You may have heard the term "the American Dream". In 1848, James W. Marshall found gold in California and people began having golden dreams. That 19th century "American Dream" motivated (激发起) the Gold Rush and gave California its nickname of the "Golden State".

The American Dream drove not only 1800s gold-rush prospectors but also waves of immigrants throughout that century and the next. People from Europe, and a large number of Chinese, arrived in the US in the 19th century hoping that in America they would find gold in the streets. But most, instead, worked as railroad labourers. They created the oldest Chinatown, in San Francisco, and gave the city a Chinese name "the old gold hill".

In the 20th century, some critics said that it was no longer possible to become prosperous through determination and hard work. Unfair education for students from poor families and racial discrimination almost made the American Dream a nightmare.

Then, in the 1990s, California saw a new wave of dreamers in Silicon Valley. People poured their energy into the Internet. This new chapter of the American Dream attracted many business people and young talents from China and India to form start-ups and seek fortunes in America.

Better pay, a nice house, and a rising standard of living will always be attractive. However, the new American Dream is no longer just about money. It encourages Americans to consume wisely to protect the environment, improve the quality of life, and promote social justice.

The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has become the model of the new American Dream. After years of hard work, he grew from a poor young man from Austria into a movie superstar and then governor. Many people hope his story can save the American Dream and give California a brighter future.  

It can be inferred that _____.

A. America’s golden dream could never be realized

B. America’s golden dream had bought great fortunes to Chinese immigrants

C. each period of time has its own taste of the American dream

D. determination and hard work are the best way to realize the American dream

Why did most of the early immigrants work as railroad laborers?

A. Because they could earn more money as railroad laborers.

B. Because they had to make a living by working as railroad laborers.

C. Because they thought railroad was the first step to find gold.

D. Because railroad laborers were greatly honored at that time.

The underlined sentence “his story can save the American Dream” (in the last paragraph) indicates that _____.

A. the dream of seeking fortunate in America is easy to realize

B. most of the immigrants to America don’t reach their previous goal

C. the success of Arnold Schwarzenegger is among the common examples of the immigrants

D. the immigrants have made great contributions to California

What’s the best title of the passage?

A. Wave of Immigrants to America            B. Make Fortunes Abroad

C. Hard Work Leads to Success                   D. Changes of America’s Golden Dream

IV.阅读理解（共16小题；每小题2分，满分32分）
阅读下列短文，然后从所给四个选项中选出最佳选项，并标在试卷的相应位置。  
A holiday is any day when people lay aside their ordinary duties and cares. The word comes from Old English. At first, holidays honored some holy(神的) events or persons. People in Great Britain and other countries speak of holidays as Americans speak of vacations.
Every nation has its special holidays. China observes New Year’s Day(January 1), May Day and National Day as legal(法定的) holidays, as it was on Oct. 1, 1949 that People’s Republic of China was founded. The Chinese have long celebrated the Chinese lunar year. In the United States, congress（国会） has declared(宣告) several as legal days such as New Year's Day (January1), Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and so on. Some holidays celebrate special events in the development of a country, such as Greece’s Independence Day, Italy’s Liberation Day and India’s Independence Day.
In the United States, banks and schools usually close on a legal holiday. When such a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is often observed. Schools and organizations often observe days known as traditional holidays, although schools and businesses do not close then. Those holidays include Valentine's Day and Halloween.
1. Which of the following holidays has nothing to do with a country’s development?
A. China’s National Day            B. Valentine’s Day
C. Italy’s Liberation Day            D. America’s Independence Day
2. From the passage we can infer that _________.
A. Chinese will no longer observe the Spring Festival
B. students don’t have to go to school on any holiday
C. Chinese and Americans share at least one holiday      
D. Americans can easily draw money from banks on legal days
3. In the sentence “China observes New Year’s Day(January 1)”, “observes” means_____.
A. praises         B. spends         C. celebrates        D. cares
4. If a legal holiday falls on Sunday, people usually celebrate on_________.
A. Sunday                   B. the following Sunday
C. the following Monday       D. the following Tuesday

Berlin---China’s endeavor(efforts) to enhance(step up) environmental protection, energy-saving and gas emission-cut(减排) and build a resource-conserving society is of great significance to the world,  said Klaus Toepfer, former chief of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in a recent interview with Xinhua.

“Such a move is in the interest of the entire world, and meets the need of the global sustainable development（可持续性发展）,” he added.

ACHIEVEMENTS

“As a member of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), I have seen the strong determination of China’s leadership,” said Toepfer.

“The performance of the Chinese central and regional governments during the process of urbanization(城市化进程) also makes me believe that it has become the consensus（共识）of all the governments to protect the environment, save energy, cut greenhouse gas emission, and to build an resource-conserving society.”

The expert took Shanghai as an example. “The Shanghai government is fully aware of the importance of an energy-saving and resource-efficient structure.”

To make Shanghai an eco-friendly city, the municipal government（市政府）has taken measures such as building more sewage processing facilities（污水处理设备）, limiting the number of cars to help ease traffic jam and improve air conditions, he said, describing them as quite impressive.

He also noted many changes in the government’s policies concerning manufacturing and service industries（加工、服务业）, an indication of China’s new approach to environmental protection and energy conservation.

For instance, China has given higher priority（优先）to the proper handling of carbon dioxide emission. The country has also actively been engaged in the research and development of electricity-powered cars and cars that use alternative energy.

MORE TO BE DONE

However, despite the positive results, more needs to be done in China, the former UN environment chief said.

China still needs to make tremendous efforts to tackle tough challenges such as to protect water resources, reduce air pollution and enhance energy efficiency, he added.

Toepfer suggested that China introduce advanced new technologies on environmental protection and energy-saving from other countries, and actively participate in international cooperation projects on environmental protection and energy conservation as the country already has a strong scientific and economic capability.

On the negative impacts of the ongoing financial crisis on environmental protection and energy conservation, Toepfer said the impacts are obvious, but only of short duration. As governments’ measures to stabilize financial markets take effect, environmental protection and energy conservation will again become the world's major concern, he said.

67. The passage may probably be entitled ______.

A. China's environmental protection crucial (至关重要的)to the world

B. China’s achievements and tasks in environmental protection

C. China’s contributions to the sustainable development of the world

D. China’s determination in face of the ongoing financial crisis

68. In Toepfer’s opinion, the major concern at present is ______.

A. energy conservation                  B. environmental protection

C. carbon dioxide emission               D. financial crisis

69. Toepfer’s attitude towards the ongoing financial crisis is ______.

A. contradictory      B. negative      C. optimistic     D. pessimistic(悲观的)

70. Which of the following statements is true referring to the passage?

A. Regional governments’ work is not so efficient.

B. Efforts made by China have won the appreciation of the world.

C. The present financial crisis will last for several years at least.

D. At present China should introduce new technologies on production.

When Sang Lan  got to the Goodwill Games held in New York, she felt very happy. She was a devoted athlete, who had spent many years practising her sport. Her strongest  31  was the vault and she was the best in China. She hoped to win this event at the games. However, during a practice vault, this young girl made a small mistake. Her mistake   32  her the ability to walk. Instead of landing on her feet, Sang landed on her head and broke her neck. She was   33   to a top hospital, and doctors said she would never walk again.
While in hospital, Sang had many   34  , including Christopher Reeve, an actor who once played Superman. Reeve could not   35  either, due to an unfortunate horse riding accident. He   36   Sang to stay positive and told her that being   37  wouldn’t help her get better. Sang already knew this and   38   the sympathy and admiration of people across the world with her good   39   and beautiful smile.
Sang   40  to China, and hosted a sports programme about the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Sang Lan works hard at everything she does. She is a role model for young people nationwide!

B

To master a language one must be able to speak and understand the spoken language as well as to read and write. Lenin and his wife Krupskaya translated a long English book into Russian. But when they went to England in 1902, English people couldn’t understand a word they said and they couldn’t understand what was said to them. These days more and more foreigners are coming to China and more Chinese are going out to foreign countries to work or study. So the spoken language is becoming more and more important.

Speaking, of course, can’t go without listening. If you want to pronounce a word correctly, first you must hear it correctly. The sounds of the Chinese and English languages are not exactly the same. If you don’t listen carefully, you’ll find it difficult or even impossible to understand the native speakers.

Well, what about writing? Like speaking, it’s to cachange ideas. People generally use shorter words and shorter sentences in their writing. The important thing is to make your idea clear in you head and then to write it in clear lively language.

Chinese students read far too slowly. If you read fast, you understand better. If you read too slowly, by the time you have reached the end of a page you have forgotten what the beginning is about. When you meet with new words, don’t look them up in the dictionary. Guess the meaning from the context(上下文). You may not guess quite correctly the first time, but as new words come up again and again in different contexts, their meaning will become clearer and clearer. If you look up every word, you’ll never finish a book.

students of a foreign language need a particular knowledge, the knowledge of the life, history and geography of the people whose language they are studying. They should study these subjects in the foreign language, not only in translation. In this way one can kill two birds with one stone: learn a foreign language and get some knowledge of the foreign country at the same time.

45. How many points are there in the passage?

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

46. In his first point the writer told us ________.

A. how to speak English                B. how to read and write

C. why spoken english is important        D. why English people couldn’t understand Lenin

47. In the fourth paragraph the writer gave some advice on ________.

A. how to read faster             

B. how to guess the meaning of new words from the context

C. how to look up new words in the dictionary 

D. how to grasp the general meaning of a passage

48. “one can kill two birds with one stone” means ________.

A. getting some knowledge of a country while learning its language

B. getting more than what one wants

C. the stone is too big                      

D. the birds are blind enough