We classmates visited our beloved teacher on hearing his a___ in the capital city.

I don’t mind a_____ to others if I make a mistake.

For lack of food, the old man s_____ to death.

It is natural that children are curious (好奇的) about the world around them. For example, they want to know how their hearts beat. They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.

　　As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things. When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers. They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky. Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars. And when they are adults, their curiosity continues. Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career (生涯、职业) in science.

　　Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world．Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the skies. Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences. A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e. g. physics, chemistry .

　　These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world．For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run. They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats sixty-five or seventy-five times a minute. Your heart is a pump (泵) that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrition. When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them. The muscles need oxygen, too . So your brain sends a signal to the heart. The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen. Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles. It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.

　　Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions. If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks. When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks. Rain falls into cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.

　　We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.

41．According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

　   A．People are curious in the same way.

　   B．People in different countries are interested in different things.

　   C．Men and women are curious about different things.

　   D．People of different ages are interested in different things

42．Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.

  A．the earth , the oceans and the sky          B．man-made things

  C．plants and animals                               D．ocean water

43．When you run, your muscles need ____.

A．more nutrition and oxygen    B．more signals    C．more salt   D．water

44．A rock cracks _____.

A．in wet regions                                        B．in dry regions

C．at very high or very low temperatures      D．when salty water falls in

45．People are always curious because ____.

A．they cannot explain many things              B．they know nothing about the world

C．they know little about the world               D．they want to be scientists

Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea．People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.
    Tea remained scarce and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.
   At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea．Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added．She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.
   At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess (公爵夫人) found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born.

36．Which of the following is true of the introduction of tea into Britain?

A. The Britons got expensive tea from India.  B. Tea reached Britain from Holland.

C．The Britons were the first people in Europe who drank tea.

D．It was not until the 17th century that the Britons had tea.
37．This passage mainly discusses_____________.

A．the history of tea drinking in Britain 

B．how tea became a popular drink in Britain

C．how the Britons got the habit of drinking tea            

D．how tea-time was born
38．Tea became a popular drink in Britain.

A．in eighteenth century                           B．in sixteenth century
     C．in seventeenth century                          D．in the late seventeenth century
39．People in Europe began to drink tea with milk because.

A．it tasted like milk               

B．it tasted more pleasant

C．it became a popular drink
       D．Madame de Sevinge was such a lady with great social influence that people trie o copy the way she drank tea
40．We may infer from the passage that the habit of drinking tea in Britain was mostly due to the influence of　________.
       A．a famous French lady                            B．the ancient Chinese
       C．the upper social class                            D．people in Holland

When I was in Germany, one day at Christmas-time I went to a post office to send a letter. To my (16)______ I found people queuing some paces away from the person at the savings deposit window.

(17)_____so? Each did his business (18)_____ but the line never moved a step (19)_____. I was very (20)____, so I walked to the window to find out the cause. There was a notice on which was written “Thank you for your (21)_____for other's privacy”--a polite (22)_____to keep people away from nosing into other's (23)_____ (money matters are regarded as privacy in Western countries). I was deeply impressed by the (24)____ and stayed a while to watch: they were waiting so (25)____ at a distance that they seemed quite (26) _____to the practice. The (27)____ thing happened at a public telephone box.  (28)_____ waiting for their turns always kept their distance--enough to be out of (29)____ . It's another typical example!

From then on I (30)____ to watch their ways of doing things, manners, treatment (31)____ towards others. And I found the Germans always mindful of other's privacy. They avoided putting others in an embarrassing(窘迫)situation. For instance, they never (32)____ about age, incomes or the place to buy such a coat, (33)_____would they comment on the others or jewelry others wore. Their laws (34)_____ reading diaries or opening letters without permission. That shows (35) ____matters are not allowed to be disturbed．

The hunter ____ down and ____ to the farmer that he had___ his gun against the tree.

   A. lay, lied, laid    B. lay, laid, laid    C. laid, lay, lied       D. laid, lied, lay   

To________ telling lies, he asked his friend to help him cheat his parents.

   A. get rid of       B. get away with     C. throw away      D. get down to   

 _______ of food is in need nowadays in Africa.

   A. A large number of   B. The amount of 

  C. A large amount of   D. Large amounts of