1 . Nottingham Goose (鹅) Fair started on the first Thursday in October and lasted 3 days. However, nowadays you won’t find any geese there.

The fair opened at 12:00 on the Thursday by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, but it has an interesting and shocking history.

For starters, it wasn’t always the largest fair in the area. And the main fair for the people of Nottingham in terms of trade and economy was the Lenton Fair held at Lenton Priory.

In the Middle Ages the Lenton Fair overshadowed (使显得逊色) the Goose Fair in size and importance. Harrisons Calendar of Fairs for 1587 mentions the Lenton Fair but not the Goose Fair. However, the Goose Fair competed with its local competitors and every year over 20,000 geese from the Fens in Lincolnshire arrived to be sold to provide the traditional Michaelmas dish.

It wasn’t just for geese either. All kinds of things were sold at the Goose Fair: sheep, horses and cattle were also sold.

The fair has been under threat of closure many times over the years. In 1764 they actually had cheese riots (暴乱) due to an increase of a third on the price of cheese compared with the previous year, which resulted in an attack on the stallholders (摊主) at the fair.

By 1880 the fair was reduced to a three-day event, which started on the first Thursday of October. In 1928 the fair was moved from the market square to its present site in the forest which is far away from the city centre. Despite attempts throughout its history to prevent the fair, the income from rents paid by the stallholders is financially beneficial to the local government. So regardless of the cheese riots and the various attempts to prohibit it, Nottingham Goose Fair has survived to celebrate over eight centuries of fun.

1. The cheese riots in 1764 were mentioned to show            .

A．the Goose Fair met strong competition from its competitors

B．stallholders usually benefited most from the Goose Fair

C．the Goose Fair gradually lost popularity with time going by

D．violence and troubles used to put the Goose Fair in danger

2. The Goose Fair has lasted till today mainly because            .

A．it is full of fun and enjoyed by most people	B．it brings great benefits to the local economy
C．it has strong support from the mayor of Nottingham	D．it is representative of the traditions of Nottingham

3. We can learn from the text that            .

A．the Goose Fair didn’t become famous until 1587

B．the Goose Fair used to last longer than it does today

C．those against the Goose Fair were mostly from the countryside

D．the Lenton Fair was once held at the same time as the Goose Fair

4. What does the underlined word “prohibit” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Prevent.

B．Follow.

C．Ignore.

D．Describe.

2 . A total of 17 paintings worth between 10 and 15 million euros were stolen at a museum in northern Italy,local officials said.

Three armed men with masked faces broke into the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona at night, a local newspaper reported.Located inside a castle which was built in 1354, the Castelvecchio Museum is one of the most important museums in the northern city.

The stolen paintings included masterworks from Andrea Mantegna, Jacopo Tintoretto, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacopo Bellini, Hans de Jode and other world-famous artists.

The group controlled the only private security guard who was there and the cashier, and then forced the guard to accompany them to the rooms where they stole the paintings.

Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi, who stayed at the scene until late in the night, said that surely someone sent them, because they acted professionally, and knew what they were looking for."The paintings stolen,"he added,"basically are the most valuable works on display."An investigation was opened over the theft.

The museum displays a very important collection of Italian and European art in 29 rooms on various levels exhibiting early Christian finds, Lombard gold work, sculptures from the 10th to the 14th century, medieval arms and armor, and paintings from the 14th to the 18th century.

The museum's director, Paola Marini, called herself shocked by the theft. The experienced art historian, who is about to leave her post after over 20 years, was receiving an award in a nearby restaurant when she was informed of what had happened.

The theft came just a day after two stolen paintings recently recovered by Italian heritage police were displayed in Rome during a ceremony attended by President Sergio Mattarella and Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.

1. Where does the article probably come from?

A．A journal.	B．A newspaper.
C．A magazine.	D．A storybook.

2. What do we know about the theft from the passage?

A．The stolen paintings are never on display.

B．The cashier asked the stealers to do it.

C．The security guard was killed.

D．The stealers were sent to do it.

3. What do we know about the Castelvecchio Museum?

A．It is used as a castle.

B．It was built in 1354.

C．It is in the north of Italy.

D．It is the most important museum in Italy.

4. What do we know about Paola Marini?

A．She was charged with the theft.

B．She was about to leave the museum when the theft happened.

C．She was having dinner outside when the theft took place.

D．She has been in charge of the museum for many years.

3 . During his years, American author Mark Twain noted that "life would be surely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach 18". Twain's words were only one of many complaints about aging that have been recorded for as long as humans have feared the downside of a long life. The ancient Greek poet Homer called old age"hateful", and William Shakespeare termed it "terrible winter".

Alexander the Great, who conquered most of the known world before he died around 323 BC, may have been looking for a river that treated the damage of age. During the 12th century AD, a king known as Prester John ruled a land that had a river of gold and a fountain of youth.

But the name linked most closely to the search for a fountain of youth is 16th-century Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, who thought it would be found in Florida. In St. Augustine, the oldest city in the US, there's a tourist attraction that purports(标榜) to be the fountain of youth that Ponce de León discovered soon after he arrived in what is now Florida in 1513. However,elderly visitors who drink the spring's water don't turn into teenagers.

But the tale of the search for a fountain of youth is so attracting that it survives anyway, says Ryan K. Smith, a professor of history. "People are more interested by the story of looking and not finding it than they are by the idea that the fountain might be out there somewhere."

Still, a few grains of truth have helped the story. Kathleen Deagan, a professor,says a cemetery(墓地) and the remains of a Spanish mission dating back to St. Augustine's founding in 1565 have been discovered near the so-called fountain of youth. Michelle Reyna, a spokesperson for the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park in St. Augustine, says the fountain has been a tourist attraction since at least the 1900s and may have been attracting visitors since the 1860s.

1. Who is the most famous to look for the fountain of youth?

A．A king known as Prester John.

B．Ryan K. Smith,a professor of history.

C．Alexander the Great.

D．Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León.

2. What is the attitude of people towards the fountain of youth?

A．People find much pleasure in looking for it.

B．People believe the existence of it.

C．People have no interest in searching for it.

D．People consider the idea of the fountain of youth to be absurd.

3. The earliest city was built in America in _____.

A．1901	B．1565
C．1860	D．1513

4. The passage is mainly about ______.

A．where the fountain of youth comes from

B．why some famous people hate becoming old

C．how people can remain young forever

D．whether the fountain of youth exists

4 . 语法填空

Pliny was a Roman writer who     1     （witness）a terrible volcanic eruption as a young man. Then he wrote about the eruption     2     occurred on August 24th，79 AD in Mount Vesuvius，near Pompeii. The tragedy had left a deep     3    （impress）on Pliny whose uncle died in the event. The     4    （town）were buried by the ashes of Mount Vesuvius. By 1748，archaeologists started to dig out the ancient city Pompeii. It is like a "time capsule"     5    （preserve）a frozen moment in history. Not only are the buildings and objects of Pompeii     6    （attract）to people，but also the forms of the people caught in the disaster have captured the imagination of people across the world.       7     these victims have been dead in Pompeii for many years，the bodies show their exact shapes，which makes people feel sympathy     8     them. Today，tourists and archaeologists visit Pompeii every year     9    （learn）more about the ancient world. In this way，the city lives on     10    （near）2，000 years after the eruption.

5 . 语法填空

The Spanish flu     1    （start）on a small military（军事的）base in central Kansas in 1918，    2     one soldier came down with a fever. Within a few hours，about 100 soldiers were reported     3    （have）the same illness.

By 1919，the flu had spread around the world，    4    （kill）up to 50 million people. The flu caused over 600，000     5    （die）in the US，which included 195，000 just in the single month of October 1918.

The flu was     6    （particular）serious because most of the victims were young，healthy people. In fact，more adults     7     the ages of 20 and 50 got sick and died from the flu than any other group.

What made people especially     8    （terrify）was that the flu made people sick quickly. It was reported that many people who woke up with no flu symptoms got sick in the morning and were dead by nighttime. According to one story，four women played bridge late into the night，three of whom     9    （find）dead the next morning.

It was not until three "waves" of illness later     10     the flu eventually ended.

6 . What happens when you want to go from one place to another, but there's water in the way？That's the problem people faced for hundreds of years in the area that is now New York City. In the city, there is a natural canal called the Narrows, separating Brooklyn on one side from Staten Island on the other.

But the Narrows isn't really so narrow. The water is almost a mile wide, and it's more than 100 feet deep.     1     When they wanted to talk to each other, they climbed into their boats and sailed across.

By the late 1800s, circumstances had changed dramatically. Population growth meant there were now many people needing to travel between Staten Island and Brooklyn for work.     2    

Between 1888 and 1920 there were two major efforts to build a train tunnel to connect the areas.     3     Proposals to build a connecting bridge made during the 1910s also ended in failure due to opposition from the US Navy.

Finally, after World War II, there were so many people living in New York City that leaders decided Brooklyn and Staten Island needed a direct connection. Since tunnels were too expensive, they decided to build a bridge. The design selected had two separate roadways stacked on top of each other.     4     Construction, which took five years, was completed in 1964 and cost $320 million. Today about 190,000 cars and trucks cross the bridge every day.

    5     But in the case of the Narrows, figuring out a good solution took hundreds of years.

A．Sometimes getting from one place to another is easy.

B．Both were quickly abandoned however due to the high costs involved.

C．Neither road was large enough to satisfy the existing transport demands.

D．It was anticipated that the new train system would help the areas grow even faster.

E．Taking a boat every time was very slow, expensive and, in bad weather, unreliable.

F．Both would hang in the air from thick steel cables, supported by two giant steel towers.

G．For a long time that wasn't a problem, because only a few people lived in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

7 . Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

“My work is done.” Those words were some of the last penned by George Eastman. He included them in his suicide note. They mark an ignoble end to a noble life, the leave taking of a truly great man. The same words could now be said for the company he left behind. Actually, the Eastman Kodak Company is through. It has been mismanaged financially, technologically and competitively.     1     One of America’s bedrock brands is about to disappear, the Kodak moment has passed.

But George Eastman is not how he died, and the Eastman Kodak Company is not how it is being killed. Though the ends are needless and premature, they must not be allowed to overshadow the greatness that came before. Few companies have done so much good for so many people, or defined and lifted so profoundly the spirit of a nation and perhaps the world.     2    

Kodak served mankind through entertainment, science, national defense and the stockpiling of family memories. Kodak took us to the top of Mount Suribachi and to the Sea of Tranquility. It introduced us to the merry old Land of Oz and to stars from Charlie Chaplin to John Wayne, and Elizabeth Taylor to Tom Hanks.     3     When that sailor kissed the nurse, and when the spy planes saw missiles in Cuba, Kodak was the eyes of a nation. From the deck of the Missouri to the grandeur of Monument Valley, Kodak took us there. Virtually every significant image of the 20th Century is a gift to generation from the Eastman Kodak Company.     4     Yes, there were photographers, and for relatively large sums of money they would take unnatural pictures in studios and formal settings. But most people couldn’t afford photographs, and so all they had to remember distant loved ones, or earlier times of their lives, was memory. Children could not know what their parents had looked like as young people, grandparents far away might never learn what their grandchildren looked like. Eastman Kodak allowed memory to move from the uncertainty of recollection, to the permanence of a photograph. But it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the precious times that families cherish. The Kodak moment, was humanity’s moment.

A．It showed us the shot that killed President Kennedy, and his brother bleeding out on a kitchen floor.

B．George Eastman was not only interested in commercial profits, but also in the improvement of other people’s lives.

C．In an era of easy digital photography, when we can take a picture of anything at any time, we cannot imagine what life was like before George Eastman brought photography to people.

D．For 20 years, its leaders have foolishly spent down the patrimony(祖传的财物) of a century’s prosperity.

E．Before George Eastman brought photography to people, painting was the only way for people to keep a record of their ancestors.

F．It is impossible to understand the 20th Century without recognizing the role of the Eastman Kodak Company.

8 . When Sir Ector saw Arthur pulled the sword out of the stone and then pushed it back, he rubbed his eyes. “I can’t believe it!” he cried. Then he fell on his knees before Arthur. “Father, please do not kneel before me. Tell me what you mean!” Arthur said with great confusion.

“Listen, then,” said Sir Ector. “Years ago the wise magician, Merlin, carried a baby in his arms. That baby was you. Merlin told me to bring you up as my own son. Now I can guess. You must be the late king ⸺ King Uther’s son. Who else could have pulled out the sword? Arthur, we must let all England know you are qualified to be the new king.”

“I would rather be your son than be a king!” cried Arthur.

“On Christmas the Bishop(主教) will give everyone a chance to pull the sword. You must take your turn and show everyone that you are the only person who can pull the sword out.”

On Christmas Day the great crowd of knights(骑士) and lords gathered before the church. They pulled and pushed, but no one could make the sword move.

Down the street came Merlin. Behind him came Sir Ector with Arthur. “Who are these men?” asked the Bishop. “Here is one who will try the sword,” said Merlin. He laid his hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “Here, lords of England, is the true son of King Uther!” Arthur stepped upon the stone and laid his hand on the sword. Smoothly and easily he pulled it out. He held it high so all could see.

So Arthur became King of all England. Some of the lords did not want him, and he had to fight them. As the years went by, he became stronger and greater. Knights came from all lands to be in his court. At Camelot Arthur started the famous Knights of the Round Table. These were the greatest of all the knights. They made their names famous for all time.

1. Sir Ector fell on his knees before Arthur because ______.

A．Sir Ector wanted to ask for forgiveness from the new king

B．Merlin told Sir Ector to respect Arthur as if he were the King

C．Arthur pulled the sword out and Sir Ector knew who he was

D．Arthur was so powerful that Sir Ector admired him very much

2. Arthur found it ______ when Sir Ector said he was qualified to be the new king.

A．believable	B．unacceptable
C．enjoyable	D．unchangeable

3. What did Arthur do as King of all England according to the passage?

A．Fighting the foreign countries.	B．Making the famous table.
C．Developing the national economy.	D．Gathering the greatest knights.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Arthur Becomes King	B．Arthur Trains Knights
C．Arthur Defeats Enemies	D．Arthur Loves Swords

9 . 语篇语法填空

Qing Ming     1    (associate) with Jie Zitui, who lived in Shanxi province in 600 B.C. Legend goes that Jie saved his starving lord's life by serving a piece of his own leg. When the lord     2    (success) in becoming the ruler, he invited his     3    (faith) follower to join him. However, Jie turned down his invitation,     4    (prefer) to lead     5     simple life with his mother in the mountain.

Believing that he could force Jie out by burning the mountain, the lord ordered his men to set the forest     6     fire. To    7     astonishment, Jie chose to remain     8     he was and was burnt to death.     9    (remember) Jie, the lord ordered all fires in every home to be put out on the anniversary of Jie's death. Thus began the "cold food feast", a day when no food could be cooked since no fire could     10    (light).

10 . One of the most famous buildings in the United States is Carnegie Hall, the home of classical and popular music concerts in New York. Carnegie Hall is known not just for its beauty and history, but also for its amazing sound. It has been said that the hall itself is an instrument. It takes the music and makes it larger than life.

Carnegie Hall is named after Andrew Carnegie, who paid for its construction. Construction on Carnegie Hall began in 1890 and the official opening night was on May 5, 1891.

The hall was owned by the Carnegie family until 1924 when it was sold to Robert E. Simon. The building became very old and in 1960, the new owner made plans to destroy it and build an office block. Isaac Stem led a group of people who fought to save Carnegie Hall and finally, the city of New York bought it for $5 million. It was then fixed up between 1983 and 1995.

Advertisements and stories in newspapers about how Carnegie Hall needed help to recover its history led people to send in old concert programmes and information from all over the world. Over 12,000 concert programmes were received and with these it was possible to make a proper record of Carnegie Hall’s concert history.

Carnegie Hall is actually made up of several different halls, but the Main Hall, now called the Isaac Stern Hall, is the most famous. The hall itself can hold an audience of 2,804 in five levels of seating.

Because the best and most famous musicians of all time have played at Carnegie Hall, it is the dream of most musicians who want to be great to play there. This has led to a very old joke which is now part of Carnegie Hall’s history. Question: “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” Answer: “Practise, practise, practise.”

1. It can be inferred that people wanted to save Carnegie Hall mainly because _____.

A．it made a lot of money	B．it was worth visiting
C．many important concerts were held in it	D．it made some musicians become famous

2. How did Carnegie Hall recover its concert history?

A．Through newspaper reports.	B．Through old concert programmes.
C．Through old photographs.	D．Through old joke.

3. How long did it take Carnegie Hall to be fixed up?

A．9 years.

B．10 years.

C．11 years.

D．12 years.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．The History of Carnegie Hall.	B．The Best Musician Having Played in Carnegie Hall.
C．A Joke about Carnegie Hall.	D．The Dream of Most Musicians.