FRANCE has destroyed the hopes of those who had planned to take refuge（避难）in one of the few places on Earth which some believe will be spared when the world ends on December 21 ．Local officials banned access to the Pic de Bugarach，a mountain in the southwest where rumor has it that the hilltop will open on the last day and aliens will appear with spaceships to save nearby humans.

　 Eric Freysselinard，the state’s top representative in the area，said he was blocking access to the mountain for public safety reasons to avoid a rush of New Age fanatics(盲信者），sightseers and media crews. Believers say the world will end on December 21，2012，the end date of the ancient Mayan calendar，and they see Bugarach as one of a few sacred mountains sheltered from the cataclysm(大灾难）．

　 Mr Freysselinard said the 100 police and firefighters will also control approaches to the tiny village of the same name at the foot of the mountain，and if too many people turn up，they will block access there too.“We are expecting a few people who believe in this end of the world，but in extremely limited numbers，” he said in the. nearby city of Carcassonne.“We are expecting greater numbers of people who are just curious，but in numbers we cannot determine. Above all，we are expecting lots of journalists，”he said.

　 Films，documentaries and websites have promoted the idea that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts that doomsday is on December 21．The culture ministry in Guatemala-where half the population are of Mayan descent-is hosting a massive event in the capital just in case the world actually does end，while tour groups are promoting doomsday-themed getaways.

60．Many people plan to go to Pic de Bugarach mainly because　　　 ．

　 A. they want to take refuge on December 21，2012

　 B. they want to meet aliens with spaceships to save humans

　 C. they want to visit the scenery of the mountain

　 D. they want to make profits by attracting tourists

61．Eric Freysselinard was blocking access to the mountain for　　　 ．

　 A. forbidding the rumour spreading B. improving environmental protection

　 C. protecting public safety D. avoiding destroying natural sources

62．What kinds of people would come to Pic de Bugarach？

　 a. Tourists. b. Journalists. c. Local officials. d. Visionaries. e. The Mayans.

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

63．Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

　 A. The World Ends on December 21 B. The Ancient Mayan Calendar Ends

　 C. A Massive Event in The Capital D. French Say‘No’to The Refugee

People have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hun??ted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals. Or per??haps human beings have always wanted to tell stories accord??ing to pictures.

About 5,000 years ago the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as a kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet(字母表).

The Egyptians used to record information and to tell sto??ries by putting picture-writing and pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was bur??ied. Some of these pictures are like modem comic-strip sto??ries. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic-strip. But, for the Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it.  

By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area a-round the Mediterranean Sea had developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world.

These days we can write down a story, or record informa??tion, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds: drawings, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the streets, and on the walls of the places where we live and work. Pic??tures help us to understand and remember things more easily, and they can make a story much more interesting.

6. Pictures of animals were painted on the walls of caves in France and Spain because ________.

A. the hunters wanted to see the pictures  B. the painters were animal lovers

C. the painters wanted to show imagination D. the pictures were thought to be helpful

7.The Greek alphabet was simpler than the Egyptian system for all the following reasons EXCEPT that ________.  

A. the former was easy to write         B. there were fewer signs in the former

C. the former was easy to pronounce    D. each sign stood for only one sound

8. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The Egyptian signs later became a particular alphabet.

B. The Egyptians liked to write comic-strip stories.

C. The Roman alphabet was developed from the Egyptian one.

D. The Greeks copied their writing system from the Egyp??tians.

9. In the last paragraph, the author thinks that pictures　__________.

A. should be made comprehensible         B. should be made interesting

C. are of much use in our life             D. are disappearing from our life