本试卷分第Ⅰ卷和第II卷两部分，满分120分。考试用时100分钟。

第Ⅰ卷（共85分）

注意事项：

1．答题前，考生务必用黑色碳素笔将自己的姓名、准考证号、考场号、座位号在答题卡填写清楚，并请认真填涂准考证号。

2．每小题选出答案后，用2B铅笔把答题卡上对应题目的答案标号涂黑。如需改动，用橡皮擦擦干净后，再选涂其他答案标号。在试题卷上作答无效。

第一部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）

第一节（共15小题， 每小题2分，满分30分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、 B、 C和D）中。选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

London’s Millennium Dome closed its doors on Sunday evening. In the past year people argued about the public funds spent on it and about the low attendance.

The huge tent-like structure at Greenwich on the south bank of the Thames River was run by the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC). The company allowed only 27,000 people to enter on the final day, after 37,000 visited it on Saturday.

The total attendance for the year was around 6.5 million. The lowest monthly attendance was in January when only 366,420 visited the Dome.

A single ticket to the Dome cost 20 pounds (US$30). But the attendance figure included thousands of children on free school visits. Others took advantage of a special 57 pounds for five people offer.

Many traveled to London especially to seize their last chance to see the Body Zone. Body Zone is a collection of blue diamonds with the huge Millennium Star at its center.

The Japanese bank Nomura was to have taken over the structure to run it as a leisure venture. But it withdrew last October because of lack of financial data.

Among visitors on the last day, were Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife Cherie and three of their children, Euan, 16, Nicky, 15, and Kathryn, 12.

2. According to the article, a special ticket price offer was .

A. a group of one thousand school children can be admitted for free

B. 57 pounds for five people

C. US $ 30 each

D. 20 pounds each

3. Japanese bank Nomura gave up bidding for the structure last October because .

A. there was not enough financial data

B. the New Millennium Experience Company was competing with it

C. there was public argument about the Dome

D. the Japanese bank Nomura was to run it as a leisure venture

4. Tony Blair’s wife Cherie visited the Dome on .

A. Friday B. Saturday C. Sunday D. Monday

B

Let’s pretend we’re sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat. The Rhine is one of the main waterways of Germany, and the river traffic is heavy. It’s interesting to watch many boats going up and down the river. But the river traffic is not nearly so interesting as the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides. The boat is passing many old castles. We can see people working in the vineyards（葡萄园）on the hillsides. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see. Wine from the Rhine Valley is famous all over the world.

Suddenly our boat slows down and begins to turn a little. We are coming to a sharp bend in the river. On our right we can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high. At first it looks quite ordinary, but there is nothing ordinary about it. There are many stories, poems, and songs about the cliff. We are looking at the Lorelei.

Then someone on the boat begins to sing in German, the song of the Lorelei. It is a song about a beautiful siren（美女）who has lured many sailors to their deaths.

The siren is supposed to sit on the rock combing her long golden hair and singing. The sailors who hear her song forget to steer, and the current of river hurls their boats on the rocks and dashes them to pieces.

Soon other people on the boat begin to sing. The beautiful song adds to special magic to the moment, and you begin to realize why so many people have made this trip down the Rhine to see the rock of the Lorelei.

5. The more interesting thing to those who are sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat is .

A. to watch many boats going up and down the river

B. to see the beautiful scene along the banks and hillsides

C. to hear a song about beautiful siren

D. to see a beautiful siren combing her golden hair

6. Which of the following is famous all over the world?

A. The Rhine River. B. The River Traffic.

C. Wine from the Rhine Valley. D. The Lorelei.

7. We can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high .

A. on our right when coming to a sharp bend

B. on the Rhine hillsides

C. from the Rhine Valley

D. on the boat

8. The song of the Lorelei is about .

A. the Rhine wine

B. a rocky cliff

C. the beautiful scenery along the Rhine River

D. a beautiful and dangerous beauty

C

Happy April Fool’s Day

In celebration of the day, we have put together a list of some of the greatest hoaxes in history .They are the lies that have been designed for innocent people who are ready to believe them.

INSTANT COLOR TV

In 1962 there was only one TV channel in Sweden, and in broadcast in black and white. The station’s technical expert, Kjell Stensson , appeared on the news to announce that thanks to a newly developed technology, all viewers could now quickly and easily transform their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their TV screen, and they would begin to see their favorite shows in color. Reportedly, hundreds of thousands of people were taken in. Actual color TV transmission only started to appear in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

SAN SERRIFFE

In 1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement(增刊)in honor of the tenth anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this unknown nation. The Guardian’s phones rang all day as readers asked for more information about the beautiful holiday spot. Few noticed that everything about the island was made up.

NIXON FOR PRESIDENT

In 1992 American National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nichard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” Accompanying this announcement were audio clips(片断)of Nixon delivering his election speech. Listeners responded immediately to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and anger. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke, Nixon’s voice was copied by comedian Rich Little.

9. Which of the following countries is NOT mentioned in the text?

A. India B. the UK C. the United State D. Sweden

10. Who worked as a host on the radio?

A. Kjell Stensson B. Rich Little C. Richard Nixon D. John Hockenberry

11. When did the small republic San Serriffe come into being?

A. In 1962 B. In 1977 C. In 1992 D. Never

12. Where can we probably read this article?

A. In an ad. B. In a magazine. C. In a novel. D. In a textbook.

D

A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps. One should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.

A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting us in age.

Men often discover their similarity to each other by the common love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There is an old proverb, “Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this: “Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond(纽带) of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.

A good book is often the best container of a life preserving the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which become our steady companions and comforters.

Books are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay(腐朽), but good books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds ages ago.

The great and good do not die, even in this world. Preserved in books, their spirits walked abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect(智者) to which one still listens.

The writer introduces the topic of the passage by .

A. describing life experience of great writers

B. telling his own story of reading good books

C. presenting the best thoughts in good books

D. comparing good books to good friends in life

What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 mean?

A. Readers feel sympathy for the author.

B. Readers live together with the author.

C. Readers and the author share the same feeling.

D. Readers are the author’s companions and comforters.

The passage mainly tells us that .

A. one should have some good friends

B. one should read as many books as possible

C. one should keep company with good books

D books are the most lasting products of human efforts

第二节（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

During the first half of the nineteenth century in the United States, Christmas was a very different kind of holiday compared with what it is today. There was no set of way of celebrating the day, which was not yet an official holiday. 16 . Some observed Christmas as an important Christian religious day honoring the birth of Jesus. Others celebrated the day with parties, music, drinking and eating. And, some communities did not celebrate the day at all.

17 . Calvinist Christians(加尔文主义基督徒) banned the celebration of Christmas. But religious groups such as Episcopalians(美国新教圣公会教徒) and Moravians（摩拉维亚教徒） honored the day with religious services and seasonal decorations.

By mid-century, Christian groups began to ignore their religious difference over the meaning of Christmas and honored the day in special ways.

Christmas became an important time for families to celebrate at home. More and more Chri