Have you ever been to the beautiful country of Holland and its capital Amsterdam? Anyone who has traveled to Amsterdam would probably agree on one thing: Amsterdam's story is a tale of two cities -- one during the day and a completely different one at night．

    During the day, the largest city in the Netherlands sits quietly on the Amstel River．You can rent a bicycle, visit the Van Gogh or Anne Frank museum, or take a water taxi．But when the sun goes down, the partying begins．In the big clubs and in coffee shops, tourists gather to hang out, talk politics and smoke．

    Several areas of the city clearly show the two worlds that rule Amsterdam．And they're all within a short cab ride of each other．For example, Dam Square attracts daytime sightseers to its festivals, open markets, concerts and other events．Several beautiful and very popular hotels can be found there．And there's the Royal Palace and the Magna Plaza shopping mall．

    But at night party-seekers come to the square．Hip hop or funk music is heard there．．So if you come, be ready to dance．The clubs don't shut down until 4 am．

    And while you're there, check out the various inexpensive ways to tour the city．Don't worry about getting lost．Although Dutch is the official language, most people in Amsterdam speak English and are happy to help you with directions．And you'll notice that half the people in the streets are on bicycles they rent．

    Amsterdam also has a well-planned canal system．For about 10 dollars, you can use the canal bus or a water taxi to cruise（巡游） the "Venice of the North"．

    The city has a historic past．One impressive place to visit is the Anne Frank House on Nine Streets．It was there that the young Jewish girl wrote her famous diary during World War II．Visitors can view Anne's original diary and climb behind the bookcase to the room where she and her family hid from the Nazis for two years．

1.What means of transport is not available to visitors in Amsterdam?

    A．A carriage．      B．A bicycle．      C．A canal bus．    D．A water taxi．

2.When getting lost, a visitor can ask natives for directions in  ___________     ．

    A．only Dutch                            B．Dutch or English

    C．only English                           D．Spanish and English

3.What can you learn about by visiting the Anne Frank House?

    A．The experience of a beautiful girl survivor．

    B．The glorious past of Amsterdam．

    C．The life of Jewish during World War Ⅱ．

    D．The suffering of the Dutch in wars．

4.The passage is intended to  ____________         ．

    A．call up people’s memories of World War Ⅱ

    B．tell readers what A Tale of Two Cities is about

    C．instruct visitors what to do and see in Holland

    D．offer readers some information about Amsterdam

A growing number of students in the United States are studying Mandarin(普通话). It is the official language of China. More and more people speak Mandarin than those who speak other languages in the world.

Schools that teach Mandarin want to prepare students for a future in which they are likely to work with people from China. Business in China is booming(繁荣的), and that trend(趋势) is expected to grow.

The US government is trying to encourage even more public schools to teach Mandarin. Officials are considering spending about $1 billion on Mandarin programs in schools. China is getting involved(参与) too. The Chinese government has donated

Mandarin textbooks to US schools. Some schools are also taking part in teacher exchange programs with China.

“It is important for students to learn Mandarin and Chinese culture,” said Mary Patterson, a school principal(校长) in Portland, Oregon. “Students who do so will have wider opportunities when they become adults.”

1.Why are US schools teaching Mandarin?

A. To help students communicate with Chinese students.

B. To encourage students to move to China,

C. To prepare students for the future.

D. To get students interested in business.

2.The underlined word “donated” (in Paragraph 4) can be replaced by “______”?

A. provided          B. kept           C. made          D. found

3. What is the best title for this passage?

A. Why US students learn Mandarin         B. Schools in China

C. How to speak Mandarin                  D. China today

Many foreigners who have not visited Britain call all the inhabitants(居民) English, for they are used to thinking of the British Isles as England. In fact, the British Isles contain a variety of peoples and only the people of England call themselves English. The others refer to themselves as Welsh, Scottish, or Irish, as the case may be; they are often slightly annoyed(苦恼) at being classified as 'English'.

In Scotland the sound denoted by the letter 'R' is generally a strong sound, and 'R' is often pronounced in words in which it would be silent in southern English. In the Highlands and the Western Isles the ancient Scottish language, Gaelic, is still heard. The Scots are said to be a serious, cautious, thrifty(节约的) people, rather inventive(善于创造的) and somewhat mystical. All the Celtic peoples of Britain (the Welsh, the Irish, the Scots) are often described as being more 'fiery(暴躁的)' than the English. They are often of a race that is quite different from the English.

The Welsh have protected their language to a remarkable extent. The English generally look upon the Welsh as an emotional(易动感情的) people who are, however, somewhat difficult to get to know easily.

Ireland is divided into two parts. The six countries of Northern Ireland are still part of Great Britain, though, in normal circumstances(环境), they have their own Parliament. The Irish are known for their charm and vivacity(活泼), as well as for the beauty of the Irish girls. Irish, often calls Erse, is a form of Gaelic. It was in danger of dying out, but when the territory(地域) of the Republic became independent, Erse was received, and is now the official first language of the Republic, English being the second. The Irish are known for their charm and vivacity, as well as for the beauty of the Irish girls.

Why do many foreigners call the inhabitants English?

A. Because only English live on the British Isles.

B. Because only English plays a more important role than the others.

C. Because all the people are glad to be regarded as English.

D. Because they are used to thinking of the British Isles as England.

Today we still can hear Gaelic--the ancient Scottish language in __________.

A. both England and Scotland

B. both Wales and Ireland

C. both Highland and Western Isles

D. both Northern Ireland and England

According to the passage, which of the statements is TRUE?

A. “R” is often pronounced in words in which it would be silent in north English.

B. The Welsh, the Irish and the Scots are all the Celtic peoples of Britain.

C. The Celtic peoples are often of a race that is little different from the English.

D. The Welsh have not protected their language very carefully.

Irish is a form of ________, and is now the official ______ language of the Republic.

A．English; first          B．Gaelic; second         C．Gaelic; first      D．English; second

The official said rescuers were working_____to find the missing miners in the coal mine blast.

第二节：信息匹配 （共5小题，满分10分）

Here are five letters from readers listed in 1-5. All the greetings and signatures are left out. Suppose you are a secretary of the magazine CR (Crazy English Reader), for each one find a suitable reply from A-F. Mark the correct letter (A-F) on your answer sheet. There is one extra reply which you don’t need to use.

51. I am a reader of CR. Recently I found students translate some articles of CR. I appreciate your offering an opportunity to us beginners to practice using English. So I want to ask how they can obtain these articles and translated them for you, and what qualities you require. Thank you.

52. I love your Crazy English Reader magazine! It provides valuable data for work in our English teaching. My wife and I are teaching Conversational English so I’ve been giving you a bit of a plug at our middle school. I told the students to “get a copy!” It’s good stuff! Fantastic!

53. I’m one of Yao’s fans from Guangzhou. I have read the Yao Ming articles in No.7 Crazy English Reader. I want to know his correspondence address and the official website. Could you please tell me? Thank you very much indeed.

54. First of all, I must say thank you very much to all the CE Reader editors who gave us a really good English magazine. Secondly, I want to give you a piece of advice. In each passage, you gave us some new words with their Chinese translation. However, as far as my knowledge, I think you should give us not only the Chinese meaning but also the English meaning so as to know the words more accurately. Thank you!

55. I am an editor of the English Monthly of our school. I have a question that is how to say the position of the paper e.g. and so on. I hope you can help me to tell me the word in English. The more the better. Thank you so much! I love the book very much. Now, I do this work, I need study more information about this work, if you have time, please email me. Thank you.

A．  Thank you for your suggestion. We may try that in some future issues of CR. I think the best way to improve your reading vocabulary is to be able to guess the meaning of the word from the other words around it. Also, if you have an English dictionary, it’s good to look up the words and then mark them down in a notebook and review them later on. Then if you really want to learn how to use the words, try using them in conversation or in writing. Hope this helps.

B．  The best way for you to learn the different positions in a newspaper or magazine is to get a copy of an all-English magazine or newspaper and then copy down the different positions. There are also titles such as Managing Editor, reporter, Copy Editor, Photo Editor and Layout Editor. I hope this helps. If you have some more specific questions, you can send them to me and I’ll try to answer.

C．The best way to reach Yao directly is through his home team, the Shanghai Sharks. You can write him at 2570 Xietu Road, Shanghai. For more information on Yao, you can look at the sports section in sina. com. I hope this helps. Another idea is that you can try to write Yao while he’s living and playing in Houston. You can try to reach Yao in the US at:   Yao Ming   Compaq Centre 10  Houston, TX 77046

D．  Thank you for being such a careful reader of CR. Yes, you’re right we made a mistake in the writing of that Chinese word. Each issue we try to read very carefully each article and its translation to make sure there are no mistakes, but unfortunately a few mistakes always get by. But you encourage us to keep improving, so thank you.

E．  Yes, we do have several students who help us translate some of the articles in our magazine. We contact these translators directly after interviewing their translation work. Afterwards we assign the articles to them for translation. If you are interested in being one of our translators you can send us some information about yourself and a sample of your translation work.

F．   Thank you for helping us to promote CR. We’re glad it’s helpful to your students. We always try to include articles that reflect real life. It’s our hope that CR will not only improve student’s English but also open up a different worldview.