Any mistake made in the printing of a stamp raises its value to stamp collectors. A mistake on one inexpensive postage stamp has made the stamp worth a million and a half times its original value.

    The mistake was made more than a hundred years ago in the British colony of Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean. In 1847 an order for stamps was sent to a London printer—Mauritius was to become the fourth country in the world to issue stamps.

    Before the order was filled and delivered, a ball was planned at Mauritius’ Government House, and stamps were needed to send out the invitations. A local printer was instructed to copy the design for the stamps. He accidentally inscribed the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid” on the several hundred stamps that he printed.

    Today there are only twenty-six of these misprinted stamps left, fourteen One Penny Orange-Reds and twelve Two Penny Blues. Because of the Two Penny Blue’s rareness and age, collectors have paid as much as $16 800 for it.

    1. Over a century ago, Mauritius ________.

A. was an independent country

B. belonged to India

C. was one of the British colonies

D. was a small island in the Pacific Ocean

    2. The mistake on the stamps was made ________.

    A. in Mauritius　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   B. at Mauritius Government House

    C. in a post office　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   D. in London

    3. Stamp collectors have pard$16 800 for ________.

    A. fourteen One Penny Orange-Reds    B. twelve Two Penny Blues

C. one One Penny Orange-Red　　　　    D. one Two Penny Blue

Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.

    Though he was tired, Howe slept badly. He turned and turned. Then he had a dream. He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle. This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practiced sewing machine.

    Elias Howe is not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way.

    Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre.

    To know the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious (无意识的), but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed. It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake. However, the unconscious part acts in a special way. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.

    1. According to the passage, Elias Howe was ________.

    A. the first person we know of who solved problems in his sleep

    B. much more hard—working than other inventors

    C. the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked

    D. the only person at the time who knew the value of dreams

    2. The problem Howe was trying to solve was ________.

    A. what kind of thread to use

    B. how to design a needle which would not break

    C. where to put the needle

    D. how to prevent the thread from getting caught around the needle

    3. Thomas Edison is spoken of because ________.

    A. he also tried to invent a sewing machine

    B. he got some of his idea from dreams

    C. he was one of Howe’s best friend

    D. he also had difficulty in falling asleep

    4. Dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves” because ________.

    A. strange images are used to communicate ideas

    B. images which have no meaning are used

    C. we can never understand the real meaning

D. only specially trained people can understand them

In 1608, an Englishman whose name was Thomas Coryate visited Italy. He liked the country and noted down every interesting thing he found. But there was one thing which he found more interesting than the others. In his diary Thomas wrote,“When the Italians eat meat, they use small forks. They do not eat with hands because, as they say, people do not always have clean hands.”

    Before leaving for England, Thomas Coryate bought a few forks.

    At home Thomas gave a dinner party to show the invention to his friends. When the servants brought the steak, he took out a fork and began to eat like they did in Italy.

    Everybody looked at him in surprise. When he told his friends what it was, they all wanted to take a good look at the strange thing. All his friends said that the Italians were very strange people because the fork was very inconvenient.

    Thomas Coyate tried to prove the opposite. He said it was not nice to eat meat with one’s fingers because they were not always clean.

    Everybody go angry at that. Did Mr. Coryate think that people in England always had dirty hands? And weren’t the ten fingers we had enough for us?

    Thomas Coryate wanted to show that it was very easy to use the fork. But the first piece of meat he took with the fork fell to the floor. His friends began to laugh and he had to take the fork away.

    Only fifty years later did people in England begin to use forks.

    1. Why did Thomas Coryate bring forks to England?

    A. He wanted to make his friends surprised.

    B. He believed it was no nice to eat meat with fingers.

    C. Forks were beautiful.

    D. He wanted to make business selling forks.

    2. Why did everybody look at Thomas when he began to eat like the Italians?

    A. They believed that was bad manners.

    B. Nobody ate meat with hands in England.

    C. Everybody thought it was an amazing invention.

    D. Nobody had seen a fork before.

    3. Why did the first piece of meat fall to the floor when Thomas took it with the fork?

    A. The fork was very inconvenient to use.

    B. The fork was had.

    C. Thomas was not used to eating with a fork.

D. The steak was too tough.

Microwaves that transmit television signals always travel in a straight line. Because the earth is round, it is impossible to send television signals over a long distance. For example, if we tried to  send television signals directly from Europe to America, the microwaves carrying the signals would shoot into space over the Atlantic and would reach America.

    If we want to send television signals around the surface of the earth, we must send them from point to point by the relay system. On land we can set up relay stations for this purpose, and we can pass signals from station to station in a series of straight lines. However, we can not do this so easily over water. In order to send pictures directly across the Atlantic, for example, we would need to build a chain of relay stations across the ocean, which is about 3, 000 miles wide. One choice would be to build one great tower in the middle of the ocean. But the tower would have to be 500 miles high!

    Both of the ideas are impossible. So we use the communication satellite thousands of miles in outer space to relay the television signals across the Atlantic. A satellite receives the picture signals in a straight line from the ground station on one side of the Atlantic, from England, for example. Then it sends signals down again, also in a straight line, to the ground station on the other side of the Atlantic in the United States. The communication satellite must be within view of both ground stations at the same time.

1. What are microwaves?

    A. They are light waves that are useless.

    B. They are radiation which can travel straight.

    C. They are not waves.

    D. They are very short waves used in TV and radar.

2. Why should people build relay stations?

    A. Because the microwaves can not travel a long time.

    B. Because the microwaves are strong enough to reach another place.

    C. Because the microwaves travel in a straight line and the earth is round.

    D. Because people want to show their power.

3. Television signals must be sent ________.

A. from city to city

B. from point to point

C. from house to house

D. from building to building

4. What’s the main reason for us to use satellites to relay TV programmes?

    A. Satellites can cover large areas.

    B. We can’t build relay stations on the land.

    C. Satellites are cheaper.

    D. Using the satellites, we can receive only a few programmes.

Laughing gulls (鸥) are seen along the coasts of the United States during the summer months. They are those black-hooded birds that dip and wheel at the beach. For years, scientists believed that laughing gulls, like all other birds, used their bodies to communicate, or exchange messages, with each other. But recent studies seem to show that these birds have at least three levels of vocal (有声的) communication.

    The first level is a simple note, like the sound of a spoken vowel (元音) or consonant (辅音). The second level puts two or more notes together, like combining vowels and consonants to form a word. The third level consists of several notes, like combining a few words to make a phrase.

    In human speech, inflection, or voice pitch, can change the meaning of the message. In writing, inflection can be shown by changing the punctuation (标点), for example,“No?”and “No!”. Gulls use different inflections, too. They also change the order of their notes. Like a human's word order, a gull's note order can change meaning, for example,“You are my mother.”and“Are you my mother?”. There can be anywhere from 2 to 15 notes in a call. Studies show that it is the first quick notes that appear to identify the bird. For example, a chick will recognize and answer only the call of its own parents.

    1. The word that means "voice pitch" is ________.

    A. communication  B. inflection　　　　   C. language　　　　    D. vowels

    2. The second level of vocal communication is like ________.

    A. putting words together to form a sentence

    B. putting vowels and consonants together to form a word

    C. the sound of a single vowel or consonant

    D. combining a few words to make a phrase

    3. Studies seem to show that the call of the laughing gull is ________.

A. a simple arrangement of bird calls

B. a complicated arrangement of notes.

C. a simple arrangement of words and letters

D. only a call for food

    4. According to the story, which of the following statements is probably true?

    A. Calls are different for each bird.　　   B. Birds recognize each other by sight.

    C. All birds answer the same call.　　　　 D. A chick can only understand its sister’s call.

    5. Which of the following shows a change in inflection?

A. I’m tired. I’m not tired.

B. You are late! Are you late!

C. Are you my mother? Are you my mother?

D. He is tall! He is tall?

Taravura is as beautiful as it sounds. It is everything a Pacific city should be. You might have imagined a seafront lined with palm trees, sea-washed beaches as white as the waves, a busy port trading in all the products of the South Seas; you might have dreamed about houses made of dried grass standing among tall trees, brightly painted wooden churches, and open-air markets full of happy, friendly people, dressed as colorfully as the flowers and the fruits they sell. If you have ever thought that you might find all these things in one place, you were thinking of Taravura.

    Taravura is all things to all men. It is a capital city, with international hotels that will give you the warmest welcome you have ever received; with streets of buildings old and new, and of stores big and small; with shops full of bargains, and parks and gardens full of things to see and do. Government House and the President’s Palace are there.

    The international airport has regular and direct flights to and from cities all over South-East Asia, Australia and the South Pacific. Yet Taravura does not feel big: few of its buildings are higher than the trees; none of its streets is so full of traffic that it is difficult to cross, even at the busiest times of the day; and from all parts of the city you can see either Mount Bari and its brothers, the Endi Mountains, to the north, or the sky-blue sea to the south. Nowhere in Taravura are you very far from nature.

    But do not be deceived into thinking that because Taravura is small among capital cities, you will have done everything worth doing within a day. Taravura is a mine of golden opportunities. St. Cecilia’s Cathedral, for example, contains many pieces of local art-work; and Komati Museum has a collection of paintings by South Pacific artists that is without equal in the world. For those who enjoy watching sports and games, you can be sure that somewhere in the city there is a national or an international team playing football, cricket or basketball; and for those who would rather play than watch, Taravura offers plenty of opportunities to try your hand at any sport.

    Until you have been to Taravura, you have not visited the city of your dreams-truly a heaven on earth.

　　 1.“Taravura is all things to all men,”means ________.

    A. there is nothing that you will no find there

    B. everyone will find something there to suit him

    C. there are as many things to do as there are men

    D. the men will do anything you wish-them to do

    2. Taravura“does not feel big”in spite of the fact that ________.

    A. it is a capital city with an airport and international hotels

    B. its streets are full of traffic at all times of the day

    C. few of its buildings are higher than the trees

    D. its buildings are old and new, its stores big and small

    3. Nowhere in Taravura are you very far from nature in that ________.

    A. the open-air markets are full of flowers and fruit

    B. the houses are made of grass and the churches of wood

    C. there are mountains on one side and sea on the other

    D. there axe parks and gardens full of things to see and do

    4.“Taravura is a mine of golden opportunities”means that ________.

    A. St. Cecilia’s Cathedral is a local piece of gold art-work

    B. there are many things made of gold in the Cathedral and the museum

    C. there are all sorts of things to do in the city

D. Taravura is a very wealthy city in many ways

In 1945, there was a young boy of 14 in a concentration camp (集中营). He was tall, thin but had a bright smile. One day, a young girl came by the other side of the fence. She noticed the boy and asked him if he spoke Polish, and he said yes. She said he’d looked hungry, and he said he was. She then reached in her pocket and gave him her apple. He thanked her and she went on her way. The next day, she came by again, bringing with her another apple which she gave him. Each day, she walked by the outside of the fence, hoping to see him, and when she did, she happily handed him an apple in exchange for conversation (对话).

One day, he told her not to come by any more. He told her he was being shipped to another concentration camp. As he walked away with tears streaming down his face, he wondered if he’d ever see her again. She was the only kind person he’d seen across the fence.

He made it out of the concentration camp, and moved to America. In 1957, his friends had fixed him up on a blind date. He had no idea who the woman was. He picked her up, and during the dinner began talking of Poland and the concentration camp. She said she was in Poland at that time. She said she used to talk to a boy and gave him an apple daily. He asked if this boy was tall, skinny and if he had told her that she shouldn’t come back because he was leaving. She said yes.

It was her, the young girl who came by every day to give him apples. After 12 year, after the war and in another country, they met again. What are the odds (概率)? He proposed(求婚) to her on that very night and told her he'd never again let her go. They are still happily married today.  

Miracles (奇迹) do happen, and there is a greater force at work in our lives.

1. Which of the following words can be used to describe (描述) the young girl?

A. Kind. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   B. Simple-minded.

C. Beautiful. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. Far-sighted.

2. Every day the girl walked by the outside of the fence to________

    A. see what was happening in the concentration camp

    B. advise the boy to escape from the concentration camp

C. have a talk with the boy

    D. sell an apple to the poor boy

3. When the boy learned that he was being shipped to another concentration camp, ________.

    A. he knew he would live a happy life

    B. he agreed to meet the girl in the USA

    C. he didn’t know whether he had the chance to meet the girl again

    D. he worried about how he could get an apple each day in future

4. The best title for the passage would be________.

    A. a Happy Date (约会) 　　　　　　　　　　　　    B. Surprising Marriage (婚姻)

    C. a Legendary (传奇的) Boy 　　　　    　　D. Lovely Coincidence (巧合)

5. In 1957 he picked up the woman________.

    A. to thank her for what she has done in Poland

    B. to find out the girl he had been eager to see

    C. because he worked as a driver

D. because his friends had asked him to make a date with her

We were late as usual. My husband had insisted on watering the flowers in the garden by himself, and when he discovered that he couldn’t manage, he had to ask me for help at the last moment. So now we had an hour to get to the airport. Luckily, there were not many cars or buses on the road and we were able to get there just in time. We checked in and went straight to a big hall to wait for our flight to be called. We waited and waited but no announcement was made. We asked for information and the girl there told us that the plane hadn’t even arrived yet. In the end there was another announcement telling us that passengers waiting for Flight IJ 108 could get a free meal voucher (card) and that the plane hadn’t left Spain for technical problems. We thought that meant that it wasn’t safe for the plane to fly. We waited again for a long time until late evening when we were asked to report again. This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel.

The next morning after a bad night because of all the planes taking off and landing we reported back to the airport. Guess what had happened while we were asleep! Our plane had arrived and taken off again. All the other passengers had been forgotten. You can imagine how we felt.

1. The plane the writer and her husband would take________.

    A. came from Spain 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. passed by Spain

    C. was not to leave till the next morning　　   D. was waiting for the passengers

2. The plane was delayed (耽搁)________.

A.　　  by the bad weather 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   B. by the passengers

A.　　  because of many cars on the road 　　　　　　  D. because something was wrong with the machine

3. They were in a big hall, waiting for________.

    A. the girl to give them information 　　　　    B. their flight to be announced

    C. the free meal vouchers 　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. other passengers to arrive

4. The passengers were given a free meal because________

    A. they arrived at the airport early 　　　　　　  B. They hadn’t had a meal yet

    C. They had no money with them　　　　　　   D. The plane was delayed

5. It cost them________ to spend the night in a hotel.

A.　　  plenty of money 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    B. a little money

C. little money　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   D. nothing

Why does cream go bad faster than butter? Some researchers think they have the answer, and it comes down to the structure of the food, not its chemical composition(成分)—a finding that could help break away from some chemicals. Cream and butter contain pretty much the same things, so why cream should go bad much faster has been a problem. Both are small globules(液滴) of one liquid spread throughout another. The difference lies in what’s in the globules and what’s in the surrounding liquid, says Brocklehurst, who led the research. In cream, fatty globules drift about in a sea of water. In butter, globules of a watery road are locked away in a sea of fat. The bacteria(细菌) which make the food go bad prefer to live in the watery areas of the mixture. “This means that in cream, the bacteria are free to grow throughout the mixture, ” he says. When in butter, the bacteria are locked away in locked places buried deep in the sea of fat. Trapped in this way, those colonies cannot spread and rapidly run out. They also slowly poison themselves with their waste products. “In butter, you get a self-limiting system which stops the bacteria growing, ” says Brocklehurst. The researchers are already working with food companies eager to see if their products can be made to stand bacterial attack through changes of the food’s structure. Brocklehurst believes it will be possible to make something used in salad cream for instance, more like that in butter. The key will be to do this while keeping the salad cream liquid and not turning it into a solid state.

1. The importance of Brocklehurst’s research is that _______.

A. it suggested a way to keep some foods fresh without using some chemicals

B. it discovered small globules in both cream and butter

C. it showed the secret of how bacteria increase in cream and butter

D. it found that cream and butter share the same chemical composition

2. According to the researchers, cream goes bad faster than butter because bacteria _______.

A. are stronger in cream

B. increase their number more easily in cream than in butter

C. live on less fat in cream than in butter

D. produce less waste in cream than in butter

3. According to Brocklehurst, we can keep cream fresh by _______.

A. removing its fat　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. killing the bacteria

C. reducing its water　　　　    　　　　　　　　　　 D. changing its structure

4. The underlined word “colonies” refers to _______.

A. tiny globules　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. watery regions

C. bacteria society　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. little departments

5. Commercial(商业的) use of the research finding will be possible if salad cream can be made to stand bacterial attack _______.

A. by changing its chemical composition

B. by turning it into a solid lump

C. while keeping its structure unchanged

D. while its liquid form remains

Japanese Pet Owners Turning to Jellyfish

Pet owners in Tokyo have found a new companion—the jellyfish(水母).

They don’t bark or make your clothes dirty. They don’t leave claw marks on the sofa. And, best of all, they provide calm.

“It relaxes me to watch them float. ” Miki Koyama, a 28-year-old office worker, said of two doughnut-sized(饼圈大小的) jellyfish floating in a tank at her Tokyo apartment.

The pet jellyfish craze has been the topic of special shows on nearly all major TV net works in Japan. Jellyfish have ever pushed their way onto the pages of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the country’s leading economic newspaper.

As is often the case here, single women in their 20s and 30s appear to be encouraging this fashion.

Many consider the creature’s low, gentle movement in the water as their main attraction. Jellyfish are a kind of relaxation-introducing object of art.

They aren’t a lot of trouble to take care of. And their sting(刺) is mild.

“Jellyfish never disturb you, ” said Hironobu Fuji, an employee at a Tokyo pet shop. “If you leave the house for a week, it doesn’t matter to them. I think that’s why they are popular with women who live alone and want to keep a pet. ”

The pet species tend to be small, and are transparent(透明的), pale blue or milky white. They range in price from about US $14 to $38—a seal in a country where an atlas beetle(一种甲壳虫)(another popular pet) lives can fetch thousands of dollars.

Some 50 to 60 pet shops in Tokyo are now selling jellyfish, according to Hiroshi Yazaki of Nisso Industry co. Lrd. , which has introduced special jellyfish aquariums(养鱼缸) costing between $461 and $508.

1. In Japan, jellyfish are _______.

A. hard to find

B. raised as pets

C. able to bark

D. hated by many single women in their 20s and 30s

2. Jellyfish owners _______.

A. are never at home　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　      B. are always alone at home

C. train their pets to float　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   D. buy the creatures in pet shops

3. Pet owners claim（声称）that _______.

A. they feel calm when they watch floating jellyfish

B. most of the sea creatures are overpriced

C. the pets are boring

D. in Japan they can never buy jellyfish at a reasonable price

4. Jellyfish are believed to be popular with so many young single women because the pet _______.

A. looks like doughnut　　　　　　　　　　        　　   B. help them relax after work

C. doesn’t sting　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    D. always float on the water

5. According to the story, the latest pet craze has _______.

A. hurt the Japanese economic (经济)

B. been the topic of special TV programs in Japan

C. not been popular with children

D. only been popular with single women in their 20s and 30s