I was in a strange city and I didn't know the city at all, and what is more, I could not speak a word of the language. After having spent my first day in the town-centre, I decided to lose my way on my second day, since I believed that this was the simplest way of getting to know the strange city. www.

I got on the first bus that passed, rode on it for several stops, then got off it and walked on. The first two hours passed pleasantly enough. Then I decided to turn back to my hotel for lunch. After walking about for some time, I decided I had better ask the way. The trouble was that the only word I knew of the language was the name of the street in which I lived and even then I pronounced it badly.

I stopped to ask a friendly-looking newspaper-seller. He smiled and handed me a paper. I shook my head and repeated the name of the street and he put the paper into my hands. I had to give him some money and went on my way. The next person I asked was a policeman. The policeman listened to me carefully, smiled and gently took me by the arm. There was a strange look in his eyes as he pointed left and right and left again. I thanked him politely and began walking in the direction he pointed.

About an hour passed and I noticed that the houses were getting fewer and fewer and green fields were appearing on either side of me. I had come all the way into the countryside.

The only thing left for me to do was to find the nearest railway station.

The writer believed that if you wanted to get to know a strange city, ______.

A．you should go everywhere on foot      B．you should have a map

C．you should ask people the way              D．you should get lost

The newspaper-seller ______.

A．could understand what he said        B．didn't know what he said

C．laughed at him                             D．didn't want to take the money

The writer's real trouble was that _______.

A．he couldn't speak the language              B．he followed the policeman's direction

C．he took the wrong bus                          D．he left the town-centre

The policeman ______.

A．didn't help him                                 B．pointed at him

C．didn't understand what he really meant          D．didn't know the way

From babies to body builders, we all have muscles. They grow, they bulge(鼓起), they stretch they stretch and sometimes they even painfully pull. But for all the work they do for us, we are still unable to crown one as "the strongest muscle."

       Instead, a few muscles could claim the title, depending on how strength is measured.

       If the title goes to the muscle that can exert(產(chǎn)生) the most force, the victor would be the soleus（小腿肚肌）, according to Gray's Anatomy（解剖學）. Without this muscle, we wouldn't be able to stand, walk, run or shake our bodies on the dance floor. If the soleus was not continuously pulling, we would always be falling over ourselves (although some of us tend to do that from time to time anyway).

       But perhaps the title should go to the muscle that exerts the most pressure. Pressure is different from force — pressure takes into account the area over which a force is exerted. The muscle that takes the prize for delivering the greatest amount of pressure is the masseter, or the jaw muscle, according to the book "Clinical Oral Science" (Reed Educational and Professional Publishing, 1998).

       In 1986, Richard Hofmann of Lake City, Fla., achieved a bite strength of 975 pounds (442 kilograms) for two seconds, setting a Guinness Record. Talk about jaw dropping! The jaw is able to clench（咬緊） and chew because of the masseter muscle.

       Others may argue the muscles used in childbirth are the most powerful.

       When it comes to versatility, perhaps the tongue is the strongest muscle. Its combination of elasticity（伸縮性） and forcefulness gives us the ability to speak, eat and kiss – all things very desirable on a first date. However dexterous（靈巧的） it may be though, its power does not match that of muscles such as the soleus.

       If slow and steady wins the race, the heart is certainly a contender for the title. When it contracts, the muscle pumps about 2 ounces (59 milliliters) of blood, and is constantly working over a lifetime. Beating about 40 million times a year, a person's heart will beat approximately 2.5 billion times by the time of their 70th birthday.

According the passage, the underlined word “contender” in the last paragraph is closet in meaning to “           ”.

       A．failure      B．partner     C．muscle      D．competitor

Which would be t he best title for the passage?

       A．What’s the strongest muscle in the human body?

       B．who is the strongest person in the world?

       C．What are the functions of different muscles?

       D．What are the standards of the strongest muscle?

According to the passage,        .

       A．Without the soleus, we could still stand, walk, run or shake our bodies on the dance floor

       B．a(chǎn) few muscles could be the winners, according to different measures

       C．the muscles used in childbirth are the most powerful

       D．tongue is the strongest muscle for delivering the greatest amount of pressure

What would be discussed in the following paragraph?

       A．Another possible strongest muscle. B．the conclusion of the strongest muscle.

       C．The functions of different muscles. D．the Guinness record of strongest muscle.

For many people, the name Baskin-Robbins is linked to sweet memories of eating ice cream．Irvine Robbins, who helped create this famous company, died in May at the age of ninety．His life's work of making fun and exciting ice cream flavors changed the way Americans enjoy this food．

       Irvine Robbins opened his first ice cream store in 1945 in California．At the time, there were no stores that sold only ice cream．His sister's husband, Burton Baskin, also opened his own ice cream stores．

       In 1948 they combined their six stores into one business．Baskin and Robbins realized that they were too busy to operate each store well．So, they decided to sell part of each operation to the manager of that store．This permitted the company to grow quickly．

       By 1953, they renamed their company Baskin-Robbins．They advertised that they sold 31 kinds of ice cream to show the many choices buyers had．There was one flavor for every day of the month．

       Robbins and Baskin sold "Lunar Cheesecake" the day after astronauts landed on the moon in 1969．Other flavors included "ChaChaCha", for cherry chocolate chip, and Robbins' personal favorite "Jamoca Almond Fudge"．They said: "We sell fun, not just ice cream．"

       By 1967, there were 500 Baskin-Robbins stores in the United States．The business partners sold their company that year．Today, there are more than 5,800 Baskin-Robbins stores around the world．

What is the main idea of the passage?

       A．The managers of Baskin-Robbins．     B．The start of Baskin-Robbins．

       C．The production of Baskin Robbins．     D．The great success of Baskin-Robbins．

From the text we learn that _____．

       A．Baskin-Robbins was the only shop selling ice cream in 1945

       B．Baskin-Robbins was famous for their special ice cream flavors

       C．Baskin-Robbins grew quickly because they combined their other stores together

       D．there had been more than 5,800 Baskin-Robbins stores around the world by 1967

What was probably the main reason for Baskin-Robbins' success?

       A．They sold not only ice cream, but fun．

       B．They renamed their company．

       C．They put all their hearts into the business．

       D．They sold "Lunar Cheesecake"．

It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that

       A．Jamoca Almond Fudge is Baskins' favorite

       B．Cherry chocolate chip sells best

       C．Robbins and Baskin were good at inventing new ice creams

       D．Lunar cheesecake was invented for the astronauts

Scientists say they now have proof to support the old-fashioned advice that it’s best to sleep on a problem．They say sleep strengthens the memory and helps the brain organize the masses of information we receive each day．

       The lead researcher Bob Stickgold at the Harvard Medical School said, “Sleep helps us draw rules from our experiences．It’s like knowing the difference between dogs and cats even if it’s hard to explain．”

       The US research team studied how well students remembered connections between words and symbols, reports New Scientist．They compared how the students performed if they had had a sleep between seeing the words and having the test, and if they had not slept．They found that people were better able to remember lists of related words after a night’s sleep than after the same time spent awake during the day．They also found it easier to remember themes that the words had in common．But they forgot around one in four more themes if they had been awake．

       Prof．John Groeger, of Survey University’s Sleep Research Centre, said, “People have been trying for years to find out what the purpose of sleep is, as we know that only certain parts of it have a restorative （促使康復的）value．”

       “We form and store huge numbers of experiences in the head every day, and sleep seems to be the way the brain deals with them all．”

The phrase “to sleep on a problem” in Paragraph 1 most likely means “________”．

    A．to pay full attention to a problem           

       B．to wait until the next day for a decision

    C．to sleep to forget a problem                

       D．to have difficulty in sleeping

In the study by the US research team, students were asked to ________．

    A．put together words of similar meanings      

       B．remember words and their meanings

    C．show their knowledge of words             

       D．make up lists of related words

Which of the following may be easier to remember?

    A．Themes learned right before the test．       

       B．Rules from personal experiences．

    C．Words learned before a good sleep．  

       D．Ideas stored together in the brain．

What may be the importance of the research?

    A．It shows that sleep may help us manage information．

    B．It helps find out the common themes of words．

       C．It tells us that more sleep can improve health．

       D．It proves the value of old-fashioned advice．

Write an English composition in 120~150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.

就你讀過的一本書，寫一篇讀后感。具體要求如下：

·寫出書名及作者

·簡單介紹書中你最感興趣的人物、情節(jié)或思想（三者選一即可）

·說明感興趣的理由

I’m sure you will do better in the test because you ______ so hard this year．

       A．studied            B．had studied

       C．will study        D．have been studying

The young lady responded to my greeting with a ______ look as if I were air, which made me feel somewhat embarrassed. 

A. vacant                   B. grateful                C. desperate              D. curious

It is _____ Tom often surfs the Internet playing games ______ makes his parents very angry.

A. 不填; that  B. what; that   C. that; that    D. that; what

Was it through Mary, _____ was working at a high school, ____ you got to know Tom?

A. who; who          B. that; which C. who; that   D. who; which

Do you sometimes argue about what seems to you to be simple fact? Do you argue whether it’s cold outdoors or whether the car in front of you is going faster than the speed limit?

If you get into such arguments, try to think about the story about the six blind men and the elephant. The first blind man who felt the elephant’s trunk said it was like a snake. The second who felt the elephant’s side said it was like a wall, while the third said it was like a spear as he touched the animal’s tusk. The fourth, who got hold of the elephant’s tail insisted that it was like a rope. The fifth man said it looked like a tree as he put his arms around one of the elephant’s legs. The sixth, who was tall and got hold of the elephant’s ears, said it was like a huge fan.

Each man’s idea of the animal came from his own experience. So if someone disagrees with you about a “simple fact”, it’s often because his experience in the matter is different from yours.

To see how hard it is for even one person to make up his mind about a “simple fact”, try this simple experiment. Get three large bowls. Put ice water in one. Put hot water in the second. Put lukewarm water in the third. Now put your left hand in the ice water. Put your right hand in the hot water. After thirty seconds, put both hands in the lukewarm water. Your right hand will tell you the water is cold. Your left hand will tell you it’s hot!

What makes people think about simple facts differently?

A. The fact that simple facts differ from one another.

B. The fact that people have different experience in the same simple fact.

C. The fact that people often disagree with one another.

D. The fact that it’s hard to make up one’s mind about simple facts.

Which of the following temperatures can the word “l(fā)ukewarm” be applied to?

A. Around 1℃              B. Above 60℃    C. Around 25℃      D. Below 0℃

After reading the last paragraph, we may think of        .

A. Newton’s law                  B. Gallileo’s theory of falling objects

C. Einstein’s theory of relativity      D. Marx’s On Capital

The main idea of this passage is         .

A. people often judge something according to his own experience

B. people often agree about simple facts

C. it’s hard for a person to make up his mind about a simple fact

D. don’t care too much about simple facts