Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea．People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.

Tea remained scarce and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.

At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea．Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added．She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.

At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess (公爵夫人) found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born.

1.Which of the following is true of the introduction of tea into Britain?

2.This passage mainly discusses_____________.

3.Tea became a popular drink in Britain_____________.

4.People in Europe began to drink tea with milk because_____________.

5.We may infer from the passage that the habit of drinking tea in Britain was mostly

due to the influence of  ________.

On Thursday afternoon Mrs. Clarke, dressed for going out, took her handbag with her money and her key in it, pulled the door behind her to lock it and went to the over 60s Club. She always went there on Thursdays. It was a nice outing for an old woman who lived alone.
At six o’clock she came home, let herself in and at once smelt cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke in her house? How? How? Had someone got in? She checked the back door and the windows. All were locked or fastened, as usual. There was no sign of forced entry.
Over a cup of tea she wondered whether someone might have a key that fitted her front door — “a master key” perhaps. So she stayed at home the following Thursday. Nothing happened. Was anyone watching her movements? On the Thursday after that she went out at her usual time, dressed as usual, but she didn’t go to the club. Instead she took a short cut home again, letting herself in through her garden and the back door. She settled down to wait.
It was just after four o’clock when the front door bell rang. Mrs. Clarke was making a cup of tea at the time. The bell rang again, and then she heard her letter-box being pushed open. With the kettle of boiling water in her hand, she moved quietly towards the front door. A long piece of wire appeared through the letter-box, and then a hand. The wire turned and caught around the handle on the door-lock. Mrs. Clarke raised the kettle and poured the water over the hand. There was a shout outside, and the skin seemed to drop off the fingers like a glove. The wire fell to the floor, the hand was pulled back, and Mrs. Clarke heard the sound of running feet. 
【小题1】Mrs. Clarke looked forward to Thursday because       .

A Municipal Report(Adapted from a story by O．Henry)(Ⅱ)
Azalea Adair herself opened the door when I knocked．She was about 50 years old．Her white hair was pulled back from her small，tired face．She wore a pale yellow dress．It was old，but very clean．
Azalea Adair led me into her living room．A damaged table，three chairs and an old red sofa were in the center of the floor．
Azalea Adair and I sat down at the table and began to talk．I told her about the magazine's offer an she told me about herself．She was from an old southern family．Her father had been a judge．
Azalea Adair told me she had never traveled or even attended school．Her parents taught her at home with private teachers．We finished our meeting．I promised to return with the agreement the next day, and rose to leave．
At that moment，someone knocked at the back door．Azalea Adair whispered a soft apology and went to answer the caller．She came back a minute later with bright eyes and pink cheeks．She looked ten year younger．“You must have a cup of tea before you go，”she said．She shook a little bell on the table，and small black girl about twelve years old ran into the room．
Azalea Adair opened a tiny old purse and took out a dollar bill．It had been fixed with a piece of blue paper and the upper right hand comer was missing．It was the dollar I had given to Uncle Caesar．“Go to Mr．Baker's store，Impy ,”she said，“and get me 25 cents' worth of tea and ten cents' worth of sugar cakes． And please hurry．”
The child ran out of the room．We heard the back door close．Then the girl screamed．Her cry mixed with a man's angry voice．Azalea Adair stood up．Her face showed no emotion as she left the room．I heard the man's rough voice and her gentle one．Then a door slammed and she came back into the room．“I am sorry，but I won't be able to offer you any tea after all，” she said．“It seems that Mr．Baker has no more tea．Perhaps he will find some for our visit tomorrow．”
We said good-bye．I went back to my hotel．
Just before dinner, Major Wentworth Caswell found me．It was impossible to avoid him．He insisted on buying me a drink and pulled two one-dollar bills from his pocket．Again I saw a torn dollar fixed with blue paper, with a corner missing．It was the one I gave Uncle Caesar．How strange，I thought． I wondered how Caswell got it．
63．We can judge from her behavior that Miss Adair was       ．
A．polite and elegant      B．confident and determined
C．poor and miserable    D．capable and hardworking
64．Adair seemed          after coming back from the back door．
A．as calm as before    B．sadder    C．excited    D．surprised
65．The angry man with a rough voice outside might be           ．
A．Uncle Caesar    B．Mr．Baker    C．Caswell  D．A stranger
66．When the narrator saw Caswell again at his hotel，he was surprised         ．
A．that Caswell should find him
B．that Caswell insisted on buying him a drink
C．that Caswell pulled two one-dollar bills from his pocket
D．to find Caswell had the torn dollar bill with a comer missing

It was Monday. Mrs. Smith’s dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house. Considering that there was no better way, Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it “Give my dog half a pound of meat.” Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently, “Take this to the butcher（屠夫）, and he’s going to give you your lunch today.” Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher’s. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady’s handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once. At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more. The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers(顾客). But, the dog came again at four o’clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher’s more surprise, it came for the third time at six o’clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, “This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”

Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!

1.The little dog went to the butcher’s ________ altogether during the two days.

2.The butcher did not give any meat to the dog __________.

A. before he felt sure that the words were really written by Mrs. Smith on Monday

B when he found that the words on the paper were not clear

C. because he had sold out all the meat in his shop

D. until he was paid enough by Mrs. Smith

3.From the story, we can know that the dog was very ___________.

4.At the end of the story, you’ll find that __________.

Learners of English, especially self-taught learners may have trouble in understanding speeches by native speakers. The following ways might help improve their listening ability.
First of all, do things step by step. It is not good to listen to something beyond your level. Better choose a suitable course and start with the first book. Go on to the second book only after you are sure you understand the first one.
Secondly, stick to one course of study. Don’t change books often. Never let your attention be attracted by another course just because it seems to be more “fashionable”. 
Thirdly, listen to the English news program over the radio from time to time.  Better go through the news stories in the Chinese-language newspaper first. That will make it easy for you to understand the English news on the radio.
Fourthly, if you have time, listen to some interesting stories in “Special English from the V.O.A. or other listening materials of the same level as that of your textbook”.
【小题1】This is a piece of advice to learners of English on how to ________.