There are some strange and wonderful rules in law books around the world. When you are traveling, it’s always best to know before you go. Not only could this keep you out of trouble, but it can also help you get the most out of your holiday.
In Victoria, Australia, it’s illegal to change a light bulb unless you are a licensed electrician. People who disobey this law could receive a fine of up to AU$10 (￡5.50).
In Milan, Italy, citizens are required to smile at all times, except during funerals or hospital visits.
In England, it is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament. This was voted the most ludicrous law in the UK in 2007. A spokesman for the House of Commons said: “The people who know about these things here say there is no basis for such a law, not to say it does not exist somewhere in writing.”
In Canada, by law, one out of every five songs on the radio must be sung by a Canadian.
Flushing（冲洗）the toilet after 10pm is illegal in Switzerland. The Government consider it noise pollution.
Running out of petrol is illegal on Germany's autobahn, and so is walking along it. So those who do break down must pull over and use their horn to attract attention. The fine is €80 (£65) for endangering other drivers.
7. In Chicago, it is against the law to eat in a place that's on fire.
No matter how good the pizza tastes, if the restaurant sets on fire – you can't stick around!
According to the text, which of the following is legal?
| A．A doctor changing his bulb at his home in Victoria. |
| B．A driver blows his horn when his car breaks down on a Germany’s highway. |
| C．A spokesman dies in the House of Parliament in England. |
| D．A customer eats in a Chicago restaurant while it is on fire. |
If you see a citizen in Milan isn’t smiling, he is probably _______.
| A．visiting a friend in the hospital | B．under great pressure |
| C．having a quarrel with his boss | D．in a bad mood |
Where will you be fined if you break the laws mentioned in the text?
| A．Canada and Chicago. | B．England and Chicago. |
| C．Switzerland and Milan. | D．German and Victoria. |
What’s the purpose of banning flushing the toilet in Switzerland after 10 pm?
| A．To avoid overusing the toilet. |
| B．To avoid disturbing others with unpleasant sounds. |
| C．To save energy. |
| D．To cut the cost of water. |
The people who built Stonehenge in southernEngland thou-sands of years ago had wild parties, eating barbecued pigs andbreaking pottery. This is accordingto recent workby archaeologists—history experts who investigate how human beings lived inthe past.
Archaeologists digging nearStonehenge last year discovered theremains of a large prehistoric villagewhere they think the builders of themysterious stone circle used to live. The village is about 4，600 years old, 
the same age as Stonehenge and as old as the pyramids in Egypt. U isless than two miles from the famous ancient landmark and lies inside amassive man-made circular dirt wall, or " henge " ，known as the DurringtonWalls.
Remains found at the site included jewelry, stone arrowheads, tools made of deer antlers, wooden spears and huge amounts of animal bones and broken pottery. “These finds suggest Stone Age people went to the village at special times of the year to feast andparty, “says Mike Parker-Pearson from Sheffield University in England.
He said many of the pig bones they found had been thrownaway half-eaten. He also said the partygoers appeared to have shotsome of the farm pigs with arrows, possibly as a kind of sport beforebarbecuing them.
An ancient road which led from the village to the River Avonwas also found. Here, the experts think, people came after their par-ties to throw dead relatives in the water so the bodies would bewashed downstream to Stonehenge.
Parker-Pearson believes Stonehenge was like a cemetery whereancient Britons buried the dead and remembered their ancestors. “The theory is that Stonehenge is a kind of spirit home to the ancestors.
The recent discovery of the village within the Durrington Wallsshows that Stonehenge didn't stand alone but was part of a muchbigger religious site, according to Parker-Pearson.
People still come to worship and celebrate at Stonehengetoday. They meet there when the sun sets on the shortest day of winterand when it rises on the longest day of summer. But the days of barbecuing whole pigs there and throwing family members into the riverare a thing of the past. What was Stonehenge according to the text?
| A．A village where hundreds of people once lived. |
| B．A place that regularly hosted large parties. |
| C．A church where local villagers would get married. |
| D．A site where dead people were placed or remembered. |
The underlined word “It” (Paragraph 2) refers to _________
| A．the village | B．Stonehenge |
| C．the pyramid | D．the dirt wall |
From the text we can infer that the people who came to the village _________
| A．liked to drink wine | B．knew how to hunt |
| C．were from Egypt | D．lived by the River Avon |
What do experts think people did after the village parties?
| A．Returned to live at Stonehenge. |
| B．Prayed for good luck in the new year. |
| C．Hunted farm pigs as a sport. |
| D．Put their dead relatives in the river. |
When do people most often go to Stonehenge today?
| A．When a new discovery is made. |
| B．At the beginning of summer and winter. |
| C．On the longest and shortest days of the year. |
| D．When they want to have a barbecue. |
Camping wild is a wonderful way to experience the natural world and, at its best, it makes little environmental influence. But with increasing numbers of people wanting to escape into the wilderness, it is becoming more and more important to camp unobtrusively(不引人注目地）and leave no mark.
Wild camping is not permitted in many places, particularly in crowded lowland Britain. Wherever you are, find out about organizations responsible for managing wild spaces, and contact them to find out their policy on camping and shelter building. For example, it is fine to camp wild in remote parts of Scotland, but in England you must ask the landowner's permission, except in national parks.
Camping is about having relaxation, sleeping outdoors, experiencing bad weather, and making do without modern conveniences. A busy, fully-equipped campsite(野营地）seems to go against this, so seek out smaller, more remote places with easy access to open spaces and perhaps beaches. Better still, find a campsite with no road access ： walking in makes a real adventure.
Finding the right spot to camp is the first step to guaranteeing a good night's sleep. Choose a campsite with privacy and minimum influence on others and the environment. Try to use an area where people have obviously camped before rather than creating a new spot. When camping in woodland, avoid standing dead trees, which may fall on a windy night. Avoid animal runs and caves, and possible homes of biting insects. Make sure you have most protection on the windward side. If you make a fire, do so downwind of your shelter. Always consider what influence you might have on the natural world. Avoid damaging plants. A good campsite is found, not made—changing it should be unnecessary. You needn't ask for permission when camping in _________.
| A．national parks in England |
| B．most parts of Scotland |
| C．crowded lowland Britain |
| D．most parts of England |
The author thinks that a good campsite is one _________.
| A．with easy access |
| B．used previously |
| C．with modem conveniences |
| D．far away from beaches |
The last paragraph mainly deals with _________.
| A．protecting animals | B．building a campfire |
| C．camping in woodland | D．finding a campsite with privacy |
The passage is mainly about _________.
| A．the protection of campsites |
| B．the importance of wild camping |
| C．the human influence on campsites |
| D．the dos and don'ts of wild camping |
When students and parents are asked to rate subjects according to their importance, the arts are unavoidably at the bottom of the list. Music is nice, people seem to say, but not important. Too often it is viewed as mere entertainment, but certainly not an education priority (优先）. This view is shortsighted. In fact, music education is beneficial and important for all students.
Music tells us who we are. Because music is an expression of the beings who create it, it reflects their thinking and values, as well as the social environment it came from. Rock music represents a lifestyle just as surely as does a Schubert song. The jazz influence that George Gershwin and other musicians introduced into their music is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions. Music expresses our character and values. It gives us identity as a society.
Music provides a kind of perception(感知）that cannot be acquired any other way. Science can explain how the sun rises and sets. The arts explore the emotive (情感的)meaning of the same phenomenon. We need every possible way to discover and respond to our world for one simple but powerful reason ： No one way can get it all.
The arts are forms of thought as powerful in what they communicate as mathematical and scientific symbols. They are ways we human beings “talk “to each other. They are the language of civilization through which we express our fears, our curiosities, our hungers, our discoveries, our hopes. The arts are ways we give form to our ideas and imagination so that they can be shared with others. When we do not give children access to an important way of ex-pressing themselves such as music, we take away from them the meanings that music expresses.
Science and technology do not tell us what it means to be human. The arts do. Music is an important way we express human suffering, celebration, the meaning and value of peace and love.
So music education is far more necessary than people seem to realize. According to Paragraph 1，students _________.
| A．regard music as a way of entertainment |
| B．disagree with their parents on education |
| C．view music as an overlooked subject |
| D．prefer the arts to science |
In Paragraph 2，the author uses jazz as an example to _________
| A．compare it with rock music |
| B．show music identifies a society |
| C．introduce American musical traditions |
| D．prove music influences people's lifestyles |
According to the passage, the arts and science _________.
| A．approach the world from different angles |
| B．explore different phenomena of the world |
| C．express people's feelings in different ways |
| D．explain what it means to be human differently |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Music education deserves more attention. |
| B．Music should be of top education priority. |
| C．Music is an effective communication tool. |
| D．Music education makes students more imaginative. |
It is widely known that any English conversation begins with The Weather. Such a fixation with the weather finds expression in Dr. Johnson's famous comment that “When two English meet, their first talk is of weather.” Though Johnson's observation is as accurate now as it was over two hundred years ago, most commentators fail to come up with a convincing explanation for this English weather speak.
Bill Bryson, for example, concludes that, as the English weather is not at all exciting, the obsession with it can hardly be understood. He argues that “To an outsider, the most striking thing about the English weather is that there is not very much of it.” Simply, the reason is that the unusual and unpredictable weather is almost un-known in the British Isles.
Jeremy Paxman, however, disagrees with Bryson, arguing that the English weather is by nature attractive. Bryson is wrong, he says, because the English preference for the weather has nothing to do with the natural phenomena. “The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty.” According to him, the weather in England is very changeable and uncertain and it attracts the English as well as the outsider.
Bryson and Paxman stand for common misconceptions about the weather-speak among the English. Both commentators, somehow, are missing the point. The English weather conversation is not really about the weather at all. English weather-speak is a system of signs, which is developed to help the speakers overcome the natural reserve and actually talk to each other. Everyone knows conversations starting with weather-speak are not requests for weather data. Rather, they are routine greetings, conversation starters or the blank “fillers “. In other words, English weather-speak is a means of social bonding. The author mentions Dr. Johnson's comment to show that _________.
| A．most commentators agree with Dr. Johnson |
| B．Dr. Johnson is famous for his weather observation |
| C．the comment was accurate two hundred years ago |
| D．English conversations usually start with the weather |
What does the underlined word “obsession “most probably refer to?
| A．A social trend. | B．An emotional state. |
| C．A historical concept. | D．An unknown phenomenon. |
According to the passage, Jeremy Paxman believes that _________.
| A．Bill Bryson has little knowledge of the weather |
| B．there is nothing special about the English weather |
| C．the English weather attracts people to the British Isles |
| D．English people talk about the weather for its uncertainty |
What is the author's main purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To explain what English weather-speak is about. |
| B．To analyse misconceptions about the English weather. |
| C．To find fault with both Bill Bryson and Jeremy Paxman. |
| D．To convince people that the English weather is changeable. |
Dear Friend,
The recent success of children's books has made the general public aware that there's a huge market out there.
And there's a growing need for new writers trained to create the $3 billion worth of children's books bought each year " ，plus stories and articles needed by over 650 publishers of magazines for children and teenagers.
Who are these needed writers? They're ordinary folks like you and me.
But am I good enough? I was once where you might be now. My thoughts of writing had been pushed down by self-doubt, and I didn't know where to turn for help.
Then, I accepted a free offer from the Institute to test my writing aptitude(潜能），and it turned out to be the inspiration I needed.
The promise that paid off
The Institute made the same promise to me that they will make to you, if you show basic writing ability ：
You will complete at least one manuscript (手稿)suitable to hand in to a publisher by the time you finish our course.
I really didn't expect any publication before I finished the course, but that happened. I sold three stories. And I soon discovered that was not unusual at the Institute.
Since graduation, I have authored 34 nationally published children's books and over 300 stories and articles.
Free test and brochure
We offer a free aptitude test and will send you a copy of our brochure describing our recognized home-study courses on the basis of one-on-one training.
Realize your writing dream today. There's nothing sadder than a dream delayed until it fades forever.
Sincerely,
Kristi Holl, Instructor
Institute of Children's Literature From the first three paragraphs, we learn that _________.
| A．children's books are usually bestsellers |
| B．publishers are making $3 billion each year |
| C．magazines for teenagers have drawn public attention |
| D．there is a growing need for writers of children's books |
When finishing the course, you are promised to _________.
| A．be a successful publisher |
| B．become a confident editor |
| C．finish one work for publication |
| D．get one story or article published |
Kristi Holl mentions her experience mainly to _________.
| A．prove she is a good instructor |
| B．promote the writing program |
| C．give her advice on course preparation |
| D．show she sold more stories than articles |
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