27、Wang Fei，a Chinese student，and Mary，an American student studying Chinese in China，were in a supermarket．They saw a young man walking down the stairs．In his hurry，he missed the last two steps and fell onto the ground．He tried to stand up while people around him laughed．Luckily，he seemed to be OK．

Mary found Wang Fei smiling a little and was not happy about it．“Tell me，Fei，how could people laugh when someone fell like that? Why didn’t they go up and ask him if he was hurt?’’

Wang Fei said，“Because they knew he wasn’t hurt too much．”

“But I still don’t understand．A fall is a fall．In my culture．people would never laugh!”

This is an example．The Chinese and the westerner will think and act differently when seeing such a thing．Chinese people are used to laughing or smiling．Very often the person who is in embarrassing（困窘的）situation would also laugh or smile to get out of it．However，if someone gets hurt seriously，it will not be a laughing matter any more．People will help him or her instead．

But，in that case，a westerner will rush over and help the person get up．If a westerner falls，he or she，like a Chinese person，may try to make a joke if he or she is not hurt．If two close friends are walking together，and one falls but clearly isn't hurt，a common joke is to say “Have a nice trip”．

So different people have different habits and different countries have different cultures．

1．Will Wang Fei and Mary think and act in the same way if they see a young man falling down?

2．Why didn't people go up and ask the young man if he was hurt?

3．What do Chinese people often do when they find themselves in embarrassing situation?

4．What is a westerner likely to do when he or she sees someone fall down?

5．What might Mary say to Wang Fei if he fell but clearly was not hurt?

25、One day，a poor boy，who was selling newspapers from door to door in order to pay for his schoolin9，found he had only ten cents left，and he was   1  ．He decided to ask for a meal at the next house．However，he changed his mind when a young woman opened the door．

Instead of a   2   he asked for a drink of water．But as he looked so hungry，she  3  him a large glass of milk．He drank it, and then asked，“How much do I owe（欠）you?”

“My mother teaches me never to accept money for any   4  ，”she replied，“so you don’t owe me anything．”

Many years later，the   5   became seriously ill．Then she was sent to a famous   6   in London．

Dr Kelly was called in to study her illness．When he   7   the name of the town which she came   8  ，a strange light filled his eyes．

As soon as he walked into her room，he recognized（认出）her at once．

He did his best to   9   her．Then he gave special attention to her．After some time she got   10  ．

Dr Kelly asked for her final bill   11   she left hospital．He looked at it，then  12  something on it before it was sent to her．She was   13    to open it，for she believed it would take the rest of her life to   14   for it all．But finally she opened it，and read these words on it：Paid in full with one glass of    15  ．

1．A．thirsty                   B．hungry                 C．tired                             D．excited

2．A．tomato                         B．sweet                         C．meal                      D．banana

3．A．ordered                 B．brought                C．sold                       D．found

4．A．business                B．fitness                 C．illness                    D．kindness

5．A．woman                  B．boy                     C．man                       D．mother

6．A．college                  B．hotel                    C．dentist's                 D．hospital

7．A．called                    B．asked                   C．heard                     D．told

8．A．to                         B．from                    C．by                         D．through

9．A．save                      B．examine               C．feed                       D．protect

10．A．back                    B．away                   C．well                       D．worse

11．A．before                 B．after                    C．when                     D．because

12．A．remembered         B．said                     C．noticed                  D．wrote

13．A．excited                B．surprised              C．afraid                     D．ready

14．A．wait                    B．care                     C．search                   D．pay

15．A．water                         B．milk                     C．coffee                    D．juice

23、World Laughter Day was started in Mumbai, India in 1998 by Dr Madan Kataria, organizer of the worldwide Laughter Yoga activity．

The celebration of World Laughter Day is for world peace and is a plan to make good friends through laughter．Now more and more people are joining the Laughter Yoga movement．On the 9th of January, 2000, more than 10,000 people gathered in Denmark to celebrate the first World Laughter Day．It was very successful．

World Laughter Day is now celebrated on the first Sunday of May every year．Hundreds of people all over the world laugh together on that day．No one thinks that laughing doesn't make us feel good．

Today, some people in the world still face war（战争）．Laughter is a good way to deal with world problems．When different groups laugh together, they can get along better．Many difficult problems can become easier to solve if people feel good．

Laughter is a world language, which is the same in every country．We should believe that only laughter can bring the world together and help people become good friends．

The famous writer, Mark Twain said, "Mankind bas only one really effective weapon（武器）, and that is laughter．"

1．World Laughter Day was started                  ．

A．in 1998             B．in 2000             C．in America         D．in China

2．The celebration of the first World Laughter Day was held                  ．

A．in India              B．in Denmark         C．in Mumbai           D．by Mark Twain

3．The meaning of the underlined sentence is                   ．

A．laughing doesn't make us feel good

B．laughter makes us feel happy

C．nobody thinks it is good to laugh

D．everyone thinks laughing together makes us feel sad

4．The Laughter Yoga movement tells us                 ．

A．laughter can stop war

B．people want to make the world peaceful

C．laughter is the best way to deal with world problems

D．laughter can bring the world together when people laugh together

5．What's the best title of the passage?

A．World Laughter Day                       B．Successful Laughter

C．The first World Laughter Day               D．The celebration of World Laughter Day

22、Studying abroad is an amazing experience, especially when you come to Australia as an overseas（外国的）high school student．You can have a lot of fun here, especially on holidays．

There are many festivals in Australia．The most important one is obviously Christmas．Each year, the summer holidays at every high school last about two months from the beginning of December to February, which covers the Christmas time．Since it is a long holiday, most overseas students love to fly back to their home countries to spend the time with their families and friends, but a few students still stay in Australia during the holiday to get part-time jobs．It is quite easy to find a part-time job at Christmas．Students often take part in another major social activity．They go to the beach to have fun in the sunshine．The summer in Australia is from December to February, so going to the beach in December is very popular among Australians．

Easter in March is another important holiday in the year．It actually combines（使联合） "Good Friday" and "Easter Monday"．Almost every shop closes on Good Friday．And people usually go to see Easter Show．

The Chinese New year is not a public holiday in Australia, so every Chinese student still has to go to school to study and do his or her normal duties．

1．Summer holidays in Australia often begin in          ．

A．July                  B．September          C．December          D．February

2．In Australia, you can spend Christmas                 ．

A．in winter             B．in March            C．in summer           D．in January

3．Overseas students                  in their summer holidays．

A．must do their normal duties                B．continue to study at school

C．can do part-time jobs                         D．go to the beach to find part-time jobs

4．Probably people seldom           on Good Friday in Australia．

A．go shopping                                 B．spend the time with their friends

C．have fun                               D．give chocolate eggs to each other

5．Students in Australia go to school          ．

A．at Christmas                              B．at Easter

C．in the Chinese New Year                    D．on Easter Monday

20、

   Female——女性

1．The phrase ‘life expectancy’ refers to        ．

    A．the changing life，in years

    B．the ages of people born after 1980一1982

    C．the difference in ages between men and women

    D．the years a person can expect to live if there are no disasters

 2．The table is intended(想要)to show that         ．

    A．1ife expectancy is changing very little

    B．females can expect to live longer than males

    C．everyone can expect to live longer now

    D．old people don’t have as long to live as younger people

  3．An eighty-year-old female in 1990 can expect to live        

    A．0.5 years more than a male the same age

    B．1.9 years more than a male the same age

    C．7.0 years more than a male the same age

      D．8.9 years more than a male the same age

19、    DENVER，COORADO——What does it take to be a hero? In the case of five Denver children，it only takes a cry for help．Here’s the story of these five heroes as Gary Lewis， the man they helped，tells it．   

 “I like to work on my old car．It’s my hobby．I wanted to put a new transmission(传动装置)in the car．I put the car up on blocks(大块木头)because I wanted to get under it．I was trying to get the old transmission out when suddenly the car moved forward and fell off the blocks．It came down on my chest．I couldn’t breathe．

 “I tried to shout for help for about five minutes，but I almost could not breathe．Could anyone hear me? Was I going to die? Then all of a sudden I heard some little children from the neighbourhood．They were running to the car and saying，‘What happened，sir?’   

   “Get help，please．I can’t breathe，I told them．One of the children ran to his house  and to1d his mom to call 911．Then, before I knew what was happening，all of the children were around the car. They used every muscle(肌肉)in their bodies to lift(抬起)the car，and I was able to get out from under it．”

Lewis got out from under the car with just a few cuts．He didn’t even have to go to the hospital．“These children are my heroes．”he says．“I don’t know how they did it．but I am lucky to be alive．”   

Raymond Brown，father of two of the children，is very proud of them．“We try to teach them to do the right thing．This shows we’re doing it the right way，I guess，”he says．

1．The car fell off the blocks because          ．

   A．the children pushed it   

B．it moved forward by itself

C．Gary Lewis moved the blocks  

D．it was driven by someone   

2．Gary Lewis couldn’t breathe because        ．   

A．there was a heavy ear on top of him   

B．he was running very fast   

C．he had a bad cold   

D．he was working too hard    

3．Lewis was able to get out from under the car when         

A．the children worked together to lift it up s little bit

B．Raymond Brown came and pulled him out   

C．he pushed the car forward   

D．the police came to his help

18、Dr. Irene Pepperberg, a scientist at the University of Arizona，has worked with Alex for nineteen years. Teaching Alex to speak and understand wasn’t easy at first．He had to learn one word at a time. Irene and an assistant(助手)would teach Alex by showing him what a word meant．Irene would hold up an object, saying “What’s this?” Her assistant would give the word—“candy”，for example—while Alex watched .Irene would praise(表扬)her assistant, then ask Alex the name for the object．When he got it right，Irene would praise him and give him the object to play with as a reward．It took Alex many weeks to1earn his first word．After that，each new word became easier and easier for him．

Why did Irene spend so much time getting a parrot to talk? Scientists like Irene are interested in discovering how intelligent(聪明)animals are and hew their brains(大脑)work. But studying animal intelligence has always been difficult, partly because animals haven’t been able to communicate(交流)clearly with humans．Teaching Alex to speak words that he understands has let Irene talk to him directly．She can ask him questions，and he can answer them in English．In this way，Irene is finding out what kinds of things Alex’s brain can do．She has found that parrots are much smarter than scientists used to think.

1．According to the passage，how is Alex remarkable(不寻常的)?

  A．He can use the English language to answer questions．

  B．He uses words in English instead of bird calls to call other birds．

  C．He can copy the pronunciations of more than 100 English words．

  D．A1ex has a brain that is much bigger than those of other parrots.

2．How did Dr. Pepperberg teach Alex to speak with understanding?

  A．She said the same word all day long so that Alex could repeat it.

  B．She taught Alex a special sign language．

  C．She gave Alex rewards if he would say what she said．

  D．She gave Alex a candy every time he answered correctly．

3．Why did Dr. Pepperberg teach Alex to speak with understanding?

  A．She wanted to prove it could be done．

  B．She wanted to provide a model for people who want talking birds．

  C．She wanted to find out how many words parrots could remember.

  D．She wanted to find out what kinds of things his brain could do.

4．According to the passage，Alex has proved that       ．

  A．birds are not the only animals that can learn a language

  B．parrots are much cleverer than scientists used to think

  C．birds age just as intelligent as humans

  D．teaching parrots to speak a human language isn’t very difficult