Scene 1
（The setting is a room in the palace of the Queen of Sheba． The Queen sits at one end of the room on a chair． Zahrah stands on one side of the chair． Amram is showing some silks to the Queen．）
Amram： Would your Majesty be good enough to feel this silk？ See how fine and soft it is!
（Amram comes a little closer to the Queen and holds out some purple silk， She feels it．）
Queen： Yes， it is． And I like this bright purple color very much．（She turns to Zahrah） Zahrah，what do you think of it？
Zahrah： I like it very much， and it is a good color for a queen， your Majesty．（ She folds up the silk and puts it to one side．）
Amram： The king of my own country， the wise King Solomon， likes this bright purple better than any other color．
Queen： I have heard many things about your king．
Amram： He is a good king， your Majesty，and a kind man． All his people love him．
Queen： I have also heard that he is very wise． Is it true， Amram， that King Solomon understands what animals say？
Amram： It is true， your Majesty．
Queen（Smiles）： It's very hard to believe．
Amram： If I told you what happened one time when I was with the king， I think you would believe it．
Queen： I'd like to hear your story．
Amram： Well， one day our king and some men of his palace were riding on horseback to a nearby city． The king was riding ahead of the rest of us． All at once he pulled his horse to stop．He looked down at the sand in the road．
Queen：Go on．
Amram： Then the king turned his horse off the road and onto the grass．He kept his horse on the grass a little way before turning back onto the road．
Queen： Did he say why he stopped and then turned his horse off the road？
Amram： King Solomon told us he had seen some ants hurrying along in the sand of the road． He said he had heard them say they were afraid that the horses would walk on them．
Queen（Surprised）： And that was why your mighty king turned off the road？
Amram（Proud）： Yes， your Majesty． The mighty King Solomon stopped to hear what the little ants in the sand were saying． He turned off the road to save them from being hurt．
Queen： Then he must be as wise and as kind as people say he is．
Amram： Now you can believe it， can't you？
Queen： I won't fully believe it until I see and hear him myself， Amram．
Amram：Then why don't you come to our country and pay him a visit， your Majesty？
Queen： Yes， I think I shall do that， Amram． But first I must think of a way to test this wise king．You may go now ，Amram．
Amram： Good day， your Majesty． （He backs away）．
（Curtain）
（1）Where does this scene take place？
A．On the way to a city．
B．In a room of a palace．
C．In the sand of a road．
D．On the grass near a road．
（2）Amram told the story of his king to show ．
A．King Solomon is wise and kind
B． King Solomon is afraid of ants
C． King Solomon looks after his horse well
D．King Solomon can talk to animals
（3）King Solomon turned his horse off the road because ．
A．there was sand in the way
B．the horse needed to have a rest
C．he wanted to enjoy the beauty there
D．he wanted to avoid hurting the ants
（4）Which of the following words is used to help readers know the feeling of the Queen？
A．Fine．
B．Surprised．
C．Proud．
D．Afraid．
（5）What may happen next according to Scene 1？
A．Amram will refuse to leave the Queen's palace．
B．Zahrah will certainly keep the purple silk for herself．
C．King Solomon will test whether Amram's story is true．
D．The Queen will pay a visit to King Solomon's country．
Although most of Pakistanis live in the countryside, still many Pakistanis live in cities. Karachi has over 5 million people and Lahore has over 3 million people. Islamabad was built to be Pakistan’s capital. The rich city people live in large, air conditioned houses.
Pakistan has 121,000 miles of roads. Bus services and minibuses are available to the public. The trains are still the most common transport of long-distance travel for Pakistanis. Pakistan also has an airline that operates domestic and international flights.
It is difficult to identify (识别) Pakistani food because the country shares food traditions with its neighbour, India. The main difference between Pakistani and Indian food is that Pakistani food is less spicy (辛辣). Pakistani dishes are often made with yoghurt(酸奶), which reduces the effect of the hot spices used in cooking.
Wheat is the main food for most of the people. It is eaten in the form of bread named chapattis or roti, together with vegetables in season. Sweet tea, milk, or lassi, a drink made from yoghurt, makes the meal perfect. Those who can afford to buy it eat meat, although in the countryside these are usually festival foods. Goat meat is a favourite. Pakistanis will not eat pork by the way.Which city is the capital of Pakistan?
| A．Karachi. | B．Lahore. | C．Islamabad. | D．Bangkok. |
The Chinese meaning of the underlined word “domestic” in Paragraph 2 may be “”.
| A．家庭的 | B．国际的 | C．驯养的 | D．国内的 |
The main food for most of the Pakistani people is .
| A．lassi | B．wheat | C．meat | D．pork |
The most common transport of long-distance travel for Pakistanis is .
| A．trains | B．minibuses | C．buses | D．planes |
阅读下面短文，并根据短文内容在在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。每空一词。
How important is music? When they are asked this question, students and parents usually answer that music is nice, but not very important. It is often considered only as entertainment, but not the first choice for education. This opinion is shortsighted. In fact, music education is necessary and important for all students.
Music tells us who we are. Music reflects the creators’ thinking and values, as well as the social environment it came from. For example, just as Mozart music represents a lifestyle, rock music represents a lifestyle, too. The jazz influence that George Gershwin and other musicians introduced into their music is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions.
Music provides a kind of ability to know the world in a different way. Science explains how the sun rises and sets. Music explores the emotive meanings. We need every possible way to discover and response to our world because no one way can get it all.
Music is a form of thought, as powerful as science. It is a way we human beings “talk” to each other. Through the language we expresses our feelings, our discoveries, our ideas, our imagination and our hopes so that they can be shared with others. When we do not let our children receive good music education, we take away from them the meanings that music expresses. Science does not tell us what it means to be human. Music does.
So music education is much more necessary than people generally realize.
Title: Music education is of
| Passage outline |
Detailed information |
| Introduction |
Shortsighted opinion: Music is only a way of entertainment, not the top choice for education. Truth: Music education is necessary and important for all students. |
Main Body |
A way to tell who we are: Music not only reflects the social environment it came from but also expresses people’s thinking and __ |
| A way to know the world: We can’t discover and respond to our world in just one way. Science explains how nature Music explores the emotive meanings of nature. |
|
| A way to communicate with others: We use music to Music, |
|
| Conclusion |
Music education is necessary. |
Many of us feel uneasy when someone stands too close to us, talks to us too loudly or makes eye contact(接触) with us for too long. But have you ever wondered why those things make you uncomfortable?
It’s all about personal peace, which means not only an imaginary space around the body, but also the space around all the senses. People feel that their space is being violated(侵犯) when they meet with an unwelcome sound, smell or look. This is probably why a man on a crowded bus shouting into his mobile phone or a woman next to you putting on strong perfume(香水) makes you feel angry.
Whether people have had a stronger wish to protect their personal space in recent times is hard to say. Yet studies of airlines show that people have a strong desire(渴望) to have space to themselves. In a survey by TripAdvisor, a travel website, people said that if they had to pay more for some extra service, they would rather have larger seats than extra food.
Although people may need their personal space, some hardly realize it. For example, people on a bus who hold newspapers in front of their faces to read in fact keep a distance from strangers.
Go and watch a library table. You will notice that one of the corner seats will usually be taken first, because they are the farthest way. What if someone sits opposite to you? Maybe you will pile up books as if to make a wall.
Preference(偏好) for personal space are different from culture to culture. Scientists have found that Americans generally prefer more personal space than people from other cultures. In Latin(拉丁人的) cultures, however, people are more comfortable standing close to each other.The writer mainly _________ in this article.
| A．tells us how to achieve personal space |
| B．explains why people need personal space |
| C．introduces some knowledge about personal space |
| D．argues for the importance of keeping personal space |
Who might feel his personal space is safe according to the passage?
| A．A person who has to sit next to a lady putting on strong perfume. |
| B．A person who has been watched by a stranger for a long time. |
| C．A person who hears strange noises when reading at home. |
| D．A Latin boy who is chatting with a friend sitting close to him. |
What can we know from the survey by TripAdvisor?
| A．People need a smaller personal space in recent times than before. |
| B．People have a strong desire for personal space in recent times. |
| C．There are not enough seats on the plane to meet people’s needs. |
| D．Food service is better provided than seats on the plane. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The space around the body is more needed than that around all the senses. |
| B．If you hold newspapers on the bus, your personal space won’t be violated. |
| C．People usually choose the corner seats first in a library for personal space. |
| D．Different cultures share the same preferences for personal space. |
One of sweetest memories as a child is of going down to the river and sitting comfortably on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream and listen to songs of birds. I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under the pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their original state after the wind had died down.
When I think about the bamboo tree’s ability to bend and move back, the word “resilience” comes to my mind. When it is used for a person, this word means the ability to readily recover(恢复) from shock, sadness or any other suffering. Have you ever felt like you were going to snap? Have you ever felt like you were at your breaking point? Thankfully, you have survived to talk about it.
Life is a mixture(混合) of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to your breaking point, bend, but don’t break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.
An amount of hope will take you through the unpleasant suffering. With hope for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may not be as bad as they seem. The unpleasant suffering may be easier to deal with if the end result is worth having.
If things get tough and you are at your breaking point, show resilience. Like the bamboo trees, bend, but don’t break!What does the word “snap” in the second paragraph most probably mean?
| A．break | B．change |
| C．win | D．Complain |
What can help people get through sufferings according to the writer?
| A．Holding peace and quiet in mind. | B．Waiting until sufferings disappear. |
| C．Experiencing more bad times. | D．Hoping for a better tomorrow. |
What would be the best title of this passage?
| A．Memories of Bamboo | B．Be Like Bamboo |
| C．Enjoying Bamboo | D．Characteristics of Bamboo |
Have you ever noticed that your fingertips are winked when you’ve just finished swimming or washing dishes? It seems as if your hands have aged 30 years in a second. But is this an accident? Or is it something that nature has built into our bodies?
If your finger’s wrinkling up had no use at all, “ it wouldn’t need to.” Professor Tom Smulders from Newcastle University, UK, told BBC News. By studying wet fingers closely, Smulders and his partners found that the wrinkles looked a bit like the patterns on the car tire or on the bottom of the running shoes. So they made a guess that wrinkles on fingers might be able to help the hand hold things more tightly.
To test this, researchers asked 20 people to pick up marbles from water with their hands. But before they started, some of the people had to keep their hands in water for half an hour.
The researchers found that the people with wrinkled fingers completed the task the task faster than those with dry hands. But when they were asked to move dry marbles, all the people performed equally well, no matter they had the wrinkled fingers or not.
Our ancestors might not have played with marbles, but wrinkled fingers could have made it easier for them to climb around in the wet forests and catch fish from rivers, researchers say.
Similarly, our toes also get wrinkled in water. This may have developed from our ancestor’s need to run on wet ground.
But the question is, if wrinkled fingers are so helpful, why don’t our hands just stay that way all the time? Researchers explained that wrinkling has its disadvantage: wet fingertips are far less sensitive than smooth ones, reducing our sense of touch.What does the underlined world “this ” in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．Whether fingers have wrinkles after they are put in water. |
| B．Whether wrinkled fingers can hold things more tightly. |
| C．Why keeping things in water makes them wrinkled. |
| D．Why wrinkles help hands hold things more tightly. |
The test shows that ________.
| A．winkled hands hold dry things more tightly than dry hands do. |
| B．dry hands hold dry things more tightly than wrinkled hands do. |
| C．winkled hands hold wet things more tightly than dry hands do. |
| D．dry hands hold wet things more tightly than wrinkled hands do. |
What might be the disadvantage of wrinkled fingers?
| A．They are too sensitive to be touched. |
| B．They might be more likely to get hurt. |
| C．They cannot hold things tightly enough. |
| D．They are not so sensitive as dry fingers. |