PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7 — At 26, many people haven’t even decided on a career. Luke Ravenstahl, cashing in on his family’s political tradition, is already the mayor of Pittsburgh, the youngest mayor of any major city in the country. Although mayors elsewhere have been younger, Jeff Dunkel was 18 in 2001 when he was elected mayor of Mount Carbon, small towns in New York, and elsewhere have also elected teenagers as mayors. But, Tallahassee, is the only other city with a population over 100,000 that has had a mayor as young as Mr. Ravenstahl. A supporter of Mr. Ravenstahl said concerns about Mr. Ravenstahl’s age would dissipate once the city saw his work ethic.

 But now comes the hard part. As he strives to be taken seriously and take charge of a city only recently back from the brink of bankruptcy, the baby-faced mayor said that even the smallest decisions felt weighty, even what to wear in the Steelers game matters.

And another pressing issue is to strengthen the city’s economy. Pittsburgh has lost all its mills, nearly half its population and much of its downtown commercial district in the last several decades. “But Pittsburgh has 50,000 college students, and our challenge is to figure out how to retain them and to increase downtown development.” He said.

But one of the biggest uncertainties is how long he will remain in office. According to the city charter, Mayor Ravenstahl’s term will not expire until November 2009. Some city lawyers, however, have argued that he must face the electorate next year. And residents in Pittsburgh are still withholding judgment on him. Deli, Jimmy Cvetic, a sandwich shop owner, said “I call him Cool Hand Luke. He’ll be all right, but he’s going to need a cool hand to get through this.”

Mayor Ravenstahl said he was still coming to terms with the challenge he faced.

41. About Luke Ravenstahl, which of the following statements is correct?

He is the youngest mayor in the U.S.A.

His family background has contributed to his successful political career.

His young age has won support from media and young voters.

He will be mayor of Pittsburgh at least until 2009.

42. The underlined word “dissipate” in the first paragraph probably means________.

A. disappear                 B. appear                      C. spread               D. reduce

43. What can you infer from the article about Pittsburgh?

A. It is a small town in New York famous for steel mills.

B. It has always enjoyed prosperous economic success.

C. Many young college students there are the new hope of the district.

D. It is a major city in the U.S.A with a population slightly smaller than 100,000.

44. Where can you find this article?

A. A magazine      

B. A brochure about politicians

C. A newspaper

D. An advertisement about some mayor candidates

45. What kind of Challenges will not Luke Ravenstahl cope with?

A. Distrust from his citizens                      B. pressure from other outstanding young majors

C. economical standstill of his city              D. decreasing population in his city

For about 120 dollars, visitors to China’s Great Wall can now leave their mark on a fake (仿造) wall built recently in the name of preventing graffiti (亂畫) on the real structure.

   The management office of the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall in Beijing built the fake wall and will charge 999 yuan for carvings on each brick, daily newspaper The First reported.

  With 9,999 bricks available, the marble structure could help management earn 9.9 million yuan. Juyongguan’s management said they were hoping to satisfy visitor’s desire to leave something behind—usually their name or words of love—while discouraging them form caving graffiti on China’s best-known cultural relic.

   The Great Wall, which receives four million visitors a year, has suffered greatly from graffiti. But the project has come under some criticism with The First citing (引用) one expert as saying many schemes to ‘protect’ the wall are actually aimed at getting profits from the cultural treasure.

   The fake wall is located near the most-visited section of the real wall in Badaling and visitors usually travel to Juyongguan on their way to Badaling.

 [寫作內(nèi)容]

1.  以 約30個詞概括短文的要點；

2.  以約120個詞寫一篇短文，就“游客可付費在仿造長城上涂寫留言”這一事件發(fā)表你的看法，并包括如下要點：

1） 以你的實際或虛構(gòu)的經(jīng)歷談?wù)剬δ承┤讼矚g在旅游景點隨便涂鴉留言的看法；

2） 對于專門修一段仿造城墻讓游客付高價留言的做法你是贊成還是反對，并簡要陳述你的理由。

[寫作要求]

1.  可以參照閱讀材料的內(nèi)容，但不得直接引用原文中的句子。

2.  標(biāo)題自定，文中不能出現(xiàn)真實姓名和學(xué)校名稱。

閱讀理解

A

    Suppose you are reading a book. Suppose, too, you suddenly close your eyes. Can you still see the book? “Of course not,” you will say. But can you tell why? You would probably say, “When I close my eyes, my eyesight cannot get out of my eyes to get to the book.” But this explanation is wrong.

　　You cannot see any object unless light from that object gets into your eyes. Some of the things you see give off light of their own. The sun, the stars, a lighted lamp are examlpes that can be seen by their own light. Such things are luminous. Most of the things you see are not giving off light of their own. They are simply reflecting（反射的）light that falls on them from the sun or some other luminous body. The moon, for example, does not give off any light of its own. It is nonluminous. You see it because sunlight falls on it and some of it reflects in your direction. So moonlight is only secondhand sunlight.

　　When you look at a book, it sends to your eyes some of the light which falls on it, and you see the book. If light could be kept out from where you are so that there would be no light for the book to reflect, then you could not see the book even with your eyes wide open.

　　Light travels so fast that the time in which it travels from the book you are reading to your eyes is so short as if there were no time at all. Light reaches us from the moon, which is about 380, 000 kilometres away, in only a little more than a second.

　　56．You can not see the book when you close your eyes, because________.

　　A. your eyes are too close to it

　　B. closed eyes are out of sight

　　C. your eyesight cannot get to it

　　D. the light from it cannot get into your eyes

　　57．The word “l(fā)uminous” means________ .

　　A. visible                      B. lighted

　　C. giving off light                D. sunlight

　58．Light travels about ________ kilometres per second.

　　A. 380,000     B. 300,000     C. 400,000     D. 190,000

　　59．Which of the following is TRUE? ________.

　　A. All the things you can see give off light.

　　B. Light from the book is much shorter than that from the moon.

　　C. The moment you open your eyes the light from the book travels to your eyes.

D. Light travels so fast that there is no time for you to read.

B

   I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice.

   “Mom，come here！There's a lady of my size！”

   The mother rushed to her son；then she turned to me to apologize.

   I smiled and told her，“It's okay.”Then I talked to the boy，“Hi，I'm Darry Kramer.How are you？”

   He studied me from head to toe，and asked，“Are you a little mommy？”

   “Yes，I have a son，”I answered.

   “Why are you so little？”he asked.

   “It's the way I was born，”I said.“Some people are little.Some are tall.I'm just not going to grow any bigger.”After I answered his other questions，I shook the boy's hand and left.

   My life as a little person is filled with stories like that.I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.

   It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness.I stand three feet nine inches tall.I was born an achondroplasia dwarf(侏儒)．Despite this，I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.

   I didn't realize how short I was until I started school.Some kids picked on me，calling me names.Then I knew.I began to hate the first day of school each year.New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.

   But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life.I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage.What I lacked in height，I made up for in personality.

   I'm 47 now，and the stares have not diminished as I've grown older.People are amazed when they see me driving.I try to keep a good attitude.When people are rude，I remind myself，“Look what else I have－a great family，nice friends.”

   It's the children's questions that make my life special.I enjoy answering their questions.My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers(a person of the same age，class，position，etc.)，whatever size and shape they come in，and treat them with respect.

       60．Why did the mother apologize to the author?

       A．Because the boy ran into the author.

       B．Because the boy laughed at the author.

       C．Because the boy said the author was fatter than him.

       D．Because the mother thought the boy's words had hurt the author.

       61．When did the author realize that she was too short?

       A．When she grew up.

       B．When she was 47 years old.

       C．When she began to go to school.

       D．When she met the boy in the supermarket.

62．Which of the following word can best replace the underlined word“diminished”？

       A．Dismissed.       B．Increased.        C．Decreased.       D．Discriminated.

       63．How does the author feel about people's stares?

       A．Angry.            B．Calm.              C．Painful.           D．Discouraged.

C

Canada is one of the few nations in the world to have two official languages：English and French.There are 10 provinces in the country but only one of these—Quebec is known as“French Canada”.This is because it was founded by French explorers while British adventures discovered the rest.?

Canada left the British empire(帝國） in 1867 to become an independent country,and English and French have been recognized as the official languages ever since.?

Most people speak English as their first language and the two national television networks broadcast in English throughout the country.Apart from in Quebec and a few places on the east coast,French television is very rare.

The same goes for traffic signs and menus,for example.Outside of Quebec,there are only a few places where you’ll see traffic signs in French.In restaurants,it’s almost impossible to find French on the menu unless you are in the heartland(中心地帶）of French Canada.However,all products sold in Canada must,by law,have labels(標(biāo)簽）and instructions in both languages.?

In Canada’s English speaking provinces,official bilingualism(雙語）means that students can choose to complete a special French language course.Under this programme,they are taught most of their subjects in French.

If a student begins the course in kindergarten(幼兒園）or Grade One,it is likely that all their lessons will be in French.However,if they start at junior high school,25 per cent of the teaching will continue to be in English.

64.How many provinces are there in Canada??

A.Ten.                   B.Nine.                 C.Eleven.                     D.Two.?

65.Which country controlled Canada before its independence??

A.France.              B. Britain.             C.America.            D.Germany.?

66.Which of the following sentences is right??

A.English is the only official language,though French is also spoken there.?

B.The two national television networks broadcast both in English and French.?

C.All products sold in Canada must,by law,have labels and instructions in both English and French.?

D.The lessons in kindergarten or Grade One are likely to be only in English.

D

    English is fast becoming the language of science around the world, but what is its future among everyday speakers? One expert points out that the percentage(比率) of native English speakers is declining(降低) globally while the languages of other rapidly growing regions are being spoken by increasing numbers of people. But English will continue to remain widespread and important.  

   However, British language scholar David Graddol says English will probably drop in dominance(主導(dǎo)) by the middle of this century to rank, after Chinese, about equally with Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu. “The number of people speaking English as a first language continues to rise, but it isn’t rising nearly as fast as the numbers of many other languages around the world, simply because the main population group has been largely in the less developed countries where languages other than English have been spoken,” he says. 

   In a recent article in the journal Science, Mr. Graddol noted that three languages that are not near the top of the list of the most widely spoken now might be there soon. These are Bengali, Tamil, and Malay, spoken in south and southeast Asia.  

   David Crystal, the author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, says about 1.5 billion of the world’s six billion people speak it as a second tongue compared to the 400 million native speakers. But another expert on the English language says Mr. Graddol underestimates (低估) the future of its dominance. “Nobody quite knows what’s going to happen because no language has been in this position before. But all the evidence (證據(jù)) suggests that the English language snowball is rolling down a hill and is getting faster,” he said.  

67. In David Graddol’ s opinion, English will _______. 

     A. remain widespread and important     

B. be more important than any other language 

     C. lose its dominant position            

D. die away in the near future 

68. The underlined sentence in the last paragraph implies that ______. 

     A. snowballs will roll down faster than language balls 

     B. the English language snowball is rolling down faster than any time in the past 

     C. English language will soon drop in dominance 

     D. more and more language users will choose English 

69. How many experts does the passage mention who express their ideas about the future of English? 

     A. 2.           B. 3.       C. 4.          D. 5.   

70. What should be the best title for the passage? 

     A. English Remaining the Dominant Position    

B. The Future of English? Who Knows? 

     C. Opinions from Different Experts        

D. The English Language Snowball Rolling Down 

E 

   In many parts of the world, cars play an important role in daily life and many societies would not exist without them. So the idea that in 20 years’ time, no one will own cars may be hard to believe. But this is the prediction made by a team of transport researchers who are taken seriously, not only by government but also by car manufacturers.

   The Human Science and Advanced Technology Institute at Loughborough in the UK is part of an international research program. The team there believes that by 2020 all cars will be computerized, which will mean much saving, no accidents and better use of roads. The super-intelligent car of the 21st century will drive itself, and it will not be owned by one individual. Instead, we will have a choice of cars and change them as frequently as we change our clothing.

   According to Dr. David Davis , who leads the research team, these predictions are based on the rising cost of the car culture, which had blocked up our cities, polluted our air , and caused more deaths than both world wars put together.

   Davis says, cars will be fitted with some intelligent devices to regulate the distance between one car and another. The car will automatically speed up, or slow down, to match the speed of the car in front. Computers are much safer drivers than people, so cars in a road train will be able to drive much closer together than cars driven by people.

By 2010, Dr. David Davis believes, car technology will give motorists a clear view of the road, whatever the weather conditions, by projecting an image of the road ahead on to the car’s windscreen. And by 2020, cars will travel in convoy, linked to each other electronically. Cars will be connected by an electronic tow bar to the car in front to form “road –trains”. “The front vehicle in such a train burns the normal amount.” says Davis. “But all the others in the train would burn about ten percent of the normal amount, and so produce about ten percent of the pollution.”

71.We know from the passage that governments and car manufacturers _______

A. do not believe the prediction that no one will own cars by 2020

B. are devoted to the technological revolution in car industry

C. consider the predictions seriously

D. have put the super-intelligent car into mass production

72. Which of the following will be the characteristic of the cars of 2020?

The car will speed up out of control

We will own as many cars as we want

All cars will be driven by computers

Cars will produce more pollution than present ones

73. The leader of the research team believes that the present car culture will change because_________

cars play a very important role in daily life

many societies would stop functioning without cars

cars should not be owned by one individual

it causes many deaths to human society

74.The expression closest in meaning to the phrase “in convoy” in the last paragraph is________

A. in line        B. sidelong     C. side by side      D. shoulder to shoulder

75. What will happen if cars are joined to each other electronically in 2020?

Motorists will get a clear view of the road

The weather condition will not have effect on motorists

There will be less pollution caused by car

All trains will burn less fuel than present

Many patients who don’t want to tell their doctor how much they really drink are often more honest with a computer. The computer __31__ (use) for this purpose is programmed to be friendly. For example, if a patient called Ann says that __32__ her parents are dead, the computer will say: “I’m sorry to hear that, Ann.” Apart from expressing sympathy, the computer __33___ also question and remind. If a patient says he __34__ drinks alcohol, the computer can ask him, “Never? Not even at parties or at Christmas?” Does this direct contact __35__the patient and the computer mean that we do not need doctors any more?

       It depends. Computers are useful __36__ they do not look shocked if you say you drink two bottles of whisky __37__day. And they do not stop to talk on the phone as doctors often do.

       But ___38___ a doctor said, “We smile and we give a patient a handkerchief or put arm around her shoulder if she __39__ (cry). That is ___40___ people will always want us.”

A child who has once been pleased with a tale likes, as a rule, to have it retold in almost the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as formal texts. It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what, in the actual situation of the time and the child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better.

   A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not. As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises(出現(xiàn)) from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.

There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist; and that, instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history. I find such people, I must say so peculiar(奇怪的) that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girl-friend.

No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was.

41. The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when it is _______.

A. repeated without any change          B. treated as a joke

C. made some changes by the parent      D. set in the present

42. According to the passage, great fear can take place in a child when the story is _______.

A. in a realistic setting                   B. heard for the first time

C. repeated too often                       D. told in a different way

43. The advantage claimed(提出) for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it _______.

A. makes them less fearful

B. develops their power of memory

C. makes them believe there is nothing to be afraid of

D. encourages them not to have strange beliefs

44. The author’s mention of sticks and telephones is meant to suggest that _______.

A. fairy stories are still being made up

B. there is some misunderstanding about fairy tales

C. people try to modernize old fairy stories

D. there is more concern for children's fears nowadays

45. One of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales is that _______.

A. they are full of imagination

B. they just make up the stories which are far from the truth

C. they are not interesting

D. they make teachers of history difficult to teach

As a result of multi-media used in teaching, not only _______, but students become more interested in the lessons.

A. saved is teachers’ energy            B. is teachers’ energy saved

C. teachers’ energy is saved            D. is saved teachers’ energy

—Got your driving license?

—No. I _____ too busy to have enough practice, so I didn’t take the driving test last week.

A. will be                                   B. am                          C. have been                D. had been

Sometimes life gets a little dull. What used to be fun and different becomes boring. That is the time to look for something new. It is the time for a big idea to get your mind off everyday life. So why not search for extraterrestrial (地球外的) intelligence? Or even better, why not get your computer to do it for you?

    Over two million people have joined the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence（SETI）project. Based in California, the SETI project analyzes information taken from a giant radio telescope based in South America. Its task is to look for signals from outer space that might prove that life exists on other planets.

           Processing this information is far too big a job for one computer. So the SETI project workers divide the work among volunteers who visit their website. Each computer gets some information to work out from the SETI network through the Internet. This process is often known as “meta-computing”.

    It is a wonderful thought. You are sleeping, eating a meal or going out with friends. All this time, your computer is searching the stars for signs that might show something is out there trying to get in touch. Volunteers are proud of being involved in the SETI project. It shows that they understand the potential of computing. They know that it is more than just a way of working or playing games.

    Meta-computing may also be creating intelligence as well as looking for it. This idea is based on the theory that human intelligence is created by the way in which different parts of the brain communicate with each other. As the saying goes, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.” People who join the SETI project sometimes wonder whether their computer will become part of a huge network that has learned to think for itself.

According to the writer, meta-computing may be creating intelligence __________.

   A. because human beings are intelligent      B. because a computer works as the brain does

   C. because of a network of many computers   D. because of the number of computers

Which of the following shows the order in which the SETI network works?

   A. Radio telescope→SETI website→Volunteers’ computers→SETI base

   B. Radio telescope→SETI base→SETI website→Volunteers’ computers

   C. SETI base→SETI website→Volunteers’ computers→Radio telescope

   D. SETI base→Radio telescope→SETI website→Volunteers’ computers

The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to________.

   A. extra-terrestrial intelligence     B. human intelligence 

C. the SETI project              D. meta-computing

The passage mainly tells us about __________.

   A. a new way to work on the computer           B. a new way to work and play games

   C. a new way to search for life outside the earth    D. a new way to make life interesting and different.

I hear they’ve promoted Tom, but he didn’t mention ________ when we talked on the phone.

   A. to promote                      B. having been promoted 

C. having promoted                 D. to be promoted

Though Jack has failed twice in _____ PE test, he decided to have _____ third try.

A. the; the                     B. a; the                    C. a; a                    D. the; a