England was one of the first countries to set aside a day to recognize mothers．In the eighteenth century,      many people worked as household servants for the     , "Mothering Sunday" was _     for them to return home to be with their mothers．Though this      stopped when the Industrial Revolution altered the working and living patterns of people, one     for mothers was established as a holiday in the twentieth century．

In the United States, Mother's Day did not become a（n）       holiday until 1915．Its establishment was      due to the perseverance and love of one      , Anna Jarvis．Anna's mother had provided strength and support as the family      their home in West Virginia and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania      her father served as a minister．

When Mrs Jarvis died on May 5, 1905, Anna was determined to       her．She asked a minister at the church in West Virginia to give a sermon（布道）      memory of her mother．

On the same Sunday in Philadelphia, ministers there honoured Mrs.Jarvis and all mothers with a (n)      Mother's Day service．Anna Jarvis began writing to congressmen, asking them to       a day to honour mothers. In 1910, the governor of West Virginia proclaimed(宣布) the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and a year later every state       it．

On Mother' s Day morning some American children       the tradition of serving their mothers breakfast in bed．Other children will give their mothers      which they have made themselves or bought in      ．Adults give their mothers red carnations, the official Mother's Day flower．If their mothers     , they may bring white carnations to their grave（坟墓）sites．This is the busiest day of the year for American       ．On the special day, family members do not want Mom to cook dinner!

1.A．before         B．since             C．when              D．until

2.A．rich             B．poor                  C．living             D．injured

3.A．protected            B．reserved               C．changed         D．persuaded

4.A．form          B．custom            C．habit            D．plan

5.A．Monday                B．Wednesday            C．Sunday                  D．Friday

6.A．ordinary        B．common             C．regular          D．official

7.A．nearly         B．largely                 C．deeply           D．highly

8.A．mother         B．sister                  C．daughter         D．waitress

9.A．destroyed    B．found                 C．made            D．left

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

11.A．reward       B．honour                C．award                   D．inspire

12.A．on                 B．at                      C．in               D．for

13.A．special               B．expensive             C．simple           D．easy

14.A．put off               B．give up                C．take on        D．set aside

15.A．understood          B．received                C．celebrated              D．prevented

16.A．follow            B．refuse                C．accept           D．support

17.A．letters               B．gifts                    C．calls                    D．toys

18.A．schools               B．churches             C．stores           D．hospitals

19.A．went ahead     B．moved on                 C．stayed up        D．passed away    

20.A．restaurants            B．departments        C．offices           D．markets  

Napoleon Bonaparte died on May 5, 1821, on the island of St. Helena off the coast of Africa. He was 51 years old at the time. When doctors examined Napoleon’s body, they said that the former emperor of France had died from cancer of the stomach. That was the cause of death recorded in the official report. However, other doctors disagreed. One doctor who was present during the examination of the body said that Napoleon died of hepatitis. Other historians and medical experts have suggested that Napoleon died of syphilis, tuberculosis, or perhaps malaria. Now, after careful research, a British chemist thinks that Napoleon might have been poisoned -- not by a person, but by his wallpaper.

Napoleon was sent to the island of St. Helena in 1815 after he lost the battle of Waterloo. He was a prisoner on the island. Although he had servants to attend to him, he had to live in one small building. St. Helena is a very wet island, so the walls of the building were always covered with mold. Napoleon became ill from spending too much time inside his house. Almost constantly he had a fever, chills, and felt sick to his stomach. He often felt pain in his shoulders and in his side. His skin turned yellow. He got frequent headaches, and he would become dizzy and vomit(吐). None of the medicine that the doctors gave Napoleon seemed to help. They were not sure what was the matter. Finally, Napoleon was too weak to leave the house. One night, while he was sleeping, he went into a coma and died.

Many doctors who later reviewed the reports of Napoleon’s illness found that the symptoms(症状) did not show a man who suffered from stomach cancer. It seemed obvious that Napoleon had died from some other cause. In 1961, a Swedish doctor examined some of Napoleon’s hair and found a high level of arsenic, a chemical poison. Was Napoleon murdered? It is doubtful. Arsenic was used in many types of medicine during Napoleon’s time, so he might have taken the arsenic as a cure for his illness. Then, in 1982, Dr. David Jones from England began to look into the mystery and suggested that Napoleon might have breathed in arsenic which was in the air of his house. In the 1700s and 1800s, arsenic was used to make a kind of green paint used on cloth and wallpaper. If the paint was used on a wet wall, the arsenic would go into the air. A person in the room might breathe that air. After studying the wallpaper in the room where Napoleon died, Dr. Jones found high levels of arsenic in the green paint on the walls.

1.Why did Napoleon live on St. Helena?

2.The official report said that Napoleon died of____________.

3.Napoleon suffered from the following symptoms except __________.

A. chills      B. fever      C  dizziness     D. bleeding

4.According to Dr. Jones, how did the arsenic probably get into Napoleon’s body?

5.The passage says that                      .

One of the most famous buildings in the United States is Carnegie Hall, the home of classical and popular music concerts in New York. Carnegie Hall is known not just for its beauty and history, but also for its amazing sound. It has been said that the hall itself is an instrument. It takes the music and makes it larger than life.

Carnegie Hall is named after Andrew Carnegie, who paid for its construction. He was a wealthy man who also gave a lot of money to schools and public libraries. Construction on Carnegie Hall began in 1890 and the official opening night was on May 5, 1891.

The hall was owned by the Carnegie family until 1924 when it was sold to Robert E. Simon. The building became very old and in 1960, the new owner made plans to destroy it and build an office block. Isaac Stem led a group of people who fought to save Carnegie Hall and finally, the city of New York bought it for $5 million. It was then fixed up between 1983 and 1995.

In 1986, people realized that Carnegie Hall had never kept proper records of its history. Advertisements and stories in newspapers about how Carnegie Hall needed help to recover its history led people to send in old concert programmes and information from all over the world. Over 12,000 concert programmes were received and with these it was possible to make a proper record of Carnegie Hall’s concert history.

Carnegie Hall is actually made up of several different halls, but the Main Hall, now called the Isaac Stern Hall, is the most famous. Most of the greatest performers of classical music since the time the hall was built have performed in the Main Hall, and its reception areas are decorated with signed photographs of these musicians. The hall itself can hold an audience of 2,804 in five levels of seating. Visitors to the top level have to climb up 105 steps to get there!

Because the best and most famous musicians of all time have played at Carnegie Hall, it is the dream of most musicians who want to be great to play there. This has led to a very old joke which is now part of Carnegie Hall’s history. Question: “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” Answer: “Practise, practise, practise.”

1.What do music lovers expect in Carnegie Hall?

   A. Musical concerts presented by first class performers.

   B. Exhibits and photographs of historical events.

   C. Musicians practicing for opportunities to play.

   D. People dancing merrily at parties.

2.What is the correct order of the following events?

  a. Robert E. Simon bought it in 1924.

b. Carnegie Hall got its name.

  c. Carnegie Hall recovered its history.

  d. New York City paid $5,000,000 for it. 

  e. Construction on Carnegie Hall began in 1890.

A. a; c; b; d; e;       B. e; d; c; a; b      C. e; b; a; d; c      D. a; e; c; d; b

3.How long did it take Carnegie Hall to be fixed up?

   A. 9 years.   B. 10 years.   C. 11 years.   D. 12 years.

4. How did Carnegie Hall recover its concert history?

   A. Through newspaper reports.

   B. Through old concert programmes.

   C. Through old photographs.

   D. Through old jokes.

5.Why do you think the Main Hall is now called the Isaac Stern Hall?

   A. Because Isaac Stern is a famous musician.

   B. Because Isaac Stern built the Main Hall.

   C. Because Isaac Stern saved Carnegie Hall.

   D. Because Isaac Stern made up the Carnegie Hall joke.