Despite the fact that it has never been seen almost everyone is familiar with the legendary unicorn（独角兽）. Descriptions of unicorns have been found dating from ancient times. The great philosopher Aristotle theorized that there were two types of unicorn--- the so-called Indian Ass and the Oryx, a kind of antelope. Unicorns are often used in the logo of a noble family, town council or university as their special sign. Even Scotland is represented by a unicorn.

       According to the legend, anyone attempting to catch a unicorn had to be extremely cautious as it has a reputation for being very fierce. A clever trick suggested by unicorn-trappers, in order to catch this magnificent beast without being hurt by its horn, was for the hunter to stand in front of a tree and then to move quickly behind it as the unicorn charged. Hopefully, the creature could then be captured when its horn was stuck in the tree.

    When hollowed out and used as a drinking-cup, the unicorn’s horn was said to have the power to offer protection against person. It was believed that nobody could be harmed by drinking the contents of a unicorn’s horn. Right up until the French Revolution in 1789, the French court was said to have used cups made of “unicorn” horn in order to protect the king. In addition, the horn was said to have medicinal value, so much so that it could be sold for more than ten times the price of the same weight of gold. What, then, was “unicorn” horn? We know at times the rhino（犀牛）was confused with this legendary creature. A drinking-cup supposedly made of “unicorn” horn was discovered to be made of the horn of a rhino.

1．Which of the following is TRUE of the unicorn?

       A．It was not historically recorded      

       B．Its horn was first used in France

       C．It was similar to the Indian Ass and the Oryx        

       D．It could be the symbol of a university

2．To catch a unicorn, the unicorn-trappers had to try all of the following EXCEPT ____.

       A．tempting the unicorn to attack        

       B．making use of the tree as a protection

       C．hiding quickly behind the unicorn       

       D．having the unicorn horn stuck in the tree

3．The last paragraph is mainly about ____.

       A．the properties of the unicorn horn        

       B．the users of the unicorn horn

       C．the price of the unicorn horn       

       D．the comparison between the unicorn horn and the rhino horn

4．In the last paragraph, the word “unicorn” is in quotation marks (引号)because _____.

       A．the cup is designed only for a royal family        

       B．the unicorn does not exist in reality

       C．the unicorn is the rarest animal in the world

       D．the medicinal value of the horn is appreciated

Holidays

Holiday News

       Vacancies（空位） now and in the school holidays at a country hotel in Devon. This comfortable, friendly home-from-home lies near the beautiful quiet countryside, but just a drive away from the sea. The food is simple but good. Children and pets are welcome.

Reduced prices for low season.

The Snowdonia Center

       The Snowdonia Center for young mountain climbers has a mountain lesson. The beginners’ costs are ￡57 for a week, including food and rooms. Equipment is included except walking shoes, which can be hired at a low cost.

       You must be in good health and prepared to go through a period of body exercises. This could be the beginning of a lifetime of lifetime of mountain climbing adventure.

The World Sea Trip of a Lifetime

       Our World Sea Trip of 2008 will be unlike any holiday you have ever been on before. Instead of one hotel after another, with all its packing and unpacking waiting and traveling, you just go to bed in one country and wake up in another.

       On board the ship, you will be well taken care of. Every meal will be first-class and every cabin like your home.

       During the trip, you can rest on deck(甲板), enjoy yourself in the games rooms and in the evening dance to our musical team and watch our wonderful play.

You will visit all the places most people only dream about – from Acapulco and Hawaii to Tokyo and Hong Kong.

       For a few thousand pounds, all you’ve ever hoped for can be yours.

1．What can you do if you like to go on holidays with pets?

       A．Choose the holiday in Devon．

       B．Go to the Snowdonia Centre

       C．Join the World Sea Trip of 2008

    D．Visit Acapulco and Hawaii

2．In what way is the Snowdonia Centre different from the other two holidays?

       A．It provides chances of family gatherings.

       B．It provides customers with good food.

    C．It offers a sport lesson.

D．It offers comfortable room.

3．What is special about the World Sea Trip of 2008?

       A．You can have free meals on deck every day.

       B．You can sleep on a ship and tour many places.

       C．You will have chances to watch and act in a play.

       D．You have to do your own packing and unpacking.

4．At the Snowdonia Centre, the beginners’ costs of ￡ 57 do not cover           .

       A．food               B．rooms              C．body exercises               D．walking shoes

Downing the last drop of an expensive famous brand H₂O as well as remembering to throw the empty bottle in the recycling bin, makes you feel pretty good about yourself, right? It shouldn’t. Even when the bottles are recycled, there are all kinds of other consequences of swallowing bottled water, says Melissa Peffers, the air-quality program manager for Environmental Defense.

The containers are often filled in faraway lands, then shipped from abroad, and stored in refrigerators at your local store. Compare that with the influence on environment of turning on your tap, filling a glass, and drinking up!

Anyone who is choosing bottled water for health reasons is misguided, says Peffers, “Most bottled water is just tap water.” And what comes out of your tap is carefully monitored to follow the strict rules. Consider another fact that bottled water is surprisingly expensive, especially when compared with the alternative, which is almost free, and it is astonishing that America’s desire for bottled water seems impossible to satisfy, reaching nearly 30 billion bottles a year.

“My parents’ generation never had bottled water,” says Isabelle Silverman, an Environmental Defense legal adviser. She has made a commitment to going bottle free. “You don’t need to fetch it home from the store, and it’s cheaper,” she adds.

Bottled water’s role as a status symbol needs to change, Peffers points out. So when a waiter at an expensive restaurant offers “And what’s your drink?” that’s no reason to forget your conviction（信念）. “Don’t be afraid to say, ‘I’ll have tap.’ Say it loud enough that the other tables nearby can hear you,” Peffers says. “And then spend that money on a dessert.”

1．In the first paragraph, the underlined sentence “It shouldn’t.” suggests that people _______.

      A．shouldn’t feel pleased with finishing the water in the bottle

       B．shouldn’t feel good about drinking an expensive brand H₂O

       C．shouldn’t be content with just recycling empty bottles

       D．shouldn’t be satisfied with drinking only bottled water

2．According to the author, tap water is _______.

       A．as safe as bottled water

       B．morel likely to be polluted

       C．healthier than bottled water

       D．less convenient than bottled water

3．The underlined part “going bottle free” (in Para．4) means “_______”.

       A．making bottled water free

       B．abandoning bottled water

       C．recycling used water bottles

       D．providing free water containers

4．Why does Peffers ask people to say “I’ll have tap.” loudly?

      A．To encourage them to set an example for others to follow.

       B．To advise them to save the money for one more dessert.

       C．To remind them to be aware of their social status.

       D．To persuade them to speak confidently in public.

Treasure hunts have excited people’s imagination for hundreds of years both in real life and in books such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Kit Williams, a modern writer, had the idea of combining the real excitement of a treasure hunt with clues found in a book when he wrote a children's story, Masquerade, in 1979. The book was about “a hare”, and a month before it came out Williams buried a gold hare in a park in Bedfordshire. The book contained a large number of clues to help readers find the hare, but Williams put in a lot of “red herrings”, or false clues, to mislead them.

       Even then his search had not come to an end. It was only after he had spent several nights digging around the cross that he decided to write to Kit Williams to find out if he was wasting his time there. Williams encouraged him to continue, and on February 24th 1982, he found the treasure. It was worth ￡3000 in the beginning, but the excitement it had caused since its burial made it much more valuable.

1．The underlined word “them” (paragraph 1) refers to ______.

      A．red herrings                           B．treasure hunts

      C．Henry VIII's six wives                      D．readers of Masquerade

2．What is the most important clue in the story to help Ken Roberts find the hare?

      A．Two stone crosses in Ampthill.              B．Stevenson's Treasure Island

      C．Katherine of Aragon                             D．Williams' hometown

3．The stone crosses in Ampthill were built ______.

      A．to tell about what happened in 1773

      B．to show respect for Henry VIII's first wife

      C．to Serve as a road sign in Ampthill Park

      D．to inform people where the gold hare was

4．Which of the following describes Roberts' logic in searching for the hare?

      a．Henry VIII's six wives

       b．Katherine's burial place at Kimbolton

      c．Williams's childhood in Ampthill

      d．Katherine of Aragon

      e．stone crosses in Ampthill Park

      A．a-b-c-e-d               B．d-b-c-e-a         C．a-d-b-c-e           D．b-a-e-c-d

Reading to dogs in an unusual way to help children improves their literacy skills(读写能力). With their shining brown eyes, wagging tails, and unconditional love, dogs can provide the nonjudgmental listeners needed for a beginning reader to gain confidence, according to Intermountain Therapy Animals (ITA) in Salt Lake City. The group says it is the first program in the country to use dogs to help develop literacy in children, with the introduction of Reading Education Assistant Dogs(READ).

      The Salt Lake City Public Library is sold on the idea. “Literacy specialists admit that children who read below the level of their fellow pupils are often afraid of reading aloud in a group ,often have lower self-respect, and regard reading as a headache.” said Lisa Myron, manager of the children’s department.

      Last November the two groups started “Dog Day Afternoon” in the children’s department of the main library. About 25 children attended each of the four Saturday-afternoon classes, reading for half an hour. Those who attended three of the four classes received a “ pawgraphed” book at the last class.

      The program was so successful that the library plans to repeat it in April. According to Dana Thumpowsky, public relations manager.

1．What is mainly discussed in the text?

       A．Children’s reading difficulties.

       B．Advantages of raising dogs.

       C．Service in a public library.

       D．A special reading program.

2．Specialists use dogs to listen to children reading because they think ______.

       A．dogs are young children’s best friends

       B．children can play with dogs while reading

       C．dogs can provide encouragement for shy children

       D．children and dogs understand each other

3．By saying “ The Salt Lake City Public Library is sold on this idea”, the writer means the library______.

       A．uses dogs to attract children

       B．accept the idea put forward by ITA

       C．has opened a children’s department

       D．has decided to train some dogs

4．A “Pawgraphed” book is most probably ______.

       A．a book used in Saturday classes

       B．a book written by the children

       C．a prize for the children

       D．a gift from parents

根据对话内容，从对话后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两为多余选项。

       A: Hi, there, George.  1  

       B: Is it really yours?

       A: Well, not yet.  2 

       B: I think you should be careful. It looks all right, but you can never tell.

       A:  3 

       B: I am not sure, but it sounds as if there might be some trouble.

       A: The motor sounds all right to me.

       B:  4 

       A: Oh, there are a few little things wrong with it. 5                    

       A．And the tyres seem torn.

       B．I think it is too expensive.

       C．But I’m going to buy it anyway.

       D．What do you think of my new car?

       E．Where is it made?

       F．How does the car motor sound to you?

       G．But I’d like to buy it.

1．It’s no use       （后悔）what you have done.                         

2．The little boy got       （分开）form h is parents in the dark.

3．The cooking time needed   （取决于）on the size of t he potato. 

4．A rainbow is a natural       （现象）.                                     

5．       （奇怪）they looked as if they were twins.                     

6．O       is a gas without color, taste or smell, present in the air and necessary for all forms of life on the earth.                 

7．To speed up the economy of the village, we should develop its natural r       , like

tourism.                                                                                  

8．F        is the second month of the year.                                  

9．School was over and I was both mentally and p        tired.       

10．It is generally a        that smoking is harmful to our health.   

John Brown is a taxi driver who love going to the                                                        1．      

theatre. Last week his mother gave him two tickets for a play.              2．      

The tickets were on Sunday evening. Then John read some                  3．      

reviews of the play, which all said it was a terribly one! He                   4．      

wouldn't go to see a play that no one liked it, so two hours                   5．      

before the play started, he left the ticket on the back seat of                 6．      

his taxi, perhaps someone who wanted see the play would take             7．      

them; However, while John went back home, the tickets were              8．      

still there. In the fact, there were four tickets on the seat.                     9．      

Someone has placed another pair of tickets on top of them!                  10．      

假设你是某健康杂志的医学顾问Dr. Helper, 一名叫李华的中学生来信说，她所在的班级近视的学生超过总数的一半，而且大多数学生的视力越来越差，她感到非常担心，请你针对她所说的情况，结合下面的要点，用英语给李华写一份信，告诉她应该如何保护视力。

●注意让眼睛休息                                          ●坚持做眼保健操（每天至少两次）

●定期做视力检查（每年至少一次）              ●卧床或乘车时不要看书

●在强烈的太阳光下要戴太阳镜                    

注意：1．词数：100左右；2．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

—Do you consider Cai Yilin a good singer?

—______. She has a beautiful voice. I like her very much.

A．Of course             B．Of course not        C．I don’t think so                 D．I agree