Passage 1
It was very cold last Sunday. Paul and his friends Allen, Bill and Betty went to the lake after breakfast. They began to skate on the ice. Paul skated better than his three friends. He skated fast and didn’t know a piece of ice was broken. He fell into the water. His friends were afraid and called for help. Just then two workers walked there and heard them. They ran there quickly and helped the boy come out of the water. Then they took him to a hospital. Paul and his parents thanked them very much.
1. When did the children go skating?
A. After breakfast.    B. Before supper.    C. After lunch.     D. At lunch.
2. How many children skated on the lake?
A. Three.    B. Four.    C. Five.    D. Six.
3. Who skated best of all the children?
A. Allen did.    B. Paul did.    C. Bill did.    D. Worker did.
4. Why did Paul fall into the water?
A. Because he skated fast.             B. Because he was not good at skating.
C. Because he didn’t know the ice there was broken.      D. Because he skated slow.
5. Who helped Paul?
A. His friends.    B. His parents.    C. Two workers.     D. Betty.
Key: ABBCC
Passage 2
Why is it that the more connected we get, the more disconnected I feel? Every advance in communication technology is a step back from the closeness of human interaction. With e-mail and instant messaging over the Internet, we can communicate without seeing or talking to one another. With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone. If my mom has a question, I just leave the answer on her machine.
As almost every imaginable contact between human beings becomes automatic by machine, the alienation quotient goes up. You can’t even call a person to get the phone number of another person anywhere. Directory assistance is almost always fully automatic by machine. Pumping gas at the station? Why say good-morning to the worker when you … swipe （刷卡）your credit card at the pump and save yourself the bother of human contact? Placing money at the bank? … talk to a clerk who might live in the neighborhood when can just put your credit card into the ATM?
Pretty soon you won’t have the hard task of making eye contact at the grocery store. Some grocery chains are usually a self-scanner so you can check yourself out, avoiding those annoying clerks who look at you and ask how you are doing?
1. The writer’s attitude towards advances in communication technology may be described as ____?
A. critical    B. unconcerned    C. positive    D. uninterested
2. If his mom has a question, he _______.
A. will find ways to reach her           B. will locate her e-mail address
C. will try to get her a voice machine     D. will leave her the answer through voice mail
3. Judging from the context, the word “alienation” in line 2, paragraph 2 means ______.
A. relationship     B. closeness     C. strangeness      D. stress
4. With the rapid development of high technology, people don’t need to _______.
A. see or talk to one another           B. say good morning to workers
C. make eye contact with clerks        D. completely rely on manpower
5. It can be inferred that the writer _________.
A. is pleased with the modern pace of life         B. feels more separated from others
C. doesn’t want anyone to bother him  D. sings the praised of communication technology
Key: ADCAB
Passage 3
There was once an ant that was very thirsty.
It ran here and there looking for some water but could not find any.
Then suddenly, when the ant was almost ready to die of thirst, a large drop of water fell on it.
The ant drank the water, which saved its life.
The water was actually a tear from a young girl who was crying. Because of her sadness, the tear had magical qualities and suddenly the ant could speak the language of human beings.
The ant looked up and saw the young girl sitting in front of a huge pile of seeds.
“Why are you sad?” asked the ant.
“I’m the prisoner of a giant.” the girl told the ant. “ He won’t let me go until I’ve made three separate heaps of grain, barley（大麦）and rye（黑麦）out of this huge pile of seeds in which they are all mixed together.”
“That will take you a month!” the ant said, looking at the huge pile of seeds.
“I know,” the girl cried, “and if I haven’t finished by tomorrow, the giant will eat me for his supper!”
“Don’t cry,” the ant said, “my friends and I will help you.”
Soon thousands of ants were at work, separating the three kinds of seeds.
The next morning, when the giant saw that the work had been done, he let the girl go.
Thus it was one of her tears that saved her life.
1. What is an ant?
A. A small animal.     B. An insect.     C. A bird.      D. A giant.
2. When did the drop of water fall on the ant?
A. When it was looking for food.        B. When it saved the ant’s life.
C. When it was nearly dying.           D. When it looked up.
3. Why was the young girl crying?
A. Because of her sadness.             B. Because she saw the ant.
C. Because the giant would let her go. D. Because the giant had given her an impossible job to do.
4. What would the giant do if the girl failed to do the work?
A. He would eat her.                B. He would let her go.
C. He would take her away.          D. He would send her to prison.
5. Who or what saved the girl’s life?
A. The giant      B. The ant     C. The ant’s friends    D. Her tears
Key: BCDAD
Passage 4
My friend’s grandfather came to America from Eastern Europe. After being processed（移民入境检查）at Ellis Island, he went into a cafeteria in Lower Manhattan to get something to eat. He sat down at a table and waited for someone to take his order. But nobody came to him. Later a woman with a plate full of food sat down opposite him and told him how a cafeteria worked.
“Start out at the end,” she said. “Just go along the line and pick out what you want. At the other end he’ll tell you how much you have to pay.”
“I soon learned that’s how everything works in America,” the grandfather told my friend. “Life is like a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want only if you are willing to pay the money. You can even get success, but you’ll never get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you. You have to get up and get it yourself.”
1. Where do you think the old man came from?
A. Poland.    B. Australia.    C. Canada.     D. Japan.
2. From the passage, we know if you want to get success in America, you should _________.
A. get help from your friends         B. try to get it by yourself
C. know how a cafeteria works       D. get up again if you fail
3. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The old man sat down opposite the woman so that she could take his order.
B. The old woman sat down opposite the old man so that she could serve him.
C. Although the woman didn’t know the old man, she told him how to get something to eat in the cafeteria.
D. Although the woman didn’t know the old man, she decided to pay the bill for him.
4. What does the word “it” in the third paragraph refer to?
A. The food served in the cafeteria.             B. The success one wants to get.
C. The bill one has to pay in the cafeteria.        D. The plate used in the cafeteria.
5. Which is the best title for the passage?
A. From Eastern Europe to America         B. Eating in an American Cafeteria
C. How to Eat in a Cafeteria               D. Life Is Like a Cafeteria in America
Key: ABCBD
Passage 5
Three men traveling on a train began a conversation about the world’s greatest wonders.
“In my opinion,” the first man said, “the Egyptian pyramids（埃及金字塔）are the world’s greatest wonder. Although they were built thousands of years ago, they are still standing. And remember: the people who built them had only simple tools. They did not have the kind of machinery that builders and engineers have today.”
“I agree that the pyramids in Egypt are wonderful,” the second man said, “but I do not think they are the greatest wonder. I believe computers are more wonderful than the pyramids. They have taken people to the moon and brought them back safely. In seconds, they carry out mathematical calculations that would take a person a hundred years to do.”
He turned to the third man and asked, “What do you think is the greatest wonder in the world?”
The third man thought for a long time, and then he said, “Well, I agree that the pyramids are wonderful, and I agree that computers are wonderful, too. However, in my opinion, the most wonderful thing in the world is this thermos.”
And he took a thermos out of his bag and held it up.
The other two men were very surprised. “A thermos?” they exclaimed. “But that’s a simple thing.”
“Oh, no, it’s not,” the third man said. “In the winter you put in a hot drink and it stays hot. In the summer you put in a cold drink and it stays cold. How does the thermos know whether it’s winter or summer?”
1. The underlined word “thermos” in Chinese means “_______”.
A. 电冰箱      B. 洗衣机       C. 电风扇       D. 保温瓶
2. That the three men could not agree on what the world’s greatest wonder was because _______.
A. they could not think of anything very wonderful        B. they all had different ideas
C. they could not prove that their opinions were right      D. the journey ended too soon
3. The first man thought the pyramids were the most wonderful things in the world because ____.
A. they were very beautiful                   B. they were Egyptian
C. they had been built with very simple tools     D. they could do mathematical calculations
4. The third man thought a thermos was the most wonderful thing in the world because _____.
A. it lasted longer than the pyramids            B. it cost less than a computer
C. he thought it knew whether it was winter or summer
D. the other two men were surprised when he told them about it
5. The third man was not very clever because ______.
A. he could not think of anything to say         B. he did not understand how a thermos works
C. he did not think the pyramids were wonderful  D. he did not know anything about computers
Key: DBCCB
Passage 6
If you ask Daniel Radcliff who acted Harry Potter to pick a special moment from the last year of his life, you will find it almost impossible. “Oh, wow, that’s really difficult,” he says with a smile.
“There have been so many things, so many memories that at times it’s hard to recall them all,” says Daniel. “But I guess one of the best ones was the London premiere for the Philosopher’s Stone. It was just amazing, one of the best nights of my life.”
“But I’ve had such a great time doing The Chamber of Secrets. I love doing the work. I love meeting new people and being part of the team. It’s been great.”
Daniel has changed. He turned 14 in July, 2002. He is taller, his voice is deeper and his frame is filling out as he begins his teenage years, and he has become an excellent actor, too.
Daniel was born in London where his father, Alan, worked as an agent and his mother, Marcia, as a casting director, and both have been an essential guiding influence on their only child.
1. How old was Daniel Radcliff in 2003?
A. 15      B. 16      C. 14       D. 13
2. What is Daniel Radcliff’s memory about the past year according to the passage?
A. He didn’t remember anything about it.        B. He had so many bad memories about it.
C. There were amazing experiences in the past year.
D. There were not many unforgetable things in the past year.
3. Which of the following is not mentioned as a liking by Daniel?
A. Making friends.  B. Being an actor.   C. Being part of the team.    D. Becoming a director.
4. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Daniel’s parents are all film stars.       B. Daniel’s parents influenced Daniel greatly.
C. Daniel has never had any influence from his parents.   D. Daniel has brothers and sisters.
5. Daniel was born in _________.
A. New York       B. Beijing      C. Paris      D. London
Key: ACDBD
Passage 7
These days, children often think of superheroes（超级英雄）as cute（漂亮的）, cool and strong supermen. A poor, short and thin boy wearing glassed may not interest the kids today. Yet in less than 4 years, Harry Potter has taken the world by the storm. J. K. Rowling, the writer of Harry Potter, was a British single mother out of work and living on money given to her by the government. One day, when she was on a long train trip, she had the idea for this book. She wrote the first book of the seven in the café with her baby daughter sleeping beside her. Last year, the fans welcomed the birth of the fourth by lining outside the bookstores. Today these books are still popular among people. Harry Potter is something more than fantasy（幻想）. Rowling tries to tell the readers how things are not always what they seem to be. However, millions of the fans don’t care about such a lesson. They would like to spend many sleepless nights waiting in line for the fifth, the sixth and the seventh to come. For them, surprising stories of the little boy are what they want.
1. J.K. Rowling ________ when she wrote the first book.
A. lived a quiet life with her husband       B. was very poor and didn’t get work for herself
C. had to teach her daughter how to work    D. was already a famous writer
2. When did Rowling think of the idea of writing her book?
A. While she was telling her baby stories about superheroes.
B. While she was going on a long trip.
C. She was on her way to find work.        D. While she was drinking in a café.
3. How many books of the seven have come out according to this passage?
A. Four.     B. Five.     C. Six.     D. Seven.
4. What does Rowling want to show to her readers?
A. Harry Potter is a poor, short and thin boy wearing glasses.    B. Fantasy.
C. How things are not always what they seem to be.
D. She has got many interesting story books.
5. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. Rowling wrote the first book with her daughter’s help.
B. Rowling gave birth to her fourth baby last year.
C. The fans just care about the surprising stories of Harry Potter.
D. Only children love the books, for they’re fairy tales.
Key: BBACC
Passage 8
Ours is a big world, complex and full of many diverse people. People with many varying points of view are constantly running up against others who have differing opinions. Those of us who smoke are just one group of many. Recently, the activism of non-smokers has reminded us of the need to be considerate of others when we smoke in public.
But, please! Enough is enough! We should like to remind non-smokers that courtesy is a two-way street. If you politely request that someone not smoke you are more likely to receive a cooperative response than if you scowl（皱眉）fiercely and hurl insults. If you speak directly to someone, you are more likely to get what you want than if you complain to the management.
Many of us have been smoking for so long that we sometimes forget that others are not used to the aroma of burning tobacco. We’re human, and like everyone else we occasionally offend unknowingly. But most of us are open to friendly suggestions and comments, and quite willing to modify our behavior to accommodate others.
Smokers are people, too. We laugh and cry. We have hopes, dreams, aspirations. We have children, and mothers, and pets. We eat our hamburgers with everything on them and salute the flag at Fourth of July picnics. We hope you’ll remember that the next time a smoker lights up in public.
1. The purpose of the first paragraph is _________.
A. to inform the reader of the complexity of the world
B. to declare that the author belongs to the group of smokers
C. to tell non-smokers that smokers will be considerate
D. to reveal the author’s reason for writing this essay
2. What does the second sentence in the second paragraph imply?
A. We should go on two different roads.       B. We have different ways of doing things.
C. Being polite to each other is a mutual thing.
D. We can smoke and sometimes we will not smoke.
3. According to the author, how can you get cooperative response from smokers if you don’t like to have someone smoking beside you?
A. Complain to his superior.         B. Tell him directly that you hate smokers.
C. Refrain from complaining but try to hint him next time.
D. Tell him politely that you are not used to smoke.
4. According to the author, why do some smokers smoke in public?
A. Because they cannot resist smoking.
B. Because they forget that others do not like the smell of cigarettes.
C. Because they are humans and they cannot avoid offending people.
D. Because there is no law against it.
5. How does the author try to persuade the reader?
A. He uses reasons.                   B. He appeals to people’s emotions.
C. He cites examples in his argument.     D. He simply states his opinion.
Key: BCDBB
Passage 9
Here is a story told about an American general who was a very important figure in the American army during the First World War. Everybody in the United States knew him and many people wished to have a picture or something of his in their homes.
Soon after the war the general returned to Washington. One day he went to a dentist and had six teeth pulled out. A week later the general heard that his teeth were being sold in shops at $5 each. On each of the teeth there was a label with the name of the general and words: “buy these teeth and show them to your friends at home.” The general got angry. He rushed to his office and ordered six officers to go around the city and buy all his teeth.
The officers went out and visited every shop in the capital. They were away from the office all day. In the evening they returned and put on the table in front of the general the teeth they had bought. They had collected 175 teeth.
1. The general came back to Washington ____________.
A. after the First World War         B. after the Second World War
C. during the First World War        D. both A and B
2. Many families wanted to have __________ of the general.
A. a picture     B. a tooth or anything    C. a shop     D. Both A and B
3. The general ordered his men to _____________.
A. arrest the dentist               B. look for all his teeth and buy all of them
C. visit all the shops selling teeth    D. buy all the teeth in all the shops
4. The face that the general’s name was on the label of each tooth shows that ____________.
A. the general was famous           B. the shop owners wanted to make more money
C. the general’s teeth were valuable.   D. both A and B
5. The teeth they collected most probably cost __________.
A. $175     B. $795     C. $875      D. $1150
Key: ADBDC
Passage 10
A public house which was recently bought by Mr. James is up for sale. He is going to sell it because it is haunted（闹鬼）. He told me that he could not go to sleep one night because he heard a strange noise coming from the bar. The next morning, he found that the doors had been blocked by chairs and the furniture had been moved. Though Mr. James had turned the lights off before he went to bed, they were on in the morning. He also said that he had found five empty whisky bottles which the ghost（鬼）must have drunk the night before. When I suggested that some villagers must have come in for a free drink, he shook his head. The villagers have told him that they will not accept it even if he gives it away.
1. Mr. James was _________.
A. a ghost                     B. the owner of the public house
C. going to buy the house         D. going to have a free drink
2. Which of the following is correct?
A. Mr. James saw the ghost.        B. He had not turned off the lights.
C. The chairs had been moved.      D. He slept well.
3. Mr. James __________ the house.
A. was given     B. built     C. rented      D. bought
4. Mr. James found ___________.
A. sixty empty bottles            B. that the villagers had drunk the whisky
C. that the lights were on         D. there was a ghost on his bed
5. The writer of the passage _________ Mr. James’ story.
A. believes           B. doesn’t believe
C. makes up          D. has been told the story by some else
Key: BCDCB

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