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 cheap drug that can stop bleeding in people recently injured in an accident could potentially save the lives of tens of thousands worldwide, a new study says.

  Researchers studied the effects of tranexamic acid （凝血酸）, or TXA, in more than 10,000 injured people in 40 countries who received the drug within 8 hours of being injured. The study was published in the medical journal Lancet. Doctors found that patients who got TXA had a 15percent lower chance of dying from hemorrhage than those who didn’t get it . They also had a 10 percent lower chance of dying from any other cause, including organ failure and a head injury. The study was paid for by the British government.

  The drug is commonly used in wealthy countries during elective surgeries(外科手术) to stop bleeding , but isn’t used for accident victims. TXA is off-patent and made by many companies. It costs about $4.5 per gram, and a typical dose is two grams. It is usually given via an injection（注射） and would be relatively easy to introduce, even in poor countries, experts said.

  Previous tests of the drug regarded its use in elective surgeries, such as heart operations, but this was the first study to test the drug on accident victims. Doctors were worried it might increase side effects such as blood clots （凝块）in the heart and lungs, strokes, or heart attacks. There was no evidence of that in the Lancet study, though the authors said it was possible they might have missed some of these incidents.

  For people between 5 and 45, accidents are the second leading cause of death worldwide after AIDS, and about 600,000 injured patients bleed to death every year. Experts estimated that if TXA were readily available, between 70,000 and 100,000 lives a year could be saved. Though the drug wasn’t tested on children , experts said it would almost certainly work with them as well.

The underlined word” hemorrhage” in Paragraph 2 probably means ________

 A. serious illness    B. heart disease     C. heavy bleeding   D. lack of drug

What can we learn about TXA from the passage?

 A. It can only be made in England     B. It was only used in operations before

 C. It is a patented drug              D. It is mainly used in poor countries

Doctors were worried about using TXA because ________

 A. a lot of patients died unexpectedly after using it

 B. it has no treatment effect on patients

 C. it can cause blood clots or stroke

 D. they hadn’t used it on accident victims before

What do we know from the last paragraph?

 A. It is a pity that TXA wasn’t widely used on injured patients before

 B. Tests have proved that TXA can be used on children

 C. People between 5 and 45 should be injected with TXA every year

 D. Accidents are the first leading cause of death worldwide.

D
At the railway stations all across Britain next week, groups of students will gather with their backpacks to wait for the trains that will carry them home for Christmas. This is a large movement of human beings as before, but with more contradictory traffic flows, so that trains filled with the young pass each other travelling in every direction.
At first, I went home every weekend with my washing, but then those visits became less regular. How did I let my parents know I was coming? They had no phone. Perhaps I wrote to them (“Expect me with dirty shirts this Friday afternoon”), but more likely I didn’t let them know, and just turned up or didn’t turn up, not understanding that my parents’ hopes of seeing me were a greater disappointment of my carelessness than a spoiled tea.
And in all this I suspect I was typical (有代表性的), at least of young men. As for our fathers and mothers, none of them talked of “empty-nest syndrome (综合症)”, even though its possible effect that the main human duty is to protect and feed the young would have suited their generation better than ours. Then, the feeling of loss went without a name. Today, it’s a condition with remedies, which will make parents feel more enjoyable in their life, The Mayo Clinic, for example, suggests you try to maintain regular contact with your children through “visits, phone calls, emails, texts or video chats”. If you feel unhappy, lean on (depend on … for support) loved ones or your mental health providers. Above all, stay positive: “Thinking about the extra time and energy that you might have to devote to your marriage or personal interests after your last child leaves home, it might help you adapt to this major life change.”
What can’t be denied, however, is that children often leave home. In modern societies, this is what they do. Christmas is the very time they can be depended on to return. For the non-religious, that may be this season’s true comfort and significance.
【小题1】The main reason for the busy traffic across Britain next week is that _______.

B
Compassion (同情) is a desire within us to help others. With effort, we can translate compassion into actions. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part—time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers，and it’s easy to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday，one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy marl walked up to my register with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash，had just moved into his room，and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.
I couldn’t help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before，and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul，all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry，and the store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this，but I valued my job.
Just then，another man，standing behind the first，spoke up. if anything，he looked more pitiable, “Charge it to me,” was all he said.
What I had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft，safe and easy. Compassion，on the other hand，is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed，either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.
59．The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits            .
A．promised to obey the store rules          
B．forgot to take any money with him
C．hoped to have the food first and pay later
D．could not afford anything more expensive
60．Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?
A．kind and lucky        B．poor and lonely
C．friendly and helpful D．hum and disappointed
61．The writer followed the store rules because        .
A．he wanted to keep his present job
B．he felt no pity for the old gentleman
C．he considered the old gentleman dishonest
D．he expected someone else to pay for the old gentleman
62．What does the writer 1earn from his experience?
A．Wealth is most important than anything else.
B．Helping others is easier said than done.
C．Experience is better gained through practice.
D．Obeying the rules means more than compassion.

B
We have two daughters: Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that  their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then they would take the guests’ coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.
The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.
Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly, the younger one, admiring her dress, her hair and her smile. They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.
I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big “to do” over  the younger one because she’s the one who seems more easily hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.
But we seldom think of how it might affect the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being outshined. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying.
I said, “What are you doing, my dear?”
She turned to me with a sad expression and said, “Mommy, why don’t people like me the way they like my sister?” Is it because I’m not pretty? Is that why they don’t say nice things about me as much?
I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging her to make her feel better.
Now, whenever I visit a friend’s home, I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.
59. The underlined expression “make a big ‘to do’ over” (Paragraph 4) means “_____” .
A. show much concern about               B. have a special effect on
C. list jobs to be done for                    D. do good things for
60. The guests praised Kelly for carrying coats upstairs because of her________.
A. beautiful hair                                 B. pretty clothes           
C. lovely smile                                   D. young age
61. Kristen felt sad and cried because_________.
A. the guests gave her more coats to carry
B. she didn’t look as pretty as Kelly
C. the guests praised her sister more than her
D. her mother didn’t introduce her to the guests
62. We can conclude from the passage that______.
A. parents should pay more attention to the elder children
B. the younger children are usually more easily hurt
C. people usually like the younger children more
D. adults should treat children equally