How Americans Began to Eat Tomatoes

       People have strange ideas about food．For example, the tomato is a kind of very delicious vegetable．It is one of useful plants that can be prepared in many ways．It has rich nutrition and vitamin in it．But in the 18th century, Americans never ate tomatoes．They grew them in their gardens because tomato plants are so pretty．But they thought the vegetable was poisonous （有毒的）．They called tomatoes “poison apples．” President Thomas Jefferson, however, knew that tomatoes were good to eat．He was a learned man．He had been to Paris, where he learned to love the taste of tomatoes．He grew many kinds of tomatoes in his garden．The President taught his cook a way for a cream of tomato soup．This beautiful pink soup was served at the President’s party．The guests thought the soup tasted really good．They never thought their president would serve his honored guests poison apples．Jefferson never spoke

to his honored （忠实的） guests about the fact．

After you read the passage, which of the following do you think is true?

       A．Americans never ate tomatoes after they began to plant them．

       B．Americans didn’t eat tomatoes before 19th century．

       C．Even now Americans don’t eat tomatoes．

       D．In the 18th century Americans ate a lot of tomatoes．

The passage tells us that Jefferson was a President who learned to love the taste of tomatoes __________．

       A．while he was in Paris                  B．when he was a little boy

       C．because his parents told him so     D．from books

According to the text, _______ made the beautiful pink soup served at the President’s party?

       A．the President himself                  B．a French cook

　   C．the President’s cook            D．the President’s wife

From the passage we know all the honored guests invited by Jefferson were __________．

　   A．people from other countries　　　       B．from France

       C．people of his own country　　　　      D．men only

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

       A．All of the guests knew the soup that was served at the President’s party was made of tomatoes．

　   B．All of the guests thought the soup which was prepared by the President’s cook was nice．

　   C．All of the guests thought the taste of the beautiful pink soup was nice．

　   D．None of the guests knew that their president would serve his honored guests poison apples．

American magician David Blaine left the glass box in which he had lived for 44 days without food on October 19．2003．Hundreds of people came to watch the end of his starvation experiment, which has become one of London’s main tourist attractions.

Looking thinner and darker, 30-year-old Blaine was taken out of his box over the River Thames and immediately went to hospital．He was then slowly reintroduced to food, a process doctors say could be life threatening．He had been drinking only water since September 5.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Blaine first became known as a street magician in the early 1990s．He soon found himself doing magic tricks in bars for the likes of American actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his super model friends.

Over the last decade Blaine has become famous with a combination of breathtaking magic and clever tricks aimed at getting a lot of attention.

In 1999, he was buried in a coffin(棺材) for one week and, in 2000, he spent 62 hours in a giant block of ice．Last year he stood on top of a 25-meter pillar(柱子) in the center of New York for 35 hours before jumping into a pile of boxes.

“I think a lot of people are unable to accept that they’re able to do what they can do,” he said．“They don’t realize we can survive．The human being is an amazing creation.” But he seems to have suffered from spending so long in the glass box．He said that at times he was unable to see, had serious back pains and lost his sense of taste.

It is __________ for David Blaine to eat food after such a long starvation.

A．pleasant　　　       B．delicious　　　      C．dangerous　　 D．important

Having spent such a long time in the glass box, he suffered the following EXCEPT that __________.

A．he had become blind　　　　　　      B．he had serious back pains

C．he lost his sense of taste　　　      D．he was in weak health

Which of the following can best describe David Blaine?

A．Serious　　     B．Adventurous    C．Mad　　　　　      D．Crazy

Which of the following is NOT true of David Blaine?

       A．Blaine immediately went to hospital after he was taken out of his box.

       B．Blaine was born and brought up in England.

       C．In Blaine’s opinion, people can create a wonder．

       D．Blaine didn’t have any food for 44 days.　

  Once upon a time, there was a boy who would go into the forest and gather food and herbal medicines(草药) with some of his fellows every spring. However, one year, a tiger  36  in the forest and no one dared go into the forest again. One day, the boy’s father became  37  ， and the family couldn’t afford the  38  that the father needed. The boy decided to try and find some herbal medicines as well as some food in the forest.

   It was a perfect sunny day. At first, it was quiet and  39  happened. But later, when the boy bent down to reach one more mushroom, he was suddenly pushed to the ground. A large shadow 40   him. He rolled over and looked  41  in shock as the tiger said in a deep voice. “You are my  42  . Say good-bye to this world.”  43  his sick father, the boy knew he couldn’t die. He quickly calmed down and put a(n)  44  into his mouth, and chewed and swallowed.Then he said, “45  you can kill and eat me, but I  46  you to know that these mushrooms are  47  poisonous(有毒的). You can eat me,  48  you will die too. My family will  49 me and find you. They will  50 your stomach and eat your meat. Your fine  51 will carpet the floor of a rich man’s house and your tiger bones will get a good  52  in the medicine shops. My family will have enough for a year or more and I will be given a good funeral（葬礼） and long53  .

    The tiger hesistated. He saw the frightful mushrooms in the basket and  54  his appetite(胃口). He slowly walked away. The boy saved his own life with his quick  55 .

A． broke out           B. woke up        C. showed up        D. set out

A． hungry          B. ill           C. angry        D.mad

A． love               B. medicine      C.care          D.doctors

A． anything          B. everything    C. nothing      D.something

A． covered           B.followed         C. caught    D. pushed

A． down            B. out             C. around       D. up

A． energy          B. power          C. enemy    D. supper

A． Looking after   B. Thinking of    C.Bringing back     D. Believing in

A． stone         B.leaf             C. mushroom        D. apple

A． Of course       B.No way          C. In the beginning         D. In any case

A．choose             B. wish           C. persuade    D. order

A． expensive          B. delicious      C. deadly       D. magic

A． as              B. so            C. but           D. because

A．look for            B. call for        C. take care of   D. get rid of

A．feed               B. open           C. sell             D. kick

A．head             B.tail             C. paws           D.skin

A． price              B. seller           C. reward         D. doctor

A． understood       B.encouraged     C.needed         D.remembered

A． lost            B. increased        C. regained      D. forgot

A． skill           B. warning        C. thinking      D.word

阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、和D）中选出最佳选项。

One afternoon, my son Adam asked me, “Are all people the same even if they are different in color?” I thought for a minute, and then I said, “I’ll explain,   36   you can just wait until we make a quick   37   at the grocery store. I have something   38   to show you. ”

At the grocery store, we   39   some apples —red, green and yellow ones. Back home, I told Adam, “It’s time to   40   your question.” I put one apple of each   41   on the table. Then I looked at Adam, who had a   42   look on his face. 

 “People are like apples. They come in all   43   colors, shapes and sizes. On the   44   ,  some of the apples may not   45   look as delicious as the others. ” As I was talking, Adam was   46   each one carefully.

Then, I took each of the apples and peeled（削皮）them,   47   them back on the table, but   48   a different place. 

 “Okay, Adam, tell me which is which.” He said, “I   49   tell. They all look the same now. ” “Take a bite of   50  . See if that helps you 51   which one is which. ” He took   52  , and then a huge smile came cross his face.” People are   53   like apples! They are all different, but once you   54   the outside, they’re pretty much the same on the inside.” He totally   55   it. I didn’t need to say or do anything else. 

A. although  B. so         C. because      D. if

A. stop B. start        C. turn        D. stay

A. expressive       B. encouragingC. informative       D. interesting

A. bought    B. counted      C. saw         D. collected

A. check      B. mention     C. answer           D. improve

A. size  B. type        C. shape      D. class

A. worried   B. satisfied     C. proud      D. curious

A. ordinary  B. normal      C. different     D. regular

A. outside    B. whole     C. table       D. inside

A. still  B. even       C. only        D. ever u

A. examining      B. measuring  C. drawing     D. packing

A. keeping   B. placing       C. pulling       D. giving

A. on    B. toward      C. for          D. in

A. mustn’t   B. can’t       C. shouldn’t    D. needn’t

A. each one  B. each other  C. the other    D. one another

A. admit      B. consider     C. decide     D. believe

A. big bites  B. deep breathsC. a firm hold       D. a close look

A. just  B. always      C. merely           D. seldom

A. put away B. get down    C. hand out     D. take off

A. made       B. took        C. got        D. did

四．短文改错（10分）

This is a story told by my father: When I was boy, the most exciting thing was when to celebrate the Spring Festival. My grandma was the best cooker in th world but could make the most delicious dishes. Once, I just couldn’t wait for the Spring Festival dinner. As I was about take a piece from a cooked duck, I saw Grandma in the kitchen looking at me. Shake his head, she said, “It’s not a good time to do that, dear.” I apologize and controlled me at the best till the dinner started. You know, that was a dinner we had waited for several month.