Something that has always interested me about Abraham Lincoln is，not surprisingly，his sense of humor. As far as I can tell，he's the first American President to have one．

    That's because the term“sense of humor” really wasn't in common usage until the eighteen-sixties and seventies．In the eighteen-forties and fifties，it was called“the sense of the ridiculous," and didn't have the positive connotations（隐含意义）that“sense of humor" has today. Back then，what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule（讥笑）．Funniness and cruelty went hand in hand．Of course，they still do a lot of arm-in-arm walking in our day as well．

    Lincoln’s humor was very different because，for one thing，it was actually "humor＂as what the word meant in his time. We don't make the distinction between "wit（风趣）”and "humor”anymore; but in the nineteenth century people did．Wit was unpleasant and offensive while humor was pleasant and sympathetic．It’s the difference we note now when we distinguish between "laughing with”and“laughing at．”Lincoln was much more about "laughing with”than "laughing at．”And when“laughing at，”it was often himself he was teasing.

    In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates，when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced，Lincoln replied，referencing his plain looking，“Honestly，if I were two-faced，would I be showing you this one？”And，in a way，Lincoln's face itself tells us much about his sense of humor．

    You can comb through thousands of photographs of politicians，soldiers，and the like from Lincoln's time and not find a single smile．

    True, the long exposures（曝光）required for photographs of that time made smiling difficult．Yet Lincoln alone，as far as I can tell，overcame that difficulty.

    Interestingly, while having a sense of humor，or at least the appearance of one provided by comedy writers has become a necessary characteristic for an American President in our time，in the nineteenth century，too much humor was considered problem.  And that was the case for Lincoln．A journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates commented that“I could not take a real personal liking to the man，owing to an inborn weakness. . .that he was extremely, fond of jokes，anecdotes，and stories．”

1.We can infer from Paragraph 2 that＿＿

A .the American President could influence the use of English

B. the term "sense of humor”wasn't invented until the 1860s

C .what is funny to someone might be offensive to someone else

D. the concept of humor remains the same despite the passing of time

2.The underlined words“this one”in Paragraph 4 refer to＿＿．

A. Lincoln's unattractive face

B. Lincoln's sense of humor

C. the debate they were having

D.cruelty that went with funniness

3.We rarely see people from Lincoln's time wear smile in their photos because＿．

A. being humorous was considered inappropriate

B. they found it quite funny to smile before camera

C. not smiling for photographs was the fashion

D. photography technology then was not advanced

4.What might the writer think of the journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates？

A. His comment accurately reflected his time

B. He created a false picture of Lincoln

C. He was prejudiced and self-centered

D. He was brave to point out Lincoln's weakness

Experts do not really know when people began keeping fish as pets. But they say that people have been interested in fish for thousands of years. Some say the ancient Sumerians were the first civilization to keep fish in ponds more than four thousand years ago. The Chinese kept and studied carp and goldfish more than one thousand years ago. The ancient Romans kept eels as pets. And the Greek philosopher Aristotle made what is believed to be the first known study of sea life, including sharks and dolphins.
Keeping fish at home in small water tanks called aquariums is extremely popular today. And everyone seems to enjoy visiting huge public aquariums that have opened around the world.
By the middle of the eighteen hundreds, science had shown that plants, fish and other sea creatures could survive together under water. So it was no longer necessary to change the water in a tank for the fish to live there. This led to the building of the first public aquariums.
The first aquariums opened in London, England in 1853. in the next fifteen years, other aquariums opened in Europe and the United States. By 1928, there were about forty-five public aquariums.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has been recognized as the first aquarium in the United States and it shows visitors the underwater life in the bay. The Georgia Aquarium opening in 2005 says it is the largest in the world. It has more than one hundred thousand sea animals in thirty million liters of water including two whale sharks---the world’s largest fish.
Another aquarium re-opened in 2005 in Camden, New Jersey. The Adventure Aquarium first opened in 1992. It spent about fifty million dollars expanding its building and improving its exhibits.
Aquariums provide the public with many chances to experience life under the sea. They can be found in most areas of the world. People might even want to start an aquarium at home and join the millions of people around the world who keep fish as pets.
【小题1】Which aquarium opened again after its rebuilding ?

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.

1.What’s the passage mainly about?

2.What was one of the main reasons for the change in architectural style in eighteenth-century

North America?

3.According to the passage, who was responsible for designing houses in eighteenth-century

North America?

4.The passage implies that the rules described in architectural handbooks were ____________.

5.The underlined word “divergence”欧 is closest in meaning to ________.

D
Men and women who serve in the United States armed forces are proud of the names like
doughboy and GI Joe．The names have come from the American Civil War．
After the American Civil War in the eighteen sixties，a writer in a publication called Beadle’s Monthly used the word doughboy to describe Civil War soldiers．But word expert Charles Funk says that early writer could not explain where the name started．
About twenty years later，someone did explain．She was the wife of the famous American general George Custer．Elizabeth Custer wrote that a doughboy was a sweet food served to Navy men on ships．She also said the name was given to the large buttons on the clothes of soldiers．For example，the soldiers enjoyed their new GI very much．They looked smart and felt comfortable．Elizabeth Custer believed the name changed over time to mean the soldiers themselves．
By World War Two，soldiers were called other names．The one most often heard was GI, or GI Joe．Most people say the letters GI were a short way to say general issue or government issue．The name came to mean several things．It could mean the soldier himself．It could mean things given to soldiers when they joined the military such as weapons，equipment or clothes．And，for some reason，it could mean to organize，or clean．Soldiers often say，“We GI’d the place．”And when an area looks good．soldiers may say the area is“GI．”Strangely，though，GI can also mean poor work，a job badly done．
Some students of military words have another explanation of GI．They say that instead of government issue or general issue，GI came from the words galvanized iron．The American soldier was said to be like galvanized iron，a material produced for special strength．The Dictionary of Soldier Talk says GI was used for the words galvanized iron in a publication about the vehicles of the early twentieth century．
Today，a doughboy or GI may be called a grunt(咕哝声)．Nobody is sure of the exact beginning of the word．But，the best idea probably is that the name comes from the sound that troops make when ordered to march long distances carrying heavy equipment．
68．Originally the word“doughboy”referred to             ．
A．the American Civil War             B．a word expert in the 1860s
C．the American Civil War writers      D．a sweet food and the buttons
69．It was           who found how the name doughboy came about．
A．Elizabeth Custer                        B．George Custer
C．Charles Funk                                 D．Beadle's Monthly
70．What does GI mean in the example in Paragraph 4 ?
A．Clothes．                                B．Weapons．               
C．Government issues．                    D．Vehicles．
71．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Navy soldiers used to 1ike sweet food a lot in the wars．
B．Much noise was made when soldiers carried equipment．
C．Galvanized iron was a symbol of the soldiers．
D．A US soldier can be called a doughboy，a GI or a grunt．

阅读理解

　　Language is a way to communicate with each other. We started to learn language when we were born. However, people are used to speaking their native languages, so immigrants(移民)are having many problems between the first generation and the second generation because they don't have the same native language. Also, the second generation is losing their identity. Especially in America, there are many immigrants that came from different countries to succeed in the States. Because they suffer in lots of areas such as getting a job and trying to speak English, they want their children to speak English, not only at school, but also at home in order to be more successful. Because of this situation, their children are losing their ethnic(民族的)identity and, even more, they are ignoring their parents whose English is not very good.

　　For example, my aunt, who has been living in Chicago for fifteen years, has three children and they were all born in the States. The eighteen-year-old daughter speaks English as a native language and she speaks Korean very well too. She has no problems talking with her parents, but she still doesn't under stand Korean jokes, and there are sometimes misunderstandings. The second daughter is fourteen years old, and she doesn't want to speak Korean. My aunt often gets upset with her because she is very Americanized and they cannot understand each other. Even when my aunt punishes her, this daughter does not understand what my aunt is talking about. I felt sympathy(同情)for my aunt whenever my fourteen-year-old cousin said,“Mom, what is your problem?”The third child is a twelve-year-old son.

　　He speaks English to his parents and my aunt speaks Korean to him as she does to the second daughter.

　　He also has a problem communicating with his parents. My aunt is trying to teach him to speak both languages very well, but it is very hard for him because he speaks English all day and does not understand why he should learn to speak Korean.

　　I think most immigrants are trying to preserve(保持)their native language in their new country, but this doesn't help very much in getting a good job. My aunt didn't teach Korean to her children in order to help them succeed in the US; she did so, hopefully, to help them establish a Korean identity. Though the second generation is born in the new country, they often get confused about their identity because they look different from others, and also, if they visit their parents' country, they will probably feel different from other people there too. They could even feel it just strolling around the street because they wore different clothes and walked differently.

　　We must realize that languages is important and valuable for many reasons. Immigrants should make an effort not to be ignored by their children and to make their children understand their heritages(文化遗产) by teaching them the parents' native language. This is very important, not only for the harmony of the family, but also in helping the second generation establish their identity.

1．This passage is mainly about _____.

[　　]

A．how to learn a second language

B．how to become American citizens

C．language and its effect on the identity of immigrants

D．schools attended by immigrants to the US

2．Which of these statements is NOT true according to the first paragraph?

[　　]

A．Second generation immigrants are usually eager to learn their parents' native language.

B．It is often hard for first and second generation family members to communicate with each other.

C．Foreigners in America want their children to speak English so that they can achieve great success.

D．Sometimes second generation immigrant children ignore their parents because of language differences.

3．Which is NOT a reason that the 14-year-old daughter has problems with her mother?

[　　]

A．She doesn't want to speak Korean.

B．she doesn't love her mother.

C．She is very Americanized.

D．She does not understand her mother when she gets punished.

4．The author's aunt tries to teach her children to speak Korean to help them _____.

[　　]

A．succeed in the US

B．find a good job

C．establish a Korean identity

D．improve their Korean language skills