III. Reading Comprehension

　　Passage 1

　　On the fourth Thursday in November, Americans celebrate the feast of Thanksgiving. This feast is a time when the family comes together for a meal and gives thanks to God for the blessings they have received. The first thanksgiving feast was celebrated by the early American settlers who started the feast to give thanks to God for their good harvest.

　　In America thanksgiving is the family holiday. It is on that holiday that all the family members make a special effort to gather together . The feast is always held on Thursday and most people have a four-day holiday from school and work. Thus they are able to travel a great distance to be with their family.

　　The thanksgiving meal is traditionally turkey which was a large bird valued as food for the first time. The table is filled with fruits, walnuts and many types of vegetables. For the sweet dish the main choice is usually pumpkin pie. The meal is a time for the members of the family to talk to each other. There will be talking before the meal, during the meal and long after the meal.

　　On thanksgiving morning there are in many cities sporting events and parades to mark the day. The family dinner is usually held in the afternoon around 4p.m. . The mother will prepare the meal and the father will carve the turkey. He will be seated at the head of the table. The meal will begin with a short prayer of thanksgiving to God for the blessings the family received. The father will also thank the family for coming together on this day. During the meal there is plenty of food for everyone present. The meal is a very joyful time. When the meal is finished some will help with the dishes and others will return to the living room to talk or watch television.

　　In many ways the feast of thanksgiving is similar to the Chinese feast of Mid-Autumn Festival. It is the time for the family to gather together to give thanks and to share in meal.

　　46. Thanksgiving is said to be the family holiday in America because ___B ___.

　　A. each family has its own way of celebrating traditional holidays

　　B. people will try to get back to be with their family wherever they are

　　C. people celebrate this holiday only at home and abroad

　　D. it is a holiday for those who have a family

　　47. What is one similarity between thanksgiving and Mid-Autumn Festival in China?B

　　A. They are celebrated at about the same time for the year.

　　B. Family members make a special effort to gather together.

　　C. People have the same traditional foods on both occasions.

　　D. The celebration activities are more or less the same.

　　48. What is best title for this passage? C

　　A. Traditional holidays B. Thanksgiving and Mid-Autumn Festival

　　C. Thanksgiving splendid meal D. History of thanksgiving

　　49. There are plenty of foods mentioned in the passage for Thanks giving spend did meal except ___C____.

　　A. turkeys B. vegetables C. cakes D. fruits

　　50. What’s the symbol of the festival? D

　　A. Sporting events B. parades C. an evening party D. both A and B

　　IV. Translate the following sentences into English, using the words or expressions given in brackets.

　　71. 科学家们已成功分离出具有单项已知功能的单个而明显的基因。(isolate, function)

　　Scientists have successfully isolated individual apparent genes with single known function.

　　72. 通讯技术的每一个进步都是人类交往的亲密程度的一种倒退。(advance, setback)

　　The advance of communication technology is the setback of intimacy of human relationships.

　　73. 这件事对我很有益，使我从此不再多愁善感。(keep from)

　　This has benefited me, keeping me away from melancholy.

　　74. 这些学生错误地以为，若他们讲得不像美国人，就是讲得不好，所以也就不敢讲。(falsely, accordingly, be fearful of)

　　These students falsely perceive that, if they do not speak like Americans, they do not speak well, accordingly, they become fearful of speaking itself.

　　75.使我感到惊奇的是，托玛斯太太的忠告真管事儿。(to my…)

　　To my surprise, Mrs Thomas' advice is really helpful.

　　V. Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

　　76. It is impossible to identify and isolate an “English” culture that is common to all the speakers of English.

　　我们不可能识别和分离那些对于英语使用者来说很常见的“英语”的文化。

　　77. A President should be imbued with a sense of responsibility for the nation.

　　总统应当充溢着对国家的责任意识。

　　78. Parents can help teens focus by making education relevant to their lives and by understanding how they learn best.

　　家长可以通过使他们的生活有教育相关性和了解他们最如何学习的最好帮助孩子们专注。

　　79. Science has developed no cure for envy, so our wealth boosts our happiness only briefly while shrinking that of our neighbors.

　　科学发展无法治愈嫉妒，所以我们的财富提高了，我们的幸福却比邻居少了。

　　80. At first they refused but I managed to bring them around to my way of thinking.

　　起初，他们拒绝了，但我设法使他们接受了我的思维方式。