As a young girl, Margaret “Mattie” Knight never played with dolls, preferring to make toys for her brothers instead. In 1849, Knight went to work in a cotton factory where she witnessed a “shuttle,” a device that carries thread back and forth across a textile loom（纺布机）, fly off the machine when the thread broke, striking and killing a young boy about her own age.

The 12-year-old Knight developed a safety mechanism that made it impossible for a shuttle to leave the loom. The design was so effective, soon virtually every new power loom carried her invention, saving countless workers from injury or death. Being so young, she didn’t bother to patent the device, so she never received payment.

Knight wouldn’t make the same mistake later in life when she invented a machine that could produce flat-bottomed paper bags. Knight had built a small wooden model in her home, but she needed a metal version to show it could hold up to the stress of mass production. So she hired Charles Annan to make the full-sized machine for her, only to have him try to claim the patent for himself. When Knight sued（起诉）, Annan’s argument was that the design had to be his, because no woman could possibly understand the complex mechanics. Knight proved him wrong when she brought back her wooden prototype and explained how every part worked. She won the case in 1871, making her the second woman to hold an American patent. Over a hundred years later, her design is still used as the basis for many modern flat-bottom bag machines.

But that wasn’t the last the world heard of Mattie Knight. During her lifetime, she made about 90 inventions and received 26 patents, becoming one of the most productive female inventors of the 19th century.

1.We can learn from Paragraph 1 that ________.

2.What do we know about Knight’s first invention?

3.Knight sued Charles Annan because he _______.

4.What would be the best title for the text?

Thanksgiving Day is special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.

Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.

The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast. The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.

In time, other colonies（殖民地）began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed（宣布）the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbours. But the Canadian thanks-giving Day falls on the second Monday in October.

1.Thanksgiving Day is celebrated ???? .

A. in spring????????????? B.in summer????? C. in autumn??????????? D. in winter

2.The first to celebrate thanksgiving were ???? .

A. some people from England?? B. the American Indians

C. Sarah Josepha Hale???????? D. Governor Bradford

3.We can infer from the passage that New England must be ???? .

A. in the U. S. A.? B. in Great Britain?? C. in Canada?? D. on some island off the Atlantic

4.The passage mainly tells us ???? .

A. how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U. S. A.

B. how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated

C. that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday

D. how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places

E

Britain’s 101-year-old Queen Mother , who died on March 30 , was famous for never giving interviews . However , her few publicized comments showed humor , a strong will and love for life .

In the 1920s , many men wanted to marry lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon . She only agreed to marry the future King George Ⅵ when he got down on bended knee for a third time to ask her . But she never forgave her brother Edward Ⅷ for stepping down from the throne（王位）in 1936 to marry divorced（离婚）woman Wallis Simpson . This meant that her shy husband became king. “Those last few days were like sitting on the edge of a volcano,” she said of the crisis.

The Queen Mother’s most famous role in British life was to try to boost（提高）Londoners’ morale（士气）during the World War II bombing（轰炸）, especially in the hardest-hit East End of London. When Buckingham Palace（白金汉宫）was hit by a bomb in 1940 , she said , “ I am glad we have been bombed . It makes me feel I can look the East End（people）in the face . ”

Famously , she refused suggestions that she and her children，the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret , should seek refuge（寻求避难）in Canada until the end of the war . “ The children won’t go without me , I won’t leave the king and the king will never go . ” she declared . “ I should die if I had to leave . ”

After better times returned，her love of expensive parties and high life continued，well into her old age . Her bank overdraft（透支）reached 4 million pounds .

She enjoyed fishing until well into her 80s but once choked（噎住）on a fishbone . After doctors removed the bone , she joked , “ After all these years of fishing , the fish are having their revenge（报复）. ”

In the end, she outlived the 20th century with energy and enthusiasm. “I love life, that’s my secret,” she told a friend when she was in her 80s . In a television interview last week, her grandson Prince Charles said, “She saw the funny side of life and we laughed until we cried.”

Hundreds of people have signed books of condolence（哀悼）across the country , including former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher .

“She loved her country and in return her country loved her.” said Prime Minister Tony Blair.

72. The Queen Mother refused to seek refuge in Canada with her children because       .

A. she didn’t think it safe to stay in Canada

B. she wasn’t willing to go without her husband

C. she hoped to boost Londoners’ morale

D. she wanted to earn good fame through the war

73. When Queen Mother went into her old age, she______.

A. was tired of peaceful life

B. began to show interest in fishing

C. was very luxury（奢侈）

D. looked down upon many things people had done

74. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A. George VI became king of Britain when his wife was in her late thirties.

B. Queen Mother hadn’t expected her husband to become a king.

C. Buckingham Palace was burned to the ground during the World War II . 

D. Queen Mother showed bravery in face of the World War II.

75. From the passage we know that Queen Mother was______.

A. humorous and brave     B. talkative and humorous

C. talkative but shy               D. brave but shy

课文填空(共10小题；每小题l分，共10分)

Over time I have been changed quite a lot. I 1.______ ________ a _______ ________in France in 1642. Although I was young I 2._______ ________ ________ ________. I developed very slowly and 3._______ _______ ______ two hundred years ______I was built as an analytical machine by Charles Babbage. After I was programmed by an 4. ______ _________used cards_____ ______, I could think logically and produce an answer quicker than any person. At that time it was considered a 5.______ _  _______and the start of my “________ _________”. In 1936 my real father, Alan Turing, wrote a book about how I could be made to work as a universal machine to solve any difficult mathematical problem…

Daisy smiled. “That’s good news. It 6. _____the _________of_________ ______, but I’d like to help as the WWF suggests.”  The carpet rose again and almost at once they were in a thick rainforest. A monkey watched them as it rubbed itself…“When I find a millipede insect, I rub it over my body. It 7. _______a _______ ______which ________mosquitoes. You should pay more attention to the rainforest where I live and appreciate how the animals live together. No rainforest, no animals, no drugs.

As some of these actors could not sing well enough, they had to 8. ______ _______ _______ ______ to help them. So during the broadcasts they just pretended to sing. Anyhow their performances were humorous 9. ______ ________ _______ _________by other groups. They were so popular that their fans formed clubs in order to get more familiar with them. Each week on TV, the Monkees would play and sing songs written by other musicians. However, after a year or so 10. _______ ________they became more ________ ________their work, the Monkees started to play and sing their own songs like a real band.

Not only Dick but also Jack and I_____interested in Chinese folk songs

1. A.
   am
2. B.
   is
3. C.
   have
4. D.
   are