The world has been changing a lot. Since 1975, more than a dozen(一打，十二個(gè)) new nations have appeared. One of the newest is Belize, a tiny nation near Mexico. The British had ruled(統(tǒng)治)Belize for 300 years. But by 1981, the people of Belize were ready to rule themselves. One day in September the British flag came down. The red, white, and blue flag of Belize went up. Belize was independent (獨(dú)立) at last.

　　Find out more about new nations by looking at the table below. Each of these nations was once ruled by another nation.

　　A table is arranged in columns and rows. A column goes up and down. Each column has a title. The title(題目) tells what kinds of facts are in the column. For example, all the words in the first column are nations.

　　A row in a table goes across, from side to side. Each row has facts about the nation in the first column. For example, one fact about Angola is that it has 6000000 people.

　　Use the table about new nations to answer the questions below.

1．Which nation on the table has nearly ten million people?

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2．Which nation was the last to become independent?

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3．Which nation has the fewest people?

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4．Which two nations became independent in the same month of the same year?

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5．Which two nations were probably ruled by English－speaking people?

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　　Bats are the only flying mammals(哺乳動(dòng)物) in the world. They can't see very well. It was long believed that all bats are blind. “Blind as a bat” is often heard.

　　Yet they have no trouble flying on the darkest nights and finding their way around very well. How can bats fly and see at night? They fly by radar(雷達(dá)).

　　The bat's radar system(雷達(dá)系統(tǒng)) works the same way as the one that ships and planes use. As a bat flies through the air, he makes a sound that is too high for our ears to hear. When the sounds hit things, they come back. The bat's ears receive the messages. In this way they are able to tell the bats where the things are.

　　Bats go out to look for food at night. Some people have the bats as bad animals. In fact, they are useful animals.

1．This article (文章) tells us about ________ .

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A．the bat like a bird with things

B．the radar

C．a(chǎn) blind man

D．the bat used for playing table tennis

2．The bat is ________ .

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3．“As blind as a bat” means a person who is ________ .

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4．Bats have no trouble flying on the darkest nights because ________ .

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A．they have very poor sight(視力)

B．they have a kind of radar system to help them

C．they have to look for food

D．they can see things in the dark nights

5．Bats go out to look for food ________ .

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A．a(chǎn)t noon

B．in the afternoon

C．during the day-time

D．a(chǎn)fter the sun sets and before the sun rises

　　Stone was an officer in charge of training soldiers. The officer was very strict with his soldiers in everything. Once he was talking to some soldiers whom he had to train. He had never seen them before, so he introduced (介紹), “My name is Stone, and I'm even harder than stone, so do what I tell you, or there will be trouble. Don't try any tricks with me, and then we'll get on well together.”

　　Then he went to the soldiers one after another and asked him his name, “speak loudly so that everyone can hear clearly,”he said, “and don't forget to call me ‘sir’”.

　　Each soldier told him his name, until he came to the last one. This man remained(保持) silent, and so Captain Stone shouted at him, “When I ask you any question, answer it. I will ask you again. What's your name, soldier?”

　　This time the soldier had to answer the question. He was very much afraid, but at last he replied in a low voice, “My name is Stone Breaker, sir. ”

1．Why did the soldier keep silent at first?

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A．He was afraid of the officer.

B．He was ashamed.

C．He wouldn't tell the officer his name.

D．Because his name was Stone Breaker.

2．Who was Stone?

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A．An old soldier.

B．An officer whose work was to train soldiers.

C．A new soldier.

D．A man who looks after a kind of hard stone.

3．“I'm even harder than stone” means“ ________ ”.

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A．His body was harder than stone

B．His temper(脾氣) is bad

C．He would punish the soldier

D．He was very strict with the soldiers

4．Which of the following statements is TRUE?

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A．The officer did not allow the soldiers to call him “sir”.

B．Not all the soldiers told their names.

C．At last, the soldier told Stone his name.

D．The soldier refused to tell Stone his name.

　　The year was 1839. Vice (副……) President Richard M.. Johnson was in New York City on his way to Philadelphia. He was expected(希望) at a meeting at 6:30 that evening. When did he begin his trip? At noon! In 1839, it took six and one-half hours by train and ferry(渡船) to get from New York City to Philadelphia. That wasn't so bad. In 1817, the trip took three days!

　　If this were a cold winter day, Vice President Johnson would have started much earlier. The Delaware River might freeze over. There would be no ferry and he would have had to walk across the ice.

　　Today, it's possible to leave New York City on the 9:00 a. m.train and be in Philadelphia at 10:29 a. m. In fact, some people live in New York City and work in Philadelphia. They use the train schedule(時(shí)刻表) below.

　　How do you read the train schedule? Suppose(假設(shè)) you're in New York City and you want to go to Princeton. Run your finger down the list of cities to find Princeton. Next, move your finger to the right. You will see the times that trains arrive in Princeton. Then run your finger up to the times listed across from New York. That's when the trains leave New York. Make your choice and enjoy the ride !

1．A doctor's office in Philadelphia opens at 9:00 a. m. What time must the doctor leave New York City to get there on time?

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2．Suppose Vice President Johnson rode today's trains. What time would he have to leave New York to be in Philadelphia by 1:30 p. m. ?

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3．You board the train in Newark at 8:13. When do you arrive in Trenton?

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4．Which is the fastest train to Philadelphia?

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5．Which two trains make the most stops?

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　　Tom was crossing the road the other day when he saw a red car coming in the distance (在遠(yuǎn)處) . He thought the car would stop, as the lights had turned red. However, the car was going too fast and Tom soon knew that it couldn't stop in time. He tried to move out of its way but it was too late. Tom was knocked down by the red car and lay unconscious(失去知覺的) on the road . Some people who happened to pass by quickly went to him and an ambulance(救護(hù)車) was called for. Mary was a little girl, but she was very clever. The driver of the red car did not stop but the clever girl had noted down the number of the car. When the police came, she gave him the number of the red car.

　　Meanwhile, Tom was taken to the nearest hospital and his parents were called for. They were very surprised to hear of the accident and quickly rushed to be by his side. For three days Tom was unconscious and his parents were worried that he might die . But on the fourth day Tom woke up and spoke softly. His parents were overjoyed. The police, by then, had found out the owner of the car and he was arrested by the police.

1．Tom saw ________ while he was crossing the road the other day.

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2．He thought the car would stop because ________ .

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A．he told it to stop

B．it was against a red light

C．he was at a zebra crossing(人行橫道)

D．the driver was kind

3．The driver knocked Tom down ________ .

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A．but didn't stop

B．a(chǎn)nd stopped to help Tom

C．a(chǎn)nd called the ambulance for Tom

D．a(chǎn)nd shouted at Tom

4．One of the people who happened to pass by ________ .

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A．checked the driver of the red car

B．ran after Tom

C．wrote down the number of the red car

D．forgot the number of the red car

5．Tom was taken to the nearest hospital and the owner of the red car was ________ a few days later.

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A．told to make an apology to Tom

B．told to be a good driver the next time

C．not allowed to drive for the rest of his life

D．caught by the police

　　Up close, Stevie Wonder doesn't act like someone who is totally blind. “I never knew what it was like to see. So being blind is no different from seeing, ”Stevie says. Like any person who can see, he goes to the movies and watches TV. (Friends tell him what's happening on the screen(屏幕) .) He turns the lights on and off when he goes into the bathroom. He has even flown a plane.

　　Stevie opens the first show in the November Rock concerts(音樂會) on Tuesday. Look at the November calendar(日歷) below to find out when Stevie and other rock stars will appear.

　　A calendar is a kind of table because the dates and days of the week are arranged in columns(欄) and rows. A column goes up and down. A row goes from side to side. All the dates in one column fall on the same day of the week. All the dates in one row appear in the same week.

　　Use the November Rock calendar to answer the questions below. Choose the best answer.

1．On which day of every week is there no show?

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2．On what date is the Diana Ross Sunday show?

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3．If you want to go to a Saturday night show, whom can you see?

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A．The Bee Gees or Diana Ross

B．Abba or Stevie Wonder

C．Abba or the Bee Gees

D．The Bee Gees or Linda Ronstadt

4．Thanksgiving Day is always on the fourth Thursday of November. Which show can you see on Thanksgiving Day?

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5．Which week has the most shows?

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　　A long time ago there lived a very rich and powerful (有權(quán)力的) king. All the people in his kingdom (王國) were afraid of him. But was he happy? No, he was always ill and unhappy. His money and his power could not help him. The doctors in his kingdom could not cure (治愈) him either. He was so angry with them that he cut off their heads.

　　One day two famous doctors from another kingdom came to his palace.

　　“If you can cure me and make me happy”, said the king.“I will give you all the gold you can carry.”

　　The first doctor examined the king. He found nothing wrong with him.

　　“You are a very healthy man. Your Majesty, ”said the doctor. “You only think you are ill and so make yourself unhappy.”

　　The king was very angry when he heard this. He told his soldiers to cut off the doctor's head.

　　The second doctor knew he had to be careful. “O King, you will be well if you wear the shoes of a man who is always happy,”he said. The king was pleased with his answer and thought that the doctor was very wise(有智慧的). He gave the doctor a bag of gold.

　　The king asked hundreds of people if they were always happy. They all said they were sometimes happy and sometimes sad. At last he met a beggar(乞丐) who said that he was always happy.

　　“Give me your shoes quickly, ”said the king, “and I will make you a very rich man. ”

　　The beggar laughed, “I am sorry,”he answered,“I never wear shoes!”

1．All the people in his kingdom were ________ .

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2．The king cut off the heads of his doctors because ________ .

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3．One day two famous doctors ________ came to see the king.

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4．The king said he would give the two doctors ________ if they could cure him.

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5．The second doctor asked the king to ________ .

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A．go and find a beggar

B．wear the shoes of a beggar

C．look for the happiest man in the world

D．wear the shoes of a man who was always happy

　　For a certain sport, a team of three players is to be chosen from a group of eight players, according to the following conditions:

　　(1)If neither A nor B plays, then C must play.

　　(2)B refuses to play with H.

　　(3)If C plays, then D does not play.

　　(4)If E plays, then F must also play .

　　(5)If G does not play, then H and either A or B must play.

1．Three players will be chosen from ________ players.

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2．Which of the following may be concluded from the conditions given?

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A．If A and B do not play, D does not play.

B．If G plays, H does not play.

C．If either A or B plays, then C does not play.

D．If E does not play, then F does not play.

3．On how many different teams may E play?

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4．Which of the following teams may be chosen without doing anything against any of the conditions given?

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5．If both F and G are ill and unable to play, how many different teams may be chosen?

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　　When Mr. David retired(退休), he bought a small house in a village near the sea. He liked it and hoped to live a quiet life in it.

　　But to his great surprise, many tourists (游客) came to see his house in summer holidays, for it was the most interesting building in the village. From morning to night there were tourists outside the house. They kept looking into the rooms through the windows and many of them even went into Mr. David's garden. This was too much for Mr. David. He decided to drive the visitors away. So he put a notice on the window. The notice said: “If you want to satisfy your curiosity (好奇心) , came in and look round. Price (價(jià)格): twenty dollars,” Mr. David was sure that the visitors would stop coming, but he was wrong. More and more visitors came and Mr. David had to spend every day showing them around his house.“I came here to retire, not to work as guide(導(dǎo)游). ”he said angrily. In the end, he sold the house and moved away.

1．Mr. David's house was ________ that many tourists came to see it .

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2．Mr. David put a notice on the window in order ________ .

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A．to drive the visitors away

B．to satisfy the visitor's curiosity

C．to let visitors come in and look round

D．to get some money out of the visitors

3．The notice made the visitors ________ .

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4．After Mr. David put up the notice ________ .

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A．the visitors didn't come any longer

B．fewer and fewer visitors came to see his house

C．more and more tourists came for a visit

D．no tourist would pay the money for a visit

5．At last he had to sell his house and move away because ________ .

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A．he did not like it at all

B．he could not work as a guide

C．he made enough money and wanted to buy a new expensive house

D．he could not live a quiet life in it

　　One day, when he was out for a walk in the street, Mr. Basil suddenly saw a man shouting at a dog and kicking(踢) it fiercely(兇 猛地) . Mr. Basil, a kind man, was enraged(激怒) at the scene. “Poor dog! I should help it.” Mr. Basil went up to the man at once, and, without saying a word, he seized the man's collar (衣領(lǐng)) and began to beat him with his stick.

　　Confused(迷惑不解)by Mr. Basil's action, the man never expected that someone would interfere(干預(yù)) in his business like that. He staggered (搖晃) and fell onto the ground. Almost at the same time, seeing its master beaten by a stranger, the dog which was its master's Friday (忠仆), jumped to its feet, barked and began to chase Mr. Basil. The dog treated Mr. Basil as their enemy instead of thanking him for his good will. So frightened, Mr. Basil ran away as fast as he could without looking back.

　　Now what do you think of Mr. Basil's action and did it serve him right? Mr. Basil may learn a lesson from this and will never do such a foolish thing again. So remember not to have a finger in the pie(餡餅)or you will have your finger in the fire.

1．What did Mr. Basil see when he was walking along the street?

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2．“enraged”perhaps means ________ .

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3．When the dog saw its master beaten by a stranger, it ________ .

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4．“So remember not to have a finger in the pie or you will have your finger in the fire. ”means“ ________ ”

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A．Don't put your finger in the pie because it is hot

B．Don't try to get the pie when it is to drop into the fire

C．It was not until the pie gets cool that you eat it

D．You'd better mind your own business, or you will get into trouble

5．Which statement was not mentioned in the article?

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A．Mr. Basil saw a man kicking a dog.

B．Mr. Basil walked along the street with his son.

C．The man was confused by Basil's action.

D．Mr. Basil will not do such a thing.