A story from the Bible tells of old Babylon, where the men decided to build a tower that would touch the sky．But God was unhappy, and he made them speak different languages．They couldn’t understand each other, so their dream never came true．

Yet the dream remains alive: if all men speak the same language, they can do anything．L．L．Zamenhof from Poland was among the men who pursue this dream．He developed Esperanto（世界语）between 1877 and 1885．

As the most successful man-made world language, it is spoken by over two million people around the world．Last month, the World Esperanto Congress（大会）, dealing with language rights, ended in Sweden．The 2004 conference will be held in Beijing．Most Esperanto speakers are in Central and Eastern Europe and in East Asia, particularly Chinese mainland．

Esperanto has two advantages．First, it’s easy．Each letter has exactly one sound and there are just 16 basic grammar rules．The second advantage is that it belongs to no one country．But Esperanto has only reached a small number of people compared with natural languages widely used around the world-such as English or Chinese．While these languages are deeply connected with their nations and cultures, Esperanto doesn’t have this background．

Will Esperanto really become a global language? It remains a question．

The writer tells us a story at the beginning to          ．

           A．explain why men have been making the effort to create a language shared by all

              B．explain why men now speak different languages

              C．show the relationship between man and God

              D．prove that language is very important

What does the underlined word “pursue” in the second paragraph mean?

              A．“Realize”．     B．“Work for”．   C．“Be against”． D．“Follow”．

What is the basic difference between Esperanto and English?

              A．More people speak English than Esperanto．

              B．Esperanto words are easier to spell．

              C．Esperanto has fewer grammar rules．

              D．Esperanto is not supported by any country or culture．

What does the story mainly talk about?

              A．Advantages and disadvantages of Esperanto．

              B．Men’s dream of sharing the same language．

              C．The most successful planned language-Esperanto．

              D．Comparison of Esperanto and other languages like English and Chinese．

A sixth of undergraduates in Beijing this year have registered at driving school. The students,mostly from majors such as business management or international trade, will finish their driving courses within 20 days or so.

    Training costs have dropped to 2,600 yuan for students, according to the Haidian Driving School in Beijing. The price is not really low,but students will accept it, seeing it as an investment (投资) in their future. Familiarity with the operation of computers and fluent English are the basic skills graduating students need to find a job. But a driver's permit has become another factor  (因 素).

"in the job market, owning a driver's permit someumes strengthens a graduating student's competitiveness for a good position,'' says Zhou Yang, an undergraduate at the China University of Political Science and Law.

Cars will become a necessary part of many people's lives in the coming years, and it is difficult to get a permit of campus because of the pressures on working people's time. "Having a full-time job after graduation offers limited time to learn to drive. We senior students have plenty of spare time, plenty of opportunity to learn. "Zhou says.

    Xu Jian, an official at the driving school, said undergraduates were very able and serious, and could grasp in an hour what ordinary people took four hours to learn. In this driving school, mid-die-aged people, young women and college students are the main customers.

    To get a driver's permit, a beginner is now required to have at least 86 hours' practice before the .final road test.

_________ in Beijing want to learn to drive.

    A. Most of the undergraduates

    B. Many undergraduates

    C. Many students in the driving school

    D. Most of the students who learn business or international trade

The undergraduates are learning to drive because _________.

    A. they need this skill to find a good job

    B. they like to drive cars

    C. they will not have any time to learn to drive after they have found a full-time job

    D. most of them will be able to buy cars in the future

Which of the following is likely to be Xu Jian's opinion of students learning to drive?

A. He thought it was better to learn it at college than at work.

    B. He decided it was a waste of money and time to learn to drive.

    C. He agreed that they could learn to drive.

    D. He thought they would spend three times more time to learn to drive than usual.

Which of the following can be the best headline for the passage?

    A. Students Pay Less to Learn to Drive Now.

    B. Students Learn to Drive.

    C. It is Better to Learn to Drive at Colleges.

    D. Welcome to the Driving School.

A well-dressed man came into a famous jeweler shop. He explained that he wished to buy a pearl (珍珠) for his wife's birthday and that the price didn't matter since business had been very good for him that year. After examining a number of beautiful and valuable pearls, he chose a nice black one that cost $ 5,000. He paid for the pearl, shook hands with the jeweler and left.

    A few days later the man returned and said his wife had liked the pearl so much that she wanted another one just like it. It had to be exactly the same size and quality(质地) as she wanted a pair of earrings (耳环) made. "Can you give me any advice on how to get such a pearl?" said the man. The jeweler replied,   "I would say it's nearly impossible to find an exact one like that pearl.”

    The rich man asked the jeweler to advertise(登广告) in the newspapers, and offered $25,000 for the  matching pearl. Many people answered the ad(广告), but nobody had a pearl that was just right. Just when the jeweler had given up hope, a little old lady came in. To his surprise, she pulled the wonderful pearl from her handbag. "I don't like to sell it," she said sadly. "I inherited(继承) it from my mother, and my mother inherited from hers. But now I really need the money. "

    The jeweler was quick to pay her before she changed her mind. Then he called the rich man’s hotel to tell him the good news. The rich man, however, was nowhere to be found.

He paid$ 5,000 for the pearl without bargaining(讨价还价)______________.

A. because he loved his wife very much  

B. in order to get it as quickly as possible

C. since his business had been successful           

D. so as to make the jeweler believe him

Which of the following is true?

A. The people who answered the ad wanted to sell their pearls at a high price.

B. The woman was the well-dressed man's wife.

C. The jeweler was lucky enough to buy the little old lady's pearl.

D. The rich man didn't know the little old lady.

The jeweler could not find the rich man anywhere because he__________.

A. had moved to another hotel    B. was busy doing business with others

C. had escaped with $ 20,000     D. had told the wrong telephone number

A well-dressed man entered a famous jewelry shop. He explained that he wished to buy a pearl for his wife’s birthday. The price didn’t matter. Since business had been very good for him that year. After examining a nice black one that cost $5000, he paid for the pearl in cash, shook hands with the jeweler, and left.

A few days later the man returned and said that his wife liked the pearl so much that she wanted another one just like it. It had to be exactly the same size and quality, as she wanted a pair of earrings made, “Can you give me any advice on how to get such a pearl?” said the man. The jeweler regretfully replied, “I would say it’s exactly impossible to find one exactly like that pearl.”

The rich man insisted that the jeweler advertise in the newspapers, offering $ 25,000 for the matching pearl. Many people answered the advertisement but nobody had a pearl that was just right.

Just when the jeweler had given up hope, a little old lady came into his store. To his great surprise, she pulled the perfect pearl from her purse. “I don’t like to part with it,” she said sadly, “I inherited it from my mother, and my mother inherited it from hers. But I really need the money.”

The jeweler was quick to pay her before she changed her mind. Then he called the rich man’s hotel to tell him the good news. The man, however, was nowhere to be found.

The man said he wanted to buy a pearl for ______.

A. his wife              B. his mother-in–law 

C. his own mother            D. no one

57. He paid $ 5,000 for the black pearl without bargaining because ______.

A. he was very rich            B. he wanted to make the jeweler believe him

C. he was anxious to get it       D. his business had been successful

He told the jeweler to get him another pearl that must be ______.

A. exactly the same size as the black one

B. exactly the same quality as the black one

C. worth no more than $ 25,000

D. exactly as big and nice as the black one

Many people answered the advertisement because they wanted _______.

A. to see the perfect pearl

B. to buy some beautiful pearls too

C. to get in touch with the rich man

D. to sell their own pearl at a high price

The jeweler couldn’t find the man anywhere because ______.

A. he died suddenly.

B. He happened to be out

C. He got $ 20,000 by cheating and had run away with the money.

D. He wouldn’t show up until the jeweler called him a second time.

A daughter’s duty? Adult daughters are often expected to caregiver for older parents. In 2007, Jorjan Sarich and her dad moved from California to Idaho. It was where he wanted to live his rest time.

“I left my occupation, I left my friends; he did the same thing,” said Sarich, who bought a house with her father, George Snyder, in the China Gardens neighborhood of Hailey after his health began to decline. Though a graduate student struggling to finish her dissertation（论文）, Sarich chose to be her dad’s full-time caregiver.

“It’s only now, several years later, that I’m realizing how much work it was. It’s the kind of exhaustion（疲惫）that sleep doesn’t cure,” she said.

About 6 million Americans provide care to elderly relatives or friends living outside of nursing homes. Laurel Kennedy, author of “The Daughter Trap” (Thomas Dunne Books, $25.95), says that women bear a disproportionate（不成比例的）share of the burden — about 70 percent of hands-on care giving such as bathing.

“I want to be clear: Women don’t hate this,” Kennedy said. “What they hate is that everyone just assumes they’ll do it.”

Kennedy is calling for a social revolution equal to the rise of affordable child care and day care: Employers should help working caregivers by offering accommodations. Men should step up more often. It’s unfair that women are always chosen to provide care for an elderly family member.

Despite the hard work it took on Sarich — interrupted sleep and the knowledge that his 2009 death was the end game, she would do it again. Since about half a century had gone by, she wasn’t the person he remembered, and he wasn’t the person she remembered either. Caring for her father changed how each saw the other.

Why did Jorjan Sarich caregiver for her father?

   A. It was a very easy job.                          B. She had no work to do.

   C. It was the social practice.                         D. She lived with her father.

What can we infer from the book “The Daughter Trap”?

   A. Daughters don’t like care giving.

   B. Daughters devote a lot to care giving.

   C. Care giving is daughters’ duty.

   D. Care giving should be sons’ duty.

What does the underlined phrase “a social revolution” refer to?

   A. The child care revolution.                            B. The reform in day care.

   C. The social development.                              D. The change in care giving.

How many years did Jorjan Sarich work as her father’s full-time caregiver?

   A. Five years.          B. Only one year.          C. Four years.        D. Two years.

In her care giving, Jorjan Sarich _____.

   A. got along well with her father                  B. was a little tired of her father

   C. changed her father in every way            D. felt it was unfair to do so