Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16^th century when English rulers fried to conquer(征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921. The British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland. In the north, is part of the united kingdom. The republic of Ireland. In the south. Is an independent country.

In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes ,was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of bunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work , forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.

For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.

The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly, Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”, Since independence, Ireland has revived(复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different are as have different styles of old Irish song which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.

1.what does the author tell us in paragraph 1 ?

A. how the Irish fought against the English.

B. how Ireland gained independence.

C. how English rulers tried to conquer Ireland.

D. how two ”Irelands” came into being.

2.we learn from the text that in Ireland____________.

A. food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population

B. people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside

C. it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker

D. different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments

3.the last paragraph is mainly about____________.

A. the Irish character

B. Irish culture

C. Irish musical instruments

D. a famous Irish writer

4.what can be the best title for the text?

A. Life in Ireland B. A very difficult history

C. Ireland, past and present    D. the independence of Ireland

 

单词拼写（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）

1.The boy, s______________ of stealing the collected money, is being closely watched over.

2.To their d_______________, their son was admitted into a famous university.

3.Word came that our football team was d_____________again. 

4.If we work with a strong will, we can o___________ any difficulty, however great it is.

5.He joined the group c______________of five young men.

6.It is impossible to know in ______________ (提前) what will happen.

7.The old man is respected by the people because he has____________(贡献) to the country.

8.Disneyland offers its visitors ___________（各种各样的）activities.

9.The girl made a great________(印象) on her neighbours and they spoke highly of her.

10.All ____________(航班) have been put off because of the heavy snow.

 

 

Liu Qian, a magician from Taiwan, cast his spell(魔法)over an audience of thousands on the CCTV Spring Festival Show. Die-hard fans are still trying to work out the secrets behind many of the tricks he performed.

But Liu, 32, when asked, laughed off the idea that there might be an “answer” to his magic. “The most fascinating things about magic is the puzzling process. People enjoy how magicians make the impossible come true,” said Liu.

Few people today believe in the possibility of real magic. They also often fail to consider magicians’ devotion to their art. It can take a magician years’ of practice to perfect a trick before he performs it on stage.

Part of Liu’s star appeal is his astonishing skill. However, when he began in the industry, he was embarrassingly clumsy. “I could practice thousands of times for one single act. It wasn’t much fun,” he said.

No magician’s supernatural powers on stage extend to their life off stage. Liu says his life was no easier or funnier because he was a magician.

He developed an interest in magic at a young age, but didn’t consider making a living out of it until he graduated from university. He had studied Japanese language and found himself unable to find a job. “My parents never considered being a magician as a proper job. To begin with, I had little confidence I would be doing this in the long term,” he said.

Yet Liu felt a powerful calling to become a magician. “For many people, magic somehow means a miracle, which is something we all secretly wish for no matter how hard-bitten or cynical (愤世嫉俗的)we become,” he said.

Liu may be right. A popular modern dream is of the fairy godmother, who waves her magic wand (棒) and makes our dreams come true. But according to Liu, we all have the power to create magic in our lives. As Liu puts it: it’s not the magic that makes it work；it’s the way we work that makes it magic.

1. According to the passage, we can tell that ________.

A. being a famous magician, Liu Qian leads a comfortable life

B. it is a hard job for magicians to perform magic tricks well

C. Liu Qian’s parents supported his wish of earning a living by being a magician

D. Liu Qian showed great talents in performing magic tricks when he first took it up

2. As to whether there’s real magic, Liu Qian believes ________.

A. there is no real magic and what counts in our life is the way we work

B. if we secretly wish for something, magic will turn out to be a miracle

C. the puzzling process of performing magic tricks is the answer to magic

D. there exists a fairy godmother waving her magic wand to make our dreams come true

3. Which of the following sayings is similar to the underlined sentence in meaning?

A. All roads lead to Rome.                B. Easier said than done.

C. Actions speak louder than words.       D. Where there is a will, there is a way.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A. Magic in our lives                     B. The answer to magic

C. A popular magician from Taiwan         D. The way to become a successful magician

 

Everybody may have seen the film “Death on the Nile (n. 尼罗河)”, but nobody can imagine that the writer of the story, Agatha Christie, saved a baby in a most unusual way.

In June 1977, a baby girl became seriously ill in Deleville. Doctors there were unable to find out the cause of her illness, so she was sent to a famous hospital in London, where there were many excellent doctors. The baby was so seriously ill that a team of doctors hurried to examine the baby without delay. The doctors, too, were puzzled by the baby’s illness and they also became discouraged. Just then a nurse asked to speak to them.

“I think the baby is suffering from thallium (n. 铊) poisoning. ” said the nurse. “A few days ago, I read a story ‘A Pale Horse’ written by Agatha Christie. Someone uses thallium poison, and all the symptoms are written in the book. They are exactly the same as the baby’s.”

“You’re very good at observing things,” said a doctor, “and you may be right. We’ll carry out some tests and find out whether the cause is thallium poisoning or not.”

The tests proved that the baby had indeed been poisoned by thallium. Once they knew the cause, the doctors were able to give her correct treatment. The baby soon got well and was sent back to Deleville A week later, it was reported that the poison might have come from an insecticide (n. 杀虫剂) used in Deleville.

1.The baby was sent to a hospital in London because __________.

A．her parents were living in London then

B．the hospitals in Deleville were full at that time

C．she was the daughter of a famous doctor in London

D．doctors in Deleville were not sure about the cause of her illness

2.When the baby was first sent to the hospital in London, her illness was considered to be ____________.

A．quite easy to treat

B．the result of thallium poisoning

C．a common one

D．extraordinarily serious

3.From this passage it seems that the baby’s illness had something to do with __________.

A．a dead writer

B．the water in Deleville

C．a dangerous murderer

D．a harmful substance (n. 物质) used to kill pests

4.As far as we can tell from the story, Agatha Christie ____________.

A．had never met this baby

B．had spent a long time studying the baby’s illness

C．visited the baby both in Deleville and London

D．gave the nurse some advice on the telephone

 

Poetry is an interesting form of writing. It is very free, has few restrictions and can be a great way to express feelings. Writing a poem is all about observing the world within you or around you.

To write a poem, first you should begin with an idea or inspiration. Inspiration may come at any time unexpectedly. It may be a specific person, place or thing that causes some sort of strong emotion. It may be more of an abstract idea or release of emotion.

After getting the idea, you can write down everything that comes to mind. Don’t think much and let all feelings pour out. Remember everything can be thrown out later.

Then, you can think about its form and begin to organize thoughts. Poetry comes in many forms, from epic poetry that has a story to dramatic poetry intended to be performed. Try them all out. One will come naturally. Maybe different poems fit different forms. When you write a poem, think about both meter (韵律) and rhythm carefully, which are equally important in poetry. Meter is the fixed pattern of the poem, while rhythm refers to the sound when it is spoken. It is also important to use a lot of descriptive words. Create imagery (意象) with words, trying to make them attractive to all the senses. For auditory (听觉的) interest, try repeating of similar sounds in a sentence or phrase. All of this adds life and interest to a poem.

After you finish your work, don’t be afraid to share your work with others. When others point out your weakness, accept and grow from it.

1.What does the underlined word “restriction” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?_______

A．Change.

B．Order.

C．Limitation.

D．Organization.

2.When you begin to write a poem, you should first 　　　.

A．begin with some specific persons	B．come up with an idea
C．describe a famous place	D．organize your thoughts

3.We can infer from the text that 　　　.

A．writing poems needs imagination and the ability to use language well

B．people can get more ideas if they often share their poems with others

C．people should first learn to write epic poetry, then dramatic poetry

D．people need to write down every feeling they want to release at a time

4.What’s the purpose of the text?_________

A．To tell readers how to write a poem.

B．To encourage more people to write poems.

C．To show what quality a good poem should have.

D．To teach people how to appreciate poems.