It is not unusual for people to speak two or three languages; they’re known as bilinguals or trilinguals. Speakers of more than three languages are known as polyglots. And when we refer to people who speak many languages, perhaps a dozen or more, we use the term hyper-polyglot.

The most famous hyper-polyglot was Giuseppe Mezzofanti, a 19th century Italian cardinal, who was said to speak 72 languages. This claim sounds absurd. If you assume each language had 20,000 words, Mezzofanti would have to learn a word a minute, six hours a day, for eleven years—an impossible task. But Mezzofanti was tested by critics, and they were all impressed.

Did Mezzofanti have an extraordinary brain? Or are hyper-polyglots just ordinary people with ordinary brains who manage to do something extraordinary through hard work?

U.S. linguist Stephen Drashen believes that outstanding language learners just work harder at it and then they acquire unusually strong language ability. As an example, he mentions a Hungarian woman who worked as an interpreter during the 20th century. When she was 86, she could speak 16 languages and was still working on learning new languages. She said she learned them mostly on her own, reading fiction or working through dictionaries or textbooks.

Some researchers argue to the contrary. They believe that there is such a thing as a talent for learning languages. In the 1930s, a German scientist examined parts of the preserved brain of a hyper-polyglot named Emil Krebs, who could speak 60 languages fluently. The scientist found that the area of Krebs’s brain called Broca’s area, which is associated with language, looked different from the Broca’s area in the brains of men who speak only one language. However, we still don’t know if Krebs was born with a brain ready to learn dozens of languages or if his brain adapted to the demands he put on it.

Although it is still not clear whether the ability to learn many languages is in born, there’s no doubt that just about all of us can acquire skills in a second, third, or even fourth language by putting our mind to it.

1.What does the underlined sentence imply?

A. Mezzofanti could remember 360 words a day.

B. Mezzofanti had a special way to learn languages.

C. Mezzofanti’s achievement was ridiculous.

D. Mezzofanti language ability was astonishing.

2.The Hungarian woman became a hyper-polyglot mainly because of her __.

A. good memory       B. unique brain      C. hard work      D. learning methods

3.The German scientist’s findings showed that Krebs ___.

A. had an unusual brain

B. was born with great talent

C. had worked hard at languages

D. expected too much of himself

4.The author seems to agree that ___.

A. it is not hard to learn foreign languages

B. hard work plays a part in language learning

C. there is no such thing as a talent for languages

D. hyper-polyglots have an inborn talent for language

Exchanging music over the Internet is fun and easy. Better yet, it's free, which means you don't have to pay for any more expensive music CDs. Several online file-sharing services make it easy for music lovers to exchange their favorite tunes with one another.

However, this illegal sharing of music — a form of music piracy(盜版)— is doing harm to the music industry. Industry experts estimate (估計) that US$4.3 billion in worldwide sales was lost to music piracy last year. These lost profits could force record companies to stop producing the music of many popular artists. That would hurt both musicians and music fans alike.

Music producers are puzzled about how to fight music piracy. Their efforts to fight piracy using the law have had only limited success. The music industry did win a legal victory against Napster, a famous music website. The courts ordered Napster to stop giving away copyrighted music from their site. But a number of other music-sharing networks have sprung up in its place.

These new networks are made up of thousands, or even millions, of individuals. Unlike Napster, there's no one company controlling the distribution(發行)of music over each network. So it's nearly impossible to stop the illegal activities.

Now people in the music industry have decided that " if you can't beat them, join them." They've begun to offer legal alternatives to online music piracy. Major music producers have given companies like Apple Computer permission(許可) to sell their music online. Apple's iTune Music Store allows computer users to legally download any song for 99 cents.

Will these new measures save the music industry from piracy? That depends on whether music fans are willing to pay 99 cents fro a song that they can download illegally for free. Unfortunately, many people believe music should be free. The music industry, however, hopes to persuade these music fans to change their tune.

1.This text is written to _____.

A．discuss music piracy on the Internet

B．introduce the popularity of online music

C．persuade music fans to give up downloading music

D．protect copyrighted music from being downloaded illegally

2.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Some online file-sharing services are responsible for music piracy.

B．Napster, a famous music website, broke down because of its piracy.

C．There have been no perfect measures to put an end to piracy.

D．Legal sharing of music is available at Apple's iTune Music Store.

3.Which of the following statements would the author agree with?

A．The only effective way to fight music piracy is to stop it by law.

B．Music lovers will be persuaded to pay for online music in time.

C．It is certain that no one will be willing to pay for online music.

D．There is a long way for music industry to go in fighting piracy.

4.The underlined word "illegal" in Paragraph 2 probably means _____.

A．being protected by the law                B．popular           C．being against the law  D．surprising

As for Latin America generally, there’s no reason why, ______resources available, it can’t become a highly industrialized area.

A．in terms of        B．in favor of         C．in honor of        D．in charge of

To get an extra 14 years of life, don’t smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and drink alcohol in a proper amount. That is according to a study published this Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine Journal.

    After tracking more than 20,000 people aged 45-79 years in the United Kingdom from about 1993-2007, Kay-Tee, Khaw of the University of Cambridge and his colleagues found that people who adopted these four healthy habits lived an average of 14 years longer than those who didn’t.

“We’ve known for a long time that these behaviors are good things to do, but we’ve not seen this benefit before, ” said Susan Jebb, head of Nutrition and Health at Britain’s Medical Research Council. “The benefit was also seen regardless of whether or not people were fat and what social class they came from.”

Study participants（參與者）scored a point each for not smoking, regular physical activity, eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and moderate alcohol intake．

Public health experts said they hoped the study would inspire governments to introduce policies helping people to adopt these changes．But because the study only observed people rather than testing specific changes, it would be impossible to conclude that people who suddenly adopted these healthy behaviors would surely gain 14 years．

“We can't say that any person could gain 14 years by doing these things, ”said Dr．Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization．“The 14 years is an average across the population of what's theoretically（理論上地）possible．”

“Most people know that things like a good diet matter and that smoking isn't good for them, ”Susan Jebb said．“We need to work on providing people with much more practical support to help them change．”

1.Which of the following DOESN'T belong to the four healthy habits?

A．Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day．

B．Do proper exercise in the morning every day．

C．Drinking alcohol in the proper amount every day．

D．Having a cigarette before going to bed every day．

2.We can learn from the passage that             ．

A．Susan Jebb did not take part in the study．

B．the study observed people as well as tested specific changes．

C．there's no need for people under 45 to adopt these good habits．

D．only those from first class can benefit from these healthy behaviors．

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A．All the people are well aware of the harm of their bad habits．

B．People aged 45 to 70 have bad habits in the United Kingdom．

C．Governments should take measures to help people change their bad habits．

D．People have adopted the four healthy habits after knowing they're good．

4.What would be the best title for this passage?

A．Smoking and Drinking Cuts You 14 Years

B．How to Live a Much Healthier Life

C．Healthy Habits May Give Extra 14 Years

D．How to Make Your Life Longer Than Others

Why does most of the world travel on the right side today? Theories differ, but there’s no doubt that Napoleon was a major influence. The French had used the right since at least the late 18th century. Some say that before the French Revolution, noblemen drove their carriages on the left, forcing the peasants to the right. Regardless of the origin, Napoleon brought right-hand traffic to the nations he conquered, including Russia, Switzerland and Germany. Hitler, in turn, ordered right-hand traffic in Czechoslovakia and Austria in the 1930s. Nations that escaped right-hand control, like Great Britain, followed their left-hand tradition.

The U.S. has not always been a nation of right-hand rivers; earlier in its history, carriage and horse traffic traveled on the left, as it did in England. But by the late 1700s, people driving large wagons pulled by several pairs of horses began promoting a shift to the right. A driver would sit on the rear (后面的) left horse in order to wave his whip with his right hand; to see opposite traffic clearly, they traveled on the right.

One of the final moves to firmly standardize traffic directions in the U.S. occurred in the 20th century, when Henry Ford decided to mass-produce his cars with controls on the left (one reason, stated in 1908; the convenience for passengers exiting directly onto the edge, especially… if there is a lady to be considered). Once these rules were set, many countries eventually adjusted to the right-hand standard, including Canada in the 1920s, Sweden in 1967 and Burma in 1970. The U.K. and former colonies such as Australia and India are among the western world’s few remaining holdouts. Several Asian countries, including Japan, use the left as well — thought many places use both right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive cars.

1.Why did people in Switzerland travel on the right?

2.Of all the countries below, the one that travels on the right is ______.

3.Henry Ford produced cars with controls on the left _______.

4.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

5.What would be the best title for this passage?