阅读理解

Baron Pierre De Coubertin was Frenchman. At his time sport were not taught in French schools. De Coubertin believed that sports should go hand in hand with studies. He had an idea. His idea was to begin the Olympic games all over again.

Sports teachers of other countries liked De Coubertin’s idea. So in 1896, the modern Olympic Games were held in Athena’s(雅典娜), Greece. Since then the Olympics have been held once every four years, except three times, when there were wars.

The modern games have many foot races and field sports programmers. The longest race in the games is called the Marathon.

Before the start to the Olympic Games, runners carry a lighted torch (火炬)through many nations towards the stadium(运动场)where the games will be held. These sports men are from different countries. Yes, they work together to carry the Olympic torch. It is passed from runner to runner. When the last runner enters the stadium, he or she places the torch in a special(专门的)basin(盆)filled with oil. It is them, only then, that the Olympic Games can begin.

The Olympic flame(火焰)burns throughout the games. It is the flame of peace (和平).

1．Before 1896 French schools didn’t teach ________.

[　　]

2．De Coubertin ________ .

[　　]

A．was the first man to start the Olympic Games

B．helped start the modern Olympic Games

C．believed that sports were less important than studies

D．failed to begin the modern Olympic Games

3．According to this passage, the third modern Olympic games should have been held in ________.

[　　]

4．“Marathon” in this passage is ________.

[　　]

A．a foot race

B．a jumping contest(比赛)

C．Suffield sport

D．a boxing(拳击)match

5．Which of the following is NOT true?

[　　]

A．The Olympic Games don’t begin until the basin of oil catches fire.

B．The torch is carried from runner to runner through many countries.

C．Runners who carry the torch can be men of women.

D．after the start of the Olympics, the Olympic flame is put out.

阅读理解

　　She Nile is a water highway, carrying traffic of all kinds for the people of Egypt. Flat-bottomed boats carry fruits and vegetables from one city to another. There are also passenger boats on the Nile. There boats carry people up and down the river. Very heavy loads can travel by barges. The stone was used to make buildings and monuments.

　　The Nile also provides food for the people of Egypt. Egypt is mostly a desert. Crops will not grow in this desert land. But close to the Nile, crops grow well. In fact, several different crops are often raised on the same land during one year. Water down the Nile helps make the land fertile(肥沃).

　　The Nile’s yearly floods used to benefit the people. Rain falls heavily in the Ethiopian mountains and highlands. The water from these rains flows down into the Nile. The river rises. These early summer rains used to cause floods. The river over flowed its banks and spread over the land. It carried rich soil in land every summer. It also brought water for crops. Fields were more productive after the flood.

1．According to the passage, the Nile is ________ .

[　　]

A．a water highway running through Egypt

B．a highway which carries passengers to Asian countries

C．not only a highway but also full of minerals

D．deep enough to carry ships

2．In the old days, Egyptians liked to ________ .

[　　]

A．use barges to carry fruits and vegetables

B．go up and down the river fishing

C．build their houses with stones

D．build monuments along the river

3．The climate of Egypt is ________ .

[　　]

A．not only not also dry

B．neither hot nor cold

C．warm all the year round

D．fit for all kinds of crops to grow

4．Ancient Egyptians made full use of water in the Nile ________ .

[　　]

A．how Egyptians grasp the chance to grow crops

B．what gifts the Nile brings to Egyptians

C．the position of the Nile

D．life is easy for people by the Nile

阅读理解

　　The yellow River is the second longest river in China． It rises in the mountains on Qinghai and flows right across China to the Yellow Sea． Both the river and the sea are called Yellow because of the yellow mud which the river carries down from the desert into the sea, making the water a yellow color, When the river reaches the flat plain and flows less fast, it drops much of its mud, filling up the riverbed and forcing the water to overflow its banks and flood the countryside for miles. These terrible floods wash away crops and destroy whole villages. They have brought death and famine(饥饿)to so many people that the river is sometimes called “China’s sorrow”. In order to prevent the floods, they have built banks of earth, called dykes(河堤)along both sides. As the river brought down more mud and broke through the dykes, people mended them and built them higher, until now in some parts the river flows as much as twenty feet above, in spite of the danger of floods, farming had been carried on for centuries.

1．The Yellow River is ________

[　　]

A．the longest river that flows to the Yellow sea

B．the longest river in China

C．The longest river that flows to the East China Sea．

D．The second longest river that flows to the East China Sea．

2．Where does the yellow mud come from?

[　　]

A．From the desert

B．From the riverbed

C．From the sea

D．From the riverbanks

3．The flood comes when ________

[　　]

A．the river flows fast

B．the river overflows its banks

C．the river reaches

D．the river drops its yellow mud

4．Which of the following is NOT true?

[　　]

A．The terrible floods used to destroy many villages.

B．Many Chinese people suffered a lot from the river in history.

C．Farming cannot be carried on till now.

D．Floods often brought famine and death to the people.

5．To prevent the floods, people today ________

[　　]

A．have built higher banks all along the river

B．have moved away the mud on the river-red

C．have built dams and waterworks

D．have built new buildings along the river banks

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。

　　Suppose we built a robot (机器人) to explore (探险) the planet Mars (火星). We provide the robot with seeing detectors to keep it away from danger. It is powered entirely by the sun. Should we program the robot to be equally active at all times? No. The robot would be using up energy at a time when it was not receiving any. So we would probably program it to stop its activity at night and to wake up at dawn the next morning.

　　According to the evolutionary (进化的) theory of sleep. evolution equipped us with a regular pattern of sleeping and waking for the same reason. The theory does not deny(否认)that sleep provides some important restorative functions(恢复功能). It tells us that evolution has programmed us to perform those functions at a time when activity would be inefficient and possibly dangerous. However, sleep protects us only from the sort of trouble we might walk into; it does not protect us from trouble that comes looking for us. So we sleep well when we are in a familiar, safe place, but we sleep lightly, if at all, when we fear that bears will nose into the tent.

　　The evolutionary theory explains the differences in sleep among creatures. Why do cats, for example, sleep so much, while horses sleep so little? Surely cats do not need five times as much repair and restoration as horses do. But cats can afford to have long periods of inactivity because they spend little time eating and are unlikely to be attacked while they sleep. Horses must spend almost all their waking hours eating, because what they eat is low in energy value. Moreover, they cannot afford to sleep too long or too deeply, because their survival depends on their ability to run away from attackers.

1．The writer uses the example of the robot in space exploration to tell us ________.

[　　]

A．the differences between man and robots

B．the reason why man needs to sleep

C．about the need for robots to save energy

D．about the danger of men working at night

2．Evolution has programmed man to sleep at night mainly to help him ________.

[　　]

A．avoid danger and ineffective labor

B．to restore his body functions

C．prevent trouble that comes looking for him

D．keep up a regular pattern of life

3．Cats sleep much more than horses partly because cats ________.

[　　]

A．are more active than horses when they are awake

B．need more time for restoration

C．are unlikely to be attackers

D．spend less time eating to get enough energy

4．Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?

[　　]

A．The sleeping pattern of a living creature is determined by the food it eats.

B．The study of sleep is an important part of the evolution.

C．Sleeping patterns must be taken into consideration in designing robots.

D．Evolution has equipped all creatures with a regular pattern of sleeping against waking.

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。

　　The fire again made all the world shocked (震惊). A great fire broke out on April 15, in the town of Mina, only five kilometres from the holiest city of Mecca (圣城麦加), when two million people gathered here for the annual pilgrimage(朝圣).

　　It was all started by a gas container when someone was cooking in a camp. The strong wind blew the fire to thousands of camps in just a moment. Many were injured when escaping from the burning camps, for they could not find their way in the heavy smoke and flames(火焰), and some ran the wrong way. The fire lasted for more than five hours before it was put out. Although the firemen arrived shortly after the fire alarm and they were backed by the helicopters, when the fire was at last put out, it was at the cost of 340 lives and 1537 were injured, some of them very seriously.

　　About 70000 new camps were put up to help those who lost everything in the fire. An Indian official said more than half of the dead were Indians, the others were from the neighbouring Asian countries.

　　The fire was the latest in a long line of tragedies (悲剧) around here. In 1994, people were so crowded that 270 people were found dead and in 1990, an accident left nearly 1500 dead.

1．The whole world were shocked ________.

[　　]

A．for the fire was a very serious one

B．for they couldn't believe it was true

C．for it happened in the holiest city

D．for fire broke out so easily there

2．The fire got out of control so quickly because ________.

[　　]

A．there were a lot of gas containers in the camp

B．the wind carried the fire quickly around

C．there were too many people

D．people ran away to other camps and carried the fire around

3．From the accidents mentioned in the passage, we may conclude that ________.

[　　]

A．people were not careful enough

B．the pilgrimages there were not organized well enough

C．the firemen there were not able to do their work well

D．it was not easy to prevent accidents from happening

4．When the fire broke out, many people got burnt or even lost their lives because ________.

[　　]

A．they couldn't wake up in time

B．they didn't know how to run away

C．they didn't know which way to head

D．they couldn't run fast enough

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。

　　The American National Football Team says it aims to compete for the championship(冠军称号) of the 2010 World Cup. Now a juvenile (青少年) footballers training project, which costs 50 million US dollars and is provided by the Nike Company, has already gone into operation.

　　As the first item project, 34 American boys under the age of 14 have already reached Mexico recently to begin their team training. Before that, the boys had received one week selection training in a San Diego camp. All these boys were selected from the four American regional training camps under the Olympic Development Program.

　　Not long after the boys began training in Mexico did they enter competitions with the Mexican Teenager Football Team. In a top players' match, the American Team lost by one to two. But in a replacement players' match, the American Team beat the Mexican Team two to one. After the matches, Carter, director of the Juvenile Development Project of the American Football Association, said that he hopes the scope(范围) of team training will be expanded to included 95～128 boys under the age of 14. Training of juvenile football players in the 15-to-16 age group will also be launched, Carter said.

1．The first item of the training project includes ________.

A．training many boys under the age of 14

B．selecting 34 excellent boy players

C．training in Mexico and organizing some matches there

D．organizing 15-to-16 age groups

[　　]

2．According to the passage, the director named Carter has the wish to ________.

[　　]

A．encourage the 15-to-l6-year-old boys

B．increase the number of boy players under the age of 14

C．get more rewards in the future

D．organize a few more football clubs

3．After reading the passage we may conclude that ________.

[　　]

A．the Mexicans like various kinds of sports

B．the American National Football Team lacks money

C．the Americans take the 2010 World Cup seriously

D．the American Football Association doesn't value the action

4．Which can be the best title for the passage?

[　　]

A．Try to Win the 2010 World Cup

B．Improve the Young Footballers' Skills

C．Great Project—Training Young Children

D．American Boys Trained for Football Champions

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。

　　Years ago while lying in my hammock(吊床) and drinking JD from the bottle, I noticed my dog dragging something under the fence. Upon looking at it carefully, to my disappointment, I realized it was the next door neighbour's 10-year-old daughter's rabbit. For years I had watched her come home from school and head straight out to its cage, free it and play with it in the yard. I knew today would be no difference and fearing for our dog, I had to think fast.

　　The rabbit was quite dirty, as if it had put up quite a struggle, so I washed it off with the plastic pipe, combed it with the dog brush and blew it dry with the leaf blower. Upon finishing its grooming(修饰), I jumped the fence and replaced it back in its cage hoping its death would be written off as“natural causes”.

　　Back to the hammock and JD. Within the hour the neighbour's Benz pulled in as usual and out popped the little girl, and as usual she headed straight for the cage. Only this time did she stop about six feet away and screamed,“Daddy!!”

　　Her father, panic stricken, stood looking at the cage. Being the good neighbour I rushed to the fence and asked if there was anything I could do.

　　Her father less than calmly shouted,“What kind of sick person would dig up a little girl's dead rabbit and put it back to its cage?”

1．What the writer did to the rabbit was just ________.

[　　]

A．for the little girl.

B．that he loved the rabbit as well

C．to make the rabbit die naturally

D．because it would be thought that he had nothing to do with the rabbit

2．The little girl was shocked ________.

[　　]

A．when she saw her rabbit was still in the cage

B．at the death of the rabbit

C．because of such a clean rabbit

D．that the rabbit was in the cage, dead

3．Which of the following is NOT true according to the story?

[　　]

A．The girl came home in a car.

B．The father appeared very calm.

C．The dead rabbit was cleaned.

D．The writer pretended not to know the rabbit had died.

4．We can infer from the story that ________.

[　　]

A．the rabbit had had a struggle with the dog before it died

B．the father and daughter were unhappy to see their rabbit again

C．the writer made a mistake about the death of the rabbit

D．the father loved his daughter very much

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。

　　Anybody running a company knows that a well-planned meeting can greatly help improve the performance of that business. The main reason for this is that it takes your employees away from the daily workplace and offers them somewhere fresh for a short time. However, unless the meeting is well thought out it will not have the best results and you will have wasted a great deal of money.

The first step is to find the right place. Can your employees easily reach the center of the meeting place? Is it near a railway station? Is it close to a good fast road? Has it plenty of suitable parking space? If you are going to choose a hotel, then perhaps the hotel has cheaper rates at weekends or, if it is a popular tourist area, midweek rates may be cheaper.

　　Another important requirement is food and drink. Breakfast is a time when people can relax before the day's work begins, but you may not want a long break for lunch in the middle of the day. Buffet(自助) lunches are very popular for this reason. Then there is dinner, which most employees consider a reward for a day's hard work!

　　Whatever your needs are, it is essential to think ahead if you want a successful meeting.

1．In this text the writer is trying to ________.

[　　]

A．complain about a bad conference center

B．persuade employers to choose a conference hotel

C．advise employees where to stay for a conference

D．describe what makes a good conference center

2．Why would somebody read the text?

[　　]

A．To learn some details about conference centers.

B．To find out about running a business.

C．To learn how to reward good employees.

D．To find out about organizing conferences.

3．What is very important when choosing a conference centre?

[　　]

A．Cheap food and drink.

B．Good transport connections.

C．Free car parking

D．Popular tour areas.

4．Why does the writer think a buffet lunch is a good idea?

[　　]

阅读理解

　　There were two interesting news items(新闻两则) in the paper a few years ago. One was about a men who received a bill from the telephone company for ￡999,999—for three months! The other was about a man who received ￡2,000 a month—for doing nothing.

　　The connection between the two news items is simple: computers—the best invention of the 20th century. The telephone bill came from a computer which made a terrifying mistake: that man's bill was only ￡23.36. The other item was not so amusing. A man walked into the unguarded(无人看守的) computer room of a large packaged food company(生产袋装食品的公司) and expertly programmed the computer(给计算机编程序) to pay him ￡2,000 a month for raw meat which he“supplied”to the company. Of course he never sent the meat, but he certainly received the money. The computer wrote out a bill, and even“signed”it. It was only a random(随便的)check that uncovered the trick. It could be happening in thousands of other companies all over the world.

　　Computers are not the magical workers that some people say they are. They make mistakes. They are sometimes slower than human beings and they are easily fooled. The US used to conscript(征兵)people with the help of a computer. The army sent out a card, which had to be filled in and sent back. It was easy to avoid being called up simply by spreading candle-wax on the card. The computer couldn't read the card, and did nothing with it.

　　It's in our everyday life that computers cause many problems. Let's get back to using people instead of computers, before a mistake that we can't put right.

1．The man received a bill from the telephone company for ￡999,999 for three months because ________.

[　　]

A．the computer made a big mistake

B．he worked hard

C．he programmed the computer to pay him so much money for raw meat

D．his work was very difficult to do and the pay was certainly high

2．The main idea of the second paragraph is ________.

[　　]

A．the computers are logical workers

B．the computers can do anything as well as man

C．the computers can write out a bill and even sign it

D．the computers sometimes also make big mistakes

3．Computers ________.

[　　]

A．were used to conscript people

B．are usually faster than human beings

C．are not so miraculous(神奇的)as people expect

D．were not easily controlled and always fooled human beings

4．The writer's main idea is ________.

[　　]

A．we'd better use people instead of computers in our everyday life

B．we should not use computers because they always make mistakes

C．computers are widely used in our everyday life

D．if we want to work well, don't use the computers

阅读理解

　　When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles' parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.

　　He gave the two - foot - tall Charles name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up(激起)great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.

　　During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall.

　　Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.

　　Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Torn became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.

　　The ceremony (庆典) and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2,000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut.

　　Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade(浅谈), communities throughout the country sponsored (主持)“Tom Thumb”weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.

1．“Talk of the town”means ________.

[　　]

A．it was in the newspaper

B．people spread mean rumors(谣言) about it

C．it was the most popular happening

D．it was discussed in a city meeting

2．What does the author think about Tom Thumb's wedding?

[　　]

A．People gave it too much of their attention.

B．It helped people cheer up in a dark time.

C．It was funny and ridiculous(荒谬可笑的).

D．Tom and Lavinia were stupid.

3．Which of the following is the best clue to the fact that Tom was smart?

[　　]

A．He became a billionaire at twenty-five.

B．He learned how to sing, dance, and act at a very young age.

C．He met with President Lincoln during his honeymoon.

D．He married a school teacher.

4．Tom would dance on a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall because ________.

[　　]

A．the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom was tap dancing

B．it made Tom feel taller

C．the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted

D．die difference between them would make Tom look even smaller

5．What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

[　　]

A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine.

B．People are always disappointed during war time.

C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose.

D．People should be married when they are small children.