People fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor in 1944, when she starred in National Velvet-the story of Velvet Brown, a young girl who wins first place in a famous horse race. At first, the producers of the movie told Taylor that she was too small to play the part of Velvet. However, they waited for her for a few months as she exercised and trained—and added three inches to her height in four months! Her acting in National Velvet is still considered the best by a child actress.

Elizabeth Taylor was born in London in 1932. Her parents, both Americans, had moved there for business reasons. When World war II started, the Taylor moved to Beverly Hills, California, and there Elizabeth started acting in movies. After her success as a child star, Taylor had no trouble moving into adult(成人)roles and won twice for Best Actress: Butterfield 8(1960) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? (1966)

Taylor’s fame(名聲)and popularity gave her a lot of power with the movie industry, so she was able to demand very high pay for her movies. In 1963, she received $1 million for her part in Cleopatra—the highest pay received by any star up to that time.

Elizabeth Taylor is a legend (傳奇人物) of our time. Like Velvet Brown in National Velvet, she has been lucky, she has beauty, fame and wealth. But she is also a hard worker. Taylor seldom acts in movies any more. Instead, she puts her time and efforts into her businesses, and into helping others — several years ago, she founded an organization that has raised more than $40 million for research and education.

1. The producers didn’t let Taylor play the part of Velvet at first because they thought she      .

A. was small in size                                  B. was too young

C. did not play well enough                       D. did not show much interest

2. What Elizabeth Taylor and Velvet Brown had in common was that they were both          .

A. popular all their lives                             B. famous actresses

C. successful when very young                  D. rich and kind-hearted

3. Taylor became Best Actress at the age of          .

A. 12         B. 28                  C. 31          D. 34

4. In her later life, Elizabeth Taylor devoted herself to             .

A. doing business and helping others           B. turning herself into a legend

C. collecting money for the poor                 D. going about research and education work

Lions are opportunists. They prefer to eat without having to do too much work. When resting in the shade, they are also watching the sky to see what is flying by, and even in the heat of the day they will suddenly start up and run a mile across the plains to find out what is going on. If another animal has made a kill, they will drive it off and take the kill for themselves. A grown lion can easily eat 60 pounds of meat at a single feeding. Often they eat until it seems painful for them to lie down.

The lionesses (母獅) , being thinner and faster, are better hunters (獵手) than the males (雄獅). But the males don’t mind. After the kill they move in and take the test share.

Most kills are made at night or just before daybreak. We have seen many, many daylight attempts but only ten kills. Roughly, It’s about twenty daytime attempts for one kill.

When lions are hiding for an attack by a water hole, they wait patiently and can charge at any second. The kill is the exciting moment in the day-to-day life of the lion, since these great animals spend most of their time, about 20 hours a day, sleeping and resting.

Lions are social cats, and when they are having a rest, they love to touch each other. After drinking at a water hole, a lioness rests her head on another’s back. When walking, young lions often touch faces with older ones, an act of close ties among members of the group.

1. By describing lions as “opportunists” in the first paragraph, the author means to say that lions       .

A. are cruel animals                                   B. are clever animals

C. like to take advantage of other animals     D. like to take every chance to eat

2. According to the text, which of the following is true?

A. Lions make most kills in the daytime.

B. Males care more about eating than active killing.

C. Lions are curious about things happening around them.

D. It doesn’t take lions too much time to make a kill.

3. How can we know that lions are social animals?

A. They depend on each other.                   B. They look after each other well.

C. They readily share what they have.         D. They enjoy each other’s company.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A. Powerful Lions                                     B. Lions at Work and Play

C. Lions, Social Cats                                 D. Lions, Skilled Hunters

To extinguish (熄滅) different kinds of fires, several types of fire extinguishers have been invented. They must be ready for immediate use when fire breaks out. Most portable (手提式的) kinds operate for less than a minute, so they are useful only on small fires. The law requires ships, trains, buses and planes to carry extinguishers.

Since fuel, oxygen (氧氣) and heat must be present in order for fire to exist, one or more of these things must be removed or reduced to extinguish a fire. If the heat is reduced by cooling the material below a certain temperature, the fire goes out. The cooling method is the most common way to put out a fire. Water is the best cooling material because it is low in cost and easy to get.

Another method of extinguishing fire is by cutting off the oxygen. This is usually done by covering the fire with sand, steam or some other things. A blanket may be used do cover a small fire.

A third method is called separation, which includes removing the fuel, or material easy to burn, from a fire, so that it can find no fuel.

The method that is used to put out a fire depends upon the type of fire. Fires have been grouped in three classes. Fires in wood, paper, cloth and the like are called Class A fires. These materials usually help keep the fire on. Such fires can be stopped most readily by cooling with water.

1. If a fire breaks out on a bus, which of the follow should be ready there for you to use?

A. Sand                                                    B. Water

C. A blanket.                                             D. An extinguisher.

2. To cover a small piece of burning wood with a basin in order to stop the fire is an example of         .

A. separating the fire                                 B. reducing the heat

C. removing the fuel                                 D. cutting off the oxygen

3. In choosing how to put out a fire, we should first be clear about          .

A. when it breaks out                                B. how it comes about

C. what kind it is                                       D. where it takes place

4. What would the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A. Another class of fires                                   B. Another type of extinguishers

C. How fires break out.                               D. How fires can be prevented.

Childhood was an illusion (錯(cuò)覺) and the illusion was this: everything was bigger. No, I mean everything, not just houses and shops and grown-ups, but colors and flowers and journeys, especially journeys which seemed endless. “Are we there yet, Daddy?”

Funfairs (游樂場) were huge things that spread for miles around you with noise and lights and exciting danger. Rainy days at home when you were ill seemed to last for ever. Being a grown-up yourself was an unthinkable distant possibility. Every sound was louder, every game was grander, every pain unbearable.

As I’ve grown old, life has become smaller. Tastes have dulled. Surprises have turned into shocks. Days go by unnoticed. How can I regain childhood when it was an illusion?

I have only one repeatable and wonderful way and even in this way I can regain only part of that larger world. I can play upon the stage like a child and make the crowd laugh and laugh with them, sometimes helplessly like a child, and then, even though I’m a sixty-one-year-old man, I can almost catch the colors and sounds and stillness of those bigger years when I was little.

1. How does the author feel about his childhood?

A. It was endless.                              B. It was unpleasant.

C. He is glad that it is over.                         D. He misses it as a grown-up

2. The author thinks that everything was bigger in childhood because             .

A. children could not make proper judgments.

B. children were curious and eager about life

C. things appeared really big in children’s eyes

D. to grow up seemed so long for children

3. The world seems to have become smaller to the author because           .

A. life is disappointing                      B. time goes by too fast

C. he has had too many surprises                D. foods no longer taste delicious

4. The author enjoys playing on the stage so as to            .

A. act like a child                                       B. live an unusual life

C. make the crowd laugh                           D. regain his childhood

此題要求改正所給短文中的錯(cuò)誤。對標(biāo)有題號的每一行作出判斷：如無錯(cuò)誤，在該行右邊橫線上畫一個(gè)勾（√）；如有錯(cuò)誤（每行只有一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤），則按下列情況改正：

此行多一個(gè)詞：把多余的詞用斜線（\）劃掉，在該行右邊橫線上寫出該詞，并也用斜線劃掉。

此行缺一個(gè)詞：在缺詞處用一個(gè)漏字符號（^）,在該行右邊橫線上寫出該加的詞。

此行錯(cuò)一個(gè)詞：在錯(cuò)的詞下劃一橫線，在該行右邊橫線上寫出改正后的詞。

注意：原行沒有錯(cuò)的不要改。

There is a public library in every town in Britain. Anyone                        1.       

can borrow books if he or she wish. In some places you                                2.       

may borrow as more books as you need, but in others                                  3.       

you are limited in a certain number of books. You may                                  4.       

keep the books for several weeks so as you can have                             5.       

enough time to finish it. If the book you want is out,                              6.       

you may ask it to be kept for you. Most public libraries                          7.       

also have a reading-room, that you can sit at the desk                             8.       

and read the daily newspapers, magazines and the other                             8.       

books, but you are not permit to take them out.                                     10.       

假設(shè)你是李華，作為選派的交流學(xué)生在美國某中學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)了一年，寄住在Mr. Brown家里，剛回到國內(nèi)�；貒�后你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的一本英語詞典遺忘在他家，因此給他寫一封信，請他幫助寄回詞典。信的主要內(nèi)容如下：

* 感謝在美國期間他所提供的幫助。

* 一本英語詞典忘記帶回。

* 詞典是美國老師送的，非常珍貴。

* 詞典很可能丟在臥室的書架上。

* 郵資自己付。

注意：

    1．詞數(shù)100左右；信的開頭和結(jié)尾已為你寫好。

2．可適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫。

3．參考詞匯：郵資—postage

Dear Mr. Brown,

                                                             Yours, 

Li Hua

The wild flowers looked like a soft orange blanket__________ the desert.

A. covering          B. covered         C.  cover            D.  to cover

In_____ review of 44 studies, American researchers found that men and women who ate six key foods daily cut the risk of_______ heart disease by 76%.

A. a; the                B. the; a                C.  a ;不填                  D. 不填;a

A man cannot smile like a child, ________a child smiles with his eyes, while a man smiles with his lips alone.

A. so                     B. but             C.  and                D.  for

I was giving a talk to a large group of people, the same talk I __________to half a dozen other groups.

A. was giving        B. am giving     C.  had given         D.  have given