The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place．Now it is an ecological disaster area．Nauru's heartbreaking story could have one good consequence-other countries might learn from its mistakes．

For thousands of years，Polynesian people lived in the remote island of Nauru，far from western civilization．The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798．He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship．He called the island Pleasant Island．

However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first．The whaling ships and other traders began to visit，bringing guns and alcohol．These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island．A ten-year civil war started，which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.

Nauru's real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate(磷酸盐)on the island．In fact，it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate，which was a very important fertilizer for farming．The company began mining the phosphate．

A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground；it is a strip mine．When a company strip-mines，it removes the to player of soil．Then it takes away the material it wants．Strip mining totally destroys the land．Gradually, the lovely island or Nauru started to look like the moon．

In 1968，Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world．Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate．

Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars．In addition，they used millions more dollars for personal expenses．Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem—their phosphate was running out．Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing．By 2000，Nauru was financially ruined．Experts say that it would take approximately$433，600，000 and more than 20 years to repair the island．This will probably never happen．

1.What might be the author's purpose in writing the text?

A．To seek help for Nauru's problems．

B．To tell a heartbreaking story of a war．

C．To show the importance of money

D．To give a warning to other countries

2.What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?

APeaceful and attractive             B．Modern and open

C．Rich and powerful                       D．Greedy and aggressive

3.The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from

A．soil pollution	B．phosphate overmining
C．farming activity	D．whale hunting

4.Which of the following was a cause of Nauru's financial problem?

A．Its phosphate mining cost much money

B．It spent too much repairing the island

C．Its leaders misused the money

D．It lost millions of dollars in the civil war.

5.What can we learn about Nauru from me last paragraph?

A．The leaders will take the experts' words seriously

B．The ecological damage is difficult to repair.

C．The island was abandoned by the Nauruans

D．The phosphate mines were destroyed

 

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.

 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

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.

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

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

 

The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ecological disaster area. Nauru’s heartbreaking story could have one good consequence — other countries might learn from its mistakes.

For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived on the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization. The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798. He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship. He called the island Pleasant Island.

However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first. The whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol. These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island. A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.

Nauru’s real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate (磷酸盐)on the island. In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which is a very important fertilizer for farming. The company began mining the phosphate.

A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip mine. When a company strip-mines, it removes the top layer of soil. Then it takes away the material it wants. Strip mining totally destroys the land. Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon.

In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world. Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate.

Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars. In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses. Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem — their phosphate was running out. Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing. By 2000, Nauru was financially ruined. Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen.

1.What might be the author’s purpose in writing the text?________.

A．To seek help for Nauru’s problems.

B．To give a warning to other countries

C．To show the importance of money

D．To tell a heartbreaking story of a war.

2.What was Nauru like before the Europeans came? ________.

A．Rich and powerful	B．Modern and open
C．Peaceful and attractive	D．Greedy and aggressive

3.The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from _______.

A．soil pollution	B．phosphate overmining
C．farming activity	D．whale hunting

4.Which of the following was a cause of Nauru’s financial problem? ________.

A．Its leaders misused the money

B．It spent too much repairing the island

C．Its phosphate mining cost much money

D．It lost millions of dollars in the civil war.

5.What can we learn about Nauru from the last paragraph?________.

A．The phosphate mines were destroyed

B．The ecological damage is difficult to repair.

C．The island was abandoned by the Nauruans

D．The leaders will take the experts’ words seriously.

 

“Reading makes a full man” (Bacon, 1597). Novels written by the writers like Jane Austen, Victor Hugo and Ernest Hemingway help us to know more about our history, culture and many other things.

 

Jane Austen was one of the most well-known women writers of the world. She was born in England in 1775. Jane loved reading and writing. She wrote a number of famous novels in her life. Among them, Pride and Prejudice written in 1779 was the most popular.

 

Victor Hugo, born in 1802 in France, was one of the best writers in the19th century. The talent in writing and hard work brought great success to Hugo at an early age. His most popular novel, the Hunchback of Notre-Dame, was written in 1831. The book was so successful that it was quickly translated into many other languages across Europe.

 

Ernest Hemingway, an outstanding American writer and reporter, was born in 1899. His life experience had a great influence on his writing style. Hemingway lived in France and Italy between the 1920s and 1950s. Most of his books such as The Sun Also Rises were written at that time. He won the Nobel Prize in 1954 mainly because of the novel The Old Man and the Sea.

 

1.When was Jane Austen born?

A. In 1775    B. In 1799   C. In 1802   D. In 1899

2.Where was Victor Hugo from?

A. England.   B. America.    C. Italy.   D. France.

3.Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize mainly because of _________.

A. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame    B. Pride and Prejudice

C. The Old man and the Sea    D. The Sun Also Rises

 

The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place．Now it is an ecological disaster area．Nauru’s heartbreaking story could have one good consequence — other countries might learn from its mistakes．

For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived in the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization．The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798．He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship．He called the island Pleasant Island．

However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first．The whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol．These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island．A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900．

Nauru’s real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate (磷酸盐)on the island．In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which was a very important fertilizer for farming．The company began mining the phosphate．

A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip mine．When a company strip-mines, it removes the top layer of soil．Then it takes away the material it wants．Strip mining totally destroys the land．Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon．

In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world．Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate．

Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars．In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses．Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem — their phosphate was running out．Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing．By 2000, Nauru was financially ruined．Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island．This will probably never happen．

1.What might be the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To seek help for Nauru’s problems．

B．To tell a heartbreaking story of a war．

C．To show the importance of money

D．To give a warning to other countries

2.What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?

A．Rich and powerful         B．Peaceful and attractive 

C．Modern and open               D．Greedy and aggressive

3.The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from _______．

A．phosphate overmining      B soil pollution

C．farming activity              D．whale hunting

4.Which of the following was a cause of Nauru’s financial problem?

A．Its phosphate mining cost much money                                     

B．It spent too much repairing the island

C．Its leaders misused the money       

D．It lost millions of dollars in the civil war．

5.What can we learn about Nauru from the last paragraph?

A．The ecological damage is difficult to repair．

B．The leaders will take the experts’ words seriously．

C．The island was abandoned by the Nauruans

D．The phosphate mines were destroyed