The wife-carrying World Championship has been celebrated in a small town in central Finland since 1992. In 1992, the people of the town decided to restart some long-forgotten traditions. 46 He was said to only accept men as members of his gang who proved their worth in challenges. At that time, it was also a common practice to steal women from neighboring villages.
  47  A large number of competitors, people, and journalists from Finland to Canada attend the Wife-carrying World Championship every year.
 48  The Wife-carrying World Championship is held on a 253.3 meters long official track. The track has two dry obstacles and a water obstacle, about a meter deep. The wife to be carried may be your own, or your neighbor’s. The minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49 kg. If she is less than 49kg, the wife will be given a heavy bag to carry. Each time a competitor drops his wife, that couple will be fined 15 seconds. 49 
Alongside with the Wife-carring World Championship, there is also a team competition. The distance is the same but three men in the team carry the wife in turns. At the exchange point the carrier has to drink official “wife-carrying drink.” Then he may continue the race. 50 
While the Wife-carrying World Championship is being held, there are bands playing music, a wife carrying dance and other forms of entertainment.”

The National Dark-Sky Week (NDSW) is a week during which people all over the United States turn off their lights to enjoy the beauty of the night sky without light pollution. This even was started by Jennifer Barlow of Midlothian, Virginia in 2003, and it is becoming more popular each year. It has been supported by the International Dark-Sky Association, the American Astronomical Society, and the Astronomical League.

This even always occurs in April, during the week of the new moon so that the sky can be as dark as possible for the best viewing conditions.

“It is my wish that people could see the night sky without other light in the sky as our ancestors (祖先) saw it hundreds of years ago,” explains Barlow.

 Since it only lasts a week and not everyone in the country will take part in it, how will the National Dark-Sky Week reduce light pollution? The main goal of NDSW is to increase awareness (意识) of the harmful effects of light pollution. It is not possible for all of the light pollution in this part of the world to disappear. However, it is possible to make a small difference in the quality of the night sky. Another goal of this even is to promote (促进) the use of better lighting systems that direct light toward the ground instead of up into the sky.

Jennifer Barlow states, “The night sky is a gift of such beauty that it should not be polluted by wasted light. In this way, our children will not lose touch with the wonder of our universe.”

1.This passage is mainly about ______________.

   A. better lighting systems               B. the beauty of the night sky

   C. the harm of light pollution           D. the National Dark-Sky Week

2.Which of the following statements about the National Dark-Sky Week is WRONG?

   A. It is becoming more and more popular in America.

   B. The event was started in 2003 by Jennifer Barlow.

   C. The event takes place in the first week of every April.

   D. American people are supposed to turn off their lights during that week.

3.What is Jennifer Barlow’s wish?

   A. That light would be directed up into the sky.

   B. That the sky would always be as dark as possible.

   C. That people could see the night sky without light pollution as our ancestors did.

   D. That people could spend time enjoying the beauty of the sky every night.

4.We can infer from the underlined（划线的）sentence in Paragraph 4 that ________.

 A. many people in America hate this event   

B. it may be hard to reduce light pollution

  C. the event should last a month every year 

D. light will no longer pollute the sky soon

5.What is the main goal of the National Dark-Sky Week?

   A. To promote the use of better lighting systems.

   B. To help people realize the harm of light pollution.

   C. To cause all the light pollution in America to disappear.

   D. To help young children enjoy the wonder of our universe.

PART THREE: READING COMPREHENSION (30分)
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
A
At dawn on Friday, May 19, 1780, farmers in New England stopped to wonder at the pink color of the sun. By noon the sky had darkened to midnight blackness, causing Americans, still in the painful struggle of a prolonged war of independence, to light candles and tremble at thoughts of the Last Judgment. As the birds quieted and no storm accompanied the darkness, men and women crowded into churches, where one minister commented that “The people were very attentive.” John Greenleaf Whittier later wrote that “Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp . . .”
A recent study of researchers, led by Richard Guyette from the University of Missouri’s Tree Ring Laboratory, has shown that vast forest fires in the Algonquin Highlands of southern Ontario and elsewhere in Canada brought this event upon New England. The scientists have discovered “fire scars” on the rings for that year, left when the heat of a wildfire has killed a part of a tree’s cambium (形成层). Evidence collected also points to a drought that year. An easterly wind and low barometric pressure (低气压) helped force smoke into the upper atmosphere. “The record fits pretty close,” says Guyette. “We had the right fuel, the drought. The conditions were all there.”
Lacking the ability to communicate quickly over long distances, Americans in 1780 remained in the dark about the event, which had disappeared by the next day. Over the next several months, the papers carried heated debates about what brought the darkness. Some were the voices of angry prediction, such as one Massachusetts farmer who wrote, “Oh! Backsliding New-England, attend now to the things which belong to your peace before they are forever hid from your eyes.” Others gave different answers. One stated that a “flaming star” had passed between the earth and the sun. Ash, argued another commentator. The debate, carried on throughout New England, where there were no scientific journals or academies yet, reflected an unfolding culture of scientific enquiry already sweeping the Western world, a revolution nearly as influential as the war for independence from the English.
New Englanders would not soon forget that dark day; it lived on in folklore, poems, and sermons for generations.
56. New Englanders crowded into churches because they were frightened by         .
A. the pink color of the sun      B. the darkened sky at daytime
C. the Last Judgment on Friday    D. the American War of Independence
57. What can we infer about the event in New England on May 19, 1780?
A. Prayers remained silent and attentive.
B. Night birds no longer came out to sing.
C. People’s ears became sharper than usual.
D. Midday meals were served by candlelight.
58. According to the researchers, the origin of the event was         .
A. an east wind                B. a severe drought
C. some burning fuel            D. low barometric pressure
59. What can we know about the debates after the dark day?
A. They focused on causes of the event.
B. They swept throughout the Western world.
C. They were organized by scientific institutions.
D. They improved Americans’ ability to communicate.
60. What can be the best title for the text?
A. New England’s dark day.  B. Voices of angry prediction.
C. There is no smoke without fire.       D. Tree rings and scientific discovery.

New train route opens from China to Germany
A container(集装箱) train left Beijing on Wednesday on its way to Hamburg, Germany. The new service was welcomed as real progress made in international rail cooperation.
The train will travel about 9,800 kilometers through six countries, including China, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany. The trip has gained support from those in customs declaration and clearance.
Zhang Mingli, chairman of China Conainer Transportation Co., said, “This can be seen as a breakthrough in our cooperation. Today , railway officials from six countries are here to witness this event. This is very important to the development of the Asia-Europe Continental Bridge. This means of transportation has great potential for the countries involved.”
Cargo on board includes electronic products, textiles and shoes. The trip to Hamburg, Germany will take 18 days. The same trip would take at least 40 days by container ship.
Tomasl Palaszewski, vice president of Polish Natiional Railway, said, “There is big potential for container transportation to Europe.  The ceremony today shows that it will bring big benefits to all of us. So we hope that it will not only be a pilot train, but a permanent connection between China and Europe.”
Railway officials from the six countries will discuss detailed measures to advance container transportation.
Experts expect that the new land route will take a big slice of the pie of Chinese­-EU trade. But improvements in Chinese railway networks will still matter. China has plans to invest huge amounts of money to build up 18 railway container terminals in the coming five years.
63. The purpose of this passage is to _______.
A. tell us about a new train route from China to Germany
B. promote the relationships between China and Europe
C. introduce a newly-developed container train
D. improve Chinese railway conditions
64.The new train route from China to Germany will______.
A. be opened in the coming five years          B. strengthen the Chinese-EU trade
C. make it convenient for us to visit Germany    D. take the place of container ships
65.From this passage, we know that_____.
A. it was China alone that built the new train route
B. not all of the countries along the new train route will support the event
C. one of the problems in railway cooperation between countries is customs declaration and clearance
D. the train mainly carries grains from China to Europe
66.The underlined word “pilot” most probably means ______.
A. guide       B. beginning      C. cooperative   D. cargo
67. From this passage, we can safely conclude that ______
A. there will be more and more railway cooperation between China and Europe
B. more and more Chinese will have better chances to visit Europe
C. Europeans enjoy Chinese electronic products
D. China-EU trade will depend on this newly-developed cargo train

 This event not only raised _______ of world hunger, but also raised lots of money to help starving children.

     A. information      B. knowledge   C. instruction   D. awareness