1. When the Beijing Olympics begin this August, the world will be watching. The games have become
a huge international event. People will come from around the world to watch 10,500 athletes from 205
countries and districts compete (競(jìng)爭(zhēng)) to take home the gold.
     2. The first recorded Olympics, in 776 B.C., were an important religious (宗教的) festival. Olympic
sports have changed a lot in the last few thousand years. The ancient games began with just one 192-meter
race. In later years, the games grew to include a total of six sports. Most of the ancient Olympic sports
tested skills soldiers needed.
     3. Even the modern Olympics were once far smaller than they are today. The first of the modern games,
in 1896, only had 241 athletes from 14 countries. Moreover (此外), the early modern Olympics were not
an independent (獨(dú)立的) event. Until l 908 the Olympics were part of the world's fair!
     4. At the first modern Olympics, there were 43 events from ten sports. Many of the sports from the
early modern games are no longer part of the Olympics, such as golf and tug of war (拔河). There has
always been a lot of disagreement over changing Olympic sports.
     5. The number of Olympic sports has constantly increased throughout history. At the Beijing games,
athletes will compete in 302 events from 28 sports. Despite (盡管) all the changes over the years, some
ancient sports are still part of the modern games. These include running,boxing and wrestling.

1. How many countries and districts will take part in the Beijing Olympics?
    ________________________________________________________________________
2. What did the ancient Olympics begin with? 
    ________________________________________________________________________
3. What do Paragraph 3 and 4 mainly tell us about? 
    ________________________________________________________________________
4. At least how many gold medals will the athletes compete for in the coming Olympics? 
    ________________________________________________________________________
5. What ancient sports are still parts of the modern games? 
    ________________________________________________________________________

     There are some stories behind English words.
     You've spent a lot of time studying how to use English in a proper way. But have you ever wondered
why English speakers say some of the things they say? For example, why do they say "an easy task" is "a
piece of cake"? Why do the two letters "OK" means "all right"?
     Many English words and phrases have stories behind them. Sometimes these stories can help us look
back into old western history. Let's take a look at a few of the original * common English words and phrases:
      OK
     "OK" was an American who lived in the 19th century. His name was "Old Kinderhook". In one year he was
trying to take the place of the leader of his town. His supporters went around the town shouting" OK \ OK \"
The supporters thought their future leader was" all right". The expression caught on, and now if something is
"all right", people like to say"OK"
     Boss
     Is your boss nice to you? If not, just be glad you weren't living in the old times. Back to that time, bosses
could do anything bad to their men and could even beat* them! That explains why the word "boss" comes from
an old German word meaning"to beat".
     A piece of cake
     A famous American writer named Ogden Nash lived in the 1930s. Many readers enjoyed his poems and
wrote them down in their notebooks. In one of his poems, Nash wrote," Her picture's in the papers now, and
life's a piece of cake." His readers found these words interesting and quickly wrote them down. They thought
that if one picture in a newspaper could make you famous, wouldn't life be easy?
     For nearly 70 years, "a piece of cake" has meant any task or activity that is easy.

1. Some of English words can tell us stories about _________.

A. how people learned English
B. how English speakers create the words
C. how people spoke English
D. how people taught others to speak English

2. The word "boss" in old German means"_________".

A. to work
B. to help
C. to beat
D. to kill

3. "OK" comes from "_________".

A. Old King
B. Old Kindman
C. Old Kinderhook
D. Old Mcdonald

4. In this passage "a piece of cake" means "_________".

A. an easy task or activity
B. a difficult task or activity
C. a simple newspaper to read
D. a famous picture in a newspaper

     Hello, boys and girls, have you been to London? If no, let me tell you something about it.
     London like Beijing is a major capital city with many interesting places and old buildings. Tourists like to
see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace when soldiers wear brightly colored uniforms.
     The National Gallery has a very large collection of great paintings. In the Tower of London, you can see a
collection of jewels, plates and medals as well as other items. The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben are other
well-known landmarks.
     Across the river, there is a giant wheel, called the London Eye, which you can ride on and take a bird's
eye view of the city.
     If you are interested in history, the British Museum is full of interesting items from all over the world.
Westminster Abbey has the graves (墳?zāi)? of many famous British people.
     London is also famous for its Great Theatre and there are plays to suit everyone's taste. There are also
special programmes for children, and they can perform with professional actors.

1. How many interesting places and old buildings in London does this passage talk about?

A. Six
B. Seven
C. Eight
D. Nine

2. At which place can you have a bird's eye view of London?

A. Buckingham Palace
B. The Tower of London
C. The London Eye
D. Westminster Abbey

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Westminster Abbey is an office building for famous British people.
B. In Great Theatre children can take part in some special performances.
C. The Tower of London is the National Gallery full of great paintings.
D. The British Museum has items from all over the world because it belongs to the UN.

    Two magazines recently listed the best cities to live in. Here are two of the cities listed as "the world's
best."
    SAN JOSE, COSTARICA The city has comfortable weather all year round (15℃to 26℃). Housing is
not very expensive in SAN JOSE. Also, many of the city's older neighborhoods are very beautiful and have
small hotels and cafes. Beautiful mountains are around the city. Lots of people go sightseeing there every
year. But air pollution is a problem in the city center.
    Hong Kong, CHINA This lively city-once a small fishing village-is today an international business center.
It is an interesting mix of East and West, old and new. Modern tall buildings are next to small temples (廟宇).
Popular nightclubs are close to traditional teahouses. Busy people fill the streets at all hours of the day. But
outside the city, there are parks for walking or relaxing. Hong Kong is famous for its wonderful native dishes.
There's also food from Europe, North America, and other parts of Asia. However, this small city has a large
population of nearly seven million! That's why housing is often very expensive. Traffic and air pollution are
also a problem.

1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned about San Jose?

A. The weather
B. The mountains
C. The air
D. The traffic

2. What makes Hong Kong the world's best according to this passage?

A. The lively city and the wonderful dishes.
B. The large population and the traffic.
C. The expensive housing.
D. The beautiful temples.

3. The writer thinks housing in Hong Kong is expensive because _______.

A. it was a small fishing village
B. it is a mix of East and West
C. it is famous for its wonderful food
D. there are too many people in the city

4. What do the two cities have in common?

A. They both have beautiful mountains.
B. They both have a large population.
C. Air pollution is a problem in both cities.
D. They are both crowded.

5. From the passage, we can know that ______.

A. San Jose and Hong Kong are the only two cities of the world's best.
B. Housing in San Jose is not very expensive.
C. the weather in both cities is fine.
D. San Jose used to be a small fishing village.

     Do you plan to Hong Kong Disneyland with your family this summer? If your dad smokes, you may
ask him to be careful. Smoking is banned in most public places in Hong Kong from January 1, 2007,
     The places include restaurants, workplaces, schools or Karaoke lounges (卡拉OK廳). Even smoking at
some outdoor places is against the law. For example, beaches, sports grounds, museums and most areas of
public parks.
     Hong Kong hopes the ban can prevent passive (被動(dòng)) smoking. What is passive smoking? When people
smoke in a restaurant or on a bus, others are forced to breathe the smoke too. They don't want to smoke but
they have no choice. This is passive smoking. It does great harm to people's health.
     And it'll be better if more people in Hong Kong give up smoking because of the ban.
     Hong Kong has 7 million people. Among them, about 840, 000 people aged 15 or above are smokers.
     Amy Choi, a student, agreed to the smoking ban. "I don't like people smoking next to me. It's smoky and
smelly, she said.
     If someone is against the ban, he will have to pay up to HK$ 5, 000.
     The ban does not include night-clubs, bars (酒吧) or bathhouses yet. But these places will have to ban
smoking by July 1, 2009.
     Hong Kong is not the first Asian city to have a smoking ban. From January 1, 2006, Singapore banned
smoking in most public places.

1. Smoking is not allowed by law in most public places in Hong Kong from ___________.

A. January 1, 2006
B. January 1, 2007
C. July 1, 2009

2. The smoking ban is expected ___________.

A. to prevent passive smoking
B. to make the air dean
C. to force all the smokers to give up smoking

3. Which one is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Half of Hong Kong people aged 15 or above are smokers.
B. Passive smoking means smoking for free.
C. You will not be fined ( 罰款) for smoking in Hong Kong bars in the summer of 2008.

4. What was Amy Choi's attitude (態(tài)度) towards the ban?

A. She had no idea of tht ban.
B. She was for the ban.
C. She didn't agree lo the ban.

5. The underlined part "is against" means ___________,

A. obeys
B. breaks
C. makes