Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage.
The Fourth of July marks the anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence from Britain. During the summer of 1776, American colonists were deeply divided. Almost one in three was loyal to Britain. Yet most were increasingly angry about what they considered unfair treatment by the British government. By June, fighting had already taken place between colonial forces and Britain. The idea of independence was spreading.
Delegates from the 13 colonies gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Continental Congress decided that a document declaring separation from Britain should be declared. Thomas Jefferson led a committee chosen to write it.
On July fourth, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence. It says that people have the right to change their government if it denies them their rights. It states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Today, the Fourth of July is a time for friends and families to gather. They might play sports and eat hot dogs, hamburgers and other foods cooked outdoors. They might watch a parade in their community. At night, many people gather to watch fireworks bursting in the sky.
In Washington, D.C. this year, thousands of people will attend a concert with performances by musicians including Reba McIntire, Darius Rucker and Gladys Knight. There will also be a huge fireworks show with more than 2,500 shells exploding over the National Mall.
Another event that traditionally takes place on the National Mall this weekend is the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This year's event celebrates the cultures of Mexico and Asian Pacific Americans. Visitors can hear the music, eat the food and learn about the many traditions of these cultures.
The third subject of the festival is called "Smithsonian Inside Out." Smithsonian experts will have a chance to present their research and knowledge to the public.
1.Why was the idea of independence spreading before July 4,1776? (No more than 10 words) (2 marks)
2.What right does everyone have according to the the Declaration of Independence? (No more than 13 words) (2 marks)
3.What does the Fourth of July holiday mean to Americans today? (No more than 10 words) (3 marks)
4.What will happen at “Smithsonian Inside Out” this year (in 2010)? (No more than 12 words )(3 marks)
Directions: Read the following passage．Fill in the numbered blanks by using the information for the passage．
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer．
The art of growing dwarf (short) trees, or “bonsai” as their Japanese planters call them, is increasing in popularity in the United States. Growing bonsai can make a fascinating hobby for anyone who enjoys plants and creating beautiful effects with them. However， how can we meet the goal of making such a kind of art？ This maybe is the problem for many of us.
There are， in fact， four important guidelines to follow in growing bonsai. First, one must be careful in choosing the type of tree. Not all species of trees can be made into bonsai, since the growing conditions are unusual.
Second， one must be careful in choosing the size of the container the bonsai will be in. This is necessary because the major growth of bonsai is kept confined to the tree’s trunk and leaves， not its root system.
Another thing the bonsai-grower must do is to trim （修整） the roots and branches of the tree periodically（定期地）. Unless this is done， the plants will look unnatural. The Japanese ideal for bonsai is not to have the proper proportions and will have trees which are just like normal trees in everything， but in small size.
The last thing one must do is to be careful to keep the miniature（small）tree well-watered， or it will die.
As one can see from above， the art of bonsai-growing is one which requires a certain amount of time and effort. The satisfactions that growing bonsai brings can be great，however. Imagine having such a tree in your living room and passing it down through several generations of your family. That is exactly what bonsai-growing is all about：establishing a tradition of beauty which lasts for years and years and is a symbol of the beauties of the natural world.
Title： 1.__________
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2.________ |
To teach people how to grow bonsai |
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3.__________ |
The right 4. |
5.of trees can’t be made into bonsai. |
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The right size of the container |
6.is confined to its trunk and leaves. |
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7. |
It will make the plants look 8. |
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Enough water |
It keeps the plants 9. |
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Effects |
Bonsai – growing establishes a tradition of natural 10. beauty. |
Saya, the teacher doesn’t mind being pinched(掐), or if the students play in class: she’s a robot designed to show children that science and technology can be fun subjects．
Saya, a life – like female who started her career as a robot receptionist at Japanese companies and was then reprogrammed to teach, gave a lesson to fifth – graders at Tokyo’s Kudan Elementary School after being carried to the podium in the classroom．
Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi, who built Saya, says she’s not meant to replace human teachers, but to bring the joy of technology to children. “We’re not looking at making something that will take over from teachers. Our main reason for building this robot is to use new technology to teach children about technology,” he said. “But Saya may be able to help in schools where there’s a shortage of teachers,” he added. “In the countryside and in some small schools, children don’t have the chance to come into contact with new technology and also few teachers there can teach these lessons．So we hoped to be able to develop this robot to be remotely controlled to teach these classes.”
Many of the children were attracted by Saya, and didn’t take their eyes off her throughout the lecture. When class was over, some students pinched her. “ It’s so much more fun than regular classes,” said10 – year – old Nanako Iijima．
The children’s human teacher, however, was not as impressed with the robot as her students. “I am impressed that they’ve got robots to go this far, but on the other hand they still have a long way to go before they can make it a truly robotic teacher.” Akito Fukuda, the school’s science teacher said．
Japan, home to almost half of the world’s 800,000 industrial robots, expects the industry to expand to $10 billion in the future including models that will be able to care for its fast – growing elderly population．
1.Saya was first designed to ．
A．be touched by students B．teach children about science
C．work as a robot receptionist D．work together with scientists
2.The underlined word “podium” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.
A．a surface for teachers to stand on B．a board for teachers to write on
C．a toy for students to play with D．a video for students to watch
3.What can we learn from Paragraph 3?
A．Saya needn’t be remotely controlled while having classes.
B．Robots like Saya will replace human teachers in the future.
C．Some children in the countryside know little about new technology.
D．It’s difficult for most Japanese teachers to teach children about technology.
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Saya is the first life – like female robot in history.
B．Robots like Saya will replace human teachers in the future.
C．Some children in the countryside know little about new technology.
D．It’s difficult for most Japanese teachers to teach children about technology.
5.In which section of a newspaper can you find this passage?
A．Entertainment. B．Technology. C．Politics. D．Opinion.
Research by Scotland Yard published in a London newspaper, has proven that knife crime in London is a serious non – white phenomenon, with 165 of the 225 under- 18s accused of knife crime in the past three months being from the black or other non – white groups．
According to Scotland Yard, only 60 of the 225 crimes were white．Despite being a small minority of the knife holding criminals, whites did, however, make up the single largest group of victims of knife crime．
According to the Scotland Yard report, whites made up 222 of the 637 victims of knife crime over the last three months．This number could probably be higher, as 292 victims were not identified by race．
This month Scotland Yard Deputy Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson suggested knife crime has replaced drug selling as the top concern for London police．
Sir Paul said so as he announced a specialist knife crime unit to deal with teenagers carrying knives in the capital．It will use a team of 75 specialist officers to find criminal group members and their supporters．
Detective Inspector, George Rhoden, president of the National Organisation of Black Law Enforcement Executives said, “In the black community we have all noticed that there is major concern about gun and knife crime．Clearly we are not the only part of the community affected by the problem of children who have no fathers, but parental responsibility should be of major concern.”
Around 59 percent of black Caribbean children and 54 percent of mixed – race youngsters are looked after by a parent．In the white British population, the number is 22 percent．
1.From the above, we can see that in knife crimes in London．
A．there are more whites than Asians as victims
B．there are more blacks than whites as victims
C．Asians make up the smallest group of criminals
D．blacks make up the second largest group of criminals
2.What Sir Paul Stephenson said suggests that ．
A．drug selling has replaced knife crime as the top concern for London police
B．drug selling had been the top concern for London police in the past
C．knife crime used to be the top concern for London police
D．London police now pay no attention to drug selling
3.Whatmeasurehasthegovernmenttakentodealwiththeproblemofknifecrime?
A．Punishing the parents of teenagers carrying knives．
B．Arresting the teenagers carrying knives．
C．Forming a specialist knife crime unit．
D．Fining the teenagers carrying knives．
4.According to George Rhoden, which of the following factors contributes to so many young blacks turning to crime?
A．That they are poorly educated．
B．That they are influenced by their fathers．
C．That many of them come from incomplete families．
D．That their parents are too busy to take care of them．
5.Whichofthefollowingwordscanbeusedtofillintheblankinthelastparagraphy?
A．lone B．loving C．busy D．lazy
Father Maurice Chase used a special way to celebrate his 90th birthday. The Catholic priest took $ 15,000 in cash to Los Angeles’ Skid Row (贫民区) and gave it away. Twenty wheelchair – bound people received $100 bills, while the rest received $1to $ 3 each．
“I come out here to tell them that God loves them and I love them and that some one is concerned about them,” Chase said．
Chase has given away cash and blessings every Sunday at the same corner for 24 years．Several hundred people wait for him every week．
He makes a point of coming on Thanksgiving and Christmas, too, but this is the first year he spent his birthday in the downtown neighborhood where people live mainly in shelters and on dirty sidewalks．
“ It’s the place that makes me the happiest．I just love it,” said Chase. “I look forward to coming here.”
The money comes from donations he receives from rich and famous people he met during his work as assistant to the president of Loyola Marymount University．
The crowd broke into choruses of “Happy Birthday” several times. Some people presented him birthday cards, to his delight．
Travis Kemp, a 51 – year – old disabled man with long black hair, was one of the lucky 20 to receive $ 100. He said he had no special plans for spending the money. “He has a lot of respect from me,” Kemp said. “I know I couldn’t do it.”
1.On his 90 th birthday, Chase ．
A．handed out cash to the needy
B．collected money for poor people
C．visited poor people’s homes with gifts
D．held a party at Los Angeles’ Skid Row
2.Which of the following makes Chase feel the happiest?
A．Celebrating his birthday with his neighbours．
B．Working in Loyola Marymount University．
C．Celebrating Christmas with the people he has helped．
D．Going to Los Angeles’ Skid Row to help people there．
3.What’s the source of the money Chase used to help people?
A．All his savings．
B．His earnings as a Catholic priest．
C．Donations from the wealthy and celebrities．
D．Donations from Loyola Marymount University．
4.Travis Kemp is mentioned in the text to show ．
A．he was the luckiest person on that day
B．the disabled need to be taken care of
C．Chase is greatly appreciated by the needy
D．even old people came to celebrate Chase’s birthday
5.Which statement is CORRECT according to the passage?
A．Every recipient could get $100 in cash from Father Maurice Chase．
B．Father Maurice Chase gave the cash away not only on his birthday but also on other occasions．
C．Although Father Maurice Chase gave the cash away on his birthday, he didn’t receive anything in return．
D．Father Maurice Chase earned a lot of money as assistant to the president of Loyola Marymount University．
Directions: Complete the following passage by filling in each blank with one word that best fits the context．
My speech pathology (病理学) practice used to be successful．But by last year, 1.people wanted to join in such practice. Icutmyownpayby20percent 2.I didn’t want to let any of my staff go. My husband3.to find a job, too.
We have114.in all．Although our oldest four are already on their own, we couldn’t live on anything less than what we were making．We’ve always been interested in food safety and in teaching the kids 5.their food comes from．We love fresh vegetables from small farms．6..
We began with two pigs．A local farmer suggested we get hens because there was a market for fresh eggs, so we got more animals. We were excited 7.also nervous. What if no one bought anything from our farm?
But people did buy. The farmer who sells eggs to his customers buys about 20 dozen a week from us. At farmers’ markets, we sell out our eggs completely, earning $250 to $500 in a day．I once spent $160 a week 8.food; now I spend just $ 40 to $50 a week．
