It was a simple letter asking for a place to study at Scotland’s oldest university which helped start a revolution in higher education. A 140-year-old letter written by a lady calling for her to be allowed to study medicine at St Andrews University has been discovered by researchers. Written by Sophia Jex-Blake in 1873, the seven-page document, which urged the university to allow women to study medicine at the institution, was released yesterday on International Women’s Day.
The document was discovered buried in the university archives (檔案) by part-time history student Lis Smith, who is completing her PhD at St Andrews Institute of Scottish Historical Research. She said: “We knew that Sophia Jex-Blake and her supporters, in their effort to open up university medical education for women, had written to the Senatus Academicus (校評(píng)議委員會(huì)) at St Andrews in an attempt to gain permission to attend classes there, but we didn’t know documentary evidence existed. While searching the archives for information about the university’s higher certificate for women, I was astonished to come across what must be the very letter Jex-Blake wrote.”
In the letter, Sophia and her supporters offered to hire teachers or build suitable buildings for a medical school and to arrange for lectures to be delivered in the subjects not already covered at St Andrews. Although her letter was not successful, it eventually led to the establishment of the Ladies Literate in Arts at St Andrews, a distance-learning degree for women. The qualification, which ran from 1877 until the 1930s, gave women access to university education in the days before they were admitted as students. It was so popular that it survived long after women were admitted as full students to St Andrews in 1892.
Ms Jex-Blake went on to help establish the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. She was accepted by the University of Berne, where she was awarded a medical degree in January 1877. Eventually, she moved back to Edinburgh and opened her own practice.
小題1:Sophia wrote a letter to St Andrews University because she wanted _______.

A．to carry out a research project there

B．to set up a medical institute there

C．to study medicine there

D．to deliver lectures there

小題2: Lis Smith found Sophia’s letter to St Andrews University _______.

A．by pure chance

B．in the school office

C．with her supporters’ help

D．while reading history books

小題3:Sophia’s letter resulted in the establishment of _______.

A．the London School of Medicine for Women

B．a(chǎn) degree programme for women

C．a(chǎn) system of medical education

D．the University of Berne

小題4:When did St Andrews University begin to take full-time women students?

A．In 1873.

B．In 1874.

C．In 1877.

D．In 1892.

Japanese sailor Kenichi Horie has finished a 110-day solo (單獨(dú)的) voyage across the Pacific Ocean in a boat pushed by sea waves to win another world first.
Weak waves and ocean water movements made his arrival late, which was going to be in late May.
“When waves were weak, the boat slowed down. That’s a problem that needs to be solved,” the adventure told reporters from his boat in western Japan. His 9.5-meter-long boat can move like a dolphin’s tail, and it rises or falls with the waves.
Horie reached his destination in the channel between the main Japanese islands just before midnight after covering about 7,000 kilometers from Hawaii.
Horie first made world record in 1962 when, at the age of 23, he became the first person to sail alone across the Pacific. He made the three-month voyage from his hometown in spite of breaking Japanese law, which did not allow his citizens to sail on their own out of the country, and without a passport or money.
He was arrested upon arrival in San Francisco but the city mayor freed him, gave him a 30-day visa and made him an honorary citizen. News of his achievement made him a hero back home in Japan and his book of the voyage In the Pacific was made into a film. Since then, he has completed many sailing trips across the Pacific and around the world.
After his latest adventure with an environmentally friendly theme, Horie planned to return to his hometown on Sunday. He said, “Throughout history, mankind has used wind for power, but no one has appeared to be serious about wave power.” Horie told the reporter, “I think I’m a lucky boy as this wave power system has remained untouched in fact.”
小題1:Horie’s boat was mainly powered by ________.

A．sea waves

B．sea winds

C．his strength

D．petrol

小題2:From the passage we learn that ________.

A．Horie undertook the voyage with a partner this time

B．it took Horie about twenty days more to cross the Pacific this time than in 1962

C．Horie made his first voyage across the Pacific alone fifty years ago

D．Horie’s destination is 7,000 kilometers from San Francisco

小題3:Horie was arrested in San Francisco after his voyage in 1962 mainly because ________.

A．he had broken Japanese law

B．he had kept it a secret from others

C．his action had put people in danger

D．he had no passport to America

小題4:Which of the following statements best proves that Horie’s latest voyage was meaningful?

A．He was made an honorary citizen of San Francisco.

B．In Japan he was regarded as a hero.

C．His voyage had the theme of protecting the environment.

D．He wrote an exciting book after the voyage.

小題5: The author wrote the article mainly to ________.

A．start an ocean crossing movement

B．tell us a piece of interesting news

C．make Horie known to the world

D．encourage people to learn from Horie

Details of the latest James Bond film Skyfall have been shown to the public. It comes 50 years to the day after actor Sean Connery first played Bond — the superspy in Dr No.
The new film, known at the moment only as Bond 23, will be the third to star Daniel Craig as the secretagent (特工). Other names in the cast include Albert Finney, Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes.
British film-maker Sam Mendes, who won an Oscar for American Beauty, will direct the latest adventure.
Ajay Chowdhury, from the James Bond International Fan Club, said, “Daniel Craig’s third time as 007 has been looked forward to by Bond fans around the world. The fans have been made to wait extra long for this film since the global economiccrisis (經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)) delayed the film for some time.”
“Mendes has an unusual way of directing, and with the acting gift and the precedent (先例) set by the previous two films in which Craig played Bond, Skyfall promises a Bond film where the sky may not be the limit.”
It is reported that the film will send 007 to South Africa and India to hunt for a criminal (犯罪的) organization. Other reported locations for filming include Duntrune Castle, near Lochgilphead in Argyll, Scotland, which is believed to be the spy’s home.
The film is set to be released in the UK this October.
Craig’ s performance as Bond gave new life to the film series, leading to the highest ever 007 box office (票房) takings of ￡367 million for his role in Casino Royale in 2006. Quantum of Solace, the most recent film in the series released in 2008, made ￡353 million.
小題1:According to the text, who will play Bond in film Skyfall?

A．Albert Finney.	B．Sean Connery.
C．Daniel Craig.	D．Sam Mendes.

小題2:Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

A．Skyfall will be the last film of the 007 series.

B．Bond first appeared on the screen about 50 years ago.

C．Sam Mendes won an Oscar for American Beauty.

D．Skyfall will be shot in South Africa and India.

小題3:What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Skyfall will also be a Bond film.

B．Skyfall will be a great film.

C．Skyfall will be longer than the previous ones.

D．Skyfall will be set in the sky.

小題4:What can we learn from the text?

A．The film Skyfall will be released later than planned.

B．It is the first time that Daniel Craig has played Bond.

C．Daniel Craig receives little attention from movie fans.

D．Quantum of Solace has made the most money so far.

Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16^th century when English rulers fried to conquer(征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921. The British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland. In the north, is part of the united kingdom. The republic of Ireland. In the south. Is an independent country.
In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes ,was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of bunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work , forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.
For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.
The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly, Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”, Since independence, Ireland has revived(復(fù)興) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different are as have different styles of old Irish song which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.
小題1:what does the author tell us in paragraph 1 ?

A．how the Irish fought against the English.

B．how Ireland gained independence.

C．how English rulers tried to conquer Ireland.

D．how two ”Irelands” came into being.

小題2:we learn from the text that in Ireland____________.

A．food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population

B．people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside

C．it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker

D．different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments

小題3:the last paragraph is mainly about____________.

A．the Irish character

B．Irish culture

C．Irish musical instruments

D．a(chǎn) famous Irish writer

小題4:what can be the best title for the text?

A．Life in Ireland	B．A very difficult history
C．Ireland, past and present	D．the independence of Ireland

“All men are created equal” is one idea that nearly every American would agree upon.  36 they sometimes betray the idea in their daily lives, they have a deep faith  37 in some fundamental way no one is born superior to anyone else.
In the early years of American history, because titles of nobility(貴族) were forbidden, no  38 class system developed in the United States. Firmly believing that being born into a lower class would not  39 them from success and they would have a better chance in America, thousands of immigrants   40 to leave the European societies, where their    41  in life was determined  42 by the social class into which they were born. It was because the dreams of many of there immigrants were   43 in their new country, though there might be  44 in some situations, that Americans came to believe in equality of opportunity.
Americans do not mean that everyone should be  45 equal when they say they believe in equality of opportunity.  46 , they do mean that each person should have an equal chance for success. Abraham Lincoln once said, “We wish to  47 the humblest(最微賤的) man an equal chance to get rich with everybody else. When one starts poor, free society is  48 that he knows he can   49 his condition.”
However, competition is the price to be   50  for his equality of opportunity. Americans match their energy and intelligence against that of others in a competitive contest for success, because they believe competition  51 the best in any person. Indeed, the pressure of competition causes an American to be   52 , but it also places a constant emotional stress on him. In fact, in a society that gives so much  53  to those “winners”,   54 does not compete successfully for whatever reason never  55 into it as well as those who do.

小題1:	A．Since B．As C．Although D．Because

小題2:	A．what B．that C．a(chǎn)s D．which

小題3:	A．normal B．moral C．formal D．general

小題4:	A．benefit B．prevent C．save D．limit

小題5:	A．forced B．required C．chose D．looked forward

小題6:	A．place B．meaning C．function D．purpose

小題7:	A．slightly B．largely C．originally D．publicly

小題8:	A．come true B．ruined C．succeeded D．realized

小題9:	A．excitements B．expectations C．exceptions D．disappointments

小題10:

A．really B．totally C．a(chǎn)ctually D．truly

小題11:

A．Besides B．Meanwhile C．Moreover D．Instead

小題12:

A．a(chǎn)llow B．encourage C．a(chǎn)pprove D．share

小題13:

A．so B．the one C．such D．a(chǎn)s

小題14:

A．enjoy B．better C．maintain D．stand

小題15:

A．paid B．a(chǎn)sked C．cared D．sought

小題16:

A．gives out B．comes out C．brings out D．stands out

小題17:

A．exhausted B．energetic C．realistic D．effective

小題18:

A．honor B．pressure C．happiness D．burden

小題19:

A．a(chǎn)nyone B．who C．one D．whoever

小題20:

A．enters B．fits C．falls D．matches

For the first time in Hong Kong’s history, an entertainer has been written into middle school textbooks. He is considered one of the best actors in Hong Kong. Yes, he is Chow Yun-fat.
The example of his long hard struggle for success has been used in a chapter in a Hong Kong middle school textbook. Using his experience, students can learn to make the most of their time and to grab every opportunity to succeed．
On hearing about this, Chow said happily, “I really hope that my experiences can make young people understand that one should not be afraid of difficulties and setbacks (挫折), for they are the only way to success.”
Indeed, Chow has travelled a long and difficult path to reach his success. In 1955, he was born into a poor family in Hong Kong. When he was 17, he had to leave school. He worked in a number of jobs—as a postman, camera salesman and taxi driver. These experiences paved (鋪路) the way for him to play all kinds of roles later in life.
Chow broke into the film industry in the late 1970s. He was one of the hardest working actors and starred in a number of popular TV dramas and films including “Shanghai Bund”(《上海灘》) and “A Better Tomorrow”. Since 1985, he has won many awards including Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards and Hong Kong Film Awards.
In 1995, he went to Hollywood. Although he was already over 40, he had to learn English. He even put chopsticks in his mouth to practise pronouncing certain sounds. His film, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, began to gain him more fame and recognition around the world. In 1998, the mayor of Chicago set aside January 12 as “Chow Yun-fat Day”.
小題1:Chow Yun-fat has been written into middle school textbooks mainly because ________.

A．he plays best in Hong Kong

B．he keeps on struggling for success

C．his experiences are very special

D．he is well thought of

小題2:Chow felt ________ when he learned that he had been written into middle school textbooks.

A．surprised

B．shy

C．sad

D．happy

小題3:What can we infer from the passage?

A．Chow Yun-fat is proud of his success.

B．Chow Yun-fat prefers to make a living by selling cameras rather than by performing.

C．Chow Yun-fat has won more awards than other actors.

D．Chow Yun-fat is popular both at home and abroad.

小題4:The underlined sentence (in paragraph 6) suggests ________.

A．chopsticks is of great help to practise English pronunciation

B．Chow Yun-fat is willing to struggle with difficulties

C．Chow Yun-fat has suffered a lot before he went to Hollywood

D．it is hard for a person who is over 40 years old to learn spoken English

小題5:The author wrote this passage to ________.

A．introduce Chow’s films

B．praise Chow for his excellent performance

C．call on people to learn from Chow

D．show why Chow is popular

Most people consider skydiving (高空跳傘) a product of the 20th century, but its history actually goes further back than that. The Chinese attempted to parachute (跳傘) in the 10th century, a thousand years before we did. The Chinese did what we would today call base diving; that is, they jumped off a place that would allow them to float from a height to the ground.
The first person to attempt to parachute was a Frenchman named Jacques Garnerin. He jumped from his hot-air balloon at the end of the 18th century and did tricks on the way down and stupefied the crowds by landing safely on the ground. At the end of the 19th century, Kathie Paulus, a brave German woman, became famous for her skydiving skills.
Once the airplane was invented, skydiving took on a whole new form. The airplane made it possible to dive from greater heights at greater speeds, allowing for more range in the movements in the air. A woman named Tiny Broadwick became the first woman to jump from a plane in 1913 and dive free fall in 1914.
Skydiving was not called skydiving until the middle of the 1950s, when Ronald Young invented the word. It had been called parachuting before this and was mainly used by the military (軍事) to land troops in inland locations, or for pilots to jump out of their planes when necessary. Once World War I was over, parachuting became a sport, which we now call skydiving.
After World War II, this activity became more a hobby than a military action. Soldiers were trained in parachuting and enjoyed the thrill so much that they continued on for fun. From this, teams and competitions were formed. Skydiving schools appeared in the late 1950s and now it is a recognized extreme sport enjoyed by many.
小題1:The underlined word “stupefied” in paragraph 2 probably means “_______”.

A．disappointed

B．encouraged

C．surprised

D．a(chǎn)ttacked

小題2:Who was the first woman to jump from a plane?

A．Jacques Garnerin.

B．Kathie Paulus.

C．Tiny Broadwick.

D．Ronald Young.

小題3:Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The Chinese attempted different skydiving skills in the 10th century.

B．Skydiving became popular after the airplane was invented.

C．The word skydiving was first used in a military action.

D．There were no skydiving schools until the late 1950s.

小題4:What can we infer from the passage?

A．Skydiving is not a military action any more.

B．Kathie Paulus is famous for her skydiving skills.

C．The first person who parachuted was from Germany.

D．The history of skydiving is longer than that of parachuting.

小題5:What would be the best title for this text?

A．The history of skydiving	B．The popularity of skydiving
C．What is skydiving?	D．Why is skydiving an extreme sport?

London has already hosted the Olympics twice before and the 2012 Olympics will make it the first city in history to have held three Olympic games．
The first London Olympics in 1908
These games were going to be held in Rome but, because of a volcano, Rome wasn't ready．London agreed to stage the games and the White City Olympic Stadium was built in just 10 months．What was new at these Olympics was the opening ceremony where athletes paraded（列隊(duì)行進(jìn)） with their teams behind their national flags．Only 22 countries took part and the profits were just over ￡21,000!
The second London Olympics
Because of the Second World War, the 1944 Olympics were cancelled．Four years later the war was over and London was able to hold the Games in 1948．Things were very different in London during these Olympic Games and many years of war had left the UK poor and hungry．People called them the "Austerity Games"．But there were still some great sports and some exciting events!
59 countries took part, more than at any other Olympics before and the USA won the most medals with 84．For the first time, cameras filmed the games and broadcast them on television so that people could watch them in their own homes．
The third London Olympics in 2012
The Games this year are going to be bigger, better and more exciting than ever before． There will be more than 10,000 athletes from 204 countries taking part!
London wants to make sure that the benefits of the Olympics don't just last for a few weeks in summer but go on much longer．The buildings have been designed and constructed so that they can be used for different things when the Games are over．

小題1:The text is mainly about _____．

A．London will host the Olympics again

B．London's Olympic history

C．London's Olympics will last much longer

D．London is ready for the Olympics

小題2:London hosted the Olympics in 1908 instead of Rome because _____．

A．London could build a stadium in 10 months

B．only 22 countries took part

C．there was a volcano eruption in Rome

D．London could make more profits than Rome

小題3:The second London Olympic Games were called the "Austerity Games" because _____．

A．the UK were poor and hungry then

B．there were some great sports

C．the previous Olympic Games was jcancelled

D．a(chǎn)bout 59 countries took part

小題4:The underlined word "them" refers to _____．

A．the 59 countries	B．the 84 gold medals
C．a(chǎn)ll the athletes	D．the games

小題5:According to the text, we know that _____．

A．the benefits of the Olympics used to last for months afterwards

B．the 2nd London Olympics attracted more countries than any other Olympics

C．the buildings for the 3rd London Olympics have more functions for future use

D．the 2nd London Olympics were cancelled because of the Second World War

Before Nicholas Clapp got there, he had half hoped that he might run into some of Ubar’s ruins sticking(凸出) out of the sand. But finding the city wasn’t that easy. During the summer, he and his 40 helpers dug at 35 different spots. The only things they found were ground spiders, giant ticks, and deadly snakes.
Just before Thanksgiving says Clapp, “We were within a whisker of total failure.”
But then Clapp’s team looked at the high-tech maps again and saw something surprising. Many of the caravan routes(沙漠商隊(duì)路線)on the high-tech maps came together on the same spot marked “Omani Marketplace” on Ptolomy’s map. Two maps, made almost 2000 years apart, pointed the team toward the same area!
In December 1991, Clapp arrived at the spot where, according to the maps, the caravans met. Clapp had a handheld instrument that could detect(探測(cè)) objects below the ground. It showed ruins under the sand! He and his team started digging. And then they found it! A tower buried in the sand. They slowly unearthed a giant, eight-sided fortress(堡壘). It had nine towers and many rooms. People had lived in this fortress 2000 years ago. Outside its walls, they had found buried remains of nearly 40 campsites. They seemed to be camping areas for traders(商人). 
More digging found shards, or pieces of pottery(陶瓷) from ancient Rome, Greece, China, Egypt, and Syria. Diggers and scientists agree that people were here for about 5000 years. Clapp and his team were excited as they continued to discover more pieces of the past that seemed to prove that it was the lost city of Ubar.
“We started with this hopeless myth(神秘),” says Clapp, “and then finally found the truth behind the myth.” But is this unearthed site really the once-great Ubar? Experts aren’t totally persuaded.
Donald Whitcomb is an archeologist(考古學(xué)家) at the University of Chicago. He doubts that Clapp really discovered Ubar. “There’s probably some truth to this myth,” he says. “But Ubar is described as a place with walls all made of gold, and the rubies and emeralds(寶石).” No gold or precious stones have been found by Clapp.
“I’m not sure whether they discovered Ubar because I’m not sure if Ubar really existed,” Whitcomb says.
小題1:The following statements are true according to the reading EXCEPT_____.

A．Clapp made this discovery with the help of caravan routes on the maps

B．Clapp made this discovery with the help of some high technology

C．Clapp was not sure that he had found Ubar

D．Donald Whitcomb was not sure if Clapp had found Ubar

小題2:Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined part?

A．We were ready for any failure

B．We were on the point of giving up hopes

C．We would never stop digging though there was difficulty.

D．We decided that we had failed to find Ubar.

小題3:It can be inferred from the reading that Nicholas Clapp is _____

A．a(chǎn) person of courage

B．a(chǎn) person of determination

C．a(chǎn) very young person

D．a(chǎn) person who is good for nothing

A long time ago, in an Italian city, the people there built a tower which was admired by everyone passing through. A little further down the road, in a neighboring city, they had built a tower of similar beauty. The two towers were equally well known. The people of the second city, envious (妒忌的) and filled with pride, planned to destroy the neighboring tower so it wouldn’t take attention away from their own. One night, they came to the tower and began to quietly undermine its foundations(地基).
The next morning, the tower was leaning(傾斜) slightly ,but nobody noticed. The same happened for the following few days, until a little girl who was passing by pointed up at the tower and said: “ I think the tower is going to fall down.” And everyone around looked closely, and could see that she was right .Nervousness spread through the city. And they tried many methods to try to straighten the tower, but nothing seemed to work. That was, until one day when the same little girl was walking up again, and she put her arm on the side of the tower to rest. She felt the tower shaking slightly. When she took her hand off it, the movement stopped. And when she put it back on again, the same thing happened. The girl spent a while doing this, until she was completely certain of what she had discovered: “ The tower is ticklish ( 怕癢的) ！” She ran to get some plants, and she planted them right next to the tower. Now if the tower leant over any further it would be tickled by the leaves of those plants. Being a ticklish tower, it would then return to where it had been. In this way, the girl managed to make sure that the tower didn’t fall down, but still kept it leaning a little.
The fact that it was leaning made it even more famous, and this taught a fine lesson to the envious people of the neighboring city.
小題1:Why did the people of the second city plan to destroy the neighboring tower?

A．Because the tower blocked the way of their tourists.

B．Because the tower had the same building style as theirs.

C．Because they hoped that the tower could lean slightly.

D．Because they hoped that visitors just liked their own tower.

小題2:The underlined word“undermine”（in Paragraph1）probably mean “_________”．

A．test

B．raise

C．damage

D．strengthen

小題3:When local people heard the news that their tower was going to fall down, they were _________.

A．very anxious

B．very happy

C．very ashamed of themselves

D．a(chǎn)ngry at the people in the neighboring city

小題4:What lesson can we learn from the practice of the envious people in the neighboring city?

A．All that ends well is well.

B．Every dog has his day.

C．A bad beginning makes a bad ending.

D．A friend is never known till a man has need.