My destination is the River Walk, one of the most popular places in all of Texas. In the first half of 20^th century, to control flooding, the city fathers began redirecting the San Antonio River. They built a network of canals that pass through the downtown area. At nearly every street corner, stairs lead down to walkways on both sides of the canals.

The River Walk is linked with cafes, bars, shops --- and, of course, plenty of bridges. You can easily cross over to the other side without having to return to the street. It’s a constant party along the River Walk, with music and festivals throughout the year. The Mud Festival, for example, takes place each January, when the city empties this section of the river to clean it out. That’s when the Mud King and Mud Queen are crowned.

No visit to Texas would be complete without seeing a rodeo --- another aspect of this part of the country that is completely foreign to someone from New England. The announcer walks on stage and gets the crowd excited with talk about the courageous cowboys who’ll be performing. While he’s talking, a band plays sad songs about love gone wrong.

Suddenly the announcer calls for silence. He takes off his tall hat and asks us to join him in prayer. We pray for the cowboys who are, we are told, risking their lives to entertain us, as well as for the bulls and other animals taking part in the shows. We pray for the tourists who are visiting. The rodeo gets going and the fun begins.

Our prayers for the cowboys and animals are answered, and nobody gets hurt. But as we walk over to the cowboy dance hall after the show to enjoy a Texas-size barbecue, it’s clear that not enough prayers were said for the bulls’ less athletic relatives --- the ones not chosen for rodeo work. They’ll be our meal. It seems that moving too slowly has its disadvantages, too.

What do you know about the River Walk from the article?

A. People hold parties to celebrate festivals here every day.

B. It refers to the sidewalks on either side of this section of the San Antonio River.

C. There are many bridges that connect the River Walk and the Main Street.

D. Stairs link the River Walk to cafes, bars and shops in the street.

Which of the following statements about Mud festival is NOT true?

A. Mud Festival dates back to the first half of 20^th century.

B. Mud Festival is held in January every year.

C. Mud King and Mud Queen are chosen in the festival

D. Mud Festival is celebrated to clear the mud of the San Antonio River.

What does the underlined word “rodeo” refer to?

A. One aspect of the American country life. B. The concert given by a band.

C. The cowboys’ performance. D. The grand Texas-size barbecue.

Why do some bulls become the visitors’ meal?

A. Because they do not run as fast as those taking part in the shows.

B. Because the visitors do not pray enough for them before the shows.

C. Because they lose the competition to their relatives in the shows.

D. Because they are only beef cattle intended as people’s food.

Which of the following words can NOT be used to describe the writer’s mood?

A. light-hearted       B. excited          C. anxious        D. humorous

三、阅读理解（40分）

Maps are our oldest literature(文献),older than books.People think a map was the first thing the human ever wrote to communicate each other.Perhaps one million years ago,with a stick in the mud of a lake bed,the earlier human drew some lines to stand for a lake,a river,a thick forest and some good hunting grounds beyond the forest.

It made so much sense that people took it for magic(魔术),they expressed the world in a picture.There was something so real about this new thing called "map" that it helped us believe we could get there.It not only strengthened belief that good hunting existed beyond the forest,but it strongly suggested that the future existed;it was a place we could go to and be there tomorrow.What a comfort.On maps all paths lead somewhere.

41.Which of the following statements is true?

A.Maps can't be used to communicate each other.

B.Maps have the same long history as books.

C.No matter how hard you study them,maps don't make any sense.

D.None of the above is true.

42.The earlier human used lines drawn in the mud to express_________.

A.the whole world                              B.real places

C.strong belief                                          D.great comfort

43.Now people regard some lines drawn by the earlier human as _________.

A.the beginning of maps           B.the chanting form of maps

C.real maps                      D.a part of maps

44.It can be concluded that _________.

A.maps are the most useful way of communicating each other

B.the first map showed somewhere far away

C.the first map showed somewhere very near

D.the first map showed all directions

Construction workers in Southern California have made a wild discovery. They were digging at a building site in San Timoteo Canyon (峡谷) when they unearthed hundreds of ancient animal fossils. Researchers say the bones hold important clues about the history of the region.
Nearly 1, 500 fossils were recovered from the dusty canyon. The remains are about 1.4 million years old. They include the bones of a new species of deer, several small rodents (啮齿目动物) and more. A giant cat fossil was also found. Scientists believe the animal was an ancestor of the saber- toothed tiger. Signs of plant life were uncovered as well.
“This is a huge find,” says Rick Greenwood, a scientist studying the site. “I don’t think most people had any idea that those types of animals were wandering around here more than a million years ago.”
San Timoteo Canyon is located about 85 miles from Los Angeles. The area of the canyon where the fossils were found was once part of a green river valley. Today, the region is dry and plant life is rare.
Most of the fossils are well preserved. Experts say a muddy lake bed may have trapped thirty animals that wandered over for a drink. The mud helped to protect the animal fossils.
The remains are a million years older than those discovered at the famous La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. Scientists studying the bones will be able to learn more about how the animals adapted to changes in the environment.
“We have a confused view of what this time period was like, ” says another scientist. “A discovery like this could really be an important contribution.”
About 35 different animal species are represented in the fossil collection. Scientists began removing bones from the site last fall. The project was completed this summer. Starting next year, the fossils will be on display at the Western Science Center in the nearby city of Hemet, California.
【小题1】
What does the passage mainly focus on?

Once in a village, the villagers built a new church building and people came from far and wide to see it. They admired its beauty! They said it was the most beautiful building in the world. Up on the roof, a little nail（钉子）heard the people praising everything about the lovely structure – except the nail! No one even knew he was there, and he became very angry and sad.

“If I am not important, nobody will miss me if I quit!” So the nail then released (松开) its hold, got down from the roof, and fell into the mud.

That night it rained and rained. Soon, the board that had no nail was blown away, and the roof began to leak (漏水). The water flowed down along the walls and over the beautiful pictures on the walls. The plaster (石膏) began to fall, the floor was ruined, and the Bible was also ruined by water. All this was because a little nail decided to quit!

But what of the nail? While holding the board, it was not known by others but it was useful. Buried in the mud now, it was useless and would soon be eaten up by rust!

What the story wants to say is that every member is important to a whole group!

You may, like the nail, feel not important at times, but just like the nail, your absence is felt. A big building might fall to pieces. You are important to a group even if you are small.

1.Why did the nail decide to quit?

2.What’s the result of the nail’s giving up?

3.The passage wants to tell us that ______.

Once a wise man was traveling with some of his disciples（门徒）. They  36  to pass a lake and they stopped there for a  37  . The man told one of his disciples,“ I’m
 38  . Do get me some water from that lake.”
Just as the disciple reached it, a cart started  39  the lake. As a result, the water became very  40  and muddy. The disciple thought, “ 41  can I give this water to my teacher to drink!” So he came back and said, “The water is very muddy. I don’t think it is  42  to drink.”
After half an hour, the wise man asked the  43  disciple to get him some water. The disciple obediently（顺从地） went back and found the lake was  44  muddy. He returned and  45  the wise man that the water was unfit to drink.
After another hour, the man again asked the disciple to get him a  46 . The disciple reached the lake to find it calm and still. The mud had  47  and the water was clean and clear. So he  48  some water and brought it to the wise man.
The wise man looked at the water, saying, “See what you  49  to make the water clean. You let it be — The  50  settled down on its own and you got the clear water. Our  51  is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be, Give it a little  52 . It will settle down on its own.”
So remember, the next time a(n)  53  has you all frazzled（精疲力竭的）, just let it be; don’t  54  immediately. Let the Mud settle and come back to the situation 55 .