In front of a popular restaurant, a line of customers wait for taxis. And wait. Most of the cabs(taxis) are full. That’s nothing unusual in this city of 4 million people. But it’s 2:30 in the morning.
Visitors to the Olympic Games may leave disappointed if they see Athens only through the eyes of the typical tourist, who makes a beeline of the islands after the visit to the Acropolis(雅典卫城) and the unusual and attractive Plaka district. To fully appreciate and discover Athens’ many charms(魅力), do as the Greeks do: walk out into the neighborhoods, find the packed nightclubs, eat at one of the innumerable(数不清的) restaurants, or see Hollywood stars under real stars in a romantic outdoor cinema.
The Greek capital is named for the ancient goddess Athena, whose favourite animal was the owl(猫头鹰). It’s a fitting symbol for the city’s nocturnal (夜里的) nature, which often reaches its highest point in summer with a rush hour just before dawn.
As native Athenian Panos Demestiha said, Athens by day is unlivable(不宜居住的), but it’s magical at night. Athenians face up to heavy traffic block, decreasing green space, dusty streets… City officials are using the momentum(契机) of the August 13-29 Olympics to fix some of these problems and make city life more bearable.To the surprise of the visitors to Athens , ____.
| A．most of the cabs are often full all day long |
| B．the cabs are often empty |
| C．the cabs are almost full even at 2:30 am |
| D．there is no cab in the street at 2:30 am. |
The name of Athens came from ____.
| A．a goddess | B．a famous athlete |
| C．a kind of animal | D．a kind of plant |
The typical visitors will often visit the following places EXCEP ____.
| A．the neighborhood | B．the Plaka district |
| C．the Acropolis | D．famous islands |
The underlined word “bearable” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “____”.
| A．astonishing | B．forgettable |
| C．exciting | D．comfortable |
Greenwich (格林威治) is on the River, five miles from the middle of London, and its history is two thousand years old. The first English people were fishermen there, and they named the place Greenwich, meaning "green village". Later the English kings and queens lived at Greenwich in their beautiful places.
The name of the earliest palace was Placentia. Its windows were made of glass--the first in England. But trouble was coming to Greenwich. In 1649, a war started in England and for eleven years there was no king. The men who had worked for him at Placentia decided to live in the place themselves. They sold all its beautiful things, and bought small pieces of the palace garden with money. Finally, the war ended and King Charles II came back. But Placentia was falling down. So King Charles built a new and bigger palace, which is now open to the public.
At this time, Charles was worried about losing so many of its ships at sea because their sailors did not know how to tell exactly where they were. So in 1675, Charles made John Flamsteed, the first astronomer (天文学家) in England, try to find the answer. Flamsteed worked in a new building on the high ground in Greenwich Park. From it with a telescope which he made himself, Flamsteed could look all round the sky. And he did, night after night, for twenty years. Carrying on Flamsteed's work a hundred years later, an astronomer called Harrison finally made a clock which told the time at sea, and helped sailors to know where they were.You can see Harrison's clock, still working, in Greenwich's museum of the sea. Because of Flamsteed's work, every country in the world now tells its time by Greenwich time.The first English people living in the "green village" were _____.
| A．sailors |
| B．fishermen |
| C．King Charles and his family |
| D．The families of king and queens |
Placentia was _____ palace in Greenwich.
| A．the biggest | B．smallest |
| C．the earliest | D．the latest |
What kind of trouble came to Greenwich in 1649?
| A．A war started in England. |
| B．Placentia was destroyed. |
| C．Ship-yards were built . |
| D．King Henry died. |
Charles made John Flamsteed try to find ______.
| A．how to tell the time |
| B．hot to build ships |
| C．a way for sailors to tell their positions at sea |
| D．a place to set up a telescope |
Who made the first clock which could tell the time at sea?
| A．Harrison | B．Flamsteed |
| C．Henry | D．Charles |
Fish have ears. Really. They’re quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths.
As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate (碳酸钙). By looking through a microscope and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish’s age, just like the growth rings of a tree.
Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorrold has turned to a new direction. They’re examining the chemical elements (元素) of each otolith ring.
The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring.
Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history.
In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the travelling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles.
This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the track of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears.What can we learn about fish ears from the text?
| A．They are small soft rings. |
| B．They are not seen from the outside. |
| C．They are openings only on food fish. |
| D．They are not used to receive sound. |
Why does the writer compare the fish to trees?
| A．Trees gain a growth ring each day. |
| B．Trees also have otoliths. |
| C．Their growth rings are very small. |
| D．They both have growth rings. |
Why is it important to study the chemistry of otolith rings?
| A．The elements of the otoliths can tell the history of the sea. |
| B．Chemical contents of otoliths can tell how fast fish can swim. |
| C．We can know more about fish and their living environment. |
| D．Scientists can know exactly how old a fish is. |
How would you understand “fish scientists are now lending their ears”?
| A．They are very interested in Thorrold’s research findings. |
| B．They want to know where they can find fish. |
| C．They lend their fish for chemical studies. |
| D．They wonder if Thorrold can find growth rings from their ears. |
If the passage goes on, it possibly refers to _________.
| A．fish life | B．food fish |
| C．fish industry | D．young fish |
Animal moms are great moms. You might be surprised at some of these moms.
Octopuses
The octopus mother lays about 50,000 eggs. For about 300 days, she stays with the eggs, cleans them and protects them. She does not leave to feed. However, this animal mom dies as soon as the eggs are hatched.
Crocodiles
A crocodile mother puts a lot of time and effort into raising her babies. She starts by building a nest(巢), which she guards for over two months! When the eggs are ready to hatch, the young crocs call out to their mother, who digs them out and helps them hatch. She then carries them in her mouth down to the water, where she will guard them for several weeks or months until they learn to hunt on their own.
Bats
Bats become moms by hanging head up in a cave, giving birth. Catching the youngster before it can fall to the ground below, she puts it in a pouch. Bat moms may carry babies with them when feeding for the first few days. As the little bats get bigger and heavier, moms help them hang on the wall of their caves and return often to feed them. It continues for about three weeks, until the babies are grown up and able to fly on their own.
Koalas
This animal mom gives birth after a pregnancy(怀孕期) of only 35 days. The hairless baby climbs into its mother's pouch and lives there for another five months. When the little koala is between five and eight months old, it leaves the pouch for short periods of time but returns for safety. Once it is too big to return to the pouch, it will climb onto its mother's back and ride there until it is about 12 months old.The passage is probably taken from _________.
| A．a movie | B．a conference |
| C．a science magazine | D．a speech |
Which animal moms dies when their babies are born?
| A．Octopus. | B．Crocodile. |
| C．Bat. | D．Koala. |
A crocodile mother usually carries her babies to the water ______.
| A．in her mouth | B．on her back |
| C．in her pouch | D．by her tail |
A bat mom ______.
| A．gives birth by lying in the nest |
| B．gives birth by hanging in a cave |
| C．leaves its babies in the pouch for months |
| D．lets its babies live on their own after birth |
How long does a young koala usually stay in its mother's pouch at least?
| A．35 days. | B．5 months. |
| C．8 months. | D．12 months. |
One of the traditions which is now a necessary part of Christmas is a that of Father Christmas, or Santa Claus. According to the modern legend, he is a magical figure who visits all the children of the world during the night before Christmas Day, leaving presents which they find the next morning. He flies through the night sky in a sledge pulled by reindeer, and enters houses by climbing down chimneys. This strange legend is based on the life of a man called Nicholas, but in fact we know very little about him. Historians think he was a Christian bishop(主教)in Turkey in about 285--350 A.D. One of the stories about him is that he helped three poor girls. No one would marry them because they were so poor. To provide them with money for their weddings, Nicholas secretly dropped some gold coins down the chimney of their house. After Nicholas died, he was made a saint(圣人) by the church.(The name Santa Claus thus comes from St Nicholas.) His feast day was celebrated in December, and parents started giving their children secret presents from St Nicholas. Over the years, this custom became part of our Christmas traditions.
Recently, a psychologist has claimed that Father Christmas is “the perfect fantasy” for children. According to Professor Anthony Clare, children love the character of Father Christmas because he is like an ideal father: he loves children and gives them presents, but he never criticizes them, is never angry, and children do not even need to thank him for the presents. Other writers, however, point out that Father Christmas can be a frightening character to some children. Jane Bidder says that some children are terrified of this fat, bearded old man. It can certainly confuse many children. As parents, we warn our children to be careful of strangers and never to let them into the house, and yet we tell children that a strange man will come into their bedroom at night! Some children can become very worried about this idea and fear that he is a kind of burglar.
Most children, however, understand from their parents and from the media that Father Christmas is basically a benign character, and look forward to his annual visit with joy and excitement.The main point of the first paragraph is that .
| A．Father Christmas is an important part of Christmas |
| B．the tradition of Father Christmas is a modern idea |
| C．Father Christmas is a magical figure who can fly |
| D．the legends about Father Christmas are not true |
The writer mentions details such as Father Christmas’s sledge, the reindeer and the way he climbs down chimneys because he/she .
| A．wants to make it clear that these things are impossible |
| B．is describing the history of St Nicholas |
| C．wants everyone to believe that Father Christmas is real |
| D．is explaining the modern legend of Father Christmas |
Why does the writer mention the story about St Nicholas helping three poor girls?
| A．It shows us that historians know very little about him. |
| B．This story explains why parents give secret presents to children. |
| C．It supports the writer’s main point that Father Christmas is based on an untrue story. |
| D．This story explains why we celebrate Christmas in December. |
In the last paragraph, the word “benign” means .
| A．religious | B．friendly |
| C．frightening | D．unreal |
The best title for this passage would be .
| A．Is Father Christmas Dangerous? |
| B．The True History of St Nicholas |
| C．The Legend of Santa Claus |
| D．The Traditions of Christmas |
Dear Susan,
I have been in England for three months now. I hope you don’t think I have forgotten you. There have been so many places to see and so many things to do that I’ve not had much time for writing letters. I shall soon start my studies at King’s College.
So far I’ve been learning about British ways of living. I won’ tell you about London in a traditional way, because there are plenty of books you can read and plenty of pictures you can look at. I’m sure you’ll be more interested to know what I think about the life here. I find some of the customs new and interesting. People here do not shake hands so much as we do in Asia. During the first few weeks I was often surprised because people did not put out their hands when I met them. Men raised their hats to women, but not to each other.
Yours ever,
AnneAccording to the passage, the author .
| A．has never been to England |
| B．came to England a few months ago |
| C．came to England just now |
| D．will come to England in there months |
The author has .
| A．not written to Susan for long |
| B．much time to write letters |
| C．no intention of writing letters |
| D．forgotten to write letters |
Why did the author come to London?
| A． Study at college |
| B．Make a living. |
| C． Learn British ways of living. |
| D．Learn about life there. |
Which part of the world does the author come from?
| A．Asia. | B．Europe. |
| C．America. | D．Africa. |
Men in England .
| A．don’t shake hands as often as the Asians do |
| B．shake hands as often as the Asians do |
| C．raise their hats to all friends |
| D．do not raise their hats to friends |
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