Benjamin Banneker was born a few months before another great American——George Washington．Benjamin was black, but he was not a slave．He and his mother and his grandmother were free．
Benjamin’s grandmother came from England．In America she got a job and worked for many years to pay for her boat trip across the ocean．After working many more years, she saved enough money to buy a farm．Benjamin lived with her for a while．She taught him to read and write and do arithmetic(算术)．
Benjamin’s neighbors knew that he was clever．They were not surprised when he built a large wooden clock．He made each piece after studying a small pocket watch．The clock made him famous, for it was one of the first clocks built in America．People from other places began to send hard problems of all kinds for Benjamin to settle．
Thomas Jefferson learned of Benjamin Banneker’s ability(能力)settle hard problems．He asked Banneker to help build the city that was to be the capital of the United States——Washington, D．C．
Banneker worked hard on the plans for the city．He marked where the streets and buildings——the Capital(国会大厦), the White House, and many others——should be built．
Later, L’Enfant, the Frenchman who had designed the new city, had a quarrel, and went back to France in anger．He took all of the plans with him．The workmen couldn’t build without any plans to follow．
For a while it seemed that the plans for the capital might have to be changed．But Benjamin Banneker remembered the plans he had helped draw．He drew each again just as he once had built each piece of his clock．
If it weren’t for Benjamin Banneker, Washington, D．C．might look very different from the way it does today．
(1)
Benjamin Banneker is remembered to this day mainly because ________．
[ ]
A．
He made one of the first clocks in America
B．
he used to be an assistant to L’ Enfant, who had designed the city Washington．
C．
he designed the city Washington when L’ Enfatnd left with his plans．
D．
he was able to build the city Washington as L’ Enfatnd left with his plans．
(2)
When Banneker built a large clock, ________．
[ ]
A．
people in America showed no surprise．
B．
his name spread all over America．
C．
he became the first man in America to build a clock
D．
people came from other places to congratulate him．
(3)
Thomas Jefferson asked Banneker to help build the city Washington because he was told that Banneker was ________．
[ ]
A．
famous
B．
clever
C．
hard-working
D．
serious
(4)
In building the city Washington, Banneker showed ________．
Like Paris, London is a famous city with long history．Beautiful scenes, mild climate(温和的气候)，old culture, advanced education and flourishing(繁华的)business…．London attracts many foreigners every year．
If you want to take a trip to London, you shouldn't miss these places．
Buckingham Palace：It's the permanent residence(永久住所)of the Queen．It was built for the Duke of Buckingham(白金汉公爵)in 1703, and during the later years many buildings were added to it．In the Palace, there are large sum of art works．The Palace is opened to public for two months each summer．
Big Ben：The famous London Clock is at the northern end of the House of Parliament (议院)．The clock is very big．The tower is 320 feet high and the clock is 23 feet wide．The minute hands are 14 feet long．It was completed in 1859．
Westminster Cathedral：People used eight years to build the Westminster Cathedral(1895-1903)．It has one of the finest choirs(唱诗班)in Britain．On the Bell Tower, which is 273 feet high, people can see much of London．It is the place for famous people to“live”after their death．
Tower Bridge：It's London's most famous landmark．Inside the twin towers, there are exhibitions about the stories of the bridge．
London Zoo：Children must be interested in it!It was opened in 1828 and it's the most famous zoo in the world．You can see 650 animal species in the zoo．
(1)
What does the underlined word“large sum of”mean?
[ ]
A．
a lot of
B．
a plenty of
C．
enough
D．
piles of
(2)
Which place is not mentioned in the passage?
[ ]
A．
Big Ben
B．
Tower Bridge
C．
Buckingham Palace
D．
The BT tower
E．
London Zoo
F．
Westminster Cathedral
阅读理解
NBC News and news services
Updated：1∶15.pm．
ET Jan．9,2006
TALLMANSVILLE, W．Va．-Eleven miners who died in the Sago disaster could have walked out alive had they known that there was healthier air less than 2,000 feet away, the head of the mining company told NBC News in an interview aired on zMonday-exactly a week to the day that the men sat trapped in the mine awaiting rescuers who arrived too late for all but one survivor．
”They were headed into an unknown,” International Coal Group CEO Ben Haield said．“They had no way of knowing how big, how disastrous the explosion was．In hindsight, if they had known that the smoke was only extremely dense in an area of perhaps 1,000 or 1,500 feet, yes they could have moved to fresh air, yes they could have survived, but they had no way of knowing that．”
”It’s over two miles to the outside and they no doubt would have been concerned that they can’t walk through two miles of smoke,” he added．“If they had known that it was only 1,500 or 42,000 feet of smoke certainly they could have come on out and yes they could have been saved．”
Haield called it a tragedy that was”unavoidable and horribly sad” because the miners, even though they had breathing devices, did exactly what they had been taught to do：hunker down(蹲下)and wait for rescuers．
Crews did not know the location of the miners while they awaited rescue and had no way to communicate with them．
The men appeared to have died after about 10 hours and the rescuers only arrived after about 40 hours．Eleven men died awaiting rescue, one died in the blast that caused the disaster and a 13th survived．
(1)
Which of the following is the most suitable headline for this news report?
[ ]
A．
Mine explosion kills twelve．
B．
Fallen miners were not far from safety．
C．
International Coal Group CEO expresses condolences on(衰悼)death of miners．
D．
Fear of walking long distance leads to death．
(2)
The underlined word”dense” in Paragraph 4 means ________．
[ ]
A．
poisonous
B．
harmful
C．
light
D．
thick
(3)
The underlined paragraph implies that ________．
[ ]
A．
some safety knowledge may mislead victims in a particular situation
B．
all the trapped miners could have survived if they had not hunkered down
C．
to avoid similar tragedies, it is better not to teach miners what to do in case of danger
D．
the miners’ ignorance of proper safety measures lead to the tragedy
(4)
Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
[ ]
A．
One miner survived the accident by moving to fresh air on his own．
B．
The trapped miners did not walk out to safety because they could not tell their location．
C．
The only survivor was rescued around 40 hours after the explosion．
D．
Twelve miners died after sitting trapped in the mine for about 10 hours．
阅读理解
The Olympic Games are seen as the greatest test of an athlete’s ability and are supposed to celebrate the spirit of fair play(公平竞争)．But in fact, sportsmen have been using drugs to cheat their way to victory since the Games first began．
In the early years, athletes ate mushrooms and plant seeds to improve their performance．Nowadays, this kind of cheating has a name－doping．
Just last month, Britain's top sprinter(赛跑选手)Dwain Chambers and several American athletes tested positive(药检呈阳性)for the drug THG(变体兴奋剂)．Until a coach secretly gave a sample of THG to scientists, no one knew how to test for it．
"We're like cops(警察)chasing criminals－athletes are always adapting(适应)and looking for areas we haven't investigated," said Jacques de Ceaurriz, a French anti－doping expert．
Since the first drugs test was carried out at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, many cheats have been caught out．The most famous case in history is that of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson．He broke the 100 meters world record in winning gold at the 1988 Seoul(汉城)Olympics．But days later, he tested positive for drug use, lost his gold medal and was banned from the sport．Five years later, he returned to action－only to be found positive again and banned forever．
Experts are also worried that doping can damage a person's health．It is believed to increase the risk of liver and kidney(肝和肾)diseases, and women may experience reproductive(生育的)problems．As long as they can stay ahead of the scientists, it is unlikely the cheats will stop．But experts say there is a limit to what can be achieved－and that athletes will not be able to change their bodies using gene technology．
"For the moment, genetic doping does not exist," said de Ceaurriz．"Even in 10 or 15 years it will not be done easily－the scientific community will not let it happen．"
(1)
When did sportsmen begin to use drugs to cheat the way to victory in the Olympic Games?
[ ]
A．
In recent years．
B．
In the early years．
C．
Maybe in the first Olympic Games
D．
In 1968．
(2)
From paragraph 2 and 3, we can know ________．
[ ]
A．
if an athlete tests positive, maybe he or she took banned drugs．
B．
plant seeds are helpful for athletes'performance
C．
doping is a kind of medicine
D．
both A and B
(3)
From paragraph2 and 3, we can know ________．
[ ]
A．
if an athlete tests positive, maybe he or she took banned drugs．
B．
plant seeds are helpful for athletes'performance
C．
doping is a kind of medicine
D．
both A and B
(4)
The underlined sentence(Line3, paragraph6)probably means ________．
[ ]
A．
as long as athletes are in front of the scientists．
B．
As long as athletes are on the heads of the scientists
C．
As long as athletes can get some areas which the scientists haven’t investigated
D．
As long as the scientists can not keep up with athletes．
(5)
What’s the effect that doping brings?
[ ]
A．
It can quicken the development of the Olympic Games．
B．
It may be causes some healthy problem
C．
It is unfair for the other athletes．
D．
It can make athletes enjoy sports more．
阅读理解，阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。
The television news feature about Ben Heckmann, an eighth grader from Farmington, Minn．, was breathless in its praise．“At 14, he has accomplished something many adults can't achieve, ” the reporter said．“Ben is a twice-published author．” But Ben's two “Velvet Black” books, describing a fictional rock band, were not picked from a pile of manuscripts(手稿)by an eagle eyed publisher．They were self-published, at a cost of ＄400 by Ben's parents．
Over the past five years, print-on-demand technology and a growing number of self?publishing companies whose books can be sold online have inspired writers of all ages to avoid the traditional gatekeeping system for determining who could call himself a “published author．”
The mothers and fathers who foot the bill say they are simply trying to encourage their children, in the same way that other parents buy equipment for a promising baseball player．But others see self-publishing as a lost opportunity to teach children about hardship and perseverance．Mr Robbins, a critic, thinks it is wonderful to start writing at a young age, but worries self-publishing sends the wrong message．“There are no prodigies(神童)in literature, ” he said．“Literature requires experience, in a way that mathematics and music do not．” Alan Rinzler, a publishing industry veteran, suggested parents hire a professional editor like him to work with their child to tear a manuscript apart and help make it better．
Ben's father, Ken, said Ben's ambitions “weren't to knock Harry Potter off the list, ” but “to get that good feeling inside that you’ve done something．”
Ajla Dizdarevic, 12, who has self?published two books of poetry, has been on television and in local newspapers．Being a published author, she said, “was always a dream of mine．” Her new dream： three books by age 15．
(1)
Which of the following is true of Ben?
[ ]
A．
His manuscripts were favored by the publisher．
B．
His self-published books were well received．
C．
He has achieved something unusual for his age．
D．
He was thought little of by the public media．
(2)
What makes it possible for writers of all ages to self-publish their works?
[ ]
A．
The rapid increase of online readership．
B．
The increasing number of publishers．
C．
The immediate access to marketing agencies．
D．
The development of printing and publishing．
(3)
Some parents pay the self-publishing bill for the purpose of．
[ ]
A．
offering opportunities
B．
giving encouragement
C．
helping avoid hardship
D．
showing love and care
(4)
Alan Rinzler suggests that children should．
[ ]
A．
be forbidden to write books
B．
start writing at an early age
C．
be professionally guided
D．
learn from experience
(5)
According to the last part, some children self-publish works just to．
