He is a child in a grown man’s body. Everywhere he goes, he makes his fans laugh so much. He is the lead character of the hugely popular film and TV series of Mr. Bean(憨豆先生), created by British comic actor Rowan Atkinson.
Since its TV show made the first appearance in 1990, its 14 half-hour programs have been sold to more than 200 TV territories worldwide. This year sees Mr. Bean celebrate its 25 th anniversary(周年纪念日).
Why has the character enjoyed success with people of different cultures?
Unlike most people in comedy today, Mr. Bean doesn’t make much use of dialogue, so there is no language barrier (障碍) in his work. Mr. Bean can talk ---sometimes does--- but what he does is much more important than what he might say. For example, in a TV episode, Mr. Bean becomes a barber and makes a terrible mess of the customer’s hair. This doesn’t need any translation.
But there’s a deeper reason. Although he is British and the stories generally take place in British settings, people from different cultures laugh at Mr. Bean for the same reason earlier generations (一代人) laughed at comic star Charlie Chaplin.
As Atkinson told the newspaper： “The essence (本质) of Mr. Bean is that he is self-centered and in fact doesn’t care about the outside world.” Mr. Bean breaks social rules wherever he goes – he jumps the queue, tries to cheat(作弊) in exams – we all secretly want to do but generally don’t.
The article is mainly about ______.
| A．the influence of Mr Bean on British culture |
| B．the reasons behind the success of Mr Bean |
| C．the importance of humor in British culture |
| D．the most successful British film director |
Why has Mr Bean been popular with people of different cultures?
| A．Because he looks lovely and smart. |
| B．Because he can solve any problem in a special way. |
| C．Because people can quite often see him on the screen. |
| D．Because people can easily understand his humour. |
Charlie Chaplin is mentioned in the second-to-last paragraph to ______.
| A．make clear his importance in comedy history |
| B．show his popularity in Britain before Mr Bean |
| C．show he and Mr Bean have something similar |
| D．show that he and Mr Bean are British heroes |
According to Atkinson, which of the following is an important characteristic of Mr. Bean?
| A．Being selfish. | B．Being childish. |
| C．Being generous. | D．Being dangerous. |
任务型阅读（本题有5小题，每小题1分；满分5分）
你对颜色了解多少呢？下面的五个段落将会帮助你进一步揭开颜色的奥秘！阅读五个段落，根据每段的中心内容将段前序号填入下面的表格中。
A. There are many colours in nature. Do you know that colours have weight? Let’s do a small test. First, put two objects of the same weight into two boxes. Then, cover one box with a red piece of paper, and the other with a piece of paper. Now hold the boxes in your hand one by one. It is certain that you will think the red one is a little heavier.
B. Why do you think that is? A scientist found that different colours have different weights in a man’s mind. That is to say, every colour has its own weight in our mind. The heaviest colour is red, then blue, green, orange, yellow and white.
C. Colours also have smell. Can you smell the colour? Of course not. Then why do the scientists say this? It is because the smell reaches our brain through sense organs (感觉器官).
D. Scientists say that people react (反应) differently to different colours. Colours you like will make you feel good, but colours you don’t like will make feel nervous or sick.
E. For example, if you sit in a room with red windows, walls and floors for two hours, you’ll you have been there for four fours. But if the room is blue, you’ll feel you have been there for only an hour. If a person goes out of a red room and into a blue room, his temperature will fall. So our bodies change, depending on what colour we see.
| Do a test to see if colours have weight. |
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| Colours can change our body temperature. |
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| Colours have smell. |
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| People react differently to different colours. |
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| Why do people think colours have weight? |
It?s always hard to say goodbye to someone you love. In Washington DC, US, local (当地的) zoo-goers are sad about the news that their superstar panda Tai Shan is going to leave the National Zoo.
At a morning meeting on December 4, zoo director（主管） Steven Montfort said that the black-eared bear would be going off to China sometime over the winter, under an agreement（协议）with the Chinese government.
Tai Shan, whose name means “peaceful mountain,” was born at the DC zoo on July 9, 2005. He has been loved by zoo-goers since his first public show in December of that year.
But under the agreement that brought his mother, Mei Xiang, and father, Tian Tian, to the zoo from China, all three belong to (属于) China.
Tai Shan should have been returned to China when he was 2. But China gave him two extensions (延期) to stay at the National Zoo. Tai is old enough to breed (繁殖). So it?s time for him to come back to China and join a program to try to increase the panda population.
The National Zoo has tried to breed Mei Xiang a few times since Tai Shan was born, without success. Montfort said the zoo would try again soon in the hope of producing another baby panda. “We?re hopeful every year,” he said.Where can the passage probably be taken from?
| A．A dictionary. | B．A science book. |
| C．A newspaper. | D．A novel. |
The word “zoo-goers” mean people who ______
| A．live at the zoo | B．love to visit the zoo |
| C．work at the zoo | D．leave the zoo |
According to the passage, who is going to leave the National Zoo?
| A．Steven Montfort. | B．Mei Xiang. |
| C．Tian Tian. | D．Tai Shan. |
We can tell from the passage that ______.
| A．Tai Shan and his parents belong to China |
| B．Tai Shan first appeared in public in 2006 |
| C．Tai Shan’s parents will be sent to China |
| D．Tai Shan belongs to the US because it’s born there |
What does the National Zoo try to do every year?
| A．To make Tai Shan stay there. |
| B．To make Mei Xiang give birth to new babies. |
| C．To attract more people to visit Tai Shan. |
| D．To send Tai Shan and his parents back to China. |
Have you heard about “Survival Holidays”? “Survival Holidays” is for children to go into the lonely place for exciting activities. Now about 1,000 companies are allowed to take children into the great outdoors without their parents.
The reason why people like “Survival Holidays” is that they think being close to nature is good for children. Many children in big cities spend all time watching TV and playing computer games. “Survival Holidays” gives them an important change.
Is “Survival Holidays” a wonderful idea? Maybe it is. Children need more free time to play. They need to be left on their own, without grown-ups around them. Parents care too much about their children. They like to see the children being busy with activities that are designed by grown-ups, which brings many problems. Children don’t know what to do when they are in danger. Even something like crossing a small river seems to be a hard trouble. Children are not comfortable with danger. Even the smallest danger like getting their feet wet or falling down seems very terrible to them.
Many people think the survival activities are good for children. Even years later, they will still remember what they have learned. Some have learned to stay cool in different times. Some have learned how to keep safe. Others have learned how to work in a team. All these skills will help them a lot in their lives.The activities in “Survival Holidays” are ______.
| A．dangerous | B．comfortable |
| C．boring | D．exciting |
Which of the following is true according to (根据) the passage?
| A．Parents and children will join “Survival Holidays” together. |
| B．Children are not allowed to watch TV during “Survival Holidays”. |
| C．The skills children learn during “Survival Holidays” will be helpful. |
| D．Children play computer games together during the “Survival Holidays”. |
In July, my daughter Becky graduated from Washington High School. During the graduation party, one of her classmates gave a simple speech that I will remember. She talked about the “givers” of this world. She said, “You are a success if you make another person smile. If you are a friend to someone who needs a little help, you get an ‘A’!”
After the party, when all the students were outside the hall trying to find their parents and friends, a man and his wife came to me and asked if I was Becky’s mom. I said yes and the man handed me a gift and told me how much they would like thank Becky for her kindness to their daughter, Jessica, during the school sports meeting the week before.
Jessica’s left leg was hurt and she was not able to finish the up-hill race. Becky was worried about her and kept going back to check on her. Jessica’s dad told me that Becky had shown more kindness for her daughter than even the coach, and that he and his wife would never forget her kindness. Of course, by this time I had tears in my eyes, I was so proud of her.
I asked her, “So, does Becky get an ‘A’?”
He just smiled and said, “She gets an ‘A’!”The speech the writer will always remember is about ______.
| A．how to succeed | B．helping others |
| C．how to study well | D．making friends |
After the party, Jessica’s parents looked for the writer to ______.
| A．give her a gift from Becky |
| B．ask her how to get an “A” |
| C．learn about Jessica’s behavior |
| D．thank Becky’s kindness for Jessica |
Jessica ______ during the sports meeting.
| A．hurt Becky’s leg | B．fell from the hill |
| C．hurt her left leg | D．lost the race |
Which of the following is the best title(题目) for this passage?
| A．She gets an “A” | B．A graduation party |
| C．A popular girl | D．An excellent mother |
Long long ago, there lived in Greece a king whose name was Midas. He was a greedy man and loved gold better than anything else in the world.
One day, he asked a god to give him more gold. The god decided to give him a lesson and said, “OK, and from now on, everything you touch will turn to gold.” Midas was so excited when he heard this. The next morning, he got up early to test his skill. When he touched his bed, it turned to gold. “Gold!” cried Midas, laughing like a boy. “It works!”
Not only stones, flowers, and the things of his house turned to gold, so did the food he ate and the water he drank. He was unhappy now. Just then his daughter ran up to him, Midas touched her hand. At once her body became cold. Midas was holding a gold girl!
At last, he asked the god to free him from his wish. “Go to the river and bath in it,” the god said. So Midas did, and the water took away his golden touch. He would never forget this lesson: Gold did not bring happiness.
This is a Greek story. Now the idiom “have the Midas touch” means to have the ability (能力) to be successful, especially the ability to . Well, do you want to have the Midas touch and become a rich man? What does the underlined word greedy mean in English?
| A．易怒的。 | B．慷慨的。 |
| C．宽容的。 | D．贪婪的。 |
With the gold-touch skill, Midas can turn everything into gold except ______.
| A．the river | B．the food |
| C．the flowers | D．the stones |
Choose the best phrase to complete the sentence (Line 2, Paragraph 5).
| A．make money easily |
| B．drive a car safely |
| C．look after sick people |
| D．cook delicious food |