Japan is made up of a chain of islands that lie off the coast of Asia. People came to live in Japan from the nearby countries of China and Korea. From these older countries, the Japanese borrowed ideas, inventions and habits.
For many years, the Japanese built houses like those in China. They dressed themselves like a Chinese. From China came their way of writing and their habit of drinking tea.
In more recent times, the Japanese have borrowed things from our country, the United States. They have a government like ours. They do much work in science, as we do. Baseball is a favorite sport in Japan, just as it is here.
Things change when they come to Japan. The Japanese improve on almost everything they borrow. The art of garden making came from Korea and China, but the Japanese gardens are special. Each garden has a waterfall, a pond, and small bridges. There are few flowers in Japanese gardens. But the gardens are green during all the year round because they have many evergreens. Japanese gardens have a different kind of beauty.
【小題1】 The first paragraph of the passage tells us that ________ centuries ago.

Japan is made up of a chain of islands that lie off the coast of Asia. People came to live in Japan from the nearby countries of China and Korea. From these older countries, the Japanese borrowed ideas, inventions and habits.

For many years, the Japanese built houses like those in China. They dressed themselves like a Chinese. From China came their way of writing and their habit of drinking tea.

In more recent times, the Japanese have borrowed things from our country, the United States. They have a government like ours. They do much work in science, as we do. Baseball is a favorite sport in Japan, just as it is here.

Things change when they come to Japan. The Japanese improve on almost everything they borrow. The art of garden making came from Korea and China, but the Japanese gardens are special. Each garden has a waterfall, a pond, and small bridges. There are few flowers in Japanese gardens. But the gardens are green during all the year round because they have many evergreens. Japanese gardens have a different kind of beauty.

1. The first paragraph of the passage tells us that ________ centuries ago.

A．the Japanese borrowed ideas only from China and Korea

B．people came to live in Japan from neighbouring Asian countries

C．Japan is much older than Korea

D．many Japanese came from the United States

2. In the third paragraph of the passage the italic (斜體)words “just as it is here” mean”________”

A．just as it is in the United States

B．just as it is in China

C．just as it is in Japan

D．just as it is in Asia

3. Why did the Japanese change the things they had borrowed?

A．They wanted very much to be different from others.

B．They didn’t like them the way they were.

C．They wanted visitors to like the change.

D．They tried to make them better.

4. From the passage we can see that ________.

A．Japanese gardens are different from those in other countries but not very beautiful

B．Japanese gardens are full of life during all the seasons

C．Japanese gardens are not very big

D．There are many flowers in Japanese gardens

5. Choose a statement from the following sentences that is NOT true.

A．The government of Japan is like that of the United States.

B．People in the United States like playing baseball.

C．The Japanese invented the habit of drinking tea.

D．Japan is made up of many islands.

A school bus is one that is used to take children to and from school.
In the USA, about 450,000 school buses take more than 25 million children to and from school. The yellow school bus is a US icon. Yellow became the color of school buses in the USA in 1939. Dr. Frank got the good idea. He said it was easy for people to see yellow buses and the black letters on them in early morning or late afternoon. That would make children safer.
There are not many school buses in Britain, and they are not yellow. They have trackers (追蹤器) on them, so kids are being tracked while they travel to and from school by bus. The trackers let parents know where the school bus is and whether their kids are on the bus.
Kindergarten (幼兒園) is a difficult time for some kids. It's the first time for them to go away from their parents. To make kids love their school, Japanese kindergartens and schools have colorful buses. The buses can easily make children want to take them--and then, go to school. Even some parents want to take them, too!
School buses are becoming more and more popular in China now. It saves a lot of time for students to take a school bus. It's said that there will be 3,000 yellow school buses on the road by the end of this year in Chongqing.
【小題1】 According to Dr. Frank,           school buses are safer for the students.

Japan, a narrow and long island country, was hit by a strong earthquake and tsunami (海嘯)on the 11^th March , 2011. The place that earthquake happened is in the north-east of Japan . It caused a serious disaster to Japan. A lot of things were washed away because the tsunami， including buildings, people, animals and so on. 13,895 people have been confirmed dead and 13,677 people were lost. Worst of all,Fukushima Nuclear Power Station(福島核電站) was also destroyed , and poisonous nuclide iodine “131”(核素碘“131”) in the air has had some countries and areas influenced. So in order to avoid (避免) its harm, we should wash our faces after we come back from school or work, we wash our hands before meals . When we go out, we’d better wear masks. Vegetables should be washed two or three times or more before they are cooked.

　 It is said that this earthquake is the third biggest earthquake in history. The result of this earthquake is much more serious than those of which happened in China in 2008 and in Haiti in 2010.

　 Japan lies to the east of China , and it is a country which earthquake often happens in, but when I heard the unlucky news, I really felt surprised.

　 After the earthquake happened, many countries and areas all gave it a hand. The Chinese Government also sent some rescuers to help them. At the same time, our country offered some frist-aid things, such as food, tents and so on.

　 I am going to pray(祈禱)for the people suffering from this disaster. I pray that they can return their rebuilt homes soon. I wish they wouldn’t lose too many things in the earthquake. I also believe the Japanese people can step out of the trouble early and live as usual.

(　 )51. The earthquake happened _________ in Japan.

A. at the beginning of March　　　 B. near the capital

C. in the north-east of Japan　　　　 D. During the night

(　 )52. How do we prevent nuclide iodine from influencing us in the daily life?

A.We should wash our faces often B.We ‘d better wear masks before we go out

C. We should wash vegetables several times before cooking　　　 D. All above

(　 )53. In all, the loss of the people in the earthquake is ____________

A. 13,895 　 B. 13,677　 C. more than 27, 572 D. less than 30,000

(　 )54. What does the word “rescuers” underlined mean ?

A. 物品　　　　 B. 訪問者　　 C. 救援人員　　　　　 D. 專家

(　 )55. What did the writer do for the people in Japan?

A. He sent them some things　 　　　B. He prayed for them .

C. He collected some clothes for them D. He went to Japan and helped them.