Today anyone will accept money in exchange for goods and services. People use money to buy food,
furniture, books, bicycles and hundreds of other things they need or want. When they work, they usually get
paid in money.
     Most of the money today is made of metal or paper. But people used to use all kinds of things as money.
One of the first kinds of money was shells.
     Shells were not the only things used as money. In China, cloth and knives were used. In the Phillipine
Islands, rice was used as money for a long time. Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used as money in
parts of Africa.
     The first metal coins were made in China. They were round and had a square hole in the centre. People
strung (串聯(lián)) them together and carried them from place to place.
     Different countries have used different metals and designs for their money. The first coins in England
were made of tin (錫). Sweden and Russia used copper (銅) to make their money. Later some countries began
to make coins of gold and silver.
     But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese
thought of a way to improve money. They began to use paper money. The first paper money looked more like
note from one person to another than the paper money used today.
     Money has had an interesting history from the days of shell money until today.

1. In the Philippines Islands _____ was once used as money.

A. rice
B. knife
C. cloth
D. wheat

2. What was the first used as money? 

A. Elephants tusks
B. Cloth
C. Salt
D. Shells

3. The first metal coins looked like _____.

A. square-shaped with some designs on them
B. square-shaped with a round hole in the center
C. round-shaped with a square hole in the middle
D. round-shaped with a round hole in the middle

4. The first paper money ______.

A. was passed from west Asia to China
B. looked like a note used today
C. was first used in Europe
D. looked like a piece of fur

5. We can infer from the passage that _____.

A. paper money isn't difficult to make
B. money must be suited to carry
C. people need money to exchange goods with each other
D. people prefer metal coins to paper notes

     Christmas Day, the birthday of Jesus Christ, is the most important festival in Britain and some other
countries. On Christmas Eve, people usually tell their children to put their stockings at the end of their
beds before they go to sleep. Children believe Santa Claus, with the other name of Father Christmas,
will come during the night and fill their stockings with Christmas presents. 　　
     Actually (實際上), Father Christmas is children's father. He dresses up in a red coat and waits until
children fall asleep. Then he goes into children's bedrooms, and puts small presents in their stockings.
When children are no longer young, they know who Father Christmas really is. 　　
     Not only children but also their parents enjoy Christmas stockings. They also have stockings. Early
on the morning of Christmas Day, children wake their parents up and say "Merry Christmas". Then they
help their parents open their stockings. Everybody likes presents. But it is better to give than to receive.

1. Christmas Day is______. 　　

A. the birthday of Jesus Christ 　　
B. the only day for giving presents 　　
C. the only day for receiving presents 　　
D. the day for playing games

2. What do all the British children do on Christmas Eve in the story? 　　

A. They talk all the night. 　　
B. They sing and dance. 　　
C. They put their stockings at the end of their beds. 　　
D. They won't sleep until Father Christmas comes.

3. Santa Clausis another way of saying _______. 　　

A. Christmas Day 　　
B. Christmas presents 　　
C. Christmas Eve 　　
D. Father Christmas

4. From the story we know that on Christmas Day children feel very happy because they can receive _______. 　　

A. red clothes 　　
B. stockings 　　
C. presents
D. food

     Given Australia's size and the fact that early settlements were far apart, Australian society is remarkably
homogeneous (同種的). Its citizens are fundamentally prosperous and the way of life in the major cities and
towns is much the same however many miles divide them. It takes a sharp ear to identify regional accents.
     However, there is some difference in lifestyle between city dwellers and the country people. Almost 90
per cent of the population lives in the fast-paced cities along the coast and has little more than a passing
familiarity with the desert. The major cities preserve pockets of colonial heritage, but the overall impression
 is modern, with new buildings reflecting the country's youth. In contrast, the rural communities tend to be
slow-moving and conservative. For many years, Australia was said to have"ridden on the sheep's back", a
reference to wool being the country's main money earner. However, the wool industry is no longer dominant.
Much of Australia's relatively sound economy is now achieved from natural coal and wheat, and by being the
largest diamond producer in the world. Newer industries such as tourism and wine making are also
increasingly important. Australians are generally friendly and relaxed, with a self-deprecating sense of humor.
On the whole, Australia is a society without hierarchies (等級制度), an attitude generally held to stem from
its prisoner beginnings.
      Yet, contrary to widespread belief, very few Australians have true prisoner origins. Within only one
generation of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, Australia had become a nation of immigrants. Originally
coming almost entirely from the British Isles, today one in three Australians comes from elsewhere.
Australia's liberal postwar immigration policies led to an influx of survivors from war-torn Europe, most
notably Greeks, Italians, Poles and Germans.
     The emphasis has shifted in recent years and today the majority of new immigrants are from Southeast
Asia. Today Australia is a 'blend of nations' and although some racism exists, it has generally been a
successful experiment and the country is justifiably proud to have one of the most harmonious multicultural
communities in the world.

1. What does the writer mean by saying "It takes a sharp ear to identify regional accents." in
    the first paragraph?

A. Australians speak Standard English with no local accents.
B. You have to practice a lot to learn to understand the different accents.
C. The Australian regional accents are very difficult to understand indeed.
D. There is not much difference between the accents in different areas of Australia.

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Most Australians have ancestors who were prisoners.
B. The Australian economy is dependent on sheep exports.
C. The majority of people living in Australia come from Europe.
D. The pace of life is different in the city and in the country.

3. We can infer from the passage that _____.

A. there are no signs of Australia's colonial past in its modern cities
B. Australia's recent immigration policy encourages immigrants from Southeast Asia
C. immigrants from Southeast Asia have brought racial problems
D."riding on sheep's back" resulted in slow development in rural communities

     The Great Wall of China winds across the country like a giant stone snake. It is 1,500 miles long, the Wall
crosses mountains and rivers. It reaches from the ocean on the east to the desert on the west.
The Chinese began their Wall more than 2,000 years ago. They worked on it for hundreds of years.The
Chinese wanted to keep out their enemies.
      At the bottom, the Wall is 25 feet wide. At the top it is about 15 feet wide. The sides of the wall are made
of stone and brick, while the inside is filled with earth. Parts of the Wall rise as high as three-storey buildings.
Every 100 yards along the Great Wall there is a watchtower where soldiers used to stand to watch for enemies
approaching(到來). The road on top of the Wall is wide enough for two wagons(馬車) to pass. If we were to
build such a Wall now, we would use modern machines. But the Chinese had to build the Wall all by hand. If
the Wall were in our country, it would reach from the state of New York to Nebraska. The Great Wall of China
is the longest wall ever built.

1. The passage does not say so, but it makes you think that the Great Wall _____.

A. has a gate every 100 yards
B. is used as a road today
C. is still as useful today as it was
D. is as high as three-storey buildings

2. What is meant by the sentence " The Great Wall of China winds across the country like a giant
    stone snake. " ?

A. It stops the wind from blowing.
B. It can move.
C. It looks like a snake.
D. It is very long.

3. Which of these sentences do you think is right?

A. The Great Wall China was built with modern machinery.
B. The Great Wall goes from New York to Nebraska.
C. There are many snakes inside the Great Wall.
D. The writer of the passage is an American.

     By the mid-nineteenth century, the term "icebox" had entered the American language, but ice was
still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States. The ice trade grew with
the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels, taverns(酒館), and hospitals, and by some forward-looking
city dealers in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War (1861-1865), as ice was used to
refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, half of the ice sold in New
York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families
for their own use. This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, a
precursor (前身) of the modern fridge, had been invented.
     Making an efficient icebox as not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenth century,
the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary
(未發(fā)展的). The commonsense notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting
was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of the ice that performed the cooling. Nevertheless, early
efforts to economize ice included wrapping up the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job.
Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation
(絕緣) and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.
     But as early as 1803, and ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track.
He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of
Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter
to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors
to pay a premium price(高價) for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One
advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market
at night in order to keep their produce cool

1. Where was ice used after the Civil War?

A. In refrigerating freight cars and households.
B. In hotels, taverns and hospitals
C. In families of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.
D. In fresh meat, fish and butter by city dealers.

2. What was essential to to make an icebox efficient according to the passage?

A. Keeping the ice from melting            
B. Knowledge of the physics of heat.
C. Balance of insulation and circulation      
D. Making efforts to reduce the use of ice

3. The second paragraph is mainly about_____

A. the deveopment of icebox
B. the theoretical foundation of icebox
C. the wrong ideas about icebox
D. the way of using icebox

4. What can we infer from the text?

A. Thomas Moore is the inventor of modern fridge
B. The butter produced by Thomas Moored is better in quality than other famers'
C. Knowledge of the physics of heat plays an important part in inventing a good icebox
D. Before 1880, most of the sold ice was used for family use.

5. Without an ice box, farmers had to go to the market at night ________.

A. to sell their produce at high price    
B. to go home earlier
C. to keep their produce fresh
D. to win more customers than their competitors

   The meaning of the word "volunteer " may be a little different in different countries, but it usually means "
one who offers his or her services."There are many different ways in which people can volunteer, such as taking care of sick people, working in homes for homeless children, and picking up garbage(垃圾) from beaches and parks. Volunteers may work within their own countries or in other countries. They are often people with a strong wish to help those who are less fortunate than themselves. Volunteers don’t expect any kind of pay.
   At the root of volunteering is the idea that one person may have the ability to offer services that can help other people. Tracy, a good friend of mine, however, recently came back from India with a new idea of
what being a volunteer means. She worked for two and a half weeks in one of Mother Teresa’s homes in Calcutta（加爾各答）. The following is her story.
   "I first heard about Mother Teresa in my high school, we watched a video(錄像) about her work in India and all over the world. I was so moved by her spirit to help others and her endless love for every human
being that after I graduated from high school, I too wanted to try her kind of work. So with two friends I
flew to Calcutta for a few weeks."
  "I was asked to work in a home for sick people. I helped wash clothes and sheets, and pass out lunch. I also fed the people who were too weak to feed themselves and tried to cheer them up. I felt it was better
to share with them than to think that I have helped them. To be honest, I don’t think I was helping very
much. It was then that I realized that I had not really come to help, but to learn about and experience another culture that helped improve my own understanding of life and the world."

1. According to the text, a volunteer refers to a person who ______.
A. is willing to help those in need without pay
B. can afford to travel to different places
C. has a strong wish to be successful
D. has made a lot of money in life
2. Tracy started her work as a volunteer ______.
A. after she met Mother Teresa
B. after she finished high school
C. when she was touring Calcutta
D. when she was working in a hospital
3. Why did Tracy choose to be a volunteer?
A. She liked to work with Mother Teresa.
B. She had already had some experience.
C. She was asked by Mother Teresa.
D. She wanted to follow Mother Teresa’s example.

     A vuvuzela is a horn, about a meter long, usually made of a colorful cheap plastic. It is the choice of
noise-makers for South African football fans. When it's blown by thousands of supporters at the same
time, it's loud, very loud. It sounds a bit like and air horn and you can hear it a lot during the 2010 World
Cup.
     The vuvuzela was originally made from a kudu horn and was traditionally used to summon people to
gatherings. But the horn you see at soccer matches in South Africa today originated from a tin horn that
became popular with South African soccer fans around 15 years ago. A sports company began to mass-
produce a plastic version in the South Africa colors, and this is what you see (and hear) at every soccer
match. Now it's become an official symbol of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and more popular
around the world.
     The vuvuzela will be ubiquitous during the 2010 World Cup. There was a call for FIFA to ban the
vuvuzela during the Confederations Cup that took place in South Africa in June 2009. European joumalists
got into a tizzy(緊張) about the noise. The Guardian reported:"It sounds like extremely terrible." But FIFA
stood its ground, as Mr Blatter, FIFA's president says "Vuvuzelas, drums and singing are part of African
football culture. It is part of their celebration, it is part of their culture, so let them blow the vuvuzelas."
     Adam Carnegie, a graphic artist from Cape Town, founded the Kelp Environmental Learning Project.
The project employs local men and women to collect kelp, dry it and then hand paint colorful designs on it.
The mission is simple. "We want to create jobs, make a noise, make people laugh, remind people to be in
the moment."
     Like most trumpets, getting any noise from a vuvuzela requires significant pursing of the lips and the
ability to blow with force. Your cheeks will be zinging afterward. You can personalize your vuvy blowing
techniques with a lot of practice, but generally it produces one big sound.

1. The vuvuzela ____.

A. is usually made of metal
B. has a length of two and a half feet
C. was first used in a local sports game
D. is one of the official symbols of the 2010 World Cup

2. The underlined word "ubiquitous" in the 3rd paragraph probably means "____".

A. banned
B. heard everywhere
C. extremely expensive
D. strictly limited

3. Why did FIFA stand its ground on the issue of the vuvuzela?

A. Because the vuvuzela is typical of African football culture.
B. Because it is the host country's right to make their choice.
C. Because the vuvuzela will make the 2010 World Cup special.
D. Because more member countries support the use of the vuvuzela.

                                                       To face the music
      Like every language, American English is full of special expressions, phrases that come from the
day-to-day life of the people and develop in their own way. Our expression today is "to face the music".
When someone says, "well, I guess I'll have to face the music," it does not mean he's planning to go to
the concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in by your boss to explain why you did this
and did that, and why you didn't do this or that. Sour music indeed, but it has to be faced. At sometime
or another, every one of us has had to face the music, especially as children. We can all 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 "to face the music" is familiar to every American, young and old. It is at least 100 years
old. And where did this expression come from? The first explanation comes from the American novelist,
James Fenimore Looper. He said, in 1851, that the expression was first used by actors while waiting in
the wings to go on the stage. When they got their cue to go on, they often said, "Well, it's time to face
the music."  And that was exactly what they did - facing the orchestra which was just below them. And
an actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of an audience that might be
friendly or perhaps hostile, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there
would be no play.  So the expression "to face the music" come to mean "having to go through something,
no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice."
     Other explanations about the expression go back to the army. When the men faced an inspection by
their leader, the soldiers would be worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean,
shinny enough to pass the inspection? Still the men had to go out and face the music of the band as well
as the inspection. What else could they do?  
     Another army explanation is more closely related to the idea of facing the results and accepting the
responsibility for something that should not have been done. As, for example, when a man is forced out
of the army because he did something terrible, he is dishonored. The band does not play. Only the drums
tap a sad, slow beat. The soldier is forced to leave, facing such music as it is and facing the back of his
horse.

1. How many ways does the phrase "to face the music" comes from?

A. 1        
B. 2        
C. 3      
D. 4

2. What's the meaning of "to face the music?"

A. To face something far less pleasant.
B. To face the stage.
C. To face the back of one's horse.
D. To face one's leader.

3. Which of the following is a situation of facing the music?

A. When we are playing basketball.  
B. When we are making a speech.
C. When we are having a party.
D. When we are talking with somebody.  

4. The underlined word "hostile" means _______.  

A. unfriendly
B. useless
C. unkind
D. unnecessary