Rome had the Forum. London has Speaker' s Comer. Now always-on-the-go New Yorkers have Liz and Bill.    

 Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 2Os, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands d people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street comers. Just talk.     

Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says, "Talk to Me," they attract conversationalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits.     

    They don't collect money. They don't push religion (宗教). So what's the point?

    "To see what happens," said Liz. "We simply enjoy life with open communication(交流)."

    Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with strangers after their return.

     "It started as a crazy idea," Liz said. "We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything."

     Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take. She had stopped by for the second time in two days, to let the two listeners know how it went.

     Marcia had lest her husband to a serious disease. "That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said. "To be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good," she explained.

     To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over the past year. A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.

They may plan more parties or try to attract mare people to join their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed interest in a book, something they say they'll consider.

56. What did Liz and Bill start doing after September 2001?      

A. Chatting with people.

B. Setting up street signs.

C. Telling stories to strangers.

D. Organizing a speaker's comer.

57. What they have been doing can be described as______. 

   A. pointless                 B. normal                C. crazy                   D. successful

58. Why are Denise and Marcia mentioned in the text?        

A. They knew Liz and Bill very well.

   B. They happened to meet the writer of the text.

   C. They organized the get-together in the city park.

   D. They are examples of those who talked to Liz and Bill.

 59. What will Liz and Bill do in the future?     

   A. Go in for publishing.                            B. Do more television programs.

C. Continue what they am doing.                  D. Spend more time reading books.

60. How do they like the idea of writing a book?      

A. They have decided to wait a year or two.   

B. They will think about it carefully.

C. They agreed immediately.           

D. They find it hard to do that.

A man accused of failing to return more than 700 children’s books to five different libraries in the county was released from prison after a book publisher agreed to post his bond (保释金) of $1,000. The publisher said, “There’s a story here. This is a man who loves books. He just can’t let go of them. He hasn’t stolen a single book. So what’s the crime? We think that Mr Barush has a story to tell. We plan to publish his story.”
When asked why he didn’t return the books, Mr Barush said, “Well, how could I? They became family to me. I was afraid to return them, because I knew that kids or dogs would get hold of these books and chew them up, throw them around, tear the pages, spill soda on them, get jam and jelly on them, and drown them in the toilet.”
He continued, “Books are people, too! They talk to you, they take care of you, and they enrich you with wisdom, humor and love. A book is a guest in my home. How could I kick it out? I repaired torn pages. I dusted them with a soft clean cloth. I turned their pages so they could breathe and get some fresh air.”
“Every week I reorganized them on their shelves so they could meet new friends. My books were HAPPY books. You could tell just by looking at them. Now they’re all back in the library, on the lower shelves, on the floors, at the mercy of all those runny-nosed kids. I can hear them calling me! I need to rescue them. Excuse me. I have to go now.”
【小题1】Why was the man put into prison?

阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卷上将该项涂黑。
D
Around the globe, the tourist trade is booming and you are promised to enjoy all the comfort and convenience of modern tourism. The first-class systems of communication by air, sea and land make it possible for us to visit each other’s countries at a moderate cost. What was once the ‘grand tour’, reserved for only the very rich, is now within most people’s grasp. The package tour and chartered flights (包机) are quite popular to us. Modern travelers enjoy a level of comfort which those on grand tours in the old days couldn’t have dreamed of. With all this coming and going, you would expect greater understanding to develop between the nations of the world. Not a bit of it! So what’s the sense of this mass exchange of populations if the nations of the world remain basically ignorant of each other? So there is a great misdirection in tourist business, especially in conducted tour items.
Many tourist organizations are directly responsible for this state of affairs. They purposely set out to “protect” their passengers from too much contact with the local population. Modern tourists lead a protected and separated life. They live at international hotels, where they eats their international food and sips their international drink while gazing at the natives from a distance. Designed tours to places of interest are carefully arranged. The tourists are allowed to see only what the organizers want them to see and no more. A strict schedule makes it impossible for the tourists to wander off on their own; and anyway, language is always a barrier, so they might only be too happy to be protected in this way.
At its very worst, this merely leads to a new and terrible kind of colonization. The sad thing about this situation is that it leads to the persistence of certain old ideas of other nations and countries. We don’t see the people of other nations as they really are, but as we have been brought up to believe what they are, even staying along with that from text books during our schooling.
You can test this for yourself. Take five nationalities, say, French, German, English, American and Italian. Now in your mind, match them with these five adjectives: musical, emotional, cold, pedantic (爱追究的), native. Far from providing us with any insight into the national characteristics of the peoples just mentioned, these adjectives just actually act as barriers, for we can’t do the job with certainty. So, frequently, when you set out on your travels, the only characteristics you notice are those which confirm what you have already obtained as the first conceptions in your mind. And you get home only with the highly unoriginal and inaccurate impression, such as the saying, “Anglo-Saxons are hypocrites (伪君子)” and “Latin peoples shout a lot ”. However, to gain the real understanding, you only have to make a few foreign friends and you will know how ridiculousridiculous ridiculous ridiculous and harmful some old conceptions of other nations are. But how can you make foreign friends when the tourist trade does its best to prevent you?
Being carried to an extreme, stereotypes can be positively dangerous. A very wild and limited outlook may stir up racial hatred and blind us to the basic fact — how reasonless it sounds! – that all people are human. We are all similar to each other, while at the same time all unique.
【小题1】What does “grand tour” bring people now?

A．tourism does little to increase understanding between nations

B．tourism is terrible without the work of the tourist organizations

C．conducted tour is so dull that nobody wants to accept it now

D．tourism really does something wonderful to many countries

阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卷上将该项涂黑。

D

Around the globe, the tourist trade is booming and you are promised to enjoy all the comfort and convenience of modern tourism. The first-class systems of communication by air, sea and land make it possible for us to visit each other’s countries at a moderate cost. What was once the ‘grand tour’, reserved for only the very rich, is now within most people’s grasp. The package tour and chartered flights (包机) are quite popular to us. Modern travelers enjoy a level of comfort which those on grand tours in the old days couldn’t have dreamed of. With all this coming and going, you would expect greater understanding to develop between the nations of the world. Not a bit of it! So what’s the sense of this mass exchange of populations if the nations of the world remain basically ignorant of each other? So there is a great misdirection in tourist business, especially in conducted tour items.

    Many tourist organizations are directly responsible for this state of affairs. They purposely set out to “protect” their passengers from too much contact with the local population. Modern tourists lead a protected and separated life. They live at international hotels, where they eats their international food and sips their international drink while gazing at the natives from a distance. Designed tours to places of interest are carefully arranged. The tourists are allowed to see only what the organizers want them to see and no more. A strict schedule makes it impossible for the tourists to wander off on their own; and anyway, language is always a barrier, so they might only be too happy to be protected in this way.

At its very worst, this merely leads to a new and terrible kind of colonization. The sad thing about this situation is that it leads to the persistence of certain old ideas of other nations and countries. We don’t see the people of other nations as they really are, but as we have been brought up to believe what they are, even staying along with that from text books during our schooling.

You can test this for yourself. Take five nationalities, say, French, German, English, American and Italian. Now in your mind, match them with these five adjectives: musical, emotional, cold, pedantic (爱追究的), native. Far from providing us with any insight into the national characteristics of the peoples just mentioned, these adjectives just actually act as barriers, for we can’t do the job with certainty. So, frequently, when you set out on your travels, the only characteristics you notice are those which confirm what you have already obtained as the first conceptions in your mind. And you get home only with the highly unoriginal and inaccurate impression, such as the saying, “Anglo-Saxons are hypocrites (伪君子)” and “Latin peoples shout a lot ”. However, to gain the real understanding, you only have to make a few foreign friends and you will know how ridiculousridiculous ridiculous ridiculous and harmful some old conceptions of other nations are. But how can you make foreign friends when the tourist trade does its best to prevent you?

     Being carried to an extreme, stereotypes can be positively dangerous. A very wild and limited outlook may stir up racial hatred and blind us to the basic fact — how reasonless it sounds! – that all people are human. We are all similar to each other, while at the same time all unique.

What does “grand tour” bring people now?

A. It only offers us reasonable cost.           B. It is the best way of modern tourism.

C. It is not liked by rich people.          D. It is available for the majority to enjoy it.

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

   A. By travelling abroad, one can know a certain country well.

   B. Making friends is impossible for anyone staying abroad.

   C. The tourist organizations have the best way to do their duty.

   D. Traveling conditions are much more improved than before.

Which word in the following is the best to summarize “Latin people shout a lot”?

A. Silent.            B. Noisy.         C. Lively.             D. Active.

The purpose of the author’s writing is to point out ______.

A. conducted tour should be stopped    B. the way of touring should be changed

C. gained knowledge can’t be renewed       D. some nations stay the same as before

What is the author’s attitude toward the present tourism?

A. Objective         B. Negative.           C. Critical.           D. Appreciative.

 The main idea for this passage is that ______.

A. tourism does little to increase understanding between nations

B. tourism is terrible without the work of the tourist organizations   

C. conducted tour is so dull that nobody wants to accept it now

D. tourism really does something wonderful to many countries   

The audience starts to scream and young people all over Britain turn on their TVs. Yes, it’s Top of the Pops!

 Top of the Pops is an amazing 34 years old. Pop stars from all over the world appear on this successful TV programme. After 1,800 shows, it’s still the most popular pop music show in Britain. So what’s the secret?

 “We get lots of bands to perform live in the studio,” says producer Chris Cowey. “That just doesn’t happen on other shows.”

  Chris starts planning the programme over a week before it goes out. His first job is to decide which bands to have on the show. When the chart of the top twenty songs is produced on Sunday, Chris can start to book the bands.

 Monday starts with Chris meeting his sound, lighting and camera workers. They listen to each song and plan the show.

 Tuesday is paperwork day. There are bookings to make sure of letters to answer and lots of phone calls to make. The show is on Thursday. Bands arrive at the studio from 10 o’clock in the morning and start practising. Tonight’s presenter, Jo Whiley, practices too.

 First the bands go to make up. Judy and Issy are the make-up artists. “We see the stars with no make-up on, looking terrible,” says Issy. Then the bands go to the costume department where Marianne dresses the stars.

Back in the studio things are happening. The audience are practicing their dance moves! It takes over two hours to record the whole programme, then Chris edits it all night long. The final version is exactly 29 minutes long.

31. What make(s) Top of the Pops still the most popular in Britain?

A. The live performances in the studio.

B. The jobs carefully done by the workers of the TV station.

C. The great fame of the bands.

D. The large numbers of pop fans in Britain.

32. When the bands receive the invitations to the performance, _________.

A. they must decide on the songs

B. they don’t have to decide what songs they will perform

C. the songs that will be performed haven’t been decided on

D. they have no idea what songs they will perform

33．The underlined word “costume”（in Paragraph 7） probably means         .

    A. makeup  B. stage        C. studio       D. clothes

How is a music programme made at the TV station?

Which is the proper title for the passage?

A. More Popular, More Successful

B. A Stage for Pop Stars

C. Go Backstage of Top of the Pops.

D. A Popular Live Band.