Football（C级 ）来源：考试大

　　Football is, I suppose, the most popular game in England: one has only to go to one of the important matches to see this. Rich and poor, young and old, one can see them all there, shouting and cheering for one side or the other. 
　　One of the most surprising things about football in England to a stranger is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most if the important teams. He has photographs of them and knows the results of a large number off matches. He will tell you, with a great air of authority, who he expects will win such and such a match, and his opinion is usually as valuable as that of men three or four times his age.
　　Most schools in England take football seriously --much more seriously than nearly all-European schools, where lessons are all-important, and games are left for private arrangements. In England, it is believed that education is not only a matter of filling a boy's mind with facts in a classroom; education also means character training. One of the best ways of training character is by means of games, especially team games, where the boy has to learn to work with others for his team, instead of working selfishly for himself alone. The school therefore arranges games and matches for its pupils.  Football is a good team game, it is good exercise for the body, it needs skill and a quick brain, it is popular and it is cheap. As a result, it is the school's favorite game in the winter.
 
1. In England football is a game enjoyed
  A) only by young people.来源：考试大
  B) only by rich people.
  C) only by boys.
  D) by people of all ages and classes.
 
2. A stranger in England will be surprised to find that in that country
  A) people have little knowledge of football.
  B) girls are more interested in football than boys.
  C) even small boys know a lot about football.
  D) children are not interested in football at all.
 
3. There is a great difference between schools in England and those in Europe in that
  A) European schools take football seriously.
  B) European schools often arrange football matches for their pupils.
  C) schools in England care little about lessons.
  D) schools in England believe character training to be part of education. 
 
4. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true of the football game?
  A) it makes people selfish.
  B) it encourages cooperation.来源：考试大
  C) it is good for health.
  D) it is not expensive.
 
 5. What is the author's attitude towards the football game in England?
   A) critical.
  B) positive.
  C) negative.
  D) doubtful.

Storms Sink Ships（C级）来源：考试大

　　Rescuers have found the bodies of over 130 people killed in two ferry disasters in
Bangladesh．The accidents happened during a storm that hit the country on April 21．Hundreds more are missing or feared dead．
　　The two ferries sank in different rivers near the capital city of Dhakfi as strong winds and rain hit the South Asian country．
　　The government has since banned a11 ferries and other boats from traveling at night during the April-May stormy season．    ．
　　One of the ferries，MV Mitali，was carrying far more people than it was supposed to．About 400 passengers fitted into a space made for just 300，police said．The second ferry carried about 1 00 passengers．
　　“The number of deaths is certain to rise．”said an official in charge of the rescue work．“No one really knows how many people were on board‘the ferry or how many of them survived．’’
　　Ferries in Bangladesh don’t always keep passenger lists，making it difficult to determine the exact number of people on board．
　　Besides the ferry accidents，at least 40 people were killed and 400 injured by lightning strikes．falling houses and trees and the sinking of small boats．
　　Storms are common this time of year in Bangladesh，as are boating accidents．Ferry
disasters take away hundreds of lives every year in a nation of 130 million people．
　　Officials blame these river accidents on a lack of safety measures．too many passengers in boats and not enough checks on weather conditions．
　　Ferries are a common means of transport in Bangladesh．It is a country covered by about 230 rivers．Some 20，000 ferries use the nation’s  Waterways every year．And many of them are dangerously overcrowded．
　　Since 1977, more than 3．000 people have died in some 260 boating accidents．
 
词汇：
ferry n．渡船   
waterway n．水路，水道来源：考试大
Bangladesh：孟加拉国，位于南亚
 
练习：来源：考试大
1．How many people have been found dead in the two ferry disasters?
A、Over 130．   
B、At least 40．
C、About 400．
D) Over 3，000．   
 
2．The two ferry disasters occurred
A)at noon．  
B)in the morning．
C) at night．
D)In the afternoon．
 
3．How many passengers was MV Mitali designed to carry?
A)500．
B)100．
C)400．
D)300．来源：考试大
 
4．Officials attribute boating accident to
A)strong winds．
B)bad weather conditions．
C)the blockages of waterways．
D)the lack of safety measures．
 
5．　　hich of the following statements is NOT true of the two ferry disasters?
A)They were overcrowded．来源：考试大
B)They sankon April 2I．
C1 The exact number of deaths could be easily determined．
D)They sank somewhere near Dhaka．