Vampires (吸血鬼), creatures of myth, have been around in one form or another for centuries. Terrifying but also attractive, they are as popular in the early 21 st century as ever, as the current popularity of Twilight series, and its hero Edward Cullen, show.

Vampires first appeared in fiction in the 1700s. in 1895 Irish novelist Bram Stoker published Dracula, introducing the world’s most famous vampire.

But just what is it about these drinkers of human blood that continues to fascinate us? Speaking to Eric Lewis of the Times and Transcript website, academic Deborah Wells said that vampires are “culturally adaptive”. “We create very different vampires to fit different times. Edward Cullen is not the same as Count Dracula,” she said.

Different as they are, Wells believes vampires are “the perfect containers into which we can pour our current cultural anxieties”, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is powerful, yet old and physically ugly. Stoker’s book dealt with fear of the fall of the British Empire, real fears in the day in which it was written.

According to the website Bookrags, today’s vampires have all our cultural desires, money, power and sexual attraction. Represented by Cullen, they are noble, handsome young men whom women find irresistible. What’s more, vampires challenge traditional ideas about death, science and parental authority. This may be why teenagers are drawn to vampire tales.

“In many ways, the vampire story shows up teenage concerns,” said wells. “The emotional intensity (強(qiáng)度) of the relationship with the vampire matches the intensity of how it feels to have your first real love affairs. Your first real love, it really feels like life and death.”

55．The best title for this passage should be_______.

A．Vampires may continue to drink our blood

B．Vampires have been around us for long

C．Why Twilight is so popular nowadays

D．We still like the story about vampires

56．What is the image of the vampire in Bram Stoker’s book?

A．Anxious but perfect.

B．Powerful, old and ugly.

C．Terrifying but also attractive.

D．Afraid of the fall of the British Empire.

57．According to the website Bookrages, today’s vampires_______.

A．desire money, power and sexual attraction

B．may not think highly of parental authority

C．dare to give up traditional ideas

D．a(chǎn)re likely to be resisted by women

58．Which of the following statements is true according to Wells?

A．People need different vampires in different times.

B．Our current cultural anxieties are hidden in vampires.

C．The vampire story reflects the conches of the teenagers.

D．The relationship with the vampire equals your first real love.

 

When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, they usually talk simultaneously（同時(shí)的）about a variety of subjects, including children, men, careers and what' s happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen -- they can' t do both -- and they don' t understand that women can. Besides, women consider that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships -- not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring at the screen.

During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the subtle body language signals that reveal how the characters are feeling emotionally. Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully in order to maintain relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to relate the facts.

Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a means of bonding. A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours.

There is no convincing evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls' mothers talked them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr Michael Lewis, author of Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked  to and looked at, baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents respond to the brain bias of their children. Since a girl’s brain is better organized to send and receive speech，we therefore talk to them more. Consequently, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually pointed to receive only short grunts in reply.

 

1. While watching TV with others, women Usually talk a lot because they

A. are afraid of awkward silence with their families and friends

B. can both talk and watch the screen at the Same time

C. think they can have a good time and develop relationships

D. have to explain the plot and body language to their husbands

2.After a vacation with her girlfriend, a woman would talk to her again on the phone for hours in order to              .

A. experience the happy time again    B. keep a close tie with her

C. recommend her a new scenic spot   D. remind her of something forgotten

3.What does the author want to tell us most?

A. Women' s brains are better organized for language and communication

B. Women love to talk because they are more sociable than men.

C. Men do not like talking because they rely more on facts.

D. Social conditioning is not the reason why women love talking.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Women Are Socially Trained to Talk      B. Talking Maintains Relationships

C. Women Love to Talk                  D. Men Talk Differently from Women

 

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most loved children’s books of all time, and many adults enjoy it as well. It tells the story of a young girl named Alice, who follows a rabbit entering a magical world called Wonderland. She has many experiences which seem to change the rules of reasoning or common sense. The popularity of the book comes from its imagination, interesting story, and art work.

The writer of the book is Lewis Carroll. In fact, Lewis Carroll was not the writer’s real name. His real name was Charles Dodgson. One day, he took a boat ride down the Thames River to have a picnic with three little girls who were friends of the family. To keep them entertained on the ride, he told them a story in which Alice, the middle child, was the main character. They enjoyed the story very much.

Charles later wrote the story down under the name Alice’s Adventures Under Ground and gave it to Alice as a Christmas present. Later, he gave a copy to his friend George MacDonald. George read it to his children and they loved it. George suggested to Charles that he make a book from his story. Charles then wrote more parts to the story until it was around 35,000 words. It was first printed in 1866, with art work by John Tenniel, under the name Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The book was an immediate success. One of its first fans was Queen Victoria. She immediately requested a collection of all of Lewis Carroll’s works. She was surprised to find that they included many works on math. In fact, Charles Dodgson was a highly respected mathematician. This can be seen in many puzzles and plays on reasoning that appear in his books and poems.

Since the story was first printed, it has kept selling up to the present day. It has been translated into over fifty languages and has had several movies based on it.

1.The passage is mainly about _________.

A．Charles’ family life

B．the birth of a book and its lasting influences

C．a(chǎn) magical world called Wonderland

D．a(chǎn) girl’s adventurous experiences

2.Who first had the idea of making a book from the story “Alice Adventures Under Ground”?

A．Alice

B．Charles

C．George

D．John

3.Which of the following is the right order of the passage?

a. Charles gave his story to Alice as a Christmas present.

b. Charles had a picnic with three little girls on the Thames.

c. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first printed in 1866.

d. More parts were added to the story by Charles.

e. The book won a large number of fans.

A．c-b-a-d-e

B．c-a-b-e-d

C．b-a-d-c-e

D．b-a-c-e-d

 

A university graduate described as a “respectable and intelligent” woman is seeking professional help after being convicted of （證明有……罪）shoplifting for the second time in six months．

         Ana Luz, recently studying for her PhD,has been told she could end up behind bars unless she can control the desire to steal from shops．

         Luz ,who lives with her partner in Fitzwilliam Road ,Cambridge ,admitted stealing clothes worth ￡9．95 from John Lewis in Oxford Street ,London ,on March 9．

         Phillip Lemoyne ,prosecuting（起訴）,said Luz selected some clothes from a display and took them to the ladies’ toilet in the store．When she came out again she was wearing one of the skirts she had selected ,having taken off the anti-theft security alarms（防盜警報(bào)裝置）．

         She was stopped and caught after leaving the store without paying ,Mr Lemoyne said．

         He added that she was upset on her arrest and apologized for her actions．

         Luz,28, was said to have been convicted of shoplifting by Cambridge judges last October ,but Morag Duff, defending ,said she had never been in trouble with the police before that．

         “She is ashamed and embarrassed but doesn’t really have any explanation why she did this ,” Miss Duff said．“She didn’t intend to steal when she went into the store．She is at a loss to explain it．She is otherwise a very respectable and intelligent young lady．She went to her doctor and asked for advice because she wants to know if there is anything in particular that caused her to do this．”

         Judge David Azan fined Luz ￡ 50,  and warned : “You’ve got a criminal record．If you carry on like this ,you will end up in prison ,which will ruin your bright future you may have．”

         Luz achieved a degree in design at university in her native Spain ,went on to a famous university in Berlin , Germany for her master’s degree and is now studying for a PhD at Cambridge University ,UK．

64．What is Ana Luz’s nationality?

         A．American．       B．British．    C．Spanish．  D．German．

65．What does the underlined sentence “She is at a loss to explain it” mean?

         A．In her opinion it was a loss to the clothes shops where she stole things．

         B．She doesn’t have any idea why she has the desire to steal from shops．

         C．She thinks it is a loss for her to explain why she stole things from shops．

         D．Personally she feels ashamed and embarrassed for her shoplifting actions．

66．Which of the following best explains the meaning of the word “shoplifting” used in the passage?

         A．Carrying goods in a lift for a shop．

         B．Taking goods to the ladies’ toilet．

         C．Selecting some goods from a display．   

         D．Taking goods from a shop without paying．

67．From the passage we can learn that          ．

         A．Ana Luz is already got her PhD at Cambridge University ,UK

         B．Ana Luz is ashamed and embarrassed and knows why she often did so

         C．the university graduate will be put in prison if she steals in shops once more

         D．Phillip Lemoyne is the “respectable and intelligent” woman’s defense lawyer

 

Perhaps you have never heard of Katherine Lawes．Katherine was the wife of Lewis Lawes, warden （監(jiān)獄長(zhǎng)） at Sing Sing Prison from 1920 to 1941．In these 21 years he made many reforms --- and an important part of his success was due to his wife Katherine．

    Katherine took seriously the idea that the prisoners are human beings ,worthy of attention and respect ．She regularly visited inside the walls of Sing Sing．She encouraged the prisoners, took things to them and spent time listening to them．Most importantly, she cared about them．And as a result, they cared deeply about her．

    Then one night in October of 1937, news was "telegraphed" between the prison cells that Katherine had been killed in an accident．The prisoners asked the warden to allow them to attend her funeral．He agreed to their strange request and a few days later the south gate of Sing Sing swung slowly open．Hundreds of men who had committed almost every crime imaginable marched slowly out of the prison, later gathered again at the gate and returned to their cells．There were so many that they proceeded unguarded．But no one tried to escape．If he had, the others might have killed him immediately．So devoted were they to Katherine Lawes, the woman who daily walked into Hell to show the men a piece of Heaven．

    Katherine' s strength was to see the men less as prisoners and more as individuals．Thomas Moore once said, "We can only treat badly those things or people whose souls we show no respect for．"

1.When Katherine's husband was the warden at Sing Sing Prison, she did the following things EXCEPT_______________．

A．encouraging the prisoners             B．visiting the prison houses

C．spending time in listening to the prisoners  D． doing some writing for the prisoner

2.Why did the prisoners ask the warden to allow them to attend Katherine’s funeral?

A．Because Katherine was the wife of the warden．

B． Because Katherine didn't look down upon them and cared about them．

C．Because Katherine made reforms in the prison．

D．Because Katherine had been killed by one of them．

3.Whom does the underlined part “the others” refer to?

A．The policemen at the funeral．  B．The guards．

C． The other prisoners．           D．The policemen from other prisons．

4.The best title of this passage is_________．

A．To Honor Their Souls         B．Reforms at Sing Sing Prison

C．To Meet Their Requirement   D．  Katherine Lawes' s Life