The Carnival of Brazil is an annual festival held 46 days before Easter, especially famous for the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Carnival celebrations are believed to have roots in the festival of Saturnalia, which, adapted to Christianity, became a farewell to bad things in a season of religious discipline to regret and prepare for Christ’s death and coming back to life.
Modern Brazilian Carnival dates back to Rio de Janeiro in 1641. It originally copied the European form of the festival, later taking in elements of Native American and African cultures.
In the late 19th century, the strings (弦乐器) were introduced in Rio de Janeiro. These were pageant (游行) groups that paraded through city avenues performing on instruments and dancing. Today they are known as blocks, consisting of a group of people who dress in costumes or special T-shirts with themes or logos. Blocks are generally connected with particular neighborhoods; they include both a music group and a lot of revelers.
Block parades have become an expressive feature of Rio’s Carnival. Today, they number more than 100 and the groups increase each year. Blocks can be formed by small or large groups of revelers with a clear title. Before the show, they gather in a square, then parade in sections of the city, often near the beach.
Carnival time in Rio is very interesting, but is also the most expensive time to visit Rio. Hotel rooms and other lodgings (住宿) can be up to four times more expensive than the regular rates. There are big crowds at some locations and life is far from ordinary in many parts of town.What can we infer from the first paragraph?
| A．The Carnival of Brazil is often held after Easter. |
| B．The Carnival of Brazil comes from Easter and Saturnalia. |
| C．The Carnival of Brazil is a festival to regret and begin a new life. |
| D．The Carnival of Brazil is mainly to celebrate the birth of Christ. |
How long is the history of the people’s celebrating modern Brazilian Carnival?
| A．About 100 years. | B．Less than two centuries. |
| C．About 370 years. | D．Over five centuries. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about the blocks in Rio de Janeiro?
| A．They are always wearing costumes or special T-shirts with themes or logos. |
| B．They always parade through countryside villages singing and dancing. |
| C．There are no more than 50 blocks today. |
| D．They don’t parade before the show. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The famous carnivals in the world. |
| B．How the carnival was introduced in Brazil. |
| C．The carnival in Rio de Janeiro. |
| D．The happy life of the people in Rio de Janeiro. |
“A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right,” says Mollie Hunter. Born and brought up near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people. She firmly believes that there is always and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market is. In Mollie's opinion it is necessary to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing. “If you aren't telling a story, you're a very dead writer indeed,” she says. With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Mollie is indeed an entertainer. “I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,” she says. “This love goes back to early childhood. I've told stories all my life. I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them, I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said ‘Nonsense, Mollie, dear, you’ll be a writer.’ So finally I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer.”
This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical and gives a picture both of Mollie's ambition and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably（不可避免地）brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields—sadly now covered with modern houses. “I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I'll never go back,” she said. “Never.” “When I set one of my books in Scotland,” she said, “I can recall my romantic（浪漫的）feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that's important, because children now know so much so early that romance can't exist for them, as it did for us.”
46. What does Mollie Hunter feel about the nature of a good book?
A. It should not aim at a narrow audience.
B. It should not be attractive to young readers.
C. It should be based on original ideas.
D. It should not include too much conversation.
47. In Mollie Hunter's opinion, which of the following is one sign of a poor writer?
A. Being poor in life experience. B. Being short of writing skills.
C. The weakness of description. D. The absence of a story.
48. What do we learn about Mollie Hunter as a young child?
A. She didn't expect to become a writer.
B. She didn't enjoy writing stories.
C. She didn't have any particular ambitions.
D. She didn't respect her teacher's views.
49. What's the writer's purpose in this text?
A. To describe Mollie Hunter's most successful books.
B. To share her enjoyment of Mollie Hunter's books.
C. To introduce Mollie Hunter's work to a wider audience.
D. To provide information for Mollie Hunter's existing readers.
Geniuses amaze us, impress us and make us all a little jealous．How do they differ from the average person? Scientists are working hard to figure out that answer．Tune in to the National Geographic Channel to find out about the discoveries they’re making in the series My Brilliant Brain.
When Marc Yu was only two years old, he began to play the piano．After a year, he started learning pieces by Beethoven．Now he’s a world-famous concert pianist at age eight．He learns newer and more difficult pieces with ease and can identify any note he hears．He seems to be specially designed for music．In Born Genius, National Geographic looks at the science behind child prodigies (神童) to explain why some children seem to be born without limits.
Genius didn’t come naturally to Tommy McHugh．His came only after he nearly died from bleeding in his brain．After recovering, McHugh’s head was filled with new thoughts and pictures．So, he began to express them in the form of poetry and art．Now, he’s a seemingly unstoppable creative machine．Sufferers of autism and brain injury have shown that great mental ability can sometimes come from damage or disease．Accidental Genius explores this puzzling relationship.
Can normal people be trained to be geniuses? Susan Polger has shown no signs of extraordinary intelligence．Yet, during her childhood, she studied thousands of chess patterns and learned to recognize them immediately．As a result, she was able to beat skilled adult players by age 10 and can now play up to five games at the same time without even seeing the boards．Make Me a Genius examines what it takes to turn an ordinary brain into that of a genius.
If becoming a genius were easy, we’d all be one．Yet, there is much more to super intelligence than simply being born lucky．Learn more about amazing brains this month on National Geographic’s My Brilliant Brain.
57．My Brilliant Brains is most probably from _______.
A．a website B．the radio C．a magazine D．a newspaper
58．The author takes Marc Yu as an example to show that a child prodigy is .
A．a person who learns something easily B．a child who is eager to learn new things
C．a student who practices an instrument a lot D．a kid who works hard to do well in school
59．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．New things about the brain are still being discovered.
B．People without natural abilities can learn to do things well.
C．Some people naturally have more active brains.
D．People are usually smarter when they recover from brain injury.
60．The author develops the passage mainly by .
A．providing typical examples B．following t
he natural time order
C．presenting a cause and analyzing its effects D．comparing opinions from different scientists
When you are little, it’s not hard to believe you can changed the world. I remember my enthusiasm when, at the age of 12, I addressed the people at the Rio Earth Summit. “I am only a child,” I told them. "Yet I know that if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this would be. In school you teach us not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share, not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do? You grownups say you love us, but I challenge you, please, to make your actions reflect your words."
I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation. Some of the delegates even cried. I thought that maybe I had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur（刺激） action. Now, a decade from Rio, after I've sat through many more conferences, I'm not sure what has been accomplished. My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual's voice to reach them has been deeply shaken.
When I was little, the world was simple. But as a young adult, I'm learning that as we have to make choices--education, career, lifestyle--life gets more and more complicated. We are beginning to feel pressure to produce and be successful. We are learning a shortsighted way of looking at the future, focusing on four-year government terms and quarterly business reports. We are taught that economic growth is progress, but we aren't taught how to pursue a happy, healthy or sustainable way of living. And we are learning that what we wanted for our future when we were 12 was idealistic and naïve（天真）.
Today I'm no longer a child, but I'm worried about what kind of environment my children will grow up in. I know change is possible, because I am changing, still f
iguring out what I think. I am still deciding how to live my life. The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of the change. I hope this goal will be met through our common efforts. Thank you all.
53．The purpose of what the speaker said at the age of 12 was to .
A．end poverty and make school beautiful
B．find environmental answers and show off
C．focus people’s attention on some social problems
D．find a wonderful place and clean it up
54．What does the underlined word “ovation” in the second paragraph refer to?
A．A long period of laughing. B．A cold and unfriendly welcome.
C．An expression used for greeting. D．Great applause or cheering.
55．The information in the text is presented mainly through .
A．question and answer B．a personal lecture
C．cause and effect D．listing steps in a process
56．Which of the following best describes the speaker?
A．He is an experienced educator. B．He is an impolite man.
C．He is a man of great worries. D．He is a man of social responsibility.
Pushing children too hard is a really big social problem that seems to be getting worse．Now we have 6-month-olds in music classes and swimming classes．Parents fear that if other children are attending these classes，they will be holding their own children back if they do not enroll，too．
The other extreme，simply taking a_laissez-faire_approach and letting c
hildren do—or refuse to do—whatever they want，is not the answer either，of course．
Dr Taylor emphasizes that parents need to push their children based on what is best for the children，not what is best for themselves．If children understand that an activity is in their best interests，then they will accept it, he finds．
Dr Taylor and other family experts remain pessimistic about the possibilities for widespread social change．“The force of our popular culture，driven by money and superficial（表面上的） values，cannot be resisted，” he says．But change can take place at a“micro-level,” in families and schools．
When changes do occur，the rewards can benefit everyone in the family．One mother supporting this new approach toward parenting mentions the advantages her family experie
nced afte
r her children cut back on activities．“The biggest thing is that since we have done this，we are rested,” she says．“Not only are our kids rested，because they're not in a ton of stuff, but my husband and I are rested，because we're not driving them everywhere．We weren’t living in the moment when we were always busy．We were living by the schedule．The return on our investment of spending time together has been enormous．”
49．One of the reasons why parents push children so hard is that they________．
A．believe in early development in children B．are too busy to take care of their children
C．don't want their children to lag behind D．want to repeat what their parents did to them
50．The phrase“a laissez-faire approach”（in Line 1，Paragraph 2）most probably refers to______．
A．denying them what they need B．controlling children in a flexible way
C．developing a keen interest in children D．letting children do whate
ver they want
51．The best way to encourage children to work hard is___________．
A．to make them believe it’s in their best interests
B．to consider the matter from parents' standpoint
C．to emphasize the importance of hard work from time to time
D．to make it interesting and enjoyable to them
52．The new approach toward parenting mentioned in the passage most likely refers to _______．
A．relieving children’s hard work and unn
ecessary activity
B．resisting the superficial values of pop culture
C．reducing more activity off their school schedule
D．spending more time with their children
English Teacher Needed
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English Tutor wanted
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Private English Tutor Wanted
Private English Tutor for some basic daily dialogue is badly wanted. Several times a week. The student is going to Europe in 3 months and thus need quick
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CALLING—Teacher / Librarian!
We are a small Kindergarten to Grade 6 international school in Beijing. We need a teacher / librarian. The teacher we are looking for will: Be a Chinese / English speaking librarian.
Qualifications (资格)
Be self-starters, active team players.
Have an active attitude and love to work with kids.
Provide an exciting and useful library program to students.
If you meet the above qualifications, please send your CV and a current picture to rincipalinchina@yahoo.ca.
45. The advertisements are to________.
A. start a business. B. look for English teachers.
C. provide the latest jobs. D. help people find a suitable job.
46. From the first advertisement, we can learn that ______.
A..English Teacher agency charges teachers for 
this service.
B. you must go online to offer your basic information first.
C. you may call to get more information about the job.
D. once you join English Teacher agency, you will get a job.
47. Which of the following is TRUE of the private English tutor in Advertisement 3?
A. Be an English language expert from UK. B. Speak American English.
C. Have rich teaching experience. D. Spoken English as well as Chinese is quite good.
48. If you didn't pass the interview for Teacher / Librarian, the probable reason should be that __
A. you like working with children. B. you have a strong team spirit.
C. you lack teaching experience. D. you are poor in Chinese.
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