The short girl in red _________ be Jenny. Jenny is medium build.

A. must            B. can’t               C. can                D. mustn’t 

—Jim wants to be a volunteer in the 2008 Olympics.

—_________.

A. So Tom is               B. So is Tom         C. So does Tom    D. So Tom does

—I like rock music. What about you?

—_________. It’s too noisy.

A. I can’t stand it   B. I like it, too        C. I don’t mind it   D. Soft music is my favorite

—Could you tell me _________?

—Sure. It’s near the bank on the other side of the street.

A. when was the post office built               B. when the post office was built

C. where is the post office                 D. where the post office is

I prefer skiing to climbing because I think climbing is __________ skiing.

A. not as exciting as               B. not more exciting as

C. not most exciting as             D. more exciting than

   In the last 500 years, several million people have been killed by earthquakes. Among all the earthquakes, the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake is regarded as the 　1   one in the twentieth century.

   On July 28, 1976, a terrible earthquake of 7.8 magnitude (級)  2   Tangshan City, Hebei Province. In just one second, the city with one million people was destroyed. The earthquake was   3   strong that even Beijing and Tianjin were seriously affected (受到影響). The shock was felt in 14 provinces and cities—one-third of the country.

   The earthquake took place   4   midnight. Most people could not take any actions. Over 240,000 people  5  and about 170,000 were seriously injured. Water supplies, communications and traffic were completely cut off.

   The people there needed   6   immediately. But they could not wait for help   7  . They formed groups to dig for others. They set up medical areas and tents. They searched for food and clean water. Recovery (恢復(fù)) was not easy with so much   8  . Yet, after a lot of care  was given in time, the rebuilding of Tangshan began almost   9  . Though it took time, the whole city was rebuilt and is   10   home for over a million people, earning (贏得) Tangshan the name “Brave City of China”.

1. A. deadly        B. deadlier             C. deadliest          D. dead

2. A. happened       B. hit                  C. happen            D. took place

3. A. such             B. much                      C. so                  D. even

4. A. at                  B. in                     C. on                   D. with

5. A. killed             B. kill                   C. was killed        D. were killed

6. A. food             B. water                      C. help                D. tents

7. A. arrive           B. arrived                     C. arrives              D. to arrive

8. A. people          B. disaster             C. death              D. areas

9. A. soon             B. quickly             C. immediately      D. now

10. A. too              B. also                   C. again                 D. still

   Last year, we spent Christmas and New Year in Queensland, Australia. The beaches there were beautiful, and we spent a lot of time playing by the sea, swimming and surfing. One day, we were on a beach just south of a city called Cairns. My little sister was looking for shells in the sand down near the waves when she shouted to me, “Hey, Lan! Look what I’ve found!” I ran down to have a look, and saw her pointing at a strange black object that was half buried (掩埋) in the sand, “What is it?” she asked. I said I didn’t know.

   Just then, my father came over, “Are you enjoying yourselves, you two?” he asked. Then he saw the strange black thing. “What’s that?” he said, bending down to take a closer look. Suddenly, he said, “Quick kids, get away from here. Go and play somewhere else.”

   We went and played further down the beach, while Dad ran up to the shop near the beach to make a phone call. About 20 minutes later, we heard the noise of cars and trucks arriving, and a lot of soldiers ran onto the beach. They told everyone to leave the beach and stay away from it.

About half an hour later, we were sitting with Dad in a café a few hundred meters from the beach, when we heard an enormous explosion (爆炸). “What was that?” we asked Dad. “That was the thing you found,” he said. “One of the soldiers down there told me it was a Japanese bomb（炸彈）from World WarⅡ. Sometimes they get washed up on the beaches here.”

1. The object they found was _______.

   A. in the sand near the water                    B. in the sea

   C. lying on the beach                                  D. floating (漂) on the sea

2. When Dad saw the object, he _______.

   A. told the kids to play with it somewhere else      B. knew it was something dangerous

   C. decided to move it quickly                           D. picked it up to take a closer look

3. Dad went to a shop near the beach_______.

   A. to meet the soldiers                             B. to buy some drinks for the kids

   C. to call for help                                 D. in order to get away from the beach

4. The bomb on the beach_______.

   A. was washed up by accident                      B. killed many people

   C. was put there by the Japanese             D. was carried away by the Australian soldiers

   Take a class at Dulangkou School, and you’ll see lots of things different from other schools. You can see the desks are not in rows and students sit in groups. They put their desks together so they’re facing each other. How can they see the blackboard? There are three blackboards on the three walls of the classroom!

   The school calls the new way of learning “Tuantuanzuo”, meaning sitting in groups. Wei Liying, a Junior 3 teacher, said it was to give students more chance to communicate.

   Each group has five or six students, according to Wei, and they play different roles (角色). There is a team leader who takes care of the whole group. There is a “study leader” who makes sure that everyone finishes their homework. And there is a discipline (紀(jì)律) leader who makes sure that nobody chats in class.

   Wang Lin is a team leader. The 15-year-old said that having to deal with so many things was tiring.

   “I just looked after my own business before,” said Wang. “But now I have to think about my five group members.”

   But Wang has got used to it and can see the benefits (好處) now.

   “I used to speak too little. But being a team leader means you have to talk a lot. You could even call me an excellent speaker today.”

    Zhang Qi, 16, was weak in English. She used to get about 70 in English tests. But in a recent test, Zhang got a grade of more than 80.

   “I rarely（很少）asked others when I had problems with my English. But now I can ask the team leader or study leader. They are really helpful.”

1. What makes Dulangkou School different from others? __________

   A. The students’ desks are in rows.   　　　     B. Students sit and study in groups.

   C. There are three blackboards in the classroom.   D. Both B and C.

2. A discipline leader is supposed to __________.

   A. take care of the whole group

   B. make sure that everybody finishes homework

   C. make sure that nobody chats in class

   D. collect all the homework and hand it in to teachers

3. The new way of learning is said to give students more chance to __________.

   A. chat with each other                                       B. listen to the teachers

   C. make friends                                      D. communicate

4. We can tell from the story that some students __________ this new way of learning.

   A. get benefits from        B. are tired of         C. cannot get used to     D. hate

Back into the past…

   1932  Liu Changchun (1901—1983) joined the 10th Olympic Games in Los Angeles, US. He is the first Chinese to attend (參加) Olympics. He took part in the 100m and 200m race.

   1952  The People’s Republic (共和國) of China sent its first delegation to the 15th Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.This delegation had 40 people. But they arrived too late and missed most of the events.

   1984 China’s first Olympics after its return to the IOC. China sent a large delegation to the 23rd Games in Los Angeles, US.

   Xu Haifeng won a gold medal in the 50m pistol (手槍) shooting. It was China’s first Olympic gold medal.

   1996 China got 16 gold medals in the 26th Atlanta Olympics. It was fourth on the gold medal list. Wang Junxia won a gold medal in the 5,000m race, and broke the world record.

   2000 China got 28 gold medals in the 27th Olympics held in Sydney, Australia. This time, China was third on the gold medal list. Fu Mingxia won a gold medal in the platform diving.

   2004 China got 32 gold medals at the 28th Olympics in Athens, Greece. It held second place on the gold medal list. Liu Xiang won a gold medal in the 110m hurdle (跨欄). He is the first Asian to win this event.

1. Who is the first Chinese that won an Olympic gold medal? __________.

   A. Liu Changchun          B. Xu Haifeng    C. Liu Xiang         D. Fu Mingxia

2. When was the 28th Olympics held? __________.

   A. 1984                       B.1996             C. 2000              D. 2004

3. How many gold medals did China get in Sydney Olympics? __________.

   A. 16                         B. 27              C. 28               D. 32

4. Where did Wang Junxia break the world record in the Olympics? __________.

   A. Los Angles               B. Atlanta         C. Sydney          D. Athens

   Which country grows the most tea? The answer is India. It grows three times as much as China. Which country drinks the most tea? It’s neither China nor Japan. It’s Great Britain.

   In the wild, tea plants may be 30 feet tall. But a plant grown for market is pruned (修剪). Pruning keeps the plant only three or four feet tall. This is an easy height for tea picking. Only the two top leaves of each new shoot (芽) are picked. So to make money, tea plantations must be huge.

   In general, there are two kinds of tea, black tea and green tea. They are made in different ways. When black tea is made, it loses nearly all of its healthy qualities. But green tea retains its healthy qualities. For instance, it may prevent heart disease (病).

   How did we get tea bags? The answer: by accident. People used to send tea in tin boxes. This was expensive. Someone thought of a cheaper way. He sent tea in small silk bags. Customers would open the bag. They would put the leaves into a pot as usual. One customer put the bag into a pot. Then he just poured hot water over it. And the tea bag was born.

   Shen Nung was the first to drink tea. This was about 2737 B.C. Shen was ill, so he drank several cups of hot water daily. One day something happened. Leaves from a wild tea tree fell into the hot water pot. The next cup was poured. The water was now colored. Shen tasted it. He liked it. He drank it all. Shen was proud of his new drink. He served it to his guests. Word spread. People thought this way. Tea is good enough for the King. So it must be good enough for the people. Tea became the drink of China.

1. The best title for this passage might be ___________.

   A. An Ancient Drink                           B. Green Tea

   C. A Favorite Drink for Centuries               D. Tea Plant

2. The author’s main purpose in writing this passage is to__________.

   A. persuade you                                  B. make you laugh

   C. tell you how to do something                        D. give you information

3. In this passage retains means ____________.

   A. keeps            B. makes           C. takes         D. loses