used different metals and designs for their money. The first coins in England were made of tin. Sweden and Russia used copper to make their money. Later, other countries began to make coins of gold and silver.
But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve money. They began to use paper money. The first paper money looked more like a note from one person to another than paper money used today.
Money has had an interesting history from the days of shell money until today.
1. Which of the following can be cited as an example of the use of money in exchange for services?
A. To sell a bicycle for $20.
B. To get some money for old books at a garage sale. C. To buy things you need or want. D. To get paid for your work.
2. Where were shells used as money in history?
A. In the Philippines. B. In China.
C. In Africa. D. We don‘t know. 3. Why did ancient Chinese coins have a square hole in the center?
A. Because it would be easier to put them together and carry them around. B. Because it would be lighter for people to carry from place to place. C. Because people wanted to make it look nicer.
D. Because people wanted to save the expensive metal they were made from.
4. Why does the author say that even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive?
A. Because they are difficult for people to obtain. B. Because they themselves are expensive, too. C. Because they are not easy to carry around. D. Because they are easy to steal.
5. Which do you choose as the best title for this passage?
A. Money and Its Use
B. Different Things Used as Money C. Different Countries, Different Money D. The History of Money
Passage 7
In Denmark, parents are allowed to set up a new school if they are dissatisfied with the school in the area where they are living. Although these schools have to follow the national course, they are allowed a lot of choices in deciding what to teach.
Some of these new schools are called ―small schools‖ because usually the number of pupils in them is only sixty, but a school has to have at least twenty-seven pupils. Cooleenbridge School in Ireland, is a small school similar to the ones in Denmark, it was set up by parents who came from Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, England and other parts of Ireland. They came because they wanted to live in the countryside and to grow their own food. In June 1986, they decided to start a school. They managed to get an old, disused primary school building and started with twenty-four children aged from four to twelve.
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The teachers say, ―The important thing in school is doing, not sitting.‖ And so the courses include yoga, cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies, as well as reading, writing, maths and science.
1. What are the rules for setting up a new school in Denmark?
A. Parents are allowed to set up their own school. B. The school has to follow the national courses. C. The school has to have at least 27 students. D. All of the above.
2. The writer tells about the Cooleenbridge School in the Ireland because ________.
A. it was set up by parents who are not people of Denmark B. it was taken as an example of this kind of ―small school‖ C. there are only twenty-four children D. the pupils there were aged from 4 to 12 3. What makes this kind of school special?
A. It is set up by parents not by government. B. It is free to decide what to teach.
C. The number of pupils in it is only sixty. D. It has to have at least 27 pupils.
4. ―The important thing in school is doing, not sitting.‖ What the teachers say actually means _______.
A. what we should do is teaching in the classroom, not sitting in the office
B. children should do more homework at home, not just sit in class to listen to the teachers C. children should learn by themselves not rely on teachers D. children should learn through practice not just from books 5. The courses include _________.
A. yoga, cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies, except writing, maths and science
B. either yoga, cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies, or reading, writing, maths and science
C. not only reading, writing, maths and science，but also yoga, cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies
D. mainly yoga, cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies, and supplemental (补充的) writing, maths and science
Passage 8
In the United States, 30 percent of the adult population has a weight problem. To many people, the cause is obvious: they eat too much. But scientific evidence does little to support the idea.
Going back to the America of the 1910s, we find that people were thinner than today, yet they ate more food. In those days people worked harder physically, walked more, used machines much less and didn‘t watch television.
Several modern studies, moreover, have shown that fatter people do not eat more on average than thinner people. In fact, some investigations, such as the 1979 study of 3,545 London office workers, report that, on balance, fat people eat less than slimmer people.
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Studies show that slim people are more active than fat people. A study by a research group at Stanford University School of Medicine found the following interesting facts: The more the men run, the more body fat they lost. The more they ran, the greater amount of food they ate. Thus, those who run the most ate the most, yet lost the greatest amount of body fat. 1. The physical problem that many adult Americans have is that ________.
A. they are too slim B. they work too hard
C. they are too fat D. they lose too much body fat
2. According to the article, given 500 adult Americans, ________ will have a weight problem.
A. 30 B. 50 C. 100 D. 150
3. Is there any scientific evidence to support that eating too much is the cause of a weight problem?
A. Yes, there is plenty of evidence.
B. Of course, there is some evidence to show this is true. C. There is hardly any scientific evidence to support that. D. We don‘t know because the information is not given.
4. In comparison with the adult American population today, the Americans of the 1910s _______.
A. ate more food and had more physical activities. B. ate less food but had more activities
C. ate less food and had less physical exercise D. had more weight problems
5. Modern scientific researchers have reported to us that ________.
A. fat people eat less food and are less active
B. fat people eat more food than slim people and are more active C. fat people eat more food than slim people but are less active D. thin people run less, but have greater increase in food intake Passage 9
Mass media, the tools of communication, can be divided into two groups: print media and electronic media. By print media, we mean books, newspapers and magazines. Electronic media include television, computer, radio and movie. Mass media allow us to record and pass information rapidly to a large, scattered audience. They extend our ability to talk to each other by helping us overcome barriers cause by time and space.
Mass media make daily life easier for us in various ways. Firstly, they help us keep a watch on our world. They gather and pass on information we would be unlikely or unable to obtain on our own.
Secondly, mass media help us arrange our time and life. What we talk about and what we think about are greatly influenced by the media. When people get together, they tend to talk about certain happenings in newspapers or on TV. Because we are exposed to different points of view through different kinds of media every day, we are able to evaluate all sides of a certain issue.
Thirdly, the media are used to persuade people. Newspapers, magazines and TV are filled with all kinds of colorful, persuasive advertisements. Though many advertisements may not say openly that they want you to buy a certain product, they describe their products in such a way that
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you may want to buy them.
Fourthly, the media also entertain. All media make efforts to entertain their audience. For instance, even though the newspaper is a prime medium of information, it also contains entertainment features. Television, motion picture, some radio stations and magazines are devoted mainly to entertainment. It is estimated that in the future, the entertainment function of mass media will become even more important than it is now.
1. What makes it possible for people living in different places to communicate with each other?
A. Printed media. B. Mass media. C. Electronic media. D. Computers.
2. Which of the following functions of mass media is NOT mentioned?
A. To make people well informed about the world. B. To amuse and entertain people.
C. To help people arrange their time and life. D. To give people a sense of honor.
3. Certain matters in newspapers or on TV tend to be talked about when people get together because ________.
A. people are curious about them
B. people are influenced by those mass media C. it is fashionable for people to do so
D. it is easy for people to communicate in this way
4. How does advertisement make people purchase certain goods according to the passage?
A. By giving an attractive account of the goods. B. By asking people to buy them. C. By forcing people to buy them. D. By giving people something extra.
5. Which of the following media is mainly devoted to information according to the passage?
A. TV. B. Magazine. C. Motion pictures. D. Newspapers.
Passage 10
Man has always wanted to fly. Some of the greatest men in history had thought about the problem. One of them, for example, was the great Italian artist, Leonardo Da Vinci. In the 16th century he made designs for machines that would fly, but they were never built.
Throughout history, other less famous men had wanted to fly. An example was a man in England 800 years ago. He made a pair of wings from chicken feathers. Then he fixed them to his body and jumped into air from a tall building. He did not fly very far. Instead, he fell to the ground and broke every bone of his body and rested in peace.
The first real step took place in France, in 1783. Two brothers, the Montgolfiers, made a very large ―hot air balloon‖. They knew that hot air rises. Why not fill a balloon with it? The balloon was made of cloth and paper. In September of that year, the King and Queen of France came to see the balloon. They watched it carry the very first air passengers into the sky. The passengers were a sheep and a chicken. We do not know how they felt about the trip. But we do know that the trip lasted eight minutes and that the animals landed safely. Two months later, two men did the same thing. They rose above Paris in a balloon of the same kind. Their trip lasted twenty-five minutes
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and they traveled about.
1. Leonardo Da Vinci _______.
A. said that man would fly in the sky one day B. built a kind of machine which never flew C. made designs for flying machines D. drew many beautiful pictures of birds
2. Eight hundred years ago an Englishman _______.
A. made a kind of flying machine
B. tried to fly with wings made of chicken feathers C. wanted to build a kind of balloon D. tried to fly on a large bird
3. In fact, the Englishman who tried to fly _______.
A. got badly wounded B. succeeded in flying C. lost his life D. flew only 8 minutes 4. The very first air passengers in the balloon were _______.
A. two animals B. the Montgolfiers C. two Frenchmen D. the King and Queen 5. When did two Frenchmen rise above Paris?
A. In December 1783. B. In September 1783. C. In the 17th century. D. In November 1783.
Passage 11
Community service is an important component of education here at our university. We encourage all students to volunteer for at least one community activity before they graduate. A new community program called ―One On One‖ helps elementary students who‘ve fallen behind. Your education majors might be especially interested in it because it offers the opportunity to do some teaching, that is, tutoring in Math and English.
You‘d have to volunteer two hours a week for one semester. You can choose help a child with Math, English, or both. Half-hour lesson are fine, so you could do a half hour of each subject two days a week.
Professor Dodge will act as a mentor to the tutors ---- he‘ll be available to help you with lesson plans or to offer suggestions for activities. He has office hours every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. You can sign up for the program with him and begin the tutoring next week.
I‘m sure you will enjoy this community service and you‘ll gain valuable experience at the same time. It looks good on your resume, too, showing that you‘ve had experience with children and that you care about your community. If you‘d like to sign up, or if you have any questions, stop by Professor Dodge‘s office this week. 1. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To explain a new requirement for graduation. B. To interest students in a new community program. C. To discuss the problems of elementary school students.
D. To recruit elementary school teachers for a special program. 2. What is the purpose of the program that the passage describes?
A. To find jobs for graduating students.
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