阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的要求答题（请注意问题后字数要求）。

       Many American schools have a student exchange program with foreign countries. Along with this program, there is usually another one called the “American Host Family” program. As its name suggests, the program gets American families involved in foreign students’ lives in America and offers homes for them.

       Generally, Foreign students welcome such a chance to have a “family” here. Many American families volunteer to host foreign students. However,                                    , schools also get in touch with local people and introduce foreign students to them.

       The “American Host Family” program is different in lengths of time. It can go from a few days to a few years, depending on each individual school. After the first year is over, it is up to foreign students and their “families” to decide if they want to stay together as a “family”. American families can host as many foreign students as they like. They can either have several students or just one at a time. Many families start with new students each year while still keeping in touch with the old ones. Schools usually leave it to foreign students and their host families to decide their activities after both sides meet.

       My school, however, holds activities every year. On major holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, foreign students are usually invited to their homes for dinner. Even schools that do not have host family programs often ask students to get together with American families on these special holiday occasions.

       It is typical that a host family invites its foreign daughter or son over, and they cook the student’s home food together. Undoubtedly, Chinese students are usually considered good cooks, whether or not they are really suitable for such praise at home. Although many Chinese students rarely cooked at home, they often have a hard time making their American friends believe that they cannot cook. It often happens when a Chinese student promises to cook a Chinese meal for his host family, he usually sees a little crowd expecting him: friends or relatives are also invited over for the “special” Chinese food!

1．What is the best title for the passage? （Please answer within 10 words）

___________________________________________________________________________

2．Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words. （Please answer within 10 words）

___________________________________________________________________________

3．Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?

       There is no limitation of numbers for American families to accept exchange students.

4．What do you think of the “American Host Family” program to the students from countries outside of America? Why? （Please answer within 30 words）

___________________________________________________________________________

5．Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.

Scientists in India have invented a new way to produce electricity. Their invention does not get its power from oil, coal or other fuels. It produces electricity with the power of animals. India has about eighty million bullocks. They do all kinds of jobs. They work in the fields. They pull vehicles through the streets. They carry water containers. Indian energy officials have been seeking ways to use less imported oil to provide energy. Scientists at the National Institute for Industrial Engineering in Bombay wondered whether the millions of bullocks could help. Many villages in India lack electricity, but they have many bullocks. And often the animals are not working. One job done by bullocks is to pump water out of the well. The animals do this by walking around and around in a circle. As they walk, they turn a heavy stick that makes the pump move. This simple technology is centuries old. Scientists thought that the same technology could be used to produce electricity. Bullocks walk in a circle only two or three times a minute. This is much too slow to produce electricity, but it can create enough power to turn a series of gears（齿轮）. A large gear sits next to a smaller gear. As the large gear turns, it causes the smaller gear to turn. That gear turns an even smaller one. Each gear moves faster because it is a little smaller. The smallest gear may turn extremely fast. Clocks operate with gears. So do cars and so does the device invented by the Indian scientists to produce electricity.

       According to the officials in the United Nations, the idea is being tested at several places in India. The device is easy to operate and repair. And it can be moved easily. It costs about three hundred and seven dollars now to make such a device, but production of large numbers of them could cut the cost of each to about two hundred dollars.

1．Who first thought of using bullocks to provide energy?

     A．Indian energy officials.                   B．Scientists in India.

     C．Officials in the United Nations.             D．Researchers in Europe.

2．The jobs that bullocks do in India are mentioned in the passage except         .

     A．pulling vehicles                                    B．harvesting crops

     C．pumping water out of wells                  D．carrying food baskets

3．In the sentence “This simple technology is centuries old” in Paragraph One, “This simple technology” refers to_____.

     A．using bullocks to produce energy

     B．using pumps to draw water out

     C．having bullocks walk around to make the pump move

     D．connecting gears of different sizes to produce electricity

4．Which of the following can NOT be inferred from the passage?

     A．Once widely used, this device can help reduce the use of oil to provide energy.

     B．Indian government has decided to put the idea into practice at once.

     C．This idea will make progress as it is environment-friendly to the people.

     D．This device is designed in the way as clocks work with gears working on each other.

5．What is the U. N. officials’ attitude towards the idea?

       A．Approving.          B．Doubtful.        C．Negative.      D．Passive.

If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.

Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.

The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.

With so many loopholes（漏洞） in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.

In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to be on guard against others?

1．While taking a taxi in Finland, a passenger____.

      A．can go anywhere without having to pay the driver

      B．only pays two US dollars for a taxi ride

      C．can never be turned down by the taxi driver wherever he wants to go

       D．needs to provide good faith demonstration before leaving without paying

2．We can know from the passage that in Finland        .

      A．both hotel guests and outside diners are served food free of charge

      B．big hotels provide meals for all kinds of diners

      C．guests can enjoy free food once they stayed in the hotel

      D．big hotels are mostly poorly  managed

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

      A．Generally speaking, in Finland, workers can get more pay by working long hours.

       B．The bosses are too busy to check the working hours of their employees.

      C．The workers are always honest with their working hours.

       D．The workers and their bosses will make an agreement in advance about the pay.

4．The underlined word “those” in the 5^th paragraph probably refers to people _____.

      A．who often take taxis                             B．who often have meals in big hotels

      C．who are dishonest                                                               D．who are on guard against others

5．It can be concluded that _____.

      A．Finnish people are really foolish in daily life

      B．Finland has been a good place for cheats

      C．the Finnish society is of very high moral level

      D．all the Finns are rich and therefore honest

Win a week in England!

You still don’t know what to do this summer? Well, here’s your chance to win a one-week language course in Kent, England! Free4Fun and ETC （English Travel Connections） are giving  away two trips to Rochester. This historic city is less than an hour’s drive from London and close to the sea resort of Herne Bay. It is also the home of one of England’s most famous writers, Charles Dickens. The town of Rochester is in Southeast England. Charles Dickens often wrote about it in his books. His home, Gad’s Hill, is there, too. A popular attraction is Rochester Castle, a large Norman fortress（堡垒）. It was built in the 11th century and rebuilt during the 14th century. Other attractions are Rochester Cathedral, which was built during the 13th century, and Dickens Centre. It has got its name in honour of Dickens himself.

The trip to England includes:

* travel by train （via the Eurotunnel） to and from any railway station in Germany

* room and full board with a guest family for one week

* language course in small groups

* two trips to London

* large choice of sports and entertainment

* German-speaking advisors available 24 hours a day

Interested? All you have to do is to answer the following question:

When was Charles Dickens born?

So, take the chance and send your answer by 1 May to:

Free4Fun "Rochester"

Free4Fun, 24 Elphinstone Road, Hastings, 2FQ6VJ

fax: 089 / 85 763-103

e-mail: free4fun@netlight.com

The two winners will be contacted directly before 5 May. They will also be announced in the 　　June issue of Free4Fun. Good luck!

For further information contact:

phone: （03212） 144 43

fax: （03212） 144 42

    e-mail: info@etc. com

1．Rochester Cathedral was built in the          .

       A．1100s                  B．1200s                  C．1300s                 D．1400s

2．What activities can you participate in during the trip?

       A．Working as a language advisor.

       B．Learning the German language.

       C．Traveling by train with a guest family.

       D．Enjoying sports and entertainment.

3．If you want to win a prize you have to send your answer to          .

       A．the June issue of Free4fun                    B．free4fun@netlight. com

       C．info@etc. com                                    D．ETC

4．The persons         are likely to win the free trip.

       A．who know the birth date of Charles Dickens

       B．who are attracted by Rochester Castle

       C．who are contacted and announced by Free4Fun and ETC

       D．who know more about Charles Dickens’ works

5．This ad was designed to target            .

       A．Italians                B．Europeans           C．Germans             D．Americans

Andrew Carnegie, once the world’s richest person, was born in 1835 to a weaver’s family in Scotland. As a child, he was expected to follow his father’s profession. But the industrial revolution destroyed the weavers’ craft, and the family had to leave for new possibilities in America.

In 1848 the Carnegies arrived in Pittsburgh, then the iron-manufacturing center of the country. Young Carnegie took odd jobs at a cotton factory and later worked as a messenger boy in the telegraph office. He was often asked to deliver messages to the city theater, where he would stay to watch plays by great playwrights. He also spent most of his leisure hours in a small library that a local benefactor（捐助者） made available to working boys.

After the Civil War, Carnegie saw great potential in the iron industry. He devoted himself to the replacement of wooden bridges with stronger iron ones and earned a fortune. He further introduced a new steel refining process to convert iron into steel. By 1900, Carnegie Steel produced more of the metal than all of Great Britain.

However, Carnegie often expressed his uneasiness with the businessman’s life. Wishing to spend more time receiving instruction and reading systematically, he once wrote, “If I were to continue much longer in the state of being overwhelmed by business cares and with most of my thoughts wholly upon the way to make more money in the shortest time, it would degrade me beyond hope of permanent recovery.” The strong desire for intellectual（智力的） pursuit led him to sell his company and retire at 64.

Fond of saying that “the man who dies rich dies disgraced,” Carnegie then turned his attention to giving away his fortune. He abhorred charity; instead, he used his money to help others help themselves. He established over 2,500 public libraries, and sponsored numerous cultural, educational and scientific institutions. By the time he died in 1919, he had given away 350 million dollars.

1．Andrew Carnegie moved to the United States because         .

       A．his father was offered a good job in Pittsburgh

       B．he did not want to follow his father’s profession

       C．there were serious political problems in Scotland

       D．his family could not make a good living in their hometown

2．When did Carnegie begin to show his interest in artistic and intellectual pursuit?

       A．After he retired from his business.

       B．When he was a young boy back in Scotland.

       D．When he worked as a messenger boy in Pittsburgh.

3．Which of the following best characterizes how Carnegie managed his business?

       A．He was willing to make new changes.

       B．He set out to beat all t he other competitors.

       C．He was happy to make more money in the shortest time.

       D．He did not hesitate in making investments in his hometown.

4．The underlined word “abhorred” is closest in meaning to         .

       A．hated                  B．enjoyed               C．practiced             D．encouraged

5．How did Carnegie handle his fortune after his retirement?

       A．He left it to his family and friends after he died.

       B．He gave it to poor people and charity organizations.

       C．He used it to support organizations of higher learning.

       D．He invested it in developing new technology in steel refinement.