As you are students of English, it’s very possible that you’ll be interested in England. That’s where the language was first spoken. But England is often called by other names. This often confuses people and I wonder if you know what these names mean. So, now I would like to tell you about this matter of names. I believe that you have heard people use the names—England, Britain or Great Britain. Let’s see what each of these names means.

If you look at a map of Europe, you’ll see a group of islands--one larger island off the northwest coast, one smaller and many tiny ones. These make up what is called the British Isles. The largest island of the British Isles is Britain. It is also called Great Britain. The smaller island is Ireland.

Britain is divided into three parts: Scotland, Wales and England. But sometimes the word “England” is used instead of “Britain”. Why so?

In ancient times, what is Britain now used to be three different countries. People in these different countries spoke different languages. Over many years the three countries became one. England is the largest and richest of the three and it has the most people. So the English people take it for granted that their own name stands for the whole island.

There’s another thing that confuses people: sometimes you may hear people say “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. That is the official name of the country. Northern Ireland is only one sixth of the island of Ireland. The rest of the island is an independent state, called the Republic of Ireland. So we have the names of “England”, “Britain”, “Great Britain”, and “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. Now do you know what each of them means?

1.English was first spoken in ____.

A．Britain            B．England           C．Great Britain       D．Ireland

2.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．Wales is the richest of the three.

B．Scotland is the largest of the three.

C．Sometimes England is used instead of Britain.

D．Britain is the only name of the largest island of British Isles.

3.The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is _____.

A．part of Britain

B．part of British Isles

C．the official name of the whole country

D．the largest country of all mentioned in the passage

4.Which of the following is the best title?

A．Students of English

B．Different Names of England

C．Different Languages Spoken in England

D．The Republic of Ireland

Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy. After all, you probably sing when you are happy.

Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy. However, they sing most of the time for a very different reason. Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory.

Do you know what a “territory” is? A territory is an area that an animal, usually the male, claims (声称) as its own. Only he and his family are welcome there. No other families of the same species are welcome. Your house is your territory where only your family and friends are welcome. If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten you, you might shout. Probably this would be enough to frighten him away.

If so, you have actually frightened the stranger away without having to fight him. A bird does the same thing. But he expects an outsider almost any time, especially at nesting (筑巢) season. So he is screaming all the time, whether he can see an outsider or not. This screaming is what we call a bird’s song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away.

1.Some scientists believe that most of the time bird’s singing is actually ________.

A．an expression of happiness                B． a way of warning

C．an expression of anger                   D． a way of greeting

2.What is a bird’s “territory”?

A．A place where families of other species are not accepted.

B．A place where a bird may shout at the top of its voice.

C．An area for which birds fight against each other.

D．An area which a bird considers to be its own.

3.Why do birds keep on singing at nesting season?

A．Because they want to invite more friends.

B．Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away.

C．Because they want to find outsiders around.

D．Because their singing helps get rid of their fears.

4.How does the writer explain birds’ singing?

A．By comparing birds with human beings.

B．By reporting experiment results.

C．By describing birds’ daily life.

D．By telling a bird’s story.

5.What does the underline word “screaming” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．哭喊声           B．令人惊愕的        C．尖叫声           D．尖叫的

二、Word spelling(单词拼写)10分

1.It's _________(不必要)to spend so much money on clothes.

2.Everything has its own advantages and d_________.

3.Setting up a car factory here can help develop the e_________in this area.

4.In the 18th and 19th centuries scientists made many important _________(发现).

5.A condenser is used to collect and store e_________.

6.It usually takes four hours to get my cell phone fully c_________.

7.Do you know what material _________(传导)electricity and heat best?

8.Don't pull the cloth so hard.It _________(撕)easily.

9.How do you feel animal experiments? Do you think it c_________.

10.There is no d_________ about his honesty.

Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy．After all，you probably sing or whistle when you are happy．

Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy．However，they sing most of the time for a very different reason．Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory

Do you know what a “territory” is? A territory is an area that an animal，usually the male，claims(声称)as its own．Only he and his family are welcome there．No other families 0f the same species(物种)are welcome．Your yard and house are your territory where only your family and friends are welcome．If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten you，you might shout．Probably this would be enough to frighten him away．

If so，you have actually scared the stranger away without having to fight him．A bird does the same thing。But he expects an outsider almost any time，especially at nesting(筑巢) season．So he is screaming all the time，whether he can see an outsider or not This screaming is what we call a bird’s song，and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away．

Birds sing loudest in the spring when they are trying to attract a mate and warn others not to enter the territory of theirs．

You can see that birds have a language all their own．Most of it has to do with attracting mates and setting up territories．

1.Some scientists believe that most of the time birds’ singing is actually．

A．an expression of happiness

B．a way of greeting

C．an expression of anger

D．a way of warning

2.What is a bird’s “territory”?

A．A place where families of other species are not accepted．

B．An area which a bird considers to be its own

C．an area for which birds fight against each other．

D．A place where a bird may shout at the top of its Voice．

3.Why do birds keep on singing at nesting season?

A．Because they want to invite more friends

B．Because their singing helps get rid of their fears．

C．Because they want to find outsiders around．

D．Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away．

—Do you know what _____ influenza A (H1N1) has?

—A high temperature, throat pain and so on.