because Halloween festivals and traditions took place at night. In the weeks before October 31st, Americans decorate windows of houses and schools with silhouettes (轮廓) of witches and black cats.
Pumpkins are also a symbol of Halloween. The Pumpkin is an orange-colored squash, and orange has become the other traditional Halloween color. Carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns is a Halloween custom also dating back to Ireland. A legend grew up about a man named Jack who was so stingy (吝啬的) that he was not allowed into heaven when he died, because he was a miser (吝啬鬼). He couldn’t enter hell either because he had played jokes on the devil. As a result, Jack had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day. The Irish people carved scary faces out of turnips (芜菁根), beets (甜菜根) or potatoes representing “Jack of the Lantern,” or Jack-o’-lantern. When the Irish brought their customs to the United States, they carved faces on pumpkins because in the autumn they were more plentiful than turnips. Today jack-o’-lanterns in the windows of a house on Halloween night let costumed children know that there are goodies (糖果) waiting if they knock and say “Trick or Treat!”
Halloween treats
1. Dried Pumpkin Seeds
After carving your pumpkin, separate the pulp from the seeds. Rinse (冲洗) the seeds and spread them out to dry. The next day, add enough melted butter or margarine (人造黄油) to coat each seed. Spread the seeds onto a cookie sheet (甜酥饼干) and bake for 20 minutes in a 300 degree oven or until they are slightly brown. 2. Caramel (饴糖) Apples
Take the paper wrapping off about 100 caramels and put them in a saucepan (炖锅). Put the saucepan over a pan of boiling water. Boil the water until the caramels melt. Put a wooden stick into the top of each apple, dip the apple into the caramel. Let them cool on wax paper and enjoy! Scary stories
No Halloween party is complete without at least one scary story. Usually one person talks in a low voice while everyone else crowds together on the floor or around a fire. The following is a retelling of a tale told in Britain and in North Carolina and Virginia.
“What Do You Come For?”
There was an old woman who lived all by herself, and she was very lonely. Sitting in the kitchen one night, she said, “Oh, I wish I had some company.”
No sooner had she spoken than down the chimney tumbled two feet from which the flesh had rotted. The old woman’s eyes bulged with terror.
Then two legs dropped to the hearth (壁炉地面) and attached themselves to the feet. Then a body tumbled down, then two arms, and a man’s head.
As the old woman watched, the parts came together into a great, tall man. The man danced around and around the room. Faster and faster he went. Then he stopped, and he looked into her eyes.
“What do you come for?” She asked in a small voice that shivered and shook. “What do I come for?” he said. “I come for YOU!” The narrator shouts and jumps at the person near him!
26. Halloween is on October 31st, and that day is also known as All Saints Day. [Y] [N] [NG]
27. October 31st was originally celebrated in Europe as the eve of the Celtic new year. [Y] [N] [NG]
28. Halloween was brought by the Irish to the United States as a celebration mainly for children. [Y] [N] [NG]
29. School dance parties are welcome by young people while “block parties” are welcome by senior citizens. [Y] [N] [NG]
30. When adults go to masquerade parties, they wear costumes which make them look like dramatic figures.
[Y] [N] [NG]
31. Halloween was celebrated at night; this made black one traditional Halloween color. [Y] [N] [NG]
32. After the Irish people moved to America, they celebrated Halloween by carving faces on turnips, beets or potatoes. [Y] [N] [NG]
33. On Halloween night, children can get candies from houses whose windows are decorated with jack-o’-lanterns. [Y] [N] [NG]
34. Caramel apples are traditionally served as desserts at the Halloween dinner. [Y] [N] [NG]
35. In the scary story, when the old woman finally got a company, she was too frightened to say anything.
[Y] [N] [NG]
Section B: Reading in Depth (1)
Directions: There are 3 reading passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished
statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C), and D). You should decide on the best choice.
Passage One
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:
I am the owner of a small clothing store. Three months ago I decided to move my store to Glendale, another area of town, because business was not very good. Now I rent a store in an old building. The new location in Glendale is excellent, and my sales have improved a lot. (The utilities are also cheaper!) There is a high school nearby, and many of the students come to my store to buy their clothes. This location has other advantages, too. It is closer to my home, and there is a food store on the next block, so it is convenient for me to go shopping after work.
The size of my new store is better too. It is much bigger, and there is a lot of storage space. But the building was not in very good condition, and I had to make many improvements. The paint was old and dirty, and I had to pick a new color and paint all of the walls. I hired a man to build new wooden dressing rooms. I also made new curtains for the rooms and the window. I am completely satisfied with the store now. Unfortunately, I learned last week that the owner wants to sell the building – after all my hard work! How did I learn this? I came to work Friday and saw a “For Sale” sign in front of my store.
36. The store owner wanted to move to the new location because ______. A) there was a food store nearby
B) there was a high school on the next block C) the old store did not sell a lot of goods D) it was in a new area 37. The store owner ______.
A) has improved her sales until moving to the new location B) sells clothes to some high school students in the area C) can go to the shopping center in her business hours D) has been told that the furniture is cheaper there 38. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A) It is convenient for the store owner to go shopping because the clothing store is close to her house. B) The old store was smaller than the new store, where she got much storage space. C) It was she who made some arrangements for the dressing rooms. D) After hard work, she is very satisfied with what she has done. 39. The building was not in very good condition, and ______.
A) the landlord of the building had the walls painted B) the store owner made a lot of improvements to it
C) the store owner asked the workmen to repair the dressing rooms D) the landlord did a lot of work to rebuild it 40. The phrase “For Sale” means ______. A) to be hired B) to be closed down C) to be rented D) to be sold Passage Two
Questions 41 to 45 are based on the following passage:
Many people hope that the whole world will one day speak a common language. Over the years, people have made up new languages with this aim. At least six hundred languages have been developed in the search for a language which all human beings would be able to speak. The most famous one, Esperanto, was the idea of Ludwig Zamenhof, a doctor in Warsaw. He published a book about his new language in 1887.
To encourage people to learn the Language, he made it as simple as possible.
Esperanto has never been accepted as an official world language, but it has been suggested as an auxiliary language. By 1950 it had been taught to one and a half million speakers, and it was spoken in six hundred schools. Today Esperanto is spoken by about eight million people, and more than one hundred newspapers and magazines in the language are published regularly throughout the world. Thousands of books have been written in Esperanto, including those translated from other languages.
Today the need for a new auxiliary language like Esperanto seems less obvious. Throughout this century English has grown more and more important. It has become a second language for many millions of people. The fact that more are learning English shows that the use of English is still growing worldwide. No one would deny the usefulness of a world language, but not many people think that Esperanto is likely to play such a role. 41. Over the years, people have made up new languages in the hope that ______. A) all people will be able to speak a common language B) people will learn a foreign language better C) people can understand each other better
D) people will be able to speak several languages
42. Zamenhof made the language as simple as possible because ______. A) he wanted people to learn it quickly
B) more and more people would be willing to learn it C) everyone would speak it without any difficulty
D) he hoped it would be accepted as an official world language
43. Esperanto has never been accepted as an official language ______. A) but people want to use it very much B) but it is a very useful language
C) because the use of English is still growing worldwide D) because people don’t like it very much
44. Which of the following is NOT true of Esperanto? A) It was widely taught in schools. B) It was spoken by many students.
C) Many books have been written in Esperanto. D) It was once used as an official language.
45. Many people think that Esperanto will not become an official world language because ______. A) many people are learning English
B) it does not play such an important role as English does
C) English has become a second language for everyone D) no one wants to have a world language Passage Three
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage:
The first jazz musicians played in New Orleans during the early 1900’s. After 1917, many of the New Orleans musicians moved to the south side of Chicago, where they continued to play their style of jazz. Soon Chicago was the new center for jazz.
Several outstanding musicians emerged as leading jazz artists in Chicago. Daniel Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, born in New Orleans in 1900, was one. Another leading musician was Joseph “King” Oliver, who was also credited with having discovered Armstrong when they were both in New Orleans. While in Chicago, Oliver asked Armstrong, who was in New Orleans, to join his band.
In 1923 King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band made the first important set of recording by a Hot Five and Hot Seven bands and Louis Armstrong also made recordings of special note.
Although Chicago’s South Side was the main jazz center, some musicians in New York were also demanding attention in Jazz circles. In 1923 Fletcher Henderson already had a ten-piece band that played jazz. During the early 1930’s, the number of players grew to sixteen. Henderson’s band was considered a leader in what some people have called the Big Band Era.
By the 1930’s, big dance bands were the rage. Large numbers of people went to ballrooms to dance to jazz music played by big bands.
One of the most popular and long and very famous jazz bands was the Duke Ellington band. Edward “Duke” Ellington was born in Washington D. C, in 1893 and died in New York City in 1974. He studied the piano as a young boy and later began writing original musical compositions.
The first of Ellington’s European tours came in 1933. He soon received international fame for his talent as bandleader, composer, and arranger. Ten years later, Ellington began giving annual concerts as Carnegic Hall in New York City. People began to listen to jazz in the same way that they had always listened to classical music. 46. For which of the following reasons did Louis Armstrong go to Chicago? A) To form his own band. B) To learn to play Chicago-style jazz. C) To play in Joseph Oliver’s band. D) To make recordings with the Hot Five. 47. Which of the following can best replace the word “note” in Para.3? A) distinction. B) memorandum. C) mood. D) song. 48. Which of the following conclusions does the passage support? A) By the 1930’s jazz was appreciated by a wide audience. B) Classical music had a great impact on jazz.
C) Jazz originated in New Orleans in the early nineteenth century. D) Jazz bands were better known in Europe than in the United States.
49. Which of the following cities is NOT mentioned in the passage as a center of jazz? A) New York. B) Washington D. C. C) Chicago. D) New Orleans. 50. It can be inferred from the passage that ______. A) Ellington had been to Europe several times B) Ellington was only a composer C) big dance bands failed to attract a lot of people D) Big dance bands made people angry Section B: Reading in Depth (2)
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a
list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the blank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item. You may not use any of the words in the blank more than once.
