56. According to the passage, Saunders is interested in the following sports EXCEPT __________.

　 A. cycling　　　　　　　　　　　 B. running　　　　　　　　　 C. skiing　　　　　　　　　　　 D. football

55. What’s the main idea of the passage?

　 A. What great damage the biggest earthquake caused.

　 B. How children in America felt about the tragedy.

　 C. What people can do to help those in the disaster.

　 D. How American people show their concern for the tragedy.

C

Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis, cricket - anything with a round ball, I was useless.” He said now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in sports classes.

It was a mountain bike he received for his 15^th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking along in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually, he made up his mind to build up his body, increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon.

The following year, he met John Ridgway, who got him interested in skiing (滑雪). He read all he could about North Pole and decided that he would ski there in the future.

In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Ben Saunders started his first long expenditure toward the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy and he conquered all kinds of difficulties and dangers on the way. Now he has become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.

Next October, Saunders, 27, heads south to the South Pole and back, a 2,900-kilometer journey that has never been completed on skis.

54. In these letters, who mentioned the loss of people’s lives in the disaster?

　 A. Rachel and Ann.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　 B. Samantha and Rachel.

　 C. Maggie and Jessica. 　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　 D. Maggie and Mollie.

53. How many of the children talk about giving help to the people in the disaster?

　 　A. One.　　　　　　　　 　　　　 B. Two.　　　　　　　　　　　 C. Three.　　　　　　　　　　 D. Four.

52. In the letter, Ann T. suggests us __________.

　 A. not being afraid of earthquakes and giant waves

　 B. going to the disaster area and offering our help

　 C. offering our help any way we can

　 D. giving our money to the people in the disaster

51. What does Rachel S. mean in the letter?

　 A. The disaster makes people closer to each other.

　 B. She felt happy about what had happened.

　 C. People will live together after the disaster.

　 D. After the disaster, people will surely be more friendly.

50. The writer mainly tells us __________.

　 A. how to make life easier

　 B. how to be well prepared for a trip

　 C. how to enjoy ourselves on the trip

　 D. how to schedule our trip

B

The world’s biggest earthquake in 40 years hit southern Asia on December 26, 2004, causing 292,000 deaths. People all over the world were concerned with the disaster, including some children. Read the following letters and you can understand how children in America felt about the tragedy (悲剧).

I feel very sorry for the people who lost their homes, food, and water, even families. It must be so hard losing someone you love. Good luck finding everyone that is missing.

---Samantha L., 10

What happened was very bad for our world. But, this has also brought us together. In bad situation we come together, hand in hand. I wish we could always be like this.

---Rachel S., 12

I think the earthquake and those giant waves(巨浪) are just terrible. People should donate (捐献) money because it’s going to take a lot of money to fix up. I hope that many of the people are found and those who are injured get special treatment.

---Ann T., 10

I feel bad and sad for the people who had to live through the earthquake. I hope we help any way we can.

---Mollie R.,9

I was crying when I heard how many people died. Please try to encourage others even more into giving donations for the ones who were hit. I will try to help them too! I hope that no more disasters like that ever happen again.

---Maggie B., 9

I think this is by far the worse than the war. It is so awful that all of those died. I am so sorry for those who lost so much.

---Jessica B., 11

49. Generally, in May the weather in London is __________.

　 A. warm and dry　　　　　　　　　 B. cold and dry　　　　　　　　　 C. hot and wet　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. cool and rainy

48. When the writer found he had no dollars to pay the taxi driver, he __________.

　 A. asked the driver to give him a free ride

　 B. offered to pay in pounds

　 C. gave the driver some fake (假) money

　 D. tried to pay by credit card

47. Why did the writer miss his plane?

　 A. His secretary made a mistake about the time.

　 B. The person at the departure desk was not very helpful.

　 C. The writer didn’t check the time carefully.

　 D. The plane left earlier than usual.