B

One of the most famous nursery rhymes in the English language is "Mary Had a Little Lamb." It has touched many children who have read it. The poem is both entertaining and educative. It is about the deep love between a young girl and her pet lamb. It is said that the poem was inspired by a true story that happened in the early part of the 19th century in the town of Sterling, Massachusetts, in the USA.

Mary Sawyer(1806-1889)lived on a farm with her family. One day, when she was about nine years old, she saw a little lamb that had just been born and abandoned by its mother. It was very weak and looked as if it would die that very moment. Mary took pity on the poor creature. She begged her father to let her take the lamb home and nurse it. Her father refused at first, but later he granted her request. Mary spent the whole night taking care of the lamb. Eventually, it grew strong. Mary was very kind to the lamb. She would wash and comb its fleece. Mary and her lamb became very close friends. Now, Mary lived on a farm far from other children so she had no one to play with. She had no dolls. The lamb became her only playmate, following her everywhere she went.

One day, the lamb followed Mary to school. At first she wanted to turn it back but her brother, Nathaniel, suggested that it would be fun to take the lamb to school. When they got to school, she hid the lamb under her desk. Later, the teacher called Mary up to recite. She went to the front of the class. To her shock, the lamb left its hiding place under her desk and followed her to the front of the class. The students and the teacher thought it was very funny to see a lamb at school, but then the teacher asked Mary to lock the lamb in a shed outside the school.

That very day, a young man called John Roulstone was visiting Mary's school. He was so moved by the love between the child and her little pet lamb that he wrote a poem which he handed to Mary the next day. John Roulstone's poem contained twelve lines.

Mary had a little lamb,

Its fleece was as white as snow,

And everywhere that Mary went,

The lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day;

That was against the rule.

It made the children laugh and play

To see the lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out,

but still it lingered near

And waited patiently about

Till Mary did appear.

Later, Sara Josepha Hale added another twelve lines to the poem and published it in 1930 under the title "Mary Had a Little Lamb". The poem has become a classic, loved by children from every culture and ethnic group. The appeal of the poem lies not only in the funny idea of a sheep going to school but also in the true love that existed between the little girl and her pet. The town of Sterling has honored Mary's lamb by building a statue of the lamb with Mr. Roulstone's poem on a plaque below the statue.

44.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A.Mary's father gave the lamb to Mary as a gift.

B.Mary and the little lamb became very close friends.

C.Sara Josepha Hale was also a friend of Mary.

D.People had Mr Roulstone's poem inscribed in memory of him.

45.What is the best title for the passage?

A.Mary Had a Little Lamb              B.The Life of Mary Sawyer

C.The Origin of a Poem                D.An Animal Friend

46.How did Mary's teacher find the lamb in the school?

A.Mary's brother told everything to the teacher.

B.It followed Mary when she went to the front of the class.

C.Mary's classmates shocked the teacher with the lamb.

D.Mary locked the lamb in a shed.

47.Why did the poem become a classic?

A.It had another twelve lines added.

B.It was written by a young man.

C.It describes the true love between a little girl and her pet.

D.A statue of lamb was erected in the town of Sterling.

C

In Africa, it is common for a newly-married girl to take one of her younger brothers or sisters to her new home. So when my aunt got married, my grandmother decided that I should go and live with her in the city, far away from my village in the countryside. I lived in the city for ten years. When I finally returned to my hometown, I was like a fish out of water. There were many things I had to learn in order to fit into my "new life". In the city, little boys used to do many wicked things to animals. We would beat the dogs or cats or even destroy the nests of the birds in the trees. Once we threw a cat into a fast flowing river and then cheered excitedly as it struggled in the water.

It was quite different when I went back to my hometown. My father had more than two hundred sheep and goats. My father was very quick to realize that I did not care for animals. I would grumble when he woke me up early in the morning to accompany him to the stables to give salt to the sheep and goats before they went out to graze. He would force me to clean the smelly sores on the animals' hoofs. He made sure that. I fed the cat and dog first before eating my own food.

Some of my father's goats had become very wild. They would run away to other farms and destroy their crops. My father put a rope around each wild goat's neck. Then he brought the goats to us children and asked each of us to tame his or her own goat. How could I tame a wild goat? I went to my father for advice on what to do. He said that I should develop my own methods. I decided to observe others. I realized that the most important things between the other children and their animals was love and confidence. "You have to be gentle with the animal and make it trust in you," one of my brothers explained to me.

Slowly, I realized that each of my brothers and sisters had developed a special language for communicating with their animals. With time I understood that taming the goats was not a collective task. It had become each child's struggle for personal success. And to succeed, each child had to build a personal relationship with his or her goat. In fact, they came to share the best of secrets, the secret of love.

My brothers and sisters gave each of their goats a name. So I named mine Queen. I would take corn in my hands and then invite Queen to come and eat. At first, she would run away whenever I reached my hand toward her. But gradually she began to trust me. I used to enjoy it most when she licked salt from my palms. The cool wetness of her tongue made me feel relaxed. I would slowly caress her back to make her feel more confident in me.

Eventually, Queen understood me even more than my own father did. My father could see that I had changed a lot. He was very happy with me. At Christmas, he bought me a special present that I have cherished ever since. ks5u

48.Which do you think is the best title for the passage?

A.Love Me, Love My Dog                 B.Love from the Stables

C.Queen, One of My Best Friends           D.My New Life

49.Why did the writer go to live with his aunt?

A.Because it was the custom in their culture.

B.Because his grandmother wanted him to go.

C.Because he could do a lot of wicked things in the city.

D.Because he could swim like a fish.

50.What does the author mean by saying he was like "a fish out of water" in paragraph one?

A.He was not used to life in the countryside.     B.He felt like dying.

C.He needed a lot of water.                   D.He did not want to leave the water.

51.How did the writer succeed in taming the goat?

A.He observed others and listened to their advice.  B.His father gave him some advice.

C.He put a rope around the neck of the goat.       D.He built his own confidence.

52.According to the writer, what was the most important thing he did to build a personal

relationship with his goat?

A.He gave the goat a great name, "Queen".           B.He fed corn to it every day.

C.He loved it.                                  D.He was gentle with it.

D

Spain says 'Adios' to smoking in bars, cafes

MADRID – Spain, famous for its smoke-filled bars, corner cafes and restaurants, set the stage Wednesday for a tough new anti-smoking law that will rid the country of its doubtful status as one of Western Europe's easiest places to light up.

The bill passed by parliamentary commission calls for transforming all bars and restaurants into no-smoking zones, bringing Spain in line with the European Union's strictest anti-smoking nations and many U.S. states that bar smoking in enclosed public places. It's expected to pass the Senate and become law on Jan. 2.

The law also will make Spain a tougher place to smoke than many other European countries where bars and restaurants are still allowed to have smoking sections, and will forbid smoking in outdoor places such as playgrounds and the grounds of schools and hospitals.

The current law put in place in 2006 prohibits smoking in the workplace, and workers smoking away just outside their office buildings are a common sight.

But that law aimed at cracking down on smoking permitted owners of most bars and cafes to decide on their own whether to allow smoking — and almost all ended up doing so, leading critics to label the earlier law as a total failure.

Those bar and cafe owners will now lose the privilege, and larger restaurants that still have smoking sections will have to get rid of them. Officials predict thousands of lives now lost to secondhand smoke will be saved.

"I think the new law is good, especially if it helps us keep healthy," said Puri De Arcos, 33, as she smoked away in a park square. "But I think it is too revolutionary, banning smoking in discos, for example."

Bar and restaurant owners hope to win an exception in the law allowing them to construct hermetically sealed smoking sections, but the parliamentary commission voted down that option. Hotels will be allowed to set aside 30 percent of the rooms for smokers.

The bill signed by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his governing Socialist Party next goes for debate in the Senate where it is likely to be approved quickly or sent back with minor changes for approval in the lower house.

53.Which is NOT true according to the passage?

A.The ban has become law and come into effect.

B.Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is a member of the Socialist Party.

C.The current law came into effect in 2006.

D.Puri De Arcos doesn’t think the new law is perfect.