LONDON — Britain awoke on Easter Monday to a period of mourning for the Queen Mother, who died over the weekend after a life spanning a century of noisy and evident change. The 101-year-old royal matriarch died in her sleep last Saturday with Queen Elizabeth, her elder and only surviving daughter, at her bedside. For a woman who was one of the best-known figures in Britain for more than 80 years — from the era of tinted portraits on tin biscuit boxes and cigarette cards to the age of the Internet, the Queen Mother remained an enigmatic(不可思议的) and elusive(躲避的) figure.

She achieved such a respect through aeons(永世, 亿万年) of, first, fawning and, later, intrusive media fascination, by remaining almost entirely silent. Her private thoughts were never paraded(炫耀) in public. What the public saw was a charming and benign elderly lady, adept at winning the admiration of press photographers, whom she always favoured with a particular smile.

CHINA’s third unmanned spacecraft, Shenzhou Ⅲ, landed safely in central Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Monday afternoon, after orbiting the earth 108 times in slightly less than a week. The craft, which lifted off from Jiuquan in Gansu Province last Monday night, landed after successfully conducting a chain of flight and scientific experiments over a period of 162 hours.

A powerful earthquake jolted Taiwan, killing five construction workers, authorities(官方) said. Over 200 injuries ware reported across the island, mostly minor, as a result of Sunday’s 7.5-magnitude quake. The quake was centred off Hualien, 180 kilometres east of Taipei. It struck at 2:53 pm and lasted for nearly a minute.

1. Which of the following statements is true according to the news?

　　A. The Queen Mother died on Easter Monday alone.

　　B. The Queen Mother was an attractive person in her political life.

　　C. The British people felt sorry for the death of the Queen Mother.

　　D. The Queen Mother was suffering a lot when she was dying.

　　2. It can be inferred that _______.

　　A. the craft landed in central Inner Mongolia unexpectedly

　　B. it took the craft at least 2 hours to orbit the earth once

　　C. the Chinese scientists did a lot of experiments in space

　　D. China was successful in sending an unmanned spacecraft into space

3. The third news mainly talks about the _______ in Taiwan.

    A. political matters                         B. social problems

　　C. unexpected damage                     D. construction workers

Just by living, it is apparent that the media has profound effects on people. How or why or to what degree, only the individual can judge for himself/herself. No matter if the media is small or major, everyday events are what effects people. A commercial about ice cream can send millions running to the nearest grocery store ready to try the new flavor.

While reading the online article about how poor sleep contributes to health problems, I was surprised to hear that not getting enough sleep was such a big problem. I was absolutely freaked out (使震惊) by this article, so right after I decided to get a good night's rest from then on. That night I drank hot tea, took a long bubble bath and listened to peaceful music before bed. I didn't sleep a wink that night, and it's because of the pressure I was putting on myself to “sleep well”. This article has macro effects because it is possible that many people have read the article and been affected.

Another media effect is a movie. It is originally a novel that is adapted into a movie. I normally hate literature that is put into film, but this was an exception. My mother was in love with the book Pride and Prejudice, so when I went to Blockbuster the other night it caught my eye. I rented the movie and fell in love with it. I was in fact so inspired by the movie that I decided to read the book. Thus, it was an unintended (无意识的) effect because the writer/adapter did not produce this movie thinking that it would make viewers want to read more classic books.

1. What is mainly talked about in the passage?

A. The different kinds of the media.

B. The effects of the media on people.

C. Our pressure under the influence of the media.

D. Our addiction to the media.

2. The author decided to read the book Pride and Prejudice because ________.

A. his mother liked reading it

B. the movie was well produced

C. he didn't like the movie

D. the producer wanted viewers to do so

3. The last paragraph is written to show that ________.

A. the media can influence us in a positive way

B. a movie is usually a poor betray of a classic book

C. people usually like movies instead of original works

D. we can't love a classic without reading the original work

4. The author probably believes that________.

A. the influence of the media is usually misleading

B. we should remain calm under the influence of the media

C. the media can cause great pressure to people

D. people can't avoid the influence of the media in their daily life

5. The author's attitude towards the media can be described as ________.

A. subjective    B. negative  C. objective  D. positive

I don’t think he could have done such a stupid thing last night, _____?

A. did he     B. could he      C. do I        D. hasn’t he

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 the word or phrase that best fits the context.

Oliver Twist, one of the most famous works of Charles Dickens, is a novel reflecting the tragic fact of the life in Britain in the 19th century.

The author who himself was born in a poor family wrote this novel in his twenties with a view to reveal the ugly masks of those cruel criminals and to 36  the horror and violence hidden underneath the narrow and dirty streets in London.

The hero of this novel was Oliver Twist, an orphan, who was thrown into a world full of  37

and crime. He suffered enormous pain, 38  hunger, thirst, beating and abuse. While reading the tragic experiences of little Oliver, I was shocked by his sufferings. I 39  the poor boy, but at the same time I detested the evil Fagin and the brutal Bill. To my relief, as was written in all the best stories, the goodness eventually conquered  40   and Oliver lived a happy life in the end. One of the plots that attracted me  41  is that after the theft, little Oliver was allowed to recover in the kind care of Mrs Maylie and Rose and  42   a new life.

How can such a little boy who had already suffered oppressive pain 43  pure in body and mind? The reason is the nature of goodness. I think it is the most important information 44  in the novel by Dickens --- he believed that goodness could conquer  45  difficulty.

Goodness is to human what water is to fish. He who is without goodness is an utterly  46  person. On the contrary, as the famous saying goes, “ The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.” He who is with goodness undoubtedly is a happy and useful person. People receiving his help are grateful to him and he also gets gratified from what he has done, and thus he can do  47  to both the people he has helped and himself.

36. A. open        B. exploit          C. expose           D. cover

37. A. honor                  B. poverty         C. glory            D. imagination

38. A. such like               B. for example    C. such as          D. for instance

39. A. looked down upon                       B. made an apology for

   C. played a joke on                          D. felt sorry for

40. A. relationship     B. kindness          C. carelessness   D. devil

41. A. mainly     B. most           C. mostly          D. best

42. A. began               B. launched         C. set                D. changed

43. A. bear                          B. remain            C. hold          D. maintain

44. A. contained            B. implied             C. imported      D. added

45. A. every               B. some             C. little            D. much

46. A. gracious            B. worthless      C. modest       D. earnest

47. A. harm              B. damage       C. good              D. justice

There was such a long queue for coffee at the interval that we      gave up .

       A．eventually            B．unfortunately       C．generously           D．purposefully