D. about

KEYS 43

PART A: MULTIPLE CHOICE:

Question 1: Phonetics (5 points)

Pick out the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from those of the others. 1. A. inadequate B.navigate C.necessitate D. debate 2. A. pizza B. lizard C.puzzle D. muzzle 3. A. lazy B. lapel C. label D. labourer 4. A. too B. food C. room D. good 5. A. tomb B. comb C. dome D. home 6. A. naked B. beloved C. helped D. wicked 7. A. shot B. chemical C. fresh D. champagne 8. A. dormitory B. fort C. knob D. gorgeous 9. A. rather B. sacrifice C. hard D. farther 10. A. than B. theatre C. theory D. through

ANSWER 1: 1. A 2. A 3. B 4. D 5. A 6. C 7. B 8. C 9. A 10. A

Question 2: READING COMPREHENSION ( 20 points) Reading 1: Biographies of Mohammed are both numerous and unreliable. Non was written in his lifetime, and all are plagued by legends and embellishments. The best-known ones are based on the Hadiths, or “traditions’, which are dubious historical value. The Koran may be the only trustworthy account of the major event of his life. Mohammed, “the praised One”, founder and prophet of Islam, was born in Mecca in the years 570. He became an orphan at the age of six and was taken into the care of his uncle, Abu-Talib. The tribe of Fihr, to which Mohammed’s family belonged, was then on the rise.[1] They had become the keepers and guardians of the Kaaba in Mecca, a site of pre-Islamic Arab worship (and now the holiest place in Islam). Their preeminence made it easier for Mohammed to accomplish his later religious and political conquests. [2] [3] Mohammed’s early life was spent as a shepherd and caravan attendant. He is thought to have been a quiet man, much given to fasting and prayer. At age 25 he maried a rich, older widow, Khadeejah. [4] The frequent commercial journeys he made after his marriage allowed him to learn the rudiments of Judaism and

Christianity. When Mohammed was forty years old, he received what he believed to be a call from the Angel Gabriel, inaugurating his career as a phrophet of Allah and the apostle of Arabia. His first converts included his wife and daughter, his adopted son Ali, and his slave Zayd. Mohammed’s attacks on traditional Arab belief provoked ourage and persecution in Mecca, which drove him to the city of Medina in 622.There he was welcomed as God’s prophet, and found a growing number of supporters. With their help he conquered several

Arab, Jewish, and Christian tribes, marched triumphantly back to Mecca in 630, destroyed the idols, and united all the tribes under one religion. He made his last pilgrimage to Mecca with 40,000 followers in 632, and died soon afterward of a fever at the age of 63. After Mohammed’s death, his successors, the caliphs, aspired to make Islam a world religion through the conquest of foreign lands. In less than a century they succeeded in taking Palestine, Syria, Mesopotania, 78