Say you are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.

    Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, this story is about the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive (令人赞叹的) as the building itself.

    First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Mad in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial (纪念物) to celebrate their love.

    The heartbroken Jehan ordered his wife’s dying wish carried out, and more than 20,000 workers worked nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains under the center of the building.

    Later, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Jehan lived the rest of his days, eight years, imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it until he was buried next to his wife.

    Today 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange and sad story, people who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired its construction.

39. The first two paragraphs were written mainly to show that ______.

A. the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building

B. India has some of the most famous buildings in the world

C. ancient Indian emperors were cruel

D. construction workers led a hard life in ancient India

40. The Taj Mahal was first built as ______.

A. a memorial building      B. a tourist attraction     C. a prison           D. a gift to Mumtaz

41. From the passage we can learn that Mumtaz probably died in ______.

A. 1626         B. 1653    C. 1632   D. 1634

42. The underlined word “happiness” in the last paragraph refers to “______”.

A. the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal

B. the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal

C. the married happiness of the emperor and his wife

D. the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power

Scholars and researchers have tried to discover what personality characteristics go along with success in different cultural experiences. Their findings have often been unclear or incomplete. But three typical characteristics stand out in their reports: patience, a sense of humor, and the awareness of being unclear.

    Patience, of course, is the ability to keep calm when things do not go as one wants them to, or as one hopes they would, or even as one was sure they would. Impatience sometimes brings improvements in relations with other people, but usually it does not.

    A person with a sense of humor is less likely to take things too seriously and more ready to see the humor in his own reaction than a humorless person. The value of a sense of humor really needs to be paid more attention to.

    “The awareness of being unclear” is a more difficult concept to understand than patience and a sense of humor. Foreigners often find themselves in situations that are unclear as they are newcomers. That is, they do not know what is happening in a certain situation. Perhaps they do not understand the local language well enough, or they do not know how some system or organization works, or they can’t be sure of different people’s roles in what is going on. “It’s like that I just got here from the moon,” a Chinese graduate student who newly arrived in the United States said. “Things are just so different here.”

35. The passage mainly tells us ______.

A. about some uneasy traveling experiences in foreign countries

B. about the three main ways to communicate with foreigners

C. about some typical characteristics in different cultural experiences

D. how to show your characters to foreigners

36. According to the passage, which characteristic should be focused on most?

A. The ability to keep cool.    B. The sense of humor.

C. Patience.                D. The awareness of being unclear.

37. “The awareness of being unclear” refers to “______” .

A. not knowing what is happening in a situation

B. not understanding the local language well enough

C. being aware that the situation is unclear

D. not knowing how some system or organization works

38. By what the Chinese graduate student said, we can learn that ______.

A. he is not used to the culture of America

B. he went to the United States to study the moon

C. he is a person with a sense of humor

D. he has just returned from the moon

The home computer industry has been growing rapidly in the United States in the last ten years. Computers used to be large, expensive machines that were very difficult to use. But scientists and technicians have been making them smaller and cheaper while at the same time they have been made easier to use. As a result, their popularity has been increasing as more people have been buying computers for their homes and businesses.         

Computers have been designed to store information and compute problems that are difficult for human beings to work out. Some have voices that speak to their operators. Stores use computers to keep records of their inventories and to send bills to their customers. Offices use computers to copy letters, record business and keep in touch with other offices. People also use computers in their homes to keep track of the money they spend.

    One important new use of computers is for entertainment. Many new games have been designed to be played on computers. People of all ages play these games. People also buy home computers to watch movies and listen to concerts at home. They have become very popular indeed.

31. Compared with those of today, computers used to ______.

A. work rapidly    B. be used for fun      C. be large and expensive      D. be easy to use

32. In recent years, computers have become ______.

A. more and more difficult to use       B. slower and slower

C. more and more expensive           D. smaller and smaller

33. Home computers can be used for ______.

A. doing business        B. writing letters       C. playing games       D. all of the above

34. Salesmen use computers mainly to ______.

A. talk with their friends                    B. write letters

C. check the list of goods and send bills        D. play games for pleasure

On a Friday   11  , a poor young artist stood at the gate of the subway station, playing his violin.The music was   12  , and many people   13   and put some money into the   14   of the young man.

The next night,the young artist took out a large piece of   15   and laid it on the ground.Then he began   16  . The music sounded more pleasant.Some people gathered and they found the   17   on that paper.“Last night,a gentleman put a(n)   18  thing into my hat.Please come to get it back.”When the people saw that, they felt very curious and began to   19   what it could be.After about half an hour, a man   20   there in a hurry and said,“It can’t be true！You ...you ...”

The young violinist asked, “Did you   21   something?”

“Lottery (彩票).”the man answered  22  .

The violinist took out a lottery ticket.“Is it？”he asked.

The man was too   23   to say a word ...George Sang   24   a lottery ticket a few days ago. The awards(奖)opened yesterday and he won $500,000. So lucky and excited did he feel that he   25   50 dollars and put it in the hat when hearing the music. However, the lottery ticket was also thrown into the hat without being noticed. The violinist found the lottery ticket. Thinking that the owner would  26   to look for it, he came back to where he was given the lottery ticket.

Someone asked the violinist   27   he returned the lottery ticket to the man. He said, “   28   I don’t have much   29  , I live happily; but if I lose   30   I won’t be happy forever.”

11. A. morning       B. night        C. afternoon      D. noon

12. A. quiet           B. exciting      C. beautiful       D. familiar

13. A. passed by     B. went away    C. slowed down   D. speeded up    

14. A. wallet        B. box          C. bag           D. hat

15. A. paper         B. cloth        C. glass          D. plastic

16. A. singing       B. playing      C. working      D. waiting

17. A. poems    B. articles   C. words    D. texts

18. A. important     B. fantastic     C. dangerous     D. interesting

19. A. argue    B. care       C. expect   D. guess

20. A. came    B. rushed     C. walked   D. left

21. A. get     B. find       C. forget   D. lose

22. A. quickly      B. anxiously      C. seriously       D. carefully

23. A. confused     B. anxiously       C. excited      D. surprised

24. A. bought  B. made       C. found    D. sold

25. A. handed out   B. took out    C. hunted for   D. picked up

26. A. forget       B. remember     C. return       D. picked up

27. A. where        B. why      C. when         D. how

28.A. Because     B. Although       C. If     D. While

29. A. money    B. food      C. time     D. luck

30. A. friendship      B. honesty      C. hope        D. love

John told me he’d like to go hiking with me, his voice        joy.

A. was heavy with   B. was full of        C. heavy with       D. full with.

 Do you know that Britain trades         many European countries       furs and skins?

A. in; of       B. with; in       C. with; of       D. in; with

       you have tried yourself can you learn what an exciting game it is!

A. Only if      B. Even if         C. If only        D. As if

 We allow      in the woods but anyone is forbidden      here.

A. to camp; to smoke      B. camping; smoking     

C. to camp; smoking      D. camping; to smoke

Doctor Wang       at seven o’clock for the conference, but she didn’t turn up.

A. should have arrived    B. should arrive     C. should be arrived      D. should be arriving

       food and vegetables         southern China where people have being suffered from snow storms since mid-January.

A. Large quantities of; are sent to             B. A large quantity of; are sent to

C. Plenty of; is sent to                      D. A great deal of; are sent to