My father had returned from his business visit to London when I came in, rather late, to supper. I could tell at once that he and my mother had been discussing something. In that half-playful, half-serious way I knew so well, he said, "How would you like to go to Eton?"

     "You bet," I cried quickly catching the joke. Everyone knew it was the most expensive, the most famous of schools. You had to be entered at birth, if not before. Besides, even at 12 or 13, I understood my father. He disliked any form of showing off. He always knew his proper station in life, which was in the middle of the middle class, our house was medium-sized; he had avoided joining Royal Liverpool Golf Club and went to a smaller one instead; though once he had got a second-hand Rolls-Royce at a remarkably low price, he felt embarrassed driving it, and quickly changed it for an Austin 1100.

     This could only be his delightful way of telling me that the whole boarding school idea was to be dropped. Alas! I should also have remembered that he had a liking for being different from everyone else, if it did not conflict with his fear of drawing attention to himself.

     It seemed that he had happened to be talking to Graham Brown of the London office, a very nice fellow, and Graham had a friend who had just entered his boy at the school, and while he was in that part of the world he thought he might just as well phone them. I remember my eyes stinging(刺痛) and my hands shaking with the confusion of my feelings. There was excitement, at the heart of great sadness.

     "Oh, he doesn’t want to go away," said my mother, "You shouldn’t go on like this.” “It’s up to him," said my father. "He can make up his own mind."

The house the writer’s family lived in was ________.

    A. the best they could afford            B. right for their social position

    C. for showing off                      D. rather small

His father sold his Roils-Royce because ________.

     A. it made him feel uneasy               B. it was too old to work well

     C. it was too expensive to possess            D. it was too cheap

The writer’s father enjoyed being different as long as ________.

    A. it drew attention to him                    B. it didn’t bring him in arguments

    C. it was understood as a joke              D. there was no danger of his showing off

What was the writer’s reaction to the idea of going to Eton?

    A. He was very unhappy.               B. He didn’t believe it.

    C. He was delighted.                   D. He had mixed feelings.

What was the writer’s reaction to the idea of going to boarding-school?

   A. He was very unhappy,                   B. He had mixed feelings.

   C. He was delighted,                       D. He didn't believe it.

We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被动地）. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.

We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.

Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor(谣言).

Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.

That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.

This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.

According to the passage, passive learning may occur in _______.

   A. doing a medical experiment       B. solving a math problem

   C. visiting an exhibition            D. doing scientific reasoning

The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.

   A. active learning    B. knowledge   C. communication    D. passive learning

The author mentions the game Rumor to show that _____.

   A. a message may be changed when being passed on

   B. a message should be delivered in different ways

   C. people may have problems with their sense of hearing

   D. people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor

What can we infer from the passage?

   A. Active learning is less important.          B. Passive learning may not be reliable.

   C. Active learning occurs more frequently.

   D. Passive learning is not found among scholars.

Death Valley is one of the most famous deserts in the United States, covering a wide area with its alkali sand. Almost 20 percent of this area is well below sea level, and Badwater, a salt water pool, is about 280 feet below sea level and the lowest point in the United States.     

Long ago, the Panamint Indians called this place “Tomesha”— the land of fire. Death Valley’s present name dates back to 1849, when a group of miners coming across from Nevada became lost in its unpleasantness and hugeness and their adventure turned out to be a sad story. Today Death Valley has been declared a National Monument(纪念碑) and is crossed by several well-marked roads where good services can be found easily. Luckily the change created by human settlement has hardly ruined the special beauty of this place.

    Here nature created a lot of surprising, almost like the sights on the moon, ever-changing as the frequent wind moves the sand about, showing the most unusual colors. One of the most astonishing and variable parts of Death Valley is the Devil’ s Golf Course, where it seems hard for one to tell reality from terrible dreams. Sand sculptures(沙雕) stand on a frightening ground, as evening shadows move and lengthen.

_______ is the lowest place in the desert.

A. Tomesha                         B. Death Valley

C. Nevada                           D. Badwater

The name of the valley comes from _______.

A. an Indian name                      B. the death of the miners

C. the local people                      D. a National Movement

From the passage we can learn that _______.

A. no one had ever known the desert before the miners

B. it’s still not easy to travel across the desert

C. people can find gas-stations, cafes and hotels in the desert

D. people have changed the natural sight of the desert

Devil Golf Course is famous for _______.

A. the frequent wind            B. the colors of the sand

C. dream-like sights             D. the sand sculptures

From the passage we can see that the writer _______ the Death Valley.

A. appreciates                     B. is fearful of

C. dislikes                           D. is tired of

Dearest Mom and Dad,

 I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you. I have been very naughty and the school principal is very angry with me. She is going to write to you. You must come and take me away from here. She does not want me in the school any longer.

 The trouble started last night when I was smoking a cigarette in bed. This is against the rules, of course. We are not supposed to smoke at all.

 As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room. I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away.

 Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste-paper basket, which caught fire. There was a curtain near the waste-paper basket which caught fire, too. Soon the whole room was burning.

The principal phoned for the fire department. The school is a long way from the town and by the time the fire department arrived, the whole school was in flames. Many of the girls are in the hospital.

The principal says the fire was my fault and you must pay for the damage. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars.

I am very sorry about this.

 Much love, Sarah

P.S.

 None of the above is true, but I have failed my exams. I just want you to know how bad things could have been!

Sarah wrote to her parent______

A.    to inform them about an accident

B.    to ask them for money

C.    to them wonderful news

D.    to tell then she had failed her exams

Sarah told her parents the story about the fire because______

 A. she wanted to make them worried

 B. she wanted them to have some fun

 C. she wanted to make them less angry at the real news

 D. she wanted to make them even more angry

The main body of the letter was_____

 A. mostly true          B. partly true

 C. all true             D. completely untrue

Sarah said the principal was angry because____

 A. she had failed her exams

 B. it was her fault that the fire had broken out

 C. she not make the phone call in time

 D. she had caught her smoking in bed

A brother and sister have been reunited after more than 60 years, thanks to a letter in the Welwyn and Hatfield Times.

  For years John Hannant Kept a photograph of his long-lost sister, hoping they would meet again. Margery, the eldest of the three children, had signed up to the Royal Air Force as part of the war effort, when John was still a baby. The family lost touch and as the decade s passed only a single letter gave a clue to her whereabouts. The clue was enough for a WHT reader to recognize  Margery and put the family back in touch..

  John, 67, had been searching for a long time and a friend suggested writing to the paper.

  “That’s the one that made it, the letter to the paper a few months age,” he said. “It’s like a dream come true. The last time we ever heard from Margery was in 1953 after the floods. She wrote home to know if we were all right. My sister Dorothy wrote back, But Margery had moved again and never got the letter.”

  Having retired from his job as a gardener at Park House, Mr. Hannat decided to take action once and for all. He and his wife Doreen, travelled to Margery’s home in Chelwood Avenue, Hatfield , which she shares with her husband Jack Cooke.

  Now 88, she was recovering after several months in hospital, but immediately recognized her brother. John said, “It’s something that I never thought was going to happen, but I always hoped it would.” As well as finding his sister, John has also discovered he now has a nephew, niece and six grandnieces and grandnephews.

Margery left her family because______

there was a flood in her hometown

she signed up to serve the army

she wanted to get her husband back

a war broken out in her hometown

When she wrote to John last time ,Margery was ______

A.34 years old           B.40 years old

C.44years old           D.54 years old

What do we know about Jack Cooke’s family?

   A. Jack now has a son and a daughter.

   B. Jack and his wife live with their children now

   C. Jack’s wife is in good health all the time.

   D .Jack lost touch with his family a long time ago.

It can be inferred from the passage that______

   A. since 1953 Margery has come back home only once.

   B .Margery received only one letter from John.

   C. Margery does not care about her family.

   D.WHT refers to a newspaper.

Tom was one of the brightest boys in the year, with supportive parents. But when he was 15 he suddenly stopped trying. He left school at 16 with only two scores for secondary school subjects. One of the reasons that made it cool for him not to care was the power of his peer(同龄人) group.

       The lack of right male(男性的) role models in many of their lives — at home and particularly in the school environment(环境) — means that their peers are the only people they have to judge themselves against.

       They don’t see men succeeding in society so it doesn’t occur to them that they could make something of themselves. Without male teachers as a role model, the effect of peer actions and street culture(文化) is all-powerful. Boys want to be part of a club. However, schools can provide the environment for change, and provide the right role models for them. Teachers need to be trained to stop that but not in front of a child’s peers. You have to do it one to one, because that is when you see the real child.

       It’s pointless sending a child home if he or she has done wrong. They see it as a welcome day off to watch television or play computer games. Instead, schools should have a special unit where a child who has done wrong goes for the day and gets advice about his problems — somewhere he can work away from his peers and go home after the other children. （08辽宁卷）

Why did Tom give up studying?

   A. He disliked his teachers.

   B. His parents no longer supported him.

   C. It’s cool for boys of his age not to care about studies.

   D. There were too many subjects in his secondary school.

What seems to have a bad effect on students like Tom?

   A. Peer groups.               B. A special unit.

   C. The student judges.            D. The home environment.

What should schools do to help the problem schoolboys?

   A. Wait for their change patiently.

   B. Train leaders of their peer groups.

   C. Stop the development of street culture.

   D. Give them lessons in a separate area.

A teacher’s work is most effective with a schoolboy when he ______.

   A. is with the boy alone

   B. teaches the boy a lesson

   C. sends the boy home as punishment

   D. works together with another teacher

In ancient times the most important examinations were spoken, not written. In the schools of ancient Greece and Rome, testing usually was made up of saying poetry aloud and giving speeches.

In the European universities of the Middle Ages, students who were working for advanced degrees had to discuss ques??tions in their field of study with people who had made a spe??cial study of the subject. This custom exists today as part of the process of testing candidates (应试者) for the doctor’s de??gree.

Generally, however, modem examinations are written. The written examination, where all students are tested on the same questions, was probably not known until the nineteenth century. Perhaps it came into existence with the great increase in population and the development of modem industry. A room full of candidates for a state examination timed exactly by electric clocks and carefully watched over by managers, looks like a group of workers at an automobile factory. Certainly, during examinations teachers and students are expected to act like machines.

One type of test is sometimes called an “objective” test. It is intended to deal with facts, not personal opinions. To make up an objective test, the teacher writes a series (一系列)of ques??tions, each of which has only one correct answer. Along with each question the teacher writes the correct answer and also three statements that look like answers to students who have not learned the material properly.

The main idea of Paragraph Three is that ________.

A. workers now take examinations             B. the population has grown

C. there are only written exams today     D. examinations are now written and timed

The kind of exams where students must select answers are

A. objective                                          B. personal  

C. spoken                                             D. written

Modem industry must have developed ________.

A. around the 19th century                B. before the Middle Ages

C. in Greece or Rome                   D. machines to take tests

It may be concluded that testing ________.

A. should test only opinions                B. should always be written

C. is given only in factories          D. has changed since the Middle Ages

George Washington Carver showed that plant life was more than just food for animals and humans. Carver’s first step was to analyze plant parts to find out what they were made of. He then combined these simpler isolated substances with other substances to create new products.

The branch of chemistry that studies and finds ways to use raw materials from farm products to make industrial products is called chemurgy. Carver was one of the first and greatest chemurgists of all time. Today the science of chemurgy is better known as the science of synthetics(合成纤维织物). Each day people depend on and use synthetics made from raw materials. All his life Carver battled against the disposal of waste materials, and warned of the growing need to develop substitutes(代用品) for the natural substances being used up by humans.

Carver never cared about getting credit for the new products he created. He never tried to patent(申请专利) his discoveries or get wealthy from them. He turned down many offers to leave Tuskegee Institute to become a scientist in private industry. Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric light, offered him a laboratory in Detroit to carry out food research. When the United States government made him a collaborator in the Mycology and Plant Disease Survey of the Department of Agriculture, he accepted the position with the understanding that he wouldn’t leave Tuskegee. An authority on plant disease—especially of the fungus(真菌) variety—Carver sent hundreds of specimens(标本) to the United States Department of Agriculture. At the peak of his career, Carver’s fame and influence were known on every continent.

What does the passage mainly tell us?

A. It mainly tells us about Gorge Washington Carver, a great chemurgist.

B. It mainly tells us about chemurgy.

C. It mainly tells us about the research made in Tuskegee.

D. It mainly tells us about the development of making synthetics.

The underlined word “disposal” in the second paragraph mean “________”.

A. control       B. throwing away       

C. management      D. keeping

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A. Make a study of plant parts.

B. Make new products out of farm products.

C. Carver helped the United States Department of Agriculture.

D. Make a study on animal disease.

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Carver never patented what he discovered.

B. Carver refused many offers to work in private companies.

C. Carver made little money out of his discoveries.

D. Carver helped Edison invent electric light.

Generally speaking, ______ according to the directions, the drug has no side effect.

   A. when taking    B. when taken         C. when to take      D. when to be taken

Besides entertainment and beautiful lanterns, another important part of the Lantern Festival, or Yuanxiao Festival is eating small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour. We call these balls Yuanxiao or Tangyuan. Obviously, they get the name from the festival itself. It is said that the custom of eating Yuanxiao originated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the fourth century, then became popular during the Tang and Song periods.

The fillings inside the dumplings or Yuansiao are either sweet or salty. Sweet fillings are made of sugar, Walnuts, sesame（芝麻）, osmanthus flowers(桂花), rose petals, sweetened tangerine（橘子）peel, bean paste, or jujube paste（枣子酱）. A single ingredient or any combination can be used as the filling . The salty variety is filled with minced meat（肉末儿）, vegetables or a mixture.

The way to make Yuanxiao also varies between northern and southern China. The usual method followed in southern provinces is to shape the dough of rice flour into balls, make a hole, insert the filling, then close the hole and smooth out the dumpling by rolling it between your hands. In North China, sweet or nutmeat stuffing is the usual ingredient. The fillings are pressed into hardened cores, dipped lightly in water and rolled in a flat basket containing dry glutinous rice flour. A layer of the flour sticks to the filling, which is then again dipped in water and rolled a second time in the rice flour. And so it goes, like rolling a snowball, until the dumpling is the desired size.

The custom of eating Yuanxiao dumplings remains. This tradition encourages both old and new stores to promote their Yuanxiao products. They all try their best to improve the taste and quality of the dumplings to attract more customers.

Which of the following is NOT true?

 A. The custom of eating Yuanxiao dates back to the fourth century.

 B. Sugar, rose petals and minced meat are all fillings of Yuanxiao.

 C. Sweet Yuanxiao are usually made in southern China.

 D. People in northern China usually make Yuanxiao by rolling like a snowball.

Which country does the Lantern Festival come from?

A. China  B. South Korea C. Jin Dynasty  D. Tang and Song periods.

Choose the right order of making Tangyuan in southern provinces.

① make a hole and insert the filling 

② roll the dough between your hands 

③ shape the dough of rice flour into balls  

④ close the hole  

⑤ prepare some rice flour

 A. ⑤③②①④  B. ③⑤①②④  C. ③①④②⑤  D. ⑤③①④②

What is the best title of this passage?

A. The Lantern Festival                        B. The ingredients of Yuanxiao

C. The difference between Yuanxiao and Tangyuan.  D. China’s traditional food—Yuanxiao.

Why do we eat Yuanxiao today?

A. Because it’s a tradition.

B. Because it’s a tasty food.

C. Because we love our country.

D. Because this food can make money.