“Seven out of ten people have tried to learn a language at some point in their life and most wish they could speak one more fluently,” a survey found. “And nine out of ten people want their children to learn foreign languages at primary school,” said the poll for the OCR Examing Board (牛津剑桥皇家考试委员会).Languages are no longer compulsory(义务的)for pupils aged 14 and over. But the government wants all primary school pupils in England to learn a language by the end of the decade.
A survey of 1000 people was carried out, which is organised by the National Centre of Language .The study suggested people in London were the most likely(78%) to have studied another language, Scots were next at 74%, followed by the northeast of England (71%).In the west of England, more than six in ten have knowledge of another language.
Barrie Hunt from OCR said, “People are often very negative about Britain，s grasp of foreign languages but in reality the number of people who can speak a second language is impressive. The great joke is that many of these people will have no formal qualification to show their family, friends and employers what they can do. Whether they are fluent or just able to hold a short conversation in another language is unknown.”
He said OCR had set a new language scheme called Asset Languages to encourage people of all ages to learn languages in bite-sized amounts and get a qualification.
The scheme also provides assessment for community languages spoken at home, such as Chinese, Urdu and Punjabi.
Isabella Moore from the National Centre of Languages said, “Employers want evidence of good communication skills, confidence and outward-looking attitudes, so a language qualification is an important addition to anyone，s resume.”

  1. 1.

    It can be inferred that___________________________

    1. A.
      foreign language study is popular in UK
    2. B.
      foreign language study is a must for people of all ages
    3. C.
      it is especially easy for British people to study foreign languages
    4. D.
      students of over 14 no longer study foreign languages
  2. 2.

    Which of the following has the most to have studied a foreign language?

    1. A.
      People from Scotland
    2. B.
      People from the northeast of England
    3. C.
      People in London
    4. D.
      People from the west of England
  3. 3.

    Which statement is true according to the text?

    1. A.
      A language qualification is the only evidence of a high-quality employee
    2. B.
      Speaking foreign languages is the most important skill required in employment among all
    3. C.
      A language qualification is very difficult to get in UK
    4. D.
      Many people in UK don，t have a qualification although they can speak foreign languages
  4. 4.

    What’s the best title for the text?

    1. A.
      An Interesting Survey
    2. B.
      UK Loves After All
    3. C.
      Language Teaching in UK
    4. D.
      Better to Get a Language Qualification

Prison Break is a huge hit thanks to its handsome star, Wentworth Miller. His character, Michael Scofield, is the engine that drives the show.
Having committed a crime to get into prison and break out with his innocent brother, Michael Scofield is one of the most interesting personalities on TV today. But what about the man behind the character?
Miller,35, is a hard guy to figure out. He does not come from a normal background and has never lived his life in a typical way.
Miller didn’t take direct path to fame and fortune. He graduated from Princeton University in 1995, not with a degree in theatre of film, but in English. He didn’t even act when he was in college. His only performance experience was in his university’s singing group. Yet , at graduation Miller still decided to make the move to Hollywood.
Miller has always been different. Although he is American, he was in Britain when his father was studying there. His family background is also a special mix of cultures. “My father is black and my mother is white. That means I have always been caught in the middle. I could be either one, which can make you feel out of place,” Miller says.
Following his unusual path, Miller did not start trying out for films and TV shows when he
first went to Hollywood. Instead, he worked as a lowly production assistant. Not what you would expect from a Princeton graduate. However, it all paid off for Miller in the end.  
In 2002, Miller played a role in the drama Dinotopia（《恐龙帝国》）. He starred as a thoughtful and shy man. Producers remembered his performance when they were casting Prison Break two years later. With a golden globe nomination（提名）and another season of Prison Break on his resume, Miller seems ready to take over all of Hollywood

  1. 1.

    What does the passage mainly talk about?

    1. A.
      Michael Scofield in Prison Break
    2. B.
      Hollywood’s recent big hit—Prison Break
    3. C.
      Miller’s unusual path to fame and fortune
    4. D.
      The man who will take over all of the world
  2. 2.

    The writer thinks “Miller is a hard guy to figure out” because         

    1. A.
      it’s difficult to tell him from others
    2. B.
      he is a shy man and hard to cooperate with
    3. C.
      he always has ideas hard for people to understand
    4. D.
      his family background and life experience are very special
  3. 3.

    Which is the closest in meaning to the underlined sentence “it all paid off for Miller in the end”?

    1. A.
      Miller put a lot of extra work for his final success
    2. B.
      Miller gained fame and fortune at last with his first film
    3. C.
      Miller finally succeeded even if he has been in low position
    4. D.
      Miller managed to pay off his debts with his small income in the end
  4. 4.

    Which of the following statements is TRUE about Miller?

    1. A.
      He is chosen to play the Michael Scofield due to his interesting personality
    2. B.
      His performance in Dinotopia makes some contributions to his success
    3. C.
      He has the same experience with the character Michael Scofield
    4. D.
      He is angry about his being born into a mixed-cultural family

That Upper class people generally have more educational opportunities, greater financial security, and better jobs than people from lower social classes, but that doesn’t mean they’re more skilled at everything. A new study finds, surprisingly, that lower class people are better at reading the emotions of others.
The researchers were inspired by observing that, for lower class people, success depends more on how much they can rely on other individuals. For example, if you can’t afford to  buy support services, you have to rely on your neighbors or relatives to watch the kids while you’re busy.
One experiment researched on volunteers who worked at a university: some had graduated from college and others had not. Researchers used the educational level as an indicator（标志）for social classes. The volunteers did a test of emotion perception（感知）, in which they were instructed to look at pictures of faces and indicate which emotions each face was displaying. People with more education performed worse on the task than people with less education.
In another study, university students who were of higher social status had a more difficult time accurately（准确）reading the emotions of a stranger.
These results suggest that people of upper-class status aren’t very good at recognizing the emotions other people are feeling. This is because they remember their upper status and they think they can solve their problems without relying on others.
In the third experiment, people were made to feel that they were at a lower social class than they actually were, and they got better at reading emotions.
“The differences between upper-class people and lower-class people are not something ingrained（根深蒂固的）,” Kraus says. “It’s the cultural environment leading to them.” This work helps show that the traditional image of the classes is wrong. “It’s not true that a lower-class person, no matter what kind of person, is going to be less intelligent than an upper-class person. It’s all about the social environment the person lives in, and the specific challenges the person faces. If you can change the environment even temporarily, social class differences in lots of behaviors can be removed.”

  1. 1.

    According to the passage, when lower-class people meet problems, they tend to ______

    1. A.
      turn to others
    2. B.
      work even harder
    3. C.
      feel more frustrated
    4. D.
      learn from upper-class people
  2. 2.

    Why did people perform better in emotion perception in the third experiment?

    1. A.
      Because they became less independent
    2. B.
      Because they didn’t know they were cheated
    3. C.
      Because they felt they must ask for help from other
    4. D.
      Because they were made to understand lower-class people
  3. 3.

    What does the passage mainly talk about?

    1. A.
      Upper-class people are not skilled at everything
    2. B.
      Upper-class people have trouble recognizing others’ emotion
    3. C.
      Lower-class people need to be given more employment opportunities
    4. D.
      There are many differences between upper-class people and lower-class people

I first heard this story a few years ago from a girl. Probably the story is one of those mysterious bits of folklore that reappear every few years. However, I still like to think that it really did happen, somewhere, sometime.
They were going to Fort Lauderdale-- three boys and three girls -- and when they boarded the bus, they were carrying sandwiches and wine, dreaming of golden beaches and sea tides as the gray, cold spring of New York vanished behind them.
As the bus passed through New Jersey, they began to notice Vingo. He sat in front of them, dressed in a plain ill-fitting suit, never moving, his dusty face masking his age. He kept chewing the inside of his lip a lot, frozen into complete silence.
Deep into the night, the bus pulled into Howard Johnson's, and everybody got off except Vingo. He sat rooted in his seat, and the young people began to wonder about him: perhaps he was a sea captain, a runaway from his wife, an old soldier going home. When they went back to the bus, one of the girls sat beside him and introduced herself.
¨We're going to Florida," she said brightly. “I hear it's really beautiful. "
"It is," he said quietly, as if remembering something he had tried to forget.
“Want some wine?" she said. He thanked her and retreated again into his silence. After a while, she went back to the others, and Vingo nodded in sleep.
In the morning, they awoke outside another Howard Johnson's, and this time Vingo went in. The girl insisted that he join them. He seemed very shy, and ordered black coffee and smoked nervously as the young people chattered about sleeping on beaches. When they returned to the bus, the girl sat with Vingo again, and after a while, slowly and painfully, he began to tell his story. He had been in jail in New York for the past four years, and now he was going home.
¨Are you married?"
“I don't know. "
“You don’t know?" she said.
“Well, when I was in jail I wrote to my wife," he said. ¨‘I told her that I was going to be away a long time, and that if she couldn't stand it, if the kids kept asking questions, she could just forget me. I'd understand. Get a new guy, I said - she's a wonderful woman – and forget about me. I told her she didn't have to write me. And she didn't. Not for three and a half years. "
"And you're going home now, not knowing?"
" Yeah," he said shyly. ‘‘Last week, when I was sure the parole was coming through, I wrote her again. There's a big oak tree just as you come into town, I told her that if she didn't have a new guy and if she'd take me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I'd get off and come home. If she didn't want me, forget it - no handkerchief, and I'd go on through. "
"Wow," the girl exclaimed. "Wow. "
She told the others, and soon all of them were in it, caught up in the approach of Brunswick, looking at the pictures Vingo showed them of his wife and three children.
Now they were 20 miles from Brunswick, and the young people took over window seats, waiting for the approach of the great oak tree. Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face, as if fortifying himself against still another disappointment.
Then Brunswick was 10 miles, and then five. Then, suddenly, all of the young people were up out of their seats, screaming and shouting and crying. All except Vingo. Vingo sat there stunned, looking at the oak tree. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs —20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds. As the young people shouted, the old con slowly rose from his seat and made his way to the front of the bus to go home

  1. 1.

    According to the passage, which statement is TRUE?

    1. A.
      The young people are travelling from Florida to New York
    2. B.
      Vingo was put in prison ten years ago, and now he was set free to go home
    3. C.
      The young people around Vingo were quite curious about his silence
    4. D.
      At last, Vingo went home together with the three boys and three girls
  2. 2.

    From the underlined sentences in Para 3, we can infer that _____

    1. A.
      Vingo was nervous because he didn't know whether his wife would accept him
    2. B.
      Vingo was very disappointed because his wife didn't answer his letter
    3. C.
      Vingo was very shy because he knew someone was watching him
    4. D.
      Vingo was excited because he could go home and meet his wife and children
  3. 3.

    The underlined word "fortify" in the passage has the same meaning as that in Sentence___

    1. A.
      The French soldiers are working hard to fortify airbase
    2. B.
      The food has been fortified with Vitamin
    3. C.
    4. D.
      People in the whole city were fortified by the moving story about their hero
    5. E.
      We had to drink some more coffee to fortify ourselves for the journey
  4. 4.

    Which word do you think can best describe Vingo's wife?

    1. A.
      humorous
    2. B.
      loyal
    3. C.
      generous
    4. D.
      hard-working
  5. 5.

    After reading the whole story, we can probably make a conclusion that_____

    1. A.
      Young people are always curious about everything new around them
    2. B.
      Home is always the first place a person wants to go
    3. C.
      Don’t laugh at a person who has no home
    4. D.
      It is impolite to ask questions about one's privacy that he or she doesn't want to tell
  6. 6.

    What's the best title for the passage?

    1. A.
      A story of a poor man
    2. B.
      The power of love
    3. C.
      Help from strangers
    4. D.
      Going home

Parents are not only looking for a unique name for their baby, but they also want a name that has a special meaning. American Indians usually have pretty interesting names. These names are given to them through various methods and usually by an elder. American Indians feel very strongly abouL naming their child, and it is almost treated like a ritual. In some American Indian cultures. they even hold a ceremony when they are to name a child
Amcrican Indian children are usually named by an elder who could be eheir grandmother, grandfather. mother or father. The name given by the elder comes to them in many different forms such as charactcnstics of the person, dreams that the elder may have. or the name of a family member who has died It is also true that some Amerlcan Indians arc named after some sort of animal while others are named after nature Some tribes (部落) name their children after events that happen before thiir birth.
Also in different tribes. two of the American Indians in the same tribe can't share the same name Once the person with the name has died. then the name may be used again. It is said that Amcrican Indians believe that they shoutd not address the baby by the name that they are given because if the name is too well-known. the child or baby may be called back to the spirit world; this is what causes many American Indians to be given nicknames(绰号). Many Amcrican Indians arc more commonly known by their nicknames instead of their names given at birth

  1. 1.

    What does the underlined word "ritual" in Paragraph l probably mean?

    1. A.
      exciting moment
    2. B.
      special event
    3. C.
      good opportunity
    4. D.
      great time
  2. 2.

    Which is not the way Indians name their child?

    1. A.
      The name of a certain animal
    2. B.
      Onc of the child's ancestors
    3. C.
      The dreaius of the Indian child
    4. D.
      An event before the child's birth
  3. 3.

    Why are American Indians given nicknames?

    1. A.
      It is not convenient to use their formal names
    2. B.
      They don't want to be famous in the tribes
    3. C.
      Parents are afraid cheir child would die young
    4. D.
      Nicknames are shortcr and easier to address
  4. 4.

    What doCS the text mainly talk about?

    1. A.
      Ongins of American Indians' names
    2. B.
      Hisrory of American Indians' names
    3. C.
      Importance of American Indians' names
    4. D.
      Customs in American Indians' names

A month after Hurricane Katrina, I returned home in New Orleans. There lay my house, reduced towaist-high ruins, smelly and dirty.
Before the trip, I’d had my car fixed. When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill，she noticed my Louisiana license plate. “You from New Orleans?”she asked I said I was, “No charge.”She said, and firmly shook her head when I reached for my wallet. The next day I went for a haircut, and the same thing happened.
As my wife was studying in Florida, we decided to move there and tried to find a rental house that we could afford while also paying off a mortgage (抵押贷款〉on our mined house. We looked at many places, but none was satisfactory. We’d began to accept that we*d have to live in extremely reduced circumstances for a while, when I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kemmedy in California. He’d read some pieces I’d written about our sufferings for State, the online magazine  and wanted to give us (""no conditions attached’）a new house across thelake from New Orleans.
It sounded too good to be true, but I replied, thanking him for his exceptional generosity, that we had no plan to go back. Then a poet at the University of Florida offered to let his house to me, while he went to England on his one-year paid leave. The rent was rather reasonable. I mentioned the poet’s offer to James Kemdedy, and the next day he sent a check covering our entire rent for eight months.
Throughout this painful experience, the kindness of strangers has done much to bring back my faith in humanity. It’s almost worth losing your worldly possessions to be reminded that people are really nice when given half a chance

  1. 1.

    The garage employee’s attitude toward the author was that of         

    1. A.
      unconcern
    2. B.
      sympathy
    3. C.
      doubt
    4. D.
      tolerance
  2. 2.

    What do we know about James Kemnedy?

    1. A.
      He was a writer of an online magazine
    2. B.
      He was a poet at the University of Florida
    3. C.
      He offered the author a new house free of charge
    4. D.
      He learned about the author’s sufferings via e-mail
  3. 3.

    It can be inferred from the text that         

    1. A.
      the author’s family was in financial difficulty
    2. B.
      rents were comparatively reasonable despite the disaster
    3. C.
      houses were difficult to find in the hurricane-stricken area
    4. D.
      the mortgage on the ruined house was paid off by the bank
  4. 4.

    The author learned from his experience that         

    1. A.
      worldly possessions can be given up when necessary
    2. B.
      generosity should be encouraged in some cases
    3. C.
      people benefit from their sad stories
    4. D.
      human beings are kind after all

It is easy for us to tell our friends from our enemies. But can other animals do the same? Elephants can! They can use their sense of vision and smell to tell the difference between people who pose a threat and those who do not.
In Kenya, researchers have found that elephants react differently to clothing worn by men of the Maasai and Kamba ethnic groups. Young Maasai men spear animals and thus pose a threat to elephants; Kamba men are mainly farmers and are not a danger to elephants.
In an experiment conducted by animal scientists, elephants were first presented with clean clothing or clothing that had been worn for five days by either a Maasai or a Kamba man. When the elephants detected the smell of clothing worn by a Maasai man, they moved away from the smell faster and took longer to relax than when they detected the smells of either clothing worn by Kamba men or clothing that had not been worn at all.
Garment color also plays a role, though in a different way. In the same study, when the elephants saw red clothing not worn before, they reacted angrily, as red is typically worn by Maasai men. Rather than running away as they did with the smell, the elephants acted aggressively toward the red clothing.
The researchers believe that the elephants’ emotional reactions are due to their different interpretations of the smells and the sights. Smelling a potential danger means that a threat is nearby and the best thing to do is run away and hide. Seeing a potential threat without its smell means that risk is low. Therefore, instead of showing fear and running away, the elephants express their anger and become aggressive

  1. 1.

    According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

    1. A.
      Maasai people are a threat to elephants
    2. B.
      Kamba people raise elephants for farming
    3. C.
      Both Kamba and Maasai people are elephant hunters
    4. D.
      Both Kamba and Maasai people traditionally wear red clothing
  2. 2.

    How did the elephants react to smell in the study?

    1. A.
      They attacked a man with the smell of new clothing
    2. B.
      They needed time to relax when smelling something unfamiliar
    3. C.
      They became anxious when they smelled Kamba-scented clothing
    4. D.
      They were frightened and ran away when they smelled their enemies
  3. 3.

    What is the main idea of this passage?

    1. A.
      Elephants attack people who wear red clothing
    2. B.
      Elephants use sight and smell to detect danger
    3. C.
      Scientists are now able to control elephants’ emotions
    4. D.
      Some Kenyan tribes understand elephants’ emotions very well
  4. 4.

    What can be inferred about the elephant’s behavior from this passage?

    1. A.
      Elephants learn from their experiences
    2. B.
      Elephants have sharper sense of smell than sight
    3. C.
      Elephants are more intelligent than other animals
    4. D.
      Elephants tend to attack rather than escape when in danger

If you want to learn anything at school, you need to listen to your teachers. Unfortunately, millions of kids can’t hear what their teachers are saying. And it’s not because these students are goofing off. Often, it’s the room’s fault. Building architecture and building design can create echo(回声)-filled classrooms that make hearing difficult.
Children with hearing impairments（损伤）suffer most from noisy classrooms. They sometimes can’t hear questions that other students ask in class. Compared with kids with healthy hearing, they have a harder time picking up new vocabulary words by hearing them in talking.
Even kids with normal hearing have a harder time in the classroom when there’s too much noise. Younger children in particular have trouble separating important sounds – like a teacher’s voice – from background noise. Kids with learning disabilities and speech impediments（障碍）and kids for whom English is a second language also have a harder time learning in noisy situations.
In recent years, scientists who study sound have been asking schools to reduce background noise, which may include loud air-conditioners and pipes. They’re also targeting outdoor noises, such as highway traffic. Noise reduction is a big deal. Why? Because quieter classrooms might make you smarter by letting you hear your lessons better.
“It’s so obvious that we should have quiet rooms that allow for access to the lesson,” says Dan Ostergren, a hearing scientist. “Sometimes it surprises me that we spend so much time discussing this topic. I just want to go. Why is this hard for anyone to grasp?”

  1. 1.

    The underlined part “goofing off” in the first paragraph can be replaced by “     ”

    1. A.
      lazy
    2. B.
      intelligent
    3. C.
      sleepy
    4. D.
      foolish
  2. 2.

    Who is most affected by noisy classrooms?

    1. A.
      Children with learning disabilities
    2. B.
      Children with speech impairments
    3. C.
      Children with hearing impediments
    4. D.
      Children with normal hearing
  3. 3.

    Why should noise be reduced in classrooms?

    1. A.
      Quiet classrooms are suitable for kids to have discussions
    2. B.
      Quiet classrooms help kids recover from hearig impairments
    3. C.
      Kids can’t separate sounds of air-conditioners and pipes
    4. D.
      Kids can become smarter after hearing lessons better
  4. 4.

    What would be the best title for the passage?

    1. A.
      Classroom design
    2. B.
      Noisy classrooms
    3. C.
      The sense of hearing
    4. D.
      Disabled kids

Once there was a king. He had two old ministers. One was kind and the other was bad. The bad minister often said bad words about the kind minister before the king. The king was very angry.
One day the king said to the bad minister , “Write two words on two pieces of paper. Write ‘live’ on one piece and ‘die’ on the other . Then put them in a jar and tell him to choose. If he takes out the paper with ‘live’ on it , I will let him go. If he takes out the paper with ‘die’ on it ,I will kill him at once.”
The bad minister was quite happy. He got two pieces of paper ready. He wrote “die” on each piece of paper.
The kind old man came. He knew the bad minister wanted to kill him. He also knew the words on the two pieces both “die”, but he knew what to do. Later the king had to keep his word and let the old minister go. Do you k now what the kind man do about this at that time?

  1. 1.

    The king was angry with              .

    1. A.
      himself
    2. B.
      the kind minister
    3. C.
      the bad minister
    4. D.
      the two ministers
  2. 2.

          was told to write “live” and “die”

    1. A.
      The king
    2. B.
      The kind minister
    3. C.
      The bad minister
    4. D.
      The two ministers
  3. 3.

    There is no “live” on both pieces of paper because          

    1. A.
      the kind minister didn’t want it
    2. B.
      the bad minister couldn’t write the word
    3. C.
      the king told the bad minister not to write it
    4. D.
      the bad minister hated the kind minister and wanted to kill him
  4. 4.

          must be disappointed in the end

    1. A.
      The king
    2. B.
      The kind minister
    3. C.
      The bad minister
    4. D.
      All the other ministers

If you were on the street in Mexico today you might think you were in an operating room, surrounded by doctors. You could see many concerned people with masks (口罩) trying their best to stop the swine flu (猪流感). And the masks aren’t only being used in Mexico. A friend of mine traveling from New York City to Florida was given a mask and a pair of gloves just after he reached the airport. And another friend went to get a haircut only to be faced with a hairdresser wearing a mask!
But do the masks really work? Is covering your nose and mouth the key to stopping the swine flu? To find out the truth, ABC’s reporter Sharyn Alfonsi talked with germ (细菌) expert Dr. Elaine Larsen. It turns out that when you sneeze (打喷嚏) the air coming out of your mouth at a speed of one hundred miles per hour carries germs which can travel anywhere around you and make people around you infected (被感染).
However, whether you become infected actually depends on the weather. As Sharyn reported, when you sneeze, the germs leave your body in small drops of water coming out of your mouth. If the weather is wet, the wet air will make the small drops bigger and heavier and they drop down towards our feet. If this happens, we won’t become infected. But if the air is dry, those small drops can float higher up, making it possible for them to touch someone else’s nose, mouth or their mask.
Larsen says the masks can stop the germs well but after a few hours, they start to get wet, holding a lot of germs they come across and causing you to breathe them in. The masks do work, but the key to stopping the germs is changing your masks often

  1. 1.

    According to Para.1, in Mexico you can see that ____

    1. A.
      the patients are treated in the open air
    2. B.
      some doctors work in the street
    3. C.
      people speak little to each other in the street
    4. D.
      many people wear masks in the street
  2. 2.

    According to the passage a patient spreads germs mainly through ____

    1. A.
      breathing
    2. B.
      Speaking
    3. C.
      touching others
    4. D.
      sneezing
  3. 3.

    We learn from the passage that on a wet day ____

    1. A.
      sick people will be infected
    2. B.
      germs can spread very far
    3. C.
      germs spread very quickly
    4. D.
      few people will be infected
  4. 4.

    If you keep wearing a mask for a long time, ____

    1. A.
      the mask will be old and worn out
    2. B.
      you’ll love the feeling of wearing it
    3. C.
      germs will be kept away from you
    4. D.
      it will be easy for you to be infected
  5. 5.

    What should we pay attention to when wearing masks?

    1. A.
      Keeping the masks dry
    2. B.
      Changing the masks often
    3. C.
      Choosing very thick masks
    4. D.
      Wearing big masks
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