Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is one of the largest cities in the world. It is also one of the world’s most modern cities. Twice last century, the city was destroyed and rebuilt. In 1923 a major earthquake struck the city. Thousands of people were killed and millions were left homeless as buildings collapsed and fires broke out throughout Tokyo. It took seven years to rebuild the city. During World War II, Tokyo was destroyed once again. As a result of these disasters, there is nothing of old Tokyo remaining in the downtown area.
After the war, the people of Tokyo began to rebuild their city. Buildings went up at a fantastic rate, and between1945 and 1960, the city’s population more than doubled. Because of the Olympic Games held in Tokyo in 1964, many new stadiums, parks and hotels were built to treat visitors from all over the world. As a result of this rapid development, however, many problems have risen. Housing shortage, pollution, and waste disposal(处理) have presented serious challenges to the city, but the government has begun several programs to answer them.
【小题1】What kind of city is Tokyo?
A historic city.          　 B. A world famous seaport.
C. A highly modernized city.   D. A most attractive (有吸引力的) city for tourists.
【小题2】What major(主要的) event(s) happened in Tokyo last century?

On November18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the world famous violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Lincoln Centre in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is not easy for him. He got polio（小儿麻痹症）as a child, and has to walk with the aid of two crutches（拐杖）now.

That night Perlman walked slowly to his chair. Then he sat down and began to play. But, suddenly, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it break---it broke with a loud noise.

People thought to themselves, “He would have to get up to either find another violin or find another string for this one.”

But he didn’t. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra（管弦乐队）began, and he played from where he had stopped. He played with such passion and such power.

Of course, everyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. But that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that. You could see him changing and recomposing（重新作曲）the piece in his head.

When he finished, there was a silence in the room. Then people rose and cheered. We were all on our feet, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.

He smiled and then he said in a quiet tone, “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can make with what you have left.”

His words have stayed in my mind ever since I heard them. That is also the way of life. Perhaps our task in this quickly changing world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.

1.Holding a concert is challenging for Perlman because ______.

A. he is just a world famous violinist 

B. he has never performed on stage before

C. he is physically disabled as a result of a disease 

D. he has difficulty in moving his body

2.When Perlman had just begun playing, ______.

A. there was something wrong with the violin

B. he fell ill suddenly

C. an accident happened and caused a disturbance

D. a very loud noise arose from the audience

3. If one of the strings suddenly broke, what would an ordinary player do?

A. He would cancel the concert.             B. He would play another violin.

C. Another performer would play instead.     D. The concert would be put off.

4.The audience rose and cheered ______.

A. to show they are satisfied with Perlman’s performance

B. to thank the orchestra for their passionate performance

C. to ask Perlman for another performance

D. to express their appreciation of Perlman’s creative mind

5. The lesson we draw from the story is that ______.

A. we should make the best of what we have

B. what we have is more important than what is lost

C. we should not care about what is lost

D. the way of life is to always live with music

Everyone knows the smart black-and-white dog that sits on top of a red doghouse with his best friend---a bird called Woodstock.

Created by the American cartoonist Charles Schulz in 1950, the clever dog is loved by generations of kids and adults. He speaks more than 20 languages and appears daily in 26,000 newspapers around the world.

When Snoopy first appeared, he was not different form other pet dogs. But two years later, he had begun to speak with simple words and sounds. By 1957 he could walk on two legs and was going to school with his master, Charlie Brown, who failed in just about everything. Later he learned to use the typewriter.

Snoopy has done lots of jobs. He has been a bow-tie wearing lawyer, a tennis player, an Olympic figure skater, a world famous grocery checkout clerk, a pilot and even the first astronaut on the moon.

However, Snoopy has always dreamed of being a famous writer. The beginning of his story is always, “It was a dark and stormy night…” Unfortunately for him no one has ever wanted to publish the story.

In love, Snoopy is as much of a failure as Charlie Brown is at baseball. He easily falls in love but always has his heart broken. He eats to forget, but it never works.

Snoopy is an insightful, feel-good and sometimes sad dog. If you think a little about words, you might find them full of life lessons. Among his most famous lines are “To live is to dance, to dance is to live.” And “Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There’s so little hope for advancement”.

Snoopy has done all the following jobs except ____________.

A. a lawyer      B. a player      C. a clerk      D. a writer

From the passage, we can learn that _________.

A. Snoopy is always a sad dog

B. Snoopy can not speak in the beginning

C. Snoopy often dreams of true love

D. Snoopy is a real smart pet dog

It can be inferred that Snoopy ____________.

A. has many bird friends and relatives

B. is a well-known writer and clerk

C. has been unfortunate since it was born

D. is very popular in the whole world

The word “advancement” in the last paragraph probably means__________.

A. success      B. progress      C. growth      D. popularity

Geniuses amaze us，impress us and make us all a little jealous. How do they differ from the average person？Scientists are working hard to figure out that answer. Tune in to the National Geographic Channel to find out about the discoveries they’re making in the series My Brilliant Brain.

When Marc Yu was only two years old，he began to play the piano. After a year, he started learning pieces by Beethoven. Now he’s a world-famous concert pianist at age eight. He learns newer and more difficult pieces with ease and can identify any note he hears. He seems to be specially designed for music. In Born Genius, National Geographic looks at the science behind child prodigies （神童） to explain why some children seem to be born without limits.

Geniuses didn’t come naturally to Tommy McHugh. His came only after he nearly died from bleeding in his brain. After recovering, McHugh’s head was filled with new thoughts and picture. So, he began to express them in the form of poetry and art. Now, he’s a seemingly unstoppable creative machine. Suffers of brain injury have shown that great mental ability can sometimes come from damage or disease. Accidental Genius explores this puzzling relationship.

Can normal people be trained to be geniuses? Susan Polger has shown no sign of extraordinary intelligence. Yet, during her childhood, she studied thousands of chess patterns and learned to recognize them immediately. As a result, she was able to beat skilled adult players by age 10 and can now play up to five games at the same time without even seeing the boards. Make Me a Genius examines what is takes to turn an ordinary brain into that of a genius.

If becoming a genius were easy, we’d all be done. Yet, there is much more to super intelligence than simply being born lucky. Learn more about amazing brains this month on National Geographic’s My Brilliant Brain.

1. In paragraph 2, Marc Yu’s story tells us_________________.

A. a child prodigy can work easier than others.

B. a child prodigy is trained by family.

C. a child prodigy has an unbelievable listening skill.

D. a child prodigy always practise his skills.

2.In paragraph 3, the sentence “Geniuses didn’t come naturally to Tommy McHugh.” means that ______________.

A. Tommy McHugh could not be called a genius.

B. Tommy McHugh became a genius when he was young.

C. Tommy McHugh was a robot but not a real human being.

D. Tommy McHugh became a genius after a sudden accident.

3.The writer provides different examples to _____________.

A. show how people can be geniuses.     　B. show becoming a genius is easy.

C. show geniuses are common.            　D. show people know how to explain geniuses.

4.The passage may come from_________.

A. a report         B. a novel      　C. a TV program       　　D. a newspaper