Beijing opera or Peking opera （Pinyin: Jīngjù） is a form of Chinese opera which arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century．The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China．Major performance troupes （剧团，戏班子） are based in Beijing and Tianjin in the north，and Shanghai in the south．The art form is also enjoyed in Taiwan，and has spread to other countries such as the United States and Japan.
Beijing opera features four main types of performers．Performing troupes often have several of each variety，as well as numerous secondary and tertiary performers．With their elaborate （认真的，精心的） and colorful costumes，performers are the only focal points on Beijing opera's characteristically small stage．They make use of the skills of speech，song，dance，and combat in movements that are symbolic and suggestive，rather than realistic．Above all else，the skill of performers is evaluated according to the beauty of their movements．Performers also hold a variety of stylistic conventions that help audiences navigate the plot of the production．The layers of meaning within each movement must be expressed in time with music．The music of Beijing opera can be divided into the Xipi and Erhuang styles．Melodies include arias （唱腔），fixed-tune melodies，and percussion patterns．The repertoire of Beijing opera includes over 1,400 works，which are based on Chinese history，folklore，and，increasingly，contemporary life.
In recent years，Beijing opera has attempted numerous reforms in response to sagging audience numbers．These reforms，which include improving performance quality，adapting new performance elements，and performing new and original plays，have met with mixed success．Some Western works have been adopted as new plays，but a lack of funding and an adverse political climate have left Beijing opera's fate uncertain as the form enters the 21st century．
【小题1】How long has Beijing Opera become a popular art form?

In William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, there is major difference between two of the characters, Brutus and Mark Antony, Brutus was very honorable and Antony was very persuasive. When Brutus spoke at Caesar’s funeral, he appealed to the people’s logic and Antony spoke to the emotions of the people. Antony was very smart and used his brain frequently during the play and Brutus was very naive(天真的，率直的) about many of things.

Brutus was very honorable in the way that he always told people the truth. Antony was persuasive in the way that he used people to get whatever he wanted. For example, Antony used Lepidus to seek revenge on all of the conspirators (同谋者，阴谋者) to take the blame for their deaths. Brutus’ speech at Caesar’s funeral was very short and to the point and spoke to the logic of the people in the crowd. For example, Brutus spoke in a detached way about Caesar’s death while Antony spoke to the emotions of the crowd by crying and talking about all the good things that Caesar did for Rome. Antony’s intelligence was very apparent throughout the play and Brutus appeared to be naive about many things. Antony as smart in the way that he controlled people to his own advantage. Brutus appeared to be naive throughout the whole play because he believed everyone was as honorable as he. Brutus did not question what he was told, assuming it was always true.

In conclusion, in William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, there is a major difference between the two characters, Brutus and Mark Antony. The strongest contrast between the two characters appears to be their ability and inability to be both honorable and persuasive.

46. The author wrote this passage by _____

A. number             B. contrast                    C. question                   D. narration

47. A lot of difference is mentioned in the passage between _____

A. Shakespeare and Antony                   B. Julius and Antony

C. Brutus and Antony                                D. Julius and Brutus

48. Which of the following adjectives can be used to describe Antony’s character?

A. Honorable and naïve                       

B. Persuasive and smart

C. Honorable and smart              

D. Simple and frank

49. What’s the Chinese meaning of the underlined “to the point”?

A. 离题的                   B. 中肯的             C. 优美的                    D.动听的

50. From the passage, we can conclude that ______

A. Shakespeare was a great scientist         

B. Shakespeare was a well-known musician

C. Shakespeare was a famous artist      

D. Shakespeare was a famed playwright

Lulu is a brave pet in our shelter. As you know, there are a lot of forest fires during the summer season. Many forests are badly damaged by fire each year. Not far from our shelter, a forest caught fire during this hot summer. We were in a heat wave which had been   31  for three days.
Lulu rushed towards the forest where flames sent out a terrible   32 ．I no longer had any hope that Lulu would come back to the shelter．In fact, I was waiting for the firemen to announce his   33  in the forest, when suddenly, a fireman burst into my shelter and informed me that my dog Lulu had   34    to save four kittens(小猫) who were trapped by the flames．According to the fireman, Lulu seized the kittens, one by one moving them to a safe place．I immediately accompanied(陪同) the fireman to the forest to   35    the rescued kittens．When we arrived   36   the scene of the incident, we found Lulu was not there. Then we heard the   37   of a dog from the forest barking furiously (猛烈地). I recognized it was my dog Lulu．The fireman followed the tracks of the dog until we found him barking   38   by the side of an injured fireman who was lying on the ground and desperately(绝望地) waiting for rescue．Thanks to Lulu, four kittens and a fireman were saved.
That day, I was very proud of Lulu for his two heroic(英雄的) 39   toward the kittens and the fireman．Lulu showed much compassion (同情) for both animals like him and for a human being who was trying to   40   the fire with his colleagues(同事)．
This true story of genuine(真的) love and compassion shows us that pets are loving, caring and considerate(考虑周到的)．We should love and protect them．One day they could do us a good turn.

Billy Joe Saunders is aiming for boxing gold at the Beijing Olympics but may have created history already.

As far as he knows, the 18-year-old welterweight from Hatfield is the first person from the Romany Gypsy community to qualify for an Olympic Games.

Billy Joe clinched （最终获得）his place at a qualifying event in Italy earlier this month and is one of seven boxers to make Team GB for Beijing.

Billy Joe Saunders is not the only British boxer with genuine（真的）medal prospects for Beijing, but his background has to be the most fascinating.

He comes from the Romany Gypsy community and lives on a caravan site near Hatfield in Hertfordshire.

Boxing runs deep in the Saunders family, who are immensely proud of their heritage.

His brother Tommy is a professional（职业的）, while his Dad Tom was an amateur and his great, great grandfather, the wonderfully named Absolom Beeny, now aged 96, used to make his living fighting in the old boxing booth at fairgrounds.

Billy Joe admits he has heard all the stories a hundred times, but once he and his brother had visited the local boxing club, he was hooked.

"Boxing has kept me off the streets, stops me smoking and drinking and gives me something to do", he said.

His background may be colorful, but make no mistake, Billy Joe Saunders is one very special boxer.

As a boy he wasn't the most naturally gifted, but had an inner toughness that set him apart from other fighters.

His trainer, Danny Hoy, said: "When I saw him have to dig down into his boots against much older boys, I thought this kid is not the same as anyone else. There is something with this kid".

It is that something which made Billy Joe a real prospect for London 2012, so qualification for Beijing means he is effectively four years ahead of schedule.

He remembers watching Amir Khan win silver in Athens four years ago, and wants to go one better. "I'm aiming for gold, simple as that", he said.

51．Where did Billy clinch his place as a boxer to make Team GB for Beijing.

A. At Beijing                                 B. At Romany Gypsy community     

C. In Italy                                                D. In Britain

52．The underlined word " amateur" (in Para. 3) here means ________

A. a person who takes part in boxing only for pleasure    

B. a person who takes part in boxing as his job

C. a coach who teaches boxing

D. a player who takes part in baseball

53．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Billy’s brother is a professional boxer.   

B. Absolom’s son is not a professional boxer.

C. Billy was very interested in the local boxing club.

D. Billy was the most naturally gifted when he was still a very young boy.

54．It can be inferred from the passage that________

A. His coach thought Billy was gifted to be a boxer when he saw Billy’s boots against older boys.

B. It was Boxing that has kept Billy off the streets.

C. Billy won a silver medal in Athens Olympic Games..

D. Billy will compete in Beijing Olympic Games four years ahead of his trainer’s schedule.

55．What is Billy hoping to win in Beijing Olympic Games?

A. A silver medal for boxing                      B. A gold medal for boxing  

C. A piece of gold                              D. A copper medal

LONDON —A British judge on Thursday sentenced a businessman who sold fake (假冒的）bomb detectors (探测器) to 10 years in prison, saying the man hadn’t cared about potentially deadly consequences.

It is believed that James McCormick got about $77. 8 million from the sales of his detectors — which were based on a kind of golf ball finder — to countries including Iraq, Belgium and Saudi Arabia.

McCormick, 57，was convicted (判罪) of cheats last month and sentenced Thursday at the Old Bailey court in London.

“Your cheating conduct in selling a great amount of useless equipment simply for huge profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people,’’ Judge Richard Hone told McCormick. “You have neither regret, nor shame, nor any sense of guilt.”

The detectors, sold for up to $ 42,000 each, were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air. But in fact they “lacked any grounding in science” and were of no use.

McCormick had told the court that he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya，the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand.

“I never had any bad results from customers,” he said.

39. Why was McCormick sentenced to prison?

A. He sold bombs.                              B. He caused death of people.

C. He made detectors.                              D. He cheated in business.

40. According to the judge, what McCormick had done ________ .

A. increased the cost of safeguarding

B. lowered people’s guard against danger

C. changed people’s idea of social security

D. caused innocent people to commit crimes

41. Which of the following is true of the detectors?

A. They have not been sold to Africa.

B. They have caused many serious problems.

C. They can find dangerous objects in water.

D. They don't function on the basis of science.

42. It can be inferred from the passage that McCormick _________ .

A. sold the equipment at a low price

B. was well-known in most countries

C. did not think he had committed the crime

D. had not got such huge profit as mentioned in the text

【语篇解读】本文是一篇记叙文，题材是新闻报道。本文报道了一条卖假冒炸弹探测器的商人被判10年徒刑的新闻。

【解析】

39. D。细节理解题。难度：中等。问题是“为什么McCormick被判刑入狱”。根据问题中的关键词sentenced to prison定位原文第一段。第一段说到McCormick是一位商人，生产了假冒的炸弹探测器，这是一种商业欺骗。选项D和其对应，为正确答案。

40. B。细节理解题。难度：难。问题是“根据法官的说法，McCormick的所为导致了什么样的结果”。根据问题中的关键词according to the judge定位第四段的第一句：your cheating conduct … promoted a false sense of security and … contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people（你的欺骗行为提高了人们虚假的安全感并助推给无辜百姓带来死亡和伤害）。由此可见，McCormick的行为让人们有了安全感，但这种安全并不真实。B “降低了人们防范危险的安全意识”符合此意，为正确答案。

41. D。判断题。难度：难。问题是“下面哪种说法对探测仪来说是正确的”。

解题思路：根据问题中的关键词detectors，把四个选项具体对应到原文中一处。A对应文章倒数第二段的最后一句he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya，the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand。该句中的Kenya是非洲的肯尼亚，否定了A的说法。B对应第一段第一句“the man hadn’t cared about potentially deadly consequences”，法官只说罪犯没有关注潜在的致命后果，而不是已经导致严重的问题。C对应第五段的第一句话“were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air”提示，探测仪的功能只是据说，而不一定真的具备找到水中危险物品的功能。选项D定位第五段的最后一句“in fact they ‘lacked any grounding in science’ and were of no use可知，这种探测仪没有科学根据，也毫无用途，和D“没有科学根据的工作原理”相吻合，故最佳答案是D。

42. D。推理判断题。难度：中等。

解题思路：返回原文，将选项与原文一一进行比较。

本题主要考查第四段和第七段。A“以低价销售设备”与原文第四段第一句不符，因为该句提到法官指控McCormick通过卖一些无用的设备来巨额利润。B“在大多数国家很有名”与文中提到的区区几个国家和地区Iraq，Belgium，Saudi Arabia，Kenya，Hong Kong，Egypt和Thailand购买他的探测仪不符。C“认为他没有犯罪”和第七段对应，其中他所说的“I never had any bad results from customers”和C符合，Ｃ是正确答案。Ｄ“他没有赚取文中提到的那么大利润”在原文没有语言根据。