New York’s streets were covered by people dressed in elephant costumes (服装) and others waving antiwar posters with pictures of US President George W. Bush on them last week. But this was no carnival (狂欢节) – it was the Republican Party’s National Convention (共和党全国大会), which attracted thousands of protestors (抗议者). It was the largest protest ever at a US political convention, with at least 120,000 people marching through Manhattan on August 29. They demanded that the US leave Iraq and a new president be chosen.

The Republicans say the opposition – Democrat Party (民主党) encouraged the people on to the streets. They believe it is a democratic move to help win presidential election, to be held on November 2. The election is described as “the decisive battle between donkey and elephant”. The two animals are the symbols of the two major political parties in the US. The elephant represents (象征) the Republicans, whose candidate (侯选人), President George W. Bush, is trying to defeat the donkey to win his second them. The donkey represents the democrats, whose candidate, John Kerry, is trying to kick the elephant out of the White House.

Republicans think the elephant is powerful and clever, but the Democrats argue it is stupid and conservative (守旧的). In return, the Republicans regard the donkey as stubborn (倔强的) and silly but the Democrats say it is humble, plain, smart and courageous.

The Republicans have been sending emails to Bush supporters and journalists with the heading, “An Elephant Never Forgets”, said party spokeswoman Heather Layman. Elephants are known for their long memories. The emails suggest that Bush will keep his promises, while Kerry will not stick to his words.

It is interesting that both symbols were created by a single person, Thomas Nast, a famous political cartoonist of the late 19th century. During the election in 1874, Nast drew a cartoon, in which a donkey in a lion’s skin frightened an elephant marked “Republican”.

What does “kick the elephant out of the White House” mean?

A. Drive the animal out of the White House.        B. Drive President Bush out of power.

C. Keep the elephant out of the White House.       D. Insist on Bush’s being elected.

In the eyes of the Republicans, the donkey is considered as      .

A. clever              B. foolish              C. polite              D. brave

Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The same artist created the two symbols.

B. The emails suggest Kerry will not carry out his promises.

C. “An Elephant Never Forgets” means that an elephant has a good memory.

D. John Kerry is a Democrat.

Have you ever heard the story of the four-minute mile? For years people believed that it is impossible for a human being to  1  a mile in less than four minutes until Roger Banister proved it  2  in 1954．Within one year, 37 runners  3  the belief barrier．And the year after that, 300 other runners did the same thing．

    What happens if you put an animal in a  4 ? Any animal, big or small, will swim its way through．What happens when someone, who does not know how to swim, falls in deep waters? You  5 ．If an animal who has not learned swimming could  6  by swimming, why not you? Because you believe you will drown while the animal does not．

    These  7  show the power of beliefs．There is no other more  8  force in directing human behavior than belief．Our beliefs have the power to  9  and to destroy．

    In a way it is our beliefs that determine how much we’ll be able to  10  our potential．So pay attention to some of your  11 ．Do you believe you are weak in mathematics? Do you believe that other people dislike you？Do you believe life is full of  12 ？

    Belief is not  13 , however．It’s nothing but the generalization of a past incident．As a kid, if a dog bit you, you believed all dogs to be  14 ．To change certain behavior, identify the beliefs associated with it．Change those beliefs and a new pattern is  15  created．

1．A．run                        B．walk                    C．swim                   D．jog

2．A．right                    B．wrong                  C．fake                    D．true

3．A．broke                     B．built                   C．faced                  D．lowered

4．A．cage                       B．desert                     C．forest                D．pond

5．A．drown                    B．swim                   C．float                       D．sink

6．A．struggle                B．escape                 C．drown                 D．leave

7．A．samples                B．cases                       C．situations         D．periods

8．A．terrible                     B．reasonable              C．considerable      D．powerful

9．A．damage                 B．provide               C．create                D．withdraw

10．A．discover              B．realize               C．show                    D．perform

11．A．problems             B．beliefs               C．possibilities          D．subjects

12．A．surprises                 B．choices                C．problems             D．possibilities

13．A．beautiful                 B．changeable          C．strong                D．mysterious

14．A．safe                    B．rude                   C．merciless           D．dangerous

15．A．occasionally       B．immediately         C．accidentally           D．automatically

As a school librarian，I’m often asked what books are most appropriate for teaching particularconcepts．As the mother of a toddler，I’m now teaching my son to recognize letters and learn thealphabet．Boaks are a great help in teaching a child letters．Here is this librarian and mom’s picks for the best books to help teach your child letters．

  Eric Carle’s ABC

  Eric Carle is one of my favorite children’s authors and this colorful book is perfect for helping teach the alphabet．The block-style letters are easier to read

and recognize for toddlers than mitten ones．Each letter is tied to an animal name，so your child will have fun looking at the animals，and 1earn the animal

names while also learning letters．

Baby Einsstein：My First Book of Letters

       The Baby Einstein books always promote thinking skills and creativity in

young children．Baby Einstein；My First Book of Letters is no exception．This

book includes letters in both upper and lower case，and asks questions about nature that go with each letter for your child to answer．This colorful book is great for helping teach your child letters．

    Dr．Seuss’ABC

    Dr．Seuss lends his wonderful writing and illustrating（插图）talent to this

great teaching book．His classic writing and funny pictures can be found throughout this alphabet book．The letters are block style，solid-colored，and easy

 to read．Your child will love learning letters from this fun book．

    Kipper’s A to Z：an Alphabet Adventure

    In this book，children follow the little dog Kipper as he works his way through the entire alphabet．The clean，solid font used for the letter makes them

easy to read for young eyes．Author Mike Inkpen does a great job in this book，

which tells more of a story than the other books

Teaching your child letters can be a hard task．It’s import to try to make the alphabet fun and interesting for your child．

1.In Paragraph I，“toddler”probably means       

        A．baby                         B．teenager                 C．student                       D．young child

2.If you want to make your son or daughter interested in nature you should choose      

       A．Eric Carle’s ABC                                                   B．Baby Einstein；My First Book of Letters

       C．Dr．Seuss’ ABC                                                      D．Kipper’s A to Z；an Alphabet Adventure

3.Why did the author write the passage?

       A．To recommend the books．                             B．To sell the books

       C．To adverfise the books                                           D．To criticize the books

第二节完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21—40各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
One day a small group of young people were at a wildlife park on a field trip.
“Oh, look at her, she's so beautiful.” All of us   21   a cheetah（印度豹）named Subira in respect－except a teenage boy called Cory in the back row, who seemed to be   22   to himself in impatience. When several members of the group turned in his   23  , he brushed the front of his T-shirt as though to   24   dust, and, in a gesture clearly meaning to   25   us, rolled up the right sleeve (袖子）of his shirt, further showing his well-developed   26  .
Cory had   27   of playing professional baseball someday. No one doubted Cory's   28  . But that was before the car accident. Not only did Cory lose a   29    in the accident but his hope and his spirit.
Seeing such a large audience, Subira couldn’t wait to give the crowd a   30   of her skills. “How fast she runs!” one shouted. “But she only has three legs.” one cried.
No one was more   31   than Cory. He stared at the animal with the missing leg and he smiled, tears of hope in his   32  .
Looking   33   into Cory' s face, the organizer explained “It was soon after she came to us that she showed her own worth－a   34    gift of love and spirit. In the past few years, the gift of Subira has   35   people around the world，and without words Subria has become our most persuasive   36  , and the most priceless gift.”
Cory asked   37  , “Can I touch her?”
As the rest of the group looked on in amazement, the boy wheeled himself over to the large gate and   38   to push it open. The expression on his face was one of great   39  . It was clear that Cory had   40   the gift of Subira.
21. A. listened to   B. laughed at C. smiled at    D. stared at
22. A. talking     B. wondering  C. sitting     D. lying

Do you sometimes argue about what seems to you to be simple fact? Do you argue whether it’s cold outdoors or whether the car in front of you is going faster than the speed limit?

If you get into such arguments, try to think about the story about the six blind men and the elephant. The first blind man who felt the elephant’s trunk said it was like a snake. The second who felt the elephant’s side said it was like a wall, while the third said it was like a spear as he touched the animal’s tusk. The fourth, who got hold of the elephant’s tail insisted that it was like a rope. The fifth man said it looked like a tree as he put his arms around one of the elephant’s legs. The sixth, who was tall and got hold of the elephant’s ears, said it was like a huge fan.

Each man’s idea of the animal came from his own experience. So if someone disagrees with you about a“simple fact”, it’s often because his experience in the matter is different from yours.

To see how hard it is for even one person to make up his mind about a“simple fact”, try this simple experiment. Get three large bowls. Put ice water in one. Put hot water in the second. Put lukewarm water in the third. Now put your left hand in the ice water. Put your right hand in the hot water. After thirty seconds, put both hands in the lukewarm water. Your right hand will tell you the water is cold. Your left hand will tell you it’s hot!

1.What makes people think about simple facts differently?

A. The fact that simple facts differ from one another.

B. The fact that people have different experience in the same simple fact.

C. The fact that people often disagree with one another.

D. The fact that it’s hard to make up one’s mind about simple facts.

2.Which of the following temperatures can the word “lukewarm” be applied to?

A. Around 1℃        B. Above 60℃    C. Around 25℃      D. Below 0℃

3.After reading the last paragraph, we may think of        .

A. Newton’s law                   B. Gallileo’s theory of falling objects

C. Einstein’s theory of relativity      D. Marx’s On Capital

4.The main idea of this passage is         .

A. people often judge something according to his own experience

B. people often agree about simple facts

C. it’s hard for a person to make up his mind about a simple fact

D. don’t care too much about simple facts