Beijing is the capital of China. It is also one of the birthplaces of the Chinese civilization (文明) and one of the six ancient capital cities in China. It is the second biggest city with an area of 17,020 square kilometers. Beijing is changing every day and it is becoming more and more beautiful. Now there are a lot of new buildings, modern shopping malls and large markets.
In the past, Beijing was very clean and quiet and most people went to work or school by bike. Things have changed a lot. Now people can take the bus, the underground or the taxi to go to work or school. It is fast and convenient.
The changes in Beijing have brought many advantages but they have also caused some problems: air pollution, noise pollution, sandstorms and lots of traffic. 
【小題1】How many ancient capital cities are there in China?

“ABC”and “Banana Persons”
You may know the English letters A, B and C. But do you know there are people called “ABC”? You may like eating bananas. But do you know there are people called “banana persons”? If you don’t know, I will tell you. They are Chinese people like you and me, but they aren’t in China.Why do people call them like that?
“ABC” means American-born Chinese. An “ABC” is a Chinese,
but was born in the United States. Sometimes, people also call them
“banana persons”. A banana is yellow outside and white inside. So when
a person is a banana, he or she is white (American) inside and yellow (Chinese)
outside.
They are born in America and they live in America for a long time. Even
their nationality(國籍) is American. So they think like Americans and do things
like Americans. But they still have Chinese blood(血). Their parents, grandparents
or even great-grandparents were from China.They all have black eyes and black hair.
So they look like us Chinese people. For example, we all know the famous scientist
C.N.Yang. He is an “ABC” and he is a “banana person”. We like him, although(雖然)
his nationality isn’t Chinese.
【小題1】What does “ABC” mean?

Paris has a beautiful name, it is called the City of   1 . Do you know   2  it means? Many beautiful buildings in Paris are lighted (點(diǎn)亮) at   3 . The streets are very   4 . When you   5  in Paris, you needn’t turn on your headlights (車燈) even after dark.
Paris is full of life(充滿活力) all day and all night.   6  this is not the only reason for its beautiful name. For   7  of years, Paris has been the centre of science and art in the world.   8   scientists and artists (藝術(shù)家) have come to  9  here. For this reason, people  10  it the City of Lights.

Take a look at teenagers around, dressed in baggy-pants (寬松褲), drinking soft drinks such as coke, reading Japanese cartoons. Whether you are in Beijing, Wuhan or Hong Kong, you will get the same impression. But should we copy others or should we maintain (保留) our differences?
It sounds convenient that people around the world speak the same language, dress in the same style, eat the same food and play the same games. If the world was like this, you won’t feel strange in any corner of world. But just imagine living in such a strange world. How dull and colorless it would be!
Different kinds of food that people can taste, the colorful and fashionable clothes that we dress in and different languages we speak are all part of the different cultures that our ancestors left us. These differences represent their creativity (創(chuàng)造力) and talent. And we all enjoy different cultures in our daily lives. When you travel to other places, you want to see different things. When you talk to foreigners you expect to listen to interesting stories. These differences in culture are what make life colorful.
But the whole world is shrinking into a small village as globalization (全球化) takes effect and many different cultures are disappearing. In most big cities around the world people wear the same clothes. Fast food stores are everywhere. Hollywood movies are kicking traditional performing arts out of our lives. The colors of our life are disappearing.
There is joke that even the panda and zebra want to live a colorful life. So let’s take action to protect our colorful culture before it becomes as simple as black and white.
It’s not difficult. Learning some folk songs, trying on a traditional clothing and even eating local food instead of going to KFC can help. And we’re sure you will enjoy it.
【小題1】The passage is written to _______.

閱讀下面短文，從每題所給的A、B、C、D四個選項(xiàng)中選出最佳選項(xiàng)。

When visiting Beijing, the Palace Museum is a must-see for many people.
Last year, the museum received 14.2 million visitors, which is twice the number of visitors in 2002. This year it is expected to increase by 10 percent. Compared with other popular museums around the world, the number of visitors at the Palace Museum is very high. Last year the Louvre(羅浮宮) in Paris welcomed 8.8 million visitors and the British Museum in London received 5.8 million.
A large number of visitors can bring a lot of money from ticket sales. But there are also worries that people will do demage(破壞) to relics(文物) and old buildings.
To solve the problem, some people suggested taking cultural objects out of the Palace Museum. In this way, visitors coming for ancient buildings and cultural objects will go to different places. “It is a sign of progress. Letting more people see these treasures is more important than keeping them in their original(原始的) place,” said Song Xiangguang, a professor at Peking University.
However, Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum, doesn’t agree on this idea. He thinks that the most important thing in protecting the Palace Museum is to keep it complete. “The 1.8 million cultural relics and the historical buildings are two key parts of the museum. They can’t be separated.” he said.
Shan said that they are planning to increase the space that is open to the public. This will not only feed visitors’ curiosity(好奇), but also spread them out so they are not putting too much pressure on one area.
Shan also wanted to set up an appointment system. “ If visitors make an appointment before they come, we can make better and different visiting routes(路線) for them.” Shan said.

【小題1】How many visitors did the Palace Museum welcome in 2002?

Hi, everybody!
Welcome to our newly-opened Richards Cinema Bookstore!
Now let me introduce some of the new film books in our store to you.
Are you Chinese film fans? OK, here comes the latest 25 New Takes about Chinese films. It is a collection of 25 fresh readings of different Chinese films from the 1930s to the present. In recent years, Chinese films are very popular in the States, such as Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon, Hero, and Flowers of Shanghai.
Do you like French films? Well, here is The French Cinema Book. It covers French films from the 1890s to the beginning of the 21st century. It is written for all lovers of French films: students and teachers, experts (專家) and fans, and so on.
Maybe you are Indian film fans and star fans. Then here is Encyclopedia (百科全書) of Indian Cinema. The book is a complete introduction to all the best Indian films. It also offers a full list of names of the famous and successful film stars in the past ten years. You know, the Indian film industry is the largest in the world after our Hollywood.
If you like British films, we have The British Cinema Book. It is a good review of British films.
In our bookstore, you can also find books about Japanese, Australian, German and Italian films.
Well, please help yourselves to some coffee or tea, and have a good time here!
【小題1】The speaker of the passage is most probably ________.

Nothing beats sitting down in front of the TV with some delicious candy or tasty French fries.
Recently, an online list of favorite snacks in China became popular. It says that peanuts (花生), walnuts (核桃) and chocolate are good for our health, but jelly (果凍), potato chips and lollipops (棒棒糖) are “bad” for us.
Kids, though, hardly care if the snacks are good or bad for their health. They love them either way. Some snacks often have special importance in a certain country or culture.
Potato chips and French fries are very popular in the US. They are cheap and tasty. People don’t need to wait for a long time to eat it. Popcorn is another common snack. People love eating it when they are watching sports games or visiting the amusement park. Most cinemas sell it to attract customers.
In the UK, kids often sit down for snacks after school. They call this “afternoon tea”. A traditional afternoon tea includes biscuits (餅干) and tea. People also have scones (烤餅) with jam and cream, which is probably the most classic English snack.
In South Korea, Choco Pie is one of the most popular snacks. It’s also a favorite of soldiers. The sweet snack makes them happy and helps them get through hard times.
However, it is not just about what you eat as a snack – it’s how much you eat and when. Chips and French fries are high in calories(卡路里) and eating too much may make you fat. Sweet snacks like candy and chocolate are high in sugar and eating a lot may give you bad teeth.
【小題1】From the passage, we can know popular snacks in different countries except_______.

People use money to buy food, books and hundreds of other things they need. When they work, they usually get paid in money.
Most of the money used today is made of metal or paper. But in the time long ago, people used to use all kinds of things as money. One of the first kinds of money was shells.
In China, cloth and knives were used as money. Elephant tusks(牙), monkey tail and salt were used in some parts of the world. Rice was also a kind of money used by the people in some islands. Some animals were used as money, too.
The first copper coins were made in China. They were round and had a square hole in the center. Different countries have used different metals for their money. Later, some countries began to make coins of gold and silver(銀). But gold and silver were heavy to carry when people needed a lot of coins to buy something expensive. The Chinese were the
first to use paper money. The first paper money looked more like a note from one person to another than the paper money used today.
Money has had an interesting story from the days of shell money till today.
【小題1】People usually use money          ．

You may know the English letters A, B and    C. But do you know there are people called ABC? You may like eating bananas. But do you know there is such a thing a "banana person"? How strange! Are these people from “another earth”? No, they are just Chinese people like you and me.
ABC means American–born Chinese. An ABC is a Chinese, but was born in the United States. Sometimes, people call an ABC a “banana person”. A banana is yellow outside and white inside — looking like a Westerner and yellow outside — looking like a Chinese.
Do you know why? Usually, ABCs know little about China or the Chinese language. Some of them don’t speak Chinese. Also, they are not interested in Chinese politics.
But if ABCs can not speak Chinese, can we still call them Chinese people? Yes, of course. They are Chinese. They are overseas Chinese. These people may be citizens (公民)of another country like the US, Canada or Singapore. But they have Chinese blood.Their parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents were from China. They all have black eyes and black hair. But they are not Chinese citizens. They are not people of the People’s Republic of China. For example, we all know the famous scientist C .N.Yang (楊振寧). H e got the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1957. Chinese people love him. But he is an American citizen.
【小題1】“ABC” in this passage means “____________”.