There was no ______of controlling it once the fire began to spread.

A．choice            B．possibility          C．opportunity        D．idea

The light from the campfire brightened the darkness, but it could not prevent the damp cold of Dennis’s Swamp (沼泽地) creeping into their bones. It was a strange place. Martin and Tom wished that they had not accepted Jack’s dare. They liked camping, but not near this swamp.

         “So,” Martin asked as they sat watching the hot coals. “How did this place get its name ? ”

         “Are you sure you want to hear it ? It’s a scary story,” warned Jack.

         “Of course!” cried out Tom. “If there were anything to be scared of, you wouldn’t have chosen this place!”

         “Ok, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” said Jack, and he began this tale.

         “Way back in time, a man called Dennis tried to start a farm here. He built that cottage over there to live in . In those days, the area looked quite different ---- it was covered with tall trees and the swamp was a crystal-clear river. After three hard years, Dennis had cleared several fields and planted crops. He was so proud of his success that he refused to listen to advice.

         “ ‘You are clearing too much land, ’ warned one old man. ‘ The land is a living thing. It will hit back at you if you abuse it. ’

         “ ‘ Silly fool,’ said Dennis to himself. ‘If I clear more land, I can grow more crops. I’ll become wealthier. He’s just jealous!’”

         “Dennis continued to chop down trees. Small animals that relied on them for food and shelter were destroyed. He was so eager to expand his farm that he did not notice the river flowing slowly towards his door. He did not notice salt seeping to the surface of the land. He did not notice swamp plants choking all the native plants.”

         “What happened? ” Martin asked. It was growing colder. He trembled, twisting his body closer to the fire.

         “The land hit back ---- just as the old man warned, ” Jack shrugged. “Dennis disappeared Old folks around here believe that swamp plants moved up from the river and dragged him underwater. His body was never found.”

         “What a stupid story, ” laughed Tom. “Plants can’t …” Before he had finished speaking, he screamed and fainted (晕倒). The other two boys jumped up with fright, staring at Tom. Suddenly, they burst out laughing. Some green swamp ivy (常春藤) had covered Tom’s face. It was a while before Tom could appreciate the joke.

1.The underlined word “dare” in Paragraph 1 is closed in meaning to ________.

A. courage                           B. assistance                        C. instruction                       D. challenge

2.Why did Jack tell Tom and Martin the story?

A. To frighten them.

B. To satisfy their curiosity.

C. To warn them of the danger of the place.

D. To persuade them to camp in the swamp.

3.Why did Dennis ignore the warning of the old man?

A. The old man envied him.

B. The old man was foolish

C. He was too busy to listen to others.

D. He was greedy for more crops.

4.Why did Tom scream and faint?

A. He saw Dennis’s shadow

B. He was scared by a plant

C. His friends played a joke on him.

D. The weather became extremely cold.

5.What lesson can we learn from the story of Dennis?

A. Grasp all, lose all.

B. No sweat, no sweet.

C. It is no use crying over spilt milk.

D. He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.

With everything she owned ______ in the fire, the woman had to turn to the local government for relief.

A．to burn up         B．burning up         C．burn up           D．burned up

For thousands of years, the most important two buildings in any British village have been the church and the pub. Traditionally, the church and the pub are at the heart of any village or town, where the people gather together to socialize and exchange news.

As a result, British pubs are often old and well preserved. Many of them have become historic sites. The most famous example is the pub in the city of Nottingham called “The Old Trip to Jerusalem”, which dates back to the year 1189 AD and is probably the oldest pub in England.

However, British pubs are not just for kings and queens; they welcome people from all classes and parts of society. On a cold night, the pub’s landlord or landlady can always find a warm place for you by the fire. There is always honest and hearty food and plenty of drink available at an affordable price.

That’s how things used to be. Things are beginning to change. It is said that the credit crunch(信贷紧缩) is causing 39 British pubs a week to go out of business. People do not have enough spare money to spend on beer. Recently, the UK government banned smoking in all pubs, and that may also have affected the number of customers going to pubs.

This decline is happening despite the fact that in 2005 the UK government started to allow pubs to stay open after 1l pm. Previously, with 1l pm as closing time, customers would have to drink quite quickly, meaning they sometimes got more drunk than they would if allowed to drink slowly. The British habit of drinking a lot very quickly is known as “binge drinking”, and it causes long-term health problems for people and problems with violent crime for communities.

In order to save their businesses, pubs are trying to change with the market. British pubs now offer something for everyone. A lot of pubs used to be “Working Men's Clubs”, meaning that women could not usually enter. Today, however, women can freely enter 99% of pubs without experiencing any problems. Perhaps things are changing for the better after all.

1.The passage mainly tells us something about ______.

A．the past and present of British pubs

B．the decline of British pubs

C．the long history of British pubs

D．the importance of British pubs

2.Which may not be the cause of the decline of British pubs?

A．The credit crunch.

B．The present closing time.

C．The ban of smoking.

D．Having no spare money.

3.We can infer from the passage that ______.

A．British people used to like drinking slowly

B．closing the pubs early will reduce social problems

C．binge drinking means drinking less beer

D．British government aims to discourage people from binge drinking

4.We can see from the last paragraph that the author _______.

A．is against the admission of too many women to the pubs

B．holds an optimistic attitude towards the British pubs

C．thinks that women in the pubs will cause less social problems

D．thinks that British pubs should offer everything you need

Beldon and Canfield are two seashore towns, not far apart．Both towns have many hotels, and in summer the hotels are full of holiday-makers and other tourists．

Last August there was a fire at the Seabreeze Hotel in Beldon．The next day, this news appeared on page two of the town’s newspaper.The Beldon Post:

FIRE AT SEABREEZE

Late last night firemen hurried to the Seabreeze Hotel and quickly put out a small fire in a bedroom．The hotel manager said that a cigarette started the fire.We say again to all our visitors： “Please don’t smoke cigarettes in bed.” This was Beldon’s first hotel fire for five years.

    The Canfield Times gave the news in these words on page one：

    ANOTHER BELDON HOTEL CATCHES FIRE

Last night Beldon firemen arrived just too late to save clothing, bedclothes and some furniture at the Seabreeze Hotel．An angry holiday-maker said, “An electric lamp probably started the fire．The bedroom lamps are very old at some of these hotels．When I put my bed side light on, I heard a funny noise from the lamp.” We are glad to tell our readers that this sort of adventure does not happen in Canfield．

What are the facts, then? It is never easy to find out the exact truth about an accident．There was a fire at the Seabreeze Hotel last August: that is one fact．Do we know anything else? Yes, we know that firemen went to the hotel．

    Now what do you think of the rest of the “news” ?

Which of the following best gives the main idea of this text?

A.Beldon and Canfield are both good places for tourists in summer．

B.A fire broke out at night in Seabreeze Hotel last summer．

C. Two newspapers gave reports on the same matter．

D. It was not easy to find out exact truth from newspapers．

Which of the following are probably facts? 

a.The fire broke out in a bedroom at the hotel．

b.A cigarette started the fire．

c.An old lamp started the fire．

d.The fire broke out at night．

e.There has never been a fire in Canfield．

A.b and c       B. c and e       C. a and d       D.a and c

The Canfield Times used the headline like this in order to make its readers think _____________．

A.hotels in Beldon often catch fire

B.hotels in Beldon don’t often catch fire

C. Beldon was a good place except that hotels there are not quite safe

D. this was the second fire at the Seabreeze Hotel

The Canfield newspaper gave a report just the opposite to the Beldon Post by saying that _______．

A.the bedroom lamps were very old at the Seabreeze Hotel

B.the bedroom lights made funny noise when the fire took place

C.the firemen failed to save clothing, bedclothes and other things

D.such accidents never happened in Canfield for the past 5 years