题目内容
The penny is getting a change. The United States Mint (制币厂) revealed four new designs for the 1-cent piece, to celebrate the coming 200th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth. United States Mint Director Ed Moy announced the new looks for the penny today in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. "These coins are a tribute (赞辞) to one of our greatest Presidents, whose legacy (遗教) has had a lasting impact on our country," Moy said.
The heads side of the new pennies will continue to bear the profile (侧面) likeness of President Lincoln and the motto "In God We Trust." The back sides will pay tribute to four major parts of
The first redesigned penny will feature a log cabin that represents Lincoln's birthplace, near
The first penny will be released into circulation on February 12, 2009,
"This is an important occasion in the history of our nation's coin-age because these designs represent the first change in the
56. Why does the United States Mint get the
A. Because the design is out of date.
B. Because the design doesn’t match
C. Because the old coin is hard to be released into circulation.
D. Because the country wants to honor
57. Which is the correct order of the new coins according to the description in the passage?
A. a, b, c, d B. b, a, d, c C. c, d, a, b D. b, c, a, d
58. How many new
A. One. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.
59. All the newly designed coins feature the following EXCEPT _____.
A. the profile likeness of President Lincoln B. the motto "In God We Trust"
C. the portrait of young Abraham Lincoln D. the writing "
60. Which of the following does Penny Image 4 show? __________________
A. Professional Life in
C. Formative Years in
56. D。细节题。根据第一段第二句可知：为了庆祝林肯诞辰200周年美国造币厂将一分硬币改变图案设计。
57. B。图文转换题。根据第三段对四枚硬币的描述，第一枚是关键词是“小木屋”；第二枚的关键词是“坐在圆木上看书”；第三枚的关键词是“年青的林肯在伊利诺斯议会会堂前”；第四枚的关键词是“未竣工的美国国会大厦”。
58. D。细节题。短文最后一句“在2009年将发行一枚林肯纪念银币”，再加上文中提到的四种硬币，合计为五枚。
59. C。细节题。根据第三段对第二枚和第三枚硬币的描述可知：只有两枚硬币中有林肯年青时的肖像。
60. B。推测题。根据短文对第四枚硬币的描述，此枚硬币所反映的主题是林肯在华盛顿特区当总统期间的生活侧面。
Many people say pennies are not worth saving. After all, a penny is only worth a cent. But one unusual penny turned out to be worth a lot more when a coin collector paid $1.7 million for it earlier this month.
The coin is one of a kind. It is the only penny that the Denver mint(铸币厂) made out of copper, instead of steel, in 1943. Because it is unique, it is also very valuable. No penny has ever sold for so much money.
The Changing Penny
The Lincoln penny first appeared in 1909. For 34 years, the one-cent coin was made out of copper. Then, in 1943, the penny changed. World War II was going on, and copper was needed for equipment. So for one year, pennies were made out of steel instead. At least most of them were.
Only a few coins were made out of unused copper. There are three main mints, or places where coins are made, in the United States. Of the known copper pennies from 1943, twelve were made in the Philadephia mint, and five were made in the San Francisco mint. Only one was made in the Denver mint.
Nobody knows for sure why a copper penny was made at the Denver mint in 1943, coin dealers Andy Skrabalak told Time for Kids. “There is a rumor that a mint employee made the coin in the middle of the night.”
A Special Set
The coin collector who bought the $1.7 million penny wants to remain unknown. But the reason for the trade is known. He already had two copper pennies from 1943 – one from the San Francisco mint and one from the Philadephia mint. To complete the set, he needed the Denver penny. The three coins will go on display at a coin exhibition in Tampa, Florida.
The collector who sold the penny is also keeping his name a secret. It took four years to convince him to give up the rare coin. Now that he has finally donating all of the money to charity.
【小题1】Why is the Lincoln penny worth over one million dollars?
A. Because it has a history of thirty-four years.
B. Because it was made out of a rare material.
C. Because it was made on one night of 1943 by the Denver mint.
D, Because it was the only coin Denver mint made out of copper in 1943.
【小题2】Before the Lincoln penny was sold, people thought one-cent coins __________.
| A．were worth collecting for selling later |
| B．were surely valuable if not made out of steel |
| C．wouldn’t be sold for large amounts of money |
| D．were only useful for some coin museums |
| A．Five | B．Twelve | C．Seventeen | D．Eighteen |
| A．He already had two copper pennies from 1943. |
| B．He wanted to complete the set of copper pennies. |
| C．He didn’t want to sell his penny in the beginning. |
| D．He was a well-known coin dealer in Tampa, Horida. |
we infer from the passage?Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception (接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth－so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?" He looked it over carefully and said, "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?" "Twenty pounds," I said. "OK," he said, "I’ll give you twenty pounds." "It’s got a slightly broken leg," I said. "Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing."
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done." "I’ll buy it," I said. "What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me," he said. "Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it." "You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair." "You’re right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, “ Would you mend this chair for me?”. “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it," he said. "We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for five pounds?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused (感到有趣) by the whole thing.
1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer _____.
A. was rather impolite
B. was warmly received
C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair
D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair
2.The underlined word "approach" in the second paragraph means _____.
A. plan for dealing with things
B. decision to sell things
C. idea of repairing things
D. way of doing things
3.The expression "the penny dropped" in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper _____.
A. changed his mind B. accepted the offer
C. saw the writer’s purpose D. decided to help the writer
4.How much did the writer pay?
A. ￡5. B. ￡7. C. ￡20. D. ￡27.
5.From the text, we can learn that the writer was _____.
A. honest B. careful C. smart D. funny
Have you ever posted letters to your friends or parents? If so, you must have put stamps on the letters before you sent them. But, how did people receive letters before stamps were invented, and who came up with the idea of using stamps?
In the past, stamps and envelopes were not used. When people wanted to send a letter, they would close the paper with a seal（封印）. The person who got the letter had to pay for it. Because costs at that time were very high, most people refused to accept letters. In fact, the sender would often place secret marks on the outside of the letter. The person who was sent the letter would read the secret message. Then, they would refuse to accept the letter and did not have to pay for it.
In Britain, Sir Rowland Hill introduced the “Post Office Reforms” in 1837. He decided that letters could go to any place in the country for a penny even if the letter had to go far away. The cost was to be paid by the sender of the letter. Payment was recorded by placing a small piece of coloured paper on the letter, the stamp! On May 6,1840, the first stamp called the “Penny Black” was born. Because the stamp was printed in black, the stamp became known as the “Penny Black”. This is now the world’s most famous stamp. This new system spread fast.
1.The best title for this passage should be______
|
A．The First Stamp. |
B．How Stamp Was First Made |
|
C．Why the First Stamp Was Made |
D．When Was Stamp First Made |
2.Before stamps were used,______ would pay for the letter.
|
A．the sender |
B．the receiver |
C．the government |
D．no one |
3.The first stamp was made______.
|
A．more than 160 years ago |
B．more than two centuries ago |
|
C．less than 100 years ago |
D．about 100 years ago |
4.Which of the following is true about the first stamp of China?
|
A．It was made much earlier than the first stamp of the US |
|
B．The stamp had a snake on it |
|
C．The stamp couldn’t be found now |
|
D．The stamp had a picture of a dragon on it |