A young father was visiting an old neighbor．They were standing in the old man's garden，talking about children. The young man said，“How strict should parents be with their children？”

  The old man pointed to a string（绳子）between a big strong tree and a thin young one． “Please untie（解开）that string，” he said．The young man untied it，and the young tree bent over to one side．“Now tie it again， please，” said the old man，“but first pull the string tight so that the young tree is straight again．”

  The young man did so．Then the old man said，“There，it is the same with children．You must be strict with them，but sometimes you must untie the string to know how they are getting on．If they are not yet able to stand alone，you must tie the string tight again．But when you find that they are ready to stand alone，you can take the string away．”

The story is about ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

  A． how to take care of young trees   

B． how strict parents should be with their children

  C． how the young father should get on with his old neighbor

  D． how to tie and untie the string

The young man untied the string ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

  A． in order to throw it away          

B． so that both of the trees would grow straight

  C． only to find that the thinner one bent over to one side

  D． in order to let the old man teach him

When can the string be taken away？＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

  A． When the old man has left                

B． After you have untied it

  C． When the young man has untied it next time

  D． When the young tree grows strong enough

At last the old man told the young man ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

  A． that he should be strict with his children if they could not yet stand alone

  B． that he should always be strict with his children    

C． that he should be hard on them

  D． that he should tie his children until they are ready to stand alone

(NEW YORK) A French tourist highly praised for rescuing a two-year-old girl in Manhattan said he didn’t think twice before diving into the freezing East River.

   Tuesday’s Daily News said 29-year-old Julien Duret from France was the man who left the spot quickly after the rescue last Saturday.

   He lifted the little girl out of the water after she fell off the bank at the South Street Seaport museum. He handed the girl to her father, David Anderson, who had dived in after him.

   “I didn’t think at all,” Duret told the Daily News. “It happened very fast. I reacted very fast.”

   Duret, an engineer on vacation, was walking with his girlfriend along the pier(码头) when he saw something falling into the water. He thought it was a doll, but realized it was a child when he approached the river. Immediately, he took off his coat and jumped into the water.

   When he reached the girl, she appeared lifeless, he said. Fortunately, when she was out of the water, she opened her eyes.

   Anderson said his daughter slipped off the bank when he was adjusting his camera. An ambulance came later for her, said Duret, who was handed dry clothes from onlookers. Duret caught a taxi with his girlfriend shortly after.

   The rescue happened on the day before he left for France. Duret said he didn’t realize his story of heroism had greatly moved New York until he was leaving the city the next morning.

   “I don’t really think I’m a hero,” said Duret. “Anyone would do the same thing.”

Why was Duret in New York?

   A. To meet his girlfriend.               B. To spend his holiday.

   C. To work as an engineer.              D. To visit the Andersons.

What did Duret do shortly after the ambulance came?

   A. He was interviewed by a newspaper.

   B. He went to the hospital in the ambulance.

   C. He disappeared from the spot quickly.

   D. He asked his girlfriend for his dry clothes.

Who dived after Duret into the river to save the little girl?

   A. David Anderson     B. A passer-by   C. His girlfriend    D. A taxi driver

What is probably the headline of this news report?

   A. A Careless Father                   B. A Poor Girl

   C. Warm-hearted Onlookers             D. Brave Frenchman Found

People have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hunted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals. Or perhaps human beings have always wanted to tell stories in pictures.

About 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet.

The Egyptians used to record information and to tell stories by putting picture-writing and pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was buried. Some of these pictures are like modern comic strip stories. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic strip. But, for the Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it.

By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area around the Mediterranean Sea had developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world.

These days, we can write down a story, or record information, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds: drawing, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the street, and on the walls of the places where we live and work. Pictures help us to understand and remember things more easily, and they can make a story much more interesting.

Pictures of animals were painted on the walls of caves in France and Spain because ______.

A. the hunters wanted to see the pictures    

B. the painters were animal lovers

C. the painters wanted to show imagination

D. the pictures were thought to be helpful

The Greek alphabet was simpler than the Egyptian system for all the following reasons      EXCEPT that _______.

   A. the former was easy to write    

B. there were fewer signs in the former    

C. the former was easy to pronounce

D. each sign stood for only one sound

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The Egyptian signs later became a particular alphabet.

B. The Egyptians liked to write comic-strip stories.

C. The Roman alphabet was developed from the Egyptian one.    

D. The Greeks copied their writing system from the Egyptians.

In the last paragraph, the author thinks that pictures ___________.

A. should be made comprehensible

B. should be made interesting

C. are of much use in our life     

D. have disappeared from our life

“If there is one thing I’m sure about, it is that in a hundred years from now we will still be reading newspapers. It is not that newspapers are a necessity. Even now some people get most of their news from television or radio. Many buy a paper only on Saturday or Sunday. But for most people reading a newspaper has become a habit passed down from generation to generation.

The nature of what is news may change. What basically makes news is what affects our lives — the big political stories, the coverage of the wars, earthquakes and other disasters, will continue much the same. I think there will be more coverage of scientific research, though. It’s already happening in areas that may directly affect our lives, like genetic engineering. In the future, I think there will be more coverage of scientific explanations of why we feel as we do — as we develop a better understanding of how the brain operates and what our feelings really are.

It’s quite possible that in the next century newspapers will be transmitted(传送) electronically from Fleet Street and printed out in our own home. In fact, I’m pretty sure that how it will happen in the future. You will probably be able to choose from a menu, making up your own newspaper by picking out the things you want to read — sports and international news, etc.

I think people have got it wrong when they talk about competition between the different media. They actually feed off each other. Some people once foresaw that television would kill off newspapers, but that hasn’t happened. What is read on the printed page lasts longer than pictures on a screen or sound lost in the air. And as for the Internet, it’s never really pleasant to read something just on a screen. 

31. What is the best title for the passage?

A. The Best Way to Get News                    B. The Changes of Media

C. Make Your Own Newspaper                  D. The Future of Newspaper

32. In the writer’s opinion, in the future, _______. 

A. more big political affairs, wars and disasters will make news

B. newspapers will not be printed in publishing houses any longer

C. newspapers will cover more scientific research

D. more and more people will watch TV

33. What will probably be on in the newspaper made by yourself?

A. Sports and international news.                          B. A menu of important news.

C. The most important news.                            D. What you are interested in.

34. From the passage, we can infer _______. 

A. newspapers will win the competition among the different media

B. newspapers will stay with us together with other media

C. television will take the place of newspaper

D. the writer believe some media will die out

35. The phrase “feed off” in the last paragraph means _______. 

A. depend on                                            B. compete with

C. fight with                                            D. kill off

I was paid last week,but I can’t remember the exact __________ of the money.

A.number              B.value          C.amount              D.percent