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Language is a major problem for the European Union(EU)．The agreement or treaty (条约) which created the organization that eventually became the EU, the Treaty of Rome，stated that each country’s language must be treated equally．The original six countries had only three languages between them：French, German and Dutch . However, there are now 15 countries in the EU, with a total of 12 languages. EU documents must be translated into all these languages，and at official meetings, the speeches must be translated into all the languages by interpreters.
All this translating is very expensive and time consuming . It is said that nearly half of all employees of the EU are engaged in translating documents and speeches, and nearly half of the EU’s administrative (管理方面的) costs are spent on this task．In the near future it is probable that several more countries, most of them having their own languages, will join the EU, thus making the situation even worse.
The problem is not just cost：there are practical difficulties as well. With 12 languages，there are 132 possible “translation situations” that might be needed．It is often difficult to find people in the right place at the right time who can translate from (for example) Danish into Greek, or Dutch into Portuguese, at a high professional standard.
In practice, the problem has been made less severe by the use of English in many contacts between EU officials，since almost all of them speak some English. However, any action to reduce the number of official languages (perhaps to four or five) would be a blow to the pride of the smaller countries. Another commonly suggested solution is to make English the official language for all EU business. However, this is strongly resisted by powerful member countries like France and Germany.
72．What’s the main purpose of this passage?
A．To give a solution to a problem．
B．To find out a problem and show how severe it is
C．To criticize the European Union for inefficiency．
D．To show that the problem cannot be solved．
73．According to the writer，the use of English in contacts among EU officials has _________.
A．angered the officials who don’t speak English
B．increased the number of official languages
C．reduced the effect of the problem
D．been supported by powerful member countries
74．The writer mentions “Danish into Greek” as an example of ________.
A．a situation that might be difficult to deal with
B．a situation that occurs at times
C．one of the 12 situations that requires an interpreter
D．languages easily being interpreted
75．The writer suggests that if the number of official languages were reduced, ________
A．the EU would not know which official languages to choose
B．countries whose languages were not used officially would be unhappy
C．only easy languages would be used officially
D．the smaller member countries would be pleased
I am usually in a bad mood after a long day at work, but on this particular Friday afternoon I was in a high mood. I planned to have a good meal and watch Bridget Jones’s Diary.
My local supermarket is always busy. The first parking space I spotted was convenient, but I’d noticed a woman in an old car circling for a while. I let her have it. On the edge of the car park I backed into the next available spot — it was a tight fit.
In record time I’d made my way through the supermarket and was back in the fresh air. In a rush of good spirits, I emptied my purse change into the hands of a homeless man and helped a struggling woman reverse (倒车) into a parking space.
Just as I spotted my car, I saw the woman I’d let have my car spot earlier. I smiled and wished her a pleasant day.
As I got back into my car, I spotted the same lady looking in at me. “ Hello,” she said, hesitantly (犹豫地). “ This might sound crazy but I was on my way to drop some of my mother’s things off at the charity bins.” I looked quickly at the orange bins in the corner of the parking lot, confused. “ I saw you helping those people, and you seemed so happy. My mom had a dress just like that.”
She looked at me meaningfully. I smiled at her in encouragement, hoping she wouldn’t notice that the dress she was admiring was now full of holes. “ I was going to give these away, but you are just so much like her.” She passed a box in through the window. Shocked, unthinking, I took it automatically (无意识地). “ I think she would like you to have it.” She smiled and walked away.
After a pause, I opened the box. Inside was a beautiful gold necklace. It was the nicest gift I’d ever received, and it was from a complete stranger.
Later, I thought back on the day. I didn’t feel the usual sense of exhaustion. The necklace was around my neck, a warm reminder of human kindness.
This Friday afternoon, the author ________.
| A．watched a new movie |
| B．had trouble parking her car |
| C．was in the mood to help others |
| D．spent a long time in the supermarket |
Which of the following is TRUE about the author?
| A．She was not very wealthy actually. |
| B．She considered her dress beautiful. |
| C．She had met the lady’s mum. |
| D．She was living on charity. |
What does the author mainly intend to tell us?
| A．Success leads to happiness. |
| B．Good is rewarded with good. |
| C．Two heads are better than one. |
| D．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
The film stars out as a normal day at a typical American high school. Friends chat in the dining room and boys play football. But there's big surprise when the movie ends with two students going crazy in the school-shooting and killing people.
This is Elephant. It stars real school kids. American director Gus Van Sant had no ready-made lines. The student actors made up their own dialogue, with Van Sant asking them to base their characters on their own lives.
Although it may not sound very high quality, the film won the Palme d'Or (金棕奖) for Best Film and the award for Best Director at the Cannes film festival.
The film is based on the shootings at a high school in the US, where two boys killed 13 people and then themselves in 1999.
The title of the movie refers to the old expression about a problem that's as hard to ignore as an elephant in the house.
The film takes a close look at a few hours in the lives of the victims and the killers. It shows how high school is a different experience for everyone---fun and friendly, or hard and lonely.
In many ways, the two boys, who carry out the shooting, act like ordinary kids. They joke around with one boy's mother as she serves them cakes and play the piano.
But there're hints of the anger they feel inside. One of the boys is bullied (欺负) at school. The other plays violent video games. But Van Sant isn't blaming their killings on either bullying or violent games. In fact, the film doesn't offer any reason for why school violence happens.
"I didn't want to explain anything. It's up to the audience to draw its own conclusions," said the 51-year-old director.The lines of the film were ________.
| A．given by the director |
| B．created by student actors |
| C．thought out by the director during the acting |
| D．carefully designed by professional people |
The film doesn't tell why school shootings happen________.
| A．so as to leave room for the audience to think and judge |
| B．because life itself is the problem maker |
| C．because the mental problems of students are hard to explain |
| D．but there are some hints of the reasons |
The film is named Elephant because ________.
| A．an elephant is always gentle and never causes trouble |
| B．an elephant is a symbol of big problems in American schools |
| C．elephant is used to suggest that the school crime is a big problem |
| D．the two boys liked elephants when alive |
What’s the passage mainly about？
| A．It shows American school life. |
| B．It introduces the film Elephant. |
| C．It tells people to be careful while in peace. |
| D．It reports a school killing in a US school. |
The Celerifere, an early version of the bicycle, was built around 1791 by a French man, Comte Mede de Sivrac. It was basically a scooter with a high seat. There were no pedals---you had to push with your feet like you do with a skateboard or a scooter.
Around 1816 Baron Karl Drais de Sauerbrun in Germany added a moveable steering（操纵）handle. These early machines were often known as dandy horses or hobby horses, but weren’t very popular.
The improvement that made them popular was added by a Scottish blacksmith around 1839. Kirkpatrick Macmillan added pedals to enable it to get up hills. It was this improvement that made the bicycle a serious form of transportation.
Bike were called velocipedes（脚踏两轮车）or bone-shakers, because of the lack of the proper tires made for a rough ride! It wasn’t until around 1869 that they began to be called bicycles (“two-wheels”). Carriage makers in Paris (either Pierre and Ernest Michaux, or their employee Pierre Lallement) switched the pedal to the front wheel. That’s why it is usually either Lallement or the Michauxs, not Macmillan, who are considered as the inventor of the bicycle.
In 1869 the penny-farthing or high-wheeler was invented. With the large wheel the rider could go much farther with each push of the pedal, but caused many accidents because the seat was so far off the ground.
In the mid-1880s Englishman James Starley manufactured what he called the “safety bicycle” , which had two similarly-sized wheels and a major improvement--- a chain（链条）and sprocket（链轮齿） driven rear wheel, with the pedals between the two wheels like modern bicycles.
One more historical note---it’s possible that the idea of the bicycle was thought of almost 400 years before it was actually invented. There is a drawing of a bicycle-like machine in one of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, which dates back to about 1493.Who is recognized as the inventor of the bicycle?
| A．The Michauxs. |
| B．Macmillan. |
| C．Comte Mede de Sivac. |
| D．Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun. |
Why was the bicycle not popular in the early 1800’s?
| A．It was too expensive. |
| B．The seat was too high. |
| C．There were no pedals. |
| D．It had no tires. |
Which of the following statements can NOT be inferred from the passage?
| A．The “safety bicycle” was much like the modern bicycle. |
| B．Leonardo da Vinci once drew a machine similar to the bicycle. |
| C．The penny-farthing did not last long because it was a bit too dangerous. |
| D．Comte Mede De Sivrac’s invention had both a steering handle and pedals. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．The Inventor of the Bicycle |
| B．Modern Bicycles |
| C．The History of the Bicycle |
| D．Leonardo da Vinci and the Bicycle |
When I was three, my parents took me to have an operation in India, which stopped my eyesight from deteriorating（恶化）. Several years later we moved to Pakistan, where I received 12 operations within one year and went completely blind. Later, I realized that the doctors used me as an experiment.
I met my husband when he came over from India to study. I wanted to go to India to marry him, but it was almost impossible to emigrate. I made a crazy plan to cross the borders of several countries to get to India. I was arrested in the first country I escaped to. Back in Pakistan, I lost my job and was asked to sign a “never-to-escape” promise. Instead, when I got home, I made a cup of coffee and decided to make a formal application for emigration. The chance was slim, and people who applied to go to India found it hard to find a job in Pakistan while they were waiting. In the end, my husband managed to smooth the way for my emigration. We got married and had children. But after nine years, he died of brain cancer. I was helpless for a while, and then I learned to face reality optimistically. He taught us happiness came from inside us.
Six years ago, I brought home a dog called Moritz from the seeing-eye dog centre. He was short with long ears. No one liked him because of his pathetic（可怜的）appearance. We were almost always together. Moritz could not leave me for even one minute. Now when I walk down the street, not like before, people will come up and say, “What a good seeing-eye dog!”, and have a little chat with me as a normal creature.
I’m now working for the Association of the Blind and I have many good friends, and a special friend in Hamburg. It is a wonderful feeling to speak freely with someone I can’t see, to trust one another.The author went blind just because _______.
| A．she was born completely blind |
| B．she received an operation in India |
| C．her parents didn’t pay attention to her illness |
| D．she was unluckily put to the test |
What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．It was full of hope to unite with her husband. |
| B．Emigrating to India was never easy at that time. |
| C．She was very thin and weak at that hard time. |
| D．There was little chance to find a job in India. |
When the author walked down the street before, people may _________.
| A．look down upon her and view her as a poor being |
| B．chat with her with great warmth |
| C．criticize how ugly her dog looked |
| D．respect her for her independence |
From the text, we learn the author is ________.
| A．a burden not only for her family but also for the society |
| B．a kind-hearted lady protecting wretched pets |
| C．not an obedient citizen |
| D．a determined and optimistic person |
A Groundbreaking Event
It was an unforgettable field trip. Twenty-six fifth-graders from George Bancroft Elementary School, in Washington, D.C., went to the White House on Friday. They used shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows to help First Lady Michelle Obama break ground on a new vegetable garden.
This White House garden is the first since World War Ⅱ. In the 1940s, First lady Eleanor Roosevelt planted a White House “Victory Garden” to encourage Americans to grow gardens at home. Mrs. Obama’s new garden is an L-shaped patch near the fountain on the South Lawn. Vegetables to be planted include lettuce, peas, collard greens, onions and spinach. A herb garden will grow garlic, sage and cilantro. These herbs are used in Mexican food, an Obama family favourite. White House chefs will prepare meals for the First Family with food from the garden and some of the produce will be donated to Miriam’s Kitchen, a soup kitchen near the White House.
Health food is important to Mrs. Obama. She said that the purpose of the garden is to make sure that her family, the White House staff, and guests eat fresh vegetables. Mrs. Obama has also said that she hopes the new White House garden will help educate Americans about the importance of fresh, nutritious food at a time when obesity is a national crisis. A diet high in natural, unprocessed foods helps people maintain a healthy weight.
Mrs. Obama said she has found that her daughters, Malia, 16, and Sasha, 13, like vegetables more if they have been involved in growing them. “If they have been involved in planting and picking the vegetables, they are much more curious about giving them a try,” she said. When Bancroft students go back to the White House this summer they will get to taste the vegetables they helped to grow. After they help to harvest the crops, they will cook them in the White House kitchen and then eat them.What did the Bancroft students do outside the White House?
| A．They gave shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows to the First Lady. |
| B．They did research on what life is like for the First Lady. |
| C．They helped First Lady Michelle Obama to plant a garden. |
| D．They gave fruit and vegetables to the First Lady. |
The reason why First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt planted a “Victory Garden” was that _________.
| A．she did it just for fun. |
| B．she wanted other citizens to follow her example. |
| C．she wanted to please her husband. |
| D．she wanted to get some gardening experience. |
Why did Mrs. Obama plan to plant the garden?
| A．Because she wanted her children to become gardeners. |
| B．Because she wanted to know what gardening is like. |
| C．Because she wanted to become a second Eleanor Roosevelt. |
| D．Because she wanted people in the white house to eat a healthy food. |
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