New York City consists of five parts: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. The population is about 7.5 million and there are 1.5 million in Manhattan alone.
Manhattan, the center of the city, is on the island between the Hudson River and the East River. Most of the famous buildings such as the Empire State and the United Nations and other skyscrapers are in Manhattan. Some of its districts are: Broadway, which has many theatres and cinemas, Fifth Avenue, with stores and apartments, Greenwich Village, where many artists and writers have lived, and Central Park, with a skating rink (溜冰场). From Manhattan you have to cross to the other parts of New York City through a tunnel or over a bridge. The bridge from Brooklyn to Staten Island is the longest in the world.
New York is the second biggest port in the world and it has two airports. The people who live there come from all over the world and speak many different languages. There are 324,000 Germans and 390,000 Poles as well as people from Greece, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and Romania. People call one district "Little Italy" and another "China town".
【小题1】The most important part of New York is _______.

Do you love American country music? If you do, come to Nashville. It’s the home of American country music.

Nashville is the capital city of the state of Tennessee. Here you don’t have to go to the big auditoriums(音乐厅) to enjoy the country music. In the open air restaurants or on the streets, you can always hear the beautiful and sweet sounding folk music. All the singers are young and they play their guitars while they sing. The songs they sing are so touching(动人) that, if you listen attentively, you can feel they are singing with their souls rather than with their voices.

Shops selling music records and tapes can be found everywhere in Nashville. Many records are made by www..comfamous singers and they are sent to many countries all over the world.

The folk songs most of the singers sing come form the rural areas in the southern United States. The songs often describe those days to situations and the feeling of the country people. They often sing in praises of heroism(英雄) and true love.

1. From the passage we know Nashville is ________.

A. a village 　             B. a big city   C. a small town 　             D. a capital city

2. To enjoy the country music, you can go to ________.

A. the big auditoriums   B. the open air restaurants    C. the streets 　D. All of the above

3. According to the passage which of the following statements is not true?

A. Shops that sell music records and tapes can be found everywhere in Nashville.

B. The folk songs can impress you deeply

C. Not all records are made by famous singers

D. The folk songs only sing in praises of heroism and true love.

4. The passage is mainly about ________.

A. Nashville 　B. American young people   C. pop singers 　       D. the country music

I am one of the many city people who are always saying that given the choice we would prefer to live in the country away from the dirt and noise of a large city. If it weren’t for my job I would immediately move out for the open spaces and go back to nature．

    Cities can be frightening places. The majority of the population live in many tower blocks, noisy, dirty and impersonal. The sense of belonging to a community tends to disappear when you live fifteen floors up. All you can see from your window is sky, or other blocks of flats. Children become aggressive and nervous as they are shut up at home all day, with nowhere to play; their mothers feel isolated（孤立的）from the rest of the world. Strangely enough, in the past the residents（居民）of one street all knew each other, but nowadays people on the same floor in tower blocks don’t even say hello to each other．

    Country life, on the other hand, differs from this kind of isolated existence in that a sense of community generally binds the residents of small villages together. People have the advantage of knowing that there is always someone to turn to when they need help. But country life has disadvantages too. While it is true that you may be among friends in a village, it is also true that you are cut off from the exciting and important events that take place in cities. There’s little possibility of going to a new show or the latest movie. Shopping becomes a major problem, and for anything slightly out of the ordinary you have to go a long way to the nearest large town. The city people who leave for the country often can’t bear the stillness and quiet there．

What, then, is the answer? The country has the advantage of peace and quiet, but suffers from the disadvantage of being cut off; the city gives people a feeling of isolation, and constant noise can nearly drive you mad. But one of its main advantages is that you are at the center of things, and that life doesn’t come to an end at half-past nine at night. Some people have found a compromise （折衷） between the two: leave cities and move to villages within commuting （乘车往返） distance of large cities. It sounds great!

1．It seems that the writer prefers to live in the country mainly because ______．

A．the city is somehow polluted            B．the country folks are more friendly

C．one can get better sleep in the country         D．it’s hard for people to find jobs in the city

2．The biggest disadvantage of living in the country is that ______．

A．life there is inconvenient                       B．shopping is almost impossible

C．you can not see a movie or a show        D．life comes to an end at half past nine

3．As to which is better, city life or country life, the writer ______．

A．did some explanation                           B．made some comparison

C．described both of them vividly              D．talked a lot about his preference

4．The underlined word “binds” in the third paragraph is similar in meaning to ______．

A．attracts            B．drives              C．prevents            D．unites

　　Elizabeth lived at the foot of a hill. Her father had a small 1 and about twenty sheep. Her mother was often ill and couldn't help him. The girl had to 2 the sheep when she was on holiday. She drove (驱赶) the sheep to the 3 and she liked singing there. Her voice (嗓子) got 4 and often sang some songs at parties.

　　 5 her aunt's help, the girl began to perform (演出) when she was sixteen. And several years later she became a 6 . She often sang all over the country and a lot of people always 7 her. She got much money but she always felt tired and hoped to have 8 .

　　One year her mother was ill again and the doctor 9 her to spend the whole summer in a 10 place. Elizabeth decided to go to a small village which stood in the 11 with her because none of the villagers knew her and she could live a 12 life. They enjoyed themselves there. But one afternoon it began to 13 while they were having a picnic on the top of a mountain. The girl asked her mother to 14 her jacket. So she caught a cold and had to go to the 15 in a small town.

　　There were many 16 at the doctor's that day. The doctor was 17 . She had to wait for a long time and then the doctor asked, “What's the matter with you, madam?”

　　Before the girl could say a word, the telephone rang and he went to answer it. And when he was going to 18 her, the telephone rang and he had to stop 19 it again. The girl stood up and said, “Please tell me your 20 , sir.”

　　“What are you going to do?” the doctor asked in surprise.

　　“I'm going to the post office and tell you all on the phone!”

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While traveling in Ssesse Island, Uganda, I came across a basket weaver. Weaving basket designs is a complex craft that ____1____ much skill and cleverness. To see an expert at work is so ____2____ that I had watched this particular lady for hours. What was astonishing, ____3____, was that a young African man had also become ____4____ as the basket weaver performed her craft.

____5____ whether the young man was more interested in the basket weaving or the weaver, I ____6____ the unexpected couple. On being asked about his ____7____ in weaving, the wise young man looked at me with complete puzzle and ____8____ that he didn’t know how to weave so he was watching because people can always ____9____ something from one another.

Of all the lessons I’ve learned during my travels, one of the finest is that ____10____ has nothing to do with wealth and little to do with ____11____ education! Wisdom can be ____12____ in every village, every town, every city, country, and continent in every ____13____ of the earth. Moreover, the wisest are often not those who are the most outspoken but, ____14____, those who are quiet and modest.

The young man on Ssesse Island is a perfect ____15____. His high status in the village was such that he was not ____16____ to study the lowly task of basket weaving; yet, there he was. And to top it off, this modest young man threw out a pearl of wisdom so ____17____.

As I watch what is ____18____ in our world today, I find myself wishing that more people had the wisdom of my young African friend. Much time has ____19____ since I met the young man but I have carried his wisdom in my heart ____20____. And I believe that it doesn’t matter who we are, we can always learn something from one another.

1．A．asks                  B．takes                      C．costs               D．deserves

2．A．encouraging       B．moving                   C．fascinating       D．touching

3．A．however            B．otherwise                C．anyhow           D．therefore

4．A．inspired             B．excited                    C．delighted          D．engaged

5．A．Thinking            B．Finding                   C．Wondering       D．Accepting

6．A．walked              B．approached             C．reached           D．met

7．A．hobby            B．doubt                      C．advantage        D．interest

8．A．replied            B．told                        C．spoken            D．remarked

9．A．borrow              B．learn                       C．understand       D．think

10．A．thought            B．knowledge              C．wisdom           D．opinion

11．A．private             B．special                    C．usual               D．formal

12．A．found              B．invented                  C．discovered              D．created

13．A．side                 B．space                      C．corner             D．district

14．A．though             B．instead                    C．however          D．therefore

15．A．example           B．figure                     C．model              D．symbol

16．A．meant              B．predicated               C．planned            D．expected

17．A．certainly          B．naturally                  C．surely              D．definitely

18．A．appearing         B．turning                    C．happening        D．showing

19．A．passed             B．disappeared             C．lost                 D．missed

20．A．ever after         B．before long              C．long since        D．ever since