Here is the Nine O‘clock News：

 1. President Absul Krim of Syria says that the danger of war in the Middle East is greater now than for the past two years. His country does not want war， he says， but the Syrian people have waited too long for an end to the troubles with their neighbors. If war comes, says Mr. Krim, Syria will be ready.

2. Ben Kitson, a writer of stories and plays for children, has died at his home in California. Mr. Kitson was 82. His most famous book of stories, “The Gentleman‘s House” sells all over the world, in more than twenty-five languages.

3. Policemen in New York have gone on strike. Their leader Mr. Paul Angeli says that they will return to work only when they receive more money for working long hours and doing what Mr. Angeli calls “the most dangerous job in the city”.

4. It has been a good year on the farm. The warm, wet spring and the fine summer have been very good for all kinds of food plants. This means that fruits and vegetables will cost less in the shops this year.

5. MORE than 1,100 people committed suicide（自杀）in Beijing last year, and experts have been encouraging the capital to set up a mental health care system as soon as possible, local media reported last week. About 20 per cent of the people of Beijing live in unhealthy conditions, with 3 per cent of these suffering from affective disorder and 5 per cent reporting symptoms（症状）of depression, according to the Beijing Mental Health Service Centre.

The Syrian people _______.

A. are ready and waiting for war

B. are ready to wait another two years for war、

C. do not want war, but will be ready if it comes

D. are a great danger to peace in the Middle East

Mr. Kitson wrote _______.

A. plays and stories for children

B. 82 stories about his home in California

C. in more than twenty-five languages

D. books, and then sold them all over the world

As food plants have grown well， _______.

A. fruit and vegetables will be cheaper this year

B. there will be a warm, wet spring and a fine summer

C. food will be cheaper than it was in the spring

D. plants will be cheaper in the shops this year

What is the best title for the last pieces of news？

A. MORE than 1,100 people committed suicide（自杀）in Beijing last year.

B. About 20 per cent of the people of Beijing live in unhealthy conditions.

C. Beijing needs mental health care.

D. People living in Beijing suffer a lot.

Playing with toy blocks (积木) may lead to improved language development in young children, a new study reported.

    Early childhood is an important period in the development of young minds. The newborn brain grows three times in size between birth and age 2. Scientists have said that certain activities during this important period may promote (促进) healthy development while others may hold it back, and development of memory and language may especially be helped by imaginative play.

    After six months, language scores among half of the 175 children aged 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 who were sent plastic blocks were 15 percent higher than a matched group that did not receive the free blocks, according to the study by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle.

    Parents were given ideas about how to help their children play with the blocks, then were told to keep diaries of their children’s activities over four days. Finally, all the parents filled out questionnaires that judged their children’s vocabulary, grammar, and other language abilities. Study author Dimitri Christakis said unstructured play with blocks motivated children’s thinking, memory and physical skills at a time when a child’s brain is growing rapidly. “They are the foundation of thought and language,” he wrote of the skills learned from building blocks. “Older children begin to make up stories for these objects .”

Such play may also take the place of less helpful activities such as watching TV, he said, adding parents ought to have doubts about some toy-makers’ words. “An increasing number of media-based products are making ungrounded (无根据的) claims that they can make children smarter, more literate, and more musical,” Christakis said.

1.What can we learn from the second paragraph?

A. Parents should allow their children to play as long as they want.

B. The brains of kids develop very quickly before they are two years old.

C. Playing blocks can help children do well in sports at school.

D. Activities, like imaginative play, may delay the development of the brain.

2.According to the study, about ________ children’s language scores were 15 percent higher than those of children who didn’t play with blocks.

A. 87         B. 55     C. 23       D. 157

3.Building blocks helps kids gain language skills because _________.

A. young children always talk to themselves while building blocks

B. their parents can teach them when they are playing with blocks

C. their parents are given ideas on how to develop their brains

D. it can help them improve thinking, memory and physical skills

4.The aim of the passage is probably to _______.

A. raise the present level of children’s language ability

B. encourage parents to let their babies play with blocks

C. improve parents’ knowledge of raising children

D. encourage makers of blocks to develop more toys

5.We can infer from what Mr Christakis said that _____.

A. television will be definitely replaced by blocks

B. the market will be full of media-based toys

C. we can’t always believe what toy makers say

D. toy makers care about kids’ development very much

Mr. King lived with six hundred wild animals on the Greek Island of Kyklos. Ever since he left school, he had traveled all over the word collecting animals for his own zoo. He hoped to collect two examples of every kind of animal on his island. But he was afraid that people would find him someday.
He wrote books about his travels and about his animals that he collected. The money from the books helped to pay for all the food that these animals ate.
One day, when Mr. King was out looking for drinking water, he found oil. He needed money for his travels and for his zoo, and a little oil would buy enough water for what he needed all his life, but he knew that if he told anyone else about it, it would be the end of his zoo and his life’s work. So he decided not to tell anyone else about what he had found, because oil and water couldn’t mix.
【小题1】Mr. King traveled all over the world for collecting ______.

For several days I saw little of Mr. Rochester. In the morning he seemed very busy with business，and in the afternoon gentlemen from the neighborhood called and sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his foot was well enough, he rode out a great deal.
During this time, all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house, when he would sometimes pass me coldly, and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me, because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
One evening, several days later, I was invited to talk to Mr. Rochester after dinner. He was sitting in his armchair, and looked not quite so severe, and much less gloomy. There was a smile on his lips, and his eyes were bright, probably with wine. As I was looking at him, he suddenly turned and asked me, “Do you think I am handsome, Miss Eyre?”
The answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I realized it: “No, sir.” “Ah，you really are unusual! You are a quiet, serious little person, but you can be almost rude.” “Sir，I'm sorry. I should have said that beauty doesn't matter，or something like that.” “No，you shouldn't! I see，you criticize my appearance，and then you stab (刺) me in the back! You have honesty and feeling. There are not many girls like you. But perhaps I go too fast. Perhaps you have awful faults to counterbalance (抵消) your few good points.”
I thought to myself that he might have too. He seemed to read my mind，and said quickly，“Yes, you're right. I have plenty of faults. I went the wrong way when I was twenty-one，and have never found the right path again. I might have been very different. I might have been as good as you, and perhaps wiser. I am not a bad man，take my word for it，but I have done wrong. It wasn't my character，but circumstances that were to blame. Why do I tell you all this? Because you're the sort of person people tell their problems and secrets to, because you're sympathetic and give them hope.”
It seemed he had quite a lot to talk to me. He didn't seem to like to finish the talk quickly，as was the case for the first time.
“Don't be afraid of me, Miss. Eyre，”he continued. “You don't relax or laugh very much，perhaps because of the effect Lowood school has had on you. But in time you will be more natural with me，and laugh，and speak freely. You're like a bird in a cage. When you get out of the cage, you'll fly very high. Good night.”
46. At the beginning Miss Eyre's impressions of Mr. Rochester were all except_____.   
A. busy        B. sociable        C. dull          D. changeable
47. The underlined sentence means_________ .
A. Only by meeting him around the house sometimes did I know a little about him.
B. Only by coming to the house could I know about him.
C. I occasionally met him but my knowledge about him was poor.
D. What I knew about him was limited in the house.
48. From what Mr. Rochester told Miss Eyre, we can conclude that he wanted to _________________.         
A. tell her all his troubles                   B. tell her his life experience
C. blame her for misunderstanding him      D. change his circumstances
49. At the end of the passage，Mr. Rochester sounded ___________ .
A. rude        B. cold       C. polite          D. encouraging
50. According to the passage, which of the following statements is WRONG? 
A. Miss Eyre was at Lowood School before she came to Mr. Rochester’s house.
B. Miss Eyre didn’t see Mr. Rochester often.
C. Miss Eyre was honest, brave and confident.
D. Miss Eyre was brave, polite and warm-hearted.

For several days I saw little of Mr. Rochester. In the morning he seemed much occupied with business, and in the afternoon gentlemen from the neighborhood called and sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his foot was well enough, he rode out a great deal.
During this time, all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house, when he would sometimes pass me coldly, and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me, because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
One evening, several days later, I was invited to talk to Mr. Rochester after dinner. As I was looking at him, he suddenly turned, and asked me, “Do you think I’m handsome, Miss Eyre?”
The answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I realized it: “No, sir.”
“Ah, you really are unusual! You are a quiet, serious little person, but you can be almost rude.”
“Sir, I’m sorry. I should have said that beauty doesn’t matter, or something like that.”
“No, you shouldn’t! I see, you criticize my appearance, and then you stab（刺）me in the back! You have honesty and feeling. There are not many girls like you. But perhaps I go too fast. Perhaps you have awful faults to counterbalance your few good points.”
I thought to myself that he might have too. He seemed to read my mind, and said quickly, “Yes, you’re right. I have plenty of faults. I went the wrong way when I was twenty-one, and have never found the right path again. I might have been very different. I might have been as good as you, and perhaps wiser. I am not a bad man, take my word for it, but I have done wrong. It wasn’t my character, but circumstances that were at fault. Why do I tell you all this? Because you’re the sort of person people tell their problems and secrets to, because you’re sympathetic and give them hope.”
“Don’t be afraid of me, Miss Eyre.” He continued. “You don’t relax or laugh very much, perhaps because of the effect Lowood school has had on you. But in time you will be more natural with me, and laugh, and speak freely. You’re like a bird in cage. When you get out of the cage, you’ll fly very high. Good night.”
【小题1】Which of the following cannot describe Miss Eyre’s first impression of Mr. Rochester?