OBERLIN, Kansas (AP)-A postcard featuring a color drawing of Santa Claus and a young girl was mailed
in 1914, but its journey was much slower than Christmas. It has just arrived in northwest Kansas recently.
     The Christmas card was dated December 23, 1914, and mailed to Ethel Martin of Oberlin, apparently from
her cousins in Alma, Nebraska.
     "It's a mystery where it spent most of the last century," Oberlin Postmaster Steve Schultz said.
     "It's surprising that it never got thrown away," he said. "How someone has found it, I don't know."
     Ethel Martin has passed away, but Schultz said the post office wanted to get the card to a relative. That's
how the 93-year-old relic ended up with Bernice Martin, Ethel's, sister-in-law. She said she believed the card
had been found somewhere in Illinois.
     "That's all we-know," she said. "But it is kind of curious. We'd like to know how it got down there."
     "The card was placed inside another envelope with a modern postage stamp for the trip to Oberlin-the one
cent postage of the early 20th century wouldn't have covered it," Martin said.
     "We don't know much about it," she said. "But wherever they kept it, it was in perfect shape."

1. Who was supposed to have received the postcard?

A. Bernice Martin.
B. Ethel Martin.
C. Santa Claus.
D. Steve Schultz.

2. What seems quite mysterious is that _____.

A. how it was sent to a relative
B. the postcard was still in shape
C. where the old postcard was kept
D. the card was in a modern envelope

3. "the 93-year-old relic" refers to _____.

A. the Christmas card
B. an ancient cultural relic in Illinois
C. an envelope with modern postage
D. a house passed down by Ethel Martin

4. The best title of the passage would be _____.

A. A Special Christmas Card
B. Too Late Christmas Greetings
C. The Story of a Christmas Card
D. A Christmas Card Arrives Almost a Century Late

                                              Firecrackers greet return of Chinese astronauts
     China's second manned spacecraft returned on October 17 after orbiting the earth for five days. Astronauts
Fei Junlong, 40, and Nie Haisheng, 41, were flown to Beijing where they were given a hero's welcome after
their Shenzhou VI space capsule touched down in their remote steppes of the northern Chinese region of Inner
Mongolia.
     The two men were in good health after orbiting the earth 76 times covering 3.25 million kilometers. State
media hailed the mission as a technological breakthrough and this proved to the world China's power.
     Soon after the craft landed at 4:33 am (20:33 GMT), barely l km (half a mile) from its target, jubilant
residents in Fei's and Nie's hometowns set off firecrackers and performed traditional dragon and lion dances,
beating gongs and drums.
     "The motherland is so great!" the official Xinhua news agency quoted Fei's father as saying. Fei's mother
wept on learning of his safe return.
     State television gave live broadcast of the astronauts coming out of the spacecraft, unaided, and waving
to the recovery team, cameramen and photographers.
     Tang Xianming, director of the Manned Space Engineering Officer, told a news conference that China
would aim for a spacewalk by 2007 and consider putting a woman in space in the near future.

Firecrackers greet return of 1.____

     Star hurdler Liu Xiang returned home last night after spending about three months in the United States for
foot operation and recovery.
     Liu and coach Sun Haiping were followed away by officials after arriving at Shanghai Pudong airport at
around 6: 30 pm, and said nothing to the waiting media.
     Liu went straight to the Xinzhuang training base in Shanghai, where he will start on the comeback (恢復(fù))
through rehabilitation (復(fù)職) and training.
     Feng Shuyong, vice-director of China's Athletics Administrative Center, said a group of experts is on
standby at the training base to help with Liu's recovery.
     "The experts will give Liu a full check-up tomorrow or the day after and advise regularly on rehabilitation
in the coming months," Feng was quoted by qq. corn as saying.
     The foot injury forced defending champion Liu to quit from the 2008 Beijing Olympics last August after
he limped out of the Bird's Nest in the first round of the men's 110 m hurdles, bitterly disappointing adoring
home fans.
     The 25-year-old Athens Olympic and world champion had successful foot surgery in December at the
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, and had four calcium deposits (鈣物質(zhì)) removed from
his right Achilles tendon (跟腱).
     He spent the next three months in Houston for rehabilitation and basic training under the guidance of
doctors there.
     "His recovery is better than we expected. Doctors believe that after three months' rehabilitation and training,
he has actually achieved the level of recovery that generally needs four months," Feng said.
     Liu will, however, be absent from the ongoing annual Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
(CPPCC) meeting due to the recovery process. Feng said Liu is paying close attention to the meeting through
the Internet, and closely following issues such as athletes' education and life after retirement.
     It is the second time Liu has asked for leave from the annual session after being elected to the CPPCC: He
did not attend last year's meeting because he was at a key competition in Spain.

1. The best title for the passage is _____.

A. Fate and Challenge
B. Liu Xiang Returns after Operation Success
C. No Desire to Be a Representative of CPPCC
D. Happiness and Hardships behind Success

2. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. The experts will give Liu a full check-up and advise regularly on recovery in the coming months.
B. Liu and his coach were followed away by officials after arriving at Pudong airport at around 6:30 pm.
C. Liu paid close attention to the CPPCC meeting through the Internet, caring graduates' further education.
D. His foot operation was successful and four calcium deposits were removed from his right Achilles tendon.

3. The underlined word "limped" most probably means _____.

A. walked nervously
B. walked quickly
C. walked bitterly
D. walked lamely

4. Liu Xiang was absent from CPPCC in the first time because of _____.

A. recovery process
B. accepting the training
C. lecture abroad
D. a key competition

     BAGHDAD-An Iraqi soldier went on the rampage at a joint security station in northern Iraq on Wednesday,
shooting dead two US soldiers and wounding six, the US military said. 
                                         
     A US soldier looks at destroyed vehicles at a parking lot after a bomb attack in Baghdad November 12,2008.
A parked car bomb killed four people and wounded 14 others, including two policemen, in Sadoun street in
central Baghdad, police said. [Agencies]
     The US military said the soldier opened fire on the Americans at the station. one of many in which Iraqi and
US troops operate side by side, in the city of Mosul. "The soldiers were in the courtyard……an Iraqi soldier
entered and shot two soldiers, killing one, mortally wounding another,and then spraying the others," said US
army spokeswoman for northern Iraq Major Peggy Kageleiry.
     "He was engaged by counter-fire and killed," she added. A local morgue said it had received the body of the
Iraqi soldier, riddled with bullets.
     Two local police sources and an Iraqi army source, all of whom declined to be named because of the
sensitivity of the subject, said a quarrel had broken out between the Iraqi and US soldiers at the joint station.
     But Kageleiry denied there was any altercation between the soldiers before the shooting.
     "The US soldiers had no conversation with this soldier and there was no interaction of any kind before they
were murdered," she said.

1. What does the word "altercation" mean?

A. disagreement
B. conflict
C. quarrel
D. debate

2. Why didn't the local police sources tell their name?

A. Because they were afraid of American soldiers.
B. Because American soldiers quarreled with them.
C. Because the government asked them not to do so.
D. Because they didn't want to be involved in it.

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A. There was only one conflict between the two armies.
B. More people will die.
C. The quarrel caused the shooting.
D. Kageleiry was sure that American soldiers did nothing wrong.

     Latest news: A Chinese military helicopter involved in relief operations (救助工作) crashed in heavy fog
near the town of Yingxiu on Saturday with 14 people on board, according to China's official news agency,
Xinhua, which provided no details about injury.
     Earthquake relief operations in Sichuan Province have been hampered (阻礙) in recent days by intermittent
heavy rains. Roads throughout the affected area have been destroyed by the May 12 earthquake which has
already caused nearly 70,000 people's death, requiring evacuations by air in some areas and the transportation
of heavy equipment to the disaster zone by large military helicopters.
     Using air-dropped equipment, military engineers are working around the clock to drain rivers that have been
dammed by landslides caused by the earthquake. The risk of a bursting barrier dam near the town of
Tangjiashan threateds millions of people who live downstream, and the authorities have been working feverishly
in recent days to evacuate (疏散) hundreds of thousands of residents of the river's watershed area even as
they try to prevent a flood.
     It was not clear from initial reports whether the crashed helicopter was involved in this operation. Xinhua
reported that the aircraft had encountered "strong air currents" prior to the accident.

1. Where is this passage most probably taken from?

A. Daily newspaper.
B. Textbook.
C. Advertisement.
D. Monthly magazine.

2. Where is this passage most probably taken from?

A. Daily newspaper.
B. Textbook.
C. Advertisement.
D. Monthly magazine.

3. What's the possible reason for the air crash according to China's official news agency?

 A. Air currents and heavy fog.
B. An earthquake and heavy fog.
C. Air currents and heavy rains.
D. Air currents and evacuations.

School tragedy
     A man wounded eight school children to death and injured five others while they were waiting at their
school gate in Nanping City, Fujian Province, on the morning of March 23.
     Police arrested(put somebody into prison) 43-year-old suspect (嫌犯) Zheng Mingsheng, a former
community doctor in Nanping. Zheng is a native of Nanping and used to work at the Mazhan Community
clinic (診所), before quitting his job in June 2009.
     The local prosecutor (檢查官) said on March 24, Zheng, who showed no sign of any mental illness in
conversation, told investigators (people who were looking into the case) that he developed hatred (feeling
of hating somebody or something) toward society after failing to find a job and breaking up with his
girlfriend.
A Spring Festival
     Water-Sprinkling Festival, which comes in mid-April, is the new year of the Dai ethnic people (傣族人)
in southwest China's Yunnan Province. In face of the recent serious drought disaster, there have been calls
for calling off this year's festival celebrations.
     Droughts and floods are not new things. Still, the Water-Sprinkling Festival keeps going on year by year.
Indeed, this is a serious drought, but that is not a reason to call off this year's celebrations. After all, it is an
important event for Dai people to carry forward their culture.
     Of course, the drought will affect the celebrations to some extent. Given the seriousness of the disaster,
this year not so much water is available for sprinkling. So many Dai people suggest only symbolic activities
be held. They also call for donations to be made and prayer ceremonies for rain around the festival. This is
expected to be a special Water-Sprinkling Festival.
Coalmine Disaster
    A coalmine operated by Dongxing Coalmining Co. in Xinmi, Henan Province, where an underground fire
killed 25 miners on March 15 became a public concern.
     A local work safety regulator said the mine should have been going through technical reforms, but restarted
production without a license.
     After the tragedy, the police detained (扣押) an investor and several senior managing persons of the
coalmine. Four officials who are believed to have failed to perform their managing roles effectively, including
a vice mayor of Xinmi, were removed from their posts.

1. The suspect created a bloody case mainly because _____.

A. he caused a medical accident during an operation in the clinic and was fired
B. his girlfriend left him and married a teacher in that school
C. he became mentally disturbed after a set of failures in finance
D. he hated the whole society deeply after a series of failure in personal life

2. What happened to Dai people this year? _____.

A. Their Water-Sprinkling festival was called off thanks to the drought in Yunnan
B. They had to celebrate their annual Spring Festival simply without enough water
C. People throughout our country only donated to those earthquake-stricken areas in Qinghai
D. Their prayers for rain didn't come true

3. _____ probably led to Dongxing Coalmine disaster according to paragraph 2.

A. the restarting production without necessary technical and safety gurantees (保障)
B. an underground fire
C. the officials' failure to inspect the safety conditions of the coalmine
D. the bad management of Dongxing Coalmining Co. in Xinmi, Henan Province

4. Where can the news possibly be taken from?

A. A magazine about natural disasters
B. A newspaper on culture and custom
C. A news review magazine
D. A government report

     BEIJING, Nov. 30 - The Bird's Nest may have been built for last year's Summer Games but Beijing's
Olympic stadium will soon be aiming at fans of winter sports.
     As temperatures have begun to drop in recent weeks, so too has the number of visitors to the
80,000-seater venue, which cost 3.6 billion yuan ($527 million) to build.
     And, fearing another harsh (寒冷的) winter, National Stadium Co Ltd, which owns the Bird's Nest,
yesterday planed to spend 50 million yuan on a "snow festival". 　
     From Dec 19, visitors will be able to pay 120 yuan to enjoy skiing and snowboarding, among other
things, on its newly constructed slopes.
     The stadium owners expect to attract more than 20,000 visitors a day - twice as many as it currently
does-during the two-month festival, which will include events for both the Western and Chinese new years.
     Officials revealed it would take just 5,000 visitors a day to cover the costs of the project.
     "It's not a bad idea. You can ski on man-made snow in Dubai, so why not here?" said Heiko Grasse, a
tourist from Germany, yesterday.
     Famous outdoor equipment makers and local brands are in talks over sponsorship for the event, the
Bird's Nest owners said yesterday, while the capital's television network will also provide 500 hours of
coverage.
      "The Bird's Nest will not have a cold winter again," Wu Jingjun, the new president of National Stadium
Co Ltd, told China Daily yesterday. "We will create seasonal events almost every month from now on with
assistance from the government and, importantly, the public."
      Yang Cheng, a newly appointed vice-president of National Stadium Co Ltd, said the snow festival would run
for five consecutive winters if successful.

1. How many people visit The Bird's Nest a day before the"snow festival"?

A. About 80,000.
B. About 20,000.
C. About 10,000.
D. About 5,000.

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A. The"snow festival" will attract more visitors from China than the Western countries.
B. People aren't allowed to visit The Bird's Nest before Dec 19.
C. The"snow festival" would run for at least five winters.
D. More than 2.4 million yuan a day is expected to be made in the"snow festival".

3. What does Wu Jingjun mean by saying"The Bird's Nest will not have a cold winter again"?

A. The Bird's Nest will be kept at high temperatures in winter.
B. Winter Olympic Games will be held in The Bird's Nest.
C. The"snow festival" will provide many events in winter.
D. The Bird's Nest will get much more assistance from the government.

4. Which of the following may NOT be included in the"snow festival" events?

A. A football game.
B. Skiing.
C. Snowboarding.
D. A New Year's Party.

     TOKYO-Imagine a bicycle seat connected by mechanical frames (機(jī)械支架) to a pair of shoes for
an idea of how the new wearable assisted-walking machine from Honda works.
     The experimental machine, showed on Friday, is designed to support bodyweight, reduce stress on
the knees and help people organize steps and stay in crouching (蹲坐) positions.Honda showed a video
of its employees wearing the machine.
     Engineer Jun Ashihara also said the machine is useful for people standing in long lines and to people
who run around to make deliveries.
     "This should be as easy to use as a bicycle," Ashihara said. "It reduces stress, and you should feel
less tired."   
     To wear it, you put the seat between your legs, put on the shoes and push the "on" button.Then just
start walking around.
     In a test run for media, this reporter found it does take some time to get used to the machine. "I
could sense how it supported my moves, pushing up on my bottom when I crouched and pushing at my
soles (腳底) to help lift my legs when I walked," he said.
     The system has a computer, a motor, gears (齒輪), batteries and sensors in it, so it responds to a
person's movements, according to Honda Motor Co.
     Pricing and commercial product plans are still undecided. Japan's No.2 automaker will begin testing
a prototype (模型) later this month.
     The need for such mechanical help is expected to grow in Japan, which has one of the most rapidly
aging societies in the world.
     Other companies are also eyeing the potentially attractive market of helping the weak and the old get
around. Japan is among the world's leading nations in robotics technology, not only for industrial use but
also for entertainment and companionship.

1. Honda's new wearable assisted-walking machine is mainly to _____.

A. show Honda's power in technology
B. protect the environment
C. meet the social needs in the future
D. improve social progress

2. According to the passage, the power of the new wearable assisted-walking machine is from _____.

A. manpower
B. batteries
C. a computer
D. the machine movement

3. It can be learned from the passage that _____.

A. the new machine has been produced m large numbers
B. Honda will control the future market for the new machine
C. the price of Honda's new machine will be very low
D. the future market for the new machine will be promising

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Wearable machine that helps walk
B. Hondo's new bicycle for the old
C. Wearable machine helps go to work
D. New development of the bicycle

                                                       Obama still smokes in secret
     US President Barack Obama may have just made life more difficult for cigarette makers, but he still
smokes every now and then in secret.
     Obama, who has publicly struggled to quit smoking, said he still hasn't completely kicked the habit
even after signing a law this week that will likely set tough new rules for the tobacco industry.
      "As a former smoker I constantly struggle with it. Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am
I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No," Obama said at a news conference.
     "I don't do it in front of my kids, I don't do it in front of my family. I would say that I am 95 percent
cured, but there are times where I mess up," he said.
     The new law gives the US Food and Drug Administration the power to strictly limit the making and
marketing of tobacco products.
      At a White House signing ceremony Monday, Obama said that he was among the nearly 90 percent
of smokers who took up the habit before their 18th birthday.
      "Once you go down this path it's something you continually struggle with, which is exactly why the
law we signed is so important because what we don't want is kids going down that path in the first place,"
he said at the news conference.
     Nearly 20 percent of Americans smoke and tobacco use kills about 440,000 people a year in the United
States due to cancer, heart disease, and other serious diseases.

1. According to the passage, Obama _______.

A. was cured of a disease
B. had an accident
C. made Americans' life difficult
D. signed a law this week

2. What does the underlined sentence mean in the third paragraph?

A. Have I dropped from the wagon?
B. Have I stopped smoking completely?
C. Do I still smoke sometimes?
D. Do I still smoke as much as before?

3. Which of the follow is NOT TRUE?

A. Nearly 90 percent of the population of America smoke.
B. Nearly 90 percent of the smokers of America began to smoke before they turned 18.
C. Nearly 1/5 of Americans smoke.
D. Smoking kills about 440,000 people a year in the USA.

4. The new law first looks at _______ health.

A. adults'
B. middle-aged people's
C. women's
D. children's