1.If you buy advance tickets, you______.

A. call 60605-2496(312)-922-9410 to register a ticket
B. should go and buy tickets all by yourself
C. can ask others to buy a ticket for you
D. make an order with the nuseum in advance

2. where can you park your car for the least cost?

A. The south lot    
B. The Adler lot  
C. The north lot    
D. The Waldron garage

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The museum is opened all the year round.
B. You can usually pay your parkinf in check.
C. during bears home games visitors can park on the museum campus for free.
D. after 4:00pm you are not allowed to enter the museum.

     In 1901, H. G. Wells, an English writer, wrote a book describing a trip to the moon. When
the explorers (探险者) landed on the moon, they discovered that the moon was full of underground
cities. They expressed their surprise to the "moon people" they met. In turn, the "moon people"
expressed their surprise. "Why," they asked, "are you traveling to outer space when you don't even
use your inner space?"
     H. G. Wells could only imagine travel to the moon. In 1969, human beings really did land on the
moon. People today know that there are no underground cities on the moon. However, the question
that the "moon people" asked is still an interesting one. A growing number of scientists are seriously
thinking about it.
     Underground systems are already in place. Many cities have underground car parks. In some
cities, such as Tokyo, Seoul and Montreal, there are large underground shopping areas. The
"Chunnel", a tunnel (隧道) connecting England and France, is now complete.Uncle Tom gave little
Vicki Black a birthday gift one week before her birthday. He told her not to open it until her birthday.
She knew her mother wouldn't tolerate any disrespect to the kind man who helped them out after
Vicki's father passed away. Besides, Vicki didn't want Uncle Tom to get angry. But little Vicky didn't
want to just hold it and guess what was in it. After all, she looked forward to his coming to show her
interesting things, like how to turn an old sock into a doll.
     All the day, Vicki couldn't stop thinking about the gift. While her teacher was giving a lecture? Vicki
sat still in her seat, drawing paper dolls inside the box. When school was done, she raced home.
Walking into the room, again, she shook the present, but she heard nothing. Holding her breath, she
opened the box and looked inside. Seconds later, she cried. When Mrs. Black saw the box, she said
angrily, "Didn't I tell you to leave it alone?" Vicki sobbed and said, "Mommy, you don't understand."
     "Don't cry to me. You have missed everything now, just because you couldn't wait," Mrs. Black
accused. "What will Uncle Tom think now?"
     "Uncle Tom gave me nothing," Vicki cried and handed the empty box to her mother. "He played
a trick on me."
      Mrs. Black said doubtfully, "Uncle Tom is not like that. You must have dropped it."
     Vicki kept crying. Only a rapid knock on the door made the house quiet. It was Uncle Tom. He
looked at the empty box. "You have already done it? I told you to wait for your birthday."
      "You didn't give me a gift." Fresh tears filled her eyes.
     "I try to give you something. I know your birthday is a special day. I tell myself to give you
something valuable to last your whole life. I think hard and get the idea to give you an important lesson.
If you open it on birthday, I see you learn. Then I will make a big party to celebrate. Maybe next year
you listen and then you will understand the gift better."
     Vicki's cheeks flushed(脸红).

1. We can learn from the text that Vicki_______.

A. often received gifts from her father          
B. expected Uncle Tom to give her a doll
C. was sad because of her father's death        
D. liked and respected Uncle Tom

2. What do the underlined words "done it" refer to?

A. Guessed the result                      
B. Opened the box
C. Realized Uncle Tom's purpose            
D. Known what her birthday gift was

3. What kind of person is Uncle Tom?

A. Thoughtful        
B. Humorous        
C. Mysterious        
D. Funny

4. What did Uncle Tom want to teach Vicki?

A. How to respect others                  
B. The meaning of gifts
C. How to deal with gifts                  
D. The value of a promise

     Man has always wanted to fly. Some of the greatest men in history have thought about the problem.
One of these, for example, was the great Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci. In the sixteenth century he
made designs for machines that could fly. But they were never built.,
     Throughout history, other less famous men have wanted to fly. An example was a man in England
800years ago. He made a pair of wings from chicken feathers. Then he fixed them to his body and
jumped into the air from a tall building. He did not fly very far. He fell to the ground and broke every
bone in his body.
      The first real step took place in France in 1783. Two brothers, the Mongolfiers, made a very large
"hot air balloon". They knew that hot air rises. Why not fill a balloon with it? The balloon was made of
cloth and paper. In September of that year, the King and Queen of France came to see the balloon.
They watched it carry the very first air passengers into the sky. The passengers were a sheep and a
chicken. We do not know how they felt about the trip. But we do know that the trip lasted 8 minutes
and that the animals landed safely. Two months later, two men did the same thing. They rose above
Paris in a balloon of the same kind. Their trip lasted twenty-five minutes and they traveled about 8
kilometers.

1. Leonardo da Vinci        .

A. said that man would fly in the sky one day
B. built a kind of machine which never flew
C. drew many beautiful pictures of the birds
D. made designs of flying machines

2. Eight hundred years ago an Englishman        .

A. made a kind of flying machine  
B. tried to fly with wings made of chicken feathers  
C. wanted to build a kind of balloon  
D. tried to fly on a large bird

3. In fact, the Englishman who tried to fly        .

A. lost his life            
B. flew only 8 minutes  
C. was not wounded      
D. succeeded in flying

4. The very first air passengers in the balloon were       .

A. the King and Queen      
B. two Frenchmen    
C. two animals            
D. the Mongolfiers

        1   This date was the old mid-winter festival in pre-Christmas times, around the time
of the longest night and the shortest day. Christmas in the 21st century has many traditions:
Christmas trees, cards and presents. Shops can make about 60 percent of their year's income
in the three months before Christmas, so most shops get ready for it in October.    2   The first
time this happened was in 1867 when Macy's famous shop in New York, stayed open until
midnight on Christmas Eve.
    By mid-December, almost every shop and street has a Christmas tree.     3   In the northern
countries, winter is cold and dark and most trees are decorated with lights and colored glass
balls give people hope that spring will come.
    Father Christmas is known across the world with his white hair, red coat and big bag of toys.
Young children are told that he lives in the north of Finland and makes toys for them.    4  
   On Christmas Day a traditional meal is eaten, usually a turkey and a rich, spicy cake. Some
 people hate Christmas.     5   They love seeing family and friends; they also love the traditions.
Love it or hate it, Christmas is a time to look back over the old year and forward to the new one.

A. This tradition was started by the Germans as early as 700 AD.
B. Believe it or not.
C. Since about 400 AD, Christmas Day has been celebrated.
D. Others feel it is a magical and exciting time.
E. The shopping centers are beautifully decorated and stay open late at night.
F. It was really beautiful indeed.
G. By tradition, he brings the toys to children at night, on the night before
Christmas.

     Young adult filmmakers all hope to show their works in international festivals like Sundance
and Toronto. But what about really young filmmakers who aren't in film school yet and aren't,
strictly speaking, even adults?
     They are at the heart of Wingspan Arts Kids Films Festival, tomorrow, in a setting any director
might envy: Lincoln Center. Complete with "red carpet" interviews and various awards, the festival
has much in common with events for more experienced moviemakers, except for the age of the
participants: about 8 to 18.
     "What's really exciting is that it's film for kids by kids," said Cori Gardner, managing director of
Wingspan Arts, a nonprofit organization offering youth arts programs in the New York area. This
year the festival will include films not only from Wingspan but also from other city organizations and
one from a middle school in Arlington, Virginia. "We want to make this a national event," Ms. Gardner
added.
     The nine shorts to be shown range from a Claymation biography of B.B. King to a science fiction
adventure set in the year 3005. "A lot of the material is really mature," Ms. Gardner said, talking
about films by the New York City branch of Global Action Project, a media arts and leadership-training
group. "The Choice is about the history of a family and Master Anti-Smoker is about the dangers of
secondhand smoke." Dream of the Invisibles describes young immigrants' feelings of both belonging
and not belonging in their adopted country.
     The festival will end with an open reception at which other films will be shown. These include a
music video and full-length film whose title is Pressures.

1. Wingspan Arts Kids Film Festival ________.

A. is organized by a middle school
B. is as famous as the Toronto Festival
C. shows films made by children
D. offers awards to film school students

2. Which of the following is true of Wingspan Arts?

A. It helps young filmmakers to make money.
B. It provides arts projects for young people.
C. It's a media arts and leadership-training group.
D. It's a national organization for young people.

3. The underlined word "shorts" in Paragraph 4 refers to ________.

A. short trousers  B. short kids   C. short films   D. short stories

4. Movies to be shown in the festival ________.

A. cover different subjects.
B. focus on kids' life
C. are produced by Global Action Project
D. are directed by Ms. Gardner

5. At the end of this film festival, there will be ________.

A. various awards    B. "red carpet" interviews
C. an open reception  D. a concert at Lincoln Center

     Paper was one of the most important inventions in the Chinese history. As a result of this invention,
much is known about Chinese history because records were kept on paper. However, in other parts
of the world, much of the history over hundreds of years is completely unknown. As there was no paper
in these countries, no records were kept.
     It is believed that before paper was developed, people in China used to keep records by putting a
number of stones together. As soon as writing came to development, people carved (刻) words on
animal bones. Later, words were carved on metal pots; examples of these have been found from the
sixteenth to the third centuries B.C. Between the second and the fifth centuries A.D. people wrote on
pieces of bamboo or wood and these were tied together to form a book. Although these were much
more useful than the metal pots, they were still difficult to read and were very heavy to carry.
     At the same time another kind of book made from silk was developed. Some silk books that have
been found are over 2140 years old. It was easy to write and draw on silk. The problem was that it
was too hard for everyday use. Because it was so expensive, people developed a kind of paper made
from the fibers of plants. They used fishing nets, barks, pieces of old clothes and so on to make paper.
This kind of paper was as soft and light as silk but much less expensive.

1. Paper was one of the greatest inventions because ______.

A. it was invented by the Chinese
B. it was the first one that was invented by humans
C. it helped to record human's history
D. no other countries used paper except China

2. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. People wrote words on a piece of wood or bamboo to keep record.
B. Animal bones were used to carve words on by people in the ancient time.
C. Words carved long ago can be found on metal pots even today.
D. Ancient people put stones together to write words on.

3. We may know that ______.

A. silk books were not so widely spread
B. all kinds of paper were invented over 2140 years ago
C. fishing nets and clothes were cheaper than paper then
D. paper made from silk was not so soft to write on

     The Chinese were the real inventor of printing. Centuries ago they carved messages on a stone
and then sprinkled (撒) sooty(煤炭的) dust over it. When they put a small piece of paper over
the stone and rubbed the paper, the sooty lines were reproduced on it. Some of these first printed
papers have been preserved; the oldest ones known to exist are more than one thousand years old.
     Printing with carved stone blocks was the only kind of printing known for centuries. Then, about
eight hundred years ago, a Chinese printer, Bi Sheng, had a clever idea. Instead of carving a whole
message on a single big block of wood or stone, he formed separate Chinese words or characters
out of bits of clay(粘土). By putting the clay pieces together in rows in a box, he could print just as
before. But when he finished, he could keep all the separate pieces of clay and use them again.
     Bi Sheng's movable type was a great step forward, but his method was not generally adopted.
Movable type did not come into use in Europe until it was invented there centuries later. The
Europeans had been totally ignorant of the printing traditions of the Chinese.

1. The oldest pieces of printed paper in existence date back ______.

A. 800 years
B. more than 1000 years
C. more than 2000 years  
D. 500 years

2. Bi Sheng used clay to form ______.

A. large tablets for writing
B. messages
C. individual words or characters
D. small statues

3. These pieces of clay were ______.

A. easily lost
B. broken
C. reusable  
D. disposable

4. Europeans adopted printing after they ______.

A. realized stone carving was inadequate (不够的)
B. had learned about it from the Chinese
C. had copied Chinese printing
D. had invented it themselves  

     The Gullah people in the southern US have honored their culture for more than 100 years. Living
mainly on the Sea Islands and coastal areas of South Carolina, Georgia and Floride, the Gullah people,
an African-American group, have a rich culture including their own language. It is a Creole language
created by slaves who came to the US from the West Africa in the 1800s. It combines West African
languages with English.
     For many years efforts have been made to save the Gullah language. One project began in 1979.
Its goal was to translate the New Testament part of the Bible into Gullah. Experts say that it was a
difficult process because Gullah is not a written language. It is a spoken language only.
     A team of Gullah speakers began working on the translation to make the Bible easier to understand
for those who spoke Gullah as their main language. The Gullah version is called De Nyew Testament.
It is written in English on one side of the page, and next to it, there is a Gullah translation. De Nyew
Testament was published by the American Bible Society. The project also received help from the
Summer Institute of Linguistics, Wycliffe Bible Translators, the United Bible Societies and the Penn
Centre 
     Experts believe that the translated Bible is a major step towards saving the Gullah language and
traditions. "This is more than a Bible translation," says Robert Hodgson, at the American Bible Society.
"De Nyew Testament raises the Gullah language and culture to a new level." Ardell Greene is a member
of the translation team. She calls the book "a treasure". She says that the Gullah version of the Bible will
be read in churches and will help young people keep the Gullah language alive.

1. According to the passage, De Nyew Testament can be best seen as _______.

A. a good version of the Bible          
B. something difficult to understand
C. a spoken form of the Gullah language 
D. the effort to save the Gullah language

2. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Gullah communities can be found in the southern US.
B. Gullah is influenced by both English and West African languages.
C. De Nyew Testament is a complete Bible translation.
D. Ardell Greene thinks highly of De Nyew Testament.

3. What does this passage mainly focus on?

A. Efforts to save the Gullah language.    
B. Different versions of the Bible.
C. The history of the Gullah people.
D. The culture of the Gullah people.

     Beijing opera or Peking opera (Pinyin: J?ngj?) is a form of Chinese opera which arose in the late
18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was
extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural
treasures of China. Major performance troupes (剧团,戏班子) are based in Beijing and Tianjin in
the north,and Shanghai in the south. The art form is also enjoyed in Taiwan,and has spread to other
countries such as the United States and Japan.
     Beijing opera features four main types of performers. Performing troupes often have several of
each variety,as well as numerous secondary and tertiary performers. With their elaborate (认真的,
精心的) and colorful costumes,performers are the only focal points on Beijing opera's characteristically
small stage. They make use of the skills of speech,song,dance,and combat in movements that are
symbolic and suggestive,rather than realistic. Above all else,the skill of performers is evaluated
according to the beauty of their movements. Performers also hold a variety of stylistic conventions
that help audiences navigate the plot of the production. The layers of meaning within each movement
must be expressed in time with music. The music of Beijing opera can be divided into the Xipi and
Erhuang styles. Melodies include arias (唱腔),fixed-tune melodies,and percussion patterns. The
repertoire of Beijing opera includes over 1,400 works,which are based on Chinese history,folklore,
and,increasingly,contemporary life.
     In recent years,Beijing opera has attempted numerous reforms in response to sagging audience
numbers. These reforms,which include improving performance quality,adapting new performance
elements,and performing new and original plays,have met with mixed success. Some Western works
have been adopted as new plays,but a lack of funding and an adverse political climate have left Beijing
opera's fate uncertain as the form enters the 21st century.

1. How long has Beijing Opera become a popular art form?

A. About one and a half centuries.
B. More than two centuries.
C. More than one century.
D. About half a century.

2. How many art forms of Beijing Opera at present?

A. Two including Beijing and Tianjin,and Shanghai in the south.
B. Two including Beijing and Tianjin in the north.
C. Three including Beijing and Tianjin,and Shanghai in the south and Taiwan.
D. Five including Beijing and Tianjin,and Shanghai in the south,Taiwan,US and Japan.

3. What are the features of the performers' movements of Beijing Opera?

A. Elaborate.
B. Colourful.
C. Realistic.
D. Representative.

4. Which of the followings is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Performers can take different stylistic traditions in the plays.
B. The standard to estimate a performer is the amount of his/her movements.
C. It's necessary to keep movements along the music in time.
D. The content of Beijing Opera is plentiful but much fixed.

5. What will be the future of the Beijing Opera?

A. Very bright.
B. Certainly good.
C. Much uncertain.
D. More popular.