The Green Magic Tree House, in India, is the perfect hotel for anybody who likes adventure. Cuests
must drive for miles through the jungle to find it in the middle of the tea and coffee plantation (種植園).
     There are two tree houses to choose from, one 30 metres and the other 35 metres above the ground.
Both houses have two floors. The bedrooms are above the living area and there are bathrooms and showers.
You can get up to rooms and move between floors by using ladders (梯子). You can go from one tree house
to the other on a rope bridge. The houses sometimes move about in the wind but the views are fantastic.
      Cuests can enjoy moving through the jungle, climbing in the mountains, and watching wildlife. There are
many unusual plants, birds, and insects in the area.
      The Ice Hotel is in Jukkasjarvi, a village in Sweden 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Every winter, a team of architects, designers and snow builders build the hotel. This year there are 80 rooms.
      Everything is made of ice. The walls, the floors, the ceilings, and even the fumi- ture are made of ice. The
beds are made of ice, too, but guests sleep on warm deer skins. Outside it can be - 37'C , so inside it feels
quite comfortable. The hotel has a bar, where guests can drink vodka from glasses made of ice. It's very
popular because there isn't much else to do.
     To spend a night at Jules Underwater Lodge in Florida, guests need to scuba dive(潛水) seven metres
under the sea. They enter a small house through a door at the bottom of the building. Inside, the kitchen is
stored with food and there is a fridge and a microwave oven. There is a hot shower and comfortable beds and
lots of books, DVDs and video games. Most guests, however, spend their time at one of the large windows
watching different fishes swimming by.

1.The writer tells us three ____hotels.

A.natural
B.unusual
C.green
D.movable made of ice

2. According to the passage we can infer that the Ice Hotel ___.

A.disappears in August
B.is totally
C.organizes lots of activities
D.is enlarged every year

3. Which of the following statements is true?

A.The bar in the ice hotel is famous for vodka.
B.Animals are watched through the hotels' windows.
C.Guests can live underwater for several days.
D.The tree houses are of the same height.

     American country music, also known as country westem music, has a very long history. It comes from
the folk songs of immigrants (移民) from the Great Britain.
     Country music uses simple music and words to express everyday feelings such as loneliness, love, and
sadness. That is to say, country music describes life. It talks about friends and enemies, trucks and roads,
farms and crops. People in many parts of the world like country music because everyone can understand
what the music is about.
     It is believed that country westem music became popular first among cowboys in the American west
countryside. Cowboys had to take care of cows day and night. When they were alone with the cows, they
often sang beautiful and peaceful songs to calm the animals and to get over their own fear. They were not
well-educated and thus they sang about their daily life in very, simple words. They played guitars, violins,
and other instruments.
     In the American South, many people added instruments from their homes, like bottles and spoons. When
cowboys visited their friends and families on holidays like Thanksgiving, they usually sang and played country
western music.
     In recent years, many musicians have made country westem music a little different from the one in the
past. These changes make the songs sound even better. Today singers such as Carth Brooks, Reba McEntire,
Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Eddie Rabbitt, LeAnn Rimes, Randy Travis, and a group called Alabama are
singing and playing in different styles. They have brought country western music more and more fans from
all over the world.

1. People like American country music because _____.

A. it has a long history
B. it comes from Europe
C. it is sung by cowboys
D. it is easy to understand

2. Which of the following is mentioned in the passage?

A. Early immigrants lived a very simple life.
B. Many country music singers are not well-educated.
C. For cowboys, life in those days was busy and difficult.
D. Cowboys sang to their animals when they were at work.

3. The best title for the passage is _____.

A. Singers and Fans of American Country Music
B. Americans Love American Country music
C. American Country music, Yesterday and Today
D. The History of Country Music and Western Music

     When punctuation (標(biāo)點) began, it was mainly to help people read out loud. Until a few hundred years
ago, not many people were taught to read, so there was a lot more reading out loud by the few people who
could.
     To help those reading out loud in the old days, sign (符號) known as "points" were added to pages of
writing. Punctuation comes from the Latin word punctus, meaning "point". These points told readers when
to pause (暫停) or take a breath, and what to emphasize (加重).
     In Europe from the early centuries AD, these points were widely used although not everybody used the
same points for the same thing. When printing was invented, printers had to be made more clearly about
what to put where, so that everyone was doing the same thing. Since that point, all sorts of punctuation
rules have been discov ered and invented.
     Speech marks ".."
     Speech marks or quotation marks are used to show that someone is speaking. The sort we have in English
today began to be widely used during the 18 century. Before that readers simply understood from the way a
sentence was written that someone was speaking although sometimes spoken words were underlined.
     Comma, colon: period (full stop).
     All three of these sorts of punctuation marks were given their Greek names by Aristophanes, a librarian
who lived in Byzantium in the 2'd century BC. They were marks on the page, each with a message to the
reader. Comma meant a short pause. Colon meant a medium (中等的) sized pause. Period meant a long pause.
     Exclamation mark!
     In the early days of punctuation, if you saw this sign, you were supposed to pause. Some people think
the exclamation mark began as what the Creek word JO looked like if it was turned 90 degrees. This word
means"Oh, gosh!" With the I on the top and the O under it, the sign as we know it today was developed.
     Question mark?
     In the middle age, a squiggle (圓弧) above a full stop was sometimes used to show the sentence was a
question and that a person's voice should go up at the end. By the 17" century it had turned into what we
call a question mark. The shape may have come from the letter Q short for that Latin quaestio, meaning
"question". 
     Writers make choices about punctuation because they think differently about sentences and words. It's
part of the personality of their writing. Some writers hate punc- tuation, but others love punctuation. So
whether you love or hate punctuation, the best advice may be to just enjoy it, play with it, think about it and
use it. It belongs (屬于) to the language and it belongs to you.

1. When did punctuation begin to be widely used, according to the passage?

A. In the 17th century.
B. In the 2nd century BC.
C. In the 18th century.
D. In the early centuries AD.

2. All punctuation rules were discovered and invented in order to ________.

A. help people read out loud
B. meet the need of printing
C. guide the way of writing
D. mention the spoken words

3. Which of the following is true?

A. A long pause comes after question mark.
B. Speech marks were named by a librarian.
C. Question mark comes from a Latin word.
D. The shape of a word makes exclamation mark.

4. What's the problem about punctuation today?

A. People have completely different ideas about it.
B. Not many people are taught to use it correctly.
C. It has different meanings to different people.
D. Sometimes spoken words must be underlined.

     Which country grows the most tea? The answer is India. It grows three times as much as China. Which
country drinks the most tea? It's neither China nor Japan. It's Great Britain.
     In the wild, tea plants may be 30 feet tall. But a plant grown for market is pruned (修剪). Pruning keeps
the plant only three or four feet tall. This is an easy height for tea picking. Only the two top leaves and bud
of each new shoot are picked. So to make money, tea plantations must be huge.
     In general, there are two kinds of tea. Black tea and green tea. Black tea is fermented (發(fā)酵). In the
process, the tea loses nearly all of its healthy qualities. Green tea is steamed (蒸炒) right after the leaves are
picked. Green tea retains its healthy qualities. For example, it may prevent heart disease.
     How did we get tea bag? The answer: by accident. Tea merchants (商人) used to send samples in tin
boxes. This was costly. One merchant thought of a cheaper way. He sent samples in small silk bags.
Customers would cut open the bag. They would brew the leaves as usual. One customer put the bag into
a pot. Then he just poured (倒) hot water over it. And the tea bag was born.
     Shen Nong was the first to drink tea. (Shen was a Chinese emperor. ) This was about 2737 B. C. Shen
had bad digestion. So he drank several cups of hot water dai- ly. One day something happened. Leaves from
a wild tea tree fell into the hot water pot. The next cup was poured. The water was now colored. Shen
sipped it. He liked it. He drank it all. Shen was proud of his new drink. He served it to his guests. Word spread.
People thought this way. Tea is good enough for the Emperor. So it must be good enough for the people. Tea
became the drink of China.

1. The best title for this passage should be ________.

A. Black Tea
B. Tea Plant
C. About Tea
D. Tea Bag

2. One difference between green tea and black tea is that green tea ________.

A. must be pruned
B. has a better taste
C. is fermented
D. is much healthier

3. What does the underlined word "retains" mean?

A. Keeps.
B. Makes.
C. Produces.
D. Loses.

4. We can learn from this passage that ________.

A. tea bag was invented by a merchant
B. tea is better than any other drink
C. tea is popular in many countries
D. tea only grows in warm climates

     Potato chips were really an accident. The popular food was invented in 1853 by George Crum, who was
a cook at Moon Lake Restaurant, in Saratoga Springs, New York. A guest complained (抱怨) that the fried (炸)
potatoes that Crum had cooked were too thick. Crum thought the guest was making trouble. In retum he cut
potatoes paper thin and fried them.
     The guest loved what soon became known as "Saratoga Chips", and the new dish became the most popular
in the restaurant. Other restaurants in the eastern United States borrowed the idea, but potato chips were not
produced for home use until William Tappenden of Cleveland, Ohio, started the first potato-chip factory in
Cleveland.
     Potatoes are made up of about 25% solids, mostly starches (淀粉) and sugar, and 75% water. But they
are not always so. Marsha McNcil Sherman, Director of Fast Food Association in Los Angeles, explains:
"Cenerally, more of the water can be found in the middle of the potato. Frying is a way to dry the potato. So,
the edges of potatoes are fried faster than the middle."

1. Where did potato chips first appear in the United States?

A. In Cleveland.
B. In Ohio.
C. In New York.
D. In Los Angeles.

2. What can be found most in potatoes, according to the passage?

A. Solids.
B. Starches.
C. Sugar.
D. Water.

3. Why are the edges of potatoes fried faster?

A. Because they have less water.
B. Because they are thinner.
C. Because they have fewer solids.
D. Because they are softer.

     Many everyday American expressions are based on colors. Red is a hot color. Americans often use it to
express heat. They may say they are red-hot about something unfair. When they are red-hot, they are very
angry about something.
     People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health. The expression was first used
in America at the beginning of the 20th century. It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born
with a nice pink color that shows that they are in good health.
     Blue is a cool color. The traditional blues music in the United States is the opposite of red hot music. Blues
is slow and sad. Someone who is blue is very sad.
     The color green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural color for humans. A person who has
a sick feeling stomach may say she feels a little green. A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from
high waves may look very green. Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as
nice as a friend has, like a fast new car. That person may say he is green with envy (妒忌). Some people are
green with envy because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks. Dollars are called greenbacks because that
is the color of the backside of the paper money.
     People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a black day. The date of a major tragedy is
remembered as a black day. Blackouts were coming during World War II. Officials would order all lights in a
city turned off to make it difficult for enemy planes to find a target in the dark of night.

1. Is red a hot color?
    _______________________________________________________________________
2. When do people say they are in the pink? 
    _______________________________________________________________________
3. What color will people use when they feel sick, upset or envy someone else? 
    _______________________________________________________________________
4. What does the underlined phrase "red hot music" mean in English? 
    _______________________________________________________________________
5. What is the main idea of the passage? 
    _______________________________________________________________________

     Baseball is America's national sport. So it is not unusual that many popular expressions come from baseball.
But first, let me explain a little about the game.
     Each baseball team has nine players. The pitcher of one team throws the ball to a batter from the other team.
The batter attempts to hit the ball. If he misses, it is called a strike. If a batter gets three strikes, he loses his
turn at bat and is called out. The batter also is out if he hits the ball in the air and an opposing player catches it.
But if the batter hits the ball and it is not caught, the batter tries to run to one or more of the four bases on the
field. The batter can run to all four bases if he hits the ball over the fence or out of the ballpark. Such a hit is
called a homerun.
     Now, here are some common expressions from baseball. Someone who is "on the ball" is intelligent and able
to do a good job. But a person who "threw a curve ball" did something unexpected. Someone who "steps up to
the plate" is ready to do his or her job. A "pinch hitter" takes the place of someone else at a job or activity.
     Sometimes I have to give information quickly, without time to think it over. Then I would say something
"right off the bat". If someone is doing an extremely good job and is very successful,you might say he or she is
"batting one thousand."
     If I say I want to "touch base" with you, I will talk to you from time to time about something we plan to do.
I might say I "touched all the bases" if I did what is necessa- ry to complete a job or activity. And if I "covered
my bases" I was well prepared. However,someone who is "way off base" did something wrong or maybe even
dishonest or immoral. A person with strange ideas might be described as "out in left field".
     Finally, when a situation changes completely, we say "that is a whole new ballgame."

1. The writer's purpose is _____.

A. to explain the rules of a sport game-baseball
B. to tell you more about America's national sports
C. to introduce some useful expressions from baseball
D. to show the connection between expressions and sports

2. The underlined sentence "The batter also is out" means _____.

A. the batter will run to one of the four bases
B. the batter will not continue the game
C. the match will be over immediately
D. the batter will change his position

3. Which of the following expressions means that someone is able to do a good job?

A. To be on the ball.
B. To step up the plate.
C. To throw a curve ball.
D. To touch all the bases.

     Everyone knows that there's not enough land in Hong Kong. If you go there by air, you will land at Kai
Tak Airport. It was built out into the sea. It is in the part of Hong Kong called Kowloon. Kowloon is one of
the two big islands in Hong Kong.
     The other island is Hong Kong itself. You can get there by ship or through a tunnel (隧道) under the sea.
     The population of Hong Kong is more than six million. Chinese and English are spoken by many people
there. Clothes, computers, radios, televisions are made in Hong Kong. It is a shopping center. You can buy
all kinds of things there.
     Hong Kong is also a beautiful city. It is a good place for traveling. People from all over the world visit
Hong Kong every year. You can watch dog-racing and motor-racing there. When you are hot and tired, you
may rest in the small cool gardens. There are also a lot of tall buildings with comfortable rooms to live in. If
you enjoy eating out, you can easily find a good place for delicious food. Foods of different flavors (風(fēng)味)
are served in Hong Kong.

1. Where was Kai Tak Airport built?

A. It was built out into the sea.
B. It was built out into the lake.
C. It was built out into the river.
D. It was built out into the pool.

2. What's the population of Hong Kong?

A. Nearly 6 million.
B. Less than 6 million.
C. Over 6 million.
D. Only 6 million.

3. How many products (產(chǎn)品) of Hong Kong are mentioned in this passage?

A. 7.
B. 6.
C. 5.
D. 4.

4. Which of the following sentences is Not true according to the passage?

A. Kai Tak Airport is in Kowloon.
B. There's a lot of land in Hong Kong.
C. Many people in Hong Kong speak Chinese and English.
D. Hong Kong is a beautiful city for traveling.

5. According to the passage, we know that __________.

A. Hong Kong is a big city with a large population
B. there are almost no factories in Hong Kong
C. few people visit Hong Kong every year
D. visitors can enjoy the comfortable living rooms and delicious foods in Hong Kong

     The Dragon Boat Festival (端午節(jié)) is the day to remember a Chinese national hero, (1)Qu Yuan, who threw
himself into the river and died over 2,000 years ago. Old story has it that people, (2)______ (為了救屈原), beat
drums to drive fish away, and threw rice dumplings (zong zi) into the river to keep the fish from eating his body.
     For thousands of years, people have spent the festival by eating zong zi and holding dragon boat races (3)on
the fifth day of the fifth lunar (陰歷的) month, (4)especially in the southern provinces where there are many
rivers and lakes.
     The dragon boat races (5) that many people want to save Qu's body. Those races are the most exciting
part of the festival, with very large crowds of people watching them. The special boats, more than 10 meters
long, have colorful"dragon " heads mad tails (尾巴), and (6) boats carries a team of 20 or 22 players.
Every year dragon boat races take place in southeast Asian countries and some western countries, including
America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

1. 將1處的劃線部分譯成漢語。
    ________________________________________________________________
2. 將2處的漢語譯成英語。
    ________________________________________________________________
3. 根據(jù)3和4處的劃線內(nèi)容在下面句子的空白處各填人一個適當(dāng)?shù)脑~。
    The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, so we can also call it "The Double 
    _____ Festival".
     Dragon boat races. are mostly held in South China because there are more _____ areas there.
4. 根據(jù)(5)和(6)處的音標(biāo)寫出其單詞。
    ________________________________________________________________
5. 根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容回答問題：What do you think of the future of the dragon boat race? 
    ________________________________________________________________