About 1 in 15  households drink bottled water today, spending about $ 4 billion a year on it. Although the reasons for the trend are many,  bottled water's health benefits fall near the top of the list. Surveys have found that about 25 percent of bottled water drinkers choose the beverage for health and safety reasons; another quarter believe it is pure and free of contaminants(雜質(zhì)).

     Regardless of its pristine image, bottled water is not necessarily any purer or more healthful than what flows right out of the tap.  Consider that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the bottled water industry watchdog, does not require that bottled water meet higher standards for quality, such as the maximum level of contaminants, than public water supplies regulated by the EPA. For the most part, the FDA simply follows EPA's regulatory lead. Granted, bottled water is often filtered(過濾) to remove chemicals such as chlorine that may impart a certain taste. But that doesn't make it any safer. In fact, about 25 to 40 percent of bottled water comes from the same municipal water supplies as tap water. Furthermore, some bottled waters do not contain any or enough of the fluoride(氟化物) needed to fight cavities. The only way to determine whether a certain water contains the mineral is to check with the company that bottles it.

     This is not to say that bottled water is necessarily any better or worse, from a health standpoint, than tap water. It's certainly preferable to tap water for those who like its taste. The problem is that many consumers pay 300 to 1,200 times more per gallon for bottled water than for tap water because they think bottled water is the more healthful of the two.  Bottlers add to the confusion by sprinkling terms such as "pure", "crystal pure" and "premium" on labels illustrated with pictures of glaciers, mountain streams, and waterfalls, even when the water inside comes from a public reservoir. However, the FDA has set forth regulations requiring clear labeling of bottled waters. The miniglossary of bottled waters explains what some of the terms used on bottles really mean.

71. What conclusion can we draw from the passage?

     A. Most bottled water drinkers buy it for the taste.    B. Labels on bottled water are used to mislead consumers.

     C. The FDA sets high standards for bottled water.    D. Only wealthy people can afford bottled water.

72. What does the underlined word "pristine" in the second paragraph mean?

     A. Beautiful.        B. Pure.               C. Popular. D. Inexpensive.

73. According to the passage, removing chlorine from water____________

     A. does not make the water safer           B. is required by the FDA

     C. makes the water less expensive          D. is necessary for good health

74. According to the passage, one valid reason for drinking bottled water is the __________

     A. convenience      B. cost.                C. minerals             D. taste

75. What's the main idea of this passage?

     A. Bottled water may be preferable to tap water in taste.

     B. Bottled water is always safer to drink than tap water.

     C. Consumers should consider carefully the reason for buying bottled water.

     D. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for the bottled water.

According to decades-long research, women who took low to moderate(節(jié)制) daily doses of aspirin had a reduced death rate, especially from heart disease.

The research, based on data from a major trial that has tracked almost 80,000 women since 1976, found that women who reported using aspirin on a regular basis had a 25 percent lower risk of death from any cause than women who didn't take the drug.

  The risk of death from cardiovascular(心血管的) disease was 38 percent lower for aspirin users, and there was also a 12 percent reduction in cancer deaths that took effect after a decade of aspirin use, the researchers found in their report based on the Nurses' Health Study.

However, an accompanying editorial in the journal cautioned that the results were open to debate and far from definitive.     

The dissenting (持異議的) editorial was based on results of an earlier trial by the Women's Health Study, which followed almost 40,000 women for 11 years and found no reduction in overall deaths. Therefore, the new findings "cannot overcome the accumulated evidence that aspirin is not particularly effective for the primary prevention of death from cardiovascular disease in women."

      "This is a complicated issue," said Dr. Andrew T. Chan, leading author of the new report. "We understand that aspirin has potential health benefits, but who would aspirin therapy(療法) be appropriate for?" There are "areas of disagreement that need further study" before that question can be answered, Chan said. But there is information from the two large studies and other trials that can help guide women and their physicians, he said. And anyone who is thinking about daily aspirin "should really talk with doctors about the benefits and risks."

66. The new report clearly benefits the women suffering

     A. heart disease           B. cancer                   C. lose of memory           D. aspirin side effects

67. Which of the following questions hasn't been solved according to Dr. Chan?

A. Whether aspirin is beneficial for health?           B. Which of the two researches is really reliable?

C. Who will do the further study in this area?       D. Who are proper for this treatment?

68. Which research does the author seem to support?

     A. The new one.            B. The earlier one.  C. Neither.                   D. Both.

69. We know from the last paragraph that women who trust the treatment should

     A. be very careful about it                             B. start immediately with the help of their physicians

     C. concentrate on the benefits instead of the risks     D. turn to their physicians for only the benefit it has

70. What is the main purpose of the passage?

     A. To promote the new aspirin therapy to women. B. To introduce two controversial researches.

     C. To draw a final conclusion on the debate.     D. To help women live longer and healthier.

     The Poetry Foundation recently named American poet Jack Prelutsky as the nation's first children's poet laureate(桂冠詩人).  The group created the award as a way to  increase children's love of poetry.

      As children's poet laureate, Jack Prelutsky will give two public readings in the next two years.  He will also advise the Poetry Foundation about children's literature and take part in projects concerning children

and poetry.

     Jack Prelutsky has been writing poetry for children for almost forty years.  He has written more than thirty-five books of poems.  His first book was called A Gopher in the Garden. It was published in 1967. His latest is called Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems.

     Jack Prelutsky is well known for creating new words by combining two words to create a new kind of creature. For example, he combined "radish" with "shark" to get "radish ark". "Lion" and "broccoli" became "broccoli on". He also created "umbrellaphant", a mixture of the words "umbrella" and "elephant".

     Jack Prelutsky says that children like his poems because he writes about things they care about. Poetry researchers say that Jack Prelutsky's poems recognize children's feelings. An example of this is the poem My Sister Is a Werewolf which is about how it feels to be different.

Jack Prelutsky also writes poems about American holidays. His poem It's Halloween is a very famous one about the holiday celebrated at the end of October.

56. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

     A. Poems with New Words Grow Popular            B. First Children's Poet Laureate Named

     C. Children's Love for Poetry Increased                D. Jack Prelutsky Awarded Nationwide

57. What is Jack Prelutsky famous for?

     A. Creating new words in his poems.                    B. His productivity.

     C. His long time of writing.                                  D. His poems about American holidays.

58. Children are in favour of his poems because

A. they are easy to understand                     B. the poet is famous

C. children like reading new words              D. the poet understand their feelings

59. What can we infer from the passage?

A.      It was A Gopher in the Garden that brought him fame.

B. The poet will be kept busy over a lot of activities.

C. Jack Prelutsky will no longer write about American holidays.

D. The poem It's Halloween must have been written for adults.

60. Put the following items in right order according to the passage.

a. two public readings                                                  b. A Gopher in the Garden

c. Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems         d. My Sister Is a Werewolf

A. b--c--d--a      B. d--a--c--b         C. b--d--c--a         D. a--b--c--d

     It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen   36   in almost a month. Every day, my husband would    37    the process of trying to get water to the fields.    38  we saw some rain soon, we would lose everything.

      On this day I learned the true lesson of   39  and witnessed the only   40  I had ever seen. I was in the kitchen when I saw my son, Billy,    41    toward the woods.  He was walking with effort, trying to be as    42   as possible. Minutes after he   43   into the woods, he came running back. I went back to make sandwiches,    44  that whatever he had been doing was completed.  Moments later,     45    , he was once again walking slowly toward the woods. This activity went on for an hour.    46   I couldn't help following him and saw the most amazing   47    

      Several large deer stood in front of him. Billy walked right up to them. I almost    48     for him to get away. A huge deer was   49   close.    50   the deer didn't even move as Billy knelt down. I saw a tiny deer lying on the ground, obviously suffering from   51    , lift its head to lap up the water cupped in Billy's hands. When the water was   52     , Billy ran back to get more. It then became   53   to me.

      I stood on the edge of the woods, watching the    54    boy working so hard to save another life. As my tears began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops. It was as if the God himself was   55  with pride. The rain that day saved our farm just like the actions of one little boy who saved another.

_________tired from her typing, Julia decided to take a walk outside.

A. To get           B. To have got       C. Getting             D. Got

About one third of the population in Beijing and Shanghai_________ netizens, but in poorer areas, only three or four percent _________online.

     A. is; is             B. are; are            C. are; is              D. is; are

―Is William seriously ill?

―_________.He was rushed to hospital last night.

     A. I'm afraid so     B. I'm afraid not      C. I hope so            D. I guess not

Watching me playing various tricks to stop the baby crying, the mother fought hard to _________her laughter.

     A. hold back        B. take off             C. carry on             D. turn down

_______ they advance through the program, they will learn how to read short sentences with 100% accuracy.

     A. As               B. While             C. Though              D. Before

____________ ways to be more gentle with the earth, or we'll be punished for what we've done.

     A. To find          B. Finding             C. Found               D. Find