Welcome to Australia
The Great Outdoors
Australia is the world’s oldest continent and indigenous Australians have one of the world’s oldest culture.
In Australia you will see unique plants and animals and some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Many parks have information centres offering advice on where to go, what to see and how to see it--for both your personal safety and to protect our sensitive, natural environment.
Banks and Money Matters
Banks are generally open between 9:30am and 4pm on Monday to Thursday and 9:30am and 5pm on Friday.
Foreign currency or traveller’s cheques can be changed at all banks and some of the larger hotels. There are currency exchange facilities at all international airports.
         
Take care! Our sunlight is very strong and you can get sunburnt.
For best sun protection, it is advisable to wear:
A broad-brimmed hat
A shirt with a collar and sleeves
Sunscreen with high protection factor.
Swimming
We have so many beautiful places to swim--beaches, lakes, rivers and creeks.
Many of our waters are safe for swimming, but if you have any doubts, ask before entering the water.
Most of our popular ocean beaches have patrols with life-saving service. Red and yellow flags mark the area that you are advised to swim within. 
If there are no flags and no life guards on the beach, talk to local people about the best areas to swim.
Staying Safe on the Roads
Australians drive on the left-hand side of the road.
For safety, everyone in the car, including children, must wear a seat belt.
Motor cyclists and bicyclists are required to wear a helmet.
Watch out for native animals crossing the roads, especially at night. Road signs are erected in places where animals are commonly seen.
【小題1】What is the best title of the third part of the passage?

According to legend, the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy, which connects the Palazzo Ducale to an ancient prison, got its name because the walk across it gave prisoners on their way to jail a final chance to enjoy the beauty of the city. The view from the bridge today, however, is more likely to be of a giant billboard selling Bulgari or Coca-cola.
But when the Coke billboards went up this summer on buildings near the Piazza San Marco,which is at the historic heart of Venice, there was a public debate.
"We can't commercialize everything, " said Alessandra Mottola  Molfino,  a Venetian.
"We couldn't stay quiet, " said Maria Camilla Bianchini d'Alberigo, president of a heritage protection association.
City of officials. however, argue that without these ads, the city could not afford to maintain its heritage. Many have been damaged by centuries of wear and are even a threat to public safety.
"I can't turn down the image of a bottle when there are pieces of the Palazzo Ducale falling to the ground, " said Renata Codello,  a Culture Ministry official.
The Culture Minister has a budget of about $ 47 million (315 million yuan) for restoration of monuments. but Italy has a rich architectural heritage, and funds are always tight. Of that amount,  $ 1. 8 million was given to the entire Veneto region, which includes Venice.
Two years ago, the city signed an agreement with the Dottor Group, a company responsible for the restoration of the Bridge of Sighs and the Palazzo Ducale. It allows it to sell ad space.
But there is a condition in the agreement: The ads should not offend public taste.
In August, Venice banned US actress Julianne Moore's Bulgrari ad from a billboard in the Piazza San Marco.
The photo shows a naked Moore covered with lion cubs. handbags and jewelry. Mayor Giorgio Orsoni called the image too racy (猥褻) and unsuitable for the Piazza San Marco.
"l consider the fact that Venice is part of the real world_ but we cannot accept these Hollywood-style images. There are wise sponsors. and we need to come up with advertising that suits Venice. not Times Square, " he said in a speech.
【小題1】The article is mainly about__________in Venice.

In the U.S. Mother’s Day is a holiday celebrated on second Sunday in May. It is a day when children honor their mothers with cards, gifts and flowers. First observance in Philadelphia in 1907,it is based on suggestions by Julia Ward Howe in 1872 and by Anna Jarvis in 1907.
Although it wasn’t celebrated in the U.S. until 1907,there were days honoring mothers even in the days of ancient Greece. In those days, however, it was Rhea, the Mother of the gods that was given honor. Later,in the 1600’s,in England there was an annual celebration called “Mothering Sunday.” It was celebrated during June, on the fourth Sunday ,the servants, who generally lived with their employers, were encouraged to return home and honor their mothers. It was traditional for them to bring a special cake along to celebrate the occasion.  
In the U.S., in 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother’s Day. Jarvis persuaded her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother’s Day on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, the 2ed Sunday of May. The next day Mother’s Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia, Jarvis and others began a letter-writing campaign to ministers, businessmen, and politicians asking to establish a national Mother’s Day. They were successful. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914,made the official announcement recognizing Mother’s Day as a national celebration that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.
Many other countries of the world celebrate their own Mother’s Day at different times throughout the year. Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, as in the U.S.
【小題1】.Mother’s Day in the U.S. was first celebrated         .

 Do you know Australia? Australia is the largest island in the world. It is a little smaller than China. It is in the south of the earth. Australia is big, but its population is not large. The population of Australia is nearly as large as that of Shanghai.
The government has made enough laws to fight pollution. The cities in Australia have got little air or water pollution. The sky is blue and the water is clean. You can clearly see fish swimming in the rivers. Plants grow very well.
Last month we visited Perth, the biggest city in Western Australia, and went to a wild flowers’ exhibition. There we saw a large number of wild flowers we had never seen before. We had a wonderful time. Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers. In spring every year Perth has the wild flowers’ exhibition. After visiting Perth, we spent the day in the countryside. We sat down and had a rest near a path at the foot of a hill. It was quiet and we enjoyed ourselves. Suddenly we heard bells ringing at the top of the hill. What we saw made us pick up all our things and run back to the car as quickly as we could. There were about three hundred sheep coming towards us down the path.
Australia is famous for its sheep and kangaroos(袋鼠). After a short drive from any town, you will find yourself in the middle of white sheep. Sheep, sheep, everywhere are sheep.
【小題1】Australia is _______.

Festivals play an important role in a culture’s identity．I can’t think of a better way of appreciating a new culture than by taking part in one of its festivals. Here are some special festivals around the world．
★ Boryeong Mud Festival－Boryeong, South Korea
For two weeks in July, millions gather in Borueong to experience the grey pools and slides．What began as a way of promoting the region’s mineral-rich mud has turned into a festive party, complete with music and fireworks．While the mud is usually only available in cosmetic products, here you can cake yourself in grey as you want．
★Holi－India
Holi, the Festival of Colors, is a Hindu celebration full of joy and one of India’s most important holidays, During the day of the last full moon of the lunar month, usually late February throughout the country, but the cheerful spirit is common throughout Hindu communities around the world．
★Koninginnedag－The Netherlands
Although their current Queen’s birthday is really during the winter, the Queen still celebrates it on April 30^th, the country’s official “ Queen’s Day” since 1949．Orange is the national color, and the streets become a sea of feather boas（長(zhǎng)圍巾）and body paint as crowds gather in the plazas（廣場(chǎng)）．Amsterdam is the center of this outdoor party, with many live music acts, but nearly every town is alive with orange on this day．
★National Elephant Day in Thailand
In Thailand, March 13 is regarded as National Elephant Day to show that the Thai elephant plays an important role in the Thai history．Thai Elephant Day has been held on an annual basis since the idea was first approved by the Thai government in 1998．Special events are held at a number of venues in northern Thailand．At the Mae Sa Elephant Camp, it has become a tradition on March13 for the dozens of elephants there to be treated to a huge feast of fruits and sugarcane．
【小題1】What we can learn from the passage is that       ．

“Tom!”
There was no answer.
“Tom!”
Still no answer.
“Where’s that boy gone? Tom!”
The old lady looked all around the room. She looked under the bed, but found only the cat.
“If I catch that boy, …” she murmured to herself.
She opened the door and looked out into the garden.
“Tom!” she shouted.
Then she heard a slight noise behind her. She turned round just in time to catch the boy as he came out of a cupboard.
“And what have you been doing in there?”
“Nothing,” said the boy.
“Nothing! Look at your hands and your mouth! What is that stuff?”
“I don’t know, Aunt.”
“Well, I know. It’s a jam. I’ve told you forty times that if you touched that jam, I’d skin you.
Give me that stick.”
“Look out, Aunt! Look behind you!”
The old lady turned round and Tom was out of the door in a flash, over the garden fence and away.
“Damn that boy! Will I never learn? He’s always playing tricks on me. And he seems to know just now how far he can go, too. But I can’t take a stick to him. I really can’t. After all, he’s my dead sister’s boy. Ah well, he’ll play truant today and I’ll have to make him work tomorrow.”
At supper Aunt Polly tried to trick Tom into admitting that he hadn’t gone to school.
“It was rather hot today, wasn’t it, Tom?”
“Yes,” answered Tom.
“You didn’t have to open your shirt collar where I sewed（縫） it, then.”
Tom was confident, now. He opened his jacket. His collar was securely sewed.
“Oh Tom,” said Aunt Polly. “You’re a good boy really.”
She was sorry that she had been wrong about him.
“But Aunt,” came a voice. It was Sidney, Tom’s younger brother. “Didn’ t you sew Tom’s collar with white cotton? Look! Now it’s black.
Tom was already running out of the door.
---The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
【小題1】The underlined word “skin” probably mean in the passage?

Do you know when and where ice cream got its start? It's an international favorite with a long and interesting history
The earliest ices were eaten in China many years ago. The people would put orange juice on ice .Later, this idea traveled to Italy. Nero, the emperor of Rome between 37 and 68 A.D, liked to eat ices as a special treat between violin lessons. He ordered runners to run to the mountains, get snow and quickly run back to the palace; The snow was mixed with fruit juices and nuts.
Around 1660,Coffee shops serving ice cream were very popular in Paris. Most of the coffee shops were owned by Italians. The first successful one was opened by a man from Sicily named Francesco Procopio.
Ice cream was probably brought to America in the early 1700's, and quickly became the favorite of American presidents. George Washington had ice cream pots and machines in his kitchen. Dolly Madison the wife of President Madison, was the first person to actually serve it in the White House. She made her guests very  happy when she served her favorite dessert.
Before ice cream was sold in stores, it was made and frozen at home. it took a lot of work to mix cream，eggs，fruit，and salt, and then to freeze it. Nancy Johnson, an American woman who was good with machines, invented the hand-turned ice cream freezer in 1846. Five years later, Jacob Fluse opened the first ice cream business, in Baltimore, Maryland His business quickly spread to other states. Today in the United States,  ice cream is not only a food , it is away of life.
【小題1】What's the passage about? (No more than 10 words)
_____________________________________________________________________________
【小題2】From which country did ice cream begin to travel in the world? (No more than l word)
_____________________________________________________________________________
【小題3】What does the underlined word "it" refer to in paragraph 4? (No more than 3 words)
_____________________________________________________________________________
【小題4】Who was the first person to serve the ice cream in White House'? (No more than 5 words)
_____________________________________________________________________________
【小題5】According to the passage ,what made ice cream so popular in the USA? Please list two reasons．

American colleges and universities consider a number of things about a student who wants to be admitted. Experts say the most important thing is the students’ high school record. Besides, student's interests and activities may also play a part in getting accepted. But in most cases another consideration is how well the student did on college entrance exams. Here we’d like to discuss two of these tests: the SAT and the ACT. Most American schools accept either one.
The SAT measures reasoning skills in mathematics and language. Students have almost four hours to complete the SAT. The newest part is an essay. Students have twenty-five minutes to write an answer to a question.
The SAT costs 41.5$. Besides, the international processing charge is 22$ more. And test-takers in India and Pakistan must also pay a 21.5 $ security charge.
Students may also need to take SAT subject tests in areas like history, science and foreign language. Subject tests cost eighteen dollars each.
The ACT is an achievement test. It is designed to measure what a student has learned in school. Students are tested in mathematics, English, reading and science. A writing test is offered but not required. Without it, the ACT takes about three hours to complete. The essay part adds thirty minutes.
The ACT costs forty-nine dollars to take outside the United States. The writing test costs an additional fourteen dollars.
【小題1】What’s most important in students’ admission to American colleges and universities?

Scotland is a unique place, loaded with history, where you can find aristocratic（貴族的）palaces and castles, as well as the traditional parades in national costumes.
In order to see and discover the true soul of Scotland today and what formed the character of this splendid region, we have to go towards the northern regions, to the Grampian Mountains（格蘭扁山區(qū)）, beautiful and plain. The Scots conquered the environment with simple spades and strong arms, for it was difficult to farm.
The history of this ancient struggle, and its people’s ancient love with the hard land, can be felt within the walls of the Angus Folk Museum. You are able to get a feel of the typical rural atmosphere of times past from the everyday artifacts displayed here.
From coastal Aberdeen in towards the Grampian Mountains there runs the Castle Trail, a road that touches on many fortresses（堡壘）, which are witnesses of continual fights against the control of neighboring England in Scottish history. 
Perhaps the most exciting moment for Scottish autonomy is the one experienced inside this ancient church of Arbroath, where, in 1320, the Declaration of Independence was celebrated, at the instigation（鼓動(dòng)）of King Robert the Bruce. He carried out the plan for autonomy drawn up by the great popular hero William Wallace, for whom cinema has designed the wonderful film Brave Heart, the winner of the five Oscars. 
This is Glamis Castle, where King Macbeth and Queen Elizabeth used to live. Among the most frequent guests here are the predictable ghosts, if not actually created, by ancient popular beliefs. These have been handed down over the centuries by people tending to live with mystery, with the forces of the supernatural.
Another attraction here is a legendary monster: the Loch Ness Monster. Whether it’s real or imaginary, this monster, which has been nicknamed Nessie, has collected a good 3,000 sightings over the last 50 years.
The true flag of Scotland, tartan, is recognizable from the brightly colored plaid patterns which are used to distinguish the various social groups. 
Bagpipes and dancing open the competitions of local sporting events, which are called Highland Gatherings.
【小題1】Take a look at the Angus Folk Museum, and we can learn about _______.        .

Too Much Happiness was written by Alice Munro，winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature，one of our greatest contemporary writers of fiction and the owner of the Man Booker Price for Fiction．Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker，The Atlantic Monthly，and other publications，and her collections have been translated into thirteen languages．
The main character is Sophia Kovalevsky，a great Russian mathematician，writer and advocator擁護(hù)者）of women’s rights in the late nineteenth century. After visiting her lover Maxsim Kovalevsky in Riviera，she travels in Europe，ending up in Sweden，where she teaches at the only university in Europe willing to employ a female mathematician．The book writes about her journey from Riviera to Sweden．
The story tells the typical struggle of an intellectual（知識(shí)分子）woman to achieve success and happiness．However，when she is going to die，Sophia says“too much happiness”．I think it’s irony（諷*11的）．As reading the story，she has too many mental problems·First，as a woman mathematician，she was born in a wrong time ．She was married to Vladimir Kovalevsky without love，called“a white marriage”．She explained that“no a young Russian woman who was unmarried could leave the country．”She satisfied her marriage to seek her career．
Furthermore，when she sees a man look like Maxsim in the station，she says to herself，“of course，it would not be Maxsim，what could he be doing in Paris？”She doesn’t want to face the fact because she doesn’t want to lose her hope．She believes they will marry in spring．And in her letter to Julia she says：“it is to be happiness after all，happiness after all．Happiness．”She is cheating herself. In fact，the man does not want to marry her，and the happiness she expected doesn’t take place at all．
Finally, I conclude that the end must be a tragedy（悲�。�．From the very first pages the atmosphere is gloomy黯淡的）and threatening.“One of us will die this year.”“Because we have gone walking in a graveyard（墓地）on the first day of the New Year.”Some pages further，“a black cat across their path”all reflect it will be a bad ending．Not because she had some problems with her lung，but because her life does not bring her happiness，and because of these disharmony things that happen in her life．
【小題1】We can infer from the passage that＿＿·