How would we travel without maps? It would be a bit adventurous (冒險(xiǎn)的) to set off from Oxford University to go to London Bridge if there wasn't a map of the London Underground at each station. In fact, a lot of the early map-makers were adventurers and explorers, especially in the 15th and 16th centuries.
So what did people do before there were maps? Well, it was quite easy to use natural signs like mountains and rivers if you were travelling on foot or riding a horse. People took small boats down rivers and followed coastlines. And it was much more logical (合理的) to use time, not distance, to measure (計(jì)量) journeys: the next village is a three-hour ride, for example.
In fact, in the earliest maps, people didn't draw landmarks. They drew the stars. It was very easy to see the night sky and use it for navigation (航行). The sky was a lot clearer before the light pollution from cities that we have today. When towns and cities were built, people drew road maps which gave correct distances and directions.
The London Underground was opened in 1863 and it also used a road map style. But a man called Henry Beck realized that travelling by train wasn't the same as driving your car across London. Passengers only needed to know which stations to change at. His new design (設(shè)計(jì)) for the Underground map wasn't very popular with the train companies at first. But the passengers loved it and in 1933, 700,000 copies were printed.
These days, of course, you can ride a bike, drive a car or go through a forest and know where you are exactly, using a GPS. It's really difficult to get lost!
【小題1】What was drawn in the earliest maps?

We humans are only born with one set of eyes, so it's our job to take care of them for our whole lives. The good news is that if we do a few simple things every day, we can maintain (保持) our eyesight and reduce (減少) the risk of ever hurting our eyes.
Almost all doctors agree that we can improve and maintain good eyesight by eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. It is especially important for us to eat vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes.  Besides, we need to protect our eyes when we spend a long time in bright sunlight. The best way to do. this is by wearing sunglasses that have 100% UV (紫外線)  protection. What's more, it is necessary to protect our eyes when we work with dangerous chemicals (化學(xué)物質(zhì)).  For this reason we should always wear goggles in chemistry labs at work or at school. Finally, we should not spend too much time in front of the computer or television screen. That is why doctors advise if we have to use a computer for a long time, we should take a short break every fifteen or thirty minutes.
Maintaining good eyesight is important. If we do these few simple things we can protect our eyes and reduce the chances of losing our eyes. As the popular English expression goes, “It's all fun and game, until someone loses an eye.” When people say this, they mean that losing an eye is a very terrible thing.
【小題1】When should we wear goggles?

Starting a stamp collection is easy and not very expensive. Before you start, you need to decide what kind of stamps you want to collect. Most people collect stamps that they are interested in: a certain country or an animal, a famous person or even a sport. Whatever you choose, you will find that there is a world of knowledge in stamps: you will learn about people, geography, building, history and culture.
You can collect stamps from letters, ask your friends to let you have their old stamps, or you can buy used stamps. When you get a letter with a stamp on it, carefully cut out the stamp. Leave lots of space around the stamp so that you will not damage it. Put the stamp in water and wait until you can safely remove the stamp. Carefully remove the stamp off the letter. Place the wet stamp between two clean pieces of paper. A stamp can get wrinkled(褶皺的) when it dries, so put some books on top.
【小題1】What does the writer think of collecting stamps?

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從每小題A、B、C三個(gè)選項(xiàng)中選出一個(gè)最佳答案。
There are many unusual hotels around the world. In Greenland, there is a hotel made out of ice, open between April and December every year. In Turkey, there is a cave hotel with a television, furniture, and a bathroom in each room. And in Bolivia, there is the Salt Palace Hotel.
Thousands of years ago, the area around the Salt Palace Hotel was a large lake. But over time, all the water disappeared. Today, the area has only two small lakes and two salt deserts.
The larger of the two deserts, the Uyuni salt desert, is 12,000 square kilometers. During the day, the desert is bright white because of the salt. There are no roads across the Uyuni desert, so local people must show guests the way to the hotel.
In the early 1990s, a man named Juan Quesada built the hotel. He cut big blocks (塊) of salt from the desert and used the blocks to build it. Everything in the hotel is made out of salt: the walls, the roof, the tables, the chairs, the beds, and the hotel’s bar.
The sun heats the walls and roof during the day. At night the desert is very cold, but the rooms stay warm. The hotel has 12 rooms. A single room costs＄40 a night, and a double room costs＄60.
A sign on the hotel’s wall tells guests, “ Please don’t lick the walls－it doesn’t taste good!”
【小題1】People can go to __________ to visit the ice hotel in April.
A. Greenland             B. Turkey               C. Bolivia
【小題2】The Salt Palace Hotel is unusual because __________.
A. it has a long history        
B. it’s made out of salt      
C. the rooms stay cold all day
【小題3】Where did the salt used for the hotel come from?
A. A salt factory.           B. The desert.              C. The lakes.
【小題4】The underlined word “l(fā)ick” means __________ in Chinese.
A. 摸                        B. 踢                   C. 舔
【小題5】The best title for the passage is _________.
A. Unusual Hotels           B. Salt Desert              C. A Story of Juan Quesad

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，判斷下列句子是否正確，對(duì)的涂（A），錯(cuò)的涂（B）。
Plants are very important living things. Life could not go if there were no plants. This is because plants can produce food from the air, water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot produce food from the air, water and sunlight as plants do. Animals get their food by eating plants or other animals which eat plants. So animals and man need plants in order to live.
If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants: flowering plants and non-flowering ones.
Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed. Some have two, three or four. Some have many. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana.
Most non-flowering plants don’t grow from seeds. They grow from spores (孢子). Spores are very, very small. Some spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as the seeds. When these spores fall on wet and shady places, they usually grow into new plants.  
【小題1】Plants are very important to life.
【小題2】Both animals and plants can produce food from the air, water and sunlight.
【小題3】Banana is a fruit that does not have seeds.
【小題4】All the flowering plants have many seeds.
【小題5】Spores can grow into new plants wherever they fall.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Being safe in your everyday life needs knowledge. you remember the following information，your life will be much safer.
● Always notice the environment around you. You shouldn’t walk alone outside late at night. Make sure where the public phones are. If anything dangerous happens，you can find them easily.
●Your bag should be carried towards the front of your body instead of putting it on your back。When a bus is full of people，it is easy enough for a thief to take away the things in the bag on your back.
●If you are followed by someone you don’t know, cross the street and go to the other way, let the person understand that you know he or she is after you. Next，don’t go home at once. You are safer in the street than you are alone in your home or in a lift.
●If you have to take a bus to a place far away, try to get to the stop a few minutes earlier before the bus leaves. On the bus，don’t sit alone. Sit behind the driver or other people. Don’t sleep.
【小題1】Which of the following is NOT safe when you are out?

Fire can help people in many ways. But it can also be very harmful. Fire can make water hot and house warm, give light and cook food. But fire can burn (燃燒) things, too. It can make trees, houses, animals and other things catch fire (起火). If some people can't run away from fire, it can kill them. This happens in every country every year.
Sometimes big fire can burn forests. A month ago, a large forest fire broke out in Yunnan Province. It lasted nearly half a month. The forest in Heilongjiang Province and the grassland in Inner Mongolia caught fire in May, 2006. After more than ten days' fight, over 30,000 people and soldiers put out (撲滅) the fire at last.
Nobody knows clearly when people began to make fire, but there are many interesting stories about the first time a man or a woman started a fire. One story from Australia tells about a man who went to the sun and brought fire down a long time ago. Today people know how to make a fire with matches (火柴). Children sometimes like to play with them. But matches can be very dangerous. The match can burn a piece of paper and then it can burn a house. A small fire can become a big fire, and destroy many things. Fire kills many people every year. So you must be careful with fire.
【小題1】The main idea of the passage is that _________.

This is my beautiful home. There is a small garden in front of my house. There are many beautiful flowers in the garden. Behind my house there is a big tree. Near the tree, you can see a garage. My father’s beautiful car is in it now.
On the first floor, there is a large living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a bathroom. I like watching TV in the living room. On the second floor, there is a small study room and two bedrooms. I love playing with the computer in my study. 
What a nice home! I like it very much.
【小題1】There is a small garden       my house.

Many animals do strange things before an earthquake (地震). This news may be important. Earthquakes can kill people and knock down homes. The animals may help to save lives.
Some animals make a lot of noise before an earthquake. Farmers have told about this. Dogs that are usually quiet have started to howl(吠). Horses on farms have run around in circles. Mice have left their holes and run away. Cows have given less milk.
In a town in Italy, cats raced down the street in a group. That happened only a few hours before an earthquake. In San Francisco, a man kept tiny pet frogs. One Sunday, the frogs jumped around more than ever. They made loud noises, like bigger frogs. That night, an earthquake struck the city.
People want to know when an earthquake is coming. Then they could get away safely. Right now, there is no sure way to know ahead of time. Maybe the best way is to watch the animals.
【小題1】This story is mostly about _________.

The sun, the moon and the stars(星星)are all in the sky． We see the moon and the stars at night． The sun is a ball． It’s much bigger than the moon． It gives us heat(熱量)．The sun has a family． It’s the biggest member of the family． The moon is a ball, too, like the sun and the earth． Sometimes it looks as round as a plate(盤子)．Sometimes it looks half a plate． It looks bigger because it’s much nearer to the earth． It’s much smaller than the sun． It’s smaller than the stars． The light on the moon comes from the sun． It has no light of its own．
The stars look smaller than the sun． They look small because they are very far away from us． All day the stars are in the sky． But the light from the sun is too bright． We can’t see the stars in the day．
【小題1】The sun, the moon and the stars are in the sky．
【小題2】 The moon is bigger than the stars．
【小題3】 The moon has its own light(光)．
【小題4】 The sun, the moon and the stars give us light and heat．
【小題5】The earth is one of the planets(行星)．