The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. One hundred thousand people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King's baker(面包師) in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window in the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery (面包房) into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o'clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul's and the Guildhall along them.
Samuel Peyps, the famous writer, wrote about the fire. People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat.
The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect (建筑師), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone, In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among them the new St Paul's.
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.
小題1:It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that______.

A．some people lost their lives

B．the birds in the sky were killed by the fire

C．many famous buildings were destroyed

D．the King's bakery was burned down

小題2: Why did the writer cite (引用) Samuel Pepys?

A．Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire.

B．Because Pepys also wrote about the fire.

C．To show that poor people suffered most.

D．To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire.

小題3: How was the fire put out according to the text?

A．The King and his soldiers came to help.

B．All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed.

C．People managed to get enough water from the river.

D．Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down.

小題4: Which of the following were reasons for the rapid spread of the big fire?______.
(a) There was a strong wind.                         (b) The streets were very narrow. 
(c) Many houses were made of wood.           (d) There was not enough water in the city.     
(e) people did not discover the fire earlier.
A. (a), (b)      B. (a), (b), (C)     C. (a), (b), (d)       D. (b), (c) (e)

閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從下列各題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
Strange things happen to time when you travel. __11___the earth is divided into24 time zones, one hour apart, you can have days with __12___ or fewer than 24 hours, and weeks with more or fewer than seven days.
If you __13___ a five-day trip across the Atlantic Ocean, your __14___ enters a different time zone every __15___. As you enter each zone, the time __16___ one hour. Traveling west, you set your clock back; traveling east, you set it __17___. Each day of your trip has __18___ 25 or 23 hours.
­If you travel by ship across the Pacific, you ___19___ the internationaldate line. By agreement, this is the point __20___ a new day begins. __21___ you cross the line, you change your __22___ one full day, backward __23____ forward. Traveling east, today __24___ yesterday; traveling west, __25___ is tomorrow!
小題1:

A．Because

B．If

C．Although

D．When

小題2:

A．much

B．more

C．many

D．less

小題3:

A．do

B．make

C．go

D．travel

小題4:

A．plane

B．train

C．car

D．ship

小題5:

A．day

B．night

C．hour

D．time

小題6:

A．goes

B．changes

C．shows

D．a(chǎn)dds

小題7:

A．a(chǎn)head

B．upward

C．backward

D．fast

小題8:

A．neither

B．either

C．both

D．nor

小題9:

A．travel

B．trip

C．cover

D．cross

小題10:

A．which

B．what

C．that

D．where

小題11:

A．When

B．Where

C．While

D．Before

小題12:

A．time

B．calendar

C．date

D．hour

小題13:

A．a(chǎn)nd

B．or

C．but

D．still

小題14:

A．changes

B．makes

C．becomes

D．goes

小題15:

A．which

B．this

C．that

D．it

Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. It is responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide (about 5 million deaths each year). If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. Half the people that smoke today, that is about 650 million people, will eventually be killed by tobacco.
Tobacco is the fourth most common risk factor for disease worldwide. The economic costs of tobacco use are equally devastating (破壞性的). In addition to the high public health costs of treating tobacco-caused diseases, tobacco kills people at the height of their productivity, depriving (剝奪) families of breadwinners(養(yǎng)家糊口的人) and nations of a healthy workforce. Tobacco users are also less productive while they are alive due to increased sickness. A 1994 report estimated that the use of tobacco resulted in an annual global net loss of 200 thousand million US dollars, a third of this loss being in developing countries.
Tobacco and poverty are closely linked. Many studies have shown that in the poorest households in some low-income countries as much as 10% of total household expenditure is on tobacco. This means that these families have less money to spend on basic items such as food, education and health care. It contributes to a higher illiteracy rate, since money that could have been used for education is spent on tobacco instead.
小題1:
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the first paragraph?

A．Smoking causes 10 percent of the deaths worldwide.

B．About 10 million people will die from smoking each year by 2020.

C．Half the people in the world will be killed by smoking.

D．Roughly there are 1,300 million smokers nowadays.

小題2:
According to the passage, tobacco affects a family in the following aspects EXCEPT _______.

A．relationship	B．education
C．health	D．economy

小題3:
The text uses a lot of figures to _____.

A．show we shouldn’t smoke too much

B．tell people exactly the number

C．warn people of the harm of smoking

D．indicate the writer had a careful investigation

小題4:
The underlined word “illiteracy” in the last paragraph means ____.

A．great intelligence	B．good education
C．bad behaviors	D．inability to read or write

小題5:
What is the best title of the passage?

A．Tobacco Should Be Banned.

B．Why Is Tobacco a Major Threat to Public Health.

C．Tobacco and Poverty Go Hand in Hand.

D．Tobacco May Cause Death.

Watercolor（水彩畫） is the oldest paints known. It dates back to the early cave men. They discovered that they could mix the natural colors found in the earth with water. In this way they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the wall of caves.
Fresco（壁畫）, one of the greatest art forms, is done with watercolor, it is created by mixing paints and water and applying these to wet plaster（灰泥）. Of the thousands of people who stand under Michelangelos’ works in the Sistine Chapel, very few know they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolor painting in the world.
The invention of oil painting by the Glemish masters in the fifteenth century made fresco painting go downhill, and for the next several centuries watercolor was used mainly for doing sketches（素描） or as tool for study. It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that English painters put back watercolor as a serious art form. The English have widely-known love for the outdoors and also for small, private pictures. The softness of watercolor had a strong attraction for them.
The popularity of watercolor continued to grow until the twentieth century. The United States took the place of England and became the center of watercolor. It produced such well-known watercolor artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth.
小題1: The first watercolor users were___________

A．the early cave men

B．Italian fresco artists

C．Flemish masters

D．the English artists in the 18th century

小題2: In the 16th and 17th centuries the artists thought__________.

A．watercolor was more costly, but better

B．oil painting lasted less long, but clearer and brighter

C．watercolor was not suitable for serious works

D．oil painting was difficult to use

小題3: According to the passage, watercolor painting was put back in England because ______

A．it was easy to use outdoors

B．it was a strong tool

C．it was extremely bright in color

D．it was well suited to popular tastes

小題4: What is the passage mainly about?________

A．the gradual weakness of fresco painting.

B．Oils having more power of influence over watercolor.

C．The rediscovery of watercolor in England.

D．The start and development of watercolor.

When someone says, “Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music,” it doesn’t mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you did not do this or that. Terrible music, indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time or another, every one of us has had to “face the music”, especially as children. We can remember father’s angry voice: “I want to talk to you!” And only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!
The phrase “face the music” is known to every American, old and young. It is at least one hundred years old. Where did the expression come from?
The first explanation came from the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. He said, in 1851, that expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings (舞臺(tái)的兩側(cè)) to go on stage. After they got their clue(暗示) to go on , they often said, “It’s time to go to face the music. ” And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra (樂隊(duì)) which was just below the stage.
An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience(觀眾) that might be friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So “face the music” came to mean: having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.
小題1:The expression “face the music” means ______.

A． plan to go to a concert

B．get one’s clue to do something

C．have to go through something far less pleasant

D．disobey what one's father says

小題2:The passage tells us that the expression was first used by _____.

A．children

B．novelists

C．a(chǎn)ctors

D．a(chǎn)udience

小題3:In the last paragraph the Chinese meaning of the word “l(fā)ine” is _______.

A．老板

B．同事

C．角色

D．臺(tái)詞

完形填空（共15小題；每小題1分，滿分15分）
閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從下列各題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
“Where is the bus? Why is it always late?” I asked myself. I was going to be late ___36___ the manager wasn’t going to be pleased. “Thank God, here it is!” The bus came round the corner and I got on. Ten minutes later I was walking into the ___37___ where I work. “Twenty-five past nine. I ___38___ the manager doesn’t notice.” But I was not ___39___.
“Smith!” shouted the manager. “Late again. What’s your ___40___ this time?” “I am afraid the bus was late, Mr. Brown.” “___41___ up earlier tomorrow! Anyway, go to your place at the counter. We’ll be opening in a few minutes.”
My first customer was a pretty girl wearing a red dress. ___42___ her was a young man of about 25. He seemed very ___43___, and every few seconds he looked towards the main entrance. The girl drew some money and ___44___ about opening an account. I gave her necessary ___45___ and she went out. ___46___, I noticed a tall man by the door, carrying something ___47___ with brown paper. Turning to my next customer, I was frightened to see a gun sticking out of his coat. The next moment a loud noise ___48___ my ears. Everything went black. I was falling… It seemed to be a long time ___49___ I opened my eyes and I found myself in bed! ___50___ shaking from the memory of this terrible dream, I got dressed and ran out of the house. ___51___, the bus wasn’t on time, and I got to the bank at 9:25.
“Smith!” the manager cried out in a voice like thunder. “___52___ of your excuses! Start work at once!” To my ___53___, the first customer was a girl ___54___ a red dress and behind her stood a man carrying something wrapped in brown paper. The ___55___! Sometimes life is full of coincidences (巧合)!

小題1:	A．a(chǎn)s B．but C．a(chǎn)nd D．or

小題2:	A．hotel B．shop C．bank D．restaurant

小題3:	A．believe B．think C．guess D．hope

小題4:	A．lucky B．happy C．sorry D．a(chǎn)ngry

小題5:	A．excuse B．idea C．cause D．a(chǎn)nswer

小題6:	A．Hurry B．Set C．Catch D．Get

小題7:	A．Before B．Behind C．Beyond D．Against

小題8:	A．nervous B．shy C．calm D．a(chǎn)ngry

小題9:	A．cared B．talked C．a(chǎn)sked D．worried

小題10:

A．information B．offer C．introduction D．support

小題11:

A．Again B．Then C．Thus D．However

小題12:

A．hidden B．filled C．decorated D．covered

小題13:

A．took B．closed C．filled D．came

小題14:

A．before B．a(chǎn)fter C．when D．that

小題15:

A．Even B．Still C．Just D．Ever

小題16:

A．As usual B．For one thing C．In fact D．In general

小題17:

A．Less B．Plenty C．More D．None

小題18:

A．pleasure B．surprise C．joy D．regret

小題19:

A．of B．with C．on D．in

小題20:

A．dream B．story C．a(chǎn)ffair D．incident

“Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move,” said David Belle, the founder of parkour(跑酷).
Do you love running? It is a good exercise, yet many people find it boring. But what if making your morning jog a creative one? Like jumping from walls and over gaps, and ground rolls? Just like the James Bond in the movie Casino Royale? Bond jumps down from a roof to a windowsill and then runs several blocks over obstacles on the way. It is just because of Bond’s wonderful performances that the sport has become popular worldwide.
Yes, that’s parkour, an extreme street sport aimed at moving from one point to another as quickly as possible, getting over all the obstacles in the path using only the abilities of the human body. Parkour is considered an extreme sport. As its participants dash around a city, they may jump over fences, run up walls and even move from rooftop to rooftop.
Parkour can be just as exciting and charming as it sounds, but its participants see parkour much more than that.
Overcoming all the obstacles on the course and in life is part of the philosophy(理念) behind parkour. This is the same as life. You must determine your destination, go straight, jump over all the barriers as if in parkour and never fall back from them in your life, to reach the destination successfully. A parkour lover said, “I love parkour because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything.”
Another philosophy we’ve learnt from parkour is freedom. It can be done by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. It is a kind of expression of trust in yourself that you earn energy and confidence.
小題1: Parkour has become popular throughout the world because of     .

A．its founder, David Belle	B．the film, Casino Royale
C．its risks and tricks	D．the varieties of participants

小題2: The underlined word “obstacles” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to “   ”.

A．streets	B．objects
C．barriers	D．roofs

小題3: Which of the following is true of parkour?

A．It challenges human abilities.	B．It is a good but boring sport.
C．It needs special training.	D．It is a team sport.

小題4: As its participants move around a city,     .

A．they can ask for help	B．they may choose to escape
C．they should run to extremes	D．they must learn to survive

小題5: Which of the following is the philosophy of parkour?

A．Sports and extremes.	B．Excitement and popularity.
C．Dreams and success.	D．Determination and freedom.

Parents are often amazed at how fast their child grows and develops. New research has determined that the ability to quantify may develop much sooner than most parents realize.
Kristy vanMarle, professor of the University of Missouri, has determined that contrary to what previous studies have shown, infants（嬰兒）are able to quantify substances（物質(zhì)）—like sand or water—as early as 10 months. As long as the difference between the two substances is large enough, infants will choose the larger amount, especially when it comes to food.
With the assistance of her team researchers, vanMarle tested the quantifying skills of babies by presenting them with two cups: one containing a small amount of food, and one containing a larger amount. Consistently, the babies chose the larger amount.
“Several studies throughout the last 15 years have shown that infants are very good at telling how many objects they see; however, infants don’t seem to count things like water or sand,” vanMarle said. “What we’re saying is that they can quantify substances; it’s just much harder. The infants can see how much food goes into each cup and compare that in their memories. They decide which amount is larger, and they almost always select the larger one.”
This information further refutes（駁斥）the long-held idea that babies “know nothing of the world,” vanMarle said.
“Since psychologists have begun studying infants with sensitive measures, we’ve discovered a lot of early abilities. I think for parents, it should be exciting to know that there’s somebody in there that has some fundamental and basic knowledge of the world, and that knowledge is guiding their development,” vanMarle said.
In the future, vanMarle says this kind of study could be linked to a child’s progress in math-related skills, although programs marketed to increase those abilities, such as “Baby Einstein,” still have mixed reviews when it comes to academic study.
小題1:The quantifying ability refers to the ability to     .

A．choose between different substances

B．get much knowledge of the world

C．describe the quantity of something

D．obtain math-related skills

小題2: What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 4?

A．The process of doing research.

B．The scientific findings.

C．The final choice of infants.]

D．The observation of infants’ behavior.

小題3:Babies choose the larger amount of food     .

A．by saying numbers	B．with the help of parents
C．on personal preference	D．through their natural abilities

小題4:We can learn from the text that     .

A．some parents don’t care about their kids

B．people used to think the world is known to babies

C．little research has been done on infants

D．scholars disagree on baby-training programs

小題5: What’s the best title of the text?

A．Breakthrough in Baby Studies

B．Amazing Baby-training Ideas

C．Early Human Abilities

D．Unique Quantifying Methods

The website FarmersOnly.com calls itself an online dating and friendship finder. The idea started in the mind of a man, Jerry Miller in Ohio. He wondered how farmers could meet new people who understand the life of a farmer. Jerry Miller is not a farmer but he represents a lot of farmers.
As he tells it, the idea for the site was planted when a farmer told him one day that she was recently divorced and would like to date. But someone would invite her to meet for coffee at nine o’clock at night, when she had to start her day at five the next morning.
So, in 2005, Jerry Miller launched his website. “You don’t have to be a farmer to be on FarmersOnly.com, but you do have to have the good old-fashioned traditional values of America’s Heartland.” 
You also have to live in the United States or Canada to be a member of the site. Some services are free, but a full membership costs fifty dollars for a year. As of last week the site listed more than 58,000 members. Many of them are farmers in the United States. Others are students or workers involved in some way with agriculture. Jerry Miller tells us about thirty marriages in the last year have resulted from his website.
Some farmers have also found love through a group, Singles in Agriculture, which was formed as a nonprofit organization in 1986. It organizes gatherings that usually end with a dance, but is not a dating service. The purpose is to support educational and social activities that offer people a chance for friendship. Its website, singlesinag.org, says there are more than 1,000 members across the nation and as far away as France.
小題1:Jerry Miller started singlesinag.org in order to     .

A．help farmers	B．support traditions
C．understand farmers	D．represent farmers

小題2:What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 indicate?

A．She dislikes city lifestyle.

B．She prefers late night coffee

C．Country life isn’t well understood.

D．It’s tiring to get up early.

小題3:Which of the following is true of singlesinag.org?

A．Its services are free.

B．It provides dating services.

C．Only farmers can become its members.

D．Farmers in France can’t benefit from it.

小題4:The author of the text intends to     .

A．a(chǎn)dvertise for the two websites

B．introduce two websites

C．encourage social activities

D．urge readers to help farmers

小題5: It can be inferred from the text that     .

A．a(chǎn)ll farmers desire marriage

B．farmers are easy to meet new people

C．more farmers get divorced in the USA

D．the Internet helps improve farmers’ social life

Sharks have gained unfair reputation for being large fierce sea animals. That humanity’s unfounded fear and hatred of these ancient creatures are leading to a worldwide slaughter (大屠殺) may result in the extinction of many larger, coastal shark species. The shark is the victim of a warped (有偏見的) attitude of wildlife protection; we strive (努力) only to protect the beautiful, non-threatening parts of our environment. And, in our efforts to restore only non-threat parts of our earth, we ignore other important parts.
A perfect illustration of this attitude is the contrasting attitude towards another large sea animal, the dolphin. During the 1980s, environmentalists in the United States objected to the practice of hunting tuna (金槍魚) in the Pacific Ocean since these nets also caught dolphins. The environmentalists generated enough political and economic pressure to prevent tuna companies from buying tuna that had been caught in drift nets. In contrast to this effort, the populations of sharks in the Pacific Ocean have decreased to the point of extinction and there has been very little effort by the same environmentalism to save this important species of wildlife in water. Sharks are among the oldest creatures on earth, having survived in the seas for more than 350 million years. They are extremely efficient animals, feeding on wounded or dying animals, thus performing an important role in nature of knocking out the weaker animals in a species. Just the fact that species such as the Great White Shark have managed to live in the oceans for so many millions of years is enough proof of their efficiency and adaptability to changing environment. It is time for humans, who may not survive another 1,000 years at the rate they are damaging the planet, to cast away their fears and begin considering the protection of sharks as creatures that may provide us with an insight into our own survival.
小題1: The best summary of the passage is __________.

A．sharks have such a bad reputation

B．how sharks become some of the oldest creatures on earth

C．sharks should be put under wildlife protection

D．the campaign to save dolphins was not extended to save sharks

小題2: How long have sharks been living on the planet?

A．More than 25 million years.

B．More than 150 million years.

C．More than 350 million years.

D．More than 500 million years.

小題3:Which of the following best describes the organization of this passage?

A．Specific(細(xì)節(jié)) to general.	B．Cause and effect.
C．Statement and example.	D．Time order.

小題4: How did environmentalists manage to protect dolphins?

A．They prevented fishermen from selling them for meat.

B．They pressured fishermen into protecting dolphins by law.

C．They created shelters where dolphin fishing was not allowed.

D．They brought political pressure against tuna companies.