Attending a university is an important part of a person’s life. Today, many people go to a university to study and train for a future job in subjects like law, medicine, or education. But the university is not a modern invention. It has a history that is over a thousand years old.

The world’s oldest university, Al-Azhar, is in Cairo, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque in A.D. 972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque in “tutoring circles”. They read and talked about the subject of law. Around 988, leaders in the city of Cairo decided to create a school for higher learning and the University of Al-Azhar was founded.

At Al-Azhar, there were many university ‘firsts.’ Courses were created. The earliest ones taught at Al-Azhar were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teacher, but there was also free discussion. Often, students and teachers talked about a topic, and there was no ‘right’ answer. Finally, scholars from around the world came to Al-Azhar to teach and do research. At the university, people studied the past, but it was also a place for sharing new ideas.

Over a thousand years later, Al-Azhar is still an important university in the world. Its library contains more than 250,000 of the world’s oldest and most valuable books. Today, many of the world’s most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the traditions started at Al-Azhar.

What’s this passage mainly about?

  A. The history of the world’s oldest university.

  B. The importance of attending a university.

  C. The relationship between university and future job.

  D. The invention of a modern university.

The first university was founded over _____ years ago.

  A. a hundrend           B. hundreds of                     C. a thousand                D. thousands of

The oldest university in the world is _____.

  A. Oxford                 B. Cambridge               C. Harvard                   D. Al-Azhar

What does the underlined word “course” mean in this passage?

  A. A series of lessons.                                    C. A period of time.

  C. A series of actions.                                    D. A group of professors.

What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

  A. How many books are in the Al-Azhar’s library.

  B. How valuable the Al-Azhar’s books are.

C. Why Oxford and Harvard still follow Al-Azhar’s pattern.

D. How Al-Azhar still holds an important role in the world.

Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D.  Fill in each blank with word or phrases that best fits the context.(15points)

Have you ever felt that you were just studying to pass a test? Today many   36   and companies around the world use standardized tests such as TOEFL to   37   students’ abilities. Thousands of people every year take these kinds of tests in order to enter or graduate from a school, or get a better job.

In many educational systems throughout the world, students take regular multiple-choice (多项选择的) achievement tests. They have to  38  these tests in order to move to a higher level, or graduate from an educational institution. Many supporters of this type of traditional evaluation believe that students learn best, and  39  their knowledge, by memorizing facts, and  information.

Many  40  of this way of learning also believe that teaching students to pass a test means teaching them to do lots of exercises.

Educational reformers, however, believe that standardized tests are  41  and can only measure some of a student’s ability. They suggest that many students, though intelligent, are not  42  good at taking tests, or at memorization. This makes it harder for them to achieve passing grades, get into good schools, or get the right jobs. In addition factors such as how a person feels on the day of a test can also  43  his or her score. Using only a multiple-choice style of test to evaluate students’ abilities cannot always tell us  44  they have learned, or how they may do in the future.

To use standardized tests or not to --- the debate  45 . Meanwhile, many students’ futures are still decided based on their test results.

36. A. schools               B. factories            C. teachers             D. bosses

37. A. develop                     B. learn                 C. know                D. measure

38.A. understand           B. fail                   C. pass                  D. have

39.A. explain                B. increase             C. remember          D. recite

40.A. experts                B. parents              C. students             D. supporters

41.A. limited                B. excellent           C. terrible              D. perfect

42.A. never                  B. always                     C. sometimes         D. even

43.A. add                        B. lower                C. affect                D. keep

44.A. why                    B. that                   C. how                  D. what

45.A. begins                 B. ends                  C. continues           D. stops

课文背默填空

1. New Zealand is __________ by the Pacific Ocean to the north and east, and Tasman Sea to the south and west.

2. More than 120 years later, Captain James Cook took ____________ of the islands in 1769 and from that time British people started to settle in New Zealand.

3. By 1840 about 2,000 Europeans, mainly British, had come to settle in New Zealand and the Maori signed an ___________ with these settlers.

4.Over time, many farming techniques have been modernized: ___________ fertilizers are now used and electric pumps are used in ____________.

5.It was _________ the early 1990s that scientists started to develop new techniques to increase agricultural production without harming the _____________.

6. Today, many vegetables are not grown in gardens but in _________ where they are ________ from the wind ,rain and insects.

7. A _________ of GM watermelons will be seedless and there is GM rice ,sometimes called “golden rice”, __________ will have more vitamins and can grow in poor soil.

8.Funny plays often have characters that are stereotypes of _________ or people doing certain job.

9. _________ back to the Qin Dynasty, the traditional crosstalk shows, or xiangsheng shows have made people all over China roar with ___________ for centuries.

10.Just like spoken language, body language __________ from culture to culture.

Attending a university is an important part of a person’s life. Today, many people go to a university to study and train for a future job in subjects like law, medicine, or education. But the university is not a modern invention. It has a history that is over a thousand years old.

The world’s oldest university, Al-Azhar, is in Cairo, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque in A.D. 972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque in “tutoring circles”. They read and talked about the subject of law. Around 988, leaders in the city of Cairo decided to create a school for higher learning and the University of Al-Azhar was founded.

At Al-Azhar, there were many university ‘firsts.’ Courses were created. The earliest ones taught at Al-Azhar were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teacher, but there was also free discussion. Often, students and teachers talked about a topic, and there was no ‘right’ answer. Finally, scholars from around the world came to Al-Azhar to teach and do research. At the university, people studied the past, but it was also a place for sharing new ideas.

Over a thousand years later, Al-Azhar is still an important university in the world. Its library contains more than 250,000 of the world’s oldest and most valuable books. Today, many of the world’s most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the traditions started at Al-Azhar.

1.What’s this passage mainly about?

2. The first university was founded over _____ years ago.

3.The oldest university in the world is _____.

4. What does the underlined word “course” mean in this passage?

A. A series of lessons.                                    C. A period of time.

C. A series of actions.                                    D. A group of professors.

5.What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

Do you like to eat out? Do you like to eat quickly? Do you like inexpensive food? Some people go to fast-food restaurants for these reasons. In the past, people usually went to diners（小餐馆）for these reasons. In fact, many people in the States still go to diners today for the same reasons.

   A man named Walter Scott had the first “diner” in 1872. It wasn’t a real diner. It was only a food cart(手推车). People on the street walked up to the cart to buy food. These carts served late-night workers who wanted a cup of coffee and a late-night meal. The meal was a sandwich or boiled eggs. In 1887, Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside. However, they did not sit down. Later, people built diners with counters and stools, and people sat down while they ate.

   Before long, many diners stayed open around the clock. In other words, people were able to eat in diner at any time. Diners changed in other ways, too. The original menu of sandwiches and coffee became bigger. It included soup, favorite dishes, and a breakfast menu. In addition, diners soon became permanent(永久的) buildings. They were no longer carts on wheels.

Diners today look similar to the diners of the early 1900s. They are usually buildings with large windows. Inside, the diners have shining counters with stools, booths, and tables and chairs. People can eat all three meals in a modern diner.

   Today, many people eat in fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger King. However, the diner remains an American tradition, and thousands of people still enjoy eating there. It was popular a century ago, and it is still popular today.

A man named Walter Scott had the first “diner” in 1872. Why is the word “diner” in quotation marks(引号)？

A. Because it is spelled differently from “ dinner”

B. Because the first diner was not what it is now

C. Because diner was a new word

D. Because it is special.

What meals did the first diners serve?

A. Only breakfast  B. Only lunch   C. Only night-meals  D. All of the above

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Diners existed before a fast-food restaurant.

The menu included more food than sandwiches and coffee.

C. Burger King is a fast-food restaurant.

D. Sandwiches became bigger.

The main idea of the passage is that ______________.

A. The diner is a traditional , popular place to eat in the United States.

B. Samuel Johns built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside.

C. American diners serve many types of food 24 hours a day to their customers.

D. Diners are different from fast-food restaurants in many ways.