The city of Rome has passed a new law to prevent cruelty to animals. All goldfish bowls are no longer allowed and dog owners must walk their dogs.

This comes after a national law was passed to give prison sentences to people who desert cats or dogs.

“The civilization of a city can be measured by this,”said Monica Cirinna, the councilor(议员)belind the new law.

“It’s good to do whatever we can for our animals who in exchange for a little love fill our existence with their attention,” she told a Rome newspaper.

The newspaper reported that round bowls don’t give enough oxygen for fishand may make them go blind.

“Rome has tried to protect fish more than anywhere else in the world. It stand out for recognizing that fish are interesting animals who deserve(值得) our respect and compassion every bit as much as dogs and cats and other animals,” said Karin Robertson, a director of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Last year a law was passed in ltaly that gives people who desert pets big fines(罚款) and prson sentences. Since then local governments have added their own animal protection rules.

The northern city of Turin passed a law in April to give pet owners fines of up to $598 if they do not walk their dogs three times a day.

The new law in Rome also says that owners mustn’t leave their dogs in hot cars or cut their dogs’ tails to make them look lovelier. The law also gives legal recognition to the “cat ladies” who feed homeless cats .the cats live all over the city from ancient ruins to modern office car parks.

44．The new law passed in Rome will ________.

A．help improve fishing environment        B．guarantee better conditions for goldfish

C．stop people from catching goldfish      D．discourage keeping goldfish at home

45．People in Rome believe that the civilization of a city can be judged by its ________.

A．exchanges with other cities                 B．protection for ancient ruins

C．awareness of animal protection            D．recognition of animal lovers

46．The underlined word “compassion” in Paragraph 6 is the closest in meaning to ________.

A．pity          B．praise                   C．support          D．popularity

47．People may break the law in Turin if they ________.

A．keep their dogs or cats in cars              B．feed homeless animals in car parks

C．raise their cats near ancient ruins          D．shut their dogs home all day long

    MEMPHIS，Tenn，(AP)一An early Saturday morning fire killed five children and two adults，  but three youths were able to escape and were being treated for burns．Next―door neighbor Lamar

  Boyce said he was awakened around 5：30 a．m．by the victims’cries for help and saw two of the survivors jump from a second―story window．

    The two teenagers and an 11-year―old boy who escaped were hospitalized with second―degree bums on their faces and hands，Fire Department spokesman

Lt．Keith Star)les said．

    Boyce said the two，―story brick and wood―frame house was completely covered by flames and windows were popping out from the heat when he and his girlfrend．Nikko Moore．

rushed to try helping the victims．

    “She tried to put the water hose on it to do what we could do．but by that time it was too late，”Boyce said．“It was too

much fire．The water hose would do nothing．”

    Lorenzo Williams．who 1ives down the street in the low―income neighborhood，said he and several other neighbors also tried to help but flames and smoke turned them back．

    “You could hear them screaming．but there was nothing you could do．”Williams said．

    Relatives，including the twin sister of the woman who died，gathered hugging and sobbing on a sidewalk near the burned remains of the house．They identified the mother as Melissa Poole，38，and said four of her children died with her．A niece and nephew who were visiting when the fire broke out also died，family members said．

    The top floor of the house was heavily damaged and pieces of the collapsed roof and ceiling covered much of the bottom back floor of the residence．The cause of the fire is under investigation．

    The causes of death were not immediately known．Staples said．”but the bodies did appear to have some severe burns．”

56．How many people were there in the house when the fire broke out?

    A．Five．    B．Seven       C．Eight     D．Ten．

57．When did the fire break out?

    A．About 5：30 P．m．,Saturday．    B．About 5：30 a．In．，Saturday．

    C．About 3：50 p．m．,Tuesday．     D．About 5：30 a．m．，Sunday．

58．What’s the name of the mother who died in the fire?

    A．L83nar Boyce    B．Lt．Keith Staples   C．Nikko Moore   D．Melissa Poole

59．What's the cause of the fire according to the passage?

   A．Because it is a two―story brick and wood frame house． 

   B．Because of hot weather．

   C．The cause of the fire is under investigation．

   D．Someone set the house on fire on purpose．

Kids in a Sudanese refugee（难民）camp stir up a cloud of dust as they kick around a football. NBA superstar Tracy McCray watches from a distance before offering to buy the kids a grass pitch（运动场）for $1. 000.

Perhaps he sees a Ronaldinho rising up out of the African soil. Or maybe he just wants to do something ― anything ― to give these children some hope. But he is told, politely, that grass is not what the kids need.

This scene appears in 3 Point, a new documentary（纪录片）, which shows the Houston Rockets star coming face to face with the reality that life is more than sport.

McGrady,29, writes on his website that he traveled to Africa because he was tired of only reading about it in news. “Who were the faces behind the numbers?” He said. “I needed to see it for myself.

And he did. He stepped out of his large house and flew to a place torn to bits by war and famine（饥荒）. He slept in a tent. He kept away from minefields. He talked with people who have been suffering. And he swallowed（咽下）his pride.

But no one should blame McGrady for wanting to buy the kids a pitch of grass. Sports gave him a chance, so perhaps he thought it would do the same for the refugees.

McGrady was eyed by NBA managers as a teenager and he didn’t bother going to college.

Instead, he leaped right into the NBA. Since that move, basketball has given him a handsome living, but one very far removed from the lives of ordinary people.

As McGrady would learn in Africa, most people see sports as just a break from life’s difficulties. They don’t mistake it for 1ife itself.

Only McGrady knows how this Africa trip changed him, but I’d bet that, at the very least, it has given him a new sense for what is truly meaningful.

McGrady doesn’t own an NBA championship ring. He hasn’t risen to the heights of Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan.

But, perhaps, now he knows he doesn’t have to in order to truly make a difference in the world.

49. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. While in Africa, McGrady behaved considerately.

B. The trip to Africa has changed McGrady’s life totally.

C. McGrady should be blamed for wanting to buy kids grass pitch.

D. McGrady suffered as much as the African kids in his childhood.

50. What does the underlined word “eyed” in Paragraph 7 probably mean?

A. Admired.           B. Selected.                  C. Examined.         D. Researched.

51. After becoming an NBA player, McGrady ________.

A. leads a different life from ordinary people

B. lives far away from other people

C. was once removed from NBA

D. refused to go to college

52. In this passage, the writer mainly tells us ________.

A. McGrady took a trip to Africa

B. African people lead a poor life today

C. African people don’t take sport for life

D. McGrady offered his help to African children

All the 6,000 medals for the 2008 Olympic Games have arrived in the capital from the Shanhai Mint，ready for their debut(首次登场)on August 8．For the，first time in Olympic history，the medals for the Beijing Games mix metal and jade．

The technology of inlaying jade into metal can date back to the Han Dynasty almost 2,000 years ago．It is not easy to bond jade perfectly with metal．The key to the process lies in the inner layer of the metal and the groove(凹槽)of the jade ring．A seal ring is put between the inner layer and the groove to join the metal and jade together．

Jade rings used for casting Olympic medals have been subjected to strict quality controls，and those not up to the standard have been thrown away．

To make use of those jade rings that do meet the quality criteria，metal medals were produced to fit the jade tings，and more than ten different sizes of seal rings were designed．

To avoiding any loosening of the jade rings due to aging of the seals，glue has been used in casting the；Olympic medals，which is a painstaking manual process．

Experts from the International Olympic Committee(IOC)were concerned about the risk of fragility(脆弱)when the jade ring design was proposed．The IOC required that jade rings should be strong enough to withstand a 2-meter drop test．The Shanghai Mint raised that standard to 3- meters．Medals call survive a 3-meter drop test with only minor cracks on the jade rings．

46．The medals for 2008 Olympic Games are different from those of the past games in which they______．   

    A．are made of pure gold    B．are more valuable

    C．mix metal and jade        D．are made in different cities

47．The second paragraph tells us___________________．

    A．the history of China’s jade products

    B．the technology of inlaying jade into metal

    C．the outlook of the medals

    D．why Shanghai Mint was chosen to make the medals

48．What the International Olympic Committee(IOC)were concerned about is that______．

    A．the medals will be worth less

    B．the medals are too difficult to make

    C．competitors don’t like the design

    D．jade is fragile and easy to break up

49．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

    A．The medals for 2008 Olympic Games are the first of this kind in history

    B．The medals for the 2008 Olympic Games must be more valuable than those for other Olympic Games．

    C．It was quite a few years ago that Shanghai Mint began to produce medals for the 2008 Olympic Games can compare with any medals for other Olympic Games．

    D．The size and weight of the medals for 2008 Olympic Games call compare with any medals for other Olympic Games．

50．We can infer from the passage that______________．

    A．China produces more jade than any other country in the world

    B．the organizers of 2008 Olympic Games want to save some rare medals

    C．the medals mixing metal and jade prove to be of high quality through destructive experiments

    D．the medals will be damaged when dropped from a height of two meters

Celebrity endorsements名人代言

Despite the fact that companies believe celebrities had a lot of pull with regard to the buying trends of consumers, researches have discovered that this does not seem to be the case．British and Swiss researchers conducted a study showing that advertisements made by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson are not as effective as those by ordinary people．

In a sample of 298 students, researchers presented a magazine advertisement for a digital camera that was endorsed by a fictional student claiming the camera was“hot”and his “preferred choice”．The same advertisement was shown to other students，but with a difference：The camera was endorsed by a famous person in Germany．

While the students said that both advertisements were beneficial, the one made by the student topped the celebrity one if students aimed to impress others with their purchases. More than half of the students，who admitted purchasing products that would impress others，said they were influenced by the student’s advertisement．Only 20％ said the celebrity one would affect their buying decision．

Professor Brett Martin，of the University of Bath’s School of Management，explained that the findings could be used not only in Germany, but in other countries as well．“Our research questions whether celebrities are the best ways to sell products，”said Prof Martin．“Celebrities can be effective but we found that many people were more convinced by an endorsement from a fictional fellow students．This is because many people feel a need to keep up with the Jones when they buy．”

46．Some companies think the celebrities endorsement         ．

A．is popular with the consumers

B．can pull all the consumers into the shops

C．can affect the consumers’ purchasing

D．is as effective as an endorsement from common people

47．Which of the following ads would be more effective to common consumers, according to the experiment?

A．An ad featuring lovely pandas．               B．An ad made by David Beckham．

C．An ad made by fictional common people．D．An ad with beautiful natural scenery．

48．The underlined words“the Jones”in the last paragraph refer to“      ”．

    A．someone called Jones                                 B．common people

    C．the Jones family                                        D．celebrities

49．We can imply from the passage that        ．

A．celebrities cheat consumers in advertisement

B．the researchers here are against celebrity endorsement

C．the student’s ads are mole reliable than those made by celebrities

D．company needn’t spend so much money on celebrity endorsement

50．We can probably read the article in        ．

A．a local newspaper                         B．a science report

C．an academic journal                      D．a textbook