B

Benjamin Franklin was truly what we call a “jack of all trades”. Although best known for his experiments with electricity, Franklin was a scientist, a politician, and almost everything in between.

Franklin was born in Boston in 1706, the tenth and youngest of his father’s sons. When he was 12, Franklin worked as an apprentice. He worked in his older brother James’ printing shop. He secretly started publishing his writing under the false name of Silence Dogood. James wasn’t pleased when he found out the writer was Ben. Ben stopped his job and set out for Philadelphia.

In 1732, Franklin began publishing Poor Richard’s Almanack, where most of his sayings can be found. Many of these , such as “A penny saved is a penny earned”, remain popular today.

Franklin is known as a Founding Father. This means that he was part of the group of men who founded their nation. He was a member of the Continental Congress and also the oldest person to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Electricity and weather were especially interesting to Franklin. He proved that lightning is electricity by catching sparks from a cloud while flying a kite in a storm.

As Ben says, “If you would not be forgotten when you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing about. ”

His theory seems to work, because Ben followed both pieces of his own advice, and we still remember him centuries later!

40. Though Franklin did many kinds of work, he          .

A. is mostly remembered for his experiments with electricity

B. is better known as a Founding Father

C. is best known as the oldest man who signed the Declaration

D. is remembered mostly as the author of Poor Richard’s Almanack

41. The underlined word in the second paragraph probably means someone            .

A. who owns a printing shop

B. who learns a trade by working with a skilled person

C. who is skilled at his work

D. who does business with a printing shop

42. From the last paragraph we can see that ______.

A. Franklin not only wrote things worth reading but also did things worth writing about

B. Franklin listened to others’ advice and was remembered by the Americans

C. Franklin wrote things worth reading rather than did things worth writing about

D. many people followed his advice and succeeded at last

C

A star usually is someone who has become famous in sports, film, or pop music, someone like singer Michael Jackson. In the middle nineteen eighties, Michael Jackson successfully made a famous record, which quickly became the most popular recording in the history of music. This made Michael Jackson a bright star.

One of the famous sports bright stars in the United States is Mohammed Ali. When he was a young man, he won a gold medal in the Olympic Games as a boxer. Then, he won first place in the world heavy weight boxing match. Before long, he was known as one of the greatest and most famous boxers in sports history. Everyone knows his name.

Like the stars in the sky, a bright star will lose his brightness as time passes. He is loved by millions of people today, but will be forgotten tomorrow.

43. What does this passage mainly talk about?

A. Michael Jackson

B. Mohammed Ali

C. pop music and boxing

D. bright stars

44. Michael Jackson is famous for            .

A. his songs                          B. his film

C. his sports                      D. his heavy weight

45. What does “boxer” in the passage mean in Chinese?

A. 盒子                               B. 装箱者

C. 拳击手                      D. 制作人

46. What will happen to the bright stars at last according to the passage?

A. They will be remembered by millions of people.

B. They will be loved by people for ever.

C. They will be the most important people in history.

D. They will lose their brightness and be little known.

D

“Someday, there’ll be no Americans left in the NBA,” said 12-year-old Xing Tao, who joined his school team two weeks ago after watching Yao Ming in a televised NBA game. “The players will all be Chinese, like Yao.”

To China, Yao is a home-grown superstar who helped make the world’s first basketball league closer to Chinese players. To the NBA, the 2.23-meter center offers an opening of a different sort into the world’s largest new market. Yao’s NBA first appearance against the Indiana Pacers in October reached 287 million families in the US. That game might have been a bit of a letdown to Yao’s fans: He played just 11 of the 48 minutes, had two rebounds (抢篮板球) and got no points. Comparing that with his performance on December 19, also against Indiana, Yao won 29 points and 10 rebounds. “This is one of the most exciting games I’ve had,” Yao said after Houston’s 95-83 victory. The NBA has to be excited about his on-count success. In all his games, he’s averaging 12.7 points and 7.7 rebounds, quite good for a new star. “Yao Ming has brought the NBA closer to the Chinese,” said NBA spokeswoman Cheong Sau Ching, “That makes the dream seem practical for other people in China and proud to be Chinese.”

Yao is not the country’s first player in the NBA, but Yao’s combination of modesty and skills makes him a favorite back home.

47. What’s the direct reason for Xing Tao to join the school basketball team?

A. He watched an NBA game.

B. He liked basketball.

C. He hoped to play for NBA.

D. He had a dream that he would become a basketball star.

48. How many points did Yao Ming win in his first game in NBA?

A. 0.                      B. 2.

C. 29.                           D. 10.

49. What does the underlined word “letdown” in the second paragraph mean?

A. failure                      B. surprise

C. disappointment          D. sadness

50. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A. Middle school students want to play basketball.

B. Yao Ming makes NBA closer to China.

C. There’ll be no Americans left in the NBA.

D. There are many new stars from China in the NBA.

第四节 阅读表达题(共5小题;每小题3分;满分15分)

When Michael Mandiberg visited Dafen Oil Painting Village one Friday morning, he was attracted by so many original works. Disoriented and confused, he wondered if the Painting Village was really the vil?鄄lage described in a New York Times report, which drew him from New York to the village earlier this month.

“The New York Times said Dafen was a village, but what I saw is a modern city, with lots of shops, buildings, and factories,” Mandiberg told the Shen?鄄zhen Daily after spending a week there.

An assistant professor with the Department of Media Culture of the City University of New York, Mandiberg became interested in Dafen after reading a New York Times report entitled “Own Original Chinese Copies of Real Western Art” published July 15, 2005. He came to Dafen to shoot a 10-minute documentary for student research and screening in galleries.

Mandiberg spent a whole week talking to painters, and visiting shops, museums and factories. It was a brand-new experience for him, as he had never seen such mass-production of art.

_______________. In one of the factories, the process of producing a painting is broken down into five stages, with skillful painters in charge of the first and final stages. In the other factory, the painting is produced in a 20-part process.

“Dafen is a good place for painters to make a living. In New York, most artists have to do other jobs, like teaching or working in galleries, to support them?鄄selves,” said Mandiberg.

However, Mandiberg is not optimistic about the future of original works from the village. “Some museums in Dafen sell originals at prices as high as $3,000, but foreigners will not buy them. When people buy a painting, they want identification with artists. People don’t spend over $500 on an object which they are not familiar with,” he said.

51. What is the best title of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words.)

_________________________________________

52. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

He was awe-struck by the quantity of paintings in the village.

_________________________________________

53. Please fill in the blank in the fifth paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words.)

_________________________________________

54. According to the whole passage, what were Mandiberg’s impression of Dafen? (Please answer within 40 words.)

_________________________________________

55. Translate the underlined sentence in the first paragraph into Chinese.

_________________________________________

第五节 书面表达 (满分30分)

今年5月27日在印尼地区发生了破坏严重的地震，约5000 人丧生， 200,000人无家可归， 这次地震给印尼人民造成巨大的损失，他们急需各类援助。假设你是你校校报的编辑， 请用英语写一份向印尼地震灾区灾民募捐的倡议书。开头已给出。

要求：词数100左右。

生词提示：Indonesia—印尼

donate—捐献  donation—捐赠品

My dear schoolmates,