Seventeenth-century houses in colonial North American were simple structures that were primarily functional, carrying over traditional designs that went back to the Middle Ages.  During the first half of the eighteen century, however, houses began to show a new elegance.  As wealth increased, more and more colonist built fine houses.
Since architecture was not yet a specialized profession in the colonies, the design of buildings was left either to amateur (业余) designers or to carpenters who were engaged in translating architectural handbooks imported from England.  Inventories of libraries shows an astonishing number of these handbooks for builders, and the houses built during the eighteenth century show their influence.  Nevertheless, most household architecture of the first-quarters of the eighteenth century displays a wide divergence of taste and freedom of application of the rules laid down in these books.
Increasing wealth and growing sophistication (文化修养) throughout the colonies resulted in houses of improved design, whether the material was wood, stone, or brick.  New England still favored wood, though brick houses became common in Boston and other towns, where the danger of fire gave an impetus (推动) to the use of more durable material.  A few houses in New England were built of stone, but only in Pennsylvania and areas nearby was stone widely used in buildings.  An increased use of brick in houses and outbuildings is noticeable in Virginia and Maryland, but wood remained the most popular material even in houses built by wealthy landowners.  In the Carolinas, even in closely packed Charleston, wooden houses were much common than brick houses.
Eighteenth-century houses showed great interior improvements over the former ones.  Windows were made larger and shutters removed.  Large, clear panes replaced the small leaded glass of the seventeenth century.  Doorways were larger and more decorative.
Fireplaces became decorative features of rooms.  Walls were made of plaster or wood.  White paint began to take the place of blues, yellows, greens, and lead colors, which had been popular for walls in the earlier years.  After about 1730, advertisements for wallpaper styles in scenic patterns began to appear in colonial newspapers.
【小题1】What’s the passage mainly about?

By the time she got the box open, Nancy was so excited that she could hardly  36  herself. Eagerly she  37  the cotton surrounding the small object inside the box, and  38  it up to the light. It glittered and sparkled（闪耀）――made alive by the bright sunlight  39  through the large picture window.

    Nancy  40  the object slowly in her hands, first this way and then that way. It continued to sparkle and shine  41  it had a light of its own. She let out a little squeal(尖叫) of  42  .Her diamond engagement ring had been found and returned to her, just as the woman on the phone had     43  .

    For two weeks, Nancy had  44 gone mad after  45  the ring on the subway. She had placed ads in the newspapers and over the radio,  46  a reward for the return of the ring. And she had almost _47  hope when the telephone call  48  .

    A kind, elderly female voice  49  her that she had found the ring wedged(挤塞)in a seat cushion. She had called, she said, to  50  the exact address and had promised to return the ring by insured mail the next day. And then she added sweetly:

   “There is no need to send a  51  either. I lost my engagement ring once when I was young, and _52  kind, unknown person returned it to me the next day. I feel I’m only  53  an old debt of gratitude.”

Nancy had thanked the finder again and again and asked her name, but the other woman had said that it wasn’t  54   .

    And now, here was the ring once again in her hand. She slipped it once again on her finger and  55  a huge sigh of relief

By the time she got the box open, Nancy was so excited that she could hardly  36  herself. Eagerly she  37  the cotton surrounding the small object inside the box, and  38  it up to the light. It glittered and sparkled（闪耀）――made alive by the bright sunlight  39  through the large picture window.

    Nancy  40  the object slowly in her hands, first this way and then that way. It continued to sparkle and shine  41  it had a light of its own. She let out a little squeal(尖叫) of  42  .Her diamond engagement ring had been found and returned to her, just as the woman on the phone had     43  .

    For two weeks, Nancy had  44 gone mad after  45  the ring on the subway. She had placed ads in the newspapers and over the radio,  46  a reward for the return of the ring. And she had almost _47  hope when the telephone call  48  .

    A kind, elderly female voice  49  her that she had found the ring wedged(挤塞)in a seat cushion. She had called, she said, to  50  the exact address and had promised to return the ring by insured mail the next day. And then she added sweetly:

   “There is no need to send a  51  either. I lost my engagement ring once when I was young, and _52  kind, unknown person returned it to me the next day. I feel I’m only  53  an old debt of gratitude.”

Nancy had thanked the finder again and again and asked her name, but the other woman had said that it wasn’t  54   .

    And now, here was the ring once again in her hand. She slipped it once again on her finger and  55  a huge sigh of relief

If you look for a book as a present for a child. You will be spoiled for choice even in a year there is no new Harry Patten J.K Rowling’s wizard is not alone the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books ,which has set off a large quantity of films and an increased sales of classics such as The lard of the Rings.

Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading in all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.

Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability of computes games. Maybe the books boom has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Cordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class .In his pre-budget report , he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.

Reading Recovery is wined at six year olds, who receive four months of individual daily half-hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation either this year reported that children on the school made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.

International research tends to find that when British children leave primacy school they read well, but read text often for fun than those elsewhere .Reading for fun matters because children who are been on reading can report lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success . According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.

Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?

A．Marry children’s books have been adapted from films.

B．Marry high-quality children’s books have been published.

C．The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films.

D．The sales of presents for children have increased.

Statistics suggested that           .

A．the number of top students increased with the use of computers

B．a decreasing number of  children showed interest in reading

C．a minority of primacy school children read properly

D．a huge percentage of children read regularly

What do we know about Reading Recovery?

A．An evaluation of it will be made sometime this year.

B．Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking.

C．It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading.

D．Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading.

Reading for fun is important because book-loving children _________.

A．take greater advantage of the project

B．show the potential to enjoy a long life

C．are likely to succeed in their education.

D．would make excellent future researchers

The arm of this text would probably be _________.

A．to overcome primary school pupils reading difficulty.

B．to encourage the publication of more children’s books

C．to remind children of the importance of reading for fun

D．to introduce a way to improve early children reading

—Real Madrid is sure to win the match !

—It’ s hard to say . You know, anything ________ happen even in the last minute.

A. need????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. must????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. should????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. can