Africans see many advantages by uniting the continent into a single nation, or by uniting several small nations of a particular region into a nation. In unity there is strength. Africans often point to the United States, formed by the original 13 states, as an example of this principle. Africa now is divided into many weak nations. United, they would be much stronger. Africans could then more easily deal with foreign efforts to control them. Also it would be easier to plan and carry out big projects like the building of highways and dams.

  The considerations for African unity go beyond the practical advantages it brings. As we have seen, one factor is that the feeling of belonging to a particular nation is not strong among Africans. If, for example, you were to ask a man from Paris " What are you?", he would certainly answer " A Frenchman". Ask the same question of a man from Ibadan in Nigeria and he might give one of three answers, or all three, depending on his education and outlook. He might say, " A Yoruba" (his people), or " A Nigerian," or just simply " An African."

  Another factor that enters into the desire for unity is that African leaders throughout the continent feel that they all have many things in common. They all lived through the experience of colonial rule. Many of them went to school and university with men who now lead other African countries. They all feel very angry about the way in which they were treated in the past. Compared with these strong bonds (结合)，which overshadow the borders of nations, the idea of building separate nations does not have so much meaning. Some leaders say they are ready, in fact, to give up their separate nations.

  Many nations have written into their constitutions(宪法), and they may give up their powers to a Pan-African government that will come into being.

The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audience could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever. He sent camera team out one evening to film the sunset for him.

 The next morning he said to the men, “Have you provided me with that sunset?”

 “No, Sir,” the men answered.

The director was angry.  “Why not?”  he asked.

“Well,” one of the men answered, “we are on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset.”

“But I want a sunset!” the director shouted. “Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one.”

But then a young secretary had an idea. “Why don’t you photograph a sunrise,” she suggested, “and then play it backwards, Then it’ll look like a sunset.” “That’s a very good idea!” the director said. Then he turned to the camera team and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea.”

The camera team went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director. “Here it is, Sir,” they said, and give it to him. He was very pleased.

They all went into the studio. “All right,” the director explained, “now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the sunset behind them.”

The “sunset” began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera team to stop. The birds in the film were flying backwards away from the beach.

One evening, the director sent his camera team out ______.

A. to watch a beautiful sunset.

B. to find an actor and an actress.

C. to film a scene on the sea.

D. to meet the audience.

Why did the director want to send his team to the west coast?

   A. Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset

B. Because he was angry about his team

C. Because it was his secretary’s suggestion

D. Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset

Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The team followed the secretary’s advice.

B. If you want to see a sunrise, the east coast is a place to go to.

C. The camera team wasn’t able to film the scene the first day.

D. The director ordered his team to stop filming the “sunset”

The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because _____.  

A. it went well with the separation of the hero and heroine

B. when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening

C. it was more moving than a sunrise

D. the ocean looked more than a sunrise

After the “sunset” began, the director suddenly put his face in his hands _____.

A. because he was moved to tears

B. as he saw everything in the film moving backwards

C. as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined

D. because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and the heroine

They _______ all the details of the plan time and again to make sure that the project went smoothly.

A．got through        B．got up            C．went through       D．went up

It is often said that you cannot “teach an old dog new tricks”, but three New Zealand dogs have decided to prove otherwise by learning a skill --- driving a car!

What's even more impressive is that the three who have become skilled in just eight weeks are not special dogs that belong to some rich owners, but abandoned ones at New Zealand's SPCA.

To get their training started, 10-month old Porter, 18-month-old Monty and one-year-old Ginny were selected from a pool of seven potential candidates and moved to Animal Q, a talent agency that teaches animals tricks for movies and television shows.

The driving classes began with teaching the dogs some basic driving techniques like turning the steering wheels（方向盘）and applying the brakes. After that the dogs practiced everything they had learnt behind the wheels of a motorized（装上发动机的）car. Then finally, it was time for the big test--- driving a real car!

Human cars are not really built for four-legged animals, so the car they drove was adjusted so that the dogs could sit comfortably and easily reach the steering wheel with their paws.

Though they all seemed to do very well, the real test came on Monday night when Monty, the best driver of the three, showed his great driving skill on live television.

Why would the SPCA go through so much trouble to highlight the skills of homeless dogs?  The reason is to show that adopting a dog from a shelter does not mean owners are getting a pet that is worse than one purchased from a keeper. The CEO of the SPCA is hoping that this unusual event will be enough to convince the residents of New Zealand to consider them, when searching for a pet.

We surely hope so, meanwhile we are almost certain that these three pioneers have at least landed their names in the Guinness World Records, creating a category that probably does not even exist today!

1.Who do the three dogs belong to?

A. Some rich owners.      B. Animal Q.       C. A shelter.      D. A zoo.

2.The car the dogs drove was adjusted ______.

A. because is was too big for the dogs to drive

B. because it had no steering wheels and brakes

C. to ensure the dogs could sit comfortably and drive easily

D. to motorize the car and turn it to be a real one

3.Which is the right order of the following events?

a. Teaching the dogs some basic driving techniques.

b. Selecting three dogs and moving them to Animal Q.

c. The dogs practiced everything they had learnt in a motorized car.

d. Choosing the best driver to show his great driving skill on live television.

e. Driving a real car.

A. a-b-c- d-e    B. b-a-c-e-d    C.  b- d- a-c-e     D. a- e- c-b-d

4.Why does the SPCA decide to teach the three dogs to learn to drive a car?

A. To prove old dogs can learn new tricks.

B. To teach them performing tricks for movies and television shows.

C. To provide amusing performances for homeless children

D. To encourage people to adopt the abandoned dogs.

5.What can we learn from the passage?

A. A new Guinness category for driving dogs will probably be created.

B. Abandoned dogs are much cleverer than house-kept ones.

C. All the dogs at New Zealand’s SPCA will soon be adopted.

D. New Zealand has the most homeless dogs among all countries

【小题1】 ________
In 1973, Jimmy Carter, ex-president of the United States, saw a UFO—an Unidentified Flying Object. There were about 20 other people with him at the time, and they all watched the strange object for several minutes.
【小题2】 ________
Does this surprise you? It’s not unusual. About 15 million people all over the world think that they have seen a UFO, a recent report says.
【小题3】_______
UFOs have become very popular. There are books and films about UFOs, we can watch imaginary flying saucers and visitors from space on television, and there are stories in the newspapers about strange objects. Some of the stories are very silly. Clearly, some of these “UFOs” were aircraft, birds, the moon, lights on the clouds, and so on. But some people believe that spaceships come from other planets, and some of the reports aren’t easy to explain.
【小题4】 ______
In 1947 an American businessman was flying his own plane during the day. Mr. Arnold was a sensible man and a pilot with many years’ experience. That day, he saw a row of strange flying objects. He could see them clearly, and he watched them for some time. Later he said that they moved “like saucers over water.” The name “flying saucer” was invented. The newspapers loved the story, of course, and they all wrote long reports about it.
【小题5】 ______
During World War II, pilots had reported strange round flying objects. Sometimes these objects flew beside their planes and followed them. At first, the pilots were afraid: they thought these objects were a new weapon. But the “weapon” didn’t harm them. The officers said the pilots were imaging things. The pilots got used to the strange objects.