阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳答案.

    Three million people visit Pisa each year to see a tower. A look at the picture will tell you why. The tower leans! It is known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

   The tower looks as if it might fall at any time. Engineers say that the visitors are safe--at least for a while. But the tower does lean. It slants (倾斜) 14 feet 10 inches at the present time. The tower has been leaning for 800 years. And every year it leans a little bit more. If this keeps on, the tower will fall.

   If you look at the picture, you will see that one side of the tower is deeper in the earth than the other. Why has this happened?

   Pisa's tower weights 14,500 tons. A heavy tower like this must have a very strong foundation. The Leaning Tower's foundation is just not deep or wide enough for the tower above it.

   Can anything be done about the tower?

   Italian engineers have special plans. They don't want to make the tower straight--just keep it from leaning any further. So all the plans ask for a new foundation that Won't sink. But a new foundation can't be built while the tower is resting on the old one. The tower must be raised．One plan is to place 15 big Jacks (千斤顶) around the tower. They would raise the tower and hold it up while the new foundation is being built.

    The Italian engineers are searching for the best plan to rescue the tower. They know that any plan will take a lot of money. But many Italians refuse to believe that the old tower is in danger. “It leans and leans and leans,” they say “but it will never fall down.”

    The engineers want to make sure that it won't.

(1)Engineers believe if the tower keeps on leaning, it will fall ________.

[　　]

(2)The tower is leaning because ________.

[　　]

A．the foundation of it is not strong enough

B．it was wrongly designed

C．it was designed so on purpose

D．the tower was built carelessly

(3)The Italian engineers want to ________.

[　　]

A．stop it from leaning further

B．make it straight

C．build a new tower

D．move the tower to a safe place

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳答案.

With his standard Mandarin pronunciation, practiced skills on Chinese expressions and special humour with a Beijing accent, Dashan has become a household name across China.

People have always wondered how the 36-year-old Canadian can be so skillful in the Chinese language even though it is considered by many as one of the most difficult languages in the world．But to Dashan, the great challenge was a piece of cake due to his deep interest, proper method and the excellent environment he created for himself.

“Interest is the best teacher.” That is a universal principle. Even if the 20-year-old Mark Rowswell--Dashan's real name--hadn't fully realized what attracted him to the Chinese department at the University of Toronto in Canada, he was already deeply interested in Chinese culture when he decided to have further study in Beijing.

   Entering the Chinese department of Peking University in 1988, Dashan felt like a duck in water. Study is always a hard job, no matter how much interest you have. Therefore, effective ways are necessary to improvement. “Learn for life and learn in life” is Dashan's belief.

    As a freshman at the University of Toronto, the student did study the textbooks, which especially aimed on foreign Chinese learners. They did help him build a solid foundation.

   However, that's far from enough to grasp the Chinese language. Starting in his junior year, Dashan began to read original Chinese novels, Chinese newspapers and even the selected works of Deng Xiaoping. “Only the material for Chinese native readers could give me a proper sense of the language,” he said.

The language that is the daily means of communication is the principle that Dashan always keeps in his mind．What you have really learned depends on what you can use, not necessarily your mastery of textbooks.

    To learn in daily life requires a favorable language environment, which is also necessary for improvement. Dashan admits it is hard for Chinese English learners to be brought into a good English speaking environment, but insists, “to listen and speak as much as possible does help.”

    To help Chinese English learners develop a favourable environment, Dashan took part in a VCD programme--“Travel with Dashan”-- to teach daily and up-to-date English in real-life situations.

(1)Dashan could learn Chinese very well because of ________.

[　　]

A．his interest

B．practiced skills on Chinese expression

C．his special method

D．special humour with a Beijing accent

(2)The sentence “learn for life and learn in life” here means ________.

[　　]

A．learn things in our daily life, otherwise it will not last long

B．we should study in practice all our lives

C．life is difficult, so we'd better learn more to lead a better life

D．langnage is the necessary part of our daily life, so we must practice it frequently

(3)The main idea of the passage is ________.

[　　]

A．Dashan has become a household name across China

B．how can we master a foreign language in a short time

C．Dashan took part in a VCD programme “Travel with Dashan” to teach

English in real-life situation

D．try to learn English under the direction of Dashan, and you'll succeed one day

(4)The underlined phrase “a piece of cake” here refers to ________.

[　　]

(5)Dashan read the selected works of Deng Xiaoping because ________.

[　　]

A．he admired the former leader of the government

B．he hoped to learn more of the spirits of it

C．he wanted to give him a proper sense of the Chinese language

D．they are very popular in modem times

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳答案.

It is only a shiny, yellow metal, but it is one of the most valuable on earth. Since the beginning of time, men have looked for this extremely valuable item, gold.

    Gold is soft and easy to form into different objects. If it gets wet, it does not rust like iron or other metals. Acids (酸) do not change it. One important reason that gold is so valuable is that it is scarce, because of its softness, gold must be combined with other metals to harden it and give it strength. By hardening gold, people can then make coins and jewelry with it. Metals commonly mixed with gold are nickel (镍), platinum (铂), and copper. Gold jewelry bears (刻有) a number and the letter K. The K means karat (carat), which is a measure of the amount of pure gold in the jewelry. Pure gold is 24K. Therefore, a necklace which is 14K is fourteen parts gold and ten parts other metals.

   Many countries make use of gold for certain coins, but this practice is not as common now as it once was. The United States, for instance, stopped making gold coins in 1933.

(1)Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

[　　]

A．Valuable Metal

B．Looking for Gold

C．Jewelry and Coins

D．What is Karat?

(2)Which is NOT the reason why gold is highly valuable?

[　　]

A．It can be made into jewelry

B．It is not easily found

C．It is soft and shiny

D．It does not rust when wet

(3)In order to make it stronger, gold is often mixed with ________.

[　　]

(4)If a ring is marked 12K, then the percentage of gold in it is ________.

[　　]

(5)Gold may be correctly described by the following EXCEPT ________.

[　　]

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳答案.

Thomas Holman was a lucky young man. He was born into a family in which he was forever free from cares of any kind．He had never learned what was anxiety and what was worry. He never walked to school. Twice a day the family chauffeur (司机) took him to and from it. He never had to think of where to receive his higher education and how to cover his school spendings. His father sent him to the most famous and most expensive university in the United States which his father thought would make him a most promising young man.

    Thomas never had to find a job for himself. After graduation, he became a general manager in one of his father's many companies. In his work and life he had never been told to do anything by himself. As a matter of fact, he never lived without his secretary and driver.

    One day, on his way to an important meeting, his car was broken down. The driver had to find a repair shop and the secretary had to get back to arrange for another car. He was left alone on the road!

    He waited and waited．Finally, he decided to call the company and ask about the car. He began to look for a telephone box. When he found one some hundred meters off the highway, he happily approached it and picked up the receiver, But suddenly he realized that he didn't know what number he should call! He walked back and decided to keep on waiting at the roadside.

    At this moment, a taxi stopped near him. He thought it might be wise for him to take the taxi or he would be too late for the meeting. So he walked to the taxi. But the driver waited for quite a few minutes and still he couldn't see the young man get in. The driver got out of the car to see what was wrong. Thomas was working hard pushing and pulling the door. He didn't know how to open it!

(1)Thomas Holman ________.

[　　]

A．was born of rich parents

B．had nothing to worry about

C．was brought up with great care

D．all of the above

(2)The phrase “a most promising young man” in the first paragraph means “a young man who ________”.

[　　]

A．undertook to do something

B．made a promise to do something

C．seemed likely to succeed

D．always kept his word

(3)Which statement is NOT TRUE?

[　　]

A．Upon graduation, he was offered a job in his family business.

B．In his work, he depended on his secretary for everything.

C．As a general manager, he needn't have done anything by himself.

D．No matter where he went, he was always taken there.

(4)What happened to him one day?

[　　]

A．He was left alone on the road, not knowing where to go and what to do.

B．He couldn't get to the meeting on time because of the broken-down car.

C．The telephone number escaped his memory until picked up the receiver.

D．The only thing his secretary and driver could do for him is to let him wait.

(5)At last ________.

[　　]

A．he got to the meeting on time

B．he realized what he lacked

C．he became a promising young man

D．none of the above is right

阅读理解

　　The most frightening words in the English language are,“Our computer is down.”Yon hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport wailing for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said,“I' m Sony. I can' t sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.”

　　“If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”

　　“I can' t write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”

　　I looked down the counter and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I asked her, What do yon do.

　　“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not.”

　　So when it goes down, you go down with it.

　　“That's all right, air.”

　　“How long will the computer be down?”I wanted to know.

　　“I have no idea. Sometimes it' s down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There is no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it' s clown it won't answer us.”

　　After the girl told me they had no backup computer, I said,“Let' s forget the computer. What about your planes They're still flying, aren't they?”

　　“I couldn't tell without asking the computer.”

　　“Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he' s firing to Washington.”I suggested.

　　“I wouldn't know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn't take you if you didn't have a ticket.”

　　“Is there any other airline firing to Washington within the next few hours?”

　　“I wouldn't know,”she said, pointing at the dark screen.“Only'IT'knows.'IT'cant tell me.”

　　By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The words soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.

(1)The best headline for the article is ________.

[　　]

A．Asking Computer of the Airport

B．The Computer of the Airport

C．The Most Frightening Words

D．When the Computer Is Down

(2)What could the girl in the ticket office do for the passengers without asking the computer?

[　　]

A．She could answer the passenger' s questions.

B．She could do nothing.

C．She could sell a ticket.

D．She could write out a ticket.

(3)Why do you think they had no backup computer? ________.

[　　]

A．Because it was easy down.

B．Because it was not advanced enough.

C．Because it was not as big as the main computer.

D．Because it was very expensive.

(4)The last paragraph suggests that ________.

[　　]

A．a modem computer won't he down

B．computers can take the place of humans

C．sometimes a computer may bring suffering to people

D．there will be great changes in computers

阅读理解

　　Ralph Ellison is by no means the first writer to inlay his work with the silver and gold of Afro-American folklore(民间传说). Mark Twain, Charles Chesnutt, James Weldom Johnson, William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, Sterling Brown, and Langslon Hughes used it before Ellison, often with supreme skill. But Ellison' s case is special because of the sheer virtuosity (艺术鉴赏力 )of The Invisible Man, which relate with its“inside”use of Black folklore, is also very modern in its technique. In this contemporary novel, the vital transformation from folk item to written literature seems wonderfully complete. The language is consistently active with actual Afro-American speech, as well as with the tales, songs, and games of folklore. What Ellington and Wagner achieved in music is here achieved in fiction, the transmutation (衍变)of folk materials into a fully orchestrated masterpiece.

(1)The main idea of the passage is that ________

[　　]

A．Ellison was not the first writer to use Afro-American folklore

B．Ellison transformed folk material into a masterpiece

C．Ellison collected folklore that might have been lost

D．Ellison' s work made him a very wealthy man

(2)The writer listed a group of names in the second sentence in order to ________

[　　]

A．support the argument of the first sentence

B．show that these people were mete skillful than Ellison

C．introduce another new idea

D．give the names of Ellison' s teachers

(3)The-Invisible Man is ________

[　　]

A．a long monologue

B．a collection of short stories.

C．a contemporary novel

D．a musical comedy

阅读理解

　　South Korean films

　　Beijing audience can view five new South Korean films all with Chinese subtitles(中文字幕),until April 19 at the Tuixin Cinema in the National Library grounds.

　　Two other South Korean films completed their full runs at the Tuixin Cinema earlier this month. Location: Tuixin Cinema, National Library,39 Baishiqao Bond. Haidian District, Beijing

　　Telephone: 68415566

　　“My Love, My Bride”

　　April 15:9;00,13:30,15:15,17:30,19:30

　　“Kim' s War”

　　April 16 : 9:00. 13:30,18:15

　　“Because You Are a Woman”

　　April 17:13 ;30,18:15

　　“Sopyore”

　　April 19: 9:00, 13:30. 15:30, 17:30, 19:30

　　Leon' s Show

　　Hong Kong pop star Leon Lai will give a personal performance at 7:30 p. m. from tomorrow through to September21 at the Shanghai Gymnasium. The show is to celebrate the opening of the ' 99 Huangpu Tourism Festival. Tickets : 60,90,120,180yuan, RMB, available (有票)at 66 Jiangning Road

　　Address: Shanghai Gymnasium. 1111 Caoxi Road N

Tel: 29189188, 29171145, 49384952, 29197113

　　Russian Concert

　　The Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra will put on some excellent Russian choral(合唱的)works at 7:15p. m. on September 26 and 27 at the Shanghai Concert Hall. They will sing Russian folk songs with a mass under a Russian conductor who is very famous for conducting choirs and had given a successful choral concert in Beijing.

　　Tickets: 6,8, 12yuan RMB, available at the hall's ticket office

　　Address: 532 Yan'an Road M. , Shanghai

　　Tel: 32275694

　　Korean Songs

　　The Song and Dance Troupe of the Republic of Korea will give a song and dance show at 7:30p. m. tonight at the Shanghai Centre Theatre.

　　Tickets: 10,20,30yuan RMB, available at the theatre' s ticket office

　　Address: 1376 Nanjing Road W. Shanghai

　　Tel: 29798663

(1)________ will be on April 15. The cinema' s telephone number is ________.

[　　]

A．Kim's War 29798663

B．My Love, My Bride; 32275694

C．Because You Are a Woman; 29189188

D．Marriage Story ; 68415566

(2)________ will give a song and dance show at 7:30 p. m. tonight at Shanghai Centre Theatre.

[　　]

A．Leon Lai, a Hong Kong pop star

B．The Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra

C．The Song and Dance Troupe of the Republic of Korea

D．A Russian Philharmonic Orchestra

(3)The address of the Shanghai Centre Theatre is ________.

[　　]

A．1111 Caoxi RoadN

B．1376 Nanjing Read W

C．532 Yah'an Read M

D．66 Jianning Road

(4)According to the advertisement, a six yuan ticket is for ________.

[　　]

A．Russian Concert

B．Korean Songs

C．South Korean Films

D．Leon's Show

阅读理解

　　In the past, man did not have to think about the protection of his environment. There were few people on the earth, and natural resources (n.资源；物力；财力 )seemed to be unlimited. Today things are different. The world has become too crowded. We are using up our natural resources too quickly, and at the same time we are polluting our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we continue to do this, human life on earth will not survive.

　　Everyone realizes today that if too many fish are taken from the sea, there will soon be none left. Yet, with modern fishing methods(n.方法), more and more fish are caught. We know that if too many trees are cut down, forests will disappear and nothing will grow on the land. Yet, we continue to cut down more and more trees. We realize that if rivers are polluted with waste from factories, we will die. However, in most countries waste is still put into the rivers or the seas and there are few laws to stop this. We know, too, that if the pollution of the world countries is rising at the present rate, in a few years, there Will not be enough food. What can we do to solve these problems?

　　If we eat more vegetables and less meat, there will be more food useful for everyone. Land that is used to grow crops feeds five times more people than land where animals are kept.

　　Finally, if we educate people to think about the problems, we shall have a better and cleaner planet in the future.

(1)Today we have to think about the protection of our environment because ________.

[　　]

A．things on our planet are getting worse and worse

B．the limited natural resources are being used quickly

C．the environment is continuing to be polluted by too much waste and poison

D．worse and worse environment is endangering the lives of human beings

(2)which of the following statements is NOT true?

[　　]

A．If we eat more meat, more food can be saved.

B．In the past there were few people who thought about the environment protection.

C．If we keep on cutting down trees, forests will disappear.

D．We should not take more and more fish out of the sea, or there will soon be no fish left.

(3)In order to slow the increase of the world population, ________.

[　　]

A．we should encourage young people to marry later

B．we should encourage the married to use modern methods of birth control

C．we should let the people have more education

D．all of the above

(4)According to the passage, the most important thing we must understand is that ________.

[　　]

A．we should keep our environment from being polluted

B．we must make enough laws to protect our natural re-sources

C．man will destroy himself if he doesn't solve the problems

D．we will have not enough food if the world population rises at the present rate

阅读理解

　　Information from the pioneer spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)obviously proves the theory that the burning 900degree Fahrenheit surface temperature of Venus is due to an atmospheric green- house effect caused mainly by a blanket of carbon dioxide. Such a greenhouse effect is created when energy in the form of sunlight easily passes through a planet's atmosphere (大气), warms is surface, and becomes heat radiation that is then held in by the atmosphere. The orbiting spacecraft has collected Venus's atmosphere from top to bottom so that NASA's scientists are able to prove the exact amount (n.总数,总额)of sunlight received at various places in the planet's atmosphere and on its surface. Measurements of atmosphere, temperature, and radioactive heating foresee Venus' s surface temperature very exactly. The planet is closer to the Sun than it is to the Earth, and it has a thin atmosphere like the Earth's but Venus atmosphere is made up of more than ninety percent carbon dioxide(二气化碳), compared to less than four percent in that of the Earth. Because of its higher percentage of carbon dioxide, Venus's atmosphere receives much more heat radiation than the Earth's does. Thus the Venus studies are believed to be important to the understanding of possible bad effects on Earth' s agriculture and sea levels that could result from the long term use of fuels, which add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

(1)Which of the following would be the most suitable title for the passage?

[　　]

A．A New Theory

B．Measuring Planetary Temperatures

C．The Journey of Pioneer Spacecraft

D．The Greenhouse Effect on Venus

(2)According to the passage, what happens to heat radiation on Venus?

[　　]

A．It disappears at the planet's surface.

B．It is received by the atmosphere.

C．It creates energy.

D．It is changed into other kind of energy.

(3)According to the passage, how does the atmosphere of Venus differ from that of the Earth?

[　　]

A．It contains much more carbon dioxide.

B．It holds much less water.

C．It is four percent thinner.

D．It receives less heat radiation.

(4)From the passage can be considered that the burning of fuels on the Earth may cause ________.

[　　]

A．more carbon dioxide to enter sea water

B．more sunlight to reach the Earth's surface

C．the atmosphere to become thinner

D．the planet's temperature to change

(5)According to the passage, information from the Venus study can be used to ________.

[　　]

A．foresee changes in the planet's orbit

B．foresee future agricultural problems on the Earth

C．test the efficiency of a spacecraft

D．test a theory about more efficient greenhouse

阅读理解

　　Frank was anxious to get home and his footsteps rang loudly on the pavement (人行道). When he reached the middle of the bridge he thought he could hear someone coming near behind him. He looked back but could see no one. However, the sound continued and Frank began to walk more quickly. Then he slowed down again, feeling shame at having acted so foolishly. There was nothing to fear in a town as quiet as this.

　　Just then, he heard short, quick steps closely behind him. By the time he reached the other side of the bridge, he could almost feel someone at his heels (脚跟). He turned round and there stood a man in a large overcoat. A hat was pulled down over his eyes and. very little of his face Could be seen. Frank said something about the weather, trying to sound friendly and calm. The man did not answer but asked rudely where Oakfield House was. Frank pointed to a big house in the distance and the stranger continued his way.

(1)Frank was feeling shame because________.

[　　]

A．he had walked so quickly

B．he had made a big noise at midnight

C．he had been afraid

D．he had been anxious to go home

(2)Frank said something about the weather to the stranger because________

[　　]

A．he wondered what the weather would be like the next day

B．he wanted to start a conversation.

C．he wanted to show he's polite

D．he wanted to hide his nervousness

(3)The man dressed in a large overcoat was ________.

[　　]

A．friendly

B．not polite at all

C．a visitor to Oakfield House and polite

D．a servant of Oakfield House