Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Museums have changed. They are no longer places that one "should" go but now they are places to enjoy. At a science museum in Canada, you can feel your hair stand on end as harmless electricity passes through your body. At the Children's Museum in New York, you can play an African drum. There are no "Do Not Touch" signs in some other museums in the USA. More and more museum directors have realized that people learn best when they can become part of what they are seeing. In many science museums, the visitors are encouraged to touch, listen, operate and experiment so as to discover scientific rules for themselves. The purpose is not only to provide fun, but also help people feel at home in the world of science. If people don't understand science, they will be afraid of it; and if they are afraid of science, they will not make the best of it. One cause of all these changes is the increase in wealth and spare time. Another cause is the growing number of young people in the population. Many of them are college students or college graduates. They see things in a new and different way. They want art that they can take part in. The same is true of science and history. The old museums have been changing and the government is encouraging the building of new and modern museums. In the United States and Canada, there are more than 6,000 museums, almost twice as many as there were 25 years ago. Question: How many museums were there in the United States and Canada 25 years ago? Options: A: About 3,500. B: About 2,000. C: About 3,000. D: About 6,000.
C

Read the article and select the best answer. Article: English is fast becoming the language of science around the world, but what is its future among everyday speakers? One expert points out that the percentage of native English speakers is declining while the languages of other rapidly growing regions are being spoken by increasing numbers of people. But English will continue to remain widespread and important. However,British language scholar David Graddol says English will probably drop in dominance by the middle of this century to rank,after Chinese,about equally with Arabic,Hindi,and Urdu. "The number of people speaking English as a first language continues to rise,but it isn't rising nearly as fast as the numbers of many other languages around the world,simply because the main population group has been largely in the less developed countries where languages other than English have been spoken," he says. In a recent article in the journal Science,Mr. Graddol noted that three languages that are not near the top of the list of the most widely spoken now might be there soon. These are Bengali,Tamil,and Malay,spoken in south and southeast Asia. David Crystal,the author of The Cambridge Encycloredia of the English Laeguage, says about 1. 5 billion of the world's six billion people speak it as a second tongue compared to the 400 million native speakers. But another expert on the English language says Mr. Graddol underestimates the future of its dominance. _ but nobody quite knows what's going to happen because no language has been in this position before. " he said. Question: How many experts express their ideas about the future of English in the passage? Options: A: 2. B: 3. C: 4. D: 5
B

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Students who say they never or hardly ever used dictionaries often speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes. The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every word do not read fast. Therefore they do not have time to read much .Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give one or two words as a translation of English. But one English word has many English translations in Chinese. The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them often, When they are reading these students first try to get the general idea and understand the new words from the context .Then they read and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. Also if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form or a verb might have an unusual past form, they check these in a dictionary. Question: This article mainly tells us_. Options: A: Those students should use small two-language dictionaries. B: What were the effects of small two-language dictionaries? C: Why students should use large college edition dictionaries? D: What kind of dictionary students should choose and how to use it?
A: D

Question: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Most parents and teachers would get angry when they hear that teenagers listen to their iPods while preparing for exams. But pupils who listen to music when doing their homework may be, in fact, working hard. Thirty three schools have downloaded specially written pop and rock songs for their 10,000 pupils who are studying for GCSE . The professionally recorded music, based on texts in English literature, teaches teenagers about themes in the GCSE curriculum . Two young men set up "Revise", the company that produced the songs, and worked with teachers to make sure the lyrics reflected the curriculum. Some of the songs were written by Geraint Brown, a director, and they are performed by professional singers and musicians. Songs for the GCSE science and maths lessons are also being developed in 36 schools. They have also started using the program, called, "LearnThruMusic". Dave Matthews, the head of Hawthorn High School in the South Wales valleys, said the program aimed at helping teenagers who are unwilling to study. He said, "There are lots of pupils who don't have a high level of home support. It's almost cool to say you have no need to find a support and we have got to change that. With this, they don't have to be sitting at their desk at home. They can be outside, walking around or even listening to it on the bus, which is very convenient for them." Everyone has a phone, MP3 or CD player, and they're more likely to listen to these than pick up a book. "I think everyone would agree that music had an important influence on us when growing up. Both boys and girls are very good at remembering the words and dancing to the music in the charts. There's no one thing that will successfully engage (...) every child, and some of them will make little or no use of this. But the fact that they don't have to do any extra work makes this a very good deal for a kid," Dave Matthews added. Question: Which benefit of the program is NOT mentioned in the passage? Options: A: It saves students much extra work. B: It offers different ways of learning. C: It makes remembering easier. D: It improves family support to kids.
Answer: D

Q: Read the article and select the best answer. Article: Englishmen speak British English and Americans speak American English. A student is learning to speak British English. He often asks himself, "Can Americans understand me when I speak British English?" Learners often ask "What's the difference between British English and American English?"Certainly there are some differences between British and American English. The Englishmen say "Have you a pen?" While Americans say "Do you have a pen?" The pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans often sound "r" in words like "bird" and "hurt". The British speakers don't sound the "r" in these words. There are differences in spelling. For example, "colour" and "neighbour" are British while "color" and "neighbor" are American. These differences in grammar, pronunciation and spelling are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language. When Englishmen and Americans are talking with each other, they don't need an interpreter . Maybe some day they need, but not now. Question: 43. The differences between British and American English are not important because _ Options: A: everyone knows the differences B: people talk to each other very often C: Englishmen and Americans get along well D: British English and American English are the same language
A: D