A new plan for getting children to and from school is being started by a local government in Eastern England. This could end the worries of many parents fearful for their children's safety on the roads．
Until now the local government have only been prepared to provide bus services for children living more than three miles from their school, or sometimes less if special reasons existed．Now it has been decided that if a group of parents ask for help in organizing transport they will be prepared to go ahead, as long as the arrangement will not lose money and children taking part will be attending their nearest school．
The new plan is to be tried out this term for children living at Milton who attend Impington School．The children live just within the three-mile limit and the local government have said in the past that they will not agree to provide free transport to the school．But now they have agreed to offer a sum of money for a bus service from Milton to Impington and back, a plan which has the support of the school's headmaster．
Between 50 and 60 parents have said they would like their children to take part．Final calculations have still to be carried out, but a government official has said the cost to parents should be less than ￡20 a term．
They have been able to arrange the service at a low cost because there is already an agreement with the bus company for a bus to take children who live further away to Impington．The same bus would now just make one more journey to pick up the Milton children．The official said they would get in touch with other groups of parents who in the past had asked if transport could be provided for their children, to see if they would like to take part in the new plan．
【小题1】What is the aim of the plan?

A．To prevent the students' road accidents．

B．To relieve the traffic pressure．

C．To save time for the parents and students．

D．To help the parents save money．

【小题2】How can the local government arrange the new bus service at a low cost?

A．By letting the bus run in the morning only．

B．By limiting the number of the students．

C．By obtaining the support from the headmaster．

D．By linking the new bus service with the existing one．

【小题3】The new bus service will be paid for by ______．

A．the parents

B．the local government

C．the bus company

D．the local government and the parents

【小题4】Which of the following is possible if the plan is carried out?

A．The bus company will make much more money．

B．The children can choose whatever school they like．

C．The parents can get rid of their worries．

D．The students in Impington school can have free bus rides．

【小题5】This passage is most probably ______．

A．a personal letter	B．an advertisement
C．a headmaster's report	D．a newspaper article

The tragic death of celebrity Wang Bei has made people aware of the risks of cosmetic surgery, which is becoming increasingly popular．

       A survey on the reaction to Wang's death, conducted by Tencent, which runs China's most popular instant-messaging service, received more than 600,000 responses, as of press time Monday．Forty-one percent of respondents expressed sorrow over her death, saying, "It's a pity she died at such a young age．" Some 31 percent said she should have been more cautious and less vain, while 10 percent were enraged at the hospital that conducted the surgery．The remaining 18 percent were indifferent．

       A common thread of online discussion is why someone considered beautiful was so dissatisfied with her looks．Some netizens said Wang was a victim of society's unrealistic ideal of beauty: double eyelids, an aquiline nose and the pointed chin typical of Western celebrities．Others said her death underscores the limits to which people will go to achieve fame and fortune．Young people, see cosmetic surgery as the key to wealth and love．

       "They want to improve their appearance to find better opportunities at work and in marriage," says Ding Xiaobang, a plastic surgeon with the Peking Union Medical College Hospital．"We're living in a highly competitive society．People regard appearance as a weapon and a means of empowerment…Most of them tell me, 'I don't care how much I spend, just make me look beautiful'．" In the past decade, Ding says he Has seen a growing number of patients, like Wang Bei, who are young and naturally good-looking．The surgeon attributes this trend to people becoming richer, the standards of beauty changing, competition and frustration．

       "Some are frustrated with life and use surgery as a way to try and recover," lie says．

       The surge in demand for plastic surgery has resulted in a rise in the number of unauthorized business establishments and surgeons conducting such procedures．

       Meanwhile, experts say, young and beautiful people who still seek plastic surgery need to address their self-awareness issues and be more accepting．

       “They’ve built their identity around the admiration of others and fail to establish a system to assess themselves," says Zhu Wenbo, a psychologist with Blue Bay Psychological Consulting Center in Chengdu．"People's opinions always change, so this is not a reliable way to evaluate oneself．"

Most people are       toward the death of Wang Bei according to the survey.

       A．sympathetic     B．indifferent       C．enraged    D．not mentioned

Why is there such a trend of having medical cosmetic surgery according to Ding Xiaobang?

       A．People become richer.

       B．The standard the beauty always changes.

       C．People suffer fierce competition and frustration now and then.

       D．All of the above.

What kind of people is regarded as a beauty nowadays?

       A．a person with single eyelid, an aquiline nose and a  pointed chin

       B．a person with double eyelids, an aquiline nose and a pointed chin

       C．a person with double eyelids, a snub nose and a pointed chin

       D．a person with double eyelids, a snub nose and a chubby chin

The purpose of the text is to           .

       A．inform us that cosmetic surgery becomes popular.

       B．emphasize that young people should re-evaluate themselves rationally.

       C．raise concerns about the risk of medical cosmetology industry.

       D．state that people’s standard of beauty always changes.

For eighty four days old Santiago had not caught a single fish. At first a young boy, Manolin, had shared his bad fortune, but after the fortieth luckless day the boy’s father told his son to go in another boat. From that time on, Santiago worked alone. The boy loved the old fisherman and  always helped him with money and food. Usually, they would talk about the fish they had taken in luckier times or about American baseball after supper, while at night, alone in his cottage, Santiago dreamed of lions on the beaches of Africa, where he had gone years before. He no longer dreamed of his dead wife.
On the eighty-fifth day, Santiago set off to fish before dawn. Two of his baits(饵) were fresh tunas(金枪鱼) the boy had given him, as well as sardines(沙丁鱼) to cover his hooks. Then he set his lines which went straight down into deep dark water.
As the sun rose he saw other boats in toward shore. A bird showed him where dolphin were chasing some flying fish. This time Santiago saw tuna jumping in the sunlight. A small one took the hook on his line. Pulling the fish aboard, the old man thought it a good fortune.
Toward noon a marlin, a common fish in the sea, started eating the bait which was one hundred meters down. Gently the old man played the fish, a big one, as he knew from the weight on the line. At last he struck to settle the hook. The fish did not come out of the surface. Instead, it began to pull the boat to the northwest. The old man followed it. Although he was alone and no longer strong, he had his skill and knew many tricks. He waited patiently for the fish to be tired .
It was cold after the sunset. When something took one of his remaining baits, he cut the line with his knife. Once the marlin leaned suddenly, pulling Santiago forward on his face and cutting his cheek. By dawn his left hand was cramped(抽筋的). The fish had headed northward; there was no land in sight. Hungry, he cut pieces from the tuna and chewed them slowly.
That morning the fish jumped. Seeing it, Santiago knew he had hooked the biggest marlin he had ever seen. Then the fish went down and turned toward the east. Santiago drank a little water from the bottle during the hot afternoon.
Close to nightfall a dolphin took the small hook he had rebaited. He lifted it aboard, careful. After he had rested, he cut meat from the dolphin and kept also the two flying fish he found in its stomach. That night he slept. He awoke to feel the line running through his fingers as the fish jumped. Feeding line slowly, he tried to tire the marlin. After the fish slowed its run, he washed his cut hands in sea water and ate one of the flying fish. At sunrise the marlin began to circle. Faint, he worked to bring the big fish nearer with each turn. Almost exhausted, he finally drew his big fish alongside and drove in the harpoon(鱼叉). The fish was two feet longer than the boat. No fish like it had ever been seen in Havana harbor.
An hour later, he sighted the first shark, a fierce Mako, and it came in fast to chase after the dead marlin. The old man struck the shark with his harpoon. The Mako rolled and sank, carrying the harpoon with it and leaving the marlin bloody. He knew the smell would spread. Watching, he saw two sharks closing in. He struck at one with his knife and watched it sliding down into deep water. The other he killed while it tore at the flesh of the marlin. When the third appeared, he thrust(刺) it with the knife. The other sharks came at sunset. At first he tried to beat them with the tiller(舵柄) from the boat, but his hands were bleeding and there were too many in the sea. In the darkness, as he steered toward the harbor of Havana, he heard them hitting the boat again and again. But the old man thought only of his steering and his great tiredness. He had gone out too far and the sharks had beaten him. He knew they would leave him nothing but the stripped skeleton of the big marlin.
All lights were out when he sailed into the little harbor and beached his boat. He could just make out the white backbone and the upstanding tail of the fish. Once he fell under their weight and lay patiently until he could gather his strength to go on. In his cottage he fell on his bed and went to sleep.
【小题1】The above story is adapted from __________.

A．Treasure Island	B．The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer
C．The Old Man And The Sea	D．The Son Of The Sea

【小题2】Why did the man feel that he could be lucky this time?

A．Because a small tuna took the hook on his line.

B．Because he dreamed about the American lions.

C．Because he saw many flying fish were chased by the dolphins.

D．Because a lot of sharks followed his boat.

【小题3】According to the text, which statement is NOT true about Manolin?

A．The boy had mercy on Santiago.

B．The boy often shared his stories with Santiago.

C．The boy showed his great concerns to Santiago.

D．The boy was Santiago’s adopted son.

【小题4】Why does Santiago let the marlin lead his boat instead of pulling the big fish up?

A．He wanted to kill the marlin first before he pulled it up to the boat.

B．He was too tired and hungry to pull the big fish up.

C．His experience told him not to do so before the fish was tired out.

D．He wanted to use the marlin as a bait to catch the sharks.

【小题5】 Which sentence below can be used to best describe Santiago’s character?

A．“He no longer dreamed of his dead wife.”(Para 1)

B．“Although he was alone and no longer strong, he had his skill and knew many tricks.”(Para4)

C．“Almost exhausted, he finally drew his big fish alongside and drove in the harpoon.”(Para7)

D．“Once he fell under their weight and lay patiently until he could gather his strength to go on .”(Para 9)

【小题6】 According to the text, what will be talked about in the next paragraph?

A．the man’s action to realize his dream about the lions.

B．people’s reflection when they saw the giant marlin outside.

C．people’s discussion about how they ate the giant marlin.

D．a funeral held by the boy and the local people after his death.

Valentine’s Day is named for Saint Valentine, an early Christmas churchman who helped young lovers. Valentine was killed for his Christian beliefs on February 14 more than 1700 years ago, but the day which is named after him is even earlier than that.
More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Romans celebrated a holiday for lovers. As part of the celebration, girls wrote their names on pieces of paper and put them in a large container. Boys reached into the container and pulled one out. The girl whose name was written on the paper became his lover or sweet heart for a year.
Now, lovers still put their names on pieces of paper and they sent each other Valentine’s Day cards that tell of their love. Sometimes they also send gifts, like flowers or chocolate candies. Americans usually send these gifts and cards through the mail system. But some use another way to send this message. They have it printed in a newspaper. The cost is usually a few dollars. Some of the messages are simple and short, “Jane, I love you very much”. Others say more. This one, for example, “Dan, Roses are red. Violets are blue. I hope you love me as much as I love you. Forever, May.”
Most of the newspapers that print such messages are local, but USA Today is sold throughout the United States and 90 other countries. This means someone can send a Valentine message to the lover in a far-away place almost anywhere in the world. These messages cost 80 dollars and more. An employee of USA Today says readers can have a small heart or rose printed along with their messages this year. Will this kind of Valentine’s Day message reach the one you love? Well, just make sure he or she reads the newspaper.
【小题1】When was the day named after Valentine?

A．More than 1700 years ago before Valentine’s death.	B．More than 2, 000 years ago.
C．On February 14.	D．It is not mentioned in the passage.

【小题2】 Which of the following is Wrong about the ancient Romans holiday in the text?

A．Girls put paper with their names into a container.

B．Boys and girls became sweet hearts by chance.

C．Girls and boys chose life lovers in the holiday.

D．It was celebrated as a holiday for lovers.

【小题3】Now lovers celebrate Valentine’s Day _________.

A．like what the ancient Romans did	B．by sending gifts to each other
C．by printing newspapers	D．by spending lots of money

【小题4】 What can we learn from the text?

A．The ancient Roman girls were more easy-going.

B．Valentine was killed for not helping the government.

C．USA Today helps readers to send roses with printed messages.

D．Valentine was honored for his Christian belief and warm heart.

【小题5】The text is written to _________.

A．tell us something about Valentine’s Day	B．advertise for USA Today
C．tell us that Americans are open to express love	D．sell roses on Valentine’s Day