When one looks back upon the fifteen hundred years that are the life span of the English language, he should be able to notice a number of significant truths. The history of our language has always been a history of constant change—at times a slow, almost imperceptible change, at other times a violent collision between two languages. Our language has always been a living growing organism, it has never been static. Another significant truth that emerges from such a study is that language at all times has been the possession not of one class or group but of many. At one extreme it has been the property of the common, ignorant folk, who have used it in the daily business of their living, much as they have used their animals or the kitchen pots and pans.         At the other extreme it has been the treasure of those who have respected it as an instrument and a sign of civilization, and who have struggled by writing it down to give it some permanence, order, dignity, and if possible, a little beauty. 

As we consider our changing language, we should note here two developments that are of special and immediate importance to us. One is that since the time of the Anglo-Saxons there has been an almost complete reversal of the different devices for showing the relationship of words in a sentence. Anglo-Saxon (old English) was a language of many inflections. Modern English has few inflections. We must now depend largely on word order and function words to convey the meanings that the older language did by means of changes in the forms of words. Function words, you should understand, are words such as prepositions, conjunctions, and a few others that are used primarily to show relationships among other words. A few inflections, however, have survived. And when some word inflections come into conflict with word order, there may be trouble for the users of the language, as we shall see later when we turn our attention to such maters as WHO or WHOM and ME or I. The second fact we must consider is that as language itself changes, our attitudes toward language forms change also. The eighteenth century, for example, produced from various sources a tendency to fix the language into patterns not always set in and grew, until at the present time there is a strong tendency to restudy and re-evaluate language practices in terms of the ways in which people speak and write.

1．In contrast to the earlier linguists, at present, more and more attention is paid to_________.

A. the standardization of the language 

B. language practices in terms of current speech rather than standards or proper patterns 

C. the improvement of the language than its history 

D. the rules of the language usage 

2．From the study we know that language is ________.

A. a possession of upper class. 

B. a possession of lower class. 

C. a possession of the whole society. 

D. the only property of those who treasure it much. 

3．Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned in the passage? 

A. It is generally believed that the year 1500 can be set as the beginning of the Modern English.

B. Some other languages had great influence on the English language in its development. 

C. The English language has been and still in a state of relatively constant change. 

D. Many classes or groups have contributed to the development of the English language. 

4．The author of these paragraphs is probably a(an) _________. 

A. writer specially interested in English                   

B. person who pays much attention to people of lower classs          

C. teacher who teaches the English language             

D. expert in studying languages 

5．Which of the following can be best used as the title of the passage? 

A. The history of the English language. 

B. Our changing attitude towards the English language. 

C. Our changing language. 

D. Some characteristics of modern English.

Barbie （巴比娃娃）, believe it or not, is 50 this year and she’s still as popular as ever. A doll is a doll , but Barbie illustrates how, over the last five decades, women have become a standard for judging what freedom really means How women are treated in different countries tells you a lot about the politics and culture of where they live.

The doll that every little girl wants enables young children to test their possibilities in role playing, giving them a glimpse of what they might be when they grow up, whether to be frivolous or serious （or both）.

But in many countries that’s not an option. In Saudi Arabia, where woman can’t drive or go out publicly unless covered, Barbie is banned. They think Barbie dolls are offensive to Islam （伊斯兰教） and a threat to morality.

In America, she represents the swiftly changing roles of women. Barbie is fun to tease but she’s as American as miniskirts and pantsuits in her flexible identities and her “growth” from model to astronaut.

Barbie inspired a doll – revolution movement. When a Teen Talk Barbie was programmed electronically to say “Math class is tough”, she was criticized by a national women’s group and was regarded as a bad stereotype. Some of her critics also say she’s a bad influence because she’s too thin and encourages anorexia, that she has run through too many stereotypes, and that she lends too much significance to the fantasy stages of child’s play.

In some Muslim countries, substitute Barbie dolls have been developed that promote traditional values, with their modest clothing and pro – family backgrounds. They are widely seen as an effort to resist the American dolls that have flooded the market.

Toy seller Masounmen Rahimi welcomed the dolls, saying Barbie was “foreign to Muslim culture” because some of the dolls have little clothing. She said young girls who play with Barbie, could grow into women who reject Muslim values. “I think every Barbie doll is more harmful than an American missile,” Ms Rahimi said.

1．Barbie is forbidden in some Muslim countries because         .

      A．she is more deadly than a missile          B．toys are not allowed there

      C．she looks 1ike an American                 D．she sets a poor example to children

2．The writer mentioned “miniskirts and pantsuits” （paragraph 4） to imply that          .

      A．these are the only clothes a doll should wear

      B．these are very traditional American clothes for women

      C．there are a range of different life options available for women

      D．readers should wear these clothes more often

3．The underlined word “anorexia”（paragraph 5） most probably means “         ”.

    A．an illness of refusing to eat

    B．giving up math study

    C．the wearing of inappropriate clothes

    D．a decrease in people’s imagination

4．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

      A．People all over the world understand what freedom really means.

      B．How Barbie is treated seems to reflect a country’s politics and culture

      C．Women in Saudi Arabia have no options in deciding what to wear．

      D．Barbie dolls have contributed much to Muslim culture．

5．It can be inferred from the passage that          .

       A．children who like Barbie dolls won’t be so serious when they grow up

       B．Muslim Barbies are the same as American Barbies

       C．Muslim societies are generally more conservative than western societies

       D．Americans have no worry about Barbie’s influence on children

The longest bull run in a century of art-market history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst, Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, at Sotheby’s in London on September 15th 2008. All but two pieces sold, fetching more than ￡70m, a record for a sale by a single artist. It was a last victory. As the auctioneer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy, starting the most severe financial crisis since the 1920s.

The world art market had already been losing momentum(势头) for a while after rising confusingly since 2003. At its peak in 2007 it was worth some $65 billion, thinks Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, a research firm — double the figure five years earlier. Since then it may have come down to $50 billion. But the market generates interest far beyond its size because it brings together great wealth, enormous egos(自负), greed, passion and controversy in a way matched by few other industries.

In the weeks and months that followed Mr. Hirst’s sale, spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable. In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms. Sales of contemporary art fell by two-thirds, and in the most overheated sector, they were down by nearly 90% in the year to November 2008. Within weeks the world’s two biggest auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, had to pay out nearly $200m in guarantees to clients who had placed works for sale with them.

The current downturn in the art market is the worst since the Japanese stopped buying Impressionists at the end of 1989. This time experts suppose that prices are about 40% down on their peak on average, though some have been far more volatile (动荡的). But Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, says, “I’m pretty confident we’re at the bottom.”

What makes this fall different from the last, he says, is that there are still buyers in the market, while in the early 1990s, when interest rates were high, there was no demand even though many collectors wanted to sell. Christie’s earnings in the first half of 2009 were still higher than in the first half of 2006. Almost everyone who was interviewed for this special report said that the biggest problem at the moment is not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to sell. The three Ds — death, debt and divorce — still deliver works of art to the market. But anyone who does not have to sell is keeping away, waiting for confidence to return.

67. In the first paragraph, Damien Hirst’s sale was referred to as “a last victory” because _______.

A. the art market had witnessed a succession of victories

B. the auctioneer finally got the two pieces at the highest bids

C. Beautiful inside My Head Forever won over all masterpieces

D. it was successfully made just before the world financial crisis

68. Which of the following statements is true?

A .Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from 2003 to 2008.

B. The art market didn’t match many other industries in momentum.

C. The market generally went downward in the same way.

D. Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come.

69. The three Ds mentioned in the last paragraph are _________ .

A. auction houses’ favorites　                     B. contemporary trends　

C. factors promoting artwork circulation       D. styles representing impressionists

70. What is mainly discussed in the passage?

A. Art market in decline.　                           B. Up-to-date art auctions.

C. Volatility of art prices.　　　                  D. Shifted interest in arts.