A few years ago, I took a sightseeing trip to Washington, D.C．Standing outside the Ronald Reagan Center, I heard a voice say, “Can you help me?” When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended．In a natural reflex （反应）, I reached into my pocket, pulled out all of my loose change and placed it on her hand without even looking at her．I was annoyed at being bothered by a beggar．But the blind woman smiled and said, “I don’t want your money．I just need help finding the post office.”

     In an instant, I realized what I had done．I judged another person simply for what I assumed she had to be．I hated what I saw in myself．This incident re-awakened my belief in humility(谦恭), even though I’d lost it for a moment．

     The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant．I left Honduras and arrived in the U.S．at the age of 15．I started my new life with two suitcases, my brother and sister, and a strong, serious-minded mother．Through the years, I have been a dishwasher, mechanic and pizza delivery driver among many other humble jobs, and eventually I became a network engineer.

     In my own life, I have experienced many open acts of prejudice (偏见)．I remember a time, at age 17 ----- I worked as a waiter, and I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well in school, he would end up like me．I have also witnessed the same treatment of my family and friends, so I know what it’s like, and I should have known better．

     But now, living in my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to be going．That blind woman on the streets of Washington, D.C., cured me of my blindness．She reminded me of my belief in humility and to always keep my eyes and heart open．By the way, I helped that lady to the post office．And in writing this essay, I hope to thank her for the priceless lesson．

We can learn from the first two paragraphs that __________ ．

       A．the author regretted his act of prejudice

       B．the blind woman needed the money badly

       C．the author was as poor as the blind woman

       D．the author was a native American

According to Paragraph 4, hearing the father’s words, the author was probably _____ ．

       A．rather hurt     B．very excited      C．deeply moved      D．greatly inspired

According to the passage, the author probably agrees that one should ________ ．

       A．be nice to the elderly and the disabled

       B．try to experience different kinds of life

       C．treat others equally with love and respect

       D．think about one’s past as often as possible

Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

       A．Learn from your past

       B．How my dream comes true

       C．A belief that will never change

       D．A priceless lesson in the street

A story from the Bible tells of old Babylon, where the men decided to build a tower that would touch the sky．But God was unhappy, and he made them speak different languages．They couldn’t understand each other, so their dream never came true．

Yet the dream remains alive: if all men speak the same language, they can do anything．L．L．Zamenhof from Poland was among the men who pursue this dream．He developed Esperanto（世界语）between 1877 and 1885．

As the most successful man-made world language, it is spoken by over two million people around the world．Last month, the World Esperanto Congress（大会）, dealing with language rights, ended in Sweden．The 2004 conference will be held in Beijing．Most Esperanto speakers are in Central and Eastern Europe and in East Asia, particularly Chinese mainland．

Esperanto has two advantages．First, it’s easy．Each letter has exactly one sound and there are just 16 basic grammar rules．The second advantage is that it belongs to no one country．But Esperanto has only reached a small number of people compared with natural languages widely used around the world-such as English or Chinese．While these languages are deeply connected with their nations and cultures, Esperanto doesn’t have this background．

Will Esperanto really become a global language? It remains a question．

The writer tells us a story at the beginning to          ．

           A．explain why men have been making the effort to create a language shared by all

              B．explain why men now speak different languages

              C．show the relationship between man and God

              D．prove that language is very important

What does the underlined word “pursue” in the second paragraph mean?

              A．“Realize”．     B．“Work for”．   C．“Be against”． D．“Follow”．

What is the basic difference between Esperanto and English?

              A．More people speak English than Esperanto．

              B．Esperanto words are easier to spell．

              C．Esperanto has fewer grammar rules．

              D．Esperanto is not supported by any country or culture．

What does the story mainly talk about?

              A．Advantages and disadvantages of Esperanto．

              B．Men’s dream of sharing the same language．

              C．The most successful planned language-Esperanto．

              D．Comparison of Esperanto and other languages like English and Chinese．

A friend and I were standing in line at the grocery store the other day, and I was telling her how lazy my children were．I had come in from work that morning, and like most times, my house was wrecked.

  “I believe children nowadays are just out for what they can get．They can never help keep our house clean.” I said, feeling unhappy.

“Do you know how happy you are?” a woman behind us asked．“I would love to go home and find my house a mess．I wouldn’t mind my floor being dirty．Nor would I mind the dirty clothes being piled high．I wouldn’t even mind anyone talking about my dirty home．I would love it．I would love to kick my way through the house just to get to my kids and be able to hug them, kiss them and tell them how much I love them．You see, my two children were killed in an accident． My house stays clean; my clothes stay put up; the dishes are done.”

“There are no fingerprints on my walls．There are no sounds of arguing, either．So you see, you are very lucky．I would give anything to be going through what you are now! How I’d love to be able to hold my kids, wipe away their tears and share their dreams! I wouldn’t care how my house looked．I would be happy just to have them.”

Now if you come into my house and see a big mess, you can think bad thoughts if you want, but I feel greatly blessed.(268 words)

The writer was complaining about her children to her friend because they ____.

       A．would go out without permission   B．couldn’t keep the house clean

       C．made her look dirty and bad   D．were too lazy to hug or kiss her

My house was wrecked in the first paragraph means my house _____.

       A．was very dirty                     B．was broken into

       C．needed to be painted       D．looked beautiful

What is the main idea of the passage?

       A．Children shouldn’t be left home alone.

       B．A mother lost her children in an accident.

       C．People should be thankful for what life gives.

       D．A mother complained about the mess at her house.

A mobile phone is in fact a small radio.A radio sends a person’s voice over a long way to another radio.A voice that is sent by radio is called a signal.A radio signal travels very quickly.

　 Only a few years ago，mobile phones were very large.They needed large batteries.They had to be powerful to send their signal to faraway places.This was because most cities had only one antenna tower for mobile phones.

　 Today’s mobile phones are small and easy to use.Now most cities have a lot of antenna towers，not just one.This means that each mobile phone doesn’t have to send its signal far away，so they don’t need to be so powerful.Mobile phones today use small batteries.A large city，where lots of mobile phones are used，can have hundreds of towers.

　 Do you know what use a mobile phone has? Yes，you can use it to do a lot of things.

　 Call your friends and family from almost anywhere.

　 Call the police immediately if there is an accident in the street.

　 Send or receive messages.

　 Sending short written messages is a popular way to use your mobile phone.Many people use short forms of words，so the messages are quick to write and read.Can you guess what these messages mean? Try reading them out.What do you hear?

　 RUOK?

　 CUL8r!

　 That’s EZ!

　 Will I C U B4 2moro?

　 That’s Gr8!

1.The writer talks about 　　　　 uses of a mobile phone.

　 A.three 　　　　 B.five 　　　　 C.seven 　　　　 D.nine

　

2.Why did the mobile phones need large powerful batteries some years ago?

　 A.Because most cities had only one antenna tower.

　 B.Because the mobile phones were too large.

　 C.Because the mobile phones could be used for a long time.

　 D.Because the mobile phones had to send their signal to faraway places.

3.What does the writer think of today’s mobile phones?

　 A.They are small but very powerful.

　 B.They are very popular and cheap.

　 C.They are very easy for us to use.

　 D.They are big enough to send a signal.

　

4.What does “Will I C U B4 2moro？” probably mean?

　 A.Will I see you before two past four in the morning?

　 B.Will I see you by 4∶02 in the morning?

　 C.Will I see you before tomorrow?

　 D.Will I see you by four tomorrow?

　

5.What does the writer write the article (文章) for?

　 A.To give us some common knowledge of the mobile phone.

　 B.To introduce how the mobile phone works and what use it has.

　 C.To tell us what short forms of words mean in written messages.

　 D.To show us in what way the mobile phone is expected to develop.

 

“NOW I just don't believe that. ”Surely all of us, at some point, have watched a movie and thought: It's simply badly researched，or the makers must think we're fools. Recently, The Daily Telegraph ran a humorous piece on untrue tech moments from some top movies. Let’s see what they are all about.
Tom Chiver, the writer of The Daily Telegraph uses his first example from the movie Independence Day, in which a character comes up with a virus（病毒）which destroys Windows the computer system the alien （外星人）spacecraft uses. “It's a good thing that they didn't have Norton Anti-virus，” jokes  Chivers.
It's just one case of a movie that takes a lot of license with its science. Another one Chivers mentions is from the movie Star Wars, where the glowing light beams (光束）traveling through space look very impressive. But the problem is that in space there are no air particles (粒子）for the light to reflect off. In reality, they'd be invisible（看不见的）, which wouldn’t look so cool on the big screen.
Most people think that the mind—bending Matrix films are made for great viewing. But for Chivers, the science in the movies is a little bit silly. He comments “…the film is based on the idea that humans are kept alive as electricity generators (发电机). This is not just unlikely —it's basically impossible. They would need more energy to stay alive than they would produce. It's just like saying that you'll power the car with batteries, and keep the batteries charged by running a generator from the wheels. ”
And finally, as Chivers points out, DNA is not replaceable. But this bit of elementary genetics passed the makers of the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day by. In the film the bad guy has “gene treatment” to change his appearance and his DNA, which is completely impossible in our real world.
【小题1】Which of the following does the writer agree with about the movie Independence Day?

A．It's a science fiction movie.

B．It's about the alien spacecraft.

C．It's produced by Tom Chiver.

D．It's a jokey and humorous one.

【小题2】 What is mainly talked about in the 4^th paragraph?

A．How we can power the car with batteries.

B．How Tom Chiver thinks of the Matrix films.

C．How humans are kept alive as power generator.

D．How the Matrix films are made for great viewing.

【小题3】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The movie Star Wars is about the light beams in space.

B．The author doesn't take the science in movies seriously.

C．Nowadays nobody believes in science movies any more.

D．There is a horrible virus in the movie Independence Day.

【小题4】The underlined word “They” in the 4^th paragraph refers to ______.

A．human beings	B．car wheels
C．Matrix films	D．electricity generators