Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how language first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the language of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about three thousand languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.

There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present-day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 years ago.

    Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time, some even die out completely. About 1,000 years ago, English was a little known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.

If a language has a number of speakers, or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of people. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can’t understand speakers from other parts.

1.The first paragraph mainly tells us that_______.

A. most people in the world speak Chinese

B. there are thousands of languages in today’s world

C. man has much knowledge about languages

D. some people know several languages

2.Most European and Indian languages_______.

A. will soon die out completely

B. were once a relative of English

C. are no longer spoken

D. come from the same family of language.

3.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

  A. Chinese is the language with the most speakers.

  B. English was a well-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.

  C. A language has many speakers, but there may be no differences in the way it is spoken in different areas.

  D. Speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can understand speakers from other parts.

4.It is considered a most difficult thing for one to learn to speak Chinese because_______.

A. there are great differences between the dialects of Chinese

B. Chinese and many foreign languages are not of the same family

C. Chinese is a very old language

D. there are great differences between the old Chinese and the present-day Chinese

5.The underlined word “dialect” in the last paragraph means_______.

A. a special language spoken by Chinese

B. the sign used by Chinese people in a special area

C. the difference between the old and today’s Chinese

D. the form of a language used in one part of the country

 

Many people have to work 46 . Some people do not mind. Other people think it's terrible.
One man thinks that working at the weekends can be 47 . He is George Smith. Mr Smith works in an office, in Brighton, England.
On Saturday, May 24, 1986, he went to the office to do some work. After he 48  the lift, it stopped between floors. Mr Smith could not get out of the lift. He began to shout, but 49  heard him. Then Mr Smith remembered that it was a holiday in England. No one was going to come to work 50 Tuesday.
There was 51    for Mr Smith to do. He had to wait until one of his workmates came to work and found him. With nothing to 52  , Mr Smith was very hungry and had to sleep most of the time.
Early on Tuesday morning, one of his workmates came into work and found the lift 53  . When the lift was opened, Mr Smith came out cold, weak, and tired. He had been in the lift for 54  hours!
Now Mr Smith says, "I only use lifts if they have 55  in them. "

【小题1】

A．from Monday to Friday B．at the weekends C．on weekdays D．from morning till night

【小题2】

A．dangerous B．happy C．angry D．free

【小题3】

A．got off B．got into C．got out of D．got to

【小题4】

A．someone B．everyone C．no one D．either

【小题5】

A．on B．to C．from D．until

【小题6】

A．nothing B．something C．anything D．everything

【小题7】

A．read or write B．eat or drink C．cook D．know the time

【小题8】

A．was not there B．was not closed C．was not working D．was working

【小题9】

A．nearly 24 B．about 40 C．more than 60 D．over 94

【小题10】

A．pans B．beds C．exits D．telephones

One day, I went to see my last patient(病人), an old woman. In the doorway, I saw she was struggling (挣扎) to put socks on her swollen (浮肿)feet in the bed. I stepped in, spoke quickly to the nurse, read her chart noting. I was almost in the clear that she was not in serious condition.

I asked, “Could I help put on your socks? How are you feeling? Your sugars and blood pressure were high but they're better today. The nurse mentioned you're anxious to see your son. He's visiting you today. It's nice to have a family visit. I think you really look forward to seeing him."

"Sit down, doctor. This is my story, not yours." She said with a serious voice.

I was surprised as I helped her with the socks. She told me that her only son lived around the corner from her, but she had not seen him in five years. She believed that was the main cause of her health problems. After hearing her story and putting on her socks, I asked if there was anything else I could do for her. She shook her head no and smiled. All she wanted me to do was to listen.

Each story is different. Some are detailed; others are simple. Some have a beginning, middle and end; others don’t have clear ends. Some are true; others not. Yet all those things do not really matter. What matters to the storyteller is that the story is heard — without interruption(打断) or judgment(评价).

It was that woman who taught me the importance of stopping, sitting down and truly listening. And, not long after, in an unexpected accident, I became a patient. 20 years later, I sit all the time — in a wheelchair.

For as long as I could, I continued to see patients from my chair. I believe in the power of listening.

1. How was the old woman?

A. Her feet were swollen.                 B. Her sugars were high. 

C. She was not badly ill.                 D. Her blood pressure was better.

2.How did the doctor know that the old woman’s son was visiting her? 

A. The nurse told him.          B. The old woman told him.

C. The woman’s son told him.    D. The doctor got it from her chart noting.

3.What did the old woman think caused her health problems?

   A. Her son’s not seeing her.       B. No one listening to her story.

   C. The medical care of the hospital.  D. The distance between her and her son.

4.When the patient told the doctor her stories, what she needed might be ______.

   A. keeping smiling                                        B. interruption or judgment

C. listening without interruption           D. communicating with each other

5.Which statement is NOT right according to the passage?

A. Her son lived close to her house.

B. The old woman didn’t need the doctor’s treatments.

C. Listening is powerful medicine.

D. The doctor has to “walk” with the help of a wheel chair.

 

Here are two stories from different parts of the world. They seem strange but, believe it or not, they re all true!

John Lee was an Englishman who refused to be hanged! In 1884 the police said Lee had killed an old woman who he used to work with. There was nothing to show that Lee had killed the woman. Lee told the police he hadn't done it, but no one believed him and he was going to be hanged. On the day of the hanging, however, the door in the floor, through which Lee's body would fall, did not open. They tried three times but each time the door stayed closed, even though it had worked well the day before. In the end they sent Lee back to prison, where he lived for the next twenty-two years. At all times, John Lee said he hadn't killed the woman, and he believed it was the "hand of God" that had saved him from death by hanging.

The police in Venezuela (委内瑞拉) in South America followed a man home one night. He was the thief they wanted to catch. However, half of his house was standing in Venezuela and the other half was standing in Colombia (哥伦比亚). Venezuela's neighbor. When the police entered the house, the man ran upstairs to his bedroom, which was in Colombia, and called his lawyer (律师). The Venezuelan police were not allowed to enter Colombia so they could not enter the bedroom. They asked the police in Colombia to help. The Colombian police refused to help because the man's crime (罪行 )was not a crime in Colombia. In the end, the Venezuelan police gave up and went back to the police station.

1.The underlined（下划线) word "hanged" in this passage probably means _.

A. shut in a room » 

B. questioned by the police

C. killed by putting a rope around the neck

D. kept in a place

2. What do we¹ know about the door in the floor?

A. It had opened the day before the hanging.

B. It had been broken a long time.

C. After three times, it opened.

D. John Lee's dead body fell through it.

3.From the story we know that the thief's bedroom was____.

A. in Venezuela B. in Colombia

C. in neither Venezuela nor Colombia I), in both Venezuela and Colombia

4.Why didn't the Venezuelan police go into the man's bedroom?

A. They didn't know where it was.

B. The Venezuelan police were not allowed to enter Colombia.

C. The police in Colombia told them that (hey would help.

D. The police in Colombia told them not to go inside.

5. The police in Colombia didn't help the police in Venezuela to catch the thief because

A. they didn't know where he was

B. the police in Venezuela didn’t ask for help

C. the man's lawyer told them not to help

D. the man's crime was not a crime in Colombia