A British farmer has been searching for a group of fighter planes for 15 years. The planes were lost in Burma during World War II. David Cundall, 62, traveled to Burma a dozen times. He spent about US $207,000 in the hope of finding a British Spitfire（喷火式战斗机）buried in the Southeast Asian country. Finally, his hard work paid off.
Cundall started his search after his friend heard from a group of U.S. war veterans（老兵）that they had buried Spitfires in the region. “We’ve done some pretty silly things in our time, but the silliest was burying Spitfires,” the veterans said.
Cundall began placing ads in magazines to try to find soldiers who might have been involved. After 15 years of searching, he finally managed to locate the missing airplanes. The planes had never been flown and were buried in their transport crates（条板箱）. “We made a borehole（钻孔）and used a camera to look at the crates. They seemed to be in good condition.” Cundall told The Telegraph. The aircraft had arrived at a Royal Air Force base in Burma in August 1945. But, by that point in the war, the planes weren’t needed. “In 1945, Spitfires were ten a penny, and you could see them everywhere.” Said Cundall.
British Prime Minister, David Camerion, recently visited the country. As The Telegraph reports, Camerion’s help may mean that the Spitfires could soon be on their way back to the United Kingdom. Cundall hopes that with the help of investors, the planes can finally take to the skies.
“Spitfires are beautiful aeroplanes and should not be rotting away（腐烂）in a foreign land,” Cundall says. “They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be protected.”Which of the following is the best title for the text?
| A．A British Farmer’s Dream |
| B．Burma’s Buried Treasure |
| C．A Search for Buried Planes |
| D．The Design of the British Spitfire |
What did the war veterans feel when they talked about the buried planes?
| A．Disappointed | B．Excited. |
| C．Regretful | D．Hopeful |
What does the underlined phrase, “ten a penny ”, in the third paragraph mean?
| A．expensive. | B．cheap. | C．rare | D．common |
What can we learn about the British Spitfires?
| A．The planes buried under the ground were seriously damaged. |
| B．The planes were not needed at that time during World War II. |
| C．It will be very difficult to take the planes back to the United Kingdom. |
| D．The planes were buried in Burma after they crashed there. |
What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
| A．Cundall has asked Prime Minister David Cameron for help to bring Spitfires back. |
| B．The government of Burma will not allow Britain to bring the Spitfires back |
| C．The Spitfires buried in Burma are beginning to rot away. |
| D．Cundall likes Spitfires very much and he thinks they should be preserved. |
The Home of My People
When Lewis and Clark stepped onto the Weippe Prairie in present-day Idaho in September 1805, they met the Nez Perce Indians. In the following years, the white explorers（探险者）began to fight with the Indians for their land. Some Nez Perce chiefs signed agreements with the U.S. government, selling part of their lands. But the government always broke those agreements and demanded more land.
Other chiefs refused to go along with the government’s plans. The most famous was Chief Joseph, whose people lived in the Wallowa Valley（present-day Oregon）.
“In order to have all people understand how much land we owned,” he once explained, “my father planted poles around it and said: ‘Inside is the home of my people…It circled around the graves（坟墓）of our fathers, and we will never give up these graves to any man.’”
But in 1874, the U.S. government declared the valley open for white settlement and ordered the Nez Perce onto a reservation（保留地）. Seeing that resistance was useless, Chief Joseph agreed to move.
Later fighting broke out between the Nez Perce and U.S. soldiers. Chief Joseph tried to lead his people to Canada, winning several battles against the soldiers during their flight. But finally, he was forced to give in.
56. Which historic site （on the map）lies in the south of today’s Nez Perce Reservation?
A. Buffalo Eddy. B. Dug Bar.
C. Joseph Canyon Viewpoint. D. Chief Looking Glass Camp.
57. What can we learn about the Nez Perce lands from the map?
A. They were in the state of Oregon.
B. They have become a historic site.
C. They have become much smaller.
D. They were limited to the Wallowa Valley.
58. From Paragraph 3, we know that the Indians wanted to ______.
A. show off their land B. keep their land
C. turn their place into a graveyard D. build their homes around the poles
Say you are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked long and hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.
Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, that is the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive（印象深刻的）as the building itself.
First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Madly in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she had heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial（纪念物） to celebrate their love.
When the heartbroken Jehan appeared eight days after his wife’s death, his people were shocked to see that his coal-black hair had turned snow-white.
Putting away his sadness, Jehan ordered his wife’s dying wish carried out. More than 20,000 workers labored nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains in the center under the building.
And then, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Hehan lived the rest of his days－eight years, to be exact － imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it－until he was buried next to his wife.
Today 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange, sad story, those who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired（激发……的灵感） its construction.
59．The first two paragraphs were written to show that _____.
A.the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building
B. ancient Indian emperors were cruel
C. construction workers led a hard life in ancient India
D. India has some of the most famous buildings in the world
60．The Taj Mahal was first built as _____.
A. a prison B. a gift to Mumtaz
C. a memorial building D. a tourist attraction
61．We learn from the text that Mumtaz probably died in _____.
A. 1626 B. 1632 C. 1634 D. 1653
62．The underlined word “happiness” in the last sentence refers to _____.
A. the married happiness of the emperor and his wife
B. the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power
C. the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal
D. the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal
If you ask people to name the one 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 peoples belonging to two major language groups. In the west-central region lived the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, though not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic. In the rest of the country lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, who spoke what we now call Anglo-Saxon（or Old English）, a Germanic language. If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would be close to German.
But this state of affairs did not last. In 1066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England. For about a century, French became the official language of England while Old English became the language of peasants. As a result, English words of politics and the law come from French rather than German. In some cases, modem English even shows a distinction（区别） between upper-class French and lower-class Anglo-Saxon 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, which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing the 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 advertisements 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 result of one man's ambition.
67. The two major languages spoken in what is now called Great Britain before 1066 were _____.
A. Welsh and Scottish B. Nordic and Germanic
C. Celtic and Old English D. Anglo-Saxon and Germanic
68. Which of the following groups of words are, by inference, rooted in French?
A. president, lawyer, beef B. president, bread, water
C. bread, field, sheep D. folk, field, cow
69. Why does France appear less foreign than Germany to Americans on their first visit to Europe?
A. Most advertisements in France appear in English.
B. They know little of the history of the English language.
C. Many French words are similar to English ones.
D. They know French better than German.
70. What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. The history of Great Britain.
B. The similarity between English and French.
C. The rule of England by William the Conqueror.
D. The French influences on the English language.
My parents were in a huge argument, and 1 was really upset about it. I didn't know who I should talk with about how I was feeling. So I asked Mom to allow me to stay the night at my best friend's house. Though I knew I wouldn't tell her about my parents’ situation, I was looking forward to gelling out of the house. I was in the middle of packing up my things when suddenly the power went out in the neighborhood. Mom came to tell me that I should stay with my grandpa until the power came back on.
I was really disappointed because I felt that we did not have much to talk about. But I knew he would be frightened alone in the dark. I went to his room and told him that I'd stay with him until the power was restored. He was quite happy and said, "Great opportunity."
"What is?" I asked.
"To talk, you and I" he said. "To hold a private little meeting about what we’re going to do with your mom and dad, and what we're going to do with ourselves now that we're in the situation we are in."
"But we can't do anything about it. Grandpa," I said, surprised that here was someone with whom I could share my feelings and someone who was in the same "boat" as I was.
And that's how the most unbelievable friendship between my grandfather and me started. Sitting Acre in the dark, we talked about our feelings and fears of life — from how fast things change, to how they sometimes don't change fast enough. That night, because the power went out, I found a new friend, with whom I could safely talk about all my fears and pains, whatever they may be — suddenly, the lights all came hack on. "Well," he said, "I guess that means you'll want to go now. I really like our talk. I hope the power will go out every few nights!"
56.1 wished to get out of the house because ____
A. I was angry about my parents’ quarrel B. I found nobody to share my feelings with
C. I wanted to escape from the dark house D. I planned to tell my friend about my trouble
57. Grandpa was happy to see me because _____.
A. he could discuss the problem with me B. he had not seen me for a long lime
C. he was afraid of darkness D. he felt quite lonely
58. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The grandchild was eager to leave. B. They would have more chats.
C. The lights would go out again. D. It would no longer be dark.
He wishes the holiday season would end already. His back aches, his red suit feels like a spacesuit, his cheeks have gone tight from smiling for 12 hours — and still the kids keep coming and coming, like ants at a picnic. As Christmas becomes more commercialized (商业化) across the U. S. and Canada, so must Santas. As the holiday begins earlier each year, so must its spokesmen .
The questions from children these days are harder than ever. Now, with thousands of children expecting a father or mother serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, the questions are as heart-breaking as they are unanswerable. For example, “Can you please bring Daddy home from the war in time for Christmas morning?”
Santas also have a pretty good chance of getting sued (指控). A professional Santa Claus in Canada told a story: A Santa had a girl on his knee, and he commented, “You have nice eyes and nice hair.” The girl later said it was sexual harassment (骚扰). When a Santa feels anxious, he often shows it in the same ways ordinary people do: The Santas were always seen to hang around at the dinner table when the show ended. Many of them just sleep in bed for several days and don’t see other children again.
56．In the first paragraph, “spokesmen” refers to .
A．businessmen B．political leaders
C．organisers of the activities D．Santa Clauses
57．The passage implies that the job of Santa Claus is .
A．well-paid B．very hard C．worth doing D．dangerous
58．According to the third paragraph, Santas may sometimes be blamed for .
A．doing something against the law B．hanging around the dinner table
C．being lazy and sleeping in bed for days D．not playing their roles as expected
59．What would be the best title for the passage?
A．Christmas: Not a Good Festival for Santas
B．Is Santa Claus Really Alive?
C．A Christmas Story
D．What Does Santa Claus Do for Children?
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