Xi’an - A fire at a large shopping mall in the city of Baoji in Northwest Shanxi Province killed at least eight people and injured 23 others, a local official said on Saturday. The fire broke out at 8: 30 p.m. on Saturday on the third floor of the six-story Renmin Shopping Mall, the official said. Eight victims, including one woman, died while trying to escape the blaze. Six suffocated, and two fell to their deaths.

65. Which of the following do you think is the best title for this passage?

A. Shopping Mall Fire 　　　　　　　　　　 B. Danger of Fire

C. A Report from a Local Official 　　　　　　D. Fire on Saturday

66. How many men died in the fire?

A. 6 　　　B. 7 　　　C. 8 　　　D. 23

67. When and where did the fire break out?

A. On Saturday morning, on the third floor

B. On Saturday morning, on the second floor

C. On Saturday evening, in a shopping mall

D. On Saturday evening, in an office building 　

THEATRE

City Varieties

The Headrow, Leeds.Tel.430808

Oct10-11only A Night at the Varieties. All the fun of an old music hall with Barry Cryer, Duggle Brown, 6 dancers,  Mystina, Jon Barker, Anne Duval and the Tony Harrison Tri- o. Laugh again at the old jokes and listen to your favourite songs.

Performances：8pm nightly.

Admission：￡5；under 16or over 60：￡4.

York Theatre Royal

St Leonard's Place, York.Tel.223568

Sept23-Oct17 Groping for Words - a comedy by Sue Townsend. Best known for her Adrian Mole Diaries, Townsend now writes about an evening class which two men and a woman attend. A gentle comedy.

Admission: First night, Mon：￡2：Tues-Fri：￡3.25-5.50；Sat：￡3.50-5.75.

Halifax Playhouse

King's Cross Street, Halifax.Tel.365998

Oct 10-17 On Golden Pond by Ernest Thompson. This is a magical comedy about real people. A beautifully produced, well-acted play for everyone. Don't miss it.

Performances：7：30pm.

Admission：￡2.Mon：2 seats for the price of one.

Grand Theatre

Oxford Street, Leeds.Tel.502116

Restaurant and Café.

Oct 1-17 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13. Sue Townsend's musical play, based on her best-selling book.

Performances: Evenings 7：45October 10-17, at 2： 30pm. No Monday performances.

Admission: Tues-Thurs：￡2-5；Fri＆Sat：￡2-6.

64.Which theatre offers the cheapest seat？

　　A. Halifax Playhouse. B. City Varieties.

　　C. Grand Theatre.     D. York Theatre Royal.

65. If you want to see a play with old jokes and songs, which phone number will you ring to book a seat？

　　A.502116                     B.223568              　　C.365998                     D.430808

66. We may learn from the text that Sue Townsend is ____.

　　A. a writer             B. an actress          C. a musician         D. a director

C
　　The curtain on the 2008 US presidential election finally rose last month as Requblican Senator(参议员) John McCain and Democratic Senator Barack Obama were formally selected as candidates of the two major parties.This may be one of the hardest decisions voters have to make between two appealing candidates.The big question for voters,as they face both an economic downturn and international threats,is :who will they elect? A young first - term senator promising change and new ideas,or a longtime senator with strong military experience and a reputation as a maverick(特立独行的人)？
　　American voters have never seen a candidate quite like Obama.He has a white mother from the US and a black fater from Kenya who left the family when Obama was very young.He spent part of his youth in Indonesia.
　　However,McCain has a very different life story.
　　He grew up in a Navy family and was a daring pilot during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. When Obama was in kindergarten in Indonesia,McCain's plane was shot down over Ietenam and he became a prisoner of war.McCain could have been set free if he disowned America but he refused and so was held for five years.
　　"We need a president who is very,very old,"McCain joked at his age as many others do.If elected,he would be 72 when he takes office and the oldest man to step in.
　　So in the end,the election may depend on several factors that are hard to judge:Will Obama's race matter to a significant number of voters ? Will workingclass whites who tended to support his primary (党内初选) oponent,Hillary Clinton,vote for Obama? And perhaps most important of all,will uncertain voters be more attracted to Obama's vision or to McCain's experience?
　　Whatever happens,one thing is clear,however:Whoever walks into the White House on January 20,2009,will find huge challenges waiting for him in the Oval Office,both at home and abroad.
　　64.______makes the result of the election hard to predict.
　　　A.Whether working class whites care about Obama's inexperience
　　　B.The economic trouble the country now faces
　　　C.Who uncertain voters will finally decide to vote for
　　　D.McCain being too old to govern the country
　　65.The appeal in Obama as a presidential candidate lies in _________
　　　A.his multi - cultural background
　　　B.his belife in tradition
　　　C.his inexperience in politics
　　　D.his fantastic promises
　　66.The word "disown" in Paragraph 6 means closest to ______.
　　　A.flee from
　　　B.turn his back on
　　　C.not keep it private
　　　D.expose secrets about
　　67.The challenges that will face the new preident______.
　　　A.are not mentioned in the text
　　　B.include buklding a strong party and a friendly image
　　　C.refer to the problems of immigrants and economy
　　　D.refer to the problems of economy amd international relations

C

　　The curtain on the 2008 US presidential election finally rose last month as Requblican Senator(参议员) John McCain and Democratic Senator Barack Obama were formally selected as candidates of the two major parties.This may be one of the hardest decisions voters have to make between two appealing candidates.The big question for voters,as they face both an economic downturn and international threats,is :who will they elect? A young first - term senator promising change and new ideas,or a longtime senator with strong military experience and a reputation as a maverick(特立独行的人)？

　　American voters have never seen a candidate quite like Obama.He has a white mother from the US and a black fater from Kenya who left the family when Obama was very young.He spent part of his youth in Indonesia.

　　However,McCain has a very different life story.

　　He grew up in a Navy family and was a daring pilot during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. When Obama was in kindergarten in Indonesia,McCain's plane was shot down over Ietenam and he became a prisoner of war.McCain could have been set free if he disowned America but he refused and so was held for five years.

　　"We need a president who is very,very old,"McCain joked at his age as many others do.If elected,he would be 72 when he takes office and the oldest man to step in.

　　So in the end,the election may depend on several factors that are hard to judge:Will Obama's race matter to a significant number of voters ? Will workingclass whites who tended to support his primary (党内初选) oponent,Hillary Clinton,vote for Obama? And perhaps most important of all,will uncertain voters be more attracted to Obama's vision or to McCain's experience?

　　Whatever happens,one thing is clear,however:Whoever walks into the White House on January 20,2009,will find huge challenges waiting for him in the Oval Office,both at home and abroad.

　　64.______makes the result of the election hard to predict.

　　　A.Whether working class whites care about Obama's inexperience

　　　B.The economic trouble the country now faces

　　　C.Who uncertain voters will finally decide to vote for

　　　D.McCain being too old to govern the country

　　65.The appeal in Obama as a presidential candidate lies in _________

　　　A.his multi - cultural background

　　　B.his belife in tradition

　　　C.his inexperience in politics

　　　D.his fantastic promises

　　66.The word "disown" in Paragraph 6 means closest to ______.

　　　A.flee from

　　　B.turn his back on

　　　C.not keep it private

　　　D.expose secrets about

　　67.The challenges that will face the new preident______.

　　　A.are not mentioned in the text

　　　B.include buklding a strong party and a friendly image

　　　C.refer to the problems of immigrants and economy

　　　D.refer to the problems of economy amd international relations

C

I’m a pig, and my son is a rabbit. I have snakes for daughters, and my wife, believe it or not, is a dragon! Do I live in a zoo? No, of course not! I am talking about Chinese zodiac signs. Depending on the year of your birth, each person has an animal for a sign. That’s why I am a pig and my wife is a dragon. If you, like me, were born in the year of the pig, then you are brave, thoughtful and loyal. The year of the pig is filled with good fortune.

　　Now let’s take a closer look at this interesting animal.

　　Pigs were first raised by man about 9,000 years ago, and are still a very common farm animal in many parts of the world. We don’t just use pigs for their meat — almost every part of the animal is used. The hair is used for artists’ brushes. The fat is used to make floor wax, rubber and plastics.

　　Pigs have also been important in the world of entertainment. In 1995 the film ‘Babe’ starred a loveable talking pig as its main character. The film won an Oscar and was nominated for 6 more. In England you can even go to watch pig racing. A farmer, Rob Shepherd, has been raising money for charity by holding pig races on his farm. The events have been very successful. People don’t just want to eat pigs, it seems!

　　Pigs also play an important role in the English language. For example, if someone says that he will travel to the sun one day, you can say “pigs might fly!” to him. Hungry? Well then, you can “pig out” and eat lots of food. And what if someone rescues you? Well, you can say that they “saved your bacon”.

63. The writer wrote the first paragraph in a ______ tone.

A. sad　　　　　　B. confused　　　　　C. serious　　　　 D. humorous

64. We may know from the passage that ______.

A. people in England like pigs more than other animals

B. pigs are more useful than ordinary people imagine

C. pigs are the first animals raised by man

D. more people don’t want to eat pigs now

65. The underlined sentence “pigs might fly! ” in the fifth paragraph means ______.

A. What you have just said is impossible

B. Pigs are great animals

C. I don’t understand your words

D. I can’t agree with you more

66. Which diagram shows the structure of the passage?

　　　　　A 　　　　　　　　B 　　　　　　　C　　　　　　　　　 D