The year is 2094.  It has been announced that a comet(彗星) is heading towards the Earth.  Most of
it will miss our planet,but two pieces will probably hit the southem half of the Earth.
     On 17 July,a piece four kilometers wide enters the Earth's atmosphere with a massive explosion. 
 About half of the piece is destroyed,but the remaining part hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed
of sound. The sea boils and a huge hole is made in the sea bed.  Huge waves are created and spread
outwards from the hole.  The wall of water,a kilometer high,rushes towards southem Africa at 800
kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned.
     Before the waves reach South America,the second piece of the comet lands in Argentina.
Earthquakes and volcanoes are set off in the Andes Mountains.  The shock waves move north into
California and all around the Pacific Ocean.The cities of Los Angeles,San Francisco and Tokyo are
completely destroyed by earthquakes.  Millions of people in the southem half of the earth are already
dead,but the north won't escape for long.  Because of the explosions,the sun is hidden by clouds of dust,
temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined.  The sun won't be seen again for
many years. Wars break out as countries fight for food.  A year later,no more than 10 million people
remain alive.
     Could it really happen? In fact,it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The
dinosaurs were on the Earth for over 160 million years.  Then 65 million years ago they suddenly
disappeared.  Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a piece of object in space.  The dinosaurs
couldn't live through the cold climate that followed and they died out. Will we meet the same end?

1. What is mainly described in the passage?

A.  A historic discovery.                  
B.  An event of imagination.
C. A research on space.                    
D. A scientific adventure.

2. When the first piece hits the South Atlantic,it causes_________.

A. an earthquake                            
B. damages to cities
C. an Earth explosion                        
D. huge waves

3.  Why can't the northern half of the earth escape for long?    

A.  Because the land is covered with water.
B.  Because the light and heat from the sun can not reach the earth.
C.  Because people there can not live at the temperature of zero.
D. Because wars break out among countries.

4. By giving the example of dinosaurs,the author tries to prove_____.

A. animals could not live in the cold climate
B. what happened 65 million years ago was an invented story
C.  the human beings will die out in 2094
D. the Earth could be hit by other objects in space

1. Section One mainly tells about __________.

A. the part cities play in human civilization              
B. the development of the word "city"
C. why the Expo is held in Shanghai                        
D. where human civilization originated

2. The underlined word "it" in Section One refers to ____________.    

A. the civilization                    
B. the philosopher
C. the word                              
D. the city

3. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

4. In Section Three,the second paragraph explains how the creation is connected with the_______of the
Chinese word".

A. story    
B. meaning   
C. shape    
D. usage

5. The underlined word "stroke"in the second paragraph of Section Three means____. 

A. one of the ideas a word has  
B. a line made by a writing tool
C. a member of a family or the society   
D. a person who has met with trouble

     Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in
American culture (文化) the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses. A
woman's smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. It often causes confusion (困惑)
across cultures. For example, many people in Russia smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even
improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in
big cities). Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don't smile enough. In Southeast Asian culture, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.
     Our faces show emotions (情感), but we should not attempt to "read" people from another culture as we would "read" someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express
their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions.
Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions permitted. For example, in public
and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with
friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.
     It is difficult to generalize about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural
differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing
emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of
"reading" the other person incorrectly.

1. What does the smile usually mean in the U.S.?

A. Love.
B. Politeness.
C. Joy.
D. Thankfulness.

2. The author mentions the smile of the Vietnamese to prove that smile can ___ .

A. show friendliness to strangers
B. be used to hide true feelings
C. be used in the wrong places
D. show personal habits

3. What should we do before attempting to "read" people?

A. Learn about their relations with others.
B. Understand their cultural backgrounds.
C. Find out about their past experience.
D. Figure out what they will do next.

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

A. Cultural Differences
B. Smiles and Relationship
C. Facial Expressiveness
D. Habits and Emotions

     "Have a nice day!" may be a pleasant gesture or a meaningless. When my friend Maxie says "Have a
nice day" with a smile, I know she sincerely cares about what happens to me. I feel loved and secure since another person cares about me and wishes me well.
    "Have a nice day. Next!" This version of the expression is spoken by a salesgirl at the supermarket who is rushing me and my groceries out the door. The words come out in the same tone (腔調(diào)) with a fixed
procedure. They are spoken at me, not to me. Obviously, the concern for my day and everyone else's is
the management's attempt to increase business.
    The expression is one of those behaviors that help people get along with each other. Sometimes it
indicates the end of a meeting. As soon as you hear it, you know the meeting is at an end. Sometimes the
expression saves us when we don't know what to say "oh, you may have a tooth out? I'm terribly sorry,
but have a nice day."
    The expression can be pleasant. If a stranger says "Have a nice day" to you, you may find it
heart-warming because someone you don't know has tried to be nice to you.
    Although the use of the expression is an insincere, meaningless social custom at times, there is nothing
wrong with the sentence except that it is a little uninteresting. The salesgirl, the waitress, the teacher, and all the countless others who speak it without thinking may not really care about my day. But in a strange and
comfortable way, it's nice to know they care enough to pretend they care when they really don't care all
that much. While the expression may not often be sincere, it is always spoken. The point is that people say it all the time when they like.

1. How does the author understand Maxie's words?

A. Maxie shows her anxiety to the author.
B. Maxie really wishes the author a good day.
C. Maxie encourages the author to stay happy.
D. Maxie really worries about the author's security.

2. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?

A. The salesgirl is rude.         
B. The salesgirl is bored.
C. The salesgirl cares about me.   
 D. The salesgirl says the words as a routine

3. By saying "Have a nice day," a stranger may _____.

A. try to be polite to you          
B. express respect to you
C. give his blessing to you        
D. share his pleasure with you

4. According to the last paragraph, people say "Have a nice day"_______.

A. sincerely          
B. as thanks    
C. as a habit    
D. encouragingly

5. What is the best title of the passage?

A. Have a Nice Day-a Social Custom.
B. Have a Nice Day-a Pleasant Gesture.
C. Have a Nice Day-a Heart-warming Greeting.
D. Have a Nice Day-a Polite Ending of a Conversation.

     Usually,when your teacher asks a question,there is only one correct answer. But there is one question
that has
millions of correct answers. That question is "What's your name?" Everyone gives a different answer, but
everyone is
correct.
     Have you ever wondered about people's names? Where do they come from? What do they mean?
     People's first names,or given names,are chosen by their parents. Sometimes the name of a grandparent or other member of the family is used. Some parents choose the name of a well-known person. A boy
could be  named George Washington Smith;a girl could be named Helen Keller Jones.
     Some people give their children names that mean good things.  Clara means "bright" ; Beatrice means
"one who
  gives happiness" ;Donald means "world ruler" ;Leonard means " as brave as a lion".
      The earliest last names,or sumames,were taken from place names.  A family with the name Brook or
Brooks probably lived near a brook (小溪) ;someone who was called Longstreet probably lived on a
long,paved road.  The Greenwood
family lived in or near a leafy forest.
      Other early sumames came from people's occupations. The most common occupational name is
Smith,which means a person who makes things with iron or other metals. In the past,smiths were very
important workers in every town andvillage.  Some other occupational names are: Carter-a person who
owned or drove a cart;Potter-a person who made
pots and pans. The ancestors of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbors in their native
village.  The Carpenter's great-great-great-grandfather probably built houses and furniture.
     Sometimes people were known for the color of their hair or skin,or their size,or their special abilities.  When there were two men who were named John in the same village,the John with the gray hair
probably became John Gray.  Or the John who was very tall could call himself John Tallman.  John Fish
was probably an excellent swimmer and John Light-foot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer.
     Some family names were made by adding something to the father's name. English-speaking people
added-s or -son.
     The Johnsons are descendants of John;the Roberts family's ancestor was Robert.  Irish and Scottish
people added Mac or Mc or 0.  Perhaps all of the MacDonnells and the McDonnells and the O'Donnells
are descendants of the same Donnell.

1.  Which of the following aspects do the sumames in the passage NOT cover?    

A. Places where people lived.                
B. People's characters.
C. Talents that people possessed.              
D. People's occupations.

2.  According to the passage,the ancestors of the Potter family n.ost probably ____.

A. owned or drove a cart                      
B. made things with metals
C. made kitchen tools or contains              
D. built houses and fumiture

3. Suppose an English couple whose ancestors lived near a leafy forest wanted their new-bom 
    son 'o become a world leader,the baby might be named ______  

A. Beatrice Smith                            
B. Leonard Carter
C. George Longstreet                        
D. Donald Greenwood

4. The underlined word "descendants" in the last paragraph means a person's _____

A. later generations                            
B. friends and relatives
C. colleagues and partners                      
D. later sponsors

     What brings a nation together? Of the four choices - shared values, language, history, and religion, it's shared values. In our latest poll (民意調(diào)査), seven out of 16 countries chose values as the greatest factor (因索)bringing a nation
together, and six preferred language. Both choices scored high in the poll, suggesting that our values and how we
express them are closely linked Still, history was not forgotten in some countries, particularly in Mexico and Russia.
Even Canada and the United States chose national histories as the second-most important factor uniting their people.
The biggest surprise? Not one country picked religion as its top choice. 
     Respect your elders
     In most countries, the oldest
generation considered values more important to a nation than did those who are under 45 years old.
     Do you speak Canadian?
     Language scored lower in Canada than in all other countries polled, perhaps because the country speaks two
official languages, French and English.
      Church and state
      Most people polled do not connect their religious beliefs to their national pride. Religion ranked last in
13 countries - with France scoring it at 1%, the lowest of all.

1. According to the poll, what was the most important factor in bringing a nation together?

A. Language.        
B. Values.        
C. History.        
D. Religion.

2.In which country did language score the lowest in their national pride?    

A. Canada.          
B. Mexico.        
C. France.          
D. America.

3.According to the charts, shared values and language were considered equally important in             .  

A. Australia      
B. Brazil         
C. China            
D. India

    The meaning of the word" volunteer" may be a little different in different countries, but it usually means
" one who offers his or her services. "There are many different ways in which people can volunteer, such 
as taking care of sick people, working in homes for homeless children, and picking up garbage (垃圾)
from beaches and parks. Volunteers may work within their own countries or in other countries. They are 
often people with a strong wish to help those who are less fortunate than themselves. Volunteers don't 
expect any kind of pay.      
    At the root of volunteering is the idea that one person may have the ability to offer other services that 
can help other people. Tracy, a good friend of mine, however, recently came back from India with a new 
idea of what being a volunteer means. She worked for two and a half weeks in one of Mother Teresa's 
homes in Calcutta. The following is her story.      
    "I first heard about Mother Teresa in my high school. We watched a video(錄像) about her work in 
India and all over the world. I was so moved by her spirit to help others and her endless love for every 
human being that after I graduated from high school, I too wanted to try her kind of work. So with two 
friends I flew to Calcutta for a few weeks. "      
    "I was asked to work in a home for sick people. I helped wash clothes and sheets, and pass out 
lunch. I also fed the people who were too weak to feed themselves and tried to cheer them up. I felt it 
was better to share with them than to think that I have helped them. To be honest, I don't think I was 
helping very much. It was then that I realized that I had not really come to help, but to learn about and 
experience another culture (文化) that helped improve my own understanding of life and the world. "

1. According to the text, a volunteer refers to a person who_____     

A. is willing to help those in need without pay     
B. can afford to travel to different places     
C. has a strong wish to be successful     
D. has made a big fortune in life

2. Tracy started her work as a volunteer_____     

A. after she met Mother Teresa     
B. after she finished high school     
C. when she was touring Calcutta     
D. when she was working in a hospital

3. Why did Tracy choose to be a volunteer?     

A. She liked to work with Mother Teresa.     
B. She had already had some experience.     
C. She was asked by Mother Teresa to do so.     
D. She wanted to follow Mother Teresa's example.

4. What is Tracy's" new idea" ( Paragraph 2) of being a volunteer?     

A. Going abroad to help the sick.     
B. Working in Mother Teresa's home.     
C. Doing simple things to help the poor.     
D. Improving oneself through helping others.

    The flag, the most common symbol 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
hemselves.      
   These flags developed very slowly into modem 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.  

1. The best title for the passage would be____.     

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

2. The underlined word" vulnerable" in Paragraph 3 means“________"．   

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

3. The earliest flags were connected with heavenly power because__________．    

A. they could tell wind direction     
B. they could bring good luck to fighters     
C. they were handed down by the ancestors     
D. they were believed to stand for natural forces

4. What does the author know of the first national flag?    

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

5. What will 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.