The city of Venice, in Italy, is one of a kind. It is built on more than 120 islands, just off the coast. The islands are small and close together. The waterways between them are used as streets. They are called canals.

　　In this watery world, people use boats to get from place to place. Gondolas to place, small boats that are moved with one oar（桨）, were once the only boats used in the canals. But today motorboats make getting around faster; there are still lots of gondolas, though. Many visitors go to Venice all the year round. And they like to ride in the old-style（老式）boats.

　　If you aren't going far in this city, it's easier to go on foot. There are hundreds of narrow footpaths. About 100 low bridges connect the footpaths and islands. But these bridges cause problems for the boaters. When the sea tide（潮）is high, the canal water rises. People in the boats must duck to fit under bridges.

(1)After reading the first paragraph, we can come to the conclusion that ________.

[　　]

A．all the buildings in Venice are help up（抬高）on seawater

B．there's no land in the city of Venice

C．the streets in Venice are all lined with waterways

D．nobody can be seen walking in the streets of Venice

(2)It is clear that ________.

[　　]

A．all the Venetian people ride in boats with one oar to get from place to place

B．gondolas are the only boats used in the canals

C．the ways of getting round in Venice are different from those in any other city

D．motorboats have taken the place of gondolas in Venice now

(3)Which of the following statements shows no difference between itself and the passage? ________

[　　]

A．All the Venetian people like to ride in the old-style boats.

B．Neither cars nor buses are used in Venice.

C．Citizens in Venice don't walk much.

D．Gondolas rides are much more expensive.

(4)Which of the following statements leads us to the conclusion that traveling around Venice by gondolas can be slow? ________

[　　]

A．Gondolas, small boats that are moved with one oar, were once the only boats used in the canals.

B．But today, motorboats make getting around faster.

C．But these bridges cause problems for the boaters.

D．People in the boats must duck to fit under bridges.

(5)The word“duck”in the last sentence means ________.

[　　]

A．bend one's head in order not to be hit

B．go quickly under water for a short time

C．swim as a duck does

D．dive suddenly like a duck

   The child of today owes much of its pleasant school life to the work of Maria Montessori and others who felt as she did.

　Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in northern Italy. Both her parents were well educated.

　While Maria was a student, she took great interest in the study of the particular nature of the child's mind. It came to her that small children should have freedom(自由) to learn.

　Maria became a doctor and a professor at Rome University. In 1907, after working with backward students, she was given a chance to try out her ideas on children. There were sixty children, aged three to six, in the Children's House. The rooms were bright and colorful. Maria let the children make their own choice of what they wanted to do and work with their own speed. They became busy, peaceful and happy.

　　Maria Montessori was one of the world's great teachers. She traveled in Europe, America and Far East. She thought that true education, providing(提供) for the real needs of the child, would produce wise and happy grown-ups and therefore a peaceful world. Her original way of education has changed our whole idea of what childhood is.

　　Maria Montessori died in Holland at the age of eighty-two.

45. The short passage is mainly about .

　　A. the education of backward students

　　B. a new idea of education

　　C. the importance of proper education

　　D. the life of Maria Montessori

46. Maria traveled a lot in the world to .

　　A. teach the backward students

　　B. enjoy her life in real nature

　　C. spread her ideas of teaching

　　D. study the situation of education

47. In what way did Maria teach the children in the Children's House?

　　A. She taught them the best way of learning well.

　　B. She let them learn in a very pleasant way.

　　C. She taught them by showing them how to do things.

　　D. She just let them choose the most interesting subjects.

48. We learn from the passage that ________.

　　A. Maria left her homeland in order to study abroad

　　B. Maria didn't get married

　　C. Maria's own parents were her teachers

　　D. Maria fully understood the child's mind

49. Which of the following best explains why Maria was one of the world's great teachers?

　　A. She created a new way in teaching, which changed the old idea of children's education.

　　B. She taught the backward students very successfully and produced a peaceful world.

　　C. She showed great love for the children and trained them in a new way.

　　D. She taught backward students in many different countries and let them learn freely.

阅读理解

　　Many people take it for granted that black is a color of bad thing while white should always mean something good. This may be because, in their opinion, black is related to darkness and white to purity. However, that is not always the case. Did you know that the same one color may mean differently in different places of the world?

　　In the English－speaking world, black is the color of mourning－people wear black at the funeral. Red is concerned with danger or bloodshed. Yellow is the word for fear. If you axe afraid, you are yellow. Yet, none of these sayings is true outside the English－speaking world. In China and Korea white is the color of mourning. In Russia, China, and some other countries, red stands for beauty, life and excellence. In Italy and Germany, you are yellow with anger, not with fear.

　　Even within the English－speaking area, it is not difficult to find color contradictions (矛盾). A redcap in the United States is a porter in a railway station, in Britain, however, a redcap is a military policeman. Both names are logical. Because both men wear red caps. Similarly, the British term for an American white－collar worker is sometimes called a blackcoated worker.

　　One does not have to cross an area to find color differences. Would you rather be a redblooded or a blue－blooded? If we go back to the origin, we find that both terms are logical as both names suggest. The expression “blue blood” comes from Spain, where some noble families proudly told the world that they had “blue blood”. Actually they meant that they had no Moorish(摩尔人的) or Jewish blood. But then why “blue” blood? Because they were fair－skinned(皮肤白皙的), and it is only natural that their blood vessels stood out appearing blue.

1．Yellow is concerned with anger in ________.

[　　]

2．The two meanings of the term “redcap” result from a difference in ________.

[　　]

3．Both Britain and America would probably agree that ________.

[　　]

A．black is the color of mourning

B．a black－coated worker is employed in an office

C．red stands for beauty and excellence

D．a redcap is a porter in a station

4．It is not stated but implied(暗示) that some noble families in Spain had ________ color.

[　　]

5．The best title for this reading selection is ________.

[　　]

A．The Origin of Blue Blood

B．The Development of the Symbolic(象征性的) Use of Colors

C．Colors that carry Bad Meanings

D．The Meaning Concerned with Certain Colors

完形填空

   In this world, there are more than 365 million people whose native language is English ．Of this number of people, only about 275 million 1 in the Untied States and Great Britain ．The 2 60 million live in Australia, 3 , New Zealand, South Africa, some Pacific islands, and other places 4 British people settled．5 of the time, one English speaker 6 understand another．But in every 7 country, people added new words 8 their vocabularies （词汇） to name animals, plants, and other things that were 9 to the first British people who 10 there ．British settlers in Australia 11 the word “kangaroo” for an 12 they had never seen 13 from the language of the people who were 14 to Australia ．And the British who 15 to South Africa took “trek”, meaning a long journey by ox wagon （四轮运货牛车）, 16 the language of the Dutch people 17 settled in the same place．

   English speakers of 18 every country know what a kangaroo 19 and use the word “track” to 20 “difficult journey”．But some 21 “English” words are used only by the people who borrow or 22 them．A South African who talks about “kopjes” is speaking English, but only another South African 23 a Dutch person would know he is 24 of hills．Australian said, “There were some ropable people at the corroborate, ” only another Australian would 25 that he was talking about angry people at a party．