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Are you a big fan of pirate（海盗） stories? Do you know how to talk like a pirate? You can have fun on September 19th. This special holiday is called International Talk Like A Pirate Day. It was invented in 1995 by two young Americans, John Baur and Mark Summers.

These two good friends came up with this idea when they were playing racquetball, and began to talk like pirates. At that moment, they thought, “Young people are interested in pirate. But there is no such a chance for people to get together to share it. Why not have a day when everybody talks like a pirate?” They decided to make September 19th the date. Since then, Baur and Summers have tried hard to promote Talk Like A Pirate Day. As Baur said, “We've talked like pirates, and encouraged several of our friends to do so every September 19th.”

At first, this day was only known by a few people. In 2002, Baur and Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday to Dave Barry. This columnist（专栏作家）really liked their idea. He promoted the holiday and made it known to more and more people. Now, it has really become an international holiday. On Talk Like A Pirate Day, you need to dress like a pirate. You should wear a big hat or maybe cover one of your eyes. You can pretend to be any kind of pirate that you can find in any story or movie.

Having fun and being relaxed are not the only best things about the holiday. Young people share the same interest and childhood dreams that day. That's why it is welcomed by so many people, especially young people.

Unlike traditional holidays, International Talk Like A Pirate Day is a brand new holiday which is invented by the youth themselves and celebrated by themselves too. Because of Baur and Summers' imagination and creativity, thousands of young people's pirate dream come true. Next time, when you have a good idea, why not share it with your fiends and insist on your belief? Maybe you can create another wonderful holiday for the youth in the future.

1. How did John Baur and Mark Summers invent the special holiday?

A. Many young people asked them to do it

B. They did it just for pleasure

C. They thought out the idea by chance and imagination

D. They did it in order to honor pirates

2. Why are the holiday become more and more popular？.

A. You can have fun and relax yourself freely.

B. young people can exchange ideas and dreams on the day

C. young people can have fun and be relaxed.

D. you can play the role of the pirate in the movie on the day

3. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. It was Dave Barry who made more people know the holiday.

B. Talk Like A Pirate Day is a young, active and lively holiday

C. Thanks to John Baur and Mark Summers’ imagination and creativity, a lot of people realize their pirate dream.

D. The holiday has been popular since the birth of it.

4. According to the passage, which of the following can show that the holiday is special?

A. It has a long history.  

B. It is a wonderful and instructive holiday.

C. It is a brand new holiday invented and celebrated by the youth themselves.  

D. People can make their dream come true on this day.

5. Which of the following can serve as the best title of the passage？

A. Can you talk like a pirate?

B. Young people’s pirate dream

C. John Baur and Mark Summers

D. September 19^th ,—a day in honor of pirates

A research by the National Center for Health Statistics is seen as an important confirmation of the“Hispanic mortality paradox（西班牙裔死亡率悖论）.”

On average，Hispanics outlive whites by 2.5 years and blacks by 7.7 years. Their life expectancy at birth in 2006 was 80.6 years，compared with 78.1 for whites，72.9 for blacks and 77.7 years for the total population.

The report shows that the Hispanic population has higher life expectancy at birth and at almost every age despite a socioeconomic status lower than that of whites.“Mortality is very correlated with income，education and health care access，”says Elizabeth Arias，author of the report.“You would expect the Hispanic population would have higher mortality，”in line with the black population.

The Hispanic paradox has been documented for more than two decades，but this is the first time the government has had enough data to issue national numbers. Researchers are struggling to explain why Hispanics live longer.

“We don’t know，”says David Hayes-Bautista，director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.“We thought it was a problem in the data，but we can pretty much say this is real.”

Potential factors:

·Culture and lifestyle.  Support from extended family and lower rates of smoking and drinking.Latino groups in particular have very strong family and social ties.

·Migration.  The“healthy migrant effect”argues that healthy people are more likely to emigrate. And when immigrants become ill，they might return home and die there.

    Solving the puzzle may help the nation deal with health care issues because Hispanics use health services less—they make fewer doctors visits and spend less time in hospitals，Hayes-Bautista says.“It’s clearly something in the Latino culture，”he says.

In 2006，Hispanics’life expectancy is           years longer than the average of the total population.

    A. 2.5                 B. 7.7               C. 2.9              D. 80.6

What does the underlined word“outlive”in the second paragraph probably mean？

A. To live longer than…                      B. To live shorter than…

C. To die out.                              D. To expect to live.

What is the main idea of paragraph three？

A. Hispanics were born better than whites.

B. Morality is closely related with health care access.

C. Whites should have longer life expectancy.

D. Even experts can’t explain the phenomenon.

What is Mr.Hayes-Bautista’s opinion about the paradox？

A. He supports there is a problem with the data.

B. He intends to trust the cultural factor.

C. He believes in the“healthy migrant effect”.

D. He thinks health care the most important factor.

Which of the following inferences is true according to the passage？

A. Black people suffer the lowest social status in America.

B. Hispanics might have healthier ways of life.

C. Only healthy people can immigrate into America.

D. White people don’t have strong family ties.

A thief entered the bedroom of the 30th President of the United States, who met him and helped him escape punishment．

The event happened in the early morning hours in one of the first days when Calvin Coolidge came into power, late in August, 1923．He and his family were living in the same third-floor suite (套房) at the Willard Hotel in Washington that they had occupied several years before．The former President’s wife was still living in the White House．

Coolidge awoke to see a stranger go through his clothes, remove a wallet and a watch chain．

Coolidge spoke, “I wish you wouldn’t take that．”

The thief, gaining his voice,  said, “Why?”

“I don’t mean the watch and chain, only the charm (表坠)．Take it near the window and read what is impressed on its back, “ the President said．

The thief read, “Presented to Calvin Coolidge．”

“Are you President Coolidge ? “ he asked．

The President answered, “Yes, and the House of Representatives (众议院) gave me that watch charm．I’m fond of it．It would do you no good．You want money．Let’s talk this over．”

Holding up the wallet, the young man said in a low voice, “I’ll take this and leave everything else．”

Coolidge, knowing there was ＄80 in it, persuaded the young man to sit down and talk．He told the President he and his college roommate had overspent during their holiday and did not have enough money to pay their hotel bill．

Coolidge added up the roommate and two rail tickets back to the college．Then he counted out ＄32 said it was a loan (借款)．

He then told the young man, “There is a guard in the corridor．” The young man nodded and left through the same window as he had entered．

What caused the thief to meet the President?

A．He knew the President had lots of money．

B．He knew the President lived in the suite．

C．He wanted to be a rich businessman．

D．He wanted to steal some money．

Why did Calvin Coolidge live at the Willard Hotel in those days?

A．Because the former President was still living in the White House．

B．Because the former First Lady hadn’t left the White House．

C．Because the First Lady liked to live there．

D．Because he liked there．

Coolidge counted out ＄32 ______．

A．in order not to be killed by the thief

B．in order to be out of danger

C．so as to help the young student overcome his difficulty

D．because he had no more money

The young man’s roommate went back to the college ______．

A．by air B．by water C．by bus D．by train

Which of the following might happen afterwards?

A．The young student repaid the＄32．

B．The thief was put into prison．

C．The President told many reporters the thief’s name．

D．The President ordered the young man to repay the money．

A senior United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) official on May 29 praised China for its remarkable achievements in children’s welfare.

A. H. M. Farook, UNICEF’s operations area officer for China and Mongolia said that China “can be very satisfied to tell the whole world what can be done with limited resources to help its children to grow healthily and happily.”

　　China’s child population makes up one-fifth of the world’s total. “The reason behind the tremendous(巨大的) achievement is China’s long tradition of caring for children both at home and in society,” he said.

　　“What’s more is that Chinese people have always given special attention to children who are in special need.” The UN official made the remarks when addressing a group of 50 children and staff from the Beijing Children’s Welfare Home at the Shangri-la Hotel, Beijing.

　　The hotel invited the orphans to share snacks, sing, dance and play games at a park inside the hotel for a “Share the Sunshine” party, as a prelude(前奏) to celebrations to mark the Children’s Day.

　　The Beijing children’s Welfare Home, set up soon after New China was founded in 1949, has at present more than 400 children.

　　A leading official of the welfare institution said that the children live a happy life and that the agency spends 400—500 yuan a month for an average orphan. An average Chinese workers earned 440 yuan a month during the first quarter this year.

　　Gu Xiaojin, deputy secretary-general of the China Youth Development Foundation(CYDF), said people from all walks of life have contributed to the welfare of the Chinese children.

　　She said that CYDF set up the Project Hope in 1989, which calls on people across the country to donate money to help poor children to continue their schooling.

　　By the end of last year, she said, CYDF had collected nearly 700 million yuan in donations, which has helped the establishment of 2, 074 Hope primary schools and enabled more than 1. 25 million dropouts to return to school classrooms.

　　Three “Hope Stars” also attended the party. They were model teenagers chosen among students who are economically supported by the Project Hope to further their nine-year compulsory studies in the poverty-stricken regions. They will be torchbearers for the Chinese Team for the up coming Atlanta Olympic Games this year.

Children can grow healthily and happily as long as _______.

A. parents take good care of them both at home and in society

B. the whole society care for children as well as their parents

C. Schools and teachers pay much attention to the growth of children

D. Chinese people always give special attention to children who are in special need

Every year the Beijing Children’s Welfare Home spends _______ on the orphans

A. 1, 920, 000 yuan 　　　　　 　　              B. 2, 160, 000 yuan

C. Over 2, 400, 000 yuan 　　　　　        D. 2, 200, 000 yuan or so

CYDF collected 700 million yuan with the purpose of _______.

A. reducing dropouts                               

B. helping homeless orphans

C. supporting the Chinese Team for the coming Atlanta Olympic Games

D. establishing 2, 074 Hope primary schools all over the country

We can infer from the text that _______.

A. Every Chinese child has its own special need, so we should pay special attention to each.

B. All the children in the poverty-stricken regions of China are too poor to go to school.

C. Ever since liberation. the Chinese Communist Party has been concerned about the growth of the younger generation.

D. With the help of UNICEF officials, there are no more dropouts in China.

It is possible that this passage was written in _______.

A. 1992 　　　　  B. 1996 　　　　  C. 1998 　　　　   D. 2000

A young father was visiting an old neighbor．They were standing in the old man's garden，talking about children. The young man said，“How strict should parents be with their children？”

  The old man pointed to a string（绳子）between a big strong tree and a thin young one． “Please untie（解开）that string，” he said．The young man untied it，and the young tree bent over to one side．“Now tie it again， please，” said the old man，“but first pull the string tight so that the young tree is straight again．”

  The young man did so．Then the old man said，“There，it is the same with children．You must be strict with them，but sometimes you must untie the string to know how they are getting on．If they are not yet able to stand alone，you must tie the string tight again．But when you find that they are ready to stand alone，you can take the string away．”

The story is about ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

  A． how to take care of young trees   

B． how strict parents should be with their children

  C． how the young father should get on with his old neighbor

  D． how to tie and untie the string

The young man untied the string ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

  A． in order to throw it away          

B． so that both of the trees would grow straight

  C． only to find that the thinner one bent over to one side

  D． in order to let the old man teach him

When can the string be taken away？＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

  A． When the old man has left                

B． After you have untied it

  C． When the young man has untied it next time

  D． When the young tree grows strong enough

At last the old man told the young man ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

  A． that he should be strict with his children if they could not yet stand alone

  B． that he should always be strict with his children    

C． that he should be hard on them

  D． that he should tie his children until they are ready to stand alone