Fatimah Bamun dropped out of Balizenda Primary School in the first grade, when her father refused to buy her pencils and paper. Only after her teachers said to him that his daughter showed unusual promise(有希望) did he change his mind. Today, Fatimah, 14, tall and slender, studies math in a dirt-floored fourth-grade classroom.

    Whether she will reach the fifth grade is another matter. Fatimah is facing the realities of a school with no toilet, no water, no hope of privacy (隐私) other than the shadow of a bush, and no girlfriends with whom to share feelings. Fatimah is the only girl of the 23 students in her class. In fact, in a school of 178 students, she is one of the only three girls who have made it past the third grade.

    “I have no friend in the class,” she said. “Most of my friends have dropped out to get married. So during the break, I just sit in the classroom and read.”

    Her father, however, now says he is fully behind her. “The people from the government are all the time telling us to send our daughters to school, and I am listening to these people,” he said.

    But in many cases, parents don’t listen. Parents think that if the girls stay home, they can help with the harvesting, fetch the water and collect the firewood. So they take them out of school.

    In a region where poverty, tradition and ignorance make about 24 million girls not even have an elementary school education. There are many other barriers (障碍) that prevent girls going to school, such as the lack of school toilets and water.

    The issue is not only equality. The World Bank thinks that if women in sub-Saharan Africa had equal education, land and other wealth, the region’s economy could improve greatly. There is a connection between growth in Africa and sex equality. It is of great importance but still ignored by so many people.

The author’s purpose in writing the passage is to _______.

A. find the cause of Africa’s poverty

B. describe the poor education conditions of African girls

C. prove the inequality in African society

D. reform the present schooling systems in Africa

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

A. Fatimah is a girl who shows signs of success for the future.

B. Fatimah’s father is now giving a lot of support to her.

C. Fatimah is the only girl who has made it past the fifth grade in her school.

D. Fatimah has no friends at school because they most of them have dropped out to get married.

It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A. most African girls are treated equally in society

B. African governments don’t care whether girls go to school or not

C. most African girls would rather get married than go to school

D. African girls can’t enjoy equal chances for education

 

第二节 信息匹配（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

请阅读下列相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。

以下是几种舞蹈的介绍：

     A, Ballroom dancing

     Although mainly popular in Latin America, it is now gaining quite a following all over the world.  Examples of the are the cha-cha, tango and foxtrot. Although you're basically required to master the fundamental steps, freestyle dancing is accepted and even encouraged for intermediate  (中级的)  and professional dancers.

     B. Jazz

     It is described as the dance that has almost all forms of dancing. It requires flexibility and grace. It emphasizes all nuances (细微差别) of body movement, so dancers are generally encouraged to wear tight fitting clothes to ensure that not even the smallest shift of the body will go unnoticed。

     C. Aerobics

     Technically, it's not a dance but since it still involves body movement and rhythm, let's put it in the list all the same. Aerobics is more suited to those who need to exercise but are easily bored by the more common workouts like jogging or sweating on the treadmill. Aerobics is also a good stepping stone for the more demanding forms of dancing because it improves your coordination.

     D. Ballet

     Lithe, flexible, graceful, elegant, poised ( 平衡的) － if you're not all of those then you shouldn't choose it. In ballet, each movement is an expression of a specific emotion so it must be done precisely and without flaw. As a rifle, ballet dancers should also be small and slender.

     E. Hip Hop

It is the most popular form of dancing of today's time, thanks to stars like Jennifer Lopez and Nelly. Hip hop is also known as street grooves and preferred by but not limited to teenagers and young adults because of its choreography (舞蹈设计). Hip hop is a good and fun place to start for amateurs.

     F. Belly

     Want to make your guy admire and gain a sexy belly at the same time? Then this Eastern dance is the answer to all your problems. Although all the shaking and bending can be somewhat exhausting, just remind yourself of your objectives and you'll be A-okay.

请阅读以下人物的信息，然后为他们匹配合适的舞蹈。

     56. Mark is a young and creative schoolboy, who is an amateur of dancing. But he just enjoys the dancing which can help him express himself freely with his self-designed steps, When he shows his dance to others, he will feel very happy and proud.

     57. Roy is a little fat. He tried to do some exercise to lose weight. But he felt bored when jogging.  So he wants to find a new way, which can not only help him keep fit but also lay the base for learning some forms of dancing.

     58. Claudia is a dance lover, who likes all kinds of dances. She has learned dancing for six months and has mastered some basic steps. Now she wants to improve her dancing skills and learn two kinds of Latin American dances.

     59. Alice is a graceful and slim young girl, who has a good sense of balance. She hopes she could be a great dancer when she grows up. So now she is planning to choose a kind of dance that is suitable for her.

     60. Joan often went out for fun with her friends, but now she isn't willing to do that because of her slightly protruding (突出的) belly. In order to be sexy and slim again, she'll try a kind of dance so that she can regain her confidence.

 

The First of May is a Bank Holiday—the first public holiday of the year in England.
Most people consider it a special day ,the beginning of summer ,a day when the light lasts long into the evening ,and when we can look for warm weather .We don't always get it .We feel disappointed ,but not surprised if there are cold winds and frosts at night in May .Winter should be over .Most people know that in the past ,when farming occupied almost everyone ,the changing seasons were of great importance .In that older time there was every reason to celebrate May Day .Customs of those celebrations remain.?
Of these customs ,the best known is the choosing of a May Queen and the dancing round Maypole .Even these customs are little more than memories now—but in the last century it was quite common in villages and small towns ,and even in schools and colleges ,for a pretty and popular girl to be chosen Queen of the May .It was a great honour to be chosen .For a day she wore a light and flowery dress, carried garlands（花环）,and was ceremonially crowned with flowers .She presided over a procession ,as a rule with a number of attendants ,and over the Maypole dancing and all kinds of entertainment .The Maypole was slender（苗条的） tree trunk ,cut off its branches, with beautiful ribbons fastened to the top .The dancing was designed in such a way that the dancer's movements move the ribbons into a pattern. This, as you can imagine ,required skill from the dancer ,and was not achieved without practice .
It's the Celtic（凯尔特的）people who celebrated the First of May as a spring festival .Their celebration seems to have had little to do with taking pleasure in early ,beautiful flowers and in warmer weather! They called it Beltane—the fire of the god Bel .They lit fires ,in the expectation that their blaze would help the sun in its struggle to regain its strength. They drove their cattle between banks of flame in the expectation that the terrified beasts would be purified（净化） and protected from disease .A tree ,which must have been blackened with smoke ,stood in the middle of the fires ,and is thought to have been the origin of the Maypole .Their priests（牧师） made sacrifices to the goods in the hope of good harvests and sufficient store of food for the winter. There was dancing certainly ,but it was noisy and cheerful ,since its purpose was not to weave a pattern of colored ribbons ,but to drive out evil spirits from the earth and to arouse those kind spirits.?
1.The main purpose of the passage is to show ________.?
A.the reason why they celebrate May Day?
B.the start and customs of May Day?
C.the way they celebrate May Day?
D.the choosing of a May Queen during May Day
2.According to the passage ,which sentence is NOT true??
A.In the old days they celebrated May Day for the changing of the seasons.?
B.In England summer begins at the first of May.?
C.The custom of the choosing of a May Queen still exists in the present May Day celebration.?
D.The Celtic people celebrated the first of May as a spring festival.?
3.From the surrounding words and sentences we know that the word “presided” means ________.
A.管理 B.越过 C.指挥 D.主持?
4.The best title for this passage is ________.?
A.The First of May  B.The Beginning of Summer
C.May Queen    D.The Holiday of the Year?

 

My dream ended when I was born. Although I never knew it then, I just held on to something that would never come to pass. Dreams really do exist. But in the morning when you wake up, they are remembered just as a dream. That is what happened to me.

I always had the dream to dance like a beautiful ballerina（芭蕾舞女演员）turning around and around and hearing people applaud for me. When I was young, I would turn around and around in the fields of wildflowers that grew in my backyard. 

Reality woke me up when I heard someone saying, "I don't know why you bother trying to dance. Ballerinas are pretty and slender(苗条) www..comgirls. Besides, you don't have the talent to even be a ballerina." I remember how those words hurt every feeling in my body. I fell to the ground and wept for hours. 

I enjoyed hanging out by the water. I would sit there for hours and stare at my reflection(倒影). There I was, looking nothing like a pretty ballerina dancer. Reflections don't lie. Once the waves would come, my reflection was washed away just like my dream to dance.

As I grew older, I began to realize that the reason my dream was even born was because it was something that was inside of me. The dream I had was never nurtured(培育) and cared for, so it slowly died. It's not that I wanted it to die, but I allowed it to die the day I started listening to the words, "You can't do it." When I finally woke up from many years of dreaming, I realized that you can't only settle for dancing in the wildflowers, you have to move on to the platform.

Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage？

A. Care for your dream

B. Dream and reality

C. Nothing is impossible

D. Efforts to be a ballerina will pay  

The author didn’t realize her dream of being a ballerina mainly because_______.

A. she was bored of dancing and performing  

B. she had lack of self-respect  

C. her health conditions allowed her dream to die

D. she was deeply affected by others easily

From the passage, it can be inferred that _________.

A. the author was once a pretty and slender girl with wonderful dream.

B. we should dare to give up our dream facing much pressure and difficulty

C. if you stick to your dream and never say die, you will enjoy a bright life

D. You should necer give up.

What is the main purpose of writing the passage?

A. to complain    B. to praise     C. to warn    D. to criticize

The underlined expression “settle for” in the last paragraph means_________.

A. turn down     B. take up    C. give up   D. settle down   

The First of May is a Bank Holiday—the first public holiday of the year in England.
Most people consider it a special day ,the beginning of summer ,a day when the light lasts long into the evening ,and when we can look for warm weather .We don't always get it .We feel disappointed ,but not surprised if there are cold winds and frosts at night in May .Winter should be over .Most people know that in the past ,when farming occupied almost everyone ,the changing seasons were of great importance .In that older time there was every reason to celebrate May Day .Customs of those celebrations remain.?
Of these customs ,the best known is the choosing of a May Queen and the dancing round Maypole .Even these customs are little more than memories now—but in the last century it was quite common in villages and small towns ,and even in schools and colleges ,for a pretty and popular girl to be chosen Queen of the May .It was a great honour to be chosen .For a day she wore a light and flowery dress, carried garlands（花环）,and was ceremonially crowned with flowers .She presided over a procession ,as a rule with a number of attendants ,and over the Maypole dancing and all kinds of entertainment .The Maypole was slender（苗条的） tree trunk ,cut off its branches, with beautiful ribbons fastened to the top .The dancing was designed in such a way that the dancer's movements move the ribbons into a pattern. This, as you can imagine ,required skill from the dancer ,and was not achieved without practice .
It's the Celtic（凯尔特的）people who celebrated the First of May as a spring festival .Their celebration seems to have had little to do with taking pleasure in early ,beautiful flowers and in warmer weather! They called it Beltane—the fire of the god Bel .They lit fires ,in the expectation that their blaze would help the sun in its struggle to regain its strength. They drove their cattle between banks of flame in the expectation that the terrified beasts would be purified（净化） and protected from disease .A tree ,which must have been blackened with smoke ,stood in the middle of the fires ,and is thought to have been the origin of the Maypole .Their priests（牧师） made sacrifices to the goods in the hope of good harvests and sufficient store of food for the winter. There was dancing certainly ,but it was noisy and cheerful ,since its purpose was not to weave a pattern of colored ribbons ,but to drive out evil spirits from the earth and to arouse those kind spirits.?
【小题1】The main purpose of the passage is to show ________.?

A．the reason why they celebrate May Day?

B．the start and customs of May Day?

C．the way they celebrate May Day?

D．the choosing of a May Queen during May Day

【小题2】According to the passage ,which sentence is NOT true??

A．In the old days they celebrated May Day for the changing of the seasons.?

B．In England summer begins at the first of May.?

C．The custom of the choosing of a May Queen still exists in the present May Day celebration.?

D．The Celtic people celebrated the first of May as a spring festival.?

【小题3】From the surrounding words and sentences we know that the word “presided” means ________.

A．管理

B．越过

C．指挥

D．主持

【小题4】The best title for this passage is ________.?

A．The First of May	B．The Beginning of Summer
C．May Queen	D．The Holiday of the Year?