The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. One hundred thousand people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.

    The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King's baker(面包师)in Pudding Lane, The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window in the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery(房)into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.

    By eight o'clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul's and the Guildhall among them.

    Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire. People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat.

    The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.

    After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect(建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow; but he did build more than fifiy churches, among them new St Paul's.

    The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.

1.The fire began in_______.

A. a hotel.      B. the palace.         C. Pudding Lane.    D. Thames Street.

2.The underlined word "family" in the second paragraph means_______.

A. home.                                                       B. children.

C. wife and husband.                        D. wife and children.

3.It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that ________.

A. some people lost their lives.

B. the birds in the sky were killed by the fire.

C. many famous buildings were destroyed.

D. the King's bakery was burned down.

4.Why did writer cite(引用)Samuel Pepys?

A.Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire.

B. Because Pepys also wrote about the fire.

C. To show that poor people suffered most.

D. To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire.

5.How was the fire put out according to the test?

A.The king and his soldiers came to help.

B. All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed.

C.People managed to get enough water from the river.

D.Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down.

阅读短文。按要求完成各题。

Minoru Yamasaki was a well-known American architect（建筑师）．He was born in 1912 in Seattle．Washington．His parents came from Japan．Minoru went to college to study architecture．Every summer he worked in a fish factory to help pay for college．Often he worked from four o’clock in the morning until midnight．He slept in a room with 100 other men．Later in life．Yamasaki remembered these times and was always good to his workers． 

  Yamasaki sometimes dreamed about his work．Once he woke up at three o’clock in the morning．He remembered a building that was in his dream．He got up and started to draw．Yamasaki used a new design for the buildings．These buildings are now the Century Plaza Hotel，and Tower in Los Angeles，California．

    Yamasaki was different from other architects．His buildings give people a feeling of peace and happiness．Many of his designs have pools of water，flowers，and windows on the roof to let in light．He always designed buildings to please people．He wanted to give them a place away from the busy ways of modern life．

    Yamasaki worked for several companies．But his Success began when he started his own company．In 1956，he won the Architect’s First Honor Award for his design of an airport in St．Louis．Missouri．He won two more awards over the next 6ve years．In l962，he designed the World Trade Center in New York．It is very famous．

    In l993，a bomb exploded（炸弹爆炸）in the World Trade Center．But the buildings did not fall down because they had a good design．

    Yamasaki had strong opinions about his buildings．They had to be built his way．He refused to change the design of his buildings，even if he lost a job．

    Minoru Yamasaki died in l986．He designed more than 300 buildings．People will enjoy the design and beauty of his buildings for a very longtime．  

1．根据短文内容完成句子填空（每空限填一个单词）。

      In the first paragraph the writer of the passage tells us when and where Minoru Yamasaki ___________ ____________．

2．根据短文内容完成句子填空（每空限填一个单词）。

    The buildings that Minoru Yamasaki designed are different from the other architects’ because his buildings always make people feet __________ and _____________．

3．根据短文内容回答问题。

      From which sentence in the passage can we know Yamasaki had strong opinions about his buildings?

       ________________________________________________________________________

4．把短文中画底线的句子译成汉语。

       ________________________________________________________________________

5．根据短文内容用一个完整的英文句子（限8个词以内）回答问题。

      Minoru Yamasaki was a well—known American architect．What is he famous for?

       _________________________________________________________________________

J．K．Rowling is the writer of Harry Potter，which is now one of the best—sellers in the world．

    J．K．Rowling was born in Bristol on July 31 st，1965．She has one sister who is two years younger than her．Both girls loved listening to their father reading bedtime stories to them．They especially loved stories about magical worlds．Rowling wrote her first story，called Rabbit，at the age of six．

   After she graduated from the university，Rowling worked as a translator in London．During this time，on a long train trip in the summer of l990，the idea came to her of a boy who has magic but doesn’t know it．In l992 Rowling began to teach English．She lived with her baby daughter，Jessica，and spent much time finishing the first Harry Potter book for young readers．It appeared in June l 997．To her surprise，the book was greatly successful．The film came out in November 2001．Now Harry Potter series is popular with people of all ages and about 60 million books were sold in 200 countries．

   Why has the series been so successful? There are a few things．Many other magical stories take place in far away lands or in past or future times．But Harry lives in modem England．He’s also a very normal boy：polite，friendly，brave and clever．So when other children read about Harry，they can imagine being like him．

   J．K．Rowling is very happy with，the success，and she is now busy finishing the whole series  of seven books．She，s writing full time and she’s really enjoying life；She says she will go on living a normal life with her daughter and writing children’s books．

1．From the passage we know__________．

      A．J．K．Rowling met a boy named Harry on a train trip

      B．J．K．Rowling loved listening to stories when she was very young

      C．J．K．Rowling is two years younger than her sister

      D．Harry Potter is J．K．Rowling’s first story

2．The first Harry Potter book came out in_________________．

      A．July l965  B．the summer of l990   C．June l997   D．November 2001

3．The Harry Potter series is_________________．

      A．written for young people         B．only enjoyed by children

      C．only sold in England           D．about a young inspector

4．J．K．Rowling has been successful，and she___________．

      A．1ikes to travel all over the world with her daughter

      B．is too busy to enjoy her life

      C．is excited about her success every day

      D．is still writing stories for children

5．How is Harry Porter series different from other magical stories?

A．There are magical things   

B．The stories happened in the modern world

C．It has seven books        

D．It took much time to finish

五位母亲Betty, Sara, Gina, Mary和 Alice打算为各自的孩子选择一所合适的学校。请仔细阅读第1—5题中的个人情况说明，从A到F的六个选项中，选出符合各人要求的最佳选项，其中一项为多余选项。

1.Betty has a six-year-old daughter. She wants her to be a musician when she grows up, so she is looking for a famous music school for her.

2.Sara’s son is 10 years old. He is interested in water sports. He said that he hoped to be a sailor in the future.

3.Alice learned to dance when she was young. Now she is a successful dancer. She wants her little daughter to follow her steps.

4.Mary is always worried about her daughter, who is poor at math and English at school, so she is looking for a training centre to help her daughter.

5.Gina has a son who is a football fan. He knows about almost all the well-known football players. He wishes to be a football star.

A

Aqualility

Making water safe and fun. Swimming lessons are for all ages from birth. Small groups are in warm pools in Reigate on Monday & Friday afternoons.

Call 07914 688 826

B

Manor House

A small and friendly school for girls 2—16 offers a modern and caring environment. Bring your daughter and come and see why our girls are so happy and do so well.

Call 01372 45768

C

Little Kickers

Why do we get a kick out of every class? It’s fun. The children have fun learning new skills. So if you want your kid to be a football star or just to be happier, why not come and have a ball with us?

Call 01753 83109

D

Monkey Music

Since 1993 thousands of children across the UK have grown up with Monkey Music. Our wonderful teaching program introduces music to young children in a way they can easily understand and enjoy.

Call 0193 82866

E

Kip McGrath

Do you want your child to succeed at school? We have very good Math and English teachers. We are for children aged 6—16.

Call 01483 303233

F

Farnham Dance

New ballet(芭蕾) classes at the St. John’s Centre, 19 Tilford Rd, Farnham GU9 8DJ.

Tuesday afternoons, 10 week terms

Call 01252 727347