For most of my 15 years, my father usually said very little to my mother and me. He preferred reading the newspaper or watching football matches on television to talking to his family.

Everything changed one morning. As soon as I came downstairs to breakfast, I could see that he wasn’t his usual reserved (缄默的) self. “Can’t wait! FIFA World Cup! Big match! Must see!”    I quickly figured out what all the excitement was about: Dad is a big football fan.

I had never been interested in football, but Dad’s excitement that morning made me more and more curious. I had to find out why this sport was making my normally reserved father act like a five-year-old on his first trip to Disneyland.

Dad decided that we should all eat at a little German restaurant so that we could watch the World Cup while eating. Secretly, I think he was hoping to turn Mum and me into football fans.

The match started a few minutes after we entered the restaurant. As I was eating my meal, a loud noise came from the television. Surprised, I looked up at the TV: “Why is that man jumping up and down?” Dad patiently explained: “That’s Papa Bouba Diop, my son. It’s normal for them to jump up and down after they’ve scored.”

Dad explained almost everything to me. His monosyllabic (单音节的) answers were a thing of the past. I loved the new Dad! I watched the rest of the match, becoming more and more interested. When I told my father that I planned to watch more matches with him, he smiled and gave me a wink (眨眼). At long last we had something in common.

Football has really helped Dad and me get closer and form a stronger relationship with each other. Who says football is only about 22 men running after a silly ball?

1.Which of the following words can best describe the author’s father?

A. A talkative football player.               B. A parent busy at work.

C. An encouraging father.                  D. A man of few words.

2.What made the author curious about his father one morning?

A. His unusual excitement.

B. His unexpressed eagerness.

C. His great interest in the newspaper.

D. His high expectation of the winner.

3.The author’s growing interest in watching the match mainly came from________.

A. his and his father’s common love of German food

B. watching a top level performance of the players

C. his father’s love of football and his explanation

D. eating in a restaurant with the excited fans

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A. Sharing is the foundation of good relationship.

B. Family members should be fans together.

C. Interest is the mother of success.

D. Personality decides everything.

 

The world’s native languages are dying out at an unprecedented(空前的) rate, taking with them irreplaceable(不能替代的) knowledge about the natural world, according to a new study.

The study identified five global “hot spots” where languages are vanishing faster than anywhere else ---- eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, the US state of Oklahoma and the US Pacific Northwest. “Languages are suffering a global extinction crisis that greatly goes beyond the pace of species extinction,” linguistics(语言学的) professor David Harrison noted, who said half of the world’s 7,000 languages were expected to disappear before the end of the century.

Native people had an intimate(详尽的) knowledge of their environment that was lost when their language disappeared, along with other certain things often unfamiliar to us, Harrison stressed. “Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it’s only in people’s heads,” he said. “We are seeing in front of our eyes the loss of the human knowledge base.”

Harrison was one of a team of linguists who carried out the study. The researchers traveled to Australia this year to study native languages, some of the most endangered. According to Harrison, in Australia, they were heartened to see a woman in her 80s who was one of the only three remaining speakers of the Yawuru language passing on her knowledge to schoolchildren. He said such inter-generational exchanges were the only way native languages could survive. “The children had elected to take this course, no one forced them,” he said. “When we asked them why they were learning it, they said,‘This is a dying language, we need to learn it’.” Also, while there they found a man with knowledge of the  Amurdag  language, which had previously been thought extinct.

The researchers said all five of the hot spots identified were areas that had been successfully colonized and where a dominant language such as Spanish or English was threatening native tongues.

1.What does this text mainly talk about?

A. A study on native languages endangered.

B. The knowledge of native languages.

C. People’s efforts in saving native languages.

D. Harrison and his study on languages.

2.The underlined word“vanishing”in the second paragraph can be best replaced by         .

A. developing   B. changing        C. increasing     D. Disappearing

3.According to Harrison, language extinction         .

A. causes the researchers lots of worries

B. speeds up the pace of species extinction

C. threatens the existing of Spanish and English

D. brings about a loss of knowledge about the environment

4.Which of the following can be described as good news?

A. Native languages became less endangered in Australia.

B. A man was found with knowledge of the Amurdag language.

C. Researchers were well received by native people in Australia.

D. Many schoolchildren showed interest in the Yawuru language.

 

OUR PROMISE

Making your stay a complete success is our goal. Just let our manager on duty of front-desk staff know if any part of your stay isn’t satisfactory. We promise to make it right or you won’t pay for that part of your stay.

FORGET SOMETHING?

If you forget to pack any standard toiletry item(tooth brush, toothpaste, shaving cream, razor or comb), just call the front desk and we’ll get you a free replacement（替代）right away.

PLEASE REUSE THE TOWELS

We invite you to join with us to save water by using your towels（毛巾）more than once.

In addition to decreasing water and energy waste, you can help us reduce the amount of waste water that must be recycled within our community.

Please hang the towels up if you wish to participate in the program---if not, simply leave them on the floor.

We appreciate your help!

PLEASE CHANGE THE SHEETS TODAY

The Project Planet Program is an effort of this hotel to protect the environment through saving water and decreasing waste water. If you are staying with us more than one night, as part of the Project Planet Program, we will wash your sheets every three days.

If you would prefer not to participate in this program, simply hang this card on the outside of your door and sheets will be changed right away. As always sheets are automatically changed after every guest checks out.

We appreciate your help!

We can find this passage in a            in a hotel.

       A．café bar    B．front desk C．fitness center    D．guest room

If you forget your comb, you can            .

       A．buy one in the hotel shop       B．replace one with a tooth brush

       C．ask for one from the service center D．go in person and get one at the front desk

Leaving the towels on the floor means            .

       A．you want to participate in the program   B．you want the room-maid to hang it up

       C．you need them collected and washed      D．you want to use them more than once

What is the Project Planet Program trying to do?

      A．Make your bed sheets cleaner. B．Work for a better environment.

       C．Help guests checking out faster.      D．Persuade guests to stay longer.

The world’s native languages are dying out at an unprecedented(空前的) rate, taking with them irreplaceable(不能替代的) knowledge about the natural world, according to a new study.

The study identified five global “hot spots” where languages are vanishing faster than anywhere else ---- eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, the US state of Oklahoma and the US Pacific Northwest. “Languages are suffering a global extinction crisis that greatly goes beyond the pace of species extinction,” linguistics(语言学的) professor David Harrison noted, who said half of the world’s 7,000 languages were expected to disappear before the end of the century.

Native people had an intimate(详尽的) knowledge of their environment that was lost when their language disappeared, along with other certain things often unfamiliar to us, Harrison stressed. “Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it’s only in people’s heads,” he said. “We are seeing in front of our eyes the loss of the human knowledge base.”

Harrison was one of a team of linguists who carried out the study. The researchers traveled to Australia this year to study native languages, some of the most endangered. According to Harrison, in Australia, they were heartened to see a woman in her 80s who was one of the only three remaining speakers of the Yawuru language passing on her knowledge to schoolchildren. He said such inter-generational exchanges were the only way native languages could survive. “The children had elected to take this course, no one forced them,” he said. “When we asked them why they were learning it, they said, ‘This is a dying language, we need to learn it’.” Also, while there they found a man with knowledge of the Amurdag language, which had previously been thought extinct.

The researchers said all five of the hot spots identified were areas that had been successfully colonized and where a dominant language such as Spanish or English was threatening native tongues.

60. What does this text mainly talk about?

A. A study on native languages endangered.  

B. The knowledge of native languages.

C. People’s efforts in saving native languages. 

D. Harrison and his study on languages.

61. The underlined word “vanishing” in the second paragraph can be best replaced by         .

A. developing

B. changing

C. increasing

D. disappearing

62. According to Harrison, language extinction         .

A. causes the researchers lots of worries

B. speeds up the pace of species extinction

C. brings about a loss of knowledge about the environment

D. threatens the existing of Spanish and English