“The Lord of the Rings”, one of the best sellers in the new millennium (千年), was made up of three parts —— “The Fellowship of the Ring”, “Two Towers”, and “The Return of the King”．Millions upon millions of people have read it in over 25 different languages, but fewer know about the author and the history of the composition of the creative masterwork．
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892．His parents died when he was a child．Living in England with his aunt, Tolkien and his cousins made up play languages, a hobby that led to Tolkien’s becoming skilled in Welsh, Greek, Gothic, Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon．
After graduating from Oxford, Tolkien served in World War I．In 1917, while recovering from trench fever, he began composing the mythology (神话) for The Rings．As a professor of Anglo-Saxon in 1930s at Oxford, Tolkien was part of an informal discussion group called the Inklings, which included several writers．The group was soon listening to chapters of Tolkien’s imaginative work “The Hobbit”．
Hobbit was a name Tolkien created for a local people that could best be described as half-sized members of the English rural (乡村的) class．Hobbits live in hillside holes．One of them, Bilbo Baggins, looks for treasures with a group of dwarves (侏儒)．On the way, he meets the twisted, pitiful creature Gollum, from whom he sees a golden ring that makes the holder invisible．
One of Tolkien’s students persuaded her employer, publisher Allen & Unwin, to look at a draft (草稿)．The chairman of the firm, Stanley Unwin, thought that the best judge for a children’s book would be his ten-year-old son．The boy earned a shilling for reporting back that the adventure was exciting, and “The Hobbit” was published in 1937．
It sold so well that Unwin asked for a continuation．Over a dozen years later, in 1954, Tolkien produced “The Lord of the Rings”, a series of books so creative that they hold readers — new and old — after their publication．
1.What can we learn from the text?
A．“The Lord of the Rings” didn’t sell well in the last millennium．
B．People know better about Tolkien himself than about his works．
C．Tolkien was quite familiar with Old English．
D．Tolkien knew very well about different kinds of local languages in Africa．
2.What can we learn about “Hobbit” that Tolkien created in his works?
A．Hobbit was a race living in English downtown areas．
B．Hobbit was a local people who were very tall and strong．
C．Hobbit was a social group of people who lived in old castles．
D．Hobbit was a group of people who were mostly dwarves．
3.Which of the following helped most in making “The Hobbit” published?
A．One of Tolkien’s students． B．Stanley Unwin’s son．
C．Allen & Unwin． D．Bilbo Baggins．
4.What is mainly discussed in the text?
A．“The Lord of the Rings” and its writer．
B．A completely new masterwork in the new millennium．
C．A famous professor at Oxford University．
D．The power of the magic ring．
5.Which of the following shows the right order of Mr．J．R．R．Tolkien’s life experience?
a．He had his “The Hobbit” published．
b．He became a member of the Inklings．
c．He served in World WarⅠ
d．He became an undergraduate at Oxford．
e．His work “The Lord of the Rings” came to the world．
f．He moved to England to live with his aunt．
A．f-d-b-c-a-e B．f-d-c-b-a-e C．f-c-d-b-e-a D．d-f-c-a-b-e
Doomed beauties such as Cleopata and Manilyn Monore were far from alone in their misery．Very attractive people tend to form partnerships that are less stable and satisfying than those enjoyed by plain Janes．
According to the research by Dr John Blain of the university of Southern California, relationships between people whose professions largely depend on their appearance, such as models or actors, tend to end much faster than those between lawyers, doctors and students．
Blaine said the beautiful felt different from children．They are treated as special, which may create both arrogance(傲慢) and insecurity．All too often, beauty can be used as an alternative to education．Often they are pushed out of their class or town, told to go off and make their fotune in Hollywood or London and, when the majority fail, they have few talents to make a living．
Blaine added that beautiful people score poorly on the “big five”--- the key factors American experts consider when helping distressed couples．These are neuroticism(神经过敏)，including anger and anxiety; extroversion(性格外向) ；openness to new experiences; agreeableness; and conscientiousness, or sticking by agreements they have made．Attractive people often see no reason to try to change until their looks start to fade．
Krista Sutherlanf ,of the University of California Los Angeles, said partnerships that appeared to be perfect from the outside, such as the former “dram teams” of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise or Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley, where backgrounds and aspirations(抱负) are often shared, did not necessarily lead to happiness．
1.What does the underline sentence “Doomed beauties such as Cleopata and Manilyn Monore were far from alone in their misery．” mean?
A．Beautiful women always felt lonely．
B．Beautiful women were always alone．
C．Many beautiful women didn’t end up with a happy life．
D．Beautiful woen always lived a happy life．
2.The underlined phrase “plain Janes” in the passage refers to “________”．
A．ordinary—looking women B．women called Jane
C．common people D．attractive women
3.We can infer in the passage that_____________．
A．HughGrant and Elizabeth Hurley were a couple．
B．Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were very satisfied with their life．
C．when they fail in Hollywood, the beautiful have little troube in making a living．
D．the marriage of the beautiful often last long．
4.Which of the following is the best title?
A．Five Key Factors Affecing the Partnership．
B．Beauties Are Doomed to Fail in Love．
C．Beautiful Or Common?
D．The Beauties Are Diferent．
Fruit powered digital clock
Fruit’s not only good to eat，but it can also power this Fruit digital Clock．This clock use the scientific rules on which modern electrical storage batteries are based, The acid from the fruit helps transmit(传递)an electrical flow between two metal poles。The clock is priced at US $15 ．
Connecting any fresh fruit or vegetable to the clock will make it work．The fruit is a clean，renewable source of electrical power．
USB vacuum
Do you know the dirtiest pans of your desk are probably your keyboard and mouse? Get a USB Mini Vacuum with retractable(可伸缩的)cable and suck away all that gunk．The US-made product is priced at US$ 14．
SIM card reader
Making useful USB 2．0 multi—card readers even handier, this card can also read and write data to phone SIM cards．It comes with SIM editing software．Download your phonebook to your computer,．If you lose your cell phone，you can store missing phone numbers in your new one．The US-made IMOMO SIM，card +Multi Card Reader is priced at US $19．
Beer in your ear
The beer barrel(桶)-shaped Nat Naf Hyp MP3 is a musical box that can be used to play radio，CDs and cassettes，It’s got all the standard features of the typical clock-radio，but with the relaxing look of a big beer barrel．The Danish product is priced at about US $130．
1.What is TRUE about Fruit powered digital clock?
A．It gives out the smell of the fruit．
B．It uses the fruit as its power．
C．It also needs batteries．
D．As a limited source，any fruit or vegetable connected to the clock will do．
2.What does “gunk” mean in the second item?
A．dirt B．desk C．keyboard D．USB
3.Which of the following statements is True?
A．If you have US$．30，you can buy a USB vacuum or Naf Hyp MP3．
B．USB vacuum can be used to clean your house and yard
C．With SIM Card reader you may not lose phone numbers．
D．Naf Naf Hyp MP3 can also play radio，CDs and cassettes when used as a beer barrel at the same time．
4.The passage is mostly likely a(n) ．
A．entertainment information
B．science reports on new high-technology
C．introduction of some kinds of cell phone or computer parts
D．advertisement for new products
Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time．
Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care more about．I know this from my personal experience．
E-mail makes it easy to work at home, where I now spend most weekends and evenings．My workinghours aren’t necessarily much shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at the office．This let me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before E-mail became such a practical tool．
The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends．Say you do something fun—see a great movie perhaps—and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it．If you call each one, you may be tired of telling the story．
With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends who you think might be interested．They can read your message when they have time, and read as much as they want to．They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience．
E-mail is also an inexpensive way to stay in close touch with people who live far away．More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children at college．
We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch．They don’t take the place of any of the old ways．
1.The purpose of this passage is to ___________．
A．explain how to use the Internet．
B．share the writer’s joy of keeping up with the latest technology．
C．tell the usefulness of the Internet．
D．introduce the basic knowledge about personal computers and the Internet．
2.The use of E-mail has made it possible for the writer to ____________．
A．spending less time working．
B．have more time to spend with his children．
C．work at home on all weekends．
D．work at a speed comfortable to him．
3.According to the writer, E-mail has no obvious advantage over the telephone because the former helps one_______________．
A．reach a group of people at one time conveniently．
B．keep his communication as personal as possible．
C．pass on much more information than the latter．
D．get in touch with his friends faster than the latter．
4.The best title for the passage is “__________________”．
A．Computer—New Technological Advances
B．Internet—New Tool to Maintain Good Friendship
C．Computer—Have Made Life Easier
D．Internet—a Convenient Tool for Communication
阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Scientists find that hard-working people live longer than average men and women．Career women are ___1___ than housewives, Evidence（证据） shows that ___2___ are in poorer health than the job-holders．A study shows ___3_ the unemployment rate increases by 1%, the death rate increases correspondingly（相应地）by 2%．All this ___4_ one point: Work is helpful to health．
Why is work good for health? It is because work keeps people busy, __5__ loneliness and solitude（孤独）．Researches show that people feel _6___ and lonely when they have nothing to do．Instead, the happiest are those who are __7__．Many high achievers who love their careers feel that they are happiest when they are working hard．Work serves as __8__ between man and reality．By work, people ___9__ each other．By collective（集体的） activity, they find friendship and warmth．This is helpful to health．The loss of work __10__ the loss of everything．It affects man spiritually and makes him liable to（易于）__11__．
__12___, work gives one a sense of fulfillment （充实感）and a sense of ___13__．Work makes one feel his value and status in society．When ___14__ finishes his writing or a doctor successfully __15___ a patient or a teacher sees his students ___16__, they are happy __17__．
From the above we can come to the conclusion __18_ the more you work, __19___ you will be．Let us work hard, _20_ and live a happy and healthy life．
1.A．more healthier B．healthier C．weaker D．worse
2.A．career women B．the busy C．the jobless D．the hard-working
3.A．that whenever B．whether C．that though D．since
4.A．comes down to B．equals to C．adds up to D．amounts to
5.A．不填 B．off C．in touch with D．away from
6.A．happy, interested B．glad, joyful
C．cheerful, concerned D．unhappy, worried
7.A．busy B．free C．lazy D．empty
8.A．a river B．a gap C．a channel D．a bridge
9.A．come across B．come into contact with
C．look down upon D．watch over
10.A．means B．stands C．equals D．matches
11.A．success B．death C．victory D．disease
12.A．Besides B．Nevertheless C．However D．Yet
13.A．disappointment B．achievement C．regret D．apology
14.A．a worker B．a farmer C．a writer D．a manager
15.A．manages B．controls C．operates on D．deals with
16.A．raise B．grow C．rise D．increase
17.A．in a word B．without a word C．at a word D．beyond words
18.A．that B．which C．what D．不填．
19.A．the lonelier and weaker B．lonelier and weaker
C．happier and healthier D．the happier and healthier
20.A．study well B．studying well C．study good D．studying good
Isn’t it amazing that such a good player____have failed to be elected to compete．．
A．would B．might C．must D．should
