We shouldn’t complain about being poor—many families are much  than we are.

A.worse off　　　　　B.badly off　　　　C.well off　　　　D.better off

What’s your idea of a good time? What about dancing in a rainy field with one hundred and fifty thousand other people while a famous rock band plays on a stage so far away that the performers look like ants?

It may sound strange but that is what many hundreds of thousands of young people in the UK do every summer． Why? Because summer is the time for outdoor music festivals．

Held on a farm, the Glastonbury Festival is the most well-known and popular festival in the UK． It began in 1970 and the first festival was attended by one thousand five hundred people each paying an admission price of ￡1 — the ticket included free milk from the farm．

Since then the Glastonbury Festival has gone from strength to strength — in 2004 one hundred and fifty thousand fans attended, paying ￡112 each for a ticket to the three-day event． Tickets for the event sold out within three hours． Performers

included superstars, such as Paul McCartney and James Brown, as well as new talent, like Franz Ferdinand and Joss Stone．

Although many summer festivals are run on a profit —making basis, Glastonbury is a charity event, donating millions of pounds to local and international charities．

Glastonbury is not unique in using live music to raise money to fight global poverty （贫穷）． In July of this year, the Live 8 concerts were held simultaneously （同时） in London, Paris, Rome and Berlin． Superstars such as Madonna, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder performed in order to highlight （强调） international poverty and debt．

What does the author mean by saying “the Glastonbury Festival has gone from strength to strength”?

    A． The festival has achieved growing success．

    B． Great efforts have been made to hold the festival．

    C． The festival has brought in a large amount of money．

    D． There have been thousands of fans attending the festival．

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

    A． The Glastonbury Festival is run on a profit-making basis．

    B． Tickets for the 2004 Glastonbury Festival were in great demand despite the high price．

    C． Both James Brown and Joss Stone were born in poor families．

    D． In the 1970 Glastonbury Festival, one could have lunch on the farm for free．

We can learn from the last paragraph that _____．

    A． the Glastonbury Festival is not so popular as the Live 8 concerts

    B． the Live 8 concerts are held every year in London

    C． London, Paris, Rome and Berlin are famous for outdoor music festivals

    D． some superstars are concerned about global poverty

What is the best title for the passage?

    A． How to have a good time B． Charity events around the world

    C． The Glastonbury Festival    D． Superstars’ performances in charity events

Bamboo is one of the nature’s most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.

Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist recorded one bamboo plant that grew almost 1.5 meters in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1,000 kinds of bamboo that grow around the world on both mountains and plains(平原).

Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimeters wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters across. This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green.

Many Asian countries have been using bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for building new buildings. As a matter of fact, the cables(绳索) that hold up the hanging bridge across the Min River in Sichuan are made of bamboo. The bridge has been in use for more than 1,000 years, and is still holding strong.

In Africa, engineers are teaching poor farmers how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap ways to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water. It seems that bamboo is one of the best things they can use. Bamboo pipes and drills(钻) can help to make the poor thirsty fields to be watered.

How is bamboo like grass?

A. It is thin and easy to cut.                 B. It grows everywhere.

C. It grows quickly after its cut short.       D. It is short and green.

The sentence “while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters across.” means “Some other bamboo plants may grow to be very _______.”

A. short          B. strong        C. thick             D. tall

From the text we know ______.

A. most people call bamboo plant trees

B. a bamboo plant may grow 4.5 meters in three days

C. the bamboo plant changes its colors when it grows

D. a bridge held by bamboo cable was built thousands of years ago

Why did the engineers teach the poor farmers in Africa to make use of bamboo?

A. Because it is cheap.              B. Because it is colorful.

C. Because it drills fast.             D. Because it is used by Asians.

       Last year my sixth-grader daughter ,Elizabeth ,was forced to put up with science .Her education week after week ,contained mindless memorization of big words like “batholith” and “saprophyte” She learned by heart the achievements of famous scientists who did things like “improved nuclear fu-sion（核聚变） “—never mind that she hasn’t the least idea of what nuclear fusion means .Eliza—beth did very well (she’s good at memorizing things ). And now she hates science .My eighth-grader son ,Ben ,also suffered from science education . Week after week he had to perform lab experiments with answers already known .Ben figured out how to guess the right answers ,so he got good grades .Now he hates science ,too.

       Science can provide an exciting way to develop children’s curiosity .Science education should teach ways to ask questions and week answers .But my children got the mistaken idea in school than science is difficult dull and has no relation to their everyday interests .

       As a physicist ,I am saddened and angered to see “the great science turnoff” I know that science is important in our lives .Yet studies prove that our schools are turning out millions of graduates who know almost nothing about and have almost no interest in science .What’s gone wrong ?Who is to blame ?

58．We learn from paragraph 1 that           .

A．the writer was proud of Elizabeth and Ben

B．both Elizabeth and Ben could become scientists

C．Elizabeth had to learn much about great scientists

D．Ben was good at trying new ideas in lab experiments

59．The writer thinks that in science education we should first        .

A．get students interested in the subject          B．answer students’ questions in delightful ways.

C．smooth out difficulties in lab experiments     D．explain the special terms clearly

60．By writing the text ,the author questions          .

A．the difficulty level of the science texts         B．the way science is taught in school

C．the achievements of famous scientists            D．students’ poor records in science classes

I am sure that everybody in his／her life has used computers．Nowadays you can feel their presence everywhere—at home，at school，at work and they certainly make life easier．On the other hand，there are people who can work without them．

    Anyway, I believe their presence is a good thing．Life with them seems less difficult and more comfortable．You can use them to choose your meal，to withdraw your money，and also to save your time，because these operations are all controlled by computers．Therefore，you can hardly imagine the modern world without them；the whole planet seems to be one big computer society．

    Nevertheless，problems can often appear in this area，too．To have a computer means you have to be quite rich and have the necessary skills to use it．However, think about questions like，“Are computers available for everyone, for rich and poor people，for people from villages and people from cities? Aren’t they too expensive? Is everyone able to learn how to use them and does everyone have the chance to access and work with them? How could everything in the future be dependent on them?” Therefore，I think our society will be divided into two parts．One part will work with them and enjoy the benefits that computers can bring and the other part will be pushed out of society and will actually be left far behind the other group．

      Another question that bothers me is，computers are important and they’re good things in our life, but they aren’t everything. They are good as a help at school, quite often as entertainment, especially for young people, as an necessary tool to help in research etc. , but I think we shouldn’t be so dependent on them, because computers are only machines and machines can’t feel anything, can’t be human and sympathetic, and every action performed by computer can be interfered(干涉) with could cause these machines to crash or work badly.

       In conclusion, I would like to say I am not against computers. I use computers too, but people should be wary all the time.

Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?

    ①=Paragraph  ②=Paragraph2  ③=Paragraph 3  ④Paragraph4  ⑤=Paragraph5

By saying“wary”(in the last paragraph)，the author is trying to say,“People should      ”.

    A．be strongly for the use of computers because of its convenience

    B．be careful with computers that will also cause problems

    C．master more necessary computer skills

    D．not do something that causes computers to work badly

In the third paragraph，the author presents his idea by       ．

      A．asking questions for people to think about

      B．giving examples to support his argument

      C．raising questions and answering them

      D．expressing his opinion directly

The author’s main purpose in writing the passage is to        ．

      A．encourage us to use computers in our society

      B．advise us to say no to computers from now on

       C．remind us to care about the problems that computers bring

      D．inform us that computers has become a necessary part of our life