There ’re eight countries waiting to join the European Union.Croatia and Turkey started talks on 3 October 2005.Turkey could complete them in 15 years，Croatia by 2011.The other Balkan Countries have been told they can join the EU one day，if they meet the standards.
Albania isn’t expected to join the EU until 2015 at the earliest.It applied (申请) to become an EU member on 28 April 2009.The European Commission (委员会) has agreed to allow Albanians to travel freely within the EU.In December 2009 the EU said the rule of law and the fight against organized crime were still the “big problems” for Albania.
The EU and Albania reached the SAA (稳定和联合协议)，seen as the first step towards becoming a member，in June 2006.The talks took threeandahalf years，three times longer than those between the EU and Croatia.This is because the EU thought Albania was moving too slowly in its fight against organized crime.The EU also has doubts about Albania’s energy department，which suffers from bad supplies.
BosniaHerzegovina isn’t expected to join the EU until 2015 at the earliest.More than ten years after the 1992～1995 war，it signed an SAA with the EU in June 2008.The EU was satisfied with progress in four important areas，including public broadcasting (广播)．But in December 2009 the EU asked strongly for some other changes, and worried about the country’s future.
Iceland is the latest country to want to become an EU member.It applied in July 2009 and the talks began in July 2010.But progress will depend on whether Iceland can deal with a longrunning problem with the UK and the Netherlands.But some Icelanders think they would be better off outside the EU，fearing the EU’s effect on their traditional fishing.Which of the following countries is expected to join the EU the earliest?
| A．Turkey. | B．Albania. |
| C．Croatia. | D．BosniaHerzegovina. |
What may prevent BosniaHerzegovina from becoming an EU member?
| A．Its large population. |
| B．Its energy department. |
| C．Its organized crime. |
| D．Its worrying future. |
Why don’t some Icelanders want their country to become an EU member?
| A．They are worried about their fishing. |
| B．They are worried about relations with the UK. |
| C．They are afraid they will lose a lot of job opportunities. |
| D．They are afraid their country won’t be independent. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．EU enlargement: The next eight |
| B．The last eight countries that joined EU |
| C．The relationships among EU countries |
| D．Economic development of EU countries |
Is early childhood education really necessary? Early childhood education primarily focuses on learning through playing to develop the child’s physical, sensory, communicational and social development．Early childhood education has become a concern of the government, who pushes poor children to be formally trained before they are old enough for Kindergarten．
There are good reasons for the government to push early childhood education．Studies have shown that orphaned children who did not receive good care and education become developmentally delayed causing failure in school, and even in life．Further studies show that poor children who take part in Head Start programs are more prepared for school, less likely to end up in
Special Education classes, and are less likely to receive public help or go to jail．
There are also negative parts to putting a child in formal education programs too early．Time Magazine online explains that “the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” I have personally witnessed many children of my generation who went to Head Start programs become frustrated and bored with school before they finished high school．Yet parents have been sure that the earlier the child starts school, the better off he or she is, so they push to start children earlier．
Actually while early formal education of poor children does show great gains in the early elementary years, studies also show that this head start is really a “false start”, as the gains are lost in middle and high school years．It seems that environment is a bigger factor on life’s success than early education．Head Start programs have not achieved its original goal in closing the achievement gap in poor and middle school children．Perhaps it is time to find other ways to close that gap．
1．The purpose of the government valuing the early childhood education is ________．
A．to develop the children’s communication
A．to give orphaned children good care and education
C．to get the children prepared for the kindergarten
D．to train the children formally and regularly
2．According to the studies, which of the following is True?
A．Children with good early education may have a rich life．
B．The orphaned children are usually unhappy in their life．
C．Children without early education can do well at school．
D．Head Start programs are helpful to the poor children．
3．“the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” suggests that _________．
A．the early childhood education is helpless to the child’s grade
B．it is good for the young children to receive early education
C．the early education can help the children follow the grade
D．the younger the children are, the cleverer they will be
4 The author’s attitude toward the early childhood education is _________．
A．puzzling B．objective C．indifferent D．approving
5．The main idea of the last passage is that __________．
A．the early childhood education is very necessary
B．Head Start programs have helped the children a lot
C．environment is the most important to life’s success
D．better ways should be found to help the poor children
STAGE
| Keep it in the air: The Chaoyang Theater is one of the Beijing theaters to present acrobatics(杂技 ) all year round．Top acrobatic artists invited from all over the country perform for Chinese and foreign tourists．The program contains trick cycling, leaping through hoops and Chinese magic tricks．Some of the artists have won prizes in international competitions． Time: 7∶15 p．m．Daily Place: 36, Dongsanhuan Beilu, Chaoyang District Tel: 65072421, 65071818 |
| Use your head: Green Hat is a new drama given by a group of young Chinese actors．It’s a rewrite of American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous novel The Scarlet Letter． It describes the heroine’s great courage in finding the true love against the public disagreement． Time: 7∶15 p．m．until March 5, except Mondays Place: China Children’s Theater Tel: 66037255, 66037265 |
| Mix and match: Story of Puppets tells of a fairy, Zixia, who looks for true love in the human world．After watching a puppet play Peony Pavilion, she thinks there must be true love in reality, so she uses magic to turn the puppet characters into humans, wanting to fall in love with the puppet hero．But things don’t go as she planned．．．Li Liuyi, the director of the play has made several successful attempts to present different traditional operas in one play．This time he combines Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera, Pingju Opera along with a band, using the structure of modern drama． Time: 7∶ 30 p．m．until March 10, except Mondays Place: Small Playhouse of Beijing People’s Art Theater Tel: 65250123 |
| Peking Opera: The Beijing Peking Opera Troupe will give two performances at the Chang’an Grand Theater．Each performance includes two classical excerpts(选段)．One is Wenxi(a play focusing on singing and dancing); the other is Wuxi (a play full of acrobatic dancing)．The first night will be The Crossroad and Presenting a Pearl of the Rainbow Bridge．And the second night will see the performance of The Goddess of Heaven Scatters Flowers and Havoc in Heaven． Time: 7∶30 p．m．February 27, 28 Place:Chang’an Grand Theater Tel: 86531043 |
1．We can learn from the text that________．
A．story of puppets is a play held in China Children’s Theater
B．the artists who have won prizes will perform magic tricks
C．on March 5 there will be two plays for us to choose
D．the artists in the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe are from all over the country
2．If a tourist wants to see a performance on March 15, he can call________to book a ticket．
A．86531043 B．65250123 C．66037255 D．65071818
3．According to the text, which of the following statements is true?
A．The director of the Story of Puppets combines different operas in it．
B．Green Hat is based on a famous novel acted by some American artists．
C．Top Acrobatic artists will present their performances around our country．
D．The Beijing Peking Opera Troupe will give two performances with the same excerpts．
Why must we pay taxes? The answer is that the government needs money for many things, for example to pay its soldiers, sailors and airmen, to build roads, bridges, offices, schools, etc and to buy goods from abroad; and only the people of the country can supply the money．One of the most important taxes is income-tax which a person pays according to the amount of his income-tax．Whether he is a businessman, a doctor, a lawyer, a shopkeeper, a miner, or anything else．This is called a “direct” tax, because it is paid in money direct to the government．
Another tax is paid on goods such as watches, jewellery, new clothes, tobacco, wine, etc, when they are brought into a country, such a tax is paid as part of the price of these goods if they are later sold in shops．We call it “indirect” tax, because it is paid indirectly through the shopkeeper．
People usually complain about having to pay taxes, but they forget that the money is spent on the things that they and their families need．We need policemen to catch thieves, to see that men obey the laws, to direct traffic, etc, and they must be paid what they earn; children need education and there must be schools and teachers; we want our streets to be kept clean, and the wages of men who do this kind of work have to be paid．Above all, the country must always be ready to defend itself against attacking enemies, and we cannot have an army without paying for it．
Taxes, therefore, cannot be avoided．We buy our own food and clothes and pay for our own amusements, but there are several things that the State finds the money for, and that are necessary for us if our society is to continue．So we have no real cause to complain when we are asked to supply money to be spent for the good of ourselves and for our fellow-citizens．
1．Indirect tax means _______．
A．tax that one pays direct to the government
B．tax that is not paid directly to the government
C．tax that is paid as an extra amount added to the price of certain goods
D．Both B and C
2．Which of the following is right?
A．Taxes are paid to the sellers．
B．Income-tax is an indirect tax．
C．The tax on new clothes is paid in money direct to the government．
D．Tax is amount of money that you have to pay to the government so that it can pay for public services．
3．People have no real reason to complain about having to pay taxes because _______．
A．some shopkeepers are very rich
B．they need money to buy goods from abroad
C．their children need education
D．the money is spent on the things that they and their families need
4．“Taxes cannot be avoided” means _______．
A．people have to pay taxes to the government
B．you do not have to pay tax on some goods
C．soldiers do not have to pay taxes
D．all goods have to be taxed
Beldon and Canfield are two seashore towns, not far apart．Both towns have many hotels, and in summer the hotels are full of holiday-makers and other tourists．
Last August there was a fire at the Seabreeze Hotel in Beldon．The next day, this news appeared on page two of the town’s newspaper．The Beldon Post:
FIRE AT SEABREEZE
Late last night firemen hurried to the Seabreeze Hotel and quickly put out a small fire in a bedroom．The hotel manager said that a cigarette started the fire．We say again to all our visitors： “Please don’t smoke cigarettes in bed．” This was Beldon’s first hotel fire for five years．
The Canfield Times gave the news in these words on page one：
ANOTHER BELDON HOTEL CATCHES FIRE
Last night Beldon firemen arrived just too late to save clothing, bedclothes and some furniture at the Seabreeze Hotel．An angry holiday-maker said, “An electric lamp probably started the fire．The bedroom lamps are very old at some of these hotels．When I put my bedside light on, I heard a funny noise from the lamp．” We are glad to tell our readers that this sort of adventure does not happen in Canfield．
What are the facts, then? It is never easy to find out the exact truth about an accident．There was a fire at the Seabreeze Hotel last August: that is one fact．Do we know anything else? Yes, we know that firemen went to the hotel．
Now what do you think of the rest of the “news” ?
1．Which of the following best gives the main idea of this text?
A．Beldon and Canfield are both good places for tourists in summer．
B．A fire broke out at night in Seabreeze Hotel last summer．
C．It was not easy to find out exact truth from newspapers．
D．Two newspapers gave reports on the same matter．
2．Which of the following are probably facts?
a．The fire broke out in a bedroom at the hotel．
b．A cigarette started the fire．
c．An old lamp started the fire．
d．The fire broke out at night．
e．There has never been a fire in Canfield．
A．b and c B．a and d C．c and e D．a and c
3．The Canfield Times used the headline like this in order to make its readers think _______．
A．hotels in Beldon often catch fire
B．hotels in Beldon don’t often catch fire
C．this was the second fire at the Seabreeze Hotel
D．Beldon was a good place except that hotels there are not quite safe
4．The Canfield newspaper gave a report just the opposite to the Beldon Post by saying that _______．
A．the bedroom lamps were very old at the Seabreeze Hotel
B．the bedroom lights made funny noise when the fire took place
C．the firemen failed to save clothing, bedclothes and other things
D．such accidents never happened in Canfield for the past 5 years
第三部分阅读理解（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
Last year．I took a sightseeing trip to Washington, DC．I heard a voice say, “Can you help me?” When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended．Immediately, I pulled out all of my change and placed it on her hand without even looking at her．But the blind woman smiled and said, “I don’t want your money．I just need help finding the post office．”
In an instant, I realized what I had done．I acted with prejudice―I judged another person simply for what I assumed she had to be．I hated what I saw in myself．
The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant．I left Honduras and arrived in the US at the age of 15．I started my new life with two suitcases,my brother and sister．Through the years, I have been a doorkeeper, cashier and pizza delivery driver among many other humble(卑微的)jobs, and eventually I became a network engineer．
In my own life, I have experienced prejudice．I remember a time―at the age of 17―when I was a busboy, I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well in school, he would end up like me．
But now, living in my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am, where I have been ,and to lose sight of where I want to be going．That blind woman on the streets cured me of my blindness．She reminded me of my belief in humility(谦虚)．By the way, I helped that lady to the post office．I hope to thank her for the priceless lesson．
1．How did the writer give the blind woman money?
A．In a modest way B．In a polite way
C．In an impatient way． D．In a painful way
2According to the text, the writer__________．
A．still lives a poor life B．was busy with his work
C．was born in Honduras D．was a native of Washington D．C．
3．According to the text, the author most probably agrees that one should__________．
A．be nice to the elderly and the disabled
B．try to experience different kinds of culture
C．treat others equally with love and respect
D．think about one’s past as often as possible
4．What would be the best title of the text?
A．A priceless lesson B．An act of prejudice
C．A sightseeing trip D．A humble moment
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