there: the Alamo, the River Walk, and the Art Gallery. I especially enjoyed visiting the Alamo, a well- known
building in America.
When I arrived at the Alamo, I was deeply impressed because it was well kept and in good shape. The
Alamo was erected in about 1722, was later used as a fort (保垒), and has been kept as a state monument
(纪念馆) to the Texan War of Independence against Mexico. During the battle, all of the Texan defenders
were killed. I was surprised at the exhibition of rifles, guns, cannons and swords.
I was especially attracted by the paintings of a war. The paintings expressed the feelings of a painter very
well. Even though about 160 years have passed since the Battle of the Alamo, the exhibit is well kept. When
I came out after seeing the exhibition, I felt as if I had a victory. The outer wall of the Alamo was destroyed
here and there. When I touched the wall, I could feel the damage. After the war, little remained of the Alamo.
All of the windows and doors were destroyed. The top part of the gate way disappeared without a trace (遗
迹). I will remember the Alamo forever. It is one of the best places to visit in San Antonio.
B. Chinese
C. European
D. foreigner to Americans
B. invented
C. repaired
D. built
B. its history and the story about it
C. the exhibits in it
D. its shape
B. My First Visit to America.
C. The Texan War of Independence against Mexico.
D. My Impressions of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
It was an experiment. The goal was to communicate by radio in clear and simple English with people whose
native language was not English. Experts said the goal was admirable, but the method would not work.
However, _____. The Special English programs quickly became some of the most popular on VOA. And
they still are.
Forty years later, Special English continues to communicate with people who are not fluent in English.
But during the years its role has expanded. It also helps people learn American-English. It succeeds in helping
people learn English in a non-traditional way. And it provides listeners, even those who are native English
speakers, with information they cannot find elsewhere.
Today, Special English broadcasts around the world seven days a week, five times a day. Each half-hourly
broadcast begins with ten minutes of the latest news followed by 20minutes of feature (特写报道)
programming. There is a different short feature every weekday about science, development, agriculture, and
environment, and on the weekend about news events and American idioms. These programs are followed by
in-depth (深入的) 15 minutes features about American culture, history, science, medicine, space, important
people or short stories.
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following sentence? (Special English has played a
more important part in many areas over the years.)
3. Please fill in the blank in the first paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please
answer within 10 words.)
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. What do you think about Special English?(Please answer within 30 words.)
______________________________________________________________________________________
5. Translate the underlined sentence in the second paragraph into Chinese.
______________________________________________________________________________________
FOR many of us, cartoon strips (连环画) are simply one of our pastimes. The popular Japanese manga
provides us with an escape from reality into a world of fantasy, adventure and romance. With much less text
and pictures running for pages, it fits perfectly into today"s fast, throwing away city lifestyle. But Tsai Chih-
chung, a famous Taiwanese illustrator (漫画家), doesn"t agree. He believes cartoons can be a bridge
connecting traditional Chinese culture and wisdom with the modern world in a much more wise and acceptable
way.
He has interpreted (演绎) Lao Zi, Confucius, Mencius, Zhuang Zi and Sun Zi and made their works
accessible to a global audience. He has also produced two books about Zen (禅宗), introducing oriental
philosophy (哲学). His cartoons are humorous yet full of wisdom and are admired as an easy way to learn
Chinese classics.
After avoiding the public for ten years, Tsai made a comeback in late April with seven new works. But
does his age, 61, work as a gap between him and his young readers? Tsai doesn"t think so.
The topics he has covered range from philosophy in a time of individuality (个性) to the learning and
memorizing techniques used at school."Every child is a genius and has the potential beyond his own
imagination," he said.
If popular Japanese manga is simply for entertainment, Tsai"s work, to a large extent, is to light the
power of thinking in a light-hearted way. Tsai uses different forms of water to refer to people. In his eyes
some people are like an ocean, some are like vapor, while others may be ice or rain. But in essence they
share a similarity-human being"s forever chasing for the true and the good.
"The person who thinks over life issues is not necessarily a scholar or a philosopher," he said. "I"ve
devoted my whole life to thinking and individual freedom, not making a living."
B. All of Tsai"s works mainly introduce eastern philosophy.
C. Tsai"s works are humorous as well as full of wisdom.
D. Tsai"s works are not involved in children"s study.
B. a form of water
C. a form of solid
D. a kind of people
A. Tsai once stopped writing his works for ten years
B. Tsai writes his works in order to make a living
C. Tsai thinks everyone should be a scholar or a philosopher
D. Tsai doesn"t think there is a gap between him and his young readers
B. Tsai"s works are more valuable than Japanese Manga
C. Japanese Manga is as valuable as Tsai"s
D. Both Japanese Manga and Tsai"s works are valueless
dedicated to Mazu, a holy sea goddess worshiped by Macau people. It was said that when the Portuguese
people first came here in the middle of sixteenth century, one of the officers asked a fisherman the name
of the land. The man misunderstood the officer"s question, and answered "Magao"- the name of A-Ma
Temple in front them.
Many people wonder how Macau is spelled. Is it "Macao" or"Macau"? Both are actually correct. Macao
is Portuguese, and this is the official spelling backed by Macau SAR Government. Macau is English, that"s
how they spell it in the U.S. and other parts of the world. However, most publications use"Macau" as the
preferred spelling.
Members of the Southern Song Dynasty and some 50,000 followers were the first recorded inhabitants
(居民) of the area, seeking shelter in Macau from invading Mongols in 1277. They were able to defend
their settlements and establish themselves there.
The Hoklo Boat people were the first to show commercial interest in Macau as a trading center for the
southern provinces. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1643), fishermen migrated to Macau from various
parts of Guangdong and Fujian provinces and built the A-Ma Temple in which they prayed for safety on
the sea.
Chinese fishermen have been living and working in the Pearl River Delta for more than four thousand
years. The small peninsula and islands that came to be called Macau were first settled by the Portuguese in
the sixteenth century.
In 1998, Chinese (Cantonese) was given official status and the same legal power as Portuguese, the
official language. The Chinese government assumed sovereignty over Macau on December 20, 1999, ending
329 years of Portuguese rule.
B. is first called by the Portuguese
C. is only used in publications
D. is given by a fisherman
a. Portuguese people first came to Macau.
b. The fishermen of Guangdong and Fujian migrated to Macau.
c. The first recorded inhabitants established themselves in Macau.
d. the A-Ma Temple was built in Macau.
B. d, c, b, a
C. b, c, a, d
D. a, c, b, d
B. The A-Ma Temple was built in honour of a holy sea goddess.
C. The inhabitants in Macau mainly made their living by fishing before the 16th century.
D. Macau didn"t belong to China until December 20, 1999.
B. find a good place for fishing
C. get away from their enemies
D. establish Macau SAR there
popular English acronyms (首字母缩略词) they"re now forbidden to use. Shanghai Daily reports that
"anchors at China Central Television [CCTV] have been banned from saying the English acronyms NBA,
CBA, GDP, and the like in their programs."
The replacement for those handy acronyms? Chinese presenters must use the full Chinese name,
standardized by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
Although CCTV (oops, we mean China Central Television) presenters must already have a score of at
least 94 in their government-rated oral Mandarin proficiency exam (普通话等级考试), saying the full name
of organizations like the CBA or WTO-10 and 6 character"s long separately-is sure to challenge even the
most skillful anchors. CCTV sports anchor Sun Zhengping tells Shanghai Daily, "A full Chinese explanation
of the English acronyms must be followed if my tongue slips. It is a little trouble but a necessary one because
not every audience member can understand the acronyms."
Although the government isn"t giving any official explanation for the shift, it is believed to have to do with
a proposal (提案) by Huang Youyi, director of the China International Publishing Group, at March"s NPC
meeting. In his speech, Huang said, "With more and more publications mixing Chinese with English, measures
and regulations should be adopted to avoid English invading Chinese. If we don"t pay attention and don"t take
measures to stop the expansion of mixing Chinese with English, Chinese won"t be a pure language in a couple
of years."
Although China is far from the first country to take measures to protect local languages (the French and
Québécois beat them to it by a long way), acronyms are more about saving time than they are about corrupting
a language, we would think. Good luck to the CCTV anchors.
B. mix English into Chinese
C. use shortened Chinese expressions
D. have so much time for their program
B. speak a little bit too fast
C. make a mistake in pronunciation
D. say something impolite or improper
B. Translating Chinese terms into proper English.
C. Avoiding Chinese words mixing into English.
D. Keeping our mother tongue as a pure language.
B. The ban is not necessary.
C. Chinese shouldn"t be corrupted.
D. CCTV anchors will have a hard time.
National Theatre Company of China; Kun Opera Shi Wu Guan ( Fifteen Strings of Coins ); Yue Opera
Butterfly lovers. 1 200 educational art 2 will be organized during the season to provide opportunities
for 100,000 people to 3 with artists.
Various 4 will be arranged around the Olympic Games. They 5 the World Tenors ( 男高音) Concert
by five world famous tenors on 6 August, 2008, 6 the "Piano Night in China," featuring 10 world famous
7 , including Lang Lang, on 19 August.
The 8 will also highlight (使显著) 9 Chinese arts, 10 Peking Opera and 11 local operas. On 12
there will be the Peking Opera Quelling The White Bone Demon (San Da Bai Gu Jing );Kun Opera Gongsun
Zidu; Chuan Opera Jin Zi; Huangmei Opera Mei Ren Jiao and 13 .
The operas Turandot and Madame Butterfly 14 by Giacomo Puccini will be adapted by the NCPA for
the 15 season. The performances are 16 to pay tribute to ( 赞颂 )the artist on the 150th 17 of his birth.
"The 1st Spring Symphony in China" has attracted attention 18 professionals and the public. 19 the
42 orchestras nationwide, 29 will perform in the National Centre or the Performing Arts. There will be a
Chinese masterpiece in 20 concert.