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　　Passage 1
　　There are stories about two U．S . presidents，Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren，which attempt to explain the American English term OK．We don’t know if either story is true，but they are both interesting．
　　The first explanation is based on the fact that President Jackson had very little education．In fact，he had difficulty reading and writing．When important papers came to Jackson，he tried to read them and then had his assistants explain what they said．If he approved of a paper．he would write“all correct”on it．The problem was that he didn’t know how to spell．So what he really wrote was“ol korekt”．After a while，he shortened that term to“OK”．
　　The second explanation is based on the place where President Van Buren was born，Kinderhook，New York．Van Bnren’s friends organized a club to help him become President They caned the club the Old Kinderhoob，and anyone who supported Van Buren was called“OK”．
　　1.The author  
　　A. believes both of the stories    B．doesn’t believe a word of the stories
　　C．is not sure whether the stories are true    D. is telling the stories just for fun
　　2. According to the passage，President Jackson    
　　A．couldn’t draw up any documents at all       B. didn’t like to read important papers by himself
　　C．often had his assistants sign documents for him    D .wasn’t good at reading，writing or spelling
　　3. According to the first story, the term “OK”    A. was approved of by President Jackson  B．was the title of some Official documents
　　C．was first used by President Jackson   D．was an old way to spell“all correct’’
　　4.According to the second story，the term‘‘OK”  
　　A．was the short way to say‘‘old Kinderhoob”  B．meant the place where President Van Buren was born
　　C．was the name of Van Buren’s club         D．was used to call Van Buren’s supporters in the election
　　5.According to the second story．the term“OK”was first used __
　　A．by Van Buren    B．in a presidential election
　　C．to organize the Old Kinderhoob   D．by the members of the‘‘Old Kinderhoob”
　　Passage 2
　　Although the United States covers so much land and the land produces far more food than the present population needs，its people are by now almost entirely an urban society Less than a tenth of the people are engaged in agriculture and forestry(林业)，and most of the rest live in or around towns，small and large．Here the traditional picture is changing：every small town may still be very like other small towns，and the typical small town may represent a widely accepted view of the country，but most Americans do not live in small towns any more．Half the population now lives in some thirty metropolitan areas(1arge cities with their suburbs、of more than a million people each—a larger proportion than in Germany or England，let alone France．The statistics(统计)of urban and rural population should be treated with caution because so many people who live in areas classified as rural travel by car to work in a nearby town each day．As the rush to live out of town continues．rural areas within reach of towns are gradually filled with houses，so that it is hard to say at what moment a piece of country becomes a suburb But more and more the typical American lives in a metropolitan rather than a small town environment．
　　6. If now America has 250 million people．how many of them are engaged in agriculture and forestry? 
　　A．About 25 million．     B．More than 25 million． 
　　7. Which of the following four countries has the smallest proportion of people living in metropolitan areas?
　　A．United States．  B．Germany．    C．France．D．England．
　　8. What’s the meaning of the word“metropolitan”in the middle of the passage?
　　A .Of a large city with its suburbs．    B．Of small and large towns． 
　　C．Of urban areas．    D．Of rural areas．
　　9. According to the passage，what can we learn about small towns in the United States?
　　A Most small towns become gradually crowded    B．Small towns are still similar to each other．
　　C．As the traditional picture is changing，towns are different．  D .Small towns are turning into large cities
　　10. Why is it hard to say when a piece of country becomes a suburb?
　　A．Because they are the same．     B．Because the rush takes place too quickly
　　C．Because the process is gradual．  D．Because more and more Americans live in metropolitan areas．
　　Passage 3
　　If we were asked exactly what we were doing a year ago，we should probably have to say that we could not remember But if we had kept a book and had written in it an account of what we did each day，we should be able to give an answer to the question.
　　It is the same in history Many things have been forgotten because we do not have any written account of them Sometimes men did keep a record of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire or in a war．Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that time and place did not know how to Write．For example，we know a good deal about the people who lived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for those who lived after them．But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 years ago in central Africa． because they had not learned to write．
　　Sometimes．of course，even if the people cannot write，they may know something of the past．They have heard about it from older people，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most important happenings，and these have been sung and acted  and told for many generations For most people are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past．This we may call ’remembered history’．Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us as written history is，because words are much more easily changed when used again and again in speech than when copied in writing．But where there are no written records，such spoken stories are often very helpful．
　　11. Which of the following ideas is not suggested in the passage?
　　A．“Remembered history”，compared with written history，is less reliable
　　B．Written records of the past play the most important role in our learning of the