71．According to Sarah, the fire department took so long to get to the school because　　　 .

　　　 A．it was a long way from the nearest town

　　　 B．the principal didn’t phone for the fire department immediately

　　　 C．there’s something wrong with the fire engine　　　　 D．in fact, it was not far from the town

E

　　　 Beijing-Beijing is to spend up to US $ 20 billion to change the Chinese capital into a 21st century one for the 2008 Olympics.

　　　 The government managed to host the 2008 games. The general aim is for Beijing to have the same environmental standards as Paris, London or Washington by 2008.

　　　 Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent to pipe natural gas to the city’s home, taking away dirty coal burning gradually while 60, 000 buses will be changed to liquefied(液化)gas.

　　　 The money also will be used for relocating the polluting factories and building green belts. By 2008 around 90 percent of Beijing’s waste will be treated, compared to only 40 percent at present.

　　　 Olympic officials realize the city has a long way to go to match the environmental standards of such cities as Paris, Toronto, Istanbul and Osaka.

　　　 City officials have already announced that around 50 large projects are being dealt with to improve traffic congestion(拥挤)and cut down pollution. They include construction of Beijing’s first light railway, a 40.5-kilometer line which is expected to be complete in 2005.

　　　 Beijing, besides, plans to build an 82.25-kilometre – long subway to add to existing 53 kilometres. Nine major roads will be rebuilt or eidened.

　　　 Beijing also plans to build a 70–metre–wide green belt along the waterways to protect water quality as well as increase the green areas.

70．What does the word principal mean in Chinese in the first paragraph of the letter?

　　　 A．经理　　　　　　　　　 B．局长　　　　　　　　　 C．法官　　　　　　　　　 D．校长

69．Which of the following is true?

　　　 A．Sarah wrote home to ask for a million dollars.

　　　 B．Sarah said she had failed her exams, so the principal was angry with her.

　　　 C．Sarah told her parents about the fire to make them less angry at her real news.

　　　 D．The letter before the P. S. was completely true.

68．The title of the passage is　　　 .

　　　 A．A Naughty Girl　　 B．A Fire Accident　　　　　　　　　 C．A Home Letter　　　　　　 D．The Exam

67．Accurate means　　　 .A．big　　　　 B．nice　　　　　 C,small　 D．correct

D

　　　 Sarah Williams went to a boarding(寄宿)school. Here is one of the letters she wrote to her parents from the school.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　 Wentworth Girls’School

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Beachside

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 July 25th

Dearest Mom and Dad,

　　　 I’m afraid I have some very bad news for you. I have been very naughty and the school principal is very angry with me. She is going to write to you. You must come and take me away from here. She does not want me in the school any longer.

　　　 The trouble started last night when I was smoking a cigarette in bed, This is against the rules, of course. We are not supposed to smoke at all.

　　　 As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room. I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away.

　　　 Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste-paper basket, which caught fire.

　　　 There was a curtain near the waste paper-basket which caught fire, too. Soon the whole room was burning.

　　　 The principal phoned for the fire department. The school is a long way from the town and by the time the fire department arrived, the whole school was in flames. Many of the girls are in the hospital.

　　　 The principal says that the fire was all my fault and you must pay for the damage. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars.

　　　 I’m very sorry about this.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Much love,

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Sarah

　　　 P.S. None of the above is true, but I have failed my exams. I just want you to know how bad things could have been!

66．A measurement is a　　　 .

　　　 A．calculation　　　　　 B．kilometer　　　　　　 C．true statement　　　 D．wrong statement

65．Look at the four drawings below. Which one shows the circumference of the Earth?

64．What’s a synonym(同义词)for figure out?

　　　 A．geometry　　　　　　 B．calculate　　　　　　　 C．make out　　　　　　 D．understand

63．A sphere is a　　　 .

　　　 A．large shape　　　　　 B．planet 　　　　 C．ball　　　　　　　 D．member of the sun family

62．The underlined sentence means　　　 .

　　　 A．the war in Vietnam wasn’t serious at all

　　　 B．the war in Vietnam was different from that in Kosovo.

　　　 C．the US will send more troops to Kosovo than that to Vietnam

　　　 D．ground troops to Kosovo will cause an even greater disaster

C

　　　 For centuries, people wondered how big the Earth was. Unfortunately, as long as they thought the Earth was flat, no one was able to figure out its size. Gradually, however, people began to realize that the Earth was really round.

　　　 Then, in the third century BC(2,300 years ago), a Greek man named Eratosthenes had an idea. Eratosthenes was sure that the Earth was a sphere. He used the sun and geometry to figure out the size of the Earth. He calculated that the circumference of the Earth was 28,600 miles(46,000 kilometers).The true size of the Earth is 25,000 miles(40，000 kilometers).Eratosthenes’ measurement was wrong, but it was very close to the truth.

　　　 For many centuries after Eratoshenes lived, people made maps of the Earth. However, they did not know very much about the world outside of Europe, Asia, and north Africa. Mapmakers could not draw accurate maps of the Earth until people began traveling around the world in the fifteenth century, mapping small areas each time. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, people began making correct maps of countries, but the first accurate maps of the world were not made until the 1890s.

　　　 Maps today are reliable, inexpensive, and easy to understand. People depend on maps every day. What would our lives be like without them?