A young man is lying in hospital sadly. The 24-year-old lost his right leg. The doctor said that his long
history of smoking (吸烟) was the reason. "I first smoked when I was 14. It made me feel like a man and
I thought it looked cool. Now I know I was wrong," said the young man.
     It is a mistake (错误) many young people make. According to the survey, 40 million (百万) of
China's 130 million young people aged between 13 and 18 smoke. Fifteen million of them are addicted
(上瘾的).The survey also found that about 68% of young smokers first smoked before the age of 13.
     Many young people see people smoke in the movies, but in real life, stars like Jackie Chan think
smoking is a bad thing and not cool at all.
     Doctors say that if a person starts smoking very young, he or she may live 22 years less than those
who don't smoke.
1. How long did the young man smoke?
A. For 10 years.    
B. For 13 years.
C. For 14 years.    
D. For 18 years.
2. What did the young man think of smoking when he first smoked?
A. It was wrong.    
B. It was bad.
C. It was boring.    
D. It was cool.
3. What does the underlined word "it" refer to (指的是)?
A. Smoking.            
B. Getting ill.
C. Lying in hospital.  
D. Stopping smoking.
4. The number of young people who smoke in China is ____ million.
A. 15  
B. 40    
C. 68      
D. 130
5. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Many stars think smoking is cool.
B. People who smoke can only live to be 22.
C. It's a big problem that many young people smoke.
D. Many young smokers first smoked before the age of 10.

     You have been working hard to learn English.   Do you know American kids are  trying  to learn
Chinese? More than 60,000 American students now study Chinese.
     "Because of China's fast development,   Chinese has become more useful,  and more  and  more
Americans begin to learn it," said Scott McGinnis, a Washington language expert (专家).
     For example, in 1999,  only three schools in Chicago had Chinese lessons.   This year more than
30 schools there have Chinese during school days.   Last year  China  gave  them  3,000  textbooks
because they had done a good job.
     Although Chinese is becoming more and more popular,   it is one of the most  difficult  languages
to learn. Usually, an English speaker takes about 1320 hours to become good at Chinese. He needs
only 480 hours for French, Spanish or Italian.

1. According to Scott McGinnis, more and more Americans begin to learn Chinese _____  .    

A. because of China's fast development  
B. because of China's interesting culture  
C. because they have more free time
D. because Chinese is easy to learn    

2. This year,   _____ schools in Chicago give students Chinese lessons.

A. only three         
B. thirteen
C. over thirty      
D. less than thirty      

3. The students at those schools in Chicago take Chinese lessons  _____ .

A. after school
B. at weekends    
C. on school nights    
D. on school days

4. Last year China gave  _____  textbooks to those schools in Chicago.

A. thirty      
B. three hundred
C. three thousand      
D. thirty thousand

5. From the last two sentences we know that  _____ .

A. Chinese is easier to learn than French, Spanish or Italian
B. Chinese is more difficult to learn than French, Spanish or Italian  
C. English speakers like to learn French, Spanish or Italian more than Chinese
D. English speakers like to learn Chinese more than French, Spanish or Italian