The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when warmer weather begins. People celebrate the coming of summer with customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter. Today, May Day activities have been moved to the May Day holiday on the first Monday of the month. It is a public holiday when families take advantage of the time off to visit some of the UK’s many attractions, including parks, zoos, historic buildings, ancient towns and villages and beautiful countryside.

May Day celebrations have their origins in the Roman festival of Flora, the goddess of fruit and flowers, which marked the beginning of summer. People would decorate their houses and villages with leaves and flowers they picked at daybreak in the belief that the vegetation spirits would bring good luck. In the very early morning, young girls went into the fields and washed their faces with dew (露水). They believed this made them very beautiful for the following year.

May Day was an important day in the Middle Ages and was a favorite holiday of many English villages. People of the time used to cut down young trees and stick them in the ground in the village to mark the arrival of summer. This is the origin of the maypole (五月柱). People danced around them in celebration of the end of winter. Maypoles were once common all over England and were kept from one year to the next. The tallest maypole is said to have been put up in London on the Strand in 1661. It stood more than 143 feet high and was cut down in 1717, when it was used by Newton to support a new reflecting telescope (反射式望远镜) invented by Dutch scientist Huygens.

21. How do British people celebrate May Day?

A. They visit friends and family members.

B. They celebrate it on the first Monday of May.

C. They spend a lot of time shopping around. 

D. They show great love for the long winter.

22. The underlined word “this” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.

A. washing the face with dew        B. going into the fields      

C. picking flowers at daybreak       D. getting up early in the morning

23. What can we learn about the maypole? 

A. People climb it on May Day.          B. It was usually found in the cities.      C. It dates from the Middle Ages.        D. People used old, tall trees to make it. 

24. The purpose of the text is to _____.

A. describe Roman customs            B. suggest spring family activities       C. explain the origins of maypoles      D. introduce a British festival

China Daily---Last week, the Beijing municipal government released a list of 192 areas in the capital where spring blooms, including peach, magnolia, apricot and winter jasmine, can be enjoyed from March to May.  The recommended spots cover an area of 22 square kilometers.  Apart from admiring blooms, folklore performances, botany exhibitions and other activities will be put on. 20 travel routes for tourists looking to appreciate floral beauty in the countryside are issued in Hubei, too.

South Korean drama Descendants of the Sun《太阳的后裔》 has collected more than 200 million views on iQiyi, the Chinese streaming website said Tuesday.

"Descendants of the Sun", the first Korean show to premiere simultaneously in South Korea and China (中韩同步首播), is a love story between an Army captain (Song Joong-ki) and a doctor (Song Hye-kyo) who find themselves in a fictional war-torn country called Uruk, where both try to save lives.

"The show has become the talk of the town everywhere. Some shows even had live phone conversations with viewers to discuss its popularity," a Chinese entertainment official said.

To put things into perspective, a f ifth of South Korea's population is 10 million people. Just a little over that number tuned in to watch Descendants of the Sun.

Enthusiastic customers snapped up(抢光) the first batch of tickets in just five minutes on Monday for the opening day of the Shanghai Disneyland park on June 16, temporarily crashing the official website.

"Within half an hour, clicks on the website (www.shanghaidisneyresort.com) reached more than 5 million. The massive volume resulted in our ticketing system temporarily malfunctioning."

25. Which of the following statements is true according to the information above?

  A. Tourists can enjoy flowers in 192 areas.

  B. The spots cover an area of 22 square kilometers.

  C. During the spring blooms, visitors are only allowed to admire flowers

  D. Hubei Government also issued some travel routes for visitors

26. We can infer from the information about drama Descendants of the Sun       

   A. It is the first Korean show broadcast in China.

   B. It is more popular in Korea than in China.

   C. It is a romantic story between a captain and a doctor r.

   D. Korea has a population of 10 million people

27. What topic do the three pieces of information belong to?

  A. Society       B. Astronomy       C. Economy       D. Entertainment 

A telescope (望远镜), called Gaia, is being designed by astronomers in Europe, and it couldn’t be more different from Pan-STARRS, which is another telescope being designed. While Pan-STARRS will be looking for asteroids (小行星) and comets headed for Earth, Gaia will be looking at our entire galaxy (银河系).

Gaia is designed to draw a map of the Milky Way, our home galaxy. Just as a map of your town gives you a picture of where things are located, Gaia’s map of the galaxy will tell astronomers where the stars are. Over five years, Gaia will observe (观察) about a billion stars and other objects in our galaxy. Each object will be observed about 70 times.

Gaia will be sent into space connected to a rocket. It contains two telescopes, each focused at a different angle (角度). These two telescopes act like Gaia’s “eyes”. The reason why humans can see things in 3D is that we have two eyes focused on the same object, at slightly different angles. By using two telescopes like eyes, Gaia can produce the first 3D map of the positions of the stars it views.

Gaia, which is to be sent into space in 2011, will be a powerful telescope. If you were to use it on Earth, for example, you could stand 600 miles away from your best friends and still get a clear picture of their hair.

Gaia is one of more than a dozen telescopes being designed by scientists right now. The next generation of telescopes will reveal new parts of our universe that will seem surprising. The universe, with all its planets, stars and other strange objects, is a puzzle with pieces that we can see by using powerful telescopes.

28. How many different angles can Gaia focus at each time?

       A. 2  .   B. 3.      C. 4 .      D. 5.

29. The map to be drawn by Gaia ______.

       A. can show every building on Earth

       B. can show you where your town is

       C. will just show the stars around Earth

       D. will show where the stars are in our home galaxy

30. What’s Paragraph 4 mainly about?

       A. What Gaia will do in space.                       B. When Gaia will start to work.

       C. How powerful Gaia will be.                         D. What Gaia will do to Earth.

31. The underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggests that the next generation of telescopes _______.

       A. seem very surprising to scientists

       B. will not be put into use in a short time

       C. will just look at new things in universe

       D. will be more powerful than the old generations

    Retirement (退休) should be time of joy and freedom. However, for some people retirement comes with feelings of depression (沮丧), which makes life difficult for them.

Retirement is a major life change. Even good changes usually involve some kinds of loss. When you retire, you find yourself lacking whatever working used to provide. That could include, for example, 1. knowing you’re working for society, 2. getting admiration from your skills, 3. having “aha” moments when you solve problems, 4. having people to socialize with, and 5. simply having a place to go and a reason to get out of bed every day. For most people, there’s a financial loss, too. Also, retirement age is a time when a lot of people have to deal with losing their parents or having serious health problems of their own.

Because of all these, retirees are more likely to get depressed.     

Depression is very harmful. First, depression can make physical health problems worse. Second, it takes a toll on relationships, because it can make people angry. Third, it’s hard to get  much done when you’re depressed.

What can we do to overcome (克服) the feelings of depression? First, do all the things that help depression in general: drink enough water, exercise, talk to friends, have a hobby, laugh, and spend time in nature. If you feel depressed more often than not, it’s probably time to talk to a doctor about your feelings. Second, it’s important to keep busy and get out of the house when you can. Make specific plans with friends. Take a class Volunteer. Or just make sure you start each day with some kind of goal. Third, try to focus on what you’ve gained by retiring. Think about what you may have now that you wished you had before you were able to retire. For example, days that are less stressful, a chance to rest and take better care of your body, more time for your family and yourself. To write, to start a hobby and to learn something new are all new possibilities. Finally, tell your story. You’ve lived a long time and you become an oral historian each time you talk with someone about your experiences. You can also write in a journal or make a video recording of your memories. Telling your stories can help you look back on your life and career with a sense of wholeness and achievements.

32. People may find life very hard after they retire because of ___________.

   A. freedom            B. nervousness          C. discouragement (losing heart)        D. hard work 

33. All the following can cause the retirees’ unpleasant feelings EXCEPT _______________.

   A. they will suffer from financial loss

   B. they have to support their parents

   C. they may lose the reason to get up early

   D. they may have fewer people to socialize with

34. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 means ________________.

   A. it makes people’s relationships unusual

   B. it makes people’s relationships in peace

   C. it makes people’s relationships in danger

   D. it makes people stay in touch with each other.

35. What would be the best title for the passage?

   A. Depression and Retirement

   B. Depression During Retirement Is Harmful

   C. Reasons for Depression During Retirement

   D. How to Overcome Depression During Retirement

Food safety is a problem in all places around the world and people in different areas of the world prepare foods in different ways. The WHO released (发布) five simple rules for preparing food in a safe way. They call these rules the “Five Keys to Safer Food”.

Key 1: Keep clean

36 . People should wash their hands often — before touching food and while they are preparing food. People should wash all surfaces and equipment used for preparing food.

Key 2: Separate raw (生的) and cooked

Raw foods should not touch prepared foods.  37 .

Key 3:  38

People should cook eggs and meat especially carefully. These foods may carry more micro-organisms (微生物) than other foods. Food like soup must be boiled for at least a minute to make it be cooked completely. It is also important that people re-heat cooked food completely.

Key 4: Keep food at safe temperatures

When people finish eating, they should keep the left food in a refrigerator below 5℃and shouldn’t store it for too long. At room temperature, about 20℃, the amount of micro-organisms can increase very quickly. But temperatures above 60℃ or below 5℃ control the growth of micro-organisms. 39 .

Key 5: Use safe water and raw materials

40 . Damaged or old food may develop harmful chemicals as it gets older.

A. Cook completely

B. This key tells about the importance of washing

C. Eat healthily

D. They can live where we make food

E. People should use safe water and choose fresh foods

F. They cannot grow as quickly in a very hot or very cold environment

G. People should use separate equipment and tools for touching and preparing raw foods