April Fool's Day is traditionally a day to play practical jokes on others, send people on fool's errands(差事)，or try to make people believe that something false was true．It was thought to have originated(起源)in France．
In the sixteenth century, New Year's Day was celebrated on March 25 and celebrations lasted until April 1st．When New Year's Day was changed from March 25 to January 1st in the mid-1560's by King Charles IX, there were some people who still celebrated it on April 1st and those people were called April Fools．
It is fun to see how different countries celebrate this“foolish”holiday．In France, the April Fool's is called“April Fish”．The French fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends'backs and when the“fools”discover this trick, they were called“April Fish”!
In England, tricks can be played only in the morning．If a trick is played on you, you are a“noodle”．In Scotland, April Fool's Day lasts two days and you are called an“April Gowk(杜鹃鸟；呆子)”if you are fooled by others．
In Portugal, April Fool's is celebrated on the Sunday and Monday before Lent(四旬斋)．The traditional trick there is to throw flour at your friends．
In America, Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the first of April．One common trick is pointing down to a friend's shoe and saying, “Your shoelace(鞋带)is untied．”
Have you got any terrific plan for the coming April Fool's?Be careful, someone around may already have the surprising gift for you, too!
(1)
April Fool's Day came into being because ________．
[ ]
A．
the New Year's Day was changed
B．
the New Year's Day was canceled
C．
people wanted more festivals
D．
on New Year's Day people liked to make fun of each other
(2)
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
[ ]
A．
People who have been cheated on April Fool's Day are called“April Fish”．
B．
“April Fool”,“April Fish”,“April Gowk”and“noodle”are the same．
C．
“April Fish”has a fish tapped to his back．
D．
People eat noodles on April Fool's Day in England．
(3)
From the passage, we can see ________．
[ ]
A．
people all over the world celebrate April Fool's Day on the same day
B．
the April Fools get flour all over in France
C．
people in England have the shortest holiday of April Fool's
D．
American people have the most various tricks in the world for April Fool's Day
It’s not only rocket scientists and journalists who are following the course of“Shenzhou V”,or“Divine ship/vessel V”．There are also lexicographers, or dictionary compilers．The flight of the Spacecraft last week might help put some new words into orbit．
One of them is a western media coinage used to refer to the Chinese astronauts．It’s a combination of the Chinese pinyin“taikong”, meaning space, and the English“astronaut”, from classical Greek：“star sailor/navigator”, for people who was going into space as a career．
In the Reuters and AP reports of October 15,“taikonaut”was used as a proper noun．For example：
The long March 2F rocket carrying“taikonaut”Yang Liwei lifted off into a clear blue sky over the Gobi desert at 9 am and entered its orbit 10 minutes later．
A Long March 2F rocket called the Shemhou V－“divine ship”in Chinese－carried a single“taikonaut”named Yang Liwei, 38, following Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and American Alan Shepard in 1961．
The word“taikonaut”is not a newly coined term．It first emerged in November, 1999, when China launched its first unmanned“Shenzhou I”spacecraft．
At that lime, some English news media predicted that China would soon launch a manned space flight and created the word“taikonaut”for the Chinese astronauts．It was then borrowed by the Germans media．
But it was left out of mainstream dictionaries, such as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Cambridge Advanced English Learner’s Dictionary．
However, the launch of the“Shenzhou V”will most likely help boost its status since there is already a word referring specifically to Russian astronauts in the dictionary entry．
An astronaut of Russian(or the former Soviet Union)is called a“cosmonaut”, from the Russian“kosmonaut”．The word was derived from classical Greek：“kosmonaut”(universal)and“nautes”．One might argue that“cosmonaut”is a Russian variation on the earlier word“astronaut”．
On March 14,1995, US astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to ride into space on-board a Russian launch vehicle, arguably making him the first American cosmonaut．
And if this trend of coinage continues, more English variations for astronaut will appear as more countries are able to send their own astronauts into outer space, what would Western journalists call an astronaut from India or Africa?We’ll have to wait to see．
(1)
Which of the following best suits the passage as a title?
[ ]
A．
Why to Create the Word“Astronaut”?
B．
Why to Make a Lot of Variations for“Taikonaut”?
C．
How to Tell a“Taikonaut”from an Astronaut?
D．
How to Call Astronauts from Different Countries?
(2)
Which is the right statement in the following sentence?
[ ]
A．
The word“taikonaut”was born with the launch of“Shenzhou V”spacecraft．
B．
Yang Liwei, Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard are all excellent taikonauts．
C．
The American newspapers such as Reuters coined the word“taikonaut”．
D．
Some new words have widely been put into use with the launch of the“Shenzhou V”spacecraft．
(3)
From the writer’s point of view, ________．
[ ]
A．
lexicographers or dictionary compilers have also done a lot of things to help launch“Shenzhou V”
B．
the American astronaut Norman Thagard is not a cosmonaut
C．
the words coined or to be coined for astronauts of different countries usually have something to do with the name(s)of their countries
D．
the reason why there will be more variations for the word astronauts is that more and more countries will be able to send their own astronauts into space
(4)
What does the underlined word“coinage”mean in the passage?
[ ]
A．
System of coins in use．
B．
Invention of word．
C．
New meaning of a word．
D．
Discovery of an old word．
阅读理解
BEIJING,Nov．25,2005(Reuters)－China’s home-grown human bird flu vaccine is at least a year away from hitting the market but tests on humans have been approved by the government, head of the research drug company said on Friday．
Development of the vaccine started last year after bird flu outbreaks in Thailand and Vietnam and animal trials have already been completed, said Yin Weidong, managing director of Sinovac Biotech．
“It is not a virus that is spreading from human to human, so we are very optimistic．” Yin told Reuters in an interview．
The deadly H5N1 made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997,killing six people．The virus appeared again in late 2003 and is known to have infected 130 people in several parts of Asia, killing 68 of them．
“It is not decided yet when the human trials will begin．We just got approval on November 22 by the State Food and Drug Administration,” Yin said．
Oregon, Nov．26,2005(AP)－The deadly strain of bird flu that appeared in Asia and has already spread to other parts of the world has not affected the Oregon poultry industry or consumers, according to Oregon State University researchers．
There are many strains of bird flu that do not usually infect humans．But one strain, called H5N1,has jumped from chickens to humans and is blamed for more than 60 deaths in Asia．
International Disease Control experts are worried about a worldwide outbreak of bird flu, raising concerns such as whether it is safe to eat poultry．
But Oregon State University researchers say there is no proof that the virus can jump to humans by eating cooked poultry products．
“Consumers needn’t be overly concerned about bird flu,” said Jim Hermes, OSU Extension Service poultry specialist．But he urged consumers to follow standard food safety practices in preparing poultry－including washing hands while preparing food, and proper cooking of poultry meat and eggs．
He noted that a 2003 outbreak of bird virus caused much damage to commercial poultry operations in California but did not get into Oregon because of industry safeguards．
(1)
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the first news report?
[ ]
A．
Human trials have already started but not yet successful．
B．
Bird flu killed 68 Asian people in its second outbreak．
C．
The bird flu virus is not one that spreads from human to human．
D．
The government has agreed to have the vaccine tried on humans．
(2)
What does the first news report mainly talk about?
[ ]
A．
The new outbreak of the bird flu．
B．
How the development of the bird flu vaccine is going on．
C．
How many people died of bird flu．
D．
What measures the government has taken to stop the spreading of bird flu．
(3)
What does the underlined word “strains” probably mean?
[ ]
A．
signs
B．
symbols
C．
kinds
D．
diseases
(4)
What can we know from the second news report?
[ ]
A．
Because of the safety guards, Oregon poultry industry didn’t suffer any loss in the 2003 outbreak of bird flu．
B．
People in Oregon are not concerned about bird flu．
C．
People will develop bird flu even if they eat well-cooked poultry products．
D．
H5N1 has caused more than 60 deaths worldwide．
阅读理解
LEMOORE, Calif．(AP)－Fed up with students' racy moves, a principal at a California high school has taken the unusual step of cancelling the rest of this year's school dances．
Principal Jim Bennett of Lemoore Union High School said he warned students at a winter formal dance last month to either quit dirty dancing or face the possibility of not dancing at all．
But he said the students continued "freak(＝crazy)dancing", a form of sexually suggestive dancing．
The ban on dances includes the school's Sadie Hawkins dance in February and the junior and senior proms(舞会)in the spring, but Bennett said they could be rescheduled if students modify their behavior．
"It's really up to the kids at this point．They have to take some responsibility," Bennett said．Organizers of the Sadie Hawkins dance, a fund-raiser for the school's Future Farmers of America, are working with Bennett to come up with a series of regulations, which could allow that dance to go on．
One idea is to let students sign a form stating that raunchy(猥亵的)dancing will get them kicked out．Students hope similar regulations could lead to the reinstatement of other dances, particularly the prom．
"Some students save up all year to buy a dress or rent a tuxedo(晚礼服)and buy flowers for the prom,"said student body president Zohra Lakhani, a 17-year-old senior, "To crush everyone's dreams, it's not fair．"
(1)
The Principal puts a ban on all dances in the school because ________．
[ ]
A．
the students are not working hard enough
B．
they are too noisy
C．
the dances were too raunchy to be clean and healthy
D．
the principal hates the modem students
(2)
What does the underlined word "ban " mean in the forth paragraph?
[ ]
A．
保护。
B．
禁令。
C．
继续。
D．
规范。
(3)
From the last paragraph, Zohra Lakhani's opinion was that ________．
[ ]
A．
he was strongly against the cancellation of all dances
B．
he supported the school
C．
he thought the students shouldn't have spent so much money on the prom
D．
he was in between the school and the students
(4)
According to the passage, which of the following statements could be NOT true?
[ ]
A．
There would never be any dances in the school forever．
B．
At least two big dances were affected by the new rule．
C．
The principal had once warned the students of the possibility of the cancellation．
D．
The students would have to change their behavior before they could dance again．
阅读理解
OBERLIN, Kansas(AP)-A postcard featuring a color drawing of Santa Claus and a young girl was mailed in 1914, but its journey was much slower than Christmas．It has just arrived in northwest Kansas recently．
The Christmas card was dated December 23, 1914, and mailed to Ethel Martin of Oberlin, apparently from her cousins in Alma, Nebraska．
“It’s a mystery where it spent most of the last century,”Oberlin Postmaster Steve Schultz said．
“It’s surprising that it never got thrown away,”he said．“How someone has found it, I don’t know．”
Ethel Martin has passed away, but Schultz said the post office wanted to get the card to a relative．That’s how the 94-year-old relic ended up with Bernice Martin, Ethel’s, sister-in-law．She said she believed the card had been found somewhere in Illinois．
“That’s all we know,”she said．“But it is kind of curious．We’d like to know how it got down there．”
“The card was placed inside another envelope with a modernpostage stamp for the trip to Oberlin-the one cent postage of the early 20th century wouldn’t have covered it,”Martin said．
“We don’t know much about it,”she said．“But wherever they kept it, it was in perfect shape．”
(1)
________ was supposed to have received the postcard．
[ ]
A．
Bernice Martin．
B．
Ethel Martin．
C．
Santa C1aus．
D．
Steve Sehultz．
(2)
What seems quite mysterious is that ________．
[ ]
A．
how it was sent to a relative
B．
the postcard was still in shape
C．
where the old postcard was kept
D．
the card was in a modern envelope
(3)
The underlined part“the 94-year-old relic”refers to ________．
[ ]
A．
the Christmas card．
B．
an ancient cultural relic in Illinois．
C．
an envelope with modern postage．
D．
a house passed down by Ethel Martin．
(4)
The best title of the passage would be ________．
[ ]
A．
A Special Christmas Card
B．
Too Late Christmas Greetings
C．
The Story of a Christmas Card
D．
A Christmas Card Arrives Almost a Century Late
阅读理解
[AP Eeb．8] Costa Ricans have elected their first woman president as the ruling party candidate Laura Chinchilla won in an election after campaigning to continue free market policies in Central America’s most stable nation Sunday night．
[Reuters Feb．19]The leader of Niger’s military junta(军政府)made his first public appearance on Friday, a day after toppling(推翻)President Mamadou Tandja, but made no mention of any timetable to elections．
[Reuters Feb．20] The Dutch coalition(联合)government collapsed on Saturday after the two largest parties disagreed over whether to withdraw the 2,000 Dutch troops from Afghanistan as planned this year．
[The Guardian Feb．25]Viktor Yanukovych took the oath of office in the Verkhovan Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, iv Kiev today, with the ceremony coming after weeks of protest(抗议)over claimed cheating following his victory in February’s president election．
[The Guardian Feb．27] One of the world’s most powerful earthquakes in a century struck Chile on Saturday, killing at least 214 people, knocking down buildings and causing a tsunami that threatened Pacific coastlines as far away as Hawaii and Japan．
[AP Mar．8]Kathryn Bigelow made Oscar history Sunday night, becoming the first woman to win best director at the Academy Awards for her Iraq War movie“The Hurt Locker”, which earned six Oscars, including one for best picture．
(1)
Laura Chinchilla’s success in her president election probably has something to do with ________
[ ]
A．
her being a woman
B．
her campaign in Central America
C．
her being a ruling candidate
D．
her efforts to continue free market policies in her nation
(2)
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the news above?
[ ]
A．
The Academy Awards saw no women winners before Kathryn Bigelow．
B．
Viktor Yanukovych won his president election by means of cheating．
C．
The Dutch haven’t decided whether to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan．
D．
The earthquake that happened in Chile caused a serious tsunami in Hawaii and Japan．
(3)
All the following events happened on the American Continent except ________．
[ ]
A．
Laura Chinchilla became the first woman president in Costa Rica
B．
Kathryn Bigelow became thee first woman to win best director in Oscar history．
C．
the leader of Niger’s military junta toppled President Mamadou Tandja
