Come prepared: When you arrive at a race, your bike should be in race-ready condition.
Chain Management: Chain damage is still the number one problem with mountain bikes. Keeping your chain clean and well-oiled will help, as will frequent chain replacement. Periodic inspection of your chain for wear, stretch and damage may save you a long walk home.
Packing Tape: This can be used for rims trips, boots for fractured tires and a dozen more makeshift repairs. If you've flown to the race, it also saves you from having to borrow tape to close up your bike box for the flight home. Other musts: safety pins and plastic zip ties.
Pre-race: Visual inspections before any serious off-road ride, carefully examine the area where the tire hooks onto the rim and remove any foreign objects which could cause premature（比預(yù)期早的）tire wear.
Tire Pressure: Check tire pressure before race start. The recommended pressure is noted on the tire sidewall, usually 40 lbs., many racers run 50 lbs., or more for less rolling resistance.
Be Self-Contained: Make sure you are self-contained. Bring your own drinking water, food and first aid kit. Also have tools, spare parts, tubes, quick fills and a chain tool. Never suppose you can just borrow these items from a friend.
Post-race Visual Inspections: Inspect your bike after completing each event, especially before competing in a downhill event. Re-inspect before packing your bike for the trip home.
Have Fun!
73. This passage is written for those who _______.
A. go in for outdoor activities                        B. love cycling in other places
C. will join in mountain bike races                 D. are preparing for a marathon
74. The writer seems to advise the racers ________.
A. not to replace chain frequently                   B. not to take an extra chain
C. to bring less while racing                          D. to have higher tire pressure
75 The passage is organized in order of _______.
A. importance             B. time                      C. readers' interest       D. place
76. From the passage we can safely say that _______.
A. a foreign tire is a guarantee for the cyclist to win the race
B. the biggest trouble for the race is that nobody will help you
C. a downhill event causes more damage to the bike than an uphill one
D. regular inspection is a must before, during, and even after the race

第三節(jié)：完形填空（共20小題；每小題1．5分，滿分30分）
It is well that young men should begin at the beginning and occupy the least important positions．21 of the leading businessmen of Pittsburgh had a serious responsibility placed upon them at the very  22  of their career．They were  23 to the broom(掃帚), spending the first hours of their business lives   24 the office．
And here is the basic  25 of success, the great secret:  26  your energy, thought, and capital (資本) wholly on the business in which you are  27 ．Having begun in one line, determine to fight it out on that  28 , to lead in it, adopt every  29  , have the best machinery, and know the most about it．
The companies which fail are those which have 30 their capital, which means that they have scattered their brains  31  ．They have investments in this, or that, or  32 , here, there, and everywhere．“Don't put all your eggs in one basket” is all  33 , I tell you．“Put all your eggs in one basket, and then  34  that basket”．Look round you and take  35 ; men who do that do not often fail．It is easy to watch and carry the one basket．It is trying to carry too many baskets  36 breaks most eggs in this country．He who  37  three baskets must put one on his  38  , which is likely to fall down．One  39 of the American businessman is lack of concentration．
Remember: put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket． 40 Emerson says, "no one can cheat you out of final success but yourselves．"
21．A．None         B．Few              C．All          D．Many
22．A．beginning      B．end           C．point           D．promotion
23．A．ordered       B．promoted           C．introduced            D．stated
24．A．sweeping out   B．taking out      C．bringing out       D．picking out
25．A．inspiration     B．condition            C．plan              D．case
26．A．concentrate    B．devote             C．a(chǎn)pply       D．bury
27．A．charged        B．engaged            C．prepared     D．done
28．A．position      B．career           C．row          D．line
29．A．improvement   B．chance           C．learning     D．rise
30．A．gathered     B．forbidden          C．got          D．scattered
31．A．a(chǎn)lso          B．either           C．neither        D．yet
32．A．one            B．the other         C．others       D．the others
33．A．a(chǎn)pparent      B．clear            C．wrong       D．perfect
34．A．notice       B．observe            C．stare         D．watch
35．A．notice        B．comment         C．interest       D．concentration
36．A．what          B．that               C．whoever      D．whichever
37．A．brings         B．takes              C．carries       D．owns
38．A．mind         B．brain              C．head         D．hand
39．A．fault          B．a(chǎn)dvantage          C．pattern       D．model
40．A．When         B．While               C．Which       D．As

第三部分 閱讀理解（共20小題；每小題2分，滿分40分）
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
A flock of hungry pigeons were flying across the sky in search of food. Having traveled a long distance, they felt tired and settled down on a tree. Just below the tree, they saw grains strewn（拋灑）all over the ground. The pigeons were happy to have found enough food to eat. All the pigeons came down from the tree and started eating the grains. As they were doing so, a huge net fell on them and trapped them all.
The pigeons were taken aback. They noticed a hunter sitting at a distance from the tree, a bow and arrow in hand. The pigeons realized it was the hunter who had trapped them in the net. The hunter got up and began to move towards the pigeons.
The leader of the pigeons spoke,“ Friends, we are in great trouble. The hunter will catch us if we do not act swiftly in a few seconds. There is only one option available at this moment. Let all of us use our force together and fly up along with the net. If all of us use our force and fly together, we can fly carrying the net along with us. Let us start now.”
All the pigeons agreed with him and flew high carrying the net along with them, After traveling enough distance away from the hunter, the pigeons settled on a tree and carefully came out of the net one by one and thus escaped the evil design of the hunter.
56. Who strewed the grains over the ground?
A. A villager.      B. The hunter.       C. The pigeon owner.  D. The writer.
57. The word “_________” has the closest meaning to the underlined word “option“.
A. reason         B. choice           C. action            D. opinion
58. How did the pigeons react when they got trapped?
A. They didn’t know what to do.         B. They tried to fly in all directions.
C. They remained rather calm.           D. They decided to fight for their lives.
59. This story wants to tell us that ________.
A. two heads are better than one         B. confidence will save everyone
C. teamwork can work wonders          D. actions speaker louder than words

Girls really do prefer pink and boys prefer blue, recent research shows.
The reasons could have its origins in the hunt for food on the African savannah(稀樹草原) thousands of years ago. Evolution may have developed women’s preference for pink, perhaps because it helped them to find ripe fruit and healthy men with reddish faces, while both men and women have a natural desire for blue, according to scientists at Newcastle University.
“Everyone in today’s western culture, from parents to toy manufactures, seems to assume that little girls like pink.” Said Prof. Anya Hulbert, who wanted to find out whether the reason was cultural or to do with biology.
A love of salmon, fuchsia and coral does seem to be rooted into females, rather than picked up from their mothers.
The participants in the study were Chinese and British. The Chinese students showed a marked preference for red. “Culture may contribute to this natural female preference.” Said Pro. Hulbert.
In her experiments, 208 young adult men and women were asked to select, as rapidly as possible, their preferred color. Hulbert and her colleague Dr. Yazhu Ling marked the results and found that while men preferred blue, women tended to choose pink.
Hulbert said she could only infer about the preference for blue: “Here again, I would favor evolutionary arguments. Going back to our savannah’s days, we would have a natural preference for a clear blue sky, because it signaled good weather. Clear blue also signals a good water source.”
60.The passage mentions “the African savannah” to show that____.
A.the ancient Africa was a beautiful place.
B.human beings lived in African at first.
C.women and men have different color preferences.
D.Color preference has its historical origins.
61.It can be inferred that the underlined word “fuchsia”_____.
A.is probably a kind of toy
B.is probably pink in color
C.can be only found in Africa
D.hardly causes men’s interest
62.By saying “The Chinese students… for red.” in paragraph 5, the writer means______.
A.red is the Chinese student’s favorite color
B.the Chinese prefer red more than the British
C.culture influences people’s color preferences
D.the study was carried out by two nations
63.What can we know from the last paragraph?
A.Hulbert thinks evolution explains why people prefer blue
B.Hulbert has a strong desire for “savannah” days
C.Blue is a natural signal of many good things
D.While boys like blue, girls like pink.

　　Friendship can deeply affect the physical and mental health of both men and women. Studies show that people who have no friends or who are lonely，are more likely to die earlier，get sick more often and suffer greater physical wear and tear（折磨）than those who have a support system of friends.
　　Sometimes，family members may be more likely to give you advice or tell you what you don’t want to hear. It may not be as good as a friend who will listen to you and guide you，but support your decisions anyway. The most important elements about friendship are those who suffer support and do not judge your decisions based on society.
　　One reason for the link between social support and good health practice seems to be that people who feel cared for by others are less stress-out and are protected against the symptoms（癥狀）of depression and loneliness.
　　Generally，women benefit most because of how they deal with stress. Women are more social in how they deal with stress than men, while men are more likely to have a“fight or flight”reaction.
　　Women also tend to have larger，denser social network，in which more people know each other and help each other, while men typically have smaller groups of friends and will rely on their wives or other important people for more support. While all these affect people psychologically（心理上），friendship brings comfort that reduces the ill effects of stress, and the sex difference also contributes to the difference in the length of one’s life time.
63．In the author’s opinion，a real friend should _____.
A．tell you what to do even if you refuse to hear it
B．try to persuade you to change your mind quickly
C．judge your decision according to his／her experience
D．give you advice but respect your own decision
64．Women benefit more from friendship than men because_____.
A．women are always cared for by more people than men
B．women are usually less stress—out when staying with others
C．women are more likely to solve problems with friends’ help
D．women can always keep more long-life friendship than men
65．According to the passage we can infer that _____.
A．it’s good for women to tell men what they should do or not
B．friends are always more important than family members
C．men don’t want to share their problems with many people
D．the trend that women can live longer makes them more relaxed
66．This passage mainly talks about _____.
A．why people should develop friendship
B．when friendship affects people’s health
C．people’s different attitudes towards friendship
D．the friendship which can make people live longer

Jee Hock and Meng Kim were very good friends. Jee Hock could not see. He was blind. Meng Kim could not walk. He was lame. They lived in a village near a forest. Everyone in the village was going to a rich man’s dinner on the other side of the forest. Jee Hock and Meng Kim were anxious to attend the dinner too.
Blind Jee Hock thought of a plan. He would carry Meng Kim. The lame man could tell him the way. Meng Kim said that the plan was a good one.
On the way through the forest, Meng Kim saw a tiger. He did not tell Jee Hock about it. Instead, he quietly asked Jee Hock to carry him to the nearest tree. Upon reaching an over banging branch, Meng kim quickly hauled himself up.
Then the tiger roared. Jee Hock at once knew a tiger was near. He lay down quietly. The tiger came to him and sniffed his body. The tiger’s whiskers touched Jee Hock’s nose. At once Jee Hock sneezed, “Ah choooooo!” The tiger was afraid and ran away.
Then Meng Kim came down from the tree. He asked Jee Hock about the tiger. Jee Hock said that the tiger had told him to choose his friends wisely.
45. Jee Hock and Meng Kim were good ______.
A. men          B. tigers         C. friends         D. brothers
46. They decided to go to ______.
A. a picnic       B. a dinner       C. a party         D. the cinema
47. When Meng Kim saw the tiger, he ______.
A. shouted loudly                 B. did not tell Jee Hock about it
C. quickly climbed up a tree         D. lay down quietly
48. Jee Hock knew the tiger was near. He ______.
A. went to sleep                  B. cried
C. sat down and waited             D. lay down quietly
49. Jee Hock sneezed because the tiger’s whiskers ______.
A. hurt him                     B. was very long
C. cut his nose                    D. touched his nose

第二節(jié) 完形填空（共20小題；每小題1.5分，滿分30分）
閱讀下面短文，從短文后所給各題的四個選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
Many television programs are very realistic. One who watches   41  often feels that whatever happens in a film can  42  happen to him. With only a little imagination（想象力）, every man in the  43  becomes a thief, a spy(間諜) or a  44  . Jane had been watching a spy film at a friend’s house. In it a girl has been  45  and murdered. She walked to the station, feeling a little frightened. She took a  46   back to the center of the city. There were a lot of people traveling with her, 47  she felt much  48 .
A man sitting opposite her,  49  a newspaper, glanced at her. She thought  50   terrible until she saw him staring at her,  51  the film and feeling very uncommon, she got  52  the train and went to the bus-shop. When he got on  53  bus as she did, she found that he was following her. As long as she was with other people, she wasn’t frightened, but when she got off the bus, the street was almost  54  . She walked as fast as possible. She could hear footsteps following her, but she dared not look behind. Reaching the front door, she  45 for her key, but she was unable to find  56 because she was so terrified. Just then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Instead of feeling hands  57  her neck, however, she heard a  58  voice.
“ I wonder  59  I frightened you. I’m your new  60  . I thought I recognized you on the train, but I wasn’t sure.”       
41.  A. films         B. TV            C. plays          D. matches
42.  A. well          B. often          C. not           D. hardly
43.  A. park          B. school         C. factory        D. street
44.  A. stranger       B. walker        C. murderer       D. passenger
45.  A. followed      B. loved         C. kissed         D. found
46.  A. bus           B. taxi           C. car            D. train
47.  A. but           B. so            C. or            D. unless
48.  A. safer          B. hotter         C. noisier         D. faster
49.  A. reads         B. reading       C. readed        D. read
50.  A. something     B. everything      C. nothing       D. anything
51.  A. Seeing        B. Remembering   C. Watching      D. Noticing
52.  A. on           B. off             C. in            D. out
53.  A. the same      B. same            C. the similar           D. similar
54.  A. noisy         B. busy             C. crowded       D. Empty
55.  A. asked          B. felt              C. called         D. waited
56.  A. her            B. him           C. it             D. them
57.  A. above          B. round            C. over          D. under
58.  A. pleasant       B. terrible         C. cold          D. loud
59.  A. and           B. if                C. because of     D. or
60.  A. friend         B. husband        C. classmate       D. neighbor

Romantic comedies have long been regarded as the perfect movie for a first date. But according to a study, romantic comedies such as Bridget Jones's Diary and Notting Hill could be bad for your love life.
Rather than being harmless entertainment, 'rom-coms' give people unrealistic and potentially unhealthy expectations about real-life relationships, scientists say.
Researchers found that those who watched romantic comedies were more likely to believe in predestined love (緣份) than those who preferred other kinds of movie.
They were also more likely to believe that perfect relationships happen instantly, and were less likely to believe that couples need to work at relationships.
Watching just one romantic comedy is enough to sway people's attitudes to romantic love, they found.
Dr Bjarne Holmes, who led the research, said: "We are not killing joys -- we are not saying that people shouldn't watch these movies. But we are saying that it would be helpful if people were more aware and more critical of the messages in these films. The problem is that while most of us know that the idea of a perfect relationship is unrealistic, some of us are still more influenced than we realize."
For the first part of the study, Dr Holmes and colleagues at the Family and Personal Relationships Laboratory at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, studied 40 box office hits from 1995 to 2005.
Most of those comedies described couples falling instantly in love and promoted the idea of fate --the belief that there is just one perfect companion out there, they found.
"There's a belief of destiny and couples in romantic comedies immediately understand each other," said Dr Holmes. "If you think that's how things are, you are setting yourself up to be disappointed."
In a second study, Dr Holmes asked around 100 student volunteers to watch Serendipity -- the 2001 romantic comedy starring Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack, while 100 watched a David Lynch drama.
In a questionnaire after the film ended, students watching the rom-com were far more likely to believe in fate and destiny than those who had watched the 'straight' film.
72. According to the passage if you are fond of watching romantic comedies, you ____.
A. are more likely to believe in future love
B. must be influenced by films
C. may expect a perfect relationship in your love life
D. may fall instantly in love with one of your classmates
73. The underlined word "destiny" most probably means __     .
A. fate             B. love            C. beauty          D. romance
74. The purpose of Dr Bjame Hohnes' research is __     .
A. to promote the idea of fate
B. to ask us to keep away from romantic comedies
C. to show how romantic comedies have influence on our life
D. to remind us of the negative effect of watching romantic comedies
75. It is implied in the passage that        .
A. watching comedies is harmful to a stable marriage
B. it is necessary for couples to work at their relationship
C. couples falling instantly in love end up with an unhappy marriage
D. we should watch more 'straight' films instead of romantic comedies

What makes a house a home?
Not size, of course. I’ve been in some of the grandest houses in America and it’s readily apparent no one lives there. Earlier this year in a mud hut in Ethiopia, where we sat on chairs next to the hostess’s bed—a home that had more warmth than any house I’ve been in since.
Now John Edwards is exploring what makes a house a home in his just-released book-- The Blueprints of Our Lives. There Edwards writes, “ This is a book about homes, the values they rest on, the dreams they are filled with, and the people they have shaped. The houses and circumstances (環(huán)境) are different, but much of what you find inside will be familiar.”
Whether you’re sitting in an airport right now, waiting to fly to your childhood home for Thanksgiving, or in your own home waiting for the relatives to arrive, you know what he’s talking about.
We’ve lived in our townhouse for 21 years--the loose windows that make noise in the wind, the fireplace so shallow it holds only one log, the kitchen window that offers a view of the world passing by. It is where friends sit on the kitchen counter drinking wine while dinner is being fixed. I lived there for only 18, but it will always be my true home. Even the lamp in the west living room window, which I could see far down the road when driving home late at night, still shines.
While all this talk about childhood memories can be warm and comforting, home is whom you’re with, not where you are. As Edwards writes, “ Home is family. Home is safety. Home is faith.”
69. What would be the best title for the text?
A. Home means everything            B. What’s inside makes us feel at home
C. Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives   D. The importance of Houses
70.   The purpose of the second paragraph is to _________.
A.    mean the author likes living in grandest houses 
B.   prove the author got along with the hostess
C.   mean the feeling of a home isn’t related to the size
D.   show the author’s different feelings about houses
71. We know that The Blueprints of Our Lives ________
A.   is the description of Edwards’s houses
B.   is mainly about houses
C.    helps us to understand the concept of home
D.    is written by the author of the text
72. According to the text, which of the following can make a house a home?
A. The atmosphere you feel                B. The color of the walls
C. The number of family members           D. The position of the home