If there’s one memory Anna wanted to keep from her experiences during the Second World War, it was her son, Andrzej. Anna, 89, lost touch with him when she was forced to leave her native Poland and sent to a labor camp in Austria more than 60 years ago. Now, 64, Andrzej hugged his mother at the air port, who had been waiting for him.
Andrzej searched for his mother for more than 50 years, almost giving up. But his mother made the first phone call. Unluckily, he wrote down his mother’s phone number wrong and spent another month trying to reach her again. When he did, the two talked regularly on the phone for two months to break down the language barrier. Anna can hardly speak Polish over the years and Andrzej doesn’t speak English.
After the war, Anna could not find her son and went to Italy, finally ending up in Great Britain, the US, then Canada 45 years ago. She used the Internet to track her son, making phone calls with no luck. Meanwhile Andrzej contacted the Polish Red Cross last year to help in his search.
At last, they locate each other at the same time. Andrzej will spend a month with his mother in Britain.
【小题1】Andrzej was about _______ years old when his mother left him for Austria 60 years ago.

A．eight

B．six

C．four

D．two

【小题2】Where did they meet for the first time after 60 years separation?

A．In Britain

B．In Italy

C．In Poland

D．In Canada

【小题3】Andrzej delayed a month to phone his mother because________.

A．he had to learn English first

B．he put down a wrong number

C．he needed some time to prove the news

D．he just couldn’t believe the news at first

【小题4】The best title for the passage would be ________

A．The story of Anna and her son Andrzej

B．The war separated the families for 60 years

C．Anna suffered a great deal from the war

D．Mother reunited with son after 60 years.

The garden city was largely the invention of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928). After immigrating from England to the USA, and an unsuccessful attempt to make a living as a farmer, he moved to Chicago, where he saw the reconstruction of the city after the disastrous(灾难性的) fire of 1871. In those days, it was nicknamed “the Garden City”, almost certainly the source of Howard’s name for his later building plan of towns. Returning to London, Howard developed his design in the 1880s and 1890s, drawing on ideas that were popular at the time, but creating a unique combination（结合） of designs.
The nineteenth-century poor city was in many ways a terrible place, dirty and crowded; but it offered economic and social opportunities. At the same time, the British countryside was in fact equally unattractive: though it promised fresh air and nature, it suffered from agricultural depression(萧条) and it offered neither enough work and wages, nor much social life. Howard’s idea was to combine the best of town and country in a new kind of settlement, the garden city. Howard’s idea was that a group of people should set up a company, borrowing money to establish a garden city in the depressed countryside; far enough from existing cities to make sure that the land was bought at the bottom price.
Garden cities would provide a central public open space, radial avenues and connecting industries. They would be surrounded by a much larger area of green belt, also owned by the company, containing not merely farms but also some industrial institutions. As more and more people moved in, the garden city would reach its planned limit-----Howard suggested 32,000 people; then, another would be started a short distance away. Thus, over time, there would develop a vast planned house collection, extending almost without limit; within it, each garden city would offer a wide rang of jobs and services, but each would also be connected to the others by a rapid transportation system, thus giving all the economic and social opportunities of a big city.
【小题1】How did Howard get the name for his building plan of garden cities?

A．Through his observation of the country life.

B．Through the combination of different ideas.

C．By taking other people’s advice.

D．By using the nickname of the reconstructed Chicago.

【小题2】The underlined phrase “drawing on ”in Paragraph 1 probably means______.

A．making use of	B．making comments on
C．giving an explanation of	D．giving a description of

【小题3】According to Howard, garden cities should be built______.

A．as far as possible from existing cities

B．in the countryside where the land was cheap

C．in the countryside where agriculture was developed

D．near cities where employment opportunities already existed

【小题4】What can we learn about garden cities from the last paragraph?

A．Their number would continue to rise

B．Each one would continue to become larger

C．People would live and work in the same place

D．Each one would contain a certain type of business

【小题5】What could be the best title for the passage?

A．City and Countryside	B．The Invention of the Garden City
C．A New City in Chicago	D．A Famous Garden City in England

The engineer Camilla Olivetti was 40 years old when he started the company in 1908. At his factory in Ivrea, he designed and produced the first Italian typewriter. Today the company’s head office is still in Ivrea, near Turin, but the company is much larger than it was in those days and there are offices all around the world,
By 1930 there was a staff of 700 and the company turned out 13.000 machines a year. Some went to customers in Italy, but Olivetti exported more typewriters to other countries.
Camillo’s son, Adriano, started working for the company in 1924 and later he became the boss. He introduced a standard speed for the production line and he employed technology and design specialist. The company developed new and better typewriters and then calculators(计算器). In 1959 it produced the ELEA computer system. This was the first mainframe(主机) computer designed and made in Italy.
After Adriano died in 1960, the company had a period of financial problem. Other companies, especially the Japanese, made faster progress in electronic technology than the Italian company.
In 1978, Carlo de Benedetti became the new boss. Olivetti increased its marketing and service networks and made agreements with other companies to design and produce more advanced office equipment. Soon it became one of the world’s leading companies in information technology and communications. There are now five independent companies in the Olivetti group—one for personal computers, one for other office equipment, one for systems and service, and two for telecommunications.
【小题1】From the text we learn that            

A．by 1930 Olivetti produced 13.000 typewriters a year

B．Olivetti earned more in the 1960s than in the 1950s

C．some of Olivetti’s 700 staff regularly visited customers in Italy

D．Olivetti set up offices in other countries from the very beginning

【小题2】What was probably the direct result of Olivetti’s falling behind in electronic technology

A．Adriano’s death	B．A period of financial problems
C．Its faster progress	D．Its agreements with other companies.

【小题3】What do we know about Olivetti?

A．It produced the best typewriter in the world.

B．It designed the world’s first mainframe computer.

C．It exported more typewriters than other companies.

D．It has five independent companies with its head office in Ivrea.

【小题4】The best title for the text would be            

A．The Origin of Olivetti.	B．The Success of Olivetti.
C．The History of Olivetti	D．The Production of Olivetti.

Win a week in England!
You still don’t know what to do this summer? Well, here’s your chance to win a one-week language course in Kent, England! Free4Fun and ETC (English Travel Connections) are giving  away two trips to Rochester. This historic city is less than an hour’s drive from London and close  to the sea resort of Herne Bay. It is also the home of one of England’s most famous writers,  Charles Dickens. The town of Rochester is in Southeast England. Charles Dickens often wrote  about it in his books. His home, Gad’s Hill, is there, too. A popular attraction is Rochester Castle, a large Norman fortress（堡垒）. It was built in the 11th century and rebuilt during the 14th  century. Other attractions are Rochester Cathedral, which was built during the 13th century, and Dickens Centre. It has got its name in honour of Dickens himself.
The trip to England includes:
*  travel by train (via the Eurotunnel) to and from any railway station in Germany
*  room and full board with a guest family for one week
*  language course in small groups
*  two trips to London
*  large choice of sports and entertainment
*  German-speaking advisors available 24 hours a day
Interested? All you have to do is to answer the following question:
When was Charles Dickens born?
So, take the chance and send your answer by 1 May to:
Free4Fun "Rochester"
Free4Fun, 24 Elphinstone Road, Hastings, 2FQ6VJ
fax: 089 / 85 763-103
e-mail: free4fun@netlight.com
The two winners will be contacted directly before 5 May. They will also be announced in the June issue of Free4Fun. Good luck!
For further information contact:
phone: (03212) 144 43
fax: (03212) 144 42
e-mail: info@etc. com
【小题1】Rochester Cathedral was built in the         .

A．1400s

B．1300s

C．1200s

D．1100s

【小题2】What activities can you participate in during the trip?

A．Enjoying sports and entertainment.

B．Learning the German language.

C．Traveling by train with a guest family.

D．Working as a language advisor.

【小题3】If you want to win a prize you have to send your answer to         .

A．the June issue of Free4fun	B．ETC
C．info@etc. com	D．free4fun@netlight. com

【小题4】This ad was designed to target           .

A．Italians

B．Germans

C．Europeans

D．Americans

Hundreds of years ago, a Roman army came north from England to make war on Scotland. The Scots, a brave people, love their country. They fought hard to drive the enemy out of Scotland. But there were too many of the Romans. It looked as if the Romans would win.
　　One night, the leader of the Scots marched his soldiers to the top of a hill. “We will rest here tonight, my men,” he said, “Tomorrow we will fight one more battle. We must win, or we will die.”
　　They were all very tired. So they ate their supper quickly and fell asleep. There were four guards on duty, but they were very tired, too, and one by one, they fell asleep.
　　The Romans were not asleep. Quickly they gathered at the foot of the hill. Slowly they went up the hill. Closer they came to the sleeping Scots. They were almost at the top. A few minutes more the war would be over. Suddenly, one of them put his foot on a thistle (蓟). He cried out and his sudden cry woke the Scots. In a minute they were on their feet and ready for a battle. The fighting was hard, but it did not last long. The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved Scotland.
　　The thistle is not a beautiful plant. It has sharp needles all over it. Few people liked it. But the people of Scotland liked it so much that they made it their national flower.
【小题1】Hundreds of years ago, the Romans ____ .

A．came from the north through England to make war on Scotland

B．came to the north Scotland from England to make war on Scotland

C．came from the north of England to fight the Scots

D．came to the north from the south of Britain to fight the Scots

【小题2】At the shout of a Roman soldier, all the Scots who were asleep at the hill ____ .

A．began to fight the Romans hard

B．stood up without putting on their shoes and began to fight

C．woke and rose immediately, ready to fight

D．put their feet into their shoes at once and were ready to fight

【小题3】The result of the war is that ____ .

A．the Romans killed all the Scots

B．the Scots were defeated

C．the Scots were driven out of Scotland

D．the Scots defeated the Romans

【小题4】The Scots made thistle their national flower because thistle ____ .

A．is lovely, though not beautiful

B．gave them happiness

C．is a kind of useful plant

D．helped the Scots in wiping out the Romans

Technology has been an encouragement of historical change. It acted as such a force in England beginning in the eighteenth century, and across the entire Western World in the nineteenth. Rapid advances were made in the use of scientific findings in the manufacture (制造) of goods, which has changed ideas about work. One of the first changes was that other forms of energy have taken the place of human power. Along with this came the increased use of machines to manufacture products in less time. People also developed machines that could produce the same parts for a product: each nail was exactly like every other nail, meaning that each nail could be changed for every other nail. This means that goods could be mass production, although mass production required breaking production down into smaller and smaller tasks.
Once this was done, workers no longer started on the product and labored to complete it. Instead, they might work only one thousandth of it, other workers completing their own parts in certain order. There is nothing strange about this manufacturing work by today's standards. Highly skilled workers were unable to compare with the new production techniques, as mass production allowed goods of high standard to be produced in greater number than could ever be done by hand. But the skilled worker wasn't the only loser, the common workers lost too. Similar changes forced farmer away. The increased mechanization (机械化) of agriculture freed masses of workers from ploughing the land and harvesting its crops. They had no choice but to stream toward the rapidly developing industrial centers. Increasingly, standards were set by machines. Workers no longer owned their own tools, their skill was no longer valued, and pride in their work was no longer possible. Workers fed, looked after and repaired the machines that could work faster than humans at greatly reduced cost.
【小题1】In this passage, which of the following is NOT considered as a change caused by the use of scientific findings in the production of goods?

A．Other forms of energy have taken the place of human power.

B．The increased exploitation (剥削)of workers in the 19th century.

C．The increased use of machines to make products in less time.

D．The use of machines producing parts of the same standard.

【小题2】The underlined word “this ”in the second paragraph refers to the change that ______

A．each nail could be taken the place of by every other nail

B．each nail was exactly like every other nail

C．producing tasks became smaller and smaller

D．goods could be mass produced

【小题3】According to the writer, highly skilled workers ______

A．completely disappeared with the coming of the factory system

B．were dismissed(解散) by the boss

C．were unable to produce goods of high standard

D．were unable to produce fine goods at that same speed as machines

【小题4】According to the passage, what did the farmers have to do with the coming of mechanization of agriculture?
A. Many of them had to leave their farmland for industrial centers.
B. They stuck to their farm work.
C. They refused to use machines.
D They did their best to learn how to use the machines.

The flag, the most common symbol of a nation in the modern world, is also one of the most ancient. With a clear symbolic meaning, the flag in the traditional form is still used today to mark buildings, ships and other vehicles related to a country.
The national flag as we know it today is in no way a primitive artifact. It is, rather, the product of thousands of years’ development. Historians believe that it had two major ancestors, of which the earlier served to show wind direction.
Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats. Often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause high waves that endangered travelers. People’s food supplies were similarly vulnerable. Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests. Therefore they feared and depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction and cold from another.
Using a simple piece of cloth tied to the top of a post to tell the direction of the wind was more dependable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire. The connection of the flag with heavenly power was therefore reasonable. Early human societies began to fix long pieces of cloth to the tops of totems (图腾) before carrying them into battle. They believed that the power of the wind would be added to the good wishes of the gods and ancestors represented by the totems themselves.
These flags developed very slowly into modern flags. The first known flag of a nation or a ruler was unmarked. The king of China around 1000 B.C. was known to have a white flag carried ahead of him. This practice might have been learned from Egyptians even further in the past, but it was from China that it spread over trade routes through India, then across Arab lands, and finally to Europe, where it met up with the other ancestor of the national flag.
【小题1】The best title for the passage would be “________”.

A．Development of the National Flag	B．Power of the National Flag
C．Types of Flags	D．Uses of Flags

【小题2】The underlined word “vulnerable” in Paragraph 3 means ________.

A．impossible to make sure of	B．likely to be protected
C．easy to be damaged	D．difficult to find

【小题3】The earliest flags were connected with heavenly power because ________.

A．they could tell direction

B．they could bring good luck to ancient fighters

C．they were handed down by the ancestors

D．they were believed to stand for natural forces

【小题4】What does the author know of the first national flag?

A．He knows when it was sent to Europe.

B．He believes it was made in Egypt.

C．He thinks it came from China.

D．He doubts where it started.

【小题5】What will the author most probably talk about next?

A．The role of China in the spread of the national flag.

B．The second ancestor of the national flag.

C．The use of modern flags in Europe.

D．The importance of modern flags

American women experience a great variety of lifestyle. A typical American woman may be single. She may also be divorced or married. She may be a homemaker, a doctor or a factory worker. It is very difficult to generalize about American women. However, one thing that many American women have in common is their attitudes about themselves and their roles in American life.
Historically, American women have always been very independent. The first settlers to come to New England were ten young couples that had left behind their extended families. The women were alone in a new, undeveloped country with their husbands. This has two important effects. First of all, this was the uncivilized environment that demanded every person to share in developing it and in survival. Women worked with their husbands and children to make themselves accepted in this new land. Second, because they were in a new land without the established influence of older members of society, women felt free to step into non—traditional roles.
This role of women was strengthened in later years as Americans move west again, leaving families behind and meeting a new environment. Even later, in the east, as new settlers arrived, women often found jobs more easily than men. Women became the supporters of the family.
Within the established lifestyle of the industrialized twentieth century, the strong role of women was not attractive as in the early days of the country. Some women stepped into the men’s jobs as factory and business workers. After the war, some women stayed in these positions, and others left their jobs with a new sense of ability.
【小题1】A typical American woman is______________.

A．single or married	B． divorced
C．sure about herself and her role	D． all of the above

【小题2】 During the industrialized twentieth century, the role of women__________.

A．was found out

B．was as important as before.

C．declined

D．was stronger than that of the early days

【小题3】 Women took part in men’s job during the time of_________.

A．the Second World War

B． the Westward Movement

C． the early immigration

D． the industrialized twentieth century.

No one can believe that the over 6,300-kilometer Great Wall might disappear some day. Believe it or not, the Great Wall is being destroyed by people. Less than 20 percent of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty ,is still perfect, but about 80 percent is in danger. The Great Wall can be called “ great “ mostly because of its amazing length. But we should realize that the length was made up of one brick at a time. If we do nothing to save the Great Wall,it will become a series of separate wasteland rather than a historic site.
The Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over the past 2,000 years. It began in the rule of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221BC----206BC), and lasted into the Ming Dynasty. The parts built before the Ming Dynasty have nearly disappeared. People are familiar with sections such as Badaling in Beijing and Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu, because they have been open to tourists for many years. But those sections far away from the public eyes have been almost forgotten.
Few local people knew the 3—meter—high walls made of earth and stones beside them are parts of the Great Wall. The lack of knowledge is considered as one of the main reasons behind human.
The bricks on the Great Wall are carried off by countryside people to build their houses,sheep corrals and pigsties. Some were taken away to build roads. Bricks carved with people’s names are put away as remembrances. The rubbish is spread over the battlements. The brick can be sold 15 yuan per tractor load. Those who destroyed and are destroying the Wall know its name, but are not clear about its cultural meaning. It will take a long time to let them know this. The local farmers not only carried off the body of the Wall but also dug out the entire base.
It is necessary to protect the Great Wall. First of all, the officials should be aware of the importance of the Great Wall. Young Chinese should know more about the nation’s great civilization and learn to love it.
【小题1】Why does the writer say the Great Wall might disappear?

A．It is useless from now on.

B． It is too old to be used again.

C． It will be replaced by a new one.

D． Some parts of it are being destroyed.

【小题2】The underlined part “ those sections far away from the public eyes “( in Para. 2 ) refers to the parts of the Great Wall______________.

A．nobody can watch.

B．that are too far to be seen.

C．that are too difficult to find.

D．that are not well-known to the public.

【小题3】 What’s the main reason of the Great Wall being destroyed?

A．The local people sell the bricks for a living.

B．The local people are short of culture knowledge.

C．The local people think that the Great Wall is not important.

D．The local people need bricks and stones to build houses.

【小题4】 Which of the following may be the best title for this passage?

A．How to Protect the Great Wall.

B．How the Great Wall came into being.

C．The Great Wall Being Rebuilt.

D．The Great Wall Being in Danger.

People have strange ideas about food. For example, the tomato is a kind of very delicious vegetable. It is one of useful plants that can be prepared in many ways. It has rich nutrition and vitamin in it. But in the 18^th century, Americans never ate tomatoes. They grew them in their gardens because tomato plants are so pretty. But they thought the vegetable was poisonous (有毒的). They called tomatoes “poison apples.”
President Thomas Jefferson, however, knew that tomatoes were good to eat. He was a learned man. He had been to Paris, where he learned to love the taste of tomatoes. He grew many kinds of tomatoes in his garden. The President taught his cook a way for a cream of tomato soup. This beautiful pink soup was served at the President’s party. The guests thought the soup tasted really good. They never thought their president would serve his honored guests poison apples.
Jefferson never spoke to his honored (忠实的) guests about the fact.
【小题1】The passage tells us that Jefferson was a President who learned to love the taste of tomatoes       .

A．while he was in Paris	B．when he was a little boy
C．because his parents told him so	D．from books

【小题2】 According to the text, _______ made the beautiful pink soup served at the President’s party?

A．the President himself	B．a French cook
C．the President’s cook	D．the President’s wife

【小题3】 From the passage we know all the honored guests invited by Jefferson were       .

A．people from other countries	B．from France
C．people of his own country	D．men only

【小题4】According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A．All of the guests knew the soup that was served at the President’s party was made of tomatoes.

B．All of the guests thought the soup which was prepared by the President’s cook was nice.

C．All of the guests thought the taste of the beautiful pink soup was nice.

D．None of the guests knew that their president would serve his honored guests poison apples