Published in 1896 and one of the most memorable horror stories ever written, Dracula, by Irish writer Bram Stoker,is the story of a vampire（吸血鬼）,someone who lives on human blood. Stoker wrote the book after reading stories about Central European vampires and set his novel in Transylvania. Even today,there are readers of the book who believe that Transylvania is a mythical（神话的）country,a figment（虚构）of Stoker’s imagination. Nothing could be further from the truth. Transylvania is part of modern-day Central European country Romania,and the country does indeed have a history of mythological vampires.

However,Romanians are always puzzled by the description of the novel’s central character, Count Dracula,a tall,elegant aristocrat（贵族）with impeccable（完美的）manners who also happens to speak very good English. This is a world away from the images of vampires that they have grown up with. Romanian vampires are half-human creatures who live solitary lives in the forests,not aristocrats living in castles with well-stocked libraries.

So where did Stoke get the image for his Dracula? The answer becomes clearer when one learns of his relationship with a man called Henry Irving,the greatest British stage actor of his time.

Stoker was working as a civil servant in his home city of Dublin when he first met Irving. Bored with his tedious life and work, Stoker took every opportunity to visit the theatre and for a while was the drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail. One of the reviews he wrote was of a performance of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet,with Irving in the lead role.

Irving was so pleased with Stoker’s review of his performance that he asked to meet him. Stoker couldn’t believe his luck when one night,he was invited to a dinner party where Irving was the guest of honour. Irving entertained the assembled dinner guests with some renditions（表演）of famous poems and speeches from Shakespeare.

Stoker was already writing the first chapters of Dracula and began to base the central character on Irving,in the vain hope that if it ever became a stage play, Irving would play the central character. Sadly,Irving never did,but the two men became close friends,and in 1878 Stoker left the civil service and became Irving’s manager in London.

1.Bram Stoker set his novel in Transylvania because       .

A．it is in modern-day Romania

B．Transylvania is a mythical country

C．he wanted to tell a true story

D．he had read stories about vampires from the area

2.The central character of the novel       .

A．is very similar to the vampires that Romanians know about

B．Is completely different from the vampires Romanians know about

C．Has impeccable manners,like a real Romanian vampire

D．Is puzzled by the comparison with Romanian vampires

3.What was Stoker’s hope?

A．That the book would become a stage-play.

B．That Irving would play the central character in the stage play.

C．That he could live in London.

D．That Irving would work for him.

In the age of reality television, success isn’t the only way to the public eye. Failure can also create fame, just like William Hung, 21, a native of Hong Kong.

Hung recently has made an agreement with US-based entertainment firms Koch Records and Fuse Music Network. They will publish a full-length record, titled “The True Idol” on April 6.

The idol is a civil engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley. He did a version of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” on the television show “American Idol 3”, on January 27. The Fox TV singing contest searches for pop stars among ordinary people. In the case of Hung, however, his act was so bad that the judges cut him off in mid-act.

Hung’s response? “I already gave my best, so I have no regrets at all.” That’s good, because any common person would have found plenty to regret: The off-key singing. The blue Hawaiian shirt worn with pants pulled up too high. The terrible dancing. The hips jerking (摇摆) to a beat that did not belong to the song, maybe not even to this planet. It was, by all accounts, bad.But, it was this very bad act that sold well.Marc Juris, president of Fuse, explained it this way: “Every one of us is happily guilty of singing our favorite song at the top of our lungs with complete freedom, completely off-key and completely unworried. That’s what William did and immediately won the hearts of America.”

Whatever it is, for the moment it’s big. Three websites devoted to Hung have gone up on the Internet in the past few weeks. Versions of his performance have been remixed with hip hop and techno-music and have made it to the top 10 request list at a Chicago radio station.So, what does Hung think of this?

“There were all these people saying things about me. A lot were saying I was very courageous and that I was great on the show, but some didn’t have much respect for me and some were kind of mean.”

Now he says he’s not so sure whether to distance himself from the glamour (魅力) or to accept it. Returning to normal hasn’t been easy.

13.What is the main idea of this passage?

A.Sometimes an idol behaves quite foolishly.  

B.Hung’s performance attracted the public eye.

C.How an unsuccessful person became famous.

D.Success sometimes does not require hard work.

14.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 7 refer to?

A.William Hung.     B.Hung’s bad act.   C.Hung’s website.    D.The public’s opinion.

15.Which of the following shows the correct order of what happened to Hung?

a.The entertainment firms made an agreement with Hung.

b.The judges cut Hung off in mid-act in the singing contest.

c.Hung became popular among Americans.

d.Hung gave a terrible performance though he tried his best.

e.Three websites put Hung’s funny performance on the Internet.

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

16.Why was Hung able to win the hearts of America?

A.His success was based on his own hard work.

B.He attracted people’s attention in the contest.

C.He was good-looking though he didn’t sing well.

  D.His character was completely different from other idols’.

During the Civil War, Steam Boating on the lower Mississippi River was ________．

1. A.
   ruined
2. B.
   delayed
3. C.
   destroying
4. D.
   damaging

By the mid-nineteenth century, the “icebox” had entered the American language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States. The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels, taverns, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War (1861-1865), as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families of their own use. This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, a precursors of modern refrigerator, had been invented.

Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. The commonsense notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was melting of the ice that performed the cooling. Nevertheless, early efforts to economize ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.

But as early as 1803, an ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium(奖金) price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.

1.What does the passage mainly discuss?

A．The influence of ice on the diet.

B．The development of refrigeration.

C．The transportation of goods to market.

D．Sources of ice in the nineteenth century.

2.According to the passage, when did the word “icebox” become part of the language of the United States?

A．in 1803                               B．sometime bore 1850

C．during the civil war                      D．near the end of the nineteenth century.

3.The phrase “forward-looking” in line 3 is closest in meaning to______.

A．progressive        B．popular           C．thrifty            D．well-established

4.The author mentions “fish” in the passage because _____.

A．many fish dealers also sold ice.

B．fish was shipped in refrigerated freight cars.

C．fish dealers were among the early commercial users of ice

D．fish was not part of the ordinary person’s diet before the invention of the icebox.

WHEN an Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at former US President George W.Bush at a news conference last December,the president’s bodyguards quickly moved to protect him.

Those bodyguards were from the US Secret Service.Their job is to protect the president.Now America’s first black president Barack Obama also has the same people at his side.Here are some details about these mysterious men and women.?

History?

       ◇The Secret Service is known today for protecting public officials and their families.

However,when it began in 1865,it was started to protect money.A third to a half of all US money during the Civil War was fake (假的).President Abraham Lincoln created the United States Secret Service to find those responsibly.?

      ◇The first 25 presidents had no special protection.That changed after President William Mckinley was murdered in 1901.?

Who gets protection?

       About 30 people get full-time protection in the United States (more in an election year).

Included are:?

      ◇Presidents and vice-presidents and their wives,for up to 10 years after leaving office,and their children up to age 16.Anyone can decline protection after leaving office.Richard Nixon did.?   ◇Candidates for president and vice-?president,their wives and children at a cost of $500,000 a month for 30-plus special agents (特工).?

◇The Secretary of State,National Security Adviser and others.The Secret Service also protects 80 to 200 visiting foreign political leaders every year.?

       Getting around?

        Rules for president

      ◇Limousines (豪华轿车) that can withstand a missile are used.?

      ◇Entering and exiting are never done on a street.?

      ◇Exact travel plans are kept secret.?

      ◇Bulletproof reading stands for speeches are used.

Agent’s task

     ◇Teach the president how to wave and move.

     ◇Test his food for poison.?

     ◇Use special radio channels for the police and the Secret Service.?

     ◇Use X-ray checks before allowing entry to secure areas,and search bags.?

     ◇Check lists of hundreds of people known to be dangerous.?

     ◇Keep files on thousands of people who have made even vague threats.?

     ◇Be part of counter-sniper (反狙击) teams.

What’s the purpose of writing the passage??

    A. To tell us how to be a bodyguard.?

    B.To introduce the US Secret Service to us.?

    C.To give us some information about US

        presidents.?

    D.To inform us of the incident at a news

        conference. ?

  Which is the special agent’s task according to

    the US Secret Service??

    A. Have dinner with the president’s family.?

    B.Teach the president to behave politely in

        public.?

    C.Keep a record of possible murderers.?

    D.Check people carrying bags with X-ray.  

What do you know about the US Secret

    Service from the passage??

    A. It is made up of 30 people.?

    B.It protects only US presidents.?

    C.It is responsible for the safety of all

       Americans.?

    D.It was created to protect money.

   Which of the following can be inferred from

    the passage??

    A. The bodyguards from the US Secret

         Service have no privacy.?

    B.The US Secret Service bodyguards’ job is

       full of challenges.?

    C.No one knows the exact travel plan of

        presidents.?

    D.Every president in American history has a

        bodyguard. ?