“We are holding the gun industry responsible(有责任) because they have refused to design, advertise and market their products to save the lives of children,” said Arlene Locicero. Locicero, whose daughter was one of the six people killed in a 1993 shooting on a Long Island train, was among 150 people protesting outside Smith & Wesson.

    Shoes Used in Protest

    The protest was one of several planned to be held Saturday outside the country’s largest gun- makers in Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts and Virginia.

    Protesters laid out 5,285 pairs of shoes to show the number of young people aged 19 and under who died from gun shots in 1995.

    The protesters wanted gun makers to make guns childproof(防儿童的), put on clear warning on guns, reduce production and raise prices.

    Congress Considering Bill

    Congress(议会) is now considering a bill to educate parents about proper gun storage.

    Ed Shults, Smith & Wesson’s President, said his company already sells guns with locks and takes many of the measures suggested by the protesters.

    However, “There is no proper training of those who are using handguns.” He said gun owners must learn the importance of safe storage that keeps away from children.

1. This piece of news is mainly about ________.

A．what people demanded in reducing deaths caused by guns

B．the protest held against owning guns

C．a bill how gun owners should store their guns

D．why children should not have guns

2. According to the protesters, who should be blamed most for the great number of gun deaths?

A．The government.

B．Children.

C．Gunowners.

D．Gunn makers.

3. From the news report we can see that on May2 ________.

A．only people in Massachusetts held a protest

B．protests were held at least in five states

C．gun companies promised to do what pro- testers had required

D．people saw the shoes of all those who died of gun shots in 1995

4. What Ed Shults said suggest that ________.

A．people should not have guns before they have some training

B．they will set up training centers for gun owners

C．gun owner should learn to use their guns properly

D．they have done enough to prevent gun deaths

    Many people are astonished to heat that coins issued before the birth of Christ- representing sixty generations of human life- can be bought for just a few dollars. Owning something which has literally passed through the hands of so many of our ancestors (祖先) is instantly appealing. When such a coin is not only rare but beautiful, it is not surprising that collectors will pay thousands of dollars to own it. Australia’s own coins, although so much more recent than, say, Roman coins, can still be very valuable. For example, in March1992 an Australian 1920 sovereign was sold for$287,000 at a London auction.

    Coins speak to us from the past. If we care to study them we can learn more about how our ancestors used to think. But perhaps most interestingly, we can discover how people dealt with one another. Basically, coins represent the value put objects which we own and want to trade, now or at some future date. We can call this complex system currency(货币). Australia, like few other countries in the world can trace its history through its currency.

1. The word closest in meaning to “was kindled” as it is used in the passage is ________.

A．began

B．dived

C．filled

D．went

2. After receiving the coins as a young child, the author felt ________.

A．suddenly very rich

B．a desire to spend them all

C．moved by owning very old objects

D．an overwhelming sense of discovery

3. If something is “instantly appealing” it is ________.

A．wildly exciting

B．immediately pleasing

C．invariably interesting

D．strangely curious

4. Australia’s coins can be valuable even though ________.

A．they have been passed down through generations

B．they are not very old

C．the currency has changed

D．the currency system is complex

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

A．Coin collecting has always been an expensive hobby.

B．Numismatics appeals to both children and adults

C．Coins were not issued before the birth of Christ.

D．Australia is unique in that it can trace its history through coins.

    The great mathematician John yon Neumann was one of the founders of game theory. In particular, he showed that all games fall into two classes: there is what he called games of “perfect information”, games like chess where the players can’t hide anything or play tricks: they don’t win by chance, but by means of logic and skills. Then there are games of “imperfect information”, like poker, in which it is impossible to know in advance that one course of action is better than another.

    One mistaken idea about business is that it can be treated as a game of perfect information. Quite the reverse. Business, politics, life itself are games which we must normally play with very imperfect information. Business decisions are often made with many unknown and unknowable factors (因素) which would even puzzle(困惑) best poker players. But few business people find it comfortable to admit that they are taking a chance, and many still prefer to believe that they are playing chess, not poker.

1. The subject discussed in this text is ________.

A．the process of reaching decisions

B．the difference between poker and chess

C．the secret of making good business plans

D．the value of information in winning games

2. An important factor in a game of imperfect information is ________.

A．rules

B．luck

C．time

D．ideas

3. Which of the following can be used in place of “Quite the reverse”?

A．Quite right.

B．True enough.

C．Most unlikely.

D．Just the opposite.

4. In the writer’s opinion, when making business decisions one should ________.

A．put perfect information before imperfect information

B．accept the existence of unknown factors

C．regard business as a game of chess

D．mix known and unknown factors

    From the 1970s to the 1980s, Elton published over 30 albums and made quite a lot of singing tours. He was known as the best rock- and- roll singer in the world after the Beatles because he filled the blank left by the disappearance of the latter in good time.

    Elton is not only a singer but also a philanthropist (慈善家). In 1993, he organized “Elton John AIDS Fund” and within four years he collected $12 million. It was the same interest in charity that made him a good friend of Princess Diana．He was given the title of Lord(勋爵) in1995.

    Written by Bernie and sung by Elton in1973, “Candle in the Wind” used to be a song especially for Marilyn Monroe, a famous US film star. When hearing the death of Princess Diana, they rewrote the song to honor her. The money from the sales of the records was given to Diana Charity Foundation.

1. The song “Candle in Wind 97” was produced in order to ________.

A．remember the date when Diana died

B．break the Guinness World Record

C．honor Princess Diana

D．honor Marilyn Monroe

2. ________ composed the song in memory of Princess Diana.

A．Bernie

B．Beatles

C．Bing Crosby

D．Bernie and Elton

3. Elton John was given the title of Lord because ________.

A．he was a good friend of Princess Diana

B．he was famous in singing and active in charity

C．he could collect $12 million in only four years

D．he was a member of the royal family

4. Princess Diana took Elton John as one of her good friends because ________.

A．he got the title of Lord

B．he was the best rock- and - roll singer after the Beatles

C．he got the same interest in charity as she

D．he sang a song to honor Marilyn Monroe

5. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

A．Elton John has sung for over 30 years.

B．Bing Crosby was a very famous singer.

C．Princess Diana died in an accident in France.

D．“Candle in the Wind 97” is the same as that song in memory of Marilyn Monroe

1. If people want to continue his conversation, they had better keep on ________.

A．answering questions asked by the others

B．asking questions

C．telling interesting things

D．talking about something directly

2. If you want to get different sorts of information from different people you ________.

A．should pay more attention to techniques when asking questions

B．should pay no attention to techniques when asking questions

C．had better ask questions directly

D．had better listen to others carefully

3. Most people are very polite when they ask someone question because ________.

A．they don’t want to be persons with bad manners

B．most strangers have bad manners

C．they need the help of others

D．they hope others will ask questions as they do

4.  After reading the passage above we know ________.

A．personal questions can’t be asked at all

B．personal questions must be asked directly

C．personal questions ought to be asked indirectly

D．it is unnecessary asking personal questions

5. Choose the main idea for this passage.

A．A conversation should be short

B．Polite questions

C．Difficult questions

D．Question techniques

1. Which of the following maps shows rightly the whole course of the incident?

2. According to the passage the hijackers were ________.

A．the men who carried arms

B．the men who tried to seize the plane and forced the plane to change its course

C．robbers

D．prisoners who ran away from the prison

3. How many hijackers were there on the plane?

A．One

B．Two or more than two

C．None

D．All the members of “The Revolutionary Action Organization.”

4. When did the plane burst?

A．while it was flying

B．After it had landed at the airport

C．while it was landing

D．After the hijackers had left

5. Hijackers wanted to seize the plane because ________.

A．they wanted to travel in Saudi Arabia

B．they wanted to own the plane

C．they wanted to achieve their political aim

D．they wanted to rob the passengers of their wealth on the plane

    If you want to work as an artist and you are making a living as a waiter, don’t think of your- self as a waiter who hopes one day to become an artist. That puts the work you love somewhere off in the distant future. Rather, think of yourself as an artist, supporting yourself by waiting table-and paint, or draw as much as you can. It is possible to earn a living wage as a waiter working 24 hours a week. That leaves plenty of time to devote to training or developing your craft(手艺) in the off hours.

    While seeking the work you love, it helps to expand your awareness (意识) into the universe of all possibilities. You don’t want to be limited to the ideas of what should do or what you have done before. Having opened to all possibilities, you can make a final decision and select the work you love as your own.

　　 Doing the work you love requires that you be equally comfortable with the imaginative and the practical. It requires the ability to dream big dreams and the ability to face and master all the little details that make dreams come true.

1. According to the passage, perhaps Einstein once said to himself, “ ________ ”

A．Well, I just don’t have the work relative to physics. I should give up on it and settle for something else

B．The job is just what I want, I should work very hard on it

C．I have to support myself by working as a patent clerk now, but I won’ t give physics up

D．I must wait until I find my favorite job

2. If a person works 24 hours a week, he can

A．have enough spare time for his hobbies

B．have no time left to make his dream come true

C．do nothing else

D．make a good living

3. Which of the following is not implied in the last paragraph?

A．Sometimes the imaginative is different from the practical.

B．We have to take care of a lot of details before we make our dreams come true.

C．We shall do practical things rather than dream.

D．We shall dream big dreams and practice as well.

4. According to the passage, the author encourages us to ________

A．start to work quickly

B．select job carefully and patiently

C．dream often

D．．colorful

B．poisonous

C．ugly

D．both A and B

1. Where can you probably find this text?

A．In a school magazine.

B．In a national paper.

C．In a guide book.

D．In a university daily newspaper.

2. If you are interested in arts, where would you go for a visit?

A．Leacock 116.

B．Union room 432.

C．Union room 108.

D．Newman Centre, 3448 Peel.

3. Which of the following is the name of a play?

A．Blazing Saddles.

B．Guess Who’s Coming to Breakfast.

C．Importance of deciding basic goals of the Women’s Union.

D．colorful

B．poisonous

C．ugly

D．both A and B

    The Grand Canyon, a long, narrow gorge(峡谷) in Arizona, is rich in geological history. Its record of past plant and animal life also makes it an exciting and invaluable object of study for biologists. Using samples (样品) form the two hundred and seventeen miles of the canyon’s walls, scientists analyze(分析)the building materials that form the earth’s surface and study the natural processes which have affected the canyon over its four - billion - year history. These processes include the eruption (喷发) of volcanoes, which were active as recently as one thousand years ago, and gradual decomposition (分解) by erosion(侵蚀). Scientists also study a great variety of fossils that can be found in the canyon. These imprints of past forms of life are preserved in rock. The lower levels of canyon rock contain fossils of seashells and primitive algae (原始类), while the upper levels contain fossils of such creatures as dinosaurs(恐龙)and other prehistoric land animals. All of these discoveries provide scientist with information both on the earth’s history in general and on the area around the Grand Canyon in particular.

1. What is the main topic of this passage?

A．The fascination of geological history.

B．The effect of volcanoes on the Grand Canyon.

C．Prehistoric plants and animals

D．A canyon’s record of natural history.

2. Why is the Grand Canyon of particular interest?

A．It contains a wealth of information on the walls.

B．There is varied and exciting modern plant and animal life.

C．There is great potential (潜在的) mineral wealth in the canyon.

D．Published history of the area is already detailed and complete.

3. According to the passage, why is the Grand Canyon of special importance to the geologists?

A．It reveals (显露) much of the earth’s past.

B．It is longer and deeper than any other canyon.

C．It has suffered little destruction over the years.

D．It is completely dry all year long.

4. The Grand canyon has a history of ________.

A．217 years

B．1,000 years

C．4,000,000 years

D．4,000,000,000 years

5. What is one natural phenomenon(现象) that is now taking place in the canyon?

A．Fossilization

B．Preservation of rock

C．Erosion

D．Eruption of volcanoes

1. Chronicles are ________.

A．a historical painting

B．a historical analysis and interpretation of events

C．a historical account of events arranged in order of time

D．scientific writings on the circulation of water on the surface of the land

2. As used in this test, a table is ________.

A．a piece of furniture

B．a level within the ground

C．a thin, flat piece of wood used as a writing surface

D．an orderly arrangement of facts and figures

3. Arid refers to ________.

A．dry lands

B．wet lands

C．bodies of water

D．high water table areas

4. In the phrase “the belt of soil moisture”, the word belt means ________.

A．to move or act in a vigorous manner

B．to encircle or fasten

C． a piece of material worn around the waist.

D．a natural area characterized by some distinctive feature