Do you know Australia? Australia is the largest island in the world. It is a little smaller than China. It is in the south of the earth. Australia is big, but its population is not large. The population of Australia is nearly as large as that of Shanghai.
The government has made enough laws to fight pollution. The cities in Australia have got little air or water pollution. The sky is blue and the water is clean. You can clearly see fish swimming in the rivers. Plants grow very well.
Last month we visited Perth, the biggest city in Western Australia, and went to a wild flowers’ exhibition. There we saw a large number of wild flowers we had never seen before. We had a wonderful time. Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers. In spring every year Perth has the wild flowers’ exhibition. After visiting Perth, we spent the day in the countryside. We sat down and had a rest near a path at the foot of a hill. It was quiet and we enjoyed ourselves. Suddenly we heard bells ringing at the top of the hill. What we saw made us pick up all our things and run back to the car as quickly as we could. There were about three hundred sheep coming towards us down the path.
Australia is famous for its sheep and kangaroos (袋鼠). After a short drive from any town, you will find yourself in the middle of white sheep. Sheep, sheep, everywhere are sheep.
【小题1】Australia is _______.

A．the largest country in the world

B．as large as Shanghai

C．not as large as China

D．the largest island in the north of the earth

【小题2】The government had made _______.

A．too enough laws to fight pollution

B．so many laws that it can fight pollution

C．enough laws that it can hardly fight pollution

D．enough laws because the pollution is very serious

【小题3】Which of the following is NOT true？

A．Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers.

B．Perth is bigger than any other city in Western Australia.

C．Perth lies in the west of Australia.

D．No other city is larger than Perth in Australia.

【小题4】In Perth you may visit a wild flowers’ show in _______.

A．October

B．January

C．May

D．July

【小题5】Which of the following is true？

A．Australia is famous for its sheep, kangaroos and wild flowers.

B．We ran back to the car because we were in the middle of white sheep.

C．Three hundred sheep came towards us because they saw us.

D．If you go to the countryside in Australia, you will see a large number of white sheep.

Ray Travers sat back at the large desk, and looked around his plush（豪华的）office．He was tired．
Ray's eyes stopped at a painting on the wall．It was a gift given by an old friend, Bull, as a farewell gift when he left his hometown．He recalled the life spent in that small town; pleasant times．The many hours he spent talking lo his good friend, and the tales he was told about hunting in the Africa of old．
Memories flowed back more than ten years; he remembered how he enjoyed hearing about the wonderful hunting, and how he wished he could have shared those times．
Ray opened his desk drawer and brought out a wooden box．He opened the lid and exposed a work of art, a hand-made hunting knife．This was a gift from Bull, given to Ray more than 20 years ago．It was one of the first knives Bull had made, and Ray had called it "Zambezi”, the river where Bull had been so many times．
He closed the box and sat upright at his desk; he was driving himself hard, and deserved a break．Things were going well with the business, everything running smoothly．He could afford a week off!
He went back home．A week in the hometown would be like going back in history．"Man, it's going to be good," Ray said aloud, as he turned onto the highway and watched the city lights fast disappearing, as he looked in the rearview mirror．
It was well into the night when Ray pulled into an all-night gas station He walked around the gas station and the memories started …  He was finally back on the road, the powerful car going its way through the night, headlights piercing （穿透） the darkness．Memories danced through the man' s mind．Memories of good times , when he knew what it was to relax , to talk, and to really visit．
Slowly entering town he looked around．Ray sat in his car, looking at the old building, smiling． Inside it was almost as though it was the same people as 15 years ago．
【小题1】We learn from the passage that Bull is                    ．

A．Ray's colleague	B．a man in Ray' s hometown
C．Ray's relative in Africa	D．an African woodcarving artist

【小题2】What does the author mainly want to tell us in Paragraphs 2 －5?

A．Bull loved Africa and knew much about it．

B．Bull was good at making works of art．

C．Ray missed his hometown and relatives．

D．Ray missed the time he spent with Bull in his hometown．

【小题3】What do we know from the passage?

A．Ray visited Africa together with Bull many times．

B．Ray and Bull often went hunting together．

C．Zambezi is the name of a river in Hay a hometown．

D．Ray planned to stay in his hometown for about a week．

【小题4】What does the under lined part in Paragraph 7 mean?

A．Ray knew how to relax after keeping busy for along time．

B．Ray didn't want to leave his hometown because of so many memories．

C．Ray's hometown changed a lot and was worth a visit．

D．The visit to his hometown reminded Ray of the days together with Bull．

【小题5】What may the author talk about in the paragraph that follows the passage?

A．The hard time Ray experienced in his career．

B．Why Ray left his hometown alone．

C．The situation in Ray's hometown．

D．How Ray became a successful businessman．

The word “death” is a word many Chinese friends tell me I should not say aloud. They advise me to avoid the word because only speaking of it may bring ill fortune. I deeply believe, however, that to know how to live, we must also know how to die. The problem is how we talk about death.      
Like everyone in Taiwan this week, I have had “Tomb Sweeping Day”. I am proud to be part of a people whose culture sends millions of families to cemeteries on this special day to share memories and endless love.
Today, eight days after the death of Pope John Paul II, millions of people of all backgrounds still grieve(悲痛) his passing away. He was a deeply human person who knew how to laugh and show emotions, a writer with a gift for words a leader who appealed to us by the sheer light of his love for life.
On the same day and only hours before the Holy Father left us, a friend of mine named Veronica McBride died of cancer in a small Wisconsin city. My friend Veronica was 52 years old. She was an attractive, humorous young woman who, as the saying goes, “never married”. She published several humor books with her mother, Mary McBride. She enjoyed traveling, and for years sent Christmas card photos of herself standing beside monuments or odd animals. She fought cancer for five years. She joked about her treatment keeping her pretty because it kept her thin, and told me she didn’t mind losing her hair because of chemo therapy. “I get to wear nice wigs!”
The last time I saw Veronica was when I visited her family on a sunny day in August in 2003. When she burst into the front door later and saw me in the living room, she ignored me completely in her hurry to hug her newest baby nephew, leaving me shaking my head in laughter at her.
As we look to the significance of the Holy Father and his life, surely we must also keep our eyes open to see the wonder and goodness in ordinary people who show us how to live and how to die.
【小题1】The purpose of the article is ___________.

A．to memorize his friend Veronica

B．to talk about the significance of life and death

C．to teach us how to face life and death

D．to compare his friend and the Holy Father Pope John Paul II

【小题2】The underlined phrase “chemo therapy” in Paragraph 4 probably means ______.

A．a medical treatment	B．a kind of cancer
C．a kind of medicine	D．the newest machine

【小题3】Why does the writer compare the Holly Father with his friend?

A．Because they are both the persons he admires.

B．Because they have a lot in common.

C．Because he wants to show that ordinary people can be great as well.

D．Because he wants to memorize them both.

【小题4】From the phrase “burst into”, we can see that Veronica is ____________.

A．brave

B．sportive

C．humorous

D．energetic

The island Fiji has always been around me in my life. My parents met in Fiji when my father was a teacher as a Peace Corps volunteer and my mother a student. They taught me about its people, culture, foods and religious beliefs.
At the age of two, I made my first trip across the Pacific Ocean to Fiji. My mother and I made that trip unexpectedly because my grandma was ill and longed to see her American granddaughter. Although I have few memories of that first trip, I do remember grandma braiding (编辫子)my hair every day. The brush gliding through my hair is a feeling I will treasure forever because she passed away soon. I returned to America when I was five years old. This time I had a brother, Martin, who was two.
I resisted my third trip to Fiji when I was 15, being a teenager who did not want to spend the summer away from friends. It was this trip, however, that made me realize that Fiji is not just a place to visit but a part of who I am. The smells and sounds and sights came back to me, but the best part was getting to know my relatives.
Vishal was one cousin I quickly bonded with. Born two days before me, I had only known him through pictures before. Though raised oceans apart in different cultures, we talked and laughed about everything from American sports to Fijian dancing. I was able to form close ties with all my cousins, and when I talk about them now, it’s as if I have known them my whole life. Spending time with them helped me understand the traditions and values my mother grew up with. Hospitality and care and respect for family members are central values in Fijian culture.
I truly enjoyed learning about my roots during this trip. Fiji is just like a second home, and I will never forget the time I have spent there.
【小题1】From the passage, we can learn that _______.

A．the author’s parents had been classmates before

B．the author had lived in Fiji for about five years

C．the author had no memories of her grandma

D．people value family in Fijian culture

【小题2】The author resisted her third trip to Fiji because _____.

A．she didn’t want to separate from her brother

B．she didn’t know her cousins there very well

C．she didn’t want to separate from her American friends

D．her grandma had passed away

【小题3】Which of the following is TRUE about Vishal?

A．He is younger than the author.

B．The author had met him on her first trip to Fiji.

C．He and the author had lots of common interests.

D．He and the author held different opinions about Fijian culture.

Duke Ellington is known as one of the most important composers of his time, and his work has been enjoyed for more than 80 years by music lovers all over the world. During his lifetime Ellington turned musical sounds into many compositions, mostly in the style known as jazz.
The Early Years
Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in 1899 in Washington, D. C. It wasn’t until Ellington was a teenager that his interest in music grew. He taught himself to play the piano by listening to local piano players. Sometime around 1916 Ellington began playing the piano at high school parties. Ellington realized that he enjoyed entertaining people with his music. He soon became a very popular musician, playing at parties and other events in the Washington area. Young adults seemed especially delighted by the modern pieces he composed.
Success in New York
In 1923, when Ellington was almost 24 years old, he joined The Washingtonians, a five-piece group of musicians in Washington, and became the group’s leader in early 1924. In 1927 Ellington and his orchestra won an engagement（雇佣期）at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club. For the next three years, his orchestra played at the Cotton Club nearly every night.
The Influence of the Cotton Club
Working at the Cotton Club encouraged Ellington’s creativity. Since the shows changed every six months, he was challenged by the need to continually develop new material. He had to compose a wide variety of music to accompany the various acts in the Cotton Club shows and to adapt that music to the strengths and weaknesses of the players in his orchestra.
By 1928 the popular nightspot began radio broadcasts. From the broadcasts Ellington and his orchestra gained a national reputation.
On the Road
As Ellington’s popularity increased, he realized that his orchestra could do well on concert tours. They left the Cotton Club in 1931 and toured America and Europe almost continually for the next 43 years. In addition to touring, Ellington made recordings and continued to compose music.
Duke Ellington played the piano, composed music, and led his famous orchestra for more than 50 years, until his death in 1974. Music lovers all over the world agree that the large quantity of music he created will be enjoyed for many years to come.
【小题1】From the second paragraph, we know that Ellington ____________.

A．could sing as well as he played the piano

B．preferred mature audiences to young adults

C．had a natural talent for musical composition

D．learnt to play musical instrument from very young age

【小题2】Which of the following can show us Ellington’s leadership ability?

A．Ellington was very popular at parties in the Washington area.

B．Ellington took the responsibility for a band for a long time.

C．Ellington did live radio broadcasts in New York City.

D．Ellington continually developed new material.

【小题3】We may infer from the passage that ____________.

A．Ellington’s career took off overnight

B．Ellington loves touring around the world

C．Ellington could compose a wide variety of songs

D．Ellington had a great effect on the world of music

【小题4】Which of the following shows the order in which the events happened in the story?
a. Ellington joined a five-piece group of musicians in Washington.
b. Ellington’s orchestra played at the Cotton Club.
c. Ellington and his orchestra gained a national reputation.
d. Ellington began playing the piano at high school parties.
e. Ellington’s orchestra went on concert tours.

A．d-b-a-e-c

B．d-a-b-c-e

C．a-d-b-c-e

D．a-d-b-e-c