If you ask people to name a person who had the greatest effect on the English language, you will get answers like “Shakespeare” “Samuel Johnson” and “Webster”, but none of these men had any effect at all compared to a man who didn’t even speak English—William the Conqueror.
Before 1066, in the land we now call Great Britain lived people in two main language groups. One was a Celtic language, the other was what we now call Anglo-Saxon (or old English), a Germanic language. If this had lasted, English today would be close to German.
But this didn’t last. In 1066 the Normans led by William began their rule over England. For about a century, French became 
the official language of England while Old English became the language of farmers. As a result, English wor
ds of politics (政治) and the law come from French rather than German. In some cases, modern English even shows a difference between upper-class French and lower-class Old English in its words. We even have different words for some foods, meat in particular, depending on whether it is still out in the fields or at home ready to be cooked.
This shows the fact that the lower-class farmers were doing farming, while the upper-class Normans were doing most of the eating.
When Americans visit Europe for the first time, they usually find Germany more “foreign” than France because the German they see on signs and ads seems much more different from English than French does. Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic in its beginning and that the French influences are all the results of one
man’s ambition (野心).Before 1066, the two main languages spoken in the place wh
ich we now call “Great Britain” were __________.
| A．Germanic and French |
| B．Nordic and Germanic |
| C．Celtic and Old English |
| D．Old English and Germanic |
According to the passage, which of the following groups of words are most probably from French?
| A．President, lawyer and beef. |
| B．President, bread and water. |
| C．Bread, field and sheep. |
| D．Pig, cow and government. |
Why do Americans find France less foreign than Germany?
| A．Many signs and ads are in English. |
| B．They know little about the history of the English language. |
| C．Many French words are similar to English ones. |
| D．They know French better than German. |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．The History of Great Britain. |
| B．The Similarity (相似点) between English and French. |
| C．The Rule of England by William the Conqueror. |
| D．The French Influence on the English Language. |
Country music is one of the most popular kinds of music in the United States today because it is about simple but strong human feelings and events-love, sadness, good times, and bad times. It tells real-life, stories and sounds the way people really talk. As life becomes more complicated(复杂), it is good to hear music about ordinary people.
Country music, sometimes called country-western, comes from two kinds of music. One is the traditional music of the people in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern Unite States. The other is traditional cowboy music from the west. The singers usually play guitars, and in the 1920s they started using electric guitars. At first city people said country music was low class. It was popular mostly in the South. But during World War II, thousands of Southerners went to the Northeast and Midwest to work in the factories. They took their music with them. Soldiers from the rest of the country went to army camps（军营）in the South. They learned country music. Slowly it became popular all over the country.
Today country music is also popular everywhere in the United States and Canada—in small towns and in New York City, among black and white, and among educated and uneducated people. About 1, 200 radio stations broadcast country music twenty-four hours a day. English stars sing it in British English, and people in other countries sing it in their own languages. The music that started with cowboys and poor southerners is now popular all over the world.
57. It can be learned from the passage that country music comes from_________-
A. the Northeast and Midwest
B. factories and army camps in the South
C. the Appalachian Mountains and the West
D. real-life stories in small towns
58. Before World War II country music was popular mainly in________.
A. the south B. the north
C. the Midwest D. the Northeast
59. During World War II many Southerners went to the Northeast and the Mid-west because____.
A. they wanted to take music with them
B. they wanted to make other people like country music
C. they wanted to work in the factories there
D. they wanted to make country music popular
60. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Country music is about human feelings and events.
B. Country music is sung by stars all in English.
C. Country music is popular among city people today.
D. City people didn’t like country music at first.
Miss Maynell and I grew to know each other through the mail. When World War II ended, I returned from Europe. We planned our first meeting at the Grand Central Station in New York.
At seven, I was in the station and waited for the girl whose heart I loved but whose face I’d never seen.
Suddenly a girl in a green suit was coming toward me. I stood up from the bench and started toward her, completely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose.
“Going my way, sailor?” the girl murmured, walking away quickly. I made one step closer to her and then I saw Miss Maynell, who was well past 40, standing almost directly behind her with a red rose. I felt something even better than love. I didn’t hesitate and walked to her. “I’m John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell,” I said, feeling shocked by the bitterness of disappointment. “I’m glad you could meet me. May I take you to dinner?”
The woman smiled. “I don’t know what this is about, son,” she answered. “But the young lady in the green suit begged me to wear this rose. And she said if you were to invited me to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in a big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”
54What did John Blanchard go to the station for?
A. To see the middle-aged woman
B. To wait for a girl from Europe.
C. To invite the woman with a rose to dinner.
D. To meet his lover as planned.
55.How could John Blanchard recognize the girl?
A. By her green suit B. By her red rose
C. By her beautiful face D. By her pictures
56 Why did John feel disappointed? Because _______.
A. he realized that it was not love
B. he found the girl was going away
C. he failed to find the girl with a rose
D. he knew that the girl would test him.
Henry Ford was the first person to build cars which were cheap，strong and fast．He was able to se11 millions of models because be could produce them in large numbers at a time；that is，he made a great many cars of exactly the same kind．Ford’s father hoped that his son would become a farmer，but the young man did not like the idea and he went to Detroit（底特律）where he worked as a mechanic（机械师）．By the age of 29，in 1892，he had built his first car．However，the car made in this way，the famous “Model T” did not appear until 1908-five years after Ford bad started his great motor car factory．This car showed to be well-known that it remained unchanged for twenty year．Since Ford’s time，this way of producing cars in large numbers has be come common in industry and has reduced the price of many goods which would otherwise be very expensive．
50．Henry Ford was the man to built _____ cars．
A．cheap and strong B．cheap and long
C．fast and expensive D．strong and slow
51．Ford was able to sell millions of cars，because_____．
A．he made many greet cars B．his cars are many
C．he made lots of cars of the same kind D．both A and B
52．The “Model T” was very famous_____．
A．before 1908 B．between 1982 and 1908 C．before 1892 D．after 1908
53．Ford built his own car factory
A．in 1903 B．in 1908 C．in 1913 D．in 1897
第二部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Alice always wanted to be a singer. Music was the most important thing in her life and, to tell you the truth, she took lessons for years, and practised every day, but in spite of all this, her voice didn’t improve. Honestly, it didn’t get better, it just got louder.
Her teacher finally gave up and stopped the lessons, but Alice refused（拒绝）to give in, and one day she decided to give a concert and invited her teacher to attend.
The teacher was very worried about what to say after the concert. She knew it would be terrible and it was. She didn’t want to tell a lie, but she didn’t want to hurt Alice’s feelings, either. Finally, she got an idea and went backstage (后台) to greet her pupil.
“Well,” said Alice, “what did you think of my singing?”
“My dear,” said the teacher, “you’ll never be better than you were tonight.”
46. Alice wanted to be a singer because she .
A. was good at singing
B. could do nothing but sing
C. had a good teacher
D. was most interested in music
47. Alice’s teacher stopped the lessons because .
A. Alice didn’t make any improvement in singing
B. Alice’s voice became louder and louder
C. Alice didn’t work hard enough
D. Alice was so proud and wouldn’t listen to her
48. What made Alice decide to give a concert?
A. She wanted to prove that her teacher was wrong.
B. She wanted to please her teacher.
C. She was sure that she could sing beautifully.
D. Somebody else wanted her to do so.
49. What is really meant by saying “You’ll never be better than you were tonight.”?
A. You gave a wonderful concert tonight.
B. You won’t make any improvement in future.
C. You have never sung so well before.
D. You did much better before than tonight.
It was reported that Michael Jackson, died of a cardiac arrest(心脏骤停) in a Los Angeles hospital last night, just weeks before he hoped to resurrect(复活) his four-decade long career with a series of sold-out shows in London. The pop superstar was taken to the University of California at Los Angeles medical centre last night, and doctors tried resuscitation（使苏醒，使复活） in the ambulance. He did not regain consciousness and was reported dead about three hours later.
"My brother, the legendary King of Pop, passed away on Thursday 25 June at 2.26pm," his brother Jermaine said, "We believe he suffered a cardiac arrest at his home, however the cause of his death is unknown until the results of the autopsy(验尸) are known. The personal physician who was with him at the time attempted to resuscitated him."
A spokesman for the UCLA medical centre said, "When he arrived at hospital at approximately 1.14pm, a team of doctors attempted to resuscitate him for a pe
riod of more than one hour, they were unsuccessful." Police said they were investigating, which is standard procedure in such cases.
Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long decline from his peak in the 1980s when he was music's greatest all-around performer, a uniter of black
and white music who shattered the race barri
er on MTV. His 1982 album Thriller, which included the blockbuster hits, Beat It, Billie Jean and Thriller is still the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 50m copies sold worldwide.
The wo
rld famous entertainer had planned a series of 50 concerts in London from 12 July. Although in the last two decades his reputation was destroyed by charges of child molestation(骚扰) and his fantastic public behavior, all tickets were sold within hours, proving the King of Pop had enduring appeal.
68. Where did Michael Jackson die?
A. At home in Los Angeles. B. On the
stage in London.
C. In a Los Angeles hospital. D. In an ambulance to hospital.
69. What caused Michael Jackson to die according to Jermaine?
A. Heart disease. B. It’s unknown before the results of the autopsy.
C. Working too hard. D. His personal physician’s improper treatment.
70. Why were the police involved in investigating the death of Michael Jackson?
A. Because they believed he was murdered.
B. Because Michael Jackson died suddenly.
C. Because it was standard procedure in such cases.
D. Because his brother was suspicious of the truth of his death.
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