4、Art is considered by many people to be no more than a decorative（装饰）means of giving

pleasure. This is not always the case, however; at times, art may be seen to have a purely functional side as well. Such could be said of the sandpaintings of the Navaho Indians of the American Southwest; these have a medicinal as well as an artistic purpose.

According to Navaho traditions, one who suffers from either a mental or a physical illness has in some way disturbed or get in touch with the supernatural-perhaps a certain animal, a ghost, or the dead. To break away from this, the sick person or one of his relatives will employ a medical man called a “singer” to perform a curing ceremony which will attract a powerful supernatural being. During the ceremony, which may last from 2 to 9 days, the “singer” will produce a sandpainting on the floor. On the last day of the ceremony, the patient will sit on this sandpainting and the “singer” will rub（按摩）the. sick or injured parts of the patient’s body with sand from a specific figure in the sandpainting. In this way the patient absorbs the power of that particular supernatural being and becomes strong. After the ceremony, the sandpainting is destroyed so its power won’t harm anyone.

The art of sandpainting is handed down from old “singers”. The materials used are easily found where the Navaho settle: brown, red, yellow, and white sandstone, which is ground（研磨）much as corn is made into flour. The “singer” holds a small amount of this sand in his hand and lets it flow between his fingers onto a clean, flat surface on the floor, with a steady hand and great patience. He is thus able to create designs of stylized people, snakes and other creatures that have power in the Navaho belief system. The traditional Navaho doesn’t allow copying sandpaintings, since he believes the supernatural powers that taught him the craft（技艺）have forbidden this; however, such reproductions can in fact be purchased today in tourist shops in Arizona and New Mexico. These are done by either Navaho Indians or by other people who wish to preserve this craft.

1．Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

       A．The Navaho Indians                             B．The Ancient “Singer”

       C．Functions of Art                                  D．The Navaho Sandpaintings 

2．How did the “singer” treat the patient according to the passage?

       A．By passing his supernatural power on to the patient.

       B．By applying a magic substance to the patient’s body.

       C．By rubbing the patient’s sick parts with sand from a sandpainting figure.

       D．By destroying the sandpainting figure.

3．The traditional Navaho does not allow copying of sandpaintings because      .

       A．anything copied has no effect                B．the craft only belongs to the supernatural

       C．it’s against Navaho belief system           D．the copying may do harm to other Navahos

4．That the reproductions of sandpaintings are now commercially available shows      .

       A．people have realized the artistic value of sandpaintings

       B．patients have benefited from the powerful effect of sandpaintings

       C．more people have come to believe in supernatural power

       D．modern technology has helped the production of sandpaintings

3、China’s human spaceflight program plans to build on the success of the Shenzhou VII mission（任务）. The country will set up a simple space lab by 2011 and a station nine years later.

    The space lab will be manned for short periods. Scientists will use it to learn docking and other skills needed for long-term tasks including possibly landing on the moon.

       The United States and Russia have set up space labs since the 1970s. scientists use space labs to study space and to do experiments they cannot do on Earth.

We all know that Earth has gravity. And the force cannot be changed on the ground. But in space everything and everyone will be in a weightless condition. It is like when you are parachuting（降落伞降落）in space, but there’s no destination. So astronauts float in the spaceships , and when they drop something, that floats too. Weightlessness provides scientists the opportunity to explore gravity’s effects on the biological and physical systems.

In 1973, the United States launched its first space lab, Skylab, into orbit. Skylab carried out experiments in human behavior to study the effects of long time periods on the human body when in space.

They also learned much about solar flares（太阳耀斑）. Solar flares happen on the sun when energy explodes. The solar flares affect the areas around the Earth and when strong enough, will cut satellite communications.

Now astronauts in space labs carry out various experiments. The experiments are created by scientists around the world, but the crew on board perform and record them. These experiments include weightlessness on bacteria, the human nervous system, plants and eggs.

A NASA astronaut, Shannon Lucid once performed experiments on egg development in a space lab in 1996. The results were compared with the same egg development phases on Earth. The eggs had more abnormalities than those on Earth, but then scientists found out it was because of a radiation effect rather than weightlessness.

1．The passage mainly talks about      .

       A．space stations                                      B．space labs

       C．solar flares                                          D．weightlessness effects

2．What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 7 refer to ?

       A．scientists around the world                   B．human communications

       C．the crew on board                                                               D．the various experiments

3．From the passage, we can conclude that      .

       A．China will have a space station in the future

       B．the Shenzhou VII mission is cancelled

       C．the United States launched Skylab in 1973

       D．scientists will soon land on the moon

2、根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Every year, about 600 monkeys are invited to eat fruits and vegetables during an annual feast（盛宴）in Thailand.   1   It is said that Rama once rewarded his friend Hanuman, the Monkey King, with some land. Organizers of the annual Monkey Buffet use more than 3,000kg of fruits and vegetables to prepare for the feast.

This event is held in England. Though it might sound very gentle, it is actually very dangerous. Running down a very steep hill behind a 7-pound wheel of cheese can be very dangerous. In fact, the police have attempted to ban the event, but participants have refused to carry out the ban. Men and their cheese wheels cannot be separated so easily.  2  Simple: the cheese is set rolling down the hill, and the racers run down the hill after the cheese. However, as the cheese can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour, it rarely happens that someone catches the cheese.  3  .

In this festival, grown men jump over newborns, with their parents’ permission.  4   This custom has been observed since 1620; any onlookers who seem to be in need of “cleaning” also get involved in the event.

  5  This Naked（裸）Festival is held in dozens of places throughout Japan every year, usually in summer or winter. Hidden somewhere in these men is one fully naked man, and touching him is believed to bring good luck.

A．So what happens during a cheese roll?

B．It is held in honor of Rama, the greatest of the Gods.

C．This event is very interesting.

D．The first to reach the bottom wins the cheese.

E．There is a Japanese festival where participants wear little clothing.

F．Everybody takes an active part in it.

G．Wearing scary costumes, the Spanish men attempt to “clean” babies of evil（邪恶）.

1、在2008年举行的第29届北京奥运会上，我国著名运动员刘翔因伤退赛，引起广泛关注。他在美国接受手术治疗后，恢复很快，目前正在美国进行康复训练。假设你是张强，请根据下列要点用英文给刘翔写一封信。

要点：1．给予安慰、鼓励；

      2．表示理解、支持；

      3．表达你的愿望。

注意：1．词数100左右；

      2．可适当增加内容，以使行文连贯；

      3．开头和结束语已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Liu Xiang,

How are you? I’m sorry to have heard that you got seriously injured before the 29th Olympic Games, and unwillingly withdrew from the competition.                                  

With best wishes.

Sincerely yours,

Zhang Qiang

32、The old man put on his glasses _____ see better．

A．in order to          B．in order that           C．so that           D．for the purpose

31、India is a/an _____ country．You can hear _____ everywhere when you visit India．

A．English-spoken; English speaking                 B．speaking-English; English spoken

C．spoken-English; English speaking                 D．English-speaking; English spoken

29、—I'm afraid I can't finish the novel this week．

—________．

A．Please go ahead                                           B．That's right

C．Not at all                                                    D．Take your time