One cannot discuss Chinese music without mentioning the guqin，one of the four arts-along with game of go，calligraphy（书法）and painting.It first appeared over 3，000 years ago and stands for China's solo musical instrument tradition.
At first，the guqin had only five strings（弓玄），meaning the five elements（元素）of metal，wood，water，fire and earth.Later，in Zhou Dynasty，King Wen of Zhou added a sixth string for his son.King Wu of Zhou，added a seventh string to encourage his army to fight with the Shang.
Ambiencewas important in playing the guqin.Usually，it was practiced in a quiet setting and never for public performance.Ancient artists enjoyed performing by a stream in the mountains.The sound of the guqin mixed with the echoes（回音）from the mountains，until the musician felt he was at one with nature.Playing it in snow was also an enjoyable activity for ancient artists，who believed the instrument was the purest of its kind in the world.Also，a night with moonlight was considered wonderful for playing the guqin.Wang Wei（701-761），a highly talented man of the Tang Dynasty，liked playing it in a bamboo forest on nights with moonlight most.
Guqin pieces are usually three to eight minutes long，with the longest being Guangling Verse，which is 22 minutes long.Other famous pieces include Plum Blossoms in Three Movements，Wild Geese Landing on the Sandbank and Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute.
Nowadays，there are fewer than one thousand well﹣trained guqin players and perhaps no more than fifty living masters.The original number of several thousand pieces has greatly reduced to only one hundred works by today.The guqin and its music was added to the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity（人类非物质文化遗产）in 2003.
（1）Today，the guqin has strings.
| A． |
four |
| B． |
five |
| C． |
six |
| D． |
seven |
（2）What's the meaning of the underlined word "Ambience" in Paragraph 3？
| A． |
演奏技巧. |
| B． |
环境氛围. |
| C． |
天气状况. |
| D． |
弹奏曲目. |
（3）According to the passage，playing the guqin is a right choice.
| A． |
at a quiet restaurant |
| B． |
at a welcome party |
| C． |
in a peaceful yard with flowers |
| D． |
on a dark night with rainstorm |
（4）According to the passage，which of the following is TRUE？
| A． |
The guqin has a history of less than 3000 years. |
| B． |
The strings mean metal，wood，water，fire and stone. |
| C． |
The longest guqin piece is Guangling Verse. |
| D． |
The guqin is very popular and many people can play it. |
（5）What does the passage mainly talk about？
| A． |
The guqin and its music. |
| B． |
The guqin and its players. |
| C． |
Four Chinese traditional arts. |
| D． |
The development of guqin music. |
New Baby Brother
I was sitting in school
when I heard the news．
"Your baby brother is born，
and wants to see you!"
Dad got me from school
and to the hospital with no delay．
Hurrying on our journey，
he almost forgot the way!
My brother's hands were tiny，
and wrinkly soft，like a prune．
After he smiled at me，
Mom said，"He'll come home soon!"
Everyone"oohing"and"aahing"，
they say"He is so sweet．
And one day he'll walk around
on those little baby feet!"
31．The writer was when hearing the news．
A．at school
B．at home
C．in the hospital
D．in the store
32．The writer's took the writer to the hospital to see the baby brother．
A．father
B．mother
C．brother
D．teacher
33．The family felt to have the new baby．
A．worried
B．surprised
C．relaxed
D．excited．
下面是一封来自美国的邮件，内容是你们班同学去San Francisco旅游的相关须知，请你阅读邮件，然后将其中的要点分条列出，张贴在班级的告示栏中．
Hum Thomas fell in love with Megan．But then an accident changed in his life，and he had to move to Canada．Magan promised to write to him．But Hum never heard from her …until one day a letter arrived．
He saw the letter came from where he and his father had lived in their early years．Who was writing to him？He turned the envelop（信封）over in his hands several times．Then he took out the letter and read：
Dear Hum，
I don't know if this letter will reach you，and I don't know why I'm writing to you after all these years，but …
Hum turned to the end of the letter and saw：
Best wishes
Megan
He couldn't believe it．He turned back to the first words of the letter and read：
…after all these years，but I've just found your letters to me from Canada．Believe me，this was the first time I'd read them and they made me cry，even after 50 years，I found them in a box of my father's papers．They were never opened．
Hum，I never know that you'd written to me．I thought your life in Canada had made you forget me．Now I realize that my father kept your letters．I can still remember asking him if there was any letter for me，and he always said："______，my girl，I told you he was no good．"Finally，after about a year，I believed him．
But why did he keep the letters？Do you think he wanted me to find them when it was too late？Anyway he's dead now，so I can't ask him．All I can say is I'm sorry．Sorry for what my father did，sorry that you never heard from me and sorry for …everything．
I hope that at least this letter reaches you．Of course，I'll understand if you don't want to write back to me，but if you don't do，I am still Magan Jenkins，and I will live at the same adress．
Best wishes，
Megan
Hum read the letter again．Everything with Megan came back to him．He had never forgotten her．He couldn't．Every day he looked at her face on the wall．He had a drawing of her．It had traveled everywhere with him．But to hear from her again …
"Are you all right，Dad？"asked Mike，coming into the room．
（Adapted from Two Lives by Helen Naylor）
42．Why did Hum turn to the end of the letter before he finished the rest of it？
A．Because he was not interested in the beginning
B．Because he didn't like to read letters from Megan
C．Because he wanted to finish reading it in a short time
D．Because he wanted to know whom the letter was from
43．Megan failed to read Hum's letters because ．
A．her father kept them
B．they were lost on the way
C．she moved to another city
D．he didn't post them at all
44．Which of the following sentences can be put in the ？
A．Sorry，it's my fault
B．Look up here
C．No，he was forgotten you
D．Yes，here are the ones from him
45．What can we infer from the passage？
A．Hum had never got married all these years．
B．Megan was still living with her father in Canada．
C．Megan was sure that Hum would receive her letter．
D．Megan still loved Hum and felt sorry for what had happened．
For many years，scientist have known that laughing is good for the of our minds and bodies．Now we are learning that it's not just laughter．Having fun and playing are also good for us!Reserchers have found that play is good for people of all ages．Play actually leads to the growth of more nerver connection in the brain and gives us more brain power．
Play is necessary during childhood．As children play，they learn how to make friendship and relate to others．They develop their imaginations and become more creative．Kids carry these qualities with them as they grow older．
Amy Whitcomb teaches maths at a school in San Francisco．For several years，she has used gamespot to teach maths．In one class，students play a game with small bags of candy to figure out how many pieces in the bags are red．When they get the correct answer，they can eat the candy!Amy says，"If it's not fun，they're not going to want to be there．They're not going to want to learn．
The spirit of play continues through the teenage years into adulthood．The famous company Google，for example，keeps a lot of toys and games at different place in their best ideas when they are just"playing around"and let their imaginations go wild．
So next time you have to solve a difficult maths problem or can't think of a topic for an artice，take a short play break．Do a little dance，or play a quick game．Then come back to it．Maybe you'll be surprised at what your brain can do．
38．The example of the company Google is given to show that ．
A．play is also fit adults
B．everyone there works hard
C．they have a lot of toys and games
D．it is very famous in the world
39．The underlined expression"figure out"in Paragraphy 3 probably means ．
A．look after
B．solve the problem of
C．draw a picture of
C．play a joke on
40．According to the passage，you need to play if you
A．want to make friendship with others
B．have to do some homework
C．fail to think of a topic for an article
D．find a job in a big company
41．Which of the following can be the best title for the passage？
A．A maths lesson
B．How children grow
C．The power of play
D．Work hard，play hard．
If you meet a British person in the street，it is very likely that he or she will apologize whether it is his or her fault or not．
It seems that Britain is becoming a nation where everyone is saying sorry．Almost each person says sorry about eight times each day﹣and one in eight people apologize as many as 20 times a day．
As you may have seen，the British apologize more often than members of other cultures．A research shows that in many cases，people's love of saying sorry in Britain goes a little further than it does for Americans．For example，about 15 British people would say"sorry"will only 10 from the US would do this if they sneezed，if they corrected someone's mistakes or if someone knocked into them．
In the old days，"sorry"was used to express regret and sadness for having done something wrong．But now British people use expression as a way of showing good manners．For example，they might say"sorry"instead of"excuse me"，"pardon"，"what"or"whatever"．
People in Britain also use sorry when they share the same feeling with others﹣so they might say"sorry about the rain"
However，British people's use of"sorry"may make things very confusing and difficult for foreigners who are not familiar with their ways．But actully，people in Britain pay much attention to the feelings of others．This is the very reason why they apologize every day．
34．what does the passage mainly talk about？
A．what daily expressions British people often use
B．how people in British keep in touch with foreigners
C．the different meanings of soon in and out of Britain
D．why British people say soon many times every day
35．in the old days，people said soon when they
A．did something wrong
B．asked the way
C．wanted to repeat something
D．made a choice
36．which of the following is true according to the passage？
A．Americans say sorry more than British people
B．even British people get confused when they say sorry
C．almost every person in Britain says sorry 20times a day
D．the British also say sorry to share the same feeling with others
37．from the passage we can learn that British people
A．like to talk about the weather
B．care a lot about others
C．are difficult to get along with
D．love to correct mistakes．
