The snow is three feet in_____(深).

This point is not really _____(切題) and we’d better move on.

Even bird brains can get to know an entire continent ----- but it takes them a year of migration to do so, suggests a Princeton research team.

   The scientists have shown that migration adult sparrows can find their way to their winter nesting grounds even after being thrown off course by thousands of miles.

   The team first brought 30 sparrows to Princeton from northern Washington State, where the birds had been in the process of migrating southward from their summer breeding grounds in Alaska. Half the birds were juveniles(少年) of about three months in age that had never migrated before, while the other half were adults that had made the round trip to their wintering site in the south-western United States at least once.

   After the birds were released, they attempted to resume(重新開始) their migration, but both age group grew disoriented(迷失方向) quickly.

   “All the birds scattered(分散) at first,” Wikelski said. “It was clear that they were turned around for a couple of days. But while the adults eventually realized they had to head southwest, the younger birds resumed flying straight southward as though they were still in Washington.”

   “The adults,” said team member Richard Holland, “recovered their bearings because they possess something the younger birds do not, which is an internal map.”

   “These birds need two things to know where they are and migrate effectively: a ‘map’ and a ‘compass’,” said Holland, a postdoctoral research associate in Wikelski’s lab. “What we’ve found is that juveniles use their compass, but the adults also use their map.”

   Holland said, “The birds do not lose the compass as they age, but somehow develop the map, eventually applying both tools to keep on track during migratory flights. Scientists already have determined that the compass is based on the sun or the magnetic field, but where the map comes from remains a mystery----one that the team will be exploring in coming years.”

52. Where did the 30 sparrows spend their summer?

A. Princeton            B. Washington 

C. Alaska                D. In the southwestern United States

53. We can know from the passage that the juveniles of sparrows _____.

A. will follow the adults in their flights  B. will find their destination eventually

C. will lose the compass as they age     D. still lack an internal map

54. Scientists are still not sure ______.

A. what guides sparrows in their migratory flights

B. what a ‘compass’ is based on

C. what a ‘map’ is based on

D. in what way magnetic field can help sparrows in their flight

55. We can conclude from the last paragraph that _____.

A. sparrows need both a ‘map’ and a ‘compass’ in migratory flights

B. only the adults need a ‘map’ to guide them in migratory flights

C. the map is more important than a compass

D. the adult sparrows can rely on a ‘map’ or a ‘compass’

  Since 1989, Dave Thomas, who died at age 69, was one of the most recognizable faces on TV. He appeared in more than 800 commercials(商業(yè)廣告) for the hamburger chain named for his daughter. “As long as it works,” he said in 1991, “I’ll continue to do those commercials.”

   Even though he was successful, Thomas remained troubled by his childhood. “He still won’t let anyone see his feet, which are out of shape because he never had proper-fitting shoes.” Wendy said in 1993. Born to a single mother, he was adopted as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Kalamazoo in Michigan. After Auleva died when he was 5, Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction work. “He fed me,” Thomas said, “ and if I got out of line, he’d beat me.”

   Moving out on his own at 15, Thomas worked, first as a waiter, in many restaurants. But he had something much better in mind, “I thought if I owned a restaurant,” he said, “I could eat for free.” A 1956 meeting with Harland Sanders led Thomas to a career as the manager of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire in 1968.

   In 1969, after breaking with Sanders, Thomas started the first Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, in Columbus, Ohio, which set itself apart by serving made-to-order burgers. With 6,000 restaurants worldwide, the chain now makes $6 billion a year in sales.

   Although troubled by his own experience with adoption, Thomas, married since 1954 to Lorraine,66, and with four grown kids besides Wendy, felt that he could offer a future for other children. He started the Dave Thomas Foundation(基金會)for Adoption in 1992.

   In 1993, Thomas, who had left school at 15, graduated from Coconut Creek High School in Florida. He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party. The kids voted him Most Likely to Succeed.

   “The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave,” said his friend Pat Williams. “He wasn’t a great actor or a great speaker. He was just Joe Everybody.”

48. What is the article mainly about?

A. The life of Dave Thomas           B. The dream of Dave Thomas

C. The schooling of Dave Thomas  D. The growth of Dave Thomas’ business

49. Choose the right time order of the following events in Thomas’ life.

a. graduated from high school    b. started his own business

c. became a millionaire              d. started a foundation

e. met Harland Sanders

A. e, b, c, d, a  B. a, e, c, b, d  C. e, c, b, d, a  D. a, e, b, c, d

50. “He was just Joe Everybody.” (in the last paragraph) means _____.

A. Dave was famous             B. Dave was ordinary

C. Dave was showy              D. Dave was shy

51. What is the name of Dave Thomas’ business?

A. Thomas’      B. Wendy’s     C. Lorraine’s     D. Rex’s

DJs(disc jockeys) are the people who play and present music on the radio, or in nightclub. A VJ(video jockey) is a person who introduces music videos on television.

VJs were first seen on television in the early 1980s when MTV went on the air. As MTV became popular, and the audience for music videos expanded, a variety of other music video channels started broadcasting. In addition to rock music, there were channels for people who had a lot of interest in alternative kinds of music, such as country music, light music, and R＆B(rhythm and blues節(jié)奏藍調), and all of these channels needed VJs. By the 1990s, international music video channels like Channel V in Asia and VIVA in Europe had started.

The VJs for the new international stations had to be chosen carefully. Although some VJs did shows that focused on small audiences and showed mostly local content, other VJs presented shows for international viewers. These VJs, and the material they presented, needed to be popular in several different cultures.

One successful international VJ in Asia is Asha Gill. She is from Malaysia, but her parents and grandparents are from India, France and England. She speaks three languages and has fans across Asia, from Japan to the United Arab Emirates.

Another VJ who has made a big hit in Asia is Lili. She is actually a computer-

Animated(用計算機繪制的) VJ on MTV Asia. An actress wearing special computer equipment makes Lili move like a puppet(木偶). The actress also talks for Lili, and her shows can be seen in five languages.

   When asked what makes a good video jockey, many successful VJs have given similar answers. To be a good VJ you need to know a lot about music, you need to be funny, and you can’t be shy.

44. The passage is mainly about _____.

A. how to become a VJ       

B. the most popular VJ today

C. the differences between DJs and VJs 

D. some general information about VJs

45. What do Channel V and VIVA have in common?

A. They are both owned by MTV

B. They are music video channels in Asia

C. They have viewers in more than one country

D. They do not use VJs to introduce music

46. Which is NOT true about Asha Gill?

   A. She speaks more than one language

   B. Her family were all born in Malaysia

   C. She’s popular in quite a lot of Asian countries

   D. She is a successful VJ

47. Which of the following does the passage NOT mention as being important for someone who wants to be a VJ?

   A. Speaking many different languages  B. Listening to a lot of music

   C. Talking easily with different people  D. Being able to make people laugh

   There are now about 376 million people who speak English as their first language and about the same number who have learnt it in addition to their mother tongue. There are said to be one million people learning English now and about 80% of the information on the Internet is in English.

   Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Should we celebrate the fact that more and more of us can communicate, using a common language, across countries and cultures? Or should we worry about dangers of “non-culturalism”, a world in which we all speak the same language, eat the same food and listen to the same music?

   Does it matter if an increasing number of people speak the same language? Not necessarily, I have never agreed that if only we all understood each other better, there would be fewer wars. Ask the people of India, where many of them speak at least some English, and Pakistan, the same situation with India…

   If we all speak English, will we then all start eating McDonald’s burgers? Surely not. If English becomes more dominant(控制), will it kill other languages? I doubt it. When I travel in Africa or Asia, I am always surprised by how many people can speak not only their own language but often one or more other related languages, as well as English and perhaps more French or German as well.

   When we discussed this on Talking Point a couple of years ago, we received a wonderfully poetic e-mail from a listener in Ireland. “The English language is a beautiful language. Maybe it’s like a rose,” he said. “But who would ever want their garden just full of roses?”

   Well, I love roses and I think they make a beautiful addition to any garden. But the way I see it, just by planting a few roses, you don’t necessarily need to pull out everything else. If more and more people want to plant English roses, that’ll be fine by me.

41. By saying “Ask the people of India… and Pakistan…”(in Paragraph 3), the author is trying to show that______.

A. speaking the same language doesn’t necessarily bring peace

B. wars can destroy the relationship between two countries

C. English doesn’t kill other languages

D. English is widely used in the world

42. What does “rose” in the last paragraph stand for?

A. The world   B. A kind of flower   C. A language   D. The earth

43. This passage is mainly about _____.

A. why English has become a global language

B. how many people in the world speak English

C. how people in the world learn English as a foreign language

D. whether we need to worry about English being a world language

Curt and I have the kind of friendship that I wish everyone would be able to experience.

Our friendship __21__ many years ago. We met while __22__ different high schools. As years passed, we became good friends. Curt was the best man(伴郎) in my wedding, and I was __23__ a few years later when he married my sister’s roommate. And yet the event that most showed our partnership and __24__ our friendship happened over 25 years ago, when we were in our 20s.

Curt and I were attending a pool party at the local Swim and Racquet Club. We were walking to the car, joking about the party, and Curt __25__ me and said, “Steve, you’ve had too much __26__. Maybe I should drive.” At first I thought he was __27__, but since Curt is definitely the wiser of us, I __28__ his judgment.

 “Good idea,” I said, and handed him the __29__.

After I was settled in the passenger seat and Curt sat behind the wheel, he said, “I’m going to need your __30__ because I’m not sure how to get to your house from here.”

 “No problem,” I__31__.

Curt started the car and we were __32__. The next 10 miles seemed like a hundred as I prompted(提示) Curt with __33__: left now, right soon, slow down, speed up and so on. The important thing was that we got home __34__ that night.

Ten years later at my wedding, Curt brought __35__to the eyes of 400 guests as he told the story of our partnership and __36__ we drove home together that night. Why was it such a(n)__37__ story? We would all, I hope, offer our keys __38__ we knew we shouldn’t drive. But you see, my friend Curt was blind. He had been blind from__39__ and never sat behind the wheel of a car__40__ that night.

It’s important to weigh all ____ information to find out the truth of what is reported. 

A. suitable     B. relevant     C. satisfactory     D. proper 

 ------The windows must have taken you quite a long time that day.

 ------ Right. They _____ for weeks.

A. haven’t been cleaned          B. didn’t clean

C. hadn’t been cleaned            D. haven’t cleaned