Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden change in pronunciation started, with vowels (元音) being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact (接觸) with many people from around the world. This meant that lots of new vocabulary entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary came out.

       Early Modern English and Late Modern English are mostly different in the number of words. Late Modern English has many more words, mainly because of the following two reasons: First, the Industrial Revolution (工業(yè)革命) led to the need for new words. Second, the British Empire covered one quarter of the earth’s surface, and the English language took in foreign words from many countries.

       From around 1600, the English colonization (殖民地化) of North America led to American English. Some English pronunciations and words “froze” when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English. Some expressions that are called “American English” are in fact from British expressions. They were kept in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain. Spanish also had an influence (影響) on American English. For example, words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante are from Spanish. They entered English by the people of Spain who settled in the American West. French words and West African words also influenced American English.

       Today, American English has a greater influence, because of the USA’s movies, television, popular music, trade and technology.

71. The main difference between Early and Late Modern English lies in _____.

A. vocabulary              B. pronunciation              

C. spelling                  D. grammar

72. What helped to increase the vocabulary of Late Modern English?

a. the invention of printing

b. the Industrial Revolution

c. the colonization

d. the contact with other countries

A. a, b, c            B. a, c, d           C. a, b, d         D. b, c, d

73. From the passage, we can learn the word “canyon” is from _____.

A. American dialect         B. African dialect

C. Spanish                      D. French

74. The third paragraph mainly talks about _____.

A. English colonies in North America

B. the development of American English

C. other languages influence on American English

D. the difference between American English and British English

75. The underlined word “froze” can best be replaced by _____.

A. remained unchanged        B. disappeared 

C. improved                        D. kept active

 People think that writing short stories is easy because they are short. But in fact they are hard to write well. There are only a few writers of good short stories and the American writer O. Henry is one of them.

His real name was William Sydney Porter and he grew up in North Carolina. He was not very successful at school but he loved reading. When he was about twenty years old he left North Carolina and moved to Texas. He thought there would be more opportunities for work there. At first he worked on a newspaper but as this did not provide enough money he changed his job. He decided to work in a bank. All went well until some money went missing. William was believed to have stolen it and was sent to prison. Although this was a horrible experience it helped in one way because he realized that he could write well. William began writing short stories and O. Henry  was born! When he left prison he began writing as a career and published many of his stories. They were mostly about the people that he met or he knew in New York and they had interesting or surprising endings. People enjoyed reading them. His life, however, was not a happy one. He drank too much and died in 1910 in New York but he left behind stories that are still read and enjoyed by millions of people.

66. In which order did O. Henry do the following things?

a. Lived in New York.                                   b. Worked in a bank.

c. Travelled to Texas.                            d. Was put in prison.

e. Had a newspaper job.                          f. Learned to write stories.

A. e, c, f, b, d, a                             B. c, e, b, d, f, a           

C. e, b, d, c, a, f                                   D. c, b, e, d, a, f

67. People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because          .

A. they had surprise endings            B. they were easy to understand

C. they showed his love for the poor       D. they were about New York City

68. O. Henry went to prison because          .

A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper

B. he broke the law by using violence

C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners

D. people thought he had taken money that was not his

69. What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?

A. He was well-educated.         B. He was not serious about his work.

C. He was devoted to the poor.        D. He loved reading.

70. Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?

A. His life inside the prison.    B. The newspaper articles he wrote.

C. The city and people of New York.    D. His exciting early life as a boy.

Mr. Backer is a kind-hearted man. Once he gave some food to a poor woman . Mr White, the boss of the restaurant, found it and became angry. He often gave the leftovers(剩飯菜) to  some poor workers. Mr. Backers lost his work for it. It was difficult for him to find work in the small country though he was an able cook. The war made all stop. Children couldn't go  to school, most shops were closed, even some farmers were  hungry. Some people were made to leave their houses and they had to find the safe places. It was an autumn night. Mr Backer  hadn't any food to eat and went to bed, but he couldn't fall asleep, because he was very hungry . suddenly he heard a noise in  his room. He saw a man looking for something useful there. He said nothing and watched it carefully. At last the man took a few old clothes out of a broken paper box and took them away. He got up from his bed quickly and followed him gently(文雅地), with his quilt on his back. The man didn't find him and went into a small and wet house. Mr. Backer also went in and saw there was nothing in the room. The thief(賊) saw him and was surprised. He asked, “What did you come here for?” “You have carried my things here,” said Mr. Backer. “I have to move here, too!”   

61.Mr White sent Mr. Backer away because            .

A. he couldn't cook          B. he didn't work hard

C. he didn't like him at all  D. he gave some leftovers to the poor woman

62.        , so the people in the small country got into trouble.

A. The war broke out(爆發(fā))     B. It didn't rain

C. Children couldn't go to school   D. Shops and factories were closed

63. Mr. Backer couldn't go to sleep because                .

A. the weather was cold        B. the weather was hot

C. he was hungry                    D. he was ill

64.Mr. Backer said nothing when the thief went into his room because        .

A. he wanted to send him to the police station

B. there was nothing expensive there

C. he was afraid the man could hurt him   D. he hoped the man could help him

65.The underlined word“quilt” in this story means                .

  A. 珠寶      B. 錢箱         C. 被子         D. 鞋帶

New research shows sheep are clever

       People often make jokes about how dull sheep are, but new research shows they may be cleverer than we think. Researchers at the University of Cambridge discovered that Welsh mountain sheep have brainpower that equals rodents (嚙齒動(dòng)物). Tests found that the sheep can map the area they live in, and some may even be able to plan ahead.

Young fish prefer noisy neighbors

       A new study has shown that young fish like to live on reefs with noisy neighbors! Researchers from the universities of Auckland and Bristol found that young fish looking for a home choose areas where other noisy fish live. The scientists produced all kinds of sounds which had been recorded in different natural environments. The young fish seemed to prefer the sounds of natural reefs, complete with noisy animals! The scientists compared the choice to a music fan wandering around at a music festival, choosing to set up a tent closest to the music they like best!

Butterflies are disappearing

       A new study has shown that 17 species (物種) of butterfly found in Europe have dropped by 70% in the last 20 years. The information collected from 3,000 sites across 15 countries shows it may be caused by the loss (減少) of grasslands covered with flowers. You can encourage butterflies to come into your garden by planting flowers.

56. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Some new studies about animals. 

B. People’s wrong ideas about animals.

C. Why the number of animals has dropped.

D. The importance of protecting animals.

57. According to the first paragraph, we may infer that sheep _____.

A. are less clever than rodents

B. can find their home

C. can read maps         

D. are good planners

58. When young fish are looking for a home, they like to _____.

A. live in a noisy environment

B. live in areas close to their parents

C. choose the reefs which are quiet

D. choose other kinds of fish as neighbors

59. Which seems to have to do with the number of butterflies?

A. The species of grass in grasslands.                    

B. The species of trees in grasslands. 

C. The number of flowers in grasslands.          

D. The number of animals in grasslands.  

60. In which part of a newspaper can we most probably read the passage?

A. Geography.              B. Culture.                    C. Travel.                     D. Nature

       Long ago there was a poor farmer in Russia. He had been very  36  with everything he had. However, when he found his elder brother was  37  than him, he felt disappointed. So he  38  hard about how he could also be richer. Finally he got an idea. He started to spend less money on food and clothes to  39  some money to buy more land. Once he had enough money, he started  40  for land.

       He  41  that on the neighboring land, there were some nomads (游牧民) living there. He bought some gifts and went to  42  their head. He presented the gifts to the head and told him the  43  of his visit. The head welcomed him, accepted the gifts and agreed to his  44  to get the land. The head told him that he could have the land  45  giving him anything. He can take as much land as he could  46  by walking through the land before sunset (日落). He should start in the morning and whatever distance he could travel during the  47 , he could have it.

       The farmer became very  48  when he heard this offer. Now he could have lots of  49  without paying anything. He came  50  the next morning and started running, not walking,  51  he could cover the largest area. To reach his goal, he neither ate food, nor drank water, nor had any rest. He just continued  52 . Without eating, or drinking, or resting he just got very  53 . When he came back to the head in the evening, he  54  right on the spot. Sadly his son buried him in a piece of land about 6 x 4 feet.

       Don’t be greedy (貪婪的) or you will  55  everything finally.

36. A. careful  B. pleased      C. bored         D. busy  

37. A. healthier      B. stronger     C. richer        D. cleverer

38. A. thought    B. learned     C. tried               D. worked 

39. A. borrow        B. spend            C. make           D. save 

40. A. waiting        B. looking      C. preparing                D. caring   

41. A. explained     B. hoped      C. noticed                 D. guessed

42. A. see                  B. follow     C. help                  D. cheat

43. A. chance        B. result      C. condition             D. purpose

44. A. promise           B. request          C. suggestion        D. order  

45. A. for                  B. by               C. without                D. before

46. A. cover          B. farm       C. buy                   D. have

47. A. year                B. month     C. week                D. day

48. A. interested    B. sad             C. happy           D. calm

49. A. land                    B. crop       C. experience              D. knowledge

50. A. quietly         B. early        C. finally               D. suddenly

51. A. so that      B. even if     C. because                      D. whether

52. A. dreaming         B. walking          C. speaking                     D. running

53. A. nervous           B. excited           C. tired              D. worried

54. A. refused        B. died        C. appeared                 D. rested

55. A. lose                 B. face            C. change                 D. defeat

—I’m going to Betty’s birthday party. Bye-bye, Mom.

—_____, baby.

A. Best wishes      B. Have fun           C. Take care D. No problem

I asked my boss for a month’s holiday and, _________, she agreed.

A. what’s more B. that is to say C. in other words D.believe it or not

The boss of the company had _________ his friend’s good advice, which led to the failure of his business.

A. considered  B. suffered     C. ignored             D. discussed

My son has changed so much that I could hardly __________ his voice on the phone.

A. recognize     B. realize       C. hear              D. find

He must be leaving our village because he is __________.

A. making up        B. packing up  C. setting up   D. getting up