The British royal family is about to be slimmed down. The Queen plans to reduce the number of real royals, it was recently announced. However, there seems little sign of the monarchy (君主) disappearing completely.
Up till the 17th century, the British king or queen was believed to rule by “divine (神的) right”, which was the idea that God chose the king or queen to rule and that he or she was therefore above the law. However, this idea ended with the English Revolution, in which King Charles I was imprisoned and then beheaded (斩首) in 1649.
So what role does the British royal family have today?
Well, the Queen has important formal duties as Head of State, the Queen represents the UK on visits abroad and invites other world leaders to visit the UK. As Head of the Armed Forces: Only the Queen can declare when the UK is at war or when war is over. The Queen also has constitutional duties: She has to sign many government and Commonwealth (英联邦) documents everyday.
In addition, the royal family sends a great deal of its time traveling up and down the country in support of different charity projects.
But republicans in Britain do not believe there should be a royal family. Sometimes, the press and media criticize the royal family as well. One criticism is that British people should have to pay for the royal family through their taxes.
Today, the royal family works hard to be relevant(相关联的) in the modern world. The Queen Speech on television is less formal every Christmas, and is now available as a podcast (播客). In 2005, after graduating from university, Prince William spent time teaching English in Uruguay, the sort of work many young British people do at some time in their lives.
1.    What can be concluded from the first two paragraphs?
A. The British King or Queen is now considered above the law.
B. The British King or Queen is no longer believed to rule by divine right.
C. The royal family played a less important role in Britain in the late 17th century than in nowadays.
D. The English Revolution put an end to the British royal family in 1649.
2.    Which of the following is NOT among formal duties of the Queen?
A. Traveling around the UK.
B. Declaring when the UK is at war.
C. Inviting other leaders to visit the UK.
D. Signing Commonwealth documents every day.
3.    With the example of Prince William in the last paragraph, the author intends to show _____.
A. Prince William is very popular in the UK
B. the royal family is trying to connect better with ordinary people
C. Prince William has made an effort to win young people’s admiration
D. many young British people do voluntary work
4.    According to the article, British people __________.
A. are all in favor of the royal family
B. can talk to the Queen through a podcast
C. pay for the royal family through the taxes
D. criticize the royal family through media and press

Vicki Larrieux, a 22-year-old student from Portsmouth, says she is unable to keep a healthy diet because she is frightened of vegetables. She survives on a diet of meat, potatoes, cereals（谷类食品）and apples but refuses even a single slice of carrot on her plate. She suffers from sweating and panics at the slightest sight of a carrot or a pea.
“I have always had a fear of vegetables. Even as a child I used to freak out if some carrots or a few peas were on my plate.” She said. “But as it continued into adult life, I started to think it might not just be a dislike for vegetables but an actual phobia（恐惧症）. Every time I see vegetables, not just on my plate, but anywhere, I would get feelings of panic and my heart would beat faster.”
Miss Larrieux’s condition makes trips to the supermarket or eating out at a restaurant with her boyfriend a major problem. It is an unpleasant experience for her to go to the supermarket. Luckily, her boyfriend is very understanding and does his best to comfort her.
A spokesman for phobia charity Anxiety UK says that around 13 percent of British people suffer a phobia of some form, there are treatment available（有效的）including medication and self-help groups for all manner of phobias.
1. Larrieux eats the following as a daily diet EXCEPT______.
A. meat        B. potatoes        C. peas       D. cereals
2. The underlined part “freak out” in Paragraph 2 means “_________”.
A. feel scared       B. get interested
C. feel relaxed      D. get sad
3. According to the passage, Larrieux’s fear for vegetables _____.
A. was found out recently            B. is a kind of phobia
C. makes her famous                   D. makes her hard to get along with
4. What do we know from the passage?
A. Only a few people around the world suffer from phobias
B. Larrieux is not confident about her future
C. Larrieux’s boyfriend doesn’t like meat
D. Phobia can be treated.

The other day at a supermarket, I saw a naughty boy of about six crying loudly, falling to the floor and refusing to move. All the while the troubled mother was trying to persuade him to behave well but failed．A little smack on his bottom would have done the job，I thought．
Teenagers also cause discipline(纪律)problems．As a teacher, I had a 16-year-old student who had fallen in love with a waiter at a fast-food restaurant．In fact，she had left home to stay with him．So we decided to put her in the school hostel．She refused．When she heard her mother begging her to stay in the hostel she turned round and said：“Why don't you stay in the hostel if you like it so much?”
My palms were itching to slap her for being so rude but the poor mother continued to cajole her，hoping that gentle persuasion would work wonders．It did not．The last I heard，she had run away from home again．
The list goes on and on．Could it be that today's parents are softer and believe that they must not rod(棍棒惩罚)their children for fear of the bad result? Or do they actually believe that the children will get rid of the bad habits and behave well naturally as they grow older? I beg to disagree．I believe it is the parents' duty to discipline the children even at a young age．
My children who are now adults will prove the fact that I used the rod when I thought it necessary．Later when they went abroad，they related to their British university friends on how they were disciplined．Their friends abroad were filled with horror and told my daughter that I could be charged with child abuse(虐待)．However，my daughter showed great respect for me when she told them that she would not be where she was today if not for my strict discipline．
【小题1】The underlined word“cajole”probably means       ．

四．阅读理解（每题4分，共20分）
British newspapers are among the oldest and most famous in the world. But recently big changes have seen these traditional publications try to fit the modern world. After 221 years, The Times (《泰晤士报》) has changed its size to become much smaller. In fact, the paper has cut its size in half from a broadsheet to tabloid.
In Britain the newspaper market is divided between the larger broadsheets and the smaller tabloids. These terms refer to the size of the papers’ pages, but there is also a clear difference in content. Broadsheets such as the Times, the Guardian (《卫报》) and Daily Telegraph (《每日电讯报》) are serious papers. They cover a broad range of political, economic and international issues. Their stories are also reasonably long and use quite formal language.
Tabloids have far more stories about less serious issues such as celebrities’（名人） love lives. Their stories are shorter and use more simple language. Tabloids often have bigger pictures. Britain’s best-selling newspaper, the Sun, is a tabloid and has a naked (裸体的) girl on page three every day.
By changing to the size of a tabloid, the Times is following in the footsteps of a less famous broadsheet paper the Independent (《独立报》). It changed to tabloid last year and saw its sales increase greatly. Although both papers have switched to the smaller size, the content of the papers has remained the same. They are both still serious papers.
The two papers claim that people find the smaller size easier to handle when they travel to work on the bus or the train in the morning. Instead of calling the new style of their paper tabloid, the paper says its new size is “compact” (紧凑型).
1. In which year was The Times born?
A. 1782            B. 1785             C. 1788                   D. 1786
2. Which is the most correct statement?
A. Broadsheets are larger in size while tabloids are smaller.
B. Tabloids are less serious than broadsheets.
C. Broadsheets contain more news than tabloids.
D. They are different in size, content and the style of language.
3. In which of the following newspapers would you find more news about the personal life of the famous soccer star Beckham?
A. The Sun  B. The Times       C. The Independent       D. The Guardian
4. According to the passage, we can infer the main reason for The Times' changing into the tabloid is that_____.
A. it wants to become convenient for people to carry.
B. it wants to increase its circulation (发行量).
C. it intends to copy what The Independent has done.
D. it is unlikely to stay in business if it does not change.
5. Which of the following statements is true according to the given information?
A. There are more tabloids than broadsheets in Britain at present.
B. After the change, there will be no differences between The Sun and The Times.
C. Although The Times has cut its size, it remains a serious paper.
D. All the papers will tend to have the same style in the future.

As the world watched the twin towers of the World Trade Center come under attack, a common phrase was repeated:” It looks like a movie.”
But this time there was no superman to save the people or the famous building. The attack destroyed one of the world's highest skyscrapers and left 5,000 people dead or missing.
　　Movie fans have become used to such events after years of Hollywood films showing disasters, terrorism and danger. The Empire State Building, the White House, New York City and even the American president himself have all been threatened(威胁) by terrorist attacks in these exciting films. The film” True Lies”, released in 1994, is considered to be a good example of this kind of movie. The special effects, including explosions and missiles, make the action look like a real thing.
　“Independence Day” in 1996 took this type of movie one step further by blowing up the White House. This science fiction(科幻) movie is about a war between human beings and aliens from another planet. In the movie, the World Trade Center towers are destroyed.
　　Violence has become a major part of Hollywood movies. And this is what people enjoy. Soon after the attacks, many famous film companies stopped the planned releases of some of their new movies, especially if their films showed terrorist attacks or plane crashes. “Swordfish” was top of the American box office in June. But the movie's story was frighteningly similar to the Sept. 11 disaster. The film would have been stopped in American and British cinemas after the attack. But it's unlikely that Hollywood will stay quiet for long. It is already waiting for the feeling in America to calm down.
【小题1】What is the main subject of the newspaper article?