We ________ ; we followed the boss into the hall as his guests. How lucky we were!

A. didn’t need to wait                                       B. needn’t have waited

C. must have waited                                         D. couldn’t have waited

--- Did your father phone you shortly after the accident?

--- No, it was a fortnight _________ he gave me a phone call.

A. since                        B. when                       C. while                       D. before

--- Have you gone over what the teacher taught in class?

--- Not yet.

-- Better remember: __________.

A. Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched

B. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush

C. Strike while the iron is hot

D. All roads lead to Rome

In February 2006, I flew into Beijing from Shanghai to watch a performance by Iceland’s Bjork and to interview her.

Some people find it difficult to   1   Bjork’s music.  Her sound is an acquired taste, but 2   you get into it, you’re hooked. After the   3   press conference, I was   4   to a room where we did a one-on-one   5   for radio. I was surprised at how intelligent and pleasant she was. And fun.

The   6   at Worker’s Stadium was unbelievably wonderful. Barefoot for most of the show, Bjork   7   the audience’s interest with her music and her spirit.

However, an incident gave me an impression that she was unusual and moody.

The next day I was invited to go to the Great Wall with a lot of   8   who were to take pictures of Bjork. She was with her son and did not seem to be in the   9   for the photographers. She stood and stared at the ground, not facing the   10  .

Then suddenly, she ran off to the   11  , out to her waiting bus, and sped back to Beijing. It was strange to see since she had been so   12   with the press a few days before.

After leaving Beijing, she went on to perform in Hong Kong and Thailand. In a story that

  13   around the world, she jumped on and attacked a female reporter at the Bangkok airport who   14   said, “Welcome to Thailand!”

You may have seen her at the Academy Awards a few years ago when she   15   in that usual swan costume,   16   perhaps her performance of Oceania at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Greece Olympics. Bjork does demand attention.

She’s   17   a new album, Volta. She challenges us to enter her own world with every album, and this one is no   18   .

Working with a variety of producers, including Timbaland, she takes us into her music again with an artistic   19   . It is   20   to digest, but if you can appreciate her unusual efforts, you will have a lot to get into.

1. A. receive         B. get                           C. hear                         D. accept

2. A. while                    B. after                         C. before                      D. once

3. A. heated                  B. attended                   C. appointed                 D. packed

4. A. led                       B. brought                    C. fetched                    D. carried

5. A. lecture                  B. comment                  C. interview                  D. dialogue

6. A. game                B. party                  C. performance         D. play

7. A. held                     B. acquired                   C. seized                      D. focused

8. A. viewers                B. tourists                     C. reporters                  D. officials

9. A. state                     B. mood                       C. situation                   D. position

10. A. cameras                     B. audience                   C. films                        D. directors

11. A. exit                    B. entrance                   C. edge                        D. side

12. A. communicative    B. conservative             C. cooperative               D. aggressive

13. A. turned                B. went                        C. came                       D. ran

14. A. already               B. hardly                      C. simply                      D. seldom

15. A. appeared             B. accompanied             C. presented           D. joined

16. A. or                      B. and                          C. so                            D. but

17. A. showed            B. collected                   C. produced                  D. took

18. A. exception            B. excuse                            C. way                         D. comment

19. A. spirit                  B. ability                       C. talent                       D. understanding

20. A. easy                B. simple            C. difficult             D. funny

GUANGZHOU: The successful Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival has become a perfect stage to showcase the popularity of Guangdong and Pan Pearl River Delta (PPRD) region as a tourism destination, said Tang Bingquan, vice-governor of Guangdong Province.

According to the provincial tourism administration of Guangdong, more than 40,000 people attended the opening ceremony of the festival. More than 1, 000 high-ranking officials from the

central government and Guangdong provincial government, World Tourism Organization, consulates (领事馆) of various countries in Guangzhou, and other provinces of China, also showed up in the ceremony. The activities in the past few days attracted a large number of visitors from home and abroad.

In the past 30 years, Guangdong Province has been one of the leaders in the nation in terms of economic development. Its average annual economic growth maintained a rate of 13.8 percent, according to Tang.

Last year, Guangdong’s gross domestic product (GDP) hit 330 billion, accounting for one-eighth of the total of the country. The province’s import and export volume hit 527.2 billion, accounting for one-third of the country’s total foreign trade volume.

Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua earlier predicted that the province’s GDP will surpass that of Taiwan by the end of this year.

“Guangdong is also leading the development of the whole country’s tourism industry,” Tang said.

Last year, Guangdong’s tourism revenue (收入) hit 212.5 billion, occupying one-fourth of the country’s total tourism income. The net profit of the province’s tourism industry was 7.5 billion, which was one fifth of the nation’s total.

Tang noted that the tourism festival will give a further boost (促进) to the tourism development of Guangdong and the entire PPRD region.

The closing ceremony of the festival will take place tonight in Foshan, a city in Guangdong Province.                                           （China Daily Nov. 30, 2007）

1. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Event to boost Guangdong’s tourism industry.

B. Guangdong -- China’s leading city in economy.

C. The increase in Guangdong’s tourism revenue.

D. The development of Guangdong’s tourism industry.

2. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The past 30 years have seen Guangdong’s fast development in economy.

B. Guangdong is one of the leading provinces in national tourism industry.

C. Guangdong’s GDP makes up almost 13% of the total country last year.

D. Guangzhou will be the host city for the closing ceremony of the festival.

3. Which of the following word is the closest to the underlined word in the text?

A. replace                        B. survive                     C. overtake                 D. succeed

4. What is the writer’s attitude towards the event?

A. indifferent      B. neutral            C. opposed          D. supportive

A study of art history might be a good way to learn more about a culture than is possible to learn in general history classes. Most typical history courses concentrate on politics, economics and war. But art history focuses on much more than this because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions and psychology. In addition, information about the daily activities of our ancestors can be provided by art. In short, art expresses the essential qualities of a time and a place, and a study of it clearly offers us a deeper understanding than can be found in most history books.

In history books, objective (客观的) information about the political life of a country is presented; that is, facts about politics are given, but opinions are not expressed. Art, on the other hand, is subjective: it reflects emotions and opinions. The great Spanish painter Francisco Goya was perhaps the first truly “political” artist. In his well-known painting The Third of May, 1808, he criticized the Spanish government for its abuse of power over people.

In the same way, art can reflect a culture’s religious beliefs. For hundreds of years in Europe, religious art had been almost the only type of art that existed. Churches and other religious buildings were filled with paintings that described people and stories from the Bible. Although most people couldn’t read, they could still understand the Bible stories in the pictures on church walls. By contrast (对比), one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was (and still is) its absence of human and animal images. This reflects the Islamic belief that statues are not holy.

1. Which of the following statements has the closest meaning to the underlined sentence?

A. General history only focuses on politics.

B. Art history shows us nothing but the political values.

C. General history concerns only religious beliefs, emotions and psychology.

D. Art history gives us an insight (洞察力) into the essential qualities of a time and a place.

2. Art is subjective in that __________. 

A. it can easily arouse people’s anger about their government

B. it only reflects people’s anger or sadness about social problems.

C. a personal and emotional view of history is presented through it.

D. artists were or are religious, who reflect only the religious aspect of the society.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage? 

A. Francisco Goya expressed his religious belief in his painting.

B. In history books political views of people are entirely presented.

C. For centuries in Europe, painters had only painted on walls of churches.

D. In the Middle East, you can hardly find animal or human figures on church walls.

4. What’s the main topic of the passage?   

A. The development of art history.

B. What we can learn from art.

C. The influence of artists on art history.

D. The difference between general history and art history.

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her free time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.

As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip (退稿条) from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and ruined hopes can surface.

A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?”

“No”, she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.

While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.

1. What do we learn form the first paragraph?

  A. Now too many entertainments take up too much time.

B. Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.

C. Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her free time.

D. Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

2. What did the author say about her own writing experience?

  A. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

B. Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

C. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

D. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

3. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?

  A. She had won a prize in the previous contest.

B. She wanted to share her stories with readers.

C. She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.

D. She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

4. What’s the author’s advice for parents?

  A. Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.

B. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.

C. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.

D. A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.

Wen Jiabao arrived in Singapore yesterday for an official visit to the country. It is the first visit by a Chinese premier to Singapore in eight years. In the arrival statement, Wen said he is looking forward to the meeting with Singapore on ways to deepen East Asian cooperation between two nations so as to contribute to the building of a peaceful, harmonious relationship.

Premier Wen Jiabao and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong agreed to jointly develop an environmentally friendly city in northeastern China. The city will be a model for sustainable development, a Singapore government statement said. The “Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city” will be developed by a joint venture (合资) formed by Chinese and Singapore companies. “This eco-city, to be built in Tianjin, will become another highlight in our relations,” Wen said after signing an agreement with Lee, who agreed, “On the Singapore side, on all levels, we’ll give this project our full support.”

The two sides will share expertise (技术) and experience in urban planning, environmental protection, resources conservation, recycling, use of renewable resources and wastewater re-use. China’s economic planning agency issued a set of guidelines earlier this month welcoming foreign investment in environmentally friendly areas such as recycling, “clean” industries and environmental protection.

Bilateral (双边的) relations between China and Singapore have seen big progress even though the two countries established diplomatic ties (外交关系) only 17 years ago, Wen said during his talks with Lee.

China and Singapore have also kept close contact and coordination (协调) on regional issues, he added. Wen said China and Singapore are both important Asian countries that share common interests in many areas.

Title: Wen’s (1) __________ to Singapore

   2008年元月，国务院下令从今年6月1日起禁止在超市和商店中使用超薄塑料袋，鼓励人们拎布袋子、重提菜篮子。最近你对此进行了一次调查。请根据以下调查结果并结合你自己的观点，用英语写一篇150字左右的文章。

注意：开头已给出，不计入总词数。

From June 1st, 2008, China will ban ultra-thin plastic bags from supermarkets and stores. Recently a survey has been conducted about our government forbidding the use of plastic shopping bags.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A dragon is a large _______ animal that has different images in different cultures.

A．imaginative       B．imaginary         C．imagining         D．imaginable