St.Patrick's Day is Ireland's greatest national holiday as well as a holy(神圣的) day.Each year, millions of people world－wide celebrate this __1__on March 17, the date of St.Patrick's death.It is a happy holiday for the Irish living in Ireland and __2__.The day is celebrated with parades(游行), speeches, festival dinners, and dances.__3__ is the colour of the day, with thousands of little cloth shamrocks(三叶草) on.

   St.Patrick was born in Britain to __4__ parents near the end of the fourth century.At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders(入侵者)  __5__ his family's wealth.So he had to __6__ a shepherd, outdoors and away from people.__7__lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion(宗教) and became a Christian.

The first St.Patrick's Day parade  __8__ not in Ireland, but in the United States.Irish soldiers in the British army __9__ through New York City on March 17, 1762 with Irish music.Since then, St.Patrick's Day parades have become a way for Irish Americans to show their  __10__every year.In 1948, President Truman  __11__the New Year City's St.Patrick's Day parade, which was a __12__moment for many Irish people whose fathers and grandfathers had to fight against people who disliked them to find  __13__ in America.

It was in Boston where the Day was first celebrated in a public way. __14__ since 1762, the New York City's parade on St.Patrick's Day has __15___ more than one million people each year.

Meanwhile, the city of Chicago has __16__ a special tradition of colouring the river water green.It started in 1962 when 100 pounds of green paint was __17__ its rivers, enough to keep them green for a week.The __18__ has continued till today.Now, 40 pounds of a green food colouring keeps the rivers green for only a few hours.Historically, __19__the shamrocks and things green has become a __20__ symbol of declaring the Irish national and cultural identity(特性)．

1．A.holiday　　B．festival　　　C．honor　　　D．date

2．A.places    B．abroad       C．England    D．aboard

3．A.Green    B．Blue        C．Grass       D．Red

4．A.poor     B．cruel       C．unhealthy      D．wealthy

5．A.giving   B．stealing      C．attacking      D．processing

6．A.serve in  B．stand for     C．work as       D．act for

7．A.Feeling  B．Keeping     C．Remaining     D．performing

8．A.held up   B．took place  C．was occurred   D．happened

9．A.advanced  B．marched  C．processed  D．progressed

10．A.existence   B．anger  C．struggle  D．importance

11．A.led        B．attended  C．joining  D．acting

12．A.responsible  B．forgettable  C．proud  D．unthinkable

13．A.reception  B．acceptance  C．refusal  D．resistance

14．A.Celebrated          B．Completed

C．Held             D．Performed

15．A.attempted  B．drawn   C．driven   D．employed

16．A.developed  B．created   C．built   D．invented

17．A.added up  B．added up to  C．added to  D．risen to

18．A.custom   B．tradition   C．habit  D．practice

19．A.making up          B．dressing in

C．wearing           D．having

20．A.abstract  B．practical  C．false  D．powerful

Head above Water

　　TUVALU, a tiny country in the Pacific Ocean, has asked for help as it will be swallowed up by the sea．

　　Storms and huge waves are a constant threat and none of Tuvalu's nine little islands is more than five meters above sea level．Salt water is already entering the country's drinking water supply, as well as damaging plants that produce fruit and vegetable．Without urgent help, the country's days are numbered ．

　　But Tuvalu is not the first place to face sinking into the sea．Venice, a historic city in Italy best known for its canals, has sunk about 24 cm over the past 100 years．Experts say that it will have sunk another 20-50 cm by 2050．A century ago, St．Mark's Square, the lowest point of the city, flooded about nine times a year．Nowadays, it happens more than 100 times．While Venice is slowly sinking into the mud on which it stands, global warming causes Tuvalu's rising sea level．

　　The average global temperature has increased by almost 0．5 centigrade degrees over the past century; scientists expect it will rise by extra 1-3 degrees over the next 100 years．

　　Warmer weather makes glaciers (冰川) melt, adding more water to the ocean．The warmer temperatures also make water expand, so it takes up more space, causing the sea level to rise．The sea level has risen about 10-25 cm in the last 100 years．

The main cause of global warming is human pollution．Through burning coal, oil and gas, people have been increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as CO₂．This adds to the power of the greenhouse effect, making the planet even warmer．

　　Many scientists believe that, if the warming is not stopped, there will be huge climate changes．The sea level could rise by one meter this century．Should this come true, the sea will swallow up millions of homes and the world will be flooded with “climate refugees” looking for somewhere to live?

1．We can infer from the second paragraph that________．

[　　]

A．Tuvalu is in danger of being swallowed up by the sea

B．all Tuvalu's islands are about 5 meters above the sea level

C．drinking water in Tuvalu has been destroyed

D．Tuvalu is often flooded by storms and waves

2．The author uses Tuvalu and Venice as examples in order to explain________．

[　　]

A．they are the first place sinking into the sea

B．they are both sinking into the mud where they stand

C．they will disappear in the future

D．their trouble is caused by global warming

3．Put the following events in the right order．

a．Glaciers began to melt．

b．People burn coal, oil and gas．

c．The greenhouse effect is growing．

d．The earth is getting warmer and warmer．

e．The sea level is rising．

f．More CO₂ is produced．

g．Many places are sinking into the sea．

[　　]

4．What does “climate refugees” mean?

[　　]

A．People who are forced away from their homeland by climate．

B．Climate changes．

C．Rare animals．

D．Climate effect．

5．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

[　　]

A．Tuvalu's nine little islands are less than five meters a-bove the sea level．

B．The average global temperature has risen by 1-3 centigrade degrees over the past 100 years．

C．The warmer temperature causes the sea level to rise．

D．There will be huge climate changes unless the warming is stopped．

On 8^th March this year, events marking International Women’s Day (IWD) were held in many countries around the world. In most countries the events have a political tone: they tend to celebrate the advances women have made towards economic, social and political equality with men, and to press for change in those areas of life where there is still progress to be made.

In other countries, meanwhile, 8^th March is traditionally more about expressing an appreciation of women: it is a day on which men give presents to their wives, girlfriends and mothers, and it therefore has some similarities with St Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

Back in 1911, the first IWD events in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland were certainly political. They were protests by women against forms of gender discrimination that would now be unthinkable in most parts of the world: almost nowhere were women allowed to vote, and Finland was the only country with any female members of a national parliament. The general expectation worldwide, across different continents and cultures, was that women would spend their lives largely in the home, devoting themselves to looking after their husbands and children. The proportion of women who had paid employment was far lower than today, and when women did go out to work they typically earned very little, meaning they were economically dependent on men.

A century later, gender inequality in employment – particularly pay inequality – is still one of the issues IWD tries to draw attention to: it remains common, of course, for women to earn less than men for doing exactly the same job.

Limited educational opportunities (there are many countries in which girls generally stay fewer years in school than boys) and domestic violence towards women have also been highlighted by events surrounding IWD in recent years.

And yet, as the IWD website notes, ____________________. As just one example, to return to the issue of women elected to office, the change over the last hundred years has been significant. Since 1911, when the small group of women in the Finnish parliament (nineteen of them, to be precise) were the only females in public office worldwide, the governments of more than fifty different countries have been led by women. In 2011, at least one country in every continent has a female leader, including high-profile examples such as Brazil (Dilma Rousseff), Germany (Angela Merkel) and Australia (Julia Gillard).

72.　 The underlined word in paragraph 3 “discrimination” probably means _____.

A. equality　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. unfairness

C. difference　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. imbalance

73.　 100 years ago, it was widely considered that women’s main task was to _____.

A. fight for economical independence　　　　 B. get the right to vote

C. fulfill their domestic responsibilities　　　　 D. gain educational opportunities

74.　 Which of the following is the missing sentence in the first line of the last paragraph?

A. distinctive differences do exist between men and women

B. women expect too much of their political power

C. it’s impossible to realize the true equality between the two genders

D. alongside the ‘negatives’ there are plenty of ‘positives’

75.　 We can conclude from the passage that _____.

A. Much has been achieved in gender equality, but still there is space for improvement

B. The concept of equal pay for equal work is completely accepted in practice.

C. One or two female leaders can’t stand for women’s social status on the whole.

D. The progress in gaining equality in the last century seems to be too slow.