The Neutrality of American in the Early World War II
The establishment of the Third Reich influenced events in American history by starting a chain of events which culminated in war between Germany and the United States. The compete destruction of democracy, the persecution of Jews, the war on religion, the cruelty and barbarism of the Nazis, and especially the plans of Germany and her allies, Italy and Japan, for world conquest caused great indignation in this country and brought on fear of another world war. While speaking out against Hitler’s atrocities, the American people generally favored isolationist policies and neutrality. The Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1936 prohibited trade with any belligerents or loans to them. In 1937 the President was empowered to declare an arms embargo in wars between nations at his discretion.
American opinion began to change somewhat after President Roosevelt’s “quarantine the aggressor” speech at Chicago (1937) in which he severely criticized Hitler’s policies. Germany’s seizure of Austria and the Munich Pact for the partition of Czechoslovakia (1938) also aroused the American people. The conquest of Czechoslovakia in March, 1939 was another rude awakening to the menace of the Third Reich. In August, 1939 came the shock of the Nazi-soviet Pact and in September the attack on Poland and the outbreak of European war. The United States attempted to maintain neutrality in spite of sympathy for the democracies arrayed against the Third Reich. The Neutrality Act of 1939 repealed the arms embargo and permitted “cash and carry” exports of arms to belligerent nations. A strong national defense program was begun. A draft act was passed (1940) to strengthen the military services. A Lend Act (1941) authorized the President to sell, exchange, or lend materials to any country deemed necessary by him for the defense of the United States. Help was given to Britain by exchanging certain overage destroyers for the right to establish American bases in British territory in the Western Hemisphere. In August, 1940 President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met and issued the Atlantic Charter which proclaimed the kind of a world which should be established after the war. In December, 1941, Japan launched the unprovoked attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor. Immediately thereafter, Germany declared war on the United States.
小題1:One item occurring before 1937 that the author does not mention in his list of actions that alienated the American public was
A the burning of the Reichstag.   B German plans for conquest.
C Nazi barbarism.             D the persecution of religious groups.
小題2:The Lend-Lease Act was designed to
A help the British.
B strengthen the national defense of the United States.
C promote the Atlantic Charter.
D avenge Pearl Harbor.
小題3:American Policy during the years 1935-1936 may be described as being
A watchful.  B isolationist.  C peaceful.   D indifferent.
小題4:The Neutrality Act of 1939
A permitted the selling of arms to belligerent nations.
B antagonized Japan.
C permitted the British to trade only with the Allies.
D led to Lend-Lease Act.
小題5:We entered the war against Germany
A because Germany declared war.
B because Japan was an ally of Germany.
C after Germany had signed the Nazi-soviet Pact.
D after peaceful efforts had failed.

Hunting
The days of the hunter are almost over in India. This is partly because there is practically nothing left to kill, and partly because some steps have been taken, mainly by banning tiger-shooting, to protect those animals which still survive.
Some people say that Man is naturally a hunter. I disagree with this view. Surely out earliest forefathers, who at first possessed no weapons, spent their time digging for roots, and were no doubt themselves often hunted by meat-eating animals.
I believe the main reason why the modern hunter kills is that he thinks people will admire his courage in overpowering dangerous animals. Of course, there are some who truly believe that the killing is not really the important thing, and that the chief pleasure lies in the joy of the hunt and the beauties of the wild countryside. There are also those for whom hunting in fact offers a chance to prove themselves and risk death by design; these men go out after dangerous animals like tigers, even if they say they only do it to rid the countryside of a threat. I can respect reasons like these, but they are clearly different from the need to strengthen your high opinion of yourself.
The greatest big-game hunters expressed in their writings something of these finer motives(動機).One of them wrote.
“You must properly respect what you are after and shoot it cleanly and on the animal’s own territory(領地)。You must fix forever in your mind all the wonders of that particular day. This is better than letting him grow a few years older to be attacked and wounded by his own son and eventually eaten, half alive, by other animals, Hunting is not a cruel and senseless killing – not if you respect the thing you kill, not if you kill to enrich your memories, not if you kill to feed your people.”
I can understand such beliefs, and can compare these hunters with those who hunted lions with spears(矛) and bravely caught them by the tail. But this is very different from many tiger—shoots I have seen, in which modern weapons were used.The so—called hunters fired from tall trees or from the backs of trained elephants. Such methods made tigers seem no more dangerous than rabbits. 
小題1: There is no more hunting in India now partly because___.

A．it is dangerous to hunt there

B．hunting is already out of date

C．hunters want to protect animals

D．there are few animals left to hunt

小題2:The author thinks modern hunters kill mainly____.

A．to make the countryside safe

B．to earn people’s admiration

C．to gain power and influence

D．to improve their health

小題3: What do we learn about the big-game hunters?

A．They hunt old animals

B．They mistreat animals

C．They hunt for food

D．They hunt for money

小題4: What is the author’s view on the tiger-shoots he has seen?

A．Modern hunters lack the courage to hunt face-to-face

B．Modern hunters should use more advanced weapons

C．Modern hunters like to hunt rabbits instead of tigers

D．Modern hunters should put their safety first

The run-up to the launch of China's first lunar orbiter at the end of this month has caught the country's imagination, with more than two thirds of the nation hoping to see the launch live on TV, according to a survey.                              
According to the survey by China Youth Daily and www.qq.com, almost the entire nation hopes to catch images of the event at some point, with 99 percent of the 10358 respondents saying they expected to witness the satellite launch and 68.9 percent said they were certain to watch the live broadcast of the launch. On www.qq.com and www.sina.com, two popular web portals in the country, internet users have contributed some 2,000 poems and 5000 drawings on the theme of Chang'e I.
"The satellite launch means much more than just saying 'hello' to the moon. Maybe in the future we could also send some people to accompany sister 'Chang'e'," said a college student in the survey.
Remarkably, many people expect to visit the moon one day, with 93.4 percent of respondents saying they expected to do so.
Chang'e I is named after Chang'e, a famous character from Chinese mythology. She ascended from earth to live on the moon as a celestial being after drinking an elixir.
There is also another connection between the moon and China. In the 1970s, a crater on the moon was named after a Chinese stargazer, Wan Hu, who is said to be the first astronaut in human history.
Legend says about 600 years ago, around the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Wan Hu, a local government official, tried to fly into space with the help of a chair, two big kites and 47 self-made gunpowder-filled rockets. According to the legend after the rockets were lit there was a huge bang and lots of smoke. When the smoke cleared Wan was nowhere to be found.
China's first astronaut flew into space in 2003 with the launch of the Chinese-made spaceship Shenzhou V. China became the third country, after the Soviet Union and the United States, to carry out manned space missions.
小題1:Which is true according to the passage?

A．According to a survey, two thirds of the nation are hoping to see the launch live on TV,

B．The internet users have drawn some 5000 pictures of ‘Chang’e’.

C．Wan Hu, a Chinese stargazer(n. 看星星的人,占星師,天文學家) , was dead after the huge bang and a lot of smoke.

D．China’s first astronaut flew into space in 2003 in the spaceship Shenzhou VI.

小題2:What’s the meaning of the underlined word in paragraph 5?

A．a kind of medicine for long life.	B．a kind of medicine to make you light enough to fly in the air.
C．a kind of wine	D．a kind of alcohol.

小題3:Why was Wan Hu said to be the first astronaut in human history?

A．Because a crater on the moon was named after his name.

B．Because he was the first to go to the moon in his own “spaceship”.

C．Because of his courage for scientific experiment to the moon.

D．Because he made the first rocket in human history.

Death Valley is one of the most famous deserts in the United States, covering a wide area with its alkali sand. Almost 20 percent of this area is well below sea level, and Badwater, a salt water pool, is about 280 feet below sea level and the lowest point in the United States.     
Long ago, the Panamint Indians called this place “Tomesha”— the land of fire. Death Valley’s present name dates back to 1849, when a group of miners coming across from Nevada became lost in its unpleasantness and hugeness and their adventure turned out to be a sad story. Today Death Valley has been declared a National Monument(紀念碑) and is crossed by several well-marked roads where good services can be found easily. Luckily the change created by human settlement has hardly ruined the special beauty of this place.
Here nature created a lot of surprising, almost like the sights on the moon, ever-changing as the frequent wind moves the sand about, showing the most unusual colors. One of the most astonishing and variable parts of Death Valley is the Devil’ s Golf Course, where it seems hard for one to tell reality from terrible dreams. Sand sculptures(沙雕) stand on a frightening ground, as evening shadows move and lengthen.
小題1:_______ is the lowest place in the desert.

A．Tomesha	B．Death Valley
C．Nevada	D．Badwater

小題2:The name of the valley comes from _______.

A．an Indian name	B．the death of the miners
C．the local people	D．a National Movement

小題3:From the passage we can learn that _______.

A．no one had ever known the desert before the miners

B．it’s still not easy to travel across the desert

C．people can find gas-stations, cafes and hotels in the desert

D．people have changed the natural sight of the desert

小題4:Devil Golf Course is famous for _______.

A．the frequent wind	B．the colors of the sand
C．dream-like sights	D．the sand sculptures

小題5:From the passage we can see that the writer _______ the Death Valley.

A．appreciates	B．is fearful of
C．dislikes	D．is tired of

The Erie Canal was the first important national waterway built in the US. It crossed New York from Buffalo on Lake Erie Troy to Albany on the Hudson River. It joined the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. The canal served as a route over which industrial goods could flow into the west, and materials could pour into the east. The Erie Canal helped New York develop into the nation’s largest city.
The building of the canal was paid for entirely by the state of New York. It cost $ 7 143 789, but it soon gained its price many times over. Between 1825, when the canal was opened, and 1882, when toll charges(過運河費) were stopped, the state collected $121 461 891.
For a hundred years before the Erie was built, people had been talking about a canal which could join the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. The man who planned the Erie Canal and carried the plan through was De Witt Clinton. Those who were against the canal laughingly called it “Clinton’s Ditch(溝)”. Clinton talked and wrote about the canal and drew up plans for it. He and Governor Morris went to Washington in 1812 to ask for help for the canal, but they were unsuccessful.
Clinton became governor of New York in 1817, and shortly afterwards, on July 4, 1817, broke ground for the canal in Rome, N.Y. The first part of the canal was completed in 1820. As the canal grew, towns along its course developed fast. The length of the canal is 363 miles.
小題1:We can see that the Erie Canal ________.

A．joined the Great Lakes together

B．crossed New York from north to south

C．played an important part in developing New York City

D．was the first waterway built in the US

小題2:It can be inferred that ________ into the Atlantic Ocean.

A．the Great Lakes flow	B．the Hudson River flows
C．Lake Erie flows	D．the Erie Canal flows

小題3:Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The Erie Canal brought profits of over $114, 000, 000.

B．It’s 363 miles from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

C．The West was more advanced than the East when the canal was built.

D．Many other states helped New York built the canal.

小題4:Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Clinton broke ground for the canal at both ends.

B．Clinton started building the canal before he became governor.

C．All parts of the canal were completed at the same time.

D．Construction of the canal took eight years.

The flag, the most common symbol(象征) of a nation in the modern world, is also one of the most ancient. With a clear symbolic meaning, the flag in the traditional form is still used today to mark buildings, ships and other vehicles related to a country.
The national flag as we know it today is in no way a primitive(原始的)artifact. It is, rather, the product of thousands of years' development. Historians believe that it had two major ancestors, of which the earlier served to show wind direction.
Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats. Often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause high waves that endangered travelers .People's food supplies were similarly vulnerable. Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests. Therefore they feared and depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction and cold from another.
Using a simple piece of cloth tied to the top of a post to tell the direction of the wind was more dependable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire. The connection of the flag with heavenly power was therefore reasonable. Early human societies began to fix long pieces of cloth to the tops of totems(圖騰) before carrying them into battle. They believed that the power of the wind would be added to the good wishes of the gods and ancestors represented by the totems themselves.
These flags developed very slowly into modern flags. The first known flag of a nation or a ruler was unmarked: The king of China around 1000 B.C. was known to have a white flag carried ahead of him. This practice might have been learned from Egyptians even further in the past, but it was from China that it spread over trade routes through India, then across Arab lands, and finally to Europe ,where it met up with the other ancestor of the national flag.
小題1:The best title for the passage would be______.

A．Power of the National Flag	B．Uses of Flag
C．Types of Flags	D．Development of the National Flag

小題2:The underlined word “vulnerable” in Paragraph 3 means_____

A．impossible to make sure of	B．difficult to find
C．likely to be protected	D．easy to damage

小題3: The earliest flags were connected with heavenly power because______

A．they were believed to stand for natural forces

B．they could bring good luck to fighters

C．they were handed down by the ancestors

D．they could tell wind direction

小題4:What does the author know of the first national flag?

A．He thinks it came from	B．He believes it was made in Egypt
C．He doubts where it started.	D．He knows when it was sent to Europe

小題5: What was the author most probably talk about next?

A．The role of China in the spread of the national flag.

B．The second ancestor of the national flag.

C．The use of modern flags in Europe

D．The importance of modern flags

When in 1789, George Washington became the first president of the United States, there was no permanent capital in which to house the government. During the Revolutionary War several different cities had served as the national capital. In addition, members of congress could not agree as to where this permanent capital should be located. Some officials wanted it in the north, others wanted it in the south. Each of the states hoped that the capital might lie within its own state lines. At last it was decided that the capital should occupy a section by itself, separate from any of the states. The place chosen was situated on the Potomac River. The land belonged originally to the state of Maryland, but Maryland agreed to the national government. The section was named the Washington. Work was begun on the new capital in 1791. in the year 1899 Congress occupied the new capital building at the same time the White House was opened as the home of all future presidents.
小題1:Before the year 1800, the capital of America had been located in _______.

A．Maryland	B．Washington
C．New York	D．several cities

小題2:Why was it decided that the capital should be separated from any of the states? Because ________.

A．the District of Columbia was on the borders of several states

B．the District of Columbia was in the center of America

C．Maryland insisted that the capital lie in its own state

D．Each of the states wanted the capital might lie within its own state

小題3:The capital was named after _______.

A．an explorer, who first found the place

B．the place where it occupied

C．the first president of the United States of America

D．a famous general who fought in the war

小題4:Presidents of the United States live in ________.

A．the capital building	B．Maryland
C．New York	D．the White House

The largest-ever chariot pit (戰(zhàn)車坑) of relics with carts and horse bones has been discovered in Henan Province. It may lead to the uncovering of chariot pit groups that could be a key to understanding Chinese civilizations that existed more than 2,000 years ago.
Experts said the relics are dated more than 300 years earlier than the famous warriors (武士) in Shaanxi Province. What excited the experts were two other projects that located two huge pits with similar features.
“It is absolutely a miracle. These relics indicate that there could be a tomb group in this area, which is likely to be important for China’s archaeological (考古學的) studies,” said Ma Juncai, a leading relic researcher in the province.
In ancient China, carts, sheep, spoons and so on were buried to ensure that dead people had a happy afterlife. The number and quality of the sacrifices indicated the social status of the dead. The custom was carried into the Qin Dynasty. Emperor Qinshihuang’s tomb, located near Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, is accompanied by thousands of wood or clay figures of warriors and horses. The tomb is probably the most well-known.
The discovered pit measures 10.4 meters long, 8.4 meters wide and 5 meters deep. It holds 20 carts in different sizes. The smallest one is 1.05 meters long and 1.3 meters wide.
Experts think that 40 horses are likely to be found as well. Careful plans need to be made to deal with the demanding uncovering. “The clay is very weak and a small misstep can destroy the whole project. That’s why we need to take every step very carefully to protect these cherished cultural relics,” Ma said.
小題1: What’s the passage mainly about?

A．The dead people’s sacrifices in ancient China.

B．China’s archaeological studies.

C．The discovery of a large chariot pit in Henan.

D．The history of Chinese civilizations.

小題2:According to Ma Juncai, the uncovering of the three pits is a miracle because _______.

A．it shows there may be a tomb group there

B．it’s helpful in discovering Emperor Qinshihuang’s tomb

C．the relics are dated such a long time ago

D．the relics are more than 300 years older than the ones in Shaanxi

小題3:It can be inferred from Paragraph 4 that ______.

A．all dead people had sacrifices in ancient China

B．the discovered pit is the most well-known in the world

C．the discovered pit dates back to the Qin Dynasty

D．Emperor Qinshihuang wanted to maintain his power after death

小題4:Careful plans for the uncovering are needed because ______.

A．another 40 horses are likely to be found as well

B．the whole uncovering could be destroyed easily

C．experts are too busy to spare time for it

D．the government hasn’t agreed to it

小題5:Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The discovery has drawn the leading experts’ attention.

B．A lot of cultural relics have been discovered in Henan.

C．40 horses have been discovered together with the chariot pit.

D．The discovered carts in the chariot pit are similar in size.

The Spanish exploration was the beginning of the history of San Francisco Harbor. That long history is celebrated at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The park’s main visitor center is only a few hundred meters from the waters of the great harbor. It is a memorial to the great ships and those who sailed them.
The visitor center holds many objects linked to the past of the great harbor. There are small ships, ship equipment, and hundreds of beautiful old photographs. Many visitors stop to look at a large painting of a huge sailing ship named the Balclutha.
Visitors who look at the painting can go out through the front door of the visitor center and see the real Balclutha. People walking near Fisherman’s Wharf often do not believe their eyes when they first see the Balclutha. Almost everyone stops and looks at the huge ship. The ship looks almost new. Several years ago, more than one million dollars was spent in repairing and painting it. Now, more than two hundred thousand people a year visit the ship.
The Balclutha is perhaps the most popular ship with visitors at the Maritime Park. However, there are also several other ships which are very important to the history of the great harbor. But not all of these ships are open to the public. One that is open is a small steam-powered workboat, called the Hercules. The Hercules was a tugboat. Until 1924 it pulled ships around the harbor.
Another boat popular with visitors is the Eureka. It was built in 1890. It is the largest wooden ship still floating today. The Eureka was a ferryboat. It carried people and cars across the bay. It did this until the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge were built.
The park also has a very unusual looking museum. It is a large building that almost looks like a ship. The museum is filled with interesting equipment. One of the most interesting objects in the museum is a small sailboat called the Mermaid, which is only large enough for one person to sit in.
小題1:The underlined word “It” in Paragraph 1 refers to _________.

A．the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

B．the Spanish exploration

C．the main visitor center

D．San Francisco Harbor

小題2: What can we know about the Balclutha according to the passage?

A．It is the largest wooden ship.

B．It is worth about one million dollars now.

C．It is a steam-powered workboat used to pull ships.

D．The huge ship attracts lots of visitors every year.

小題3:The ships are described in the passage in order to _______.

A．show the history of the great harbor

B．tell us each ship has its own features

C．tell us which one is the most popular

D．tell us these ships’ functions

小題4: We know from the passage that ________.

A．the Eureka is still used for carrying people and cars

B．the Hercules has not been used for pulling ships since 1924

C．the Mermaid is a small tugboat that can only hold one person

D．most of the ships in the park are open to the public

Nearly two thousand years have passed since a census decreed by Caesar Augustus become part of the greatest story ever told. Many things have changed in the intervening years. The hotel industry worries more about overbuilding than overcrowding, and if they had to meet an unexpected influx, few inns would have a manager to accommodate the weary guests. Now it is the census taker that does the traveling in the fond hope that a highly mobile population will stay long enough to get a good sampling. Methods of gathering, recording, and evaluating information have presumably been improved a great deal. And where then it was the modest purpose of Rome to obtain a simple head count as an adequate basis for levying taxes, now batteries of complicated statistical series furnished by governmental agencies and private organizations are eagerly scanned and interpreted by sages and seers to get a clue to future events. The Bible does not tell us how the Roman census takers made out, and as regards our more immediate concern, the reliability of present day economic forecasting, there are considerable differences of opinion. They were aired at the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the American Statistical Association. There was the thought that business forecasting might well be on its way from an art to a science, and some speakers talked about newfangled computers and high-falutin mathematical system in terms of excitement and endearment which we, at least in our younger years when these things mattered, would have associated more readily with the description of a fair maiden. But others pointed to the deplorable record of highly esteemed forecasts and forecasters with a batting average below that of the Mets, and the President-elect of the Association cautioned that “high powered statistical methods are usually in order where the facts are crude and inadequate, the exact contrary of what crude and inadequate statisticians assume.” We left his birthday party somewhere between hope and despair and with the conviction, not really newly acquired, that proper statistical methods applied to ascertainable facts have their merits in economic forecasting as long as neither forecaster nor public is deluded into mistaking the delineation of probabilities and trends for a prediction of certainties of mathematical exactitude.
小題1: Taxation in Roman days apparently was based on
[A]. wealth. [B]. mobility. [C]. population. [D]. census takers.
小題2:The American Statistical Association
[A]. is converting statistical study from an art to a science.
[B]. has an excellent record in business forecasting.
[C]. is neither hopeful nor pessimistic.
[D]. speaks with mathematical exactitude.
小題3: The message the author wishes the reader to get is
[A]. statisticians have not advanced since the days of the Roman.
[B]. statistics is not as yet a science.
[C]. statisticians love their machine.
[D].computer is hopeful.
小題4:The “greatest story ever told” referred to in the passage is the story of
[A]. Christmas. [B]. The Mets.
[C]. Moses. [D]. Roman Census Takers.