1 . Six months ago, 28-year-old Danny Wallace, who earns his living as a TV comic and “ideas” man, had a great idea. What if he started his own country and invited anyone who wanted to join him to become a citizen? So, naming himself King Danny I and declaring his one-bedroom flat in East London an independent state, he set about taking the necessary steps to make his dream come true. He even documented his progress in his BBC2 series How To Start Your Own Country, which comes to the end of its six-week run on Wednesday.

Over the six weeks, Danny explored the possibilities of forming his own country. The first thing on his agenda was to hand in his Declaration of Independence to the prime minister. With this out of the way, he was free to start thinking about writing a constitution and setting up a government. Then he was off to design his own flag and record his own national anthem and even got someone to design possible postage stamps of his country, with his face on them!

The final thing Danny had to do was to find a name for his country. At his request, citizens sent in thousands of suggestions as to what this new country could be called. Ideas ranged from Flatland to Wallaceland! But, in the end, the final selection came down to just two: Home or Lovely. Aiming to become the most democratic democracy in the world where its citizens have the opportunity to enjoy equality, King Danny achieved a world first and let the people decide. Lovely finally stood out.

Whether the country will continue to grow will very much depend on how busy its creator is. And, as Danny Wallace is much in demand for several other TV projects, it might fall to other members of his government to keep things running. But with elections promised every six months, the creation of the University of Lovely and several sporting events planned over the coming weeks, there are plenty of activities to keep the citizens of Lovely occupied for quite a while yet.

1. What does Danny Wallace’s “great idea” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Making a documentary.	B．Founding a new country.
C．Owning an independent state.	D．Choosing actors for a TV show.

2. What’s crucial to carrying out Danny’s great idea?

A．Drafting a constitution.	B．Getting official approval.
C．Analyzing the possibilities.	D．Composing a national anthem.

3. What can be inferred from the final decision on the name Lovely?

A．Lovely beat Home in the final selection.

B．The world is created by ordinary people.

C．The citizens’ rights of a country are respected.

D．Lovely signals the successful rule of King Danny.

4. What’s mainly discussed in the last paragraph?

A．The future of Lovely.	B．The life of the citizens.
C．The daily routine of Danny Wallace.	D．The establishment of the University of Lovely.

2 . For decades, India’s time zone has been a hotly debated issue. Back in 1884 when time zones were officially established, two time zones were used — Bombay Time and Calcutta Time. Indian Standard Time (IST) was introduced in 1906, but Calcutta Time and Bombay Time continued to be maintained after

India’s independence in 1947, until 1948 and 1955 respectively. The current single time zone, though a legacy of British rule, is often viewed as a symbol of unity. Yet, not everyone thinks it is a good idea. India stretches 3,000 km from east to west, spanning roughly 30 degrees longitude. This corresponds to a two-hour difference in mean solar time, based on the position of the sun in the sky. Thus, the sun rises nearly two hours earlier in the east than in India’s far west. In Northeastern states, sunrise can be as early as 4 a.m. in summer and sunset by 4 p.m. in winter, much earlier than the official working hours. This results in great loss of daylight hours and more consumption of electricity, and often reduced productivity.

Meanwhile, recent studies point out that the current system leads to a serious problem in education for some students. Nationwide, the school day starts at roughly the same time; thus, children go to bed later and have reduced sleep in west India, where the sun sets later. Such sunset-induced sleep deprivation is more pronounced among the poor, mostly due to their noisy environment and lack of sleep-inducing facilities like window shades or indoor beds. On average, an hour’s delay in sunset time reduces children’s sleep by 30 minutes, and an hour’s delay in annual average sunset time reduces education by about 0.8 years. As a result, children living in locations with later sunsets are less likely to complete primary and middle school education.

Despite various requests and proposals for multiple time zones, the government is keen to retain the current system. Reasons provided include prevention of confusion and safety issues regarding railway and flight operations.

1. Which of the following illustrates the Indian time zone system since 1955?

A．	B．
C．	D．

2. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “pronounced” in the third paragraph?

A．Noisy.

B．Distant.

C．Flexible.

D．Outstanding.

3. According to the passage, which of the following is a supporting argument for multiple time zones?

A．The number of traffic accidents can be reduced.

B．Children may have better-quality sleep and education.

C．India may have more energy resources to generate electricity.

D．The country may rid itself of the impact of British colonization.

4. According to the passage, when is most likely the sunset hour in December in the city of Varanasi shown on the map?

A．7 p.m.

B．6 p.m.

C．5 p.m.

D．4 p.m.

3 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填 入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

Peru, a county     1     the Pacific coast of South America, is well-known for its diverse geography. time honored history and magnificent civilization. The county was the center of the powerful ancient Inca Empire in the 1400s and 1500s, when the Inca emperor     2     (live) in the now-famous site Machu Picchu.     3     nation was under the control of Spain from the 16^th century to 1821. It is because of this     4     Spanish is the main     5    (office) language of Peru.

If you are to visit Peru, you may consider spending a day or two     6     (wander) along the beautiful streets in Cusco,     7     was the capital of the Inca Empire from the 13^th until the 16^th century. It is also recommended that you     8     (pay) a visit to Machu Picchu, where you can admire the     9     (amaze) dry stone method of building. Being the world's catalogue, Peru is sure to leave an     10     (impress) on everyone.

4 . 按课文内容填空

So this is it—    1    (高级的) high school at last! I’m not     2     (外向的) so I’m a little     3     (焦虑的) right now. I want to make a good first     4     (印象). Will I make any friends? What if no one talks to me?

Peru is a country on the Pacific coast of South America with three main areas:     5     (狭窄的), dry,     6     (平坦的) land running along the coast, the Andes Mountains, and the Amazon rainforest. In the 1400s and 1500s, Peru was the center of the     7     (强有力的，有影响力的) ancient Inca Empire. The Inca     8     (皇帝) lived in the now-famous     9     (地点) Machu Picchu. Spain took control of Peru in the 16^th century and ruled until 1821. It is for this reason that Spanish is the main     10     (官方的) language of Peru.