Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is the color of most growing plants, too.
Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet finished or plants that are not ripe.
For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed. A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in war (戰(zhàn)爭). By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today--a person who is new in a job.
About one hundred years ago, greenhorn was a popular expression in the American west. Old-timers used it to describe a man who had just arrived from one of the big cities in the east. The greenhorn didn’t have the skills that he would need to live in the hard, rough country.
Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds.
A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.
The Green Revolution (革命) is the name which was given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural (農(nóng)業(yè)的) scientists who had green thumbs.
小題1:According to the passage, a greenhorn means________ now.

A．a(chǎn) young cow or ox whose horns have not yet developed

B．a(chǎn) soldier who has not had any experience in war

C．a(chǎn) person who is new in a job

D．a(chǎn) man who doesn’t have the skills to live in the country

小題2:The meaning of the underlined word “ripe” in the second paragraph is ________.

A．未完成的

B．成熟的

C．青澀的

D．老練的

小題3:Which of the following about the Green Revolution is NOT right?

A．If there weren’t the Green Revolution, we would have no rice to eat.

B．The expression “the Green Revolution” appeared several years ago.

C．Because of the Green Revolution, we have more kinds of rice and other grains.

D．Agricultural scientists with green thumbs started the Green Revolution.

小題4:We can know from the passage that _______.

A．a(chǎn)ll growing plants is green

B．green is the most important color in nature

C．a(chǎn) person with a green thumb can make plants grow well

D．the expression “a green thumb” has a history of two hundred years

小題5:The main idea of the passage is ________.

A．a(chǎn) greenhorn	B．a(chǎn) green thumb
C．the Green Revolution	D．the word “green” and its story

A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders (想知道): Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences?
Certainly! there are some differences between British and American English. ‘There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “Have you a pen?” Americans say “in the hospital!” and “Do you have a pen?”. Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like “bird” and “hurt”. Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour” and “honour” are British, “color” and honor” are American.
These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language.
小題1:According to this passage, a student who is learning to speak American English might be afraid that_______.

A．British people cannot understand him

B．American people cannot understand him

C．the grammar is too hard for him

D．the spelling is too hard for him

小題2:American English and British English are different in ________.

A．spelling

B．pronunciation

C．grammar

D．a(chǎn)ll of the above

小題3:What is not mentioned (提及) in the passage?

A．Whether there are differences between British English and American English.

B．Whether British English and American English are one language or two.

C．How the differences between British English and American English came about.

D．How important the differences are.

小題4:Most ________ say “Do you have a watch?”

A．British people

B．Americans

C．children

D．teachers

小題5:According to this passage, British people and Americans have _________ difficulty in understanding each other.

A．little

B．much

C．some

D．great

Several recent studies have found that being randomly assigned to a roommate of another race can lead to increased tolerance but also to a greater likelihood of conflict.
Recent reports found that lodging with a student of a different race may decrease prejudice and compel students to engage in more ethnically diverse friendships.
An Ohio State University study also found that black students living with a white roommate saw higher academic success throughout their college careers. Researchers believe this may be caused by social pressure.
In a New York Times article, Sam Boakye – the only black student on his freshman year floor -said that "if you're surrounded by whites, you have something to prove."
Researchers also observed problems resulting from pairing interracial students in residences.
According to two recent studies, randomly assigned roommates of different races are more likely to experience conflicts so strained that one roommate will move out.
An Indiana University study found that interracial roommates were three times as likely as two white roommates to no longer live together by the end of the semester.
Grace Kao, a professor at Penn said she was not surprised by the findings. "This may be the first time that some of these students have interacted, and lived, with someone of a different race," she said.
At Penn, students are not asked to indicate race when applying for housing.
"One of the great things about freshman housing is that, with some exceptions, the process throws you together randomly," said Undergraduate Assembly chairman Alec Webley. "This is the definition of integration."
"I've experienced roommate conflicts between interracial students that have both broken down stereotypes and reinforced stereotypes," said one Penn resident advisor (RA). The RA of two years added that while some conflicts "provided more multicultural acceptance and melding (融合)," there were also "jarring cultural confrontations."
The RA said that these conflicts have also occurred among roommates of the same race.
Kao said she cautions against forming any generalizations based on any one of the studies, noting that more background characteristics of the students need to be studied and explained.
小題1:What can we learn from some recent studies?

A．Conflicts between students of different races are unavoidable.

B．Students of different races are prejudiced against each other.

C．Interracial lodging does more harm than good.

D．Interracial lodging may have diverse outcomes.

小題2:What does Sam Boakye's remark mean?

A．White students tend to look down upon their black peers.

B．Black students can compete with their white peers academically.

C．Black students feel somewhat embarrassed among white peers during the freshman year.

D．Being surrounded by white peers motivates a black student to work harder to succeed.

小題3:What does Alec Webley consider to be the "definition of integration"?

A．The school randomly assigns roommates without regard to race.

B．Students of different races are required to share a room.

C．Interracial lodging is arranged by the school for freshmen.

D．Lodging is assigned to students of different races without exception.

If you are asked to name some national emblems of China, the dragon will probably be one of the famous images that pop into your head. We Chinese often consider ourselves "the descendants（后代）of the dragon." It is not unfamiliar to you that your parents hope that you "may become the dragon".  
　　As a mythical（神秘的）creature, the dragon is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Traditionally, dragons are considered to govern rainfall. They have the power to decide where and when the rain falls. In addition, the dragon is a symbol of imperial （帝王的）power. The emperors thought they were real dragons and the sons of the heaven.  　
But the creature is regarded differently in Western countries. In the Bible, dragons represent the devil（惡人）. Western people usually see dragons as cold-blooded reptiles（爬蟲）, like snakes and cruel killers. In their eyes, dragons are also dishonest.　　
　　Dragons in Western literature are presented as monsters（怪物）. It is a common tale for a mediaeval knight（中世紀(jì)的騎士） to kill a dragon and save a princess and her country from its evil. Even the popular boy wizard Harry Potter has to battle against a dragon.  　　
　　However, dragons are not all bad in the West. "Puff the Magic Dragon" is a well-known song. The lyrics(歌詞) tell a bitter-sweet story of the dragon Puff and his playmate Jackie Paper, a little boy. When Jackie grows up, he loses interest in the imaginary adventures of childhood and leaves Puff upset. Puff represents the innocence of a child's imagination, which is very positive for a dragon.  　　
小題1:The underlined word” emblems” in the first paragraph means “_______”.

A．symbols

B．names

C．places

D．parks

小題2:What is a dragon presented as according to Western literature?
A wizard      B. A mediaeval knight  C. A princess           D. A monster
小題3:The writer gave the example of “ Puff the Magic Dragon” to show_____.

A．dragons can represent the innocence of child’s imagination

B．children don’t like to play with dragons

C．dragons are not all bad in the West

D．not all people in the West like dragons

There are many TV programs on Chinese cuisines(烹飪、美食)，but few are like A Bite of China（舌尖上的中國）. It tries to bring something new by introducing more cultural features related to dishes, such as eating habits and wonderful stories about food.
It’s said that more than 100 million Chinese people are watching the program. Most Chinese people see this program as more than just the regular food shows. They see it as an amazing documentary providing a special view of Chinese as well as the relations between people and food and between people and society.
On the other hand, the documentary also stimulates(刺激) Chinese people’s consumption(消費(fèi)). Taobao, one of China’s biggest online shopping sites, reports that the search(搜索) on food items that were introduced by the documentary has increased to 4 million times within one week, and sales have increased to 5.82 million, or 20%.
To get enough good stories, the production team spent three months doing research and interviews in about 60 cities before they started making the documentary last July. Filming lasted about nine months.
Liu Wen, the director, says “As CCTV-9 serves as a window, allowing the world to better understand China, the documentary aims to help the world not only appreciate the beauty of Chinese cuisines, but also learn Chinese customs.”
小題1:A Bite of China is a     .

A．film

B．magazine

C．book

D．TV program

小題2:This program is quite different from other food shows because it has more features of     .

A．culture

B．cuisine

C．news

D．society

小題3:The main idea of the 3^rd paragraph is that the program brings a new opportunity on      .

A．Internet communication	B．film making
C．food business	D．story writing

小題4:Which of the following statements is TRUE according to this passage?

A．Most people watch the program because they want to learn how to cook.

B．Taobao is China’s biggest online shopping site.

C．You can buy some food that’s more delicious and cheaper through the program.

D．There’re many wonderful stories about Chinese cuisines in “A Bite of China”.

Nowadays, the increase in the prices of agricultural products is one of the greatest concerns of the people and the government. The government has announced a series of policies(政策) to prevent the prices from rising further. Rising housing prices is still a big concern for the people, but since farm products are needed every day, the increase in their prices has made life very difficult for them.
Many people may think the increase will help farmers. But have higher prices of farm products really benefited the farmers? 
Take the increase in vegetable prices in the first half of this year for example. Though natural disasters such as droughts and spring frost did not cause the prices of farm products to increase greatly—in fact, prices of some products did not increase at all—vegetables have become dearer by as much as 20 percent compared to that of last year. This means only a small part (or even none) of the extra money that city people have paid to buy farm products has gone to the farmers. The extra cost actually has gone to middlemen.
As the fact shows, just increasing prices of farm products will have negative influence on the entire economy. On one hand, the price increase has created some abnormal phenomena, which hurts farmers’ interests. On the other hand, resources will enter the agriculture because of the high price of farm products, which would finally create negative effect on the whole economy.
In such a case, it would be better to leave the market to decide the prices instead of raising farm products’ prices to protect the interests of farmers. Actually, such a way will be better for farmers in the long run.
小題1:What does the author mainly want to tell us by writing the passage? 

A．Farmers benefit a lot from the price increase.

B．Price increase has not helped farmers.

C．We should be sorry for farmers.

D．Price increase has a bad effect on economy.

小題2: Many people think the increase in the prices of farm products benefits ______ .

A． nobody

B．the country

C．middlemen

D．farmers

小題3:The following statements are true EXCEPT ______ .

A．the government has done something to prevent the prices from rising further

B．it is better for farmers to leave the market to decide the prices in the long run

C．natural disasters did not cause the prices of farm products to increase greatly

D．rising housing prices has made life very difficult for people

小題4:What is probably the author’s attitude to raising the farm products’ prices? 

A．Negative.	B．Indifferent.(漠不關(guān)心的)
C．Enthusiastic.	D．Positive.

The English language started about 1500 years ago in England. Three groups of people came to the country. They were the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. These three groups brought their languages with them to England. After some time, the three languages became one new language—English. The name "English" comes from the Angles. They lived in most of England. "England" means "Angle Land" or "Country of the Angles".
　　The language that we speak today—Modern English—is not the same as the English that people used 1500 years ago, including Old English（before ll50）and Middle English（up till 1500）. That language—Old English—sounds different, and it has some different rules of grammar. There were only a few thousand words in Old English. But Modern English does come from Old English, and it is still like it in many important ways.
小題1:When did Modern English start?

A．About the year 1150.

B．Before the year 1500.

C．Between the 12th century and the 16th century.

D．About 1500 years ago.

小題2:How many languages did Old English come from?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

小題3:Which language did the name "English" come from?

A．Modern English.

B．The Angles.

C．The Jutes.

D．The Saxons.

小題4:According to the passage, Modern English differs from Old English in ________.

A．grammar

B．pronunciation

C．words

D．All of the above

小題5:Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Modern English has nothing to do with Old English.

B．Modern English has more words than Old English.

C．Modern English has a vocabulary（詞匯量）twice as large as old English.

D．There is no difference between Old English and Middle English.

Suppose you are a visitor in the land of Mongolia(蒙古), some friends ask you to eat with them. What kind of manners do they want you to have? They want you to give a loud “burp(打嗝)” after you finish eating. Burping shows that you like the food.
In some countries, if you give a loud burp, you are told to say “Excuse me, please.”
In many places people like to eat together. But in some parts of Polynesia(波利尼西亞)it is bad manners to be seen eating at all. People show good manners by turning their backs on others while they eat.
What are manners like in an East African town? People try not to see you. They are being polite. You may see a friend. He may not see you at all. If you are polite, you will sit down beside him. You will wait until he finishes what he is doing. Then he will talk to you.
Manners are different all over the world. But it is good to know that all manners begin in the same way. People need ways to show that they want to be friends.
小題1:In Mongolia, burping is a way to show that__________.

A．the host is very friendly with the visitors

B．one doesn’t want to eat anything at all

C．one enjoys the meal that is prepared by the host

D．one is not polite at table

小題2: In some parts of Polynesia, to be polite while eating, one should____________.

A．eat as fast as possible	B．eat with his mouth full of food
C．turn his back on others	D．sit still without doing anything

小題3:It is good manners for people in East African towns__________.

A．to sit down beside others and wait for them to talk

B．to say “hello” to others on the street

C．to try to talk to others when they are working

D．never to speak to anyone on the street

小題4:We have good manners to show that we________.

A．a(chǎn)re different from other

B．begin all manners in the same way

C．want to be friendly to other people

D．don’t want people to trouble us

小題5:Which of the following is not true?

A．Manners are not the same in different countries.

B．It is good manners to give a burp when you’ve had enough in any place.

C．Sometimes manners are different in different places in the same country.

D．A person with good manners is liked by other people.

The novelist, Harriet Beecher Stowe, born 200 years ago, was a poor housewife with six children, and she suffered from various illnesses. Driven by the hatred of slavery, she found time to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which became the most influential novel in American history and caused great change, both at home and abroad.
Today, however, the book has a different reputation, owing to the popular image of its character, Uncle Tom, whose name has become a saying for a cowardly（懦弱的）black man who betrays his race.
But this view is wrong: the original Uncle Tom was physically and morally strong, an inspiration for black people and other oppressed（被壓迫的）people worldwide. Indeed, that was why, in the mid-19th century, Southerners attacked Uncle Tom’s Cabin as a dangerously destructive book, while Northern reformers—especially black people—often praised it.
The book was influential overseas too. In Russia it inspired Vladimir Lenin, who recalled it as his favorite book in childhood. It was the first American novel to be translated and published in China, and it fueled anti-slavery movements in Cuba and Brazil.
The book’s progressive appeal was the character of Uncle Tom himself: a strong man who is notable because he does not betray his race; one reason he gives up escaping from his plantation（種植園）is that he doesn’t want to put his fellow slaves in danger. And he is finally killed because he refuses to tell his master where two runaway slaves are hiding.
Unfortunately, these themes were lost in many of the stage versions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
The play, seen by more people than those who read the book, remained popular up to the 1950s and still appears occasionally. But in the play, Stowe’s revolutionary themes were drowned.
But it doesn’t have to be that way; indeed; during the civil rights era it was those who most closely resembled Uncle Tom—Stowe’s Uncle Tom, not the embarrassed one of popular myth—that proved most effective in promoting progress. Both Stowe and Uncle Tom deserve our reconsideration and our respect.
小題1:Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin because she                     . 

A．wanted to earn money to support her family

B．tried to set an example to her six children

C．hated slavery from the bottom of her heart

D．had similar life experiences to Uncle Tom

小題2: Which of the following is TRUE about the influence of the book?

A．It was the first American novel to be translated into Russian.

B．It was the most influential book for Vladimir Lenin in his life

C．It also gave rise to anti-slavery movements in faraway Africa.

D．It inspired black people and people who were suffering in the world.

小題3:What can we learn about Uncle Tom in the book?

A．he helps his fellow slaves to avoid getting into danger.

B．He is a black man who betrays his race.

C．He manages to escape from the plantation.

D．He kills himself instead of giving away the slaves.

小題4:According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A．The themes of revolution and progress in the book were lost in the play

B．There are more people who have read the book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, than those who have seen the stage version.

C．The play was very popular and it is still put on from time to time today.

D．It was Uncle Tom in the book that promoted the progress of mankind.

Around the World in Eighty Days is a classic Adventure novel by Jules Verne. The story starts in London in 1872. One day in the Reform Club, Phileas Fogg, a wealthy gentleman, accepts a wager(賭注) for £20,000, which he will receive if he travels around the world in 80 days.
Phileas Fogg sets off immediately, with his servant Passepartout. They reach Suez(蘇伊士) quickly. While landing in Egypt, he is watched by a British detective named Fix, who is in search of a bank robber. Because Fix mistakes Fogg for the criminal, he follows secretly, as they are getting on a ship to Bombay.
After more than 20-days of travelling, they arrive in San Francisco, and then get on the train to New York. During that trip, the train is attacked by Indians, who take Passepartout away. With some soldiers’ help, Fogg succeeds in freeing his companion. To make up for the lost time, Fogg and his companion hasten on to New York, and catch the steamer for the crossing of the Atlantics. They arrive in Ireland in time to reach London before the deadline. However, once on British soil again, Fix arrests Fogg. Although the misunderstanding is quickly cleared up—the actual bank robber had been caught several days earlier. Fogg has missed the train and returns to London five minutes late, sure that he has lost the wager.
However, the next day Fogg learns from the priest that he is mistaken in the date, which he thinks Sunday but which actually is Saturday, due to the fact that they gained a full day on their journey around the globe, by crossing the International Date Line. Fogg immediately sets off for the Reform Club, where he arrives just in time to win the wager.
小題1:The reason that Fix wants to arrest Phileas Fogg is that                  .

A．Phileas Fogg is the bank robber whom Fix is trying to catch

B．Phileas Fogg doesn’t have a passport for his travels

C．Fix mistakenly takes Phileas Fogg for the bank robber

D．Fix intends to prevent Fogg from winning the wager

小題2:During his time in America, Phileas Fogg spends a lot of “unexpected” time             .

A．travelling across the continent of America

B．rescuing his companion from the Indians

C．waiting for the ship back to London

D．getting rid of the pursuing of Fix

小題3:Does Phileas Fogg win the wager at last? Why?

A．No. Because he doesn’t get to the Reform Club before the deadline.

B．Yes. Because he is not the bank robber； it’s a misunderstanding.

C．No. Because he wastes too much time during his trip.

D．Yes. Because he arrives at the Reform Club before the deadline.