The building______the 12th century.

A.is dated back to 　　　　                             B.is dated from

C.dates back to 　　　　                                 D.go back in time to 

Liverpool, my hometown, is a unique city. It is so unique that in 2004 it became a World Heritage （遗产） Site.  

I recently returned to my home city and my first stop was at a museum on the River Mersey. Blanketed in mist （薄雾）, Victorian architecture rose from the banks of the river, responded to the sounds of sea-birds, and appeared unbelievably charming. When I headed toward the centre, I found myself surrounded by buildings that mirror the best palaces of Europe. It is not hard to imagine why, on first seeing the city, most visitors would be overpowered by the beauty of the noble buildings, which are solid signs of Liverpool’s history.  

As if stress its cultural role, Liverpool has more museums and galleries （美术馆） than most cities in Britain. At Walker Art Gallery, I was told that it has best collections of Victorian paintings in the world, and is the home of modern art in the north of England. However, culture is more than galleries. Liverpool offers many music events. As Britain’s No.1 music city, it has the biggest city music festival in Europe, and its musicians are famous all over the world. Liverpool is also well-known for its football and other sports events. Every year, the Mersey River Festival attracts thousands of visitors, madding the city a place of wonder.  

As you would expect from such a city, there are restaurants serving food from around the world. When my trip was about to complete, I chose to rest my legs in Liverpool’s famous Philharmonic pub （酒馆）. It is a monument to perfection, and a heritage attraction itself.  

Being a World Heritage Site, my home city is certainly a place of “outstanding universal value”. It is a treasure house with plenty of secrets for the world to explore.  

　　68. Visitors who see the city for the first time would be deeply impressed by________

　　A. its charming banks

　　B. its famous museums

　　C. its wonderful palaces

　　D. its attractive buildings

　　69. The third paragraph is developed mainly by______

　　A. providing different examples

　　B. following the order of space

　　C. making comparisons

　　D. analyzing causes

　　70. The author uses the Philharmonic pub to prove that_______

　　A. Liverpool is a well-known city for its restaurants

　　B. Liverpool is an impressive place full of attraction

　　C. a pub is a wonderful place for visitors to relax themselves

　　D. a pub is a perfect choice for visitors to complete their journey

　　71. What is the passage mainly about?

　　A. The universal value of the world heritage in Liverpool

　　B. The exciting experience of the author in Liverpool

　　C. The special cultural atmosphere of Liverpool

D. The beautiful historic sites of Liverpool

Last year, a report by a committee of education experts said that a lot of American students cannot write well. The report noted the concerns of business leaders and teachers. The experts said that more students should have to pass a writing test before they can finish high school. They pointed out that major college entrance tests are changing now to include a writing part.

　　Educators know that teaching students to write well is not easy. One problem is the amount of time needed to read through large amounts of work. So some companies have developed computer programs. These can grade student writing much more quickly than a person can. Writing tests can also cost less to carry out by computer than paper-and-pencil. These computer systems are known as e-readers. They use artificial (人工的) intelligence to think in a way like teachers. In the state of Indiana, computer grading of a statewide writing test began with a test of the system itself. For two years, both a computer and humans graded the student writing. Officials say there was almost no difference between the computer grades and those given by the human readers.

　　The entrance test commonly used by business schools, the GMAT, already uses e-readers. The GRE and TOEFL tests might start; officials are deciding. The GRE is the Graduate Record Examination. TOEFL is the Test of English as a Foreign Language.

　　Systems are also being used to grade writing in college classes. The computers read a few hundred examples of student writing already graded by humans. Then the systems compare new writings against those already examined.

　　How do teachers feel all about this? Many say machines can never do the job as well as people can. A computer can find spelling and grammar mistakes. But these teachers say it can never really understand what a writer is trying to say. Critics say a program cannot follow a thought or judge humor or understand a beautifully expressed idea.

　　But inventors of the programs say computer grading guarantees that each piece of writing is graded in the same way. They also say the systems are meant to judge knowledge more than creativity.

What do the teachers think of the computer system?

       A. They think highly of the computer systems.

       B. They think that computers cannot grade writing as well as people.

       C. They believe that computers can understand a writer’s idea well

       D. They are glad computers will spare their effort to correct students’ school work.

From the first paragraph we can conclude that _________.

       A. American students’ writing ability is being improved

       B. American students’ writing ability is not satisfactory

       C. business leaders and teachers are not worried about students’ writing

       D. all college entrance tests will include a writing part

Which of the following is NOT the advantage of e-readers?

       A. Saving much of teachers’ time.　    B. Saving a lot of money.

　    C. Being fair and objective.   D. Appreciating humor and beauty

The best title of this passage might be _________.

       A. Computer-graded Writing B. Human-graded Writing

       C. How to Improve Students’ Writing   D. Advantages of E-readers

In the very early 　1800’　s, a young boy about 14 years old named John lived in an orphanage (孤儿院) in Old England along with several other children. Orphan meant unwanted and unloved.

Christmas was the one day of the year when the children didn’t work and received a gift, an orange. Usually they tried to taste and preserve it for so long that it often rotted before they ever peeled(剥开)it to enjoy the sweet juice. Many thought were expressed as Christmas time approached. The children would say, “I will keep mine the longest.” John usually slept with his next to his pillow. This year John was overjoyed by the Christmas season. He was becoming a man and stronger and soon he would be old enough to leave. He would save his orange until his birthday in July.

Christmas day finally came. The children were so excited as they entered the big dining hall. Immediately the master shouted, “John, leave the hall and there will be no orange for you this year.” John’s heart broke violently wide open. He turned and went swiftly back to the cold room. Then he heard the door open and each of the children entered. Little Elizabeth with her hair falling over her shoulders, a smile on her face, and tears in her eyes held out a piece of rag to John. “Here John,” she said, “this is for you.” As he lifted back the edges of the rag he saw a big juicy orange all peeled and quartered and then he realized what they had done.

John never forgot the sharing, love and personal sacrifice his friends had shown him that Christmas day. In memory of that day every year he would send oranges all over the world to children everywhere.

1. The first paragraph is mainly to tell us that ______.

   A. John lived in the early 　1800’　s          B. John’s parents had died

   C. John lived a hard life in an orphanage   D. John lived with several other children　　

2. These children would be happiest when ______.

   A. they got the special gift                 B. they preserved it very long

   C. they finally enjoyed the sweet juice       D. they entered the dining hall

3. What would overjoy John most the next year according to the second paragraph?

   A. He placed his orange next to his pillow.

   B. He would eat his orange on his birthday.

   C. He wouldn’t get his special gift.

   D. He would stay in the orphanage for another year

4. According to the text, where did John’s orange come from this year?

   A. It was made up of what these children donated.

   B. His master gave him a whole one again.

   C. These children bought him one.

   D. Little Elizabeth donated hers to John.

5. What can be inferred from the text?

   A. John had expected he wouldn’t get the gift this year.

   B. John knew why he didn’t get the gift this year.

   C. John felt ashamed for not getting the special gift.

   D. The story teaches us to learn to share with others.

　　Some time ago ,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended ,as there are a whole lot of antique（古董）shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception（接待）. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't oven look at my chair.

　　The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth - so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

　　I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper,“ Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said,“ Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,”I said. “OK, ”he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds. ”“It ‘s got a slightly broken leg,”I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”

　　Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?”I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done. ”“I'll buy it,”I said. “What do you mean？ You’ve just sold it to me,”he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty -seven pounds for it. ”“ Your must be crazy, ”he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ”“ You’re right, ”I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said,’Would you mend this chair for me　I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?”He was a very nice man and was greatly amused（感到有趣）by the whole thing.

We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.

　　A. was rather impolite

　　B. was warmly received

　　C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

　　D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.

　　A. changed his mind　　　　　　　 B. accepted the offer

　　C. saw the writer’s purpose　　　　　D. decided to help the writer

How much did the writer pay?

　　A. ￡ 5.　　　　B. ￡ 7.　　　　 C. ￡ 20.　　　　D. ￡ 27.

From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________

　　A. hanest　　　　B. careful　　　　C. smart　　　　 D. funny