Mark was walking home from school one day when he saw the boy in front of him fall over and drop all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a basketball and a walkman. Mark stopped and helped the boy pick up these things. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry some of his things. As they walked, Mark knew that the boy’s name was Bill, that he loved computer games, basketball and history, and that he was having lots of troubles with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.

They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed happily with a few laughs and some small talks, and then Mark went home. They often saw each other at school, had lunch together once or twice, and then they both finished middle school. They ended up in the same high school where they sometimes saw and talked with each other over the years. At last just three weeks before they finished high school, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.

Bill asked Mark if he still remembered the day years ago when they had first met. “Did you ever think why I was carrying so many things home that day? ” asked Bill. “You see, I took away all my things from school. I had stored away some of my mother’s sleeping pills (安眠药). I was going home to kill myself. But after we spent some time talking and laughing, I realized that if I had died, I would have missed so many good times. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life. ”

1.From what Bill was carrying, we can know that he_______ .

A. was a good student                   B. liked sports and music

C. liked all the subjects in school          D. was a good friend

2. Mark and Bill_______ .

A. were in the same middle school and high school

B. were in the same middle school but not in the same high school

C. often had lunch together at school

D. had known each other before they began to study in middle school

3.Three days before graduation, Bill asked Mark to talk because he ________.

A．wanted to tell him his story

B．wanted to kill himself again

C．hoped to have lunch together

D．hoped to go on holiday together

4. When Mark helped Bill to pick up some of his things, he ______.              .

A. didn't know why he was going to help him

B. knew who Bill was and wanted to help him

C. knew he could save Bill's life which means a lot to his family

D. didn't know what he was doing was very important to Bill

   Soccer is played by millions of people all over the world, but there have only been few players who were truly great. How did these players get that way---was it through training and practice, or are great players “born, not made”? First, these players came from places that have had famous stars in the past---players that a young boy can look up to and try to imitate. In the history of soccer, only seven countries have ever won the World Cup---three from South America and four from Western Europe. There has never been a great national team---or a really great player---from North America or from Asia. Second, these players have all had years of practice in the game. Alfredo Di Stefano was the son of a soccer player, as was Pele. Most players begin playing the game at the age of three or four.

Finally, many great players come from the same kind of neighborhood---a poor, crowded area where a boy’s dream is not to be a doctor, lawyer, or businessman, but to become a rich, famous athlete or entertainer(艺人). For example, Liverpool, which produced the Beatles, had one of the best English soccer teams in recent years. Pele practiced in the street with a “ball” made of rags(破布). And George Best learned the tricks that made him famous by bouncing the ball off a wall(对着墙壁踢球) in the slums(贫民窟) of Belfast.

All great players have a lot in common, but that doesn’t explain why they are great. Hundreds of boys played in those Brazilian streets, but only one became Pele. The greatest players are born with some unique quality that sets them apart from all the others.

5. According to the writer, which of the following statements is true?

A. Soccer is popular all over the world, but truly great players are few.

B. Millions of people all over the world are playing soccer, but only seven countries have ever had famous stars.

C. Soccer is played by millions of people all over the world, but only seven countries from South America and Western Europe have ever had great national teams.

D. Soccer is one of the most popular games all over the world, but it seems the least popular in North America and Asia.

6. The world “tricks” at the end of Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ______.

A. experience      B. cheating         C. skills          D. training

7. The Brazilian streets are mentioned to show that ______.

A. famous soccer players live in slum areas

B. people in poor areas are born with some unique quality

C. children in poor areas start playing football at the age of three or four

D. a great soccer player may be born in a slum area

8. In the last paragraph the statement “…but only one became Pele” shows that ______.

A. Pele is the greatest soccer player

B. the greatest players are born with some unique quality

C. Pele’s birthplace sets him apart from all the others

D. the success of a soccer player has everything to do with the family background

8:30 PM

 Outlook

     Outlook is back with a new series of reports to keep you up date with all that's new in the world of entertainment. Stories go all the way from the technical to the romantic, from stage to screen. There will be reports of the stars of the moment, the stars of the future and the stars of the past. The director with his new film， he designer with the latest fashion，and the musician with the popular song are part of the new Outlook. The program is introduced by Fran Levine. 9:00 PM

Discovery

      When a 10-year-old boy gets a first class degree in mathematics or an 8-year-old plays chess like a future grand master，they are considered as geniuses. Where does the quality of genius come from? Is it all in the genes (基因) or can any child be turned into a genius? And if parents do have a child who might become a genius in the future，what should they do? In this 30-minute film, Barry Johnson, the professor at School of Medicine, New York University will help you discover the answer.

10:00 PM

Science/Health

     Is it possible to beat high blood pressure without drugs? The answer is "yes", according to the researchers at Johns Hopkins and three other medical centers. After a study of 800 persons with high blood pressure, they found that after 6 months, those devoted to weight loss-exercise and eating a low-salt, low-fat food-lost about 13 pounds and became fitter. Plus, 35% of them dropped into the "normal" category(范畴). This week, Dr. Alan Duckworth will tell you how these people reduce their blood pressure to a level similar to what's achieved with Hypertension drugs.

9. The main purpose of writing these three texts is _____.

A. to invite people to see films

B. to invite people to topic discussions

C. to attract more students to attend lectures

D. to attract more people to watch TV programs

10. From Outlook, you can get a great deal of information about _____.

A. story tellers     B. famous stars     C. film companies     D. music fans

11. Who will be most probably interested in Discovery?

A. Parents who want to send their children to a school of medicine.

B. Children who are good at mathematics.

C. Parents who want their child to become another Albert Einstein.

D. Children who are interested in playing chess.

12. According to the third text, which of the following has almost the same effect as Hypertension drug?

A. Exercise plus a healthy diet.                B. Loss of thirteen pounds in weight.

C. Six months of exercise without drugs.        D. Low-salt and low-fat food.

   A higher reading rate, with no loss of comprehension, will help you in other subjects as well as in English, and the general principles apply to any language. Naturally, you will not read every book at the same speed. You would expect to read a newspaper, for example, much faster than a physics or economics textbook-but you can raise your average reading speed over the whole range of materials you wish to cover so that the percentage gained will be the same whatever kind of reading you are concerned with.

The reading passages which follow are all of an average level of difficulty for your stage of instruction. They are all about five hundred words long. They are about topics of general interest which do not require a great deal of specialized knowledge. Thus they fall between the kind of reading you might find in your textbooks and the much less demanding kind you will find in a newspaper or light novel. If you read this kind of English, with understanding at four hundred words per minute, you might skim (浏览) through a newspaper at perhaps 650-700, while with a difficult textbook you might drop to two hundred or two hundred and fifty.

Perhaps you would like to know what reading speeds are common among native English-speaking university students and how those speeds can be improved. Tests in Minnesota, USA, for example, have shown that students without special training can read English of average difficulty, for example, Tolstoy's War and Peace in translation, at speeds of between 240 and 250 words per minute with about seventy percent comprehension. Students in Minnesota claim that after twelve half-hour lessons, once a week, the reading speed can be increased, with no loss of comprehension, to around five hundred words per minute.

13. According to the passage, the purpose of effective（有效的）reading with higher speed is most likely to help you ________.

A. read a physics textbook only

B. improve your understanding of an economics textbook

C. study not only English but also other subjects

D. choose the suitable materials for you to practise reading

14. Which of the following does not describe the types of reading materials mentioned in the second paragraph?

A. Those beyond one's reading comprehension.

B. Those concerned with common knowledge.

C. Those concerned with specialized knowledge.

D. Those with the length of about five hundred words.

15. The average speed of untrained native speakers in the University of Minnesota is ________.

A. about 300 words per minute

B. about 245 words per minute

C. about 650-700 words per minute

D. about 500 words per minute

16. According to the passage, how fast can you expect to read after you have attended twelve half-hour lessons in the University of Minnesota?

A. You can increase your reading speed by three times.

B. No real increase in reading speed can be achieved.

C. Yon can increase your reading speed by four times.

D. You can double your reading speed.

       Lonely Planet Publications is the largest guidebook publisher in the world.  With over 650 titles sold in 118 countries, it annually sells six million copies, giving guidance to travelers in locations worldwide.

    Tony Wheeler and his wife Maureen Wheeler were the founders of Lonely Planet Publications and its first writers. They put together Lonely Planet's first publication- Across Asia on the Cheap.  Originally from Australia,  the couple had decided to travel from Europe back home to Australia overland-going through the countries of Iran,

Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and South-East Asia, to eventually reach Australia. Tourist facilitres were limited in these countries, so if travelers wanted to go there, they had to eat and sleep locally. Many of these travelers were young and adventurous, but they didn't have much money, so going local was the only way that they could afford to travel across Asia. Frustrated that there was no guidebook to give budget travelers information on accommodations, food, and transport in these regions, the Wheelers decided to write a guidebook themselves. Full of humor and strong opinions, the book became famous among backpackers-budget travelers-as the chief travel guide for Asia. It made enough money for the Wheelers to travel more and finance their second book about traveling in Southeast Asia on a Shoestring.

   This second book became even more popular and acquired readership outside of Australia in North America, Europe, and New Zealand. Sales developed so well that the Wheelers were able to open up a publishing house in Australia, and eventually opened up offices in the United States and Europe. Because the guidebooks were based off contributing writer's experiences, material was fresh and up to date. As more and more books were written, the series finally came to cover every country in the world.

17. What is the passage mainly about?

    A. How the Lonely Planet Publications developed.

    B. How to have a trip in an economical way.

    C. The Wheelers liked traveling around the world.

    D. The Wheelers wrote two books about traveling.

18. The Wheelers wrote Across Asia on the Cheap because____.

    A. they thought they could make a lot of money

    B. the Australian government asked them to

    C. there was no guidebook like it on the market

    D. it was their job while they were traveling

19. In the third paragraph, "budget travelers" refers to those travelers who

    A. decide to travel around the world

    B. don't have so much money

    C. write books during their trips

    D. help other travelers as volunteers

20. It can be concluded that the Wheelers____.

    A. have only written two books about cheap traveling

    B. advocated the idea of traveling more with less money

    C. eventually made their company from bad to worse

    D. support other travelers to start a publishing house