London has already hosted the Olympics twice before and the 2012 Olympics will make it the first city in history to have held three Olympic games．
The first London Olympics in 1908
These games were going to be held in Rome but, because of a volcano, Rome wasn't ready．London agreed to stage the games and the White City Olympic Stadium was built in just 10 months．What was new at these Olympics was the opening ceremony where athletes paraded（列队行进） with their teams behind their national flags．Only 22 countries took part and the profits were just over ￡21,000!
The second London Olympics
Because of the Second World War, the 1944 Olympics were cancelled．Four years later the war was over and London was able to hold the Games in 1948．Things were very different in London during these Olympic Games and many years of war had left the UK poor and hungry．People called them the "Austerity Games"．But there were still some great sports and some exciting events!
59 countries took part, more than at any other Olympics before and the USA won the most medals with 84．For the first time, cameras filmed the games and broadcast them on television so that people could watch them in their own homes．
The third London Olympics in 2012
The Games this year are going to be bigger, better and more exciting than ever before． There will be more than 10,000 athletes from 204 countries taking part!
London wants to make sure that the benefits of the Olympics don't just last for a few weeks in summer but go on much longer．The buildings have been designed and constructed so that they can be used for different things when the Games are over．

【小题1】The text is mainly about _____．

A．London will host the Olympics again

B．London's Olympic history

C．London's Olympics will last much longer

D．London is ready for the Olympics

【小题2】London hosted the Olympics in 1908 instead of Rome because _____．

A．London could build a stadium in 10 months

B．only 22 countries took part

C．there was a volcano eruption in Rome

D．London could make more profits than Rome

【小题3】The second London Olympic Games were called the "Austerity Games" because _____．

A．the UK were poor and hungry then

B．there were some great sports

C．the previous Olympic Games was jcancelled

D．about 59 countries took part

【小题4】The underlined word "them" refers to _____．

A．the 59 countries	B．the 84 gold medals
C．all the athletes	D．the games

【小题5】According to the text, we know that _____．

A．the benefits of the Olympics used to last for months afterwards

B．the 2nd London Olympics attracted more countries than any other Olympics

C．the buildings for the 3rd London Olympics have more functions for future use

D．the 2nd London Olympics were cancelled because of the Second World War

Most people consider skydiving (高空跳伞) a product of the 20th century, but its history actually goes further back than that. The Chinese attempted to parachute (跳伞) in the 10th century, a thousand years before we did. The Chinese did what we would today call base diving; that is, they jumped off a place that would allow them to float from a height to the ground.
The first person to attempt to parachute was a Frenchman named Jacques Garnerin. He jumped from his hot-air balloon at the end of the 18th century and did tricks on the way down and stupefied the crowds by landing safely on the ground. At the end of the 19th century, Kathie Paulus, a brave German woman, became famous for her skydiving skills.
Once the airplane was invented, skydiving took on a whole new form. The airplane made it possible to dive from greater heights at greater speeds, allowing for more range in the movements in the air. A woman named Tiny Broadwick became the first woman to jump from a plane in 1913 and dive free fall in 1914.
Skydiving was not called skydiving until the middle of the 1950s, when Ronald Young invented the word. It had been called parachuting before this and was mainly used by the military (军事) to land troops in inland locations, or for pilots to jump out of their planes when necessary. Once World War I was over, parachuting became a sport, which we now call skydiving.
After World War II, this activity became more a hobby than a military action. Soldiers were trained in parachuting and enjoyed the thrill so much that they continued on for fun. From this, teams and competitions were formed. Skydiving schools appeared in the late 1950s and now it is a recognized extreme sport enjoyed by many.
【小题1】The underlined word “stupefied” in paragraph 2 probably means “_______”.

A．disappointed

B．encouraged

C．surprised

D．attacked

【小题2】Who was the first woman to jump from a plane?

A．Jacques Garnerin.

B．Kathie Paulus.

C．Tiny Broadwick.

D．Ronald Young.

【小题3】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The Chinese attempted different skydiving skills in the 10th century.

B．Skydiving became popular after the airplane was invented.

C．The word skydiving was first used in a military action.

D．There were no skydiving schools until the late 1950s.

【小题4】What can we infer from the passage?

A．Skydiving is not a military action any more.

B．Kathie Paulus is famous for her skydiving skills.

C．The first person who parachuted was from Germany.

D．The history of skydiving is longer than that of parachuting.

【小题5】What would be the best title for this text?

A．The history of skydiving	B．The popularity of skydiving
C．What is skydiving?	D．Why is skydiving an extreme sport?

For the first time in Hong Kong’s history, an entertainer has been written into middle school textbooks. He is considered one of the best actors in Hong Kong. Yes, he is Chow Yun-fat.
The example of his long hard struggle for success has been used in a chapter in a Hong Kong middle school textbook. Using his experience, students can learn to make the most of their time and to grab every opportunity to succeed．
On hearing about this, Chow said happily, “I really hope that my experiences can make young people understand that one should not be afraid of difficulties and setbacks (挫折), for they are the only way to success.”
Indeed, Chow has travelled a long and difficult path to reach his success. In 1955, he was born into a poor family in Hong Kong. When he was 17, he had to leave school. He worked in a number of jobs—as a postman, camera salesman and taxi driver. These experiences paved (铺路) the way for him to play all kinds of roles later in life.
Chow broke into the film industry in the late 1970s. He was one of the hardest working actors and starred in a number of popular TV dramas and films including “Shanghai Bund”(《上海滩》) and “A Better Tomorrow”. Since 1985, he has won many awards including Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards and Hong Kong Film Awards.
In 1995, he went to Hollywood. Although he was already over 40, he had to learn English. He even put chopsticks in his mouth to practise pronouncing certain sounds. His film, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, began to gain him more fame and recognition around the world. In 1998, the mayor of Chicago set aside January 12 as “Chow Yun-fat Day”.
【小题1】Chow Yun-fat has been written into middle school textbooks mainly because ________.

A．he plays best in Hong Kong

B．he keeps on struggling for success

C．his experiences are very special

D．he is well thought of

【小题2】Chow felt ________ when he learned that he had been written into middle school textbooks.

A．surprised

B．shy

C．sad

D．happy

【小题3】What can we infer from the passage?

A．Chow Yun-fat is proud of his success.

B．Chow Yun-fat prefers to make a living by selling cameras rather than by performing.

C．Chow Yun-fat has won more awards than other actors.

D．Chow Yun-fat is popular both at home and abroad.

【小题4】The underlined sentence (in paragraph 6) suggests ________.

A．chopsticks is of great help to practise English pronunciation

B．Chow Yun-fat is willing to struggle with difficulties

C．Chow Yun-fat has suffered a lot before he went to Hollywood

D．it is hard for a person who is over 40 years old to learn spoken English

【小题5】The author wrote this passage to ________.

A．introduce Chow’s films

B．praise Chow for his excellent performance

C．call on people to learn from Chow

D．show why Chow is popular

It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers （生产商） follow certain uniform standards for various features （特征） of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men's clothes tend to button from the right, and women's from the left. Considering most of the world's population—men and women—are right-handed, the men's standard would appear to make more sense for women. So why do women's clothes button from the left?
History really seems to matter here. Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17^th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women's shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men's shirt button from the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.
Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning from the left is still the standard for them. Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change. At a time when all women's shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women's shirts that buttoned from the right. After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch. Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since any one who noticed that would believe they were wearing men's shirts.
【小题1】What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?

A．It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years.

B．It is different for men's clothing and women's.

C．It works better with men than with women.

D．It fails to consider right-handed people.

【小题2】Women's clothes still button from the left today because.

A．adopting men's style is improper for women

B．manufacturers should follow standards

C．modern women dress themselves

D．customs are hard to change

【小题3】The passage is mainly developed by_______.

A．analyzing causes

B．making comparisons

C．examining differences

D．following the time order

Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16^th century when English rulers fried to conquer(征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921. The British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland. In the north, is part of the united kingdom. The republic of Ireland. In the south. Is an independent country.
In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes ,was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of bunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work , forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.
For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.
The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly, Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”, Since independence, Ireland has revived(复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different are as have different styles of old Irish song which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.
【小题1】what does the author tell us in paragraph 1 ?

A．how the Irish fought against the English.

B．how Ireland gained independence.

C．how English rulers tried to conquer Ireland.

D．how two ”Irelands” came into being.

【小题2】we learn from the text that in Ireland____________.

A．food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population

B．people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside

C．it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker

D．different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments

【小题3】the last paragraph is mainly about____________.

A．the Irish character

B．Irish culture

C．Irish musical instruments

D．a famous Irish writer

【小题4】what can be the best title for the text?

A．Life in Ireland	B．A very difficult history
C．Ireland, past and present	D．the independence of Ireland

Details of the latest James Bond film Skyfall have been shown to the public. It comes 50 years to the day after actor Sean Connery first played Bond — the superspy in Dr No.
The new film, known at the moment only as Bond 23, will be the third to star Daniel Craig as the secretagent (特工). Other names in the cast include Albert Finney, Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes.
British film-maker Sam Mendes, who won an Oscar for American Beauty, will direct the latest adventure.
Ajay Chowdhury, from the James Bond International Fan Club, said, “Daniel Craig’s third time as 007 has been looked forward to by Bond fans around the world. The fans have been made to wait extra long for this film since the global economiccrisis (经济危机) delayed the film for some time.”
“Mendes has an unusual way of directing, and with the acting gift and the precedent (先例) set by the previous two films in which Craig played Bond, Skyfall promises a Bond film where the sky may not be the limit.”
It is reported that the film will send 007 to South Africa and India to hunt for a criminal (犯罪的) organization. Other reported locations for filming include Duntrune Castle, near Lochgilphead in Argyll, Scotland, which is believed to be the spy’s home.
The film is set to be released in the UK this October.
Craig’ s performance as Bond gave new life to the film series, leading to the highest ever 007 box office (票房) takings of ￡367 million for his role in Casino Royale in 2006. Quantum of Solace, the most recent film in the series released in 2008, made ￡353 million.
【小题1】According to the text, who will play Bond in film Skyfall?

A．Albert Finney.	B．Sean Connery.
C．Daniel Craig.	D．Sam Mendes.

【小题2】Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

A．Skyfall will be the last film of the 007 series.

B．Bond first appeared on the screen about 50 years ago.

C．Sam Mendes won an Oscar for American Beauty.

D．Skyfall will be shot in South Africa and India.

【小题3】What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Skyfall will also be a Bond film.

B．Skyfall will be a great film.

C．Skyfall will be longer than the previous ones.

D．Skyfall will be set in the sky.

【小题4】What can we learn from the text?

A．The film Skyfall will be released later than planned.

B．It is the first time that Daniel Craig has played Bond.

C．Daniel Craig receives little attention from movie fans.

D．Quantum of Solace has made the most money so far.

Japanese sailor Kenichi Horie has finished a 110-day solo (单独的) voyage across the Pacific Ocean in a boat pushed by sea waves to win another world first.
Weak waves and ocean water movements made his arrival late, which was going to be in late May.
“When waves were weak, the boat slowed down. That’s a problem that needs to be solved,” the adventure told reporters from his boat in western Japan. His 9.5-meter-long boat can move like a dolphin’s tail, and it rises or falls with the waves.
Horie reached his destination in the channel between the main Japanese islands just before midnight after covering about 7,000 kilometers from Hawaii.
Horie first made world record in 1962 when, at the age of 23, he became the first person to sail alone across the Pacific. He made the three-month voyage from his hometown in spite of breaking Japanese law, which did not allow his citizens to sail on their own out of the country, and without a passport or money.
He was arrested upon arrival in San Francisco but the city mayor freed him, gave him a 30-day visa and made him an honorary citizen. News of his achievement made him a hero back home in Japan and his book of the voyage In the Pacific was made into a film. Since then, he has completed many sailing trips across the Pacific and around the world.
After his latest adventure with an environmentally friendly theme, Horie planned to return to his hometown on Sunday. He said, “Throughout history, mankind has used wind for power, but no one has appeared to be serious about wave power.” Horie told the reporter, “I think I’m a lucky boy as this wave power system has remained untouched in fact.”
【小题1】Horie’s boat was mainly powered by ________.

A．sea waves

B．sea winds

C．his strength

D．petrol

【小题2】From the passage we learn that ________.

A．Horie undertook the voyage with a partner this time

B．it took Horie about twenty days more to cross the Pacific this time than in 1962

C．Horie made his first voyage across the Pacific alone fifty years ago

D．Horie’s destination is 7,000 kilometers from San Francisco

【小题3】Horie was arrested in San Francisco after his voyage in 1962 mainly because ________.

A．he had broken Japanese law

B．he had kept it a secret from others

C．his action had put people in danger

D．he had no passport to America

【小题4】Which of the following statements best proves that Horie’s latest voyage was meaningful?

A．He was made an honorary citizen of San Francisco.

B．In Japan he was regarded as a hero.

C．His voyage had the theme of protecting the environment.

D．He wrote an exciting book after the voyage.

【小题5】 The author wrote the article mainly to ________.

A．start an ocean crossing movement

B．tell us a piece of interesting news

C．make Horie known to the world

D．encourage people to learn from Horie

It was a simple letter asking for a place to study at Scotland’s oldest university which helped start a revolution in higher education. A 140-year-old letter written by a lady calling for her to be allowed to study medicine at St Andrews University has been discovered by researchers. Written by Sophia Jex-Blake in 1873, the seven-page document, which urged the university to allow women to study medicine at the institution, was released yesterday on International Women’s Day.
The document was discovered buried in the university archives (档案) by part-time history student Lis Smith, who is completing her PhD at St Andrews Institute of Scottish Historical Research. She said: “We knew that Sophia Jex-Blake and her supporters, in their effort to open up university medical education for women, had written to the Senatus Academicus (校评议委员会) at St Andrews in an attempt to gain permission to attend classes there, but we didn’t know documentary evidence existed. While searching the archives for information about the university’s higher certificate for women, I was astonished to come across what must be the very letter Jex-Blake wrote.”
In the letter, Sophia and her supporters offered to hire teachers or build suitable buildings for a medical school and to arrange for lectures to be delivered in the subjects not already covered at St Andrews. Although her letter was not successful, it eventually led to the establishment of the Ladies Literate in Arts at St Andrews, a distance-learning degree for women. The qualification, which ran from 1877 until the 1930s, gave women access to university education in the days before they were admitted as students. It was so popular that it survived long after women were admitted as full students to St Andrews in 1892.
Ms Jex-Blake went on to help establish the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. She was accepted by the University of Berne, where she was awarded a medical degree in January 1877. Eventually, she moved back to Edinburgh and opened her own practice.
【小题1】Sophia wrote a letter to St Andrews University because she wanted _______.

A．to carry out a research project there

B．to set up a medical institute there

C．to study medicine there

D．to deliver lectures there

【小题2】 Lis Smith found Sophia’s letter to St Andrews University _______.

A．by pure chance

B．in the school office

C．with her supporters’ help

D．while reading history books

【小题3】Sophia’s letter resulted in the establishment of _______.

A．the London School of Medicine for Women

B．a degree programme for women

C．a system of medical education

D．the University of Berne

【小题4】When did St Andrews University begin to take full-time women students?

A．In 1873.

B．In 1874.

C．In 1877.

D．In 1892.

To take the apple as a forbidden fruit is the most unlikely story the Christians（基督教徒）ever cooked up. For them, the forbidden fruit from Eden is evil（邪恶的）. So when Columbus brought the tomato back from South America, a land mistakenly considered to be Eden, everyone jumped to be the obvious conclusion. Wrongly taken as the apple of Eden, the tomato was shut out of the door of Europeans.
What made it particularly terrifying was its similarity to the mandrake, a plant that was thought to have come from Hell（地狱）.What earned the plant its awful reputation was its roots which looked like a dried-up human body occupied by evil spirits. Tough the tomato and the mandrake were quite different except that both had bright red or yellow fruit, the general population considered them one and the same, too terrible to touch.
Cautious Europeans long ignored the tomato, and until the early 1700s most of the Western people continued to drag their feet. In the 1880s, the daughter of a well-known plant expert wrote that the most interesting part of an afternoon tea at her father’s house had been the “introduction of this wonderful new fruit—or is it a vegetable?” As late as the twentieth century some writers still classed tomatoes with mandrakes as an “evil fruit”.
But in the end tomatoes carried the day. The hero of the tomato was an American named Robert  Johnson, and when he was publicly going to eat the tomato in 1820, people journeyed for hundreds of miles to watch him drop dead. “What are you afraid of?” he shouted. “I’ll show you fools that these things are good to eat!” Then he bit into the tomato. Some people fainted. But he survived and, according to a local story, set up a tomato-canning factory.
【小题1】The tomato was shut out of the door of early Europeans mainly because ______.

A．it made Christians evil.

B．it was the apple of Eden

C．it came from a forbidden land

D．it was religiously unacceptable

【小题2】What can we infer the underlined part in Paragraph 3 ?

A．The process of ignoring the tomato slowed down

B．There was little progress in the study of the tomato

C．The tomato was still refused in most western countries

D．Most western people continued to get rid of the tomato

【小题3】What is the main reason for Robert Johnson to eat the tomato publicly?

A．To make himself a hero

B．To remove people’s fear of the tomato

C．To speed up the popularity of the tomato

D．To persuade people to buy products from his factory

【小题4】What is the main purpose of the passage ?

A．To challenge people’s fixed concepts of the tomato

B．To give an explanation to people’s dislike of the tomato

C．To present the change of people’s attitudes to the tomato

D．To show the process of freeing the tomato from religious influence

Many of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in history books are great conquerors and generals and soldiers, whereas the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned at all.
We do not know who first set a broken leg, or launched a seaworthy boat, or calculated the length of the year; but we know all about the killers and destroyers. People think a great deal of them, so much so that on all the highest pillars in the great cities of the world you will find the figure of a conqueror or a general or a soldier. And I think most people believe that the greatest countries are those that have beaten in battle the greatest number of other countries and ruled over them as conquerors.
It is just possible they are, but they are not the most civilized. Animals fight; so do savages; hence to be good at fighting is to be good in the way in which an animal or a savage（野人） is good, but it is not to be civilized. Even being good at getting other people to fight for you and telling them how to do it most efficiently—this, after all, is what conquerors and generals have done—is not being civilized. People fight to settle quarrels. Fighting means killing, and civilized people ought to be able to find some way of setting their disputes other than by seeing which side can kill off the greater number of the other side, and then saying that that side which has killed most has won. And not only has it won, but because it has won, it had been in the right. For that is what going to war means; it means saying that might（权利） is right.
【小题1】The author thinks that the conquerors and generals and soldiers ________.

A．only appear glorious in history books

B．are greater than any other people

C．are not as great as described in history books

D．do not really help civilization forward

【小题2】As it is indicated in the passage, the figure of a conqueror or a general or a soldier is put on the highest pillars in the great cities of the world mainly because ________.

A．people respect them very much

B．they fought bravely to protect their cities

C．people think they fought too brutally（野蛮地）

D．they conquered many cities and countries

【小题3】What is the writer’s attitude towards the countries that ruled over a large number of other countries ?

A．Positive.

B．Critical.

C．Ironic.

D．Respectful.

【小题4】The author says that civilized people________.

A．should not have any quarrels to settle

B．should not fight when there are no quarrels to settle

C．should settle their quarrels without fighting

D．should settle their quarrels by killing the other side