to be unproductive, causing companies and countries to lose billion of dollars. One expert says that depression is like cancer because it is “widespread, costly and deadly”. Depression hits one person in five around the world.
Although people have believed depression to be a problem among the rich and educated, studies show that depression is a problem among everyone. Over any six-mouth period, between five to seven percent of the world’s population will be suffering from a serious depression.
Suicide （自杀）rates among people suffering from the disease in its extreme, or clinical form were 80 percent higher that in the population at large, and suffers were four times more likely to have heart attacks. People who suffer fr
om depression often have problems sleeping, getting up on time, and doing work productively.
Depression, which researchers agree has its origin in the genes（基因）, brings loss of of confidence and ability to concentrate-making it possible for employees and managers to work efficiently.
Depression is made more serious in China by Chinese’s by Chinese inability to face it. Many people believe that depressed people are either weak or lazy. Besides, there is no good treatment, with few specialists available.
“Most patients in China just don’t get help,” a Chinese doctor says. “In my hospital, I have to see 30 or 40 patients in a morning, and just have time to say ‘Hello, how do you feel?’”
In Western countries, people are not afraid to admit that they have depression, but most do not tell it to their boss, because they fear that their boss would fire them.
“In my experience, aging bosses are the most tilling to admit they have it, because they feel the most secure about themselves,” an American doctor says.
Hopefully, in the near future, people around the world will be able to admit that they have depression so that they can get the right treatment.
49．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．It is widely believed that everyone may suffer from depression.
B．Depression brings great problems to its suffers in their life and work.
C．Depression is a commonly-existing problem only in rich countries.
D．The poorer and the less educated a person is, the less he will suffer from depression.
50．Compared to normal people, depressed people are likely to be__________.
A．very unconfident and often absent-minded
B．easy to avoid being hit by heart attacks
C．working efficiently and productively
D．either weak or lazy
51．Depression becomes more serious in China because of _________.
A．the understanding of the problem B．the lack for treatment and doctors
C．their unwillingness to tell it to their boss D．the doctors’ careless work
52．What can we infer from the passage?
A．People are suffering from depression because of the shortage of specialists.
B．The aging bosses around the world dare to say they are depressed.
C．More and more patients will turn to specialists for help.
D．Western people are braver than Chinese people.