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  It’s likely that everything you learned about America’s ancient history is wrong.

  The new book, 1491, completely changes our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.

  When Columbus landed there were probably more people in the Ameicas than there were in Europe.

  The peoples of North America had such healthy lifestyles that as late as the 19^th century they continued to be the tallest people on earth.

  Facts have shown that the Americas were populated as long as 33000 years ago.

  4000 years ago Mesoamerican farmers developed corn in a feat （技艺）of genetic engineering that still isn’t completely understood.

Comments On 1491

  “In the tradition of Jared Diamond& John McPhee, a totally new view of pre-Columbian America.”

                                                       ------ Richard Rhodes

  “Attractively written and really absorbing… Charles C. Mann has produced a book that’s part detective story, part epic（史诗） and part tragedy（悲剧）. He has taken on a vast topic: thousands of years, two huge continents, and cultures.”

                                      ------Charles Matthews, San Jase Mercury News

  “Powerful and challenging.”

                                                       ------ Alan Taylor, Washington Post

  “A pleasure to read as well as a wonderful education.”

                                                              ------ Howard Zinn

On the whole, 1491 is a book mainly about Amerca’s _______

 A. life-style    B. population     C. history    D. agriculture

Which of the following is NOT TURE about the comments on the book 1491?

 A. It is interesting and instructive.       B. It is attractive and culturally related.

 C. It is challenging and revolutionary.    D. It is humorous and persuasive

From this passage, we can learn _______.

 A. people settled in the Americas a little earlier than 1492

 B. North Americans were the tallest in the 18^th century in the world

 C. Mesoamerican farmers knew genetic engineering 5000 years ago

 D. the population in the Americas was smaller than that in Europe in 1492

Many of us assume that with such a last name, Peter Buffett, 52, must enjoy a life of endless privilege. But the son of billionaire investor (投资人) Warren Buffett definitely doesn’t think so.

   “People who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth can fall victim (受害者) to what my father has called a silver dagger (匕首) in your back,” Buffett told Reuters in an interview. “It leads to a sense of entitlement (特权) and a lack of personal achievement.”

  Entitlement, he believes, is the worst thing ever. “Anybody who acts like they deserve (应得) something ‘just because’ is a disaster,” he said.

  In his new book, Life Is What You Make It: Finding Your Own Path to Fulfillment, Buffett says that the only real inheritance (遗产) handed down from his parents was a philosophy (价值观): Forge your own path in life. It is a belief that has allowed him to follow his own passions, establish his own identity, and reap (收获) his own successes.

  Did his father ever want him to go into finance? “It was encouraged for a moment when I was open to the idea,” he told Reuters. But as he grew older, it became clear the financial world “was not speaking to my heart.”

   His father accepted his choice to become a musician. He began his musical career by writing music for TV commercials (广告). He then released his own albums.

   “I am my own person and I know what I have accomplished in my life,” he told Reuters. “This isn’t about wealth or fame or money or any of that stuff, it is actually about values and what you enjoy and finding something you love doing.”

   Along with the book, Buffett has begun a “Concert & Conversation” tour in which he plays the piano, talks about his life and warns against consumerist (消费主义) culture and damaging the environment.

   “Economic prosperity (繁荣) may come and go; that’s just how it is,” he writes in the book. “But values are the steady currency (硬通货) that earn us the all-important rewards.”

What does “It” in the second paragraph refer to?

  A. A life of a top investor.          B. A silver spoon in the mouth.

  C. Being born to a wealthy family.  D. The victim of a silver dagger in the back.

What does the article tell us?

  A. Peter Buffett is a born musician.

  B. Peter Buffett enjoys a hugely privileged life.

  C. A wealthy family can benefit a child but also spoil him or her.

  D. Peter Buffett was forced by his parents to take over their business.

The article claims that Peter Buffett owes his achievements largely to ______.

  A. his passion for music      B. the good education he received

  C. his great determination        D. the values he learned from his parents

Which of the following statements would Peter Buffett probably agree to?

  A. Wealth is there to enjoy to the fullest.

  B. A person’s value lies within.

  C. Many people are fooled by economic prosperity.

  D. Young people should choose their own philosophy, whatever their parents believe in.

Drunken driving sometimes called American's socially accepted form of murder has become a national epidemic（流行病）．Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past ten years．A drunken driver is usually referred to as one with 0．10-blood alcohol content or roughly three beers, glasses of wines or shots of whisky drunk within two hours．Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American manly image and judges were lenient in most courts, but the drunken killing has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies, especially concerning young children, that public opinion is no longer tolerant．

Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21, reversing a trend （逆转潮流） in the 1960s to reduce it to 18．After New Jersey lowered it to 18, the number of people killed by 18-20-year-old drivers more than doubled, so the state recently upped it back to 21．

Reformers, however, fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop "responsible attitudes" about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink．

Some states are punishing bars for serving customers too many drinks．A bar in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who was "obviously drunk" and later drove off the land, killing a nine-year-old boy．

As the accidents continue to occur daily in every state, some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years national prohibition （禁令） of alcohol that began in 1919, which President Hoover called the "noble experiment"．They forget that legal prohibition didn't stop drinking, but encouraged political corruption （腐败） and organized crime．As with the booming drug trade generally, there is no easy solution．

It can be inferred from the passage that drunken driving has become a major problem in the United States because___．

A．most Americans like drinking

B．heavy dinking is hard to avoid

C．Americans are not shocked by traffic accidents

D．many Americans are killed by traffic accidents

What can be inferred from the fact of the traffic accidents in New Jersey?

A．Drivers should not be allowed to drink．

B．Young drivers were usually bad．

C．The legal drinking age should be raised．

D．Some drivers didn't reach the legal drinking age．

The underlined word "lenient" in the first paragraph means___．

A．cruel    B．serious      C．determined       D．merciful[来源:Z§Which of the following best shows the writer's opinion of drunken driving?

A．It may cause organized crime．

B．The new laws can stop heavy drinking．

C．There should be no bars to serve drinks．

D．It is difficult to solve the problem．

The soldiers had just moved to the desert, and as they had never been in such a place before, they had a lot to learn.

As there were no trees or buildings in the desert, it was, of course, very hard to hide their trucks from enemy planes. The soldiers were, therefore, given training in camouflage. They were shown how to paint their trucks in irregular patterns with pale green, yellow, and brown paints, and then to cover them with nets to which they had tied small pieces of cloth.

The driver of the biggest truck had a lot of trouble camouflaging it. He spent several hours painting it, preparing a net and searching for some heavy rocks with which to hold the net down. When it was all finished, he went for lunch.

When he came back from his meal, he was surprised and worried to see that his camouflage was completely spoilt by the truck’s shadow, which was growing longer and longer as the afternoon advanced. He stood looking at it, not knowing what to do.

Soon an officer arrived, and he, too, saw the shadow, of course.

“Well,” he shouted to the poor driver, “What are you going to do about it? If an enemy plane comes over, the pilot will at once know that there is a truck there.”

“I know, sir,” answered the soldier.

“Well, don’t just stand there doing nothing!” said the officer.

“What shall I do, sir?” asked the poor driver.

“Get your spade and throw some sand over the shadow, of course!” answered the officer.

From this passage you can know ________.

       A. there were a lot of trees where the soldiers were stationed

       B. the soldiers were staying in an area far from the enemy planes

       C. the soldiers knew nothing about desert

       D. the soldiers had lived in desert before

Which of the following is right?

       A. The nets with which they covered their trucks were made of small pieces of cloth.

       B. The soldiers tied small pieces of cloth to the nets with which they covered their trucks.

       C. The nets covering the trucks were painted pale green, yellow and brown.

       D. The trucks were tied to the nets with small pieces of cloth.

The soldier was surprised and worried because ________.

       A. his truck had cast a shadow in the sun and the enemy plane would find it.

       B. the shadow of his truck was growing longer at noon

       C. it was late in the afternoon, and he could not get rid of the shadow

       D. his newly-painted truck was in the shadow

What do you think of the ending of the story?

       A. It is quite reasonable that the officer ordered the soldier to cover the shadow with sand.

       B. We’ll laugh at the officer’s order because it is where the humor lies.

       C. Though the officer’s order sounded wise, the soldier couldn’t cover the shadow.

       D. The soldier managed to cover the shadow with sand

What do you think of the ending of the story?

       A. It is quite reasonable that the officer ordered the soldier to cover the shadow with sand.

       B. We’ll laugh at the officer’s order because it is where the humor lies.

       C. Though the officer’s order sounded wise, the soldier couldn’t cover the shadow.

       D. The soldier managed to cover the shadow with sand

Andy rode slowly on his way to school, day-dreaming about the fishing trip that his father had promised him. He was so busy dreaming about all the fish he would catch that he was unaware of everything else around him.

He rode along until a strange sound drew him to the present. He came to a stop and looked curiously up to the heavens. What he saw shocked and terrified him. A huge swarm of bees filled the sky like a black cloud and the buzzing mass seemed to be heading angrily towards him.

With no time to waste, Andy sped off in the opposite direction, riding furiously—but without knowing how to escape the swarm. With a rapidly beating heart and his legs pumping furiously, he sped down the rough road. As the bees came closer, his panic increased. Andy knew that he was sensitive to bee stings(蜇). The last sting had landed him in hospital—and that was only one bee sting! He had been forced to stay in bed for two whole days. Suddenly, his father’s words came to him. “When you are in a tight situation, don’t panic. Use your brain and think your way out of it. ”

On a nearby hill, he could see smoke waving slowly skywards from the chimney of the Nelson family home. “Bees don’t like smoke,” he thought. “They couldn’t get into the house. ” Andy raced towards the Nelson house, but the bees were gaining ground. Andy knew he could not reach the house in time. He estimated that the bees would catch up with him soon.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a small dam used by Mr. Nelson to irrigate his vegetable garden. Off his bike and into the cool water he lived, disappearing below the surface and away from the savage insects. After holding his breath for as long as he could, Andy came up for air and noticed the bees had gone. Dragging himself out of the dam, he struggled up the hilly slope and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Nelson took him inside and rang his mother.

“You’ll really need that fishing break to help you recover,” laughed his mother with relief. “Thank goodness you didn’t panic!” But Andy did not hear her. He was dreaming once again of the fish he would catch tomorrow.

Why did Andy fail to notice the swarm of bees earlier?

A. He was riding to school.             

B. He was listening to a strange sound.

C. He was going fishing with his father.

D. He was lost in the thought of the fishing trip.

Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the swarm of bees in the passage?

A. They crowded like a black cloud.       

B. They shocked and terrified Andy.

C. They tried to attack Andy in a mass.

D. They made Andy stay in hospital for two days.

How did Andy avoid the bees in the end?

A. He asked Mr. Nelson for help.          

B. He hid himself under the water.

C. He rushed into the Nelson house.        

D. He rode off in the opposite direction.

Which of the following can best describe Andy’s escape from the bees?

A. No pains, no gains.                  

B. Once bitten, twice shy.

C. Where there is a will, there is a way.    

D. In time of danger, one’s mind works fast.