Bowing is a very important custom in Japan. Unlike people in many other countries, they greet each other
by bowing instead of shaking hands. It is impolite not to return a bow to whoever bows to you.
     Bowing has many functions in one. It expresses the feeling of respect, thanks, regret, and so on. You can
bow when you say, "thank you", "sorry", "hello", "goodbye", "congratulations", "excuse me", "good morning",
and more.
     Bowing seems simple, but there are different ways of bowing. Bowing techniques vary from a small nod
of the head to a long, 90-degree bow. It depends on the social position or age of the person you bow to. If
your opposite is of higher social position or older than yourself, you are supposed to bow deeper and longer
than him or her. It is polite to bow from your waist. Men usually keep their hands at their sides, and women
usually put their hands together on their legs with their fingers touching. If it is not a very formal situation,
you can bow by nodding. The most common bow is a bow of about 15 degrees.
     You might feel strange doing it, but try to bow in Japan. You will be considered very polite!

1. The author writes the passage mainly to _____.

A. introduce the history of bowing in Japan
B. describe the purposes of bowing in Japan
C. introduce the Japanese custom of bowing
D. describe different ways of bowing in Japan

2. By saying "Bowing has many functions in one", the author means that _____.

A. people can express different feelings by bowing
B. one kind of bow has many similar functions
C. people bow to express their feelings
D. the more times you bow, the more respect you receive

3. How people greet in many countries?

A. by bowing
B. by shaking hands
C. by kissing each other
D. by touching

4. If an assistant wants to show respect to her professor, she may bow like _____.

A.
B.
C.
D.

     On the fourth Thursday in November, Americans celebrate the  festival of Thanksgiving. This
festival is a time when the family come together for a meal and give thanks to God for the blessings
they have received. The first Thanksgiving festival was celebrated by the early American settlers who
gave thanks to God for their good harvest.
       In America Thanksgiving is a family holiday. It is on that holiday that all the family make a special
effort to get together. The feast (节日 ) is always on Thursday and most people have a four-day holiday
from school and work. Thus they are able to travel a great distance to be with their family.
     The Thanksgiving meal is traditionally turkey, which was the food for the first Thanksgiving. The table
is filled with fruits, walnuts (胡桃)  and many kinds of vegetables. For dessert (甜点) the main choice is
usually pumpkin pie. The meal is a time for the members of the family to talk to each other. There will be
talking before the meal, during the meal and long after the meal.
     On Thanksgiving morning there are sporting events and parades (游行)  in many cities to mark the
day.  The family dinner is usually held in the afternoon around 4 o'clock. The mother will prepare the
meal and the father will carve (切) the turkey. He will preside (主持)  at the head of the table. The meal
will begin with a short prayer of thanksgiving to God for the blessings the family received. The father will
also thank the family for coming together on this day. During the meal there is plenty of food for everyone
present. The meal is a very joyful time. When the meal is over, some will help with the dishes and others
will return to the living room to talk or watch television.
       In many ways the festival of Thanksgiving is similar to the Chinese festival of Mid-Autumn Day.  It is
a time for the family to get together for dinner.    

1. Why does the writer say Thanksgiving is a family holiday in America?          

A. It is a holiday for those who have a family.
B. People try to get back to be with their family on this holiday wherever they are.
C. People celebrate this holiday only at home and will not go out on this particular day.
D. Each family has its own way of celebrating this holiday.   

2. ______ was the food for the first Thanksgiving according to this passage.         

A. Turkey                                
B. Pumpkin pie
C. The walnut                        
D. Dessert 

3. Today is November 4th, Thursday. Which of the following is Thanksgiving Day?   

A. November 18th.                  
B. November 19th.
C. November 25th.                  
D. November 26th.

    There were many beautiful buildings in ancient Rome, but the living conditions for ordinary people
were bad. Most of their homes were so poorly made that they fell down or were fire hazards  (=danger)  with their steep, narrow wooden stairways. Most people were packed into apartment buildings that
rose shakily (=unsafely) six to twelve floors above the ground. The apartments were rooms about three
metres square, and each building housed about five hundred people.
    These tall buildings faced each other across streets only three metres wide, so no sunlight reached the    ground. Even so, apartments were costly, though cheaper places could be had outside Rome. But people wanted to be near their work and entertainment. So the streets became crowded and it was hard to move quickly. At night, the streets were filled with noise as food and supplies were brought  inthe city on wagons and carts.

1. In ancient Rome, most people lived in ________ apartments.

A. small and crowded
B. clean and tidy
C. spacious and sunny
D. tall and big

2. The streets in ancient Rome were ________.

A. crowded and noisy
B. wide and bright
C. narrow and dark
D. both A and C

3. People liked to live in Rome Because________.

A. the apartments were comfortable
B. the living expenses were low
C. they have no money to build houses outside the city
D. they wanted to enjoy the conveniences of the city

4. This passage is mainly about ________ in ancient Rome.

A. the beautiful buildings
B. the living conditions of ordinary people
C. the streets and transportation
D. the food and daily supplies

     Despite the fact that it has never been seen almost everyone is familiar with the legendary unicorn
(独角兽). Descriptions of unicorns have been found dating from ancient times. 'The great
philosopher Aristotle theorized that there were two types of unicorn-the so-called Indian Ass and the
Oryx, a kind of antelope. Unicorns are often used in the logo of a noble family, town council or university
as their special sign. Even Scotland is represented by aunicom.
     According to the legend, anyone attempting to catch a unicorn had to be extremely cautious as it has
a reputation for being very fierce. A clever trick suggested by unicorn-trappers ,in order to catch this
magnificent beast without being hurt by its horn, was for the hunter to stand in front of a tree and then to
move quickly behind it as the unicorn charged. Hopefully, the creature could then be captured when its
horn was stuck in the tree.
     When hollowed out and used as a drinking-cup, the unicorn's horn was said to have the power to
offer protection against poison. It was believed that nobody could be harmed by drinking the contents
of a unicom's horn. Right up until the French Revolution in 1789, the French court was said to have used
cups made of "unicorn" horn in order to protect the king. In addition, the horn was said to have medicina
l value,so much so that it could be sold for more than ten times the price of the same weight of gold.
What, then, was " unicorn" horn? We know at times the rhino (犀牛)  was confused with this legendary
creature. A drinking-cup supposedly made of "unicorn" horn was discovered to be made of the horn of
a rhino.

1. Which of the following is TRUE of the unicorn? 

A. It was not historically recorded.
B. Its horn was first used in France.
C. It was similar to the Indian Ass and the Oryx.
D. It could be the symbol of a university.

2. To catch a unicorn, the unicorn-trappers had to try all of the following EXCEPT__________ . 

A. tempting the unicorn to attack
B. making use of the tree as a protection
C. hiding quickly behind the unicorn
D. having quickly behind the unicorn

3. The last paragraph is mainly about __________. 

A. the properties of the unicorn horn
B. the users of the unicorn horn
C. the price of the unicorn horn
D. the comparison between the unicom horn and the thino horn

4. In the last paragraph, the word  " unicom" is in quotation marks(引号) because________.

A. the cup is designed only for a royal family
B. the unicorn does not exist in reality
C. the unicorn is the rarest animal in the world
D. the medicinal value of the horn is appreciated

     The Queen's English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queen's Christmas
broadcasts had found.Researchers have studied each of her messages to the Commonwealth countries
since 1952 to find out the change in her pronunciation from the noble Upper Received to the Standard
Received.
     Jonathan Harrington, a professor at Germany's University of Munich , wanted  to  discover whether
accent (口音 ) changes  recorded over the past half century would take place within one person. "As
far as I know,there just is nobody else for whom there is this sort of
broadcast records, " he said.
     He said  the  noble  way  of  pronouncing  vowels (元音 ) had gradually lost ground as the noble
upper-class accent over the past years. "Her accent sounds slightly less noble than it did 50 years ago.
But these are very, very small and slow changes that we don't notice from year to year.
     " We may be able to relate it to changes in the social classes, " he told The Daily Telegraph, a British
newspaper. "In 1952 she would have been heard saying  'that men in the black hat ' . Now it would be 
 ' that man in the black hat ' . Similarly, she would have spoken of ' the  citay ' and  ' dutay ' , rather than
' citee ' and ' dutee '  , and  ' hame '  rather than  'home'. In the 1950s she would have been 'lorst', but by
the  1970s  'lost'."
     The Queen's broadcast is a personal message to the Commonwealth countries. Each Christmas, the
l0-minute broadcast is put on TV at 3 p. m. in Britain as many families are recovering from their traditional turkey lunch(传统火鸡午餐 ) .
     The results were published  (发表 )  in the Journal of Phonetics.

1. The Queen's broadcasts were chosen for the study mainly because________.    

A. she has been Queen for many years
B. she has a less upper-class accent now
C. her speeches are familiar to many people
D. her speeches have been recorded for 50 years

2. Which of the following is an example of a less noble accen in English?____________

A. dutay        
B. citee        
C. hame        
D. lorst

3. We may infer from the text that the Journal of Phonetics is a magazine on____________.

A. speech sounds          
B. Christmas customs
C. TV broadcasting        
D. personal messages

4. What is the text mainly about? ___________

A. The relationship between accents and social classes.
B. The Queen's Christmas speeches on TV.
C. The changes in a person's accent.
D. The recent development of the English language.

     There are many thoughts on the origins of civilization. One of the major factors involved
was the increase in population. The development of techniques, primarily irrigation and
flood control, which permitted agriculture in special areas such as the flood plain of the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers, made possible the support of large population. Once
populations reach a certain number, the older pattern of social organization breaks down
and new ones develop. Specifically the older system, whereby each individual participated
in food production and maintained a similar standard of living and whereby kinship
(家属关系) served as the basic method of social organization, was replaced by the
occupational division of labor, political and religious hierarchies (等级制度) public works
such as road and public building construction, class systems, codes of law, markets,
new forms of warfare, and urban centres. Allied with these important sociological traits
are material traits, such as monumental architecture and the development of science and,
in many cases, metallurgy (冶金学) and writing systems.
     The earliest civilization, Sumer, developed in the Middle East. This was the Bronze
Age of the Old World, during which people first developed the art of metallurgy,
civilization also arose in other parts of the Old World first in Egypt, China, and India,
and later in Europe and Africa. At this time, civilization also developed independently in
the New World, in the Mexican area and in Peru and its neighboring areas.
      In the Old World the Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age, which saw the rise
and fall of great empires and the shift of power from the Middle East to Greece and
Rome and then to Western Europe. In the 1700s the Industrial Age began, leading
directly to the modem civilization of today.

1. The author of this passage ______.

A. gives a comparison between ancient civilization and modern civilization
B. suggests that population increase is most important in the development of civilization
C. tries to explain how civilization developed in human history
D. explore the relation between agriculture and industry

2. According to the first paragraph, the increase in population ______.

A. resulted in the development of agricultural technology
B. resulted from the breakdown of old social organization
C. caused the occupational division of labor
D. was impossible without the development of agriculture

3. Which of the following is NOT tree according to the passage?______

A. The Bronze Age is one of the earliest civilizations.
B. The Industrial Age started in the Middle East.
C. The Bronze Age developed into the Iron Age.
D. The use of metal instruments started from the Bronze Age.

4. Which of the following is NOT included in the expression "the Old World" used
in the passage?______

A. American continent.
B. Both Western and Eastern Europe.
C. African continent.
D. Asian countries.

     Copenhagen, one of the world’s most bicycle-friendly cities, has begun turning its extensive network
of cycle paths into bike highways in an effort to push more commuters (上下班往返的人) to leave their
cars at home.
     Considered one of Europe’s two “bicycle capitals” along with Amsterdam, Copenhagen counts more
bicycles than people and cycling is so popular that its numerous bike paths can become congested.
      Two-wheeler traffic jams are especially regular on the main Noerrebrogade thoroughfare (大街)
used by around 36,000 cyclists a day. “You have to elbow your way (挤过去) to go forward and some
cyclists aren’t always thoughtful,” complains 22-year-old university student Lea Bresell.
      The creation of bike highways “comes right on time”, says Danish Cyclist Federation spokesman
Frits Bredal. “Copenhagen’s roads are overloaded with people who want to ride their bicycles in all
kinds of weather,” he says.
     If in the 1960s Danes viewed the car as the symbol of freedom, the bicycle has assumed that role
today, Bredal says.
    "It’s a means of transportation used by all social classes, and even politicians ride bikes,” he says.
     It is on crowded Noerrebrogade - the busiest bicycle street in Europe - that city planners have
decided to build the first of Copenhagen’s environmentally friendly streets. The jammed bike paths will
be widened up to four meters on either side of the road, which will itself be reserved for buses only.
     The idea is to make Noerrebrogade “Europe’s great cycling street”, says Andreas Roehl, the
Copenhagen city’s bicycle program manager who is also known as “Mister Bike”.
     But Roehl is not content with making life easier for Copenhagen’s inner city cyclists: He wants to get
suburbanites (郊区居民) out of their cars and onto two wheels as well.
     His goal is to increase the percentage of suburban commuters cycling to and from the city from the 33
percent it is today to more than 50 percent by 2015. Within the city, 55 percent of all commuters already
travel by bike.
     Already Copenhagen stands out among other European capitals for its cycling infrastructure, counting
more than 390 kilometers of bike paths.

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Copenhagen is planning to build bicycle-friendly highways.
B. Copenhagen is planning to build highways.
C. Copenhagen is one of Europe’s two “bicycle capitals”.
D. Two-wheeler traffic jams are especially common in Copenhagen.

2. What does Lea Bresell think of the present bike traffic on the main Noerrebrogade thoroughfare?

A. pleasant
B. Terrible
C. Cyclists are considerate
D. Bike paths are not made full use of

3. We can infer that _______.

A. most of people in Copenhagen can’t afford to buy cars
B. hiking is very common in Copenhagen
C. cars will not be allowed to run on the widened Noerrebrogade thoroughfare
D. Noerrebrogade thoroughfare will be deserted

4. How do suburban commuters travel to and from the city in Copenhagen at present?

A. More than half of the suburban commuters travel by bike.
B. Almost all the suburban commuters take buses.
C. Few suburban commuters travel by car.
D. About one third of the suburban commuters travel by bike.

5. According to the passage, what do you know about Copenhagen?

A. Copenhagen possibly has the longest among European capitals.
B. Copenhagen has the longest history among European capitals.
C. Copenhagen has the largest population among European capitals.
D. Copenhagen is the biggest in size among European capitals.

1. The text is most possibly___________.

A. a travel review          
B. an advertisement
C. a news story            
D. a study report

2. The  underlined  word "denounced" is  closest  in  meaning  to_________.

A. looked down on        
B. impressed
C. spoken poorly of        
D. admired

3. Paragraph 3 mainly tells the readers___________. 

A. about the surprising statistics of the tower
B. about the fantastic view of the tower
C. not to keep the numbers in mind
D. not to pay attention to the shape

4. Which of the following descriptions of the Eiffel Tower is correct ?

A. The tower was completed after the 1889 Universal Exhibition.
B. The tower went high for its open steel structure.
C. A radio station stopped the tower from being destroyed.
D. Ice-skating is permitted on top of the Eiffel tower.