During the early years of American settlement, a new form of English was beginning to develop in the islands of the West Indies and the southern part of the mainland, spoken by the black population. The beginning of the seventeenth century saw the happening of the slave trade. Ships from Europe travelled to the West African coast, where they exchanged cheap goods for black slaves. The slaves were shipped in terrible conditions to the Caribbean islands and the American coast, where they were in turn exchanged for such products as sugar and molasses . The ships then returned to England, completing an "Atlantic triangle"of journeys, and the process began again. Britain and the United States had outlawed the slave trade by 1865, but by that time, nearly 200 years of trading had taken place. By the middle of the nineteenth century, there were over four million black slaves in America. The policy of the slave-traders was to bring people of different language backgrounds together in the ships, to make it difficult for groups to plan rebellion. The result was the growth of several pidgin forms of communication, and in particular a pidgin between the slaves and the sailors many of whom spoken English. Once arriving in the Caribbean, this pidgin English continued to act as a major means of communication between teh black population and the new landowners, and among the blacks themselves. Then, when children came to be born, the pidgin became their mother tongue, thus producing the first black Creole speech in the region. This Creole English rapidly came to be used throughout the cotton plantations , and in the coastal towns and islands. Creole speech comes from _ . A) Spanish and English B) English and an African language C) a European language and an American language D) an African language and an American language
B
Our planet was born some billions of years ago. Ever since this planet has developed, it has surprised us human beings. No matter how much we human beings have developed technologically, we cannot ever create this kind of natural planet. The human race can only discover some amazing facts about it. Let us find out what some of them are. On September 13, 1922 El Azizia, a place in Libya, recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit. This was the highest temperature ever measured on the planet Earth. The highest waterfall in the world is Angel Falls in Venezuela, which drops from an amazing height of 3,212 feet. The waterfall drops over the edge of Auyantepui in the Canaima National Park. The gravitational pull of the Earth can be escaped if someone moves at a speed of 6.95 miles per second. At such a speed, one could travel from New York to Philadelphia in just 20 seconds. If the entire water in the world's oceans evaporated, the salt we got from these oceans could cover the entire planet with a 500-foot deep layer of salt. The deepest lake on Earth is Lake Baikal in Russia. Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world, containing about 20% of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water. The Andes in South America spreads over 4,525 miles. This is the longest mountain range in the world. Did you know that the biggest valley in the world is the Grand Valley in Mesa County, Colorado and Grand County, Utah? It is about 30 miles (48 km) long and 5 miles (8 km) wide, along the Colorado River. The amazing facts about the earth are too many to be told completely above. We can learn from this passage that _ . A) Lake Baikal is the biggest lake in the world B) the highest temperature ever measured was 136 degC C) the Angel Falls drops from a height of 3,212 meters D) one end of the Grand Valley is in Colorado and the other in Utah
D
Q: The girl looking for the job turned out to be excellent but she ended up giving her employer a headache when it also turned out that she used an unreal diploma . In December, a Civil Administration Bureau in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, announced that it needed five new staff members. Some 120 people applied and took the exam. Applicants were required to show proof of a college degree at least. Mei Jing beat everyone in the test and the interview. When a follow-up check was done, however, her education certificate was discovered to be an unreal one. This was a bit of an embarrassment for the employers. A _ one might say. If she were hired because of her excellent performance, she still wouldn't have the qualifications on paper. But, if she were dropped because she didn't meet the education requirements, they would lose a good worker. Tough problem! While Mei's future hangs in the balance, the public having learned of the case got involved. Some people said the Bureau should employ her, since results are the only important thing. "After all, ability is more important than a diploma, "said one office worker. Others, however, have attacked Mei's dishonesty. They said that morality was, after all, more important than talent, especially in the case of a government position. Mei wasn't honest, so she shouldn't be hired. But, Shen Ronghua, the head of the Shanghai Public Administration and Human Resources Institute, tries to be a bit more philosophical. "There is still a sort of 'diploma means this' prejudice among people," Shen explains, "Many employers regard a diploma as the only sign of ability and talent." So, with this in mind, people may pay little attention to whether someone has real ability or not. They turn to chasing a diploma instead. The unreal diploma is the natural product of this thought. The conclusion? "China needs a new human resource system. The new system will not define a person only by his or her diploma, " Shen says. Which of the following do you think is the best title of this news report? A) A Girl's Unlucky Experience. B) Unreal Diploma. C) Dishonesty Has Been Attacked. D) Can A Diploma Be All There Is.
A: D
Some problems are difficult to solve. But there are a lot of number expressions that can help. For example, if we put two and two together, we might come up with the right answer. We know that two heads are better than one. It is always better to work with another person to solve a problem. Some problems have only one solution. You cannot be of two minds over this. But with any luck,we can solve the problem in two shakes of a lamb's tail. In other words,we could have our answers quickly and easily. Sometimes we can kill two birds with one stone. That is, we can complete two goals with only one effort or action. But we must remember that two wrongs don't make a right. If someone does something bad to you, you should not do the same to him. If you are going out with your girlfriend,or boyfriend,but you don't want another friend to go along on your date,you can just say to your friend: two's company, three's a crowd. When I was a young child in school, I had to learn the three R' s. These important skills are reading, writing and arithmetic. These three words do not all start with the letter "R". But they have the sound of "R". My teacher used to give three cheers when I did well in maths. They gave praise and approval for a job well done. Some of my friends were confused and did not understand their school work. They were at sixes and sevens. In fact, they did not care if they finished high school. But they were happy when they completed their studies and graduated from high school. They were in seventh heaven. They were on cloud nine. Nine times out of ten students who do well in school find good jobs. Some work in an office doing the same things every day at nine-to-five jobs. You do not have to dress to the nines, or wear your best clothes, for this kind of work. What is the best title of the passage? A) Interesting Number Expressions B) The Importance of Numbers C) Number Stories D) Use Numbers
A