A man in a very famous restaurant started to take off his jacket．As soon as he saw this，the head waiter rushed over to his table and said，"I'm afraid I must ask you to keep your jacket on，sir，because it is not good manners （禮貌） to do it in such a nice restaurant．"

"Now，listen，"said the man．"I will let you know that the Queen （女王） of England gave me permission （許可） to take off my jacket here．"

"The Queen of England？"said the waiter in great surprise．

"Sure．"replied the man，"When I was in England last month，a friend of mine took me to see the Queen．It was very hot．I started taking my coat off．The Queen looked over and said，‘You may do that in the United States，but you may not do it here!'So I got the Queen's permission，right？"

1.We can be sure that the story happened in　 　．

A. America B. the Queen's palace C. England D. an small restaurant

2.When the head waiter asked the man not to take off his jacket，the man　 　．

A. took his advice at once

B. left the restaurant angrily

C. refused to listen to him

D. wanted to see the manager

3.The man told the waiter that he could take off his jacket because　 　．

A. the weather was very hot

B. the Queen of England let him do so in the USA．

C. he was very rich

D. he was free to take off his clothes anywhere

4.What did the Queen really mean？

A. People in the USA were less polite．

B. She let him take off his jacket in America．

C. The English and the Americans enjoyed different ways of life．

D. He shouldn't take off his coat on such a formal occasion （正式場合） in England．

5.From the story we can see that　 　．

A. the man went to have dinner with his friend

B. the head waiter was afraid of the Queen．

C. the man went to see the Queen of England with his friend．

D. the Queen invited the man to have dinner in a restaurant．

When this story happened，they were working around a very large house．Their job was to do the cleaning．It was not a difficult job，but sometimes it was a little dangerous，because they had to walk below where workmen were working．Often these workmen dropped something from the top of the house many meters high to the ground．One morning Joe was working near the house with a cigarette behind one of his ears．Suddenly somebody on the top shouted，"Look out!"But Joe did not"look out"．He looked up．And as he did so，a long knife missed Joe's head，but it cut off one of his ears．At once he put his hand to one side of his head and cried out，"I've lost an ear．Help!Help!"Jeff ran up to help his friend．"Look for my ear，"Joe told him．"It must be on the ground somewhere．"Jeff looked everywhere for the missing ear．At last he found an ear on the ground．He picked it up and carried it to Joe．"Here you are，"he said，"I've found it．"Joe looked at it．"No，that's not my ear．"he said，"Mine had a cigarette behind it．"

1.What were Joe and Jeff？　 　

A. Soldiers． B. Drivers． C. Farmers． D. Cleaners．

2.How did Joe lose his ear？　 　

A. He cut it off by himself．

B. Jeff cut it off with a knife．

C. A falling knife cut it off．

D. A cigarette burned it up．

3.At the end of the story Jeff found　 　．

A. someone else's ear

B. Joe's ear

C. a long knife

D. a cigarette

4.From the passage，we know Joe was not　 　．

A. strong B. kind C. foolish D. clever

5.Which is the most possible title for this passage？　 　

A. A Lost Ear B. A Busy Cleaner

C. A Falling Knife D. A forgetful Man

Nate Robinson is unlike any other player in the NBA．This player is the shortest in the NBA，but he is one of the most fearless players．He is 1.75m tall．"In NBA，he looks like a fourth﹣grader among a group of high school students，"according to The Atlantic．

How can he compete （競爭） with them？Robinson makes up for this with his ability to jump．Without moving forwards or backwards，he can jump up to 110cm．However，confidence helps him more．"People talk about my height all the time，but I don't really feel smaller than anyone else，"said Robinson．"I always think I'm on fire （充滿激情的）．"No matter who you are or what you've won，he's going to come at you．With that spirit，he has won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest three times．Also，he has made many wonderful blocks （蓋帽）．

Chicago Bulls played Miami Heat on May 10，2013．LeBron James，the 2.03﹣meter﹣tall player from Miami Heat，went to shoot．But Robinson blocked him．He also blocked Shaquille O'Neal in Cleveland Cavaliers and even Yao Ming in Houston Rockets．

Nate Robinson is a hero．He has given many basketball fans hope．Maybe one day，you can also block big guys like LeBron James!

1.According to the report，Nate Robinson once played for　 　．

A. Chicago Bulls B. Miami Heat

C. Houston Rockets D. Cleveland Cavaliers

2.Paragraph 1of the report mainly talks about　 　．

A. how great Nate Robinson is

B. how Nate Robinson is unlike any other player

C. how fearless Nate Robinson is

D. who Nate Robinson is

3.The underlined phrase"makes up"probably means　 　．

A. 強(qiáng)化 B. 弱化 C. 彌補(bǔ) D. 構(gòu)成

4.Nate Robinson's　 　 is the main reason why he can compete with others．

A. ability to jump B. confidence C. shooting skills D. blocks

5.Which is TRUE about Nate Robinson？　 　

A. He once blocked Yao Ming from Miami Heat．

B. He won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest more than once．

C. He gives hope to all NBA players．

D. He feels himself smaller than others and he practises hard．

More than anything else in the world，Lion liked being King of the jungle．He walked around，showing off his power and pride．

Each day Lion took a long lazy sleep under the shade of his favourite tree．He always dreamed of weaker animals bowing（鞠躬） before him．

One day Mouse ran through the jungle and tripped over Lion's huge paws．Lion woke up with a start．"How dare you wake me up!"he shouted angrily．Lion grabbed Mouse with one paw．"On the second thought，I'm in the mood for the snack，and you'll make a delicious meal．"，he said．

Mouse cried out，"King Lion，please spare（饒�。� me!If you let me live，I'll always remember your kindness．And，some day，I might be able to help you．"

"How could such a powerless little mouse ever help me？"That thought made Lion laugh so much that he decided to let Mouse go．A week later，Lion was walking through the jungle on the way to his favourite tree when he stepped onto a hunter's net．The net scooped him up．No matter how he twisted and turned，he couldn't escape．

When Mouse heard Lion's frightened shouts，he raced to help．Mouse quickly chewed（咬）through the ropes to make a hole in the net．Soon，Lion moved out and was free．Lion looked down at the little mouse．"Thank you for saving my life，"said Lion，smiling his widest smile．"I was mistaken．You are not a powerless little mouse．You are a great friend!"

1.What did Lion do each day？　 　

A. He stepped onto a hunter's net．

B. He bowed before weaker animals．

C. He showed kindness to animals in the jungle．

D. He had a good sleep under his favourite tree．

2.How did Mouse wake up Lion？　 　

A. He made a hole in the net．

B. He shouted at Lion angrily．

C. He tripped over Lion's paws．

D. He prepared a delicious meal for Lion．

3.Why did Lion let Mouse go？　 　

A. Because he was trapped in the net．

B. Because he took Mouse as his good friend．

C. Because he believed Mouse could save him．

D. Because he doubted if Mouse could be of any help．

4.What do you think of Mouse？　 　

A. Clever and honest． B. Silly and lazy

C. Humorous and stubborn D. Proud and selfish．

5.What can we learn from the passage？　 　

A. Pride makes you lose what you have．

B. Don't put all your eggs in one basket．

C. Even the small can show great strength．

D. When the cat's away，the mice will play．

Nate Robinson is unlike any other player in the NBA．This player is the shortest in the NBA，but he is one of the most fearless players．He is 1.75m tall．"In NBA，he looks like a fourth﹣grader among a group of high school students，"according to The Atlantic．

How can he compete （競爭） with them？Robinson makes up for this with his ability to jump．Without moving forwards or backwards，he can jump up to 110cm．However，confidence helps him more．"People talk about my height all the time，but I don't really feel smaller than anyone else，"said Robinson．"I always think I'm on fire （充滿激情的）．"No matter who you are or what you've won，he's going to come at you．With that spirit，he has won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest three times．Also，he has made many wonderful blocks （蓋帽）．

Chicago Bulls played Miami Heat on May 10，2013．LeBron James，the 2.03﹣meter﹣tall player from Miami Heat，went to shoot．But Robinson blocked him．He also blocked Shaquille O'Neal in Cleveland Cavaliers and even Yao Ming in Houston Rockets．

Nate Robinson is a hero．He has given many basketball fans hope．Maybe one day，you can also block big guys like LeBron James!

1.According to the report，Nate Robinson once played for　 　．

A. Chicago Bulls B. Miami Heat

C. Houston Rockets D. Cleveland Cavaliers

2.Paragraph 1of the report mainly talks about　 　．

A. how great Nate Robinson is

B. how Nate Robinson is unlike any other player

C. how fearless Nate Robinson is

D. who Nate Robinson is

3.The underlined phrase"makes up"probably means　 　．

A. 強(qiáng)化 B. 弱化 C. 彌補(bǔ) D. 構(gòu)成

4.Nate Robinson's　 　 is the main reason why he can compete with others．

A. ability to jump B. confidence C. shooting skills D. blocks

5.Which is TRUE about Nate Robinson？　 　

A. He once blocked Yao Ming from Miami Heat．

B. He won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest more than once．

C. He gives hope to all NBA players．

D. He feels himself smaller than others and he practises hard．

7 January, 2014

A new report says more and more international students are attending colleges and universities in the United States. It also notes a large increase in the number of international students from China.

These findings are from the latest Open Doors Report. The report documents the record number of international students in the United States during 2012, 2013 school year. It says more than seven hundred sixty-four thousand four-hundred such students were attending American colleges and universities during the last two years. That represents an increase of almost six percent than one year earlier.

On the other hand, the number of Americans studying overseas (海外) increased by one percent, which reached nineteen thousand this year.

The report says one hundred ninety-four thousand students at American colleges and universities were from

China. That is an increase of more than twenty-three percent over the year before. Peggy Blumenthal, an expert(專家) of international education, described the effect of the increase in Chinese students.

"Now they have been coming for some time. But this year was the highest level ever." She says many Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children. The children mainly choose to study in America.

"We know many of them have enough income to be able to afford to send them anywhere in the world that they want to go. And for the most part, looking around the world, Chinese students still prefer to come to the United States as their choice."

Chinese students are not the only ones who want to attend American colleges and universities. After China, India sends the second largest number of students to the United States for higher education. India has about one hundred thousand students in American schools. South Korea is third with about seventy two thousand students.

Why do so many foreign students study in the United States? Peggy Blumenthal provides one reason.

"The advantage America has is that we have a huge system and a very perfect system. So there are over four thousand universities and colleges in the United States. Among them are some top ones in the world, and what that tells us is there is still a lot of room to host international students."

Foreign students represent less than four percent of the total student population in American higher education. And from Learning English, that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Bob Doughty. Thanks for listening.

1.Bob Doughty seems to be ________.

A. an exchange student from the USA

B. an expert of international education

C. a viewer of VOA

D. a reporter from VOA

2.Which country below has the fewest students studying overseas?

A. South Korea B. India C. China D. America

3.Which is NOT the reason why so many Chinese students go to the USA for further study?

A. Lots of Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children

B. The USA has a huge and a very perfect education system.

C. There is a lot of room to host international students in the USA.

D. The USA has some top universities and colleges in the world.

4.Which of the following statement is true?

A. China has 122,000 more students than South Korea at American colleges and universities.

B. The number of Americans studying overseas is becoming smaller and smaller.

C. The number of Asian students has an increase of 6% over the past two years.

D. Most of the international students in the United States are Chinese.

5.This passage from VOA Special English is most likely to be ________.

A. An advertisement B. A radio programme C. A science report D. A tour guide

David worked in a shoe factory，but he was not very good，and he lost his job one day．

His wife looked in the newspaper and said，"One of the banks wants a guard．""I‟m going to go there tomorrow，"David said，"I want that job，the guard' s job．"A man gave him a piece of paper．There were a lot of questions on it．"Please write your answers under the questions．"he said to David．One of the questions was，"Have you ever been in prison？"David smiled and wrote"No．"Then he looked at the next question．It was"Why？"He thought for a long time and then he wrote，"Because the police have never caught me．"

1.David lost his job because　 　．

A. he was ill badly B. he wasn't good

C. he didn‟t like the job D. his factory was too far away

2.How did he know one of the banks needed a guard？　 　

A. His wife saw it in the newspaper．

B. His wife worked in that bank．

C. His wife saw it on the computer．

D. His friend told him the information．

3.David went to the bank to　 　．

A. deposit （儲(chǔ)蓄） money B. draw money

C. ask for that job D. work hard

4.The man asked David to　 　．

A. write his answers under the questions

B. clean the bank

C. show how strong he was

D. give himself up （投案自首）

5.From the text we know David is　 　．

A. clever B. foolish C. old D. tall．

"God made the world，but the Dutch made Holland．"True to this saying，the people of the Netherlands are again"making"their land．

About 1980 the Netherlands will complete a project begun in the 1920's：

transforming the Zyuder Zee，an inlet of the North Sea into dry land and a freshwater lake．By stages，550，000 acres of land will serve several

purposes：industrial，recreational，military，and agricultural．Fed by the river Yssel，the remaining water basin Lake Yssel，about 300，000 acres will irrigate the surrounding land and help in the fight against salination （鹽化作用）．Excess water will drain through sluices into the sea．

As the first stop a nineteen﹣mile﹣long barrier dam，rising twenty﹣five feet above sea level，closed the entrance to the Zuider Zee．Then the experimental polder of a hundred acres preceded the first and smallest of the main polders fifty thousand acres that became dry land in 1930．The fifth and largest polder 150，000 acres will be the last of the Zuider Zee works．

Farmers for the new polder come from every province．The Eastern Flevoland polder，completed in 1957，became farmland for many from the province of Zealand which was badly hit by the disastrous floods of 1953．

1.This article gives a present﹣day example of how　 　．

A. salty soils are desalinated

B. the Netherlands has increased its land area

C. irrigation systems are built

D. dams are constructed

2.The period taken for the Zuider Zee project is　 　．

A. from 1900 up to 1960

B. from the 1920 till about 1980

C. from 1930 to 1957

D. less than fifty years

3.The Zuider Zee will be replaced by　 　．

A. 550，000 acres of land

B. 300，000 acres of fresh water

C. both A and B

D. Neither A nor B

4.The article gives a measurement for the　 　．

A. height of the barrier dam

B. width of the barrier dam

C. width of the road along the dam

D. height above sea level of the area on the land side of dam

5.Implied but not stated：　 　

A. The first step in the project was a barrier dam．

B. The polder recipe was first used in this century．

C. Half of the Netherlands is below sea level．

D. There is more than one method of fighting salination．

William Shakespeare was a writer of plays and poems．Some of his most famous plays are Hamlet，Romeo and Juliet，Macbeth．He wrote thirty﹣seven plays in all．They are still popular today．

He was born in England．At school he liked watching plays．He decided to be an actor when he finished school at the age of fourteen．In 1582，he married a farmer's daughter．She was eight years older than he was．Their first child was a daughter．Later they had twins．In 1585，Shakespeare left his hometown，Stratford﹣upon﹣Avon．His wife and children stayed behind．No one knows why he left or what he did between 1585and 1592．

At twenty﹣eight，he moved to London and joined a theatre company which opened the Globe Theatre in 1599．He became an actor，and he also wrote plays．He usually acted in his own plays．He made almost no money from his writing．But he made a lot of money from acting．With the money he bought a large house in his hometown．

At the age of forty﹣nine，Shakespeare retired（退休）and went to live in Stratford﹣upon﹣Avon．He died at the age of fifty﹣two in 1616．He left his money to his family．He left the genius（天才）to the world．You still see his plays in English and in many other languages．He is one of the most famous writers in the world．

1.Shakespeare wrote many famous plays except　 　．

A. Hamlet B. Macbeth

C. Romeo and Juliet D. Man and Superman

2.Shakespeare decided to be an actor in　 　．

A. 1578 B. 1582 C. 1599 D. 1616

3.In 1585，Shakespeare left his hometown Stratford﹣upon﹣Avon　 　．

A. with his wife B. with his daughter

C. with his wife and childrenD．a(chǎn)lone

4.Shakespeare got much money from　 　．

A. writing B．plays C．a(chǎn)ctingD．retirement

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

A. Shakespeare had two children．

B. Shakespeare wrote both plays and poems．

C. Shakespeare left his money to the Globe Theatre．

D. Shakespeare wrote plays in English and some other languages．

Uncle Li and Uncle Wang are good friends．They live next to each other and their farms are both at the foot of the mountain．So they can help each other．But neither of them likes to use his head．They're both poor though they work hard．Most villagers have built new houses，but they still live in the low and broken houses．They never find out why．

Once Uncle Li went to town to buy some medicine for his wife．In the town he heard the apples in a city were expensive．He told Uncle Wang about it as soon as he went back．They decided to carry some apples to the city．They borrowed some money from their friends and bought nearly 1，000kilograms of apples in the villages and carried them to the city on a tractor．Bad luck!A lot of apples has already been carried there when they arrived．A few days later they had to sell them at a low price （價(jià)格）．They felt unhappy and returned to their village．

"I can't understand why we sustained （蒙受） losses in business while others always profit （盈利）"Uncle Li asked one day．

"The tractor was too small"Uncle Wang said without thinking．"We'll carry more apples on a truck next time!"

"I agree!"said Uncle Li．"How foolish （傻的） we were!"

1.Uncle Li and Uncle Wang live in the low and broken houses because　 　．

A. they hope to save money

B. they're both poor

C. their farms are at the foot of the mountain

D. they're not far from their farms

2.The two farmers carried the apples to the city to　 　．

A. make a journey B. visit some places of interest

C. meet their friends D. make a profit

3.The two farmers had to sell their apples at a low price because　 　．

A. theirs weren't as good as the others'

B. theirs were much less than the others'

C. a lot of apples had been already carried to the city

D. they forgot to carry them on a truck

4.Uncle Li and Uncle Wang were unhappy because　 　．

A. they had sustained losses in business

B. they had lost some money in the city

C. something was wrong with the tractor

D. other people profited in the city

5.Which of the following is true？　 　

A. The two farmers found out why they were poor．

B. The two farmers will soon get rich．

C. Neither of the farmers is clever．

D. The two farmers decided to buy a truck．