On Sunday morning, a strong earthquake hit Indonesia and then big tsunamis(海啸) followed. They soon went on to other countries in the south and southeast Asia as well as East Africa.
Tsunamis are especially dangerous for children. By Wednesday,  nearly 60 000 people died because of the tsunamis. 30% of them were children,  and most of them were 5 to 12 years old.
In open seas tsunamis are only one or two metres high. When they are near land, they are as high as 10 metres,  Houses and cars near the sea can be taken away by these big waves. Because tsunamis move fast and can travel to another side of the sea within one day, they may affect(影响)a lot of places.
The Pacific Ocean(太平洋)has a lot of strong tsunamis because of the size of the ocean and large earthquakes there. China doesn\'t see tsunamis often because its sea floor is quite flat(平的). Islands around China also help the country avoid from them.
What should you do when there\'s a tsunamis? Move to a safe place. If you are near the sea and you feel the earth shake, move to higher ground. Stay away from rivers and streams(溪流).
Reported by "China Daily" on Friday, December 31st, 2004.

1. The big Asian tsunamis first happened________.

A. on Friday morning               B. on the morning of December 26th
C. on December 31st, 2004          D. three days ago

2. Which places did the big tsunamis hit?
A. All the coastal(海岸的) countries.
B. Only in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
C. South and southeast Asia as well as East Africa.
D. Vietnam(越南)and India.

3. Why does the Pacific Ocean have a lot of strong tsunamis?
A,  Because there are few islands in the ocean.
B,  Because of the strong wind on the sea.
C,  Because there are many Asian countries around the Pacific Ocean.
D. Because of the large earthquakes and the size of ocean.

4. Which of the following is wrong?
A. In open seas tsunamis are one or two metres high.
B. Tsunamis can\'t travel to another side of the sea within 24 hours.
C. Most of the children who died in tsunamis were under 5-12 years old.
D. China\'s sea floor is quite flat and tsunamis seldom happen.

5. You should________ when there\'s a tsunamis according to the passage.
A. listen to a weather report
B. try to find out what will happen
C. run to the policeman for help
D. get to a higher and safer place as soon as possible

　　Only a hundred years ago, people seldom traveled far out of their birthplace. Books were very expensive and there were few national（国家的）newspapers and no radio or TV. In fact, most people spent their time talking and listening. And only a little reading and writing went on and many people were unable to read and write. For this reason, native dialects（方言）grew up and people spoke as their parents and grandparents did. A Cornwall woman who traveled just as far as London would find that people spoke a complete different language.

　　Sometimes it is hard to take in just how much things have changed. You always have books around, read magazines and newspapers, have different TV or radio programs. You and everyone around you, often travel not just in British islands but all of the world. Modern science has changed our life and distances（距离）have been made shorter. It might have taken a Cornwall woman three days to travel to London. Now it takes less than two hours by air, less than four by train and less than six by road.

　　The result of this is that the language we use is becoming more national and the dialect are dying out. Writing, printing（印刷）and broadcasting（广播）have speeded up this change as one dialect has come to be used by more and more people. This is the dialect called Standard（标准的）English which was first used outside London in the south and east Midlands.

(1) From the passage we know that a century ago __________.

[　　]

A．people wouldn't like to leave their birthplace

B．there were neither books nor newspapers

C．most people couldn't read and write

D．people learned to read and write from their family members

(2) If a Cornwall woman went to London a hundred years ago, she would find _________.

[　　]

A．London was not far from her birthplace

B．London was a strange city

C．she could easily understand London people

D．she could hardly understand London people

(3) Things have changed so much that people are not _____________ any more.

[　　]

A．watching TV and listening to the radio

B．reading books and magazines

C．traveling just within the British islands

D．traveling over tile world

(4) English is becoming more national because ________ .

[　　]

A．distances have been made shorter by modern science

B．it takes a Cornwall woman less time to travel to London

C．the capital of England has been moved to a place near Cornwall

D．people mustn't speak dialect in England

(5) Today Standard English is __________.

[　　]

A．dying out slowly

B．used by more and more people

C．used in east Midlands only

D．used by London people only

A woman repeated a bit of gossip (流言) about a neighbour. Within a few days the whole neighbourhood knew the story. The neighbour was deeply hurt. Later the woman responsible (负责) for spreading the gossip learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old man to find out what she could do to repair the harm.
“Go to the marketplace,” he said. “and buy a chicken, and have it killed, then on your way home, pluck (拔) its feathers and drop them one by one along the road. ” Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.
The next day the wise man said, “ Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me. ”
The woman followed the same road, but she was so discouraged when she found the wind had blown all the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.
“ You see, ” said the old man, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back . So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a gossip, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.”
【小题1】The woman was very _________ the harm she had done to her neighbour.

A．happy about

B．angry about

C．sorry for

D．excited about

【小题2】Which of the following statements is TURE?

A．The gossip didn’t hurt anyone at all.

B．The wise man was not kind enough.

C．The woman found all the feathers at last.

D．The woman was given a lesson.

【小题3】What the wise man said has nearly the same meaning as the Chinese phrase “_________”

A．覆水难收

B．无中生有

C．欲速不达

D．得道多助

A woman repeated a bit of gossip (流言) about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole neighborhood knew the story. The neighbor was deeply hurt. Later the woman learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old man to find out what she could do to repair the harm.
“Go to the market,” he said, “and buy a chicken, and have it killed, then on your way home, pick its feathers(毛) and drop them one by one along the road.” Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.
The next day the wise man said, “Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me.”
The woman followed the same road, but she was so discouraged when she found the wind had blown all the feathers away. After looking for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.
“You see,” said the old man, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back. So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread（散布） a gossip, but once you do, you can never completely undo（弥补） the wrong.”
【小题1】Why did the woman feel sorry?

A．She didn’t know the story.

B．She hurt her neighbor deeply.

C．She was hurt deeply.

D．She was told an untrue story.

【小题2】The underlined word “discouraged” might mean          .

A．surprised

B．excited

C．upset

D．pleased

【小题3】Which of the following statements is true?

A．The gossip didn’t hurt anyone at all.

B．The wise man is not kind enough.

C．All the feathers had been blown away..

D．The woman was given a lesson.

【小题4】What the wise man said has nearly the same meaning as the Chinese phrase “_________”.

A．覆水难收

B．无中生有

C．欲速不达

D．得道多助

A woman repeated a bit of gossip (流言) about a neighbour. Within a few days the whole neighbourhood knew the story. The neighbour was deeply hurt. Later the woman responsible (负责) for spreading the gossip learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old man to find out what she could do to repair the harm.
“Go to the marketplace,” he said. “and buy a chicken, and have it killed, then on your way home, pluck (拔) its feathers and drop them one by one along the road. ” Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.
The next day the wise man said, “ Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me. ”
The woman followed the same road, but she was so discouraged when she found the wind had blown all the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.
“ You see, ” said the old man, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back . So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a gossip, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.”
【小题1】The woman was very _________ the harm she had done to her neighbour.

A．happy about

B．angry about

C．sorry for

D．excited about

【小题2】Which of the following statements is TURE?

A．The gossip didn’t hurt anyone at all.

B．The wise man was not kind enough.

C．The woman found all the feathers at last.

D．The woman was given a lesson.

【小题3】What the wise man said has nearly the same meaning as the Chinese phrase “_________”

A．覆水难收

B．无中生有

C．欲速不达

D．得道多助