Her talents          in comparison with the others.

A．stand up        B．stand on        C．stand out          D．stand off

Mr and Mrs Scott prefer a restaurant in a small town to         in so large a city as New York.

A．this       B．one        C．it          D．that

The United States is like a milting pot, with people from all over the world bringing their own culture and forming a（an）         society.

A．original        B．different        C．a(chǎn)ccurate        D．diverse

The salesmen were wise enough to make a close study of human nature and      all our weaknesses.

A．divided          B．a(chǎn)rranged        C．separated          D．classified

Many foreign officials came to China for       friendship       for making money.

A．increasing; more than                                   B．improving; rather than

C．promoting; other than                        D．developing; better than

At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the sport of canoe（賽艇）racing was added to the list of　 international competitions. The favorite team in the four-man canoe 1  was the United States team. One member of that team was a young man named Bill Havens.

    As the 2 for the Olympics neared, it became clear that Bill’s wife would give 3  to their first child at about the same time, so Bill  4  himself in a dilemma（左右為難的困境）．Should he go to Paris or should he stay at home with his family and  5  about the Olympics? After all, competing in the Olympics was one of his lifelong  6 .

Bill, after a great deal of thinking, decided to withdraw from the competition.

     7  it turned out, the United States four-man canoe team won the gold medal in Paris, and Bill’s wife was  8  in giving birth to their child. She was  9  late, in fact, that Bill could have  10  in the event and returned home in time.

    It was a shame, but Bill said that he had no  11 . Bill knew what was most important to him and he  12  what he believed was best. Not everybody has the  13  of character to say no to something that he or she  14  wants in order to say yes to something that truly  15 .

    There was a（n） 16  end to Bill’s story. The child  17  born to Bill and his wife was a boy whom they  18  Frank. Twenty-eight years later, in 1952, Bill  19  a telegram from Frank. It was sent from Helsinki, Finland, where the 1952 Olympics were being held. The telegram  20 :“Dad, I won. I’m bringing home the gold medal you lost the chance to win while waiting for me to be born.”

1．A．contest                 B．race                     C．sports                D．game

2．A．year                     B．deadline                 C．time                   D．chance

3．A．birth                    B．baby                     C．help                   D．hand

4．A．found                   B．put                       C．thought              D．trapped

5．A．expect                  B．compete                C．comment            D．forget

6．A．promises              B．dreams                  C．journeys             D．businesses

7．A．What                   B．As                        C．So                     D．That

8．A．early                    B．lucky                    C．late                    D．miserable

9．A．very                     B．too                       C．so                      D．much

10．A．taken                  B．finished                 C．fought                D．competed

11．A．regrets                B．a(chǎn)dvantages            C．disappointments  D．choices

12．A．did                     B．paid                      C．made                 D．lost

13．A．origin                 B．strength                C．reason                D．energy

14．A．a(chǎn)pparently           B．truly                     C．finally                D．seemingly

15．A．wants                 B．needs                    C．values                D．matters

16．A．expected             B．a(chǎn)nnoying               C．interesting          D．disappointing

17．A．eventually           B．fortunately             C．a(chǎn)ctually              D．initially

18．A．named                B．marked                 C．expected            D．indicated

19．A．sent                   B．a(chǎn)ccepted               C．mailed                D．received

20．A．showed         B．read             C．told             D．noted

Puerto Rico may be part of the USA but its music and dance is a mixture of both Spanish and American rhythms. The country, as a result, is a mixture of very new and very old. It exhibits the open American way of life yet remains the more formal Spanish influences. This is reflected in the architecture, not just the difference between the old and the modern in urban areas but also in the countryside, where older buildings sit side by side with schools and houses. It is found in the cooking, too many fast food restaurants together with local cooking which has its roots in the mixture of culture of all the Caribbean and in the music, where rock music is played in beach resorts but in the hilly center, Puerto Rican music can be heard. Old volcanic mountains, long motionless, take up a large part of the center, with the highest peak, Corrode Punta, at 1338 meters in the Cordillera Central. The mountains are surrounded by a coastal plain with the Atlantic shore beaches cooled all the year round by trade winds.

The population is 3.8 million, of which about 1.5 million live in San Juan, although about another two million Puerto Ricans live in the USA. Average life is 73.8 years and GDP per person is ＄12,212, the highest in Latin America, although not up to the level of mainland USA. The people are largely a mixture of Amerindian, Taino- Arawak , Spanish and African. Most Puerto Ricans do not speak English and less than30% speak it fluently, Second generation Puerto Ricans who were born in New York, but who have returned to the island, are called Nuyoricans. The people are very friendly and hospitable but there is crime, linked to drugs and unemployment.

1．It can be inferred from the passage that       .

      A．Puerto Rico belongs to the USA.

       B．Puerto Rico is part of Spanish

       C．Puerto Rico is an independent country

       D．Puerto Rico has the highest peak in Latin America

2．The underlined word “it” in the first paragraph refers to         .

       A．the country                                          B．a(chǎn) result

       C．a(chǎn) mixture of very new and very old.       D．Puerto Rico

3．What’s the character of the culture of Puerto Rico?

       A．Either new or old                                  B．A mixture of different peoples

       C．Too many fast food restaurants              D．Either Spanish or American

4．What are the disadvantages of Puerto Rico?

       A．Too many Puerto Ricans live  in the USA

       B．Few people in Puerto Rico can speak English

       C．Puerto Rico’s GDP is lower than that of the USA

       D．Social problem connected with drugs and lack jobs.

　　Nature has supplied every animal except man with some covering for his body such as fur, feathers, hair, and shells as a thick hide. But man has nothing but a thin skin.

　　If someone were to ask you, "Why did human beings start to cover their bodies with clothes?" most would answer, "To keep themselves warm, of course."

　　It is only when we begin to think about it a little that we realize that clothes are worn for a great many reasons that have nothing to do with our prime need for warmth at all.

　　For example, we wear clothes to some degree in order to decorate ourselves — to make ourselves, if possible, look more dignified（尊嚴(yán)）or nicer.

　　Clothes of a special kind are often worn to show that the wearer has authority or power. The individual wearing them is treated with respect because he occupies a certain office. The judge on the Bench, for example, might look a very ordinary and unimpressive figure without his wig and gown. Clothes are an important part of ceremony, whether it is connected with belief, the law, parliament, and royalty, the fighting forces of the state. How different the Queen's Coronation ceremony（加冕儀式）would have looked without the robes, coronets and the cloth of gold.

　　Sometimes, even in some modern countries people wear some article of clothing, or some jewel, because they believe that it will bring them luck or protect them from evil or illness, or because it is connected with their beliefs.

　　None of these reasons for wearing clothes — to decorate ourselves to show our position in the world, for ceremonial purposes, for "luck", to give ourselves dignity and authority — have anything to do with our need for warmth.

1．It can be inferred that wearing clothes is man’s basic necessity to        .

       A．protect skin                                          B．show beauty      

       C．keep warm                                           D．look more dignified

2．The judge wearing special clothes on the bench        .

       A．looks nicer                                           B．looks different    

       C．shows wealth                                       D．shows power

3．Even in modern countries, sometimes people wear some article of clothing most likely because

           .

       A．of beliefs they hold                               B．it has something to do with their wealth

       C．they want to show their luck                  D．they have some kind of illness

4．The author’s purpose in writing this article is to tell us that clothes are worn       .

       A．to show people’s authority or power       B．for many reasons other than warmth

       C．to keep people impressive and nicer        D．for many other reasons apart from warmth

Being thirteen has certain problems that only another thirteen-year-old would understand. The biggest, I think, is learning to get along well with adults. I have found that when dealing with grown-ups, it is wise to remember two things.

1．Always use your head   2．Never use your head

For instance, one day just before supper, my mother sent me to the store for a loaf of whole-wheat bread. They hadn’t have any. When I told my mother, she said, “Well, what kind did you get?” I told her I hadn’t got any. She looked as if I had just announced that I was leaving home for good. “For goodness’ sake!” She said, “If they hadn’t had whole-wheat, you should have got something else! Why don’t you use your head?”

Not long after that, she sent me to the store for red oilcloth. They hadn’t had any, so I bought seven yards of purple. I thought it was pretty. Mother didn’t. She said, “Who ever heard of purple oilcloth in a red kitchen?” I told her I was only trying to use my head. She said. “Well, don’t ! And in the future, if you can’t get what I send you for, don’t get anything.”

See what I mean?

There are other things that seem a little strange, too. If my father goes out for the evening, he tells me to “l(fā)ook after” my mother and sister. But if the family goes out, and I want to stay at home, my father won’t let me. He doesn’t feel comfortable if I am home alone. That means I am old enough to “l(fā)ook after” my mother and sister but not old enough to “l(fā)ook after” myself.

Another problem is what to do when you trip over（絆倒） the cat and land with your head in the refrigerator, causing a large lump to appear just over the right eyebrow. In that case, your father could feel free to say with a few chouse words. Your sister could shed enough tears to dampen the whole room . Your mother could, and probably would, do both. But you? You are thirteen and can’t do anything! You are too young to curse, and “big boys” don’t cry. So you just stand there looking more stupid than usual. But in spite of all this I still think thirteen is a wonderful age!

1．The main idea of the passage is that        .

       A．young children are a nuisance（麻煩的人或事）

       B．being thirteen involves too may responsibilities

       C．a(chǎn) thirteen-year-old boy is the sun of the family

       D．thirteen-year-olds have special problems

2．The author says the biggest problem is        .

       A．learning how to use one’s head               B．a(chǎn)ssuming responsibilities

       C．showing you can be trusted                   D．learning how to get along with grown-ups

3．The author thinks that his father should allow him to        .

       A．go shopping by himself                         B．stay at home alone

       C．look after the family                              D．use his head

4．The author complains that there is no acceptable way for a thirteen-year-old boy to        .

       A．prevent his sister from crying                B．a(chǎn)ct when he is in the kitchen

       C．a(chǎn)void tripping over the cat               D．behave when he hurts himself

Technology is the application of knowledge to production. Thanks to modern technology, we have been able to increase greatly the efficiency of our work force, New machines and new methods have helped cut down time and expense while increasing overall output. This has meant more production and a higher standard of living. For most of us in America, modern technology is thought of as the reason why we can have cars and television sets. However, technology has also increased the amount of food available to us. By means of modern farming machinery and animal breeding techniques, and has extended our life span via medical technology.

Will mankind continue to live longer and have a higher quality of life? In large measure the answer depends on technology and our ability to use it widely. If we keep making progress as we have over the past fifty years, the answer is definitely yes. The advancement of technology depends upon research and development, and the latest statistics（統(tǒng)計(jì)）show that the United States is continuing to pump billions of dollars annually（每年）into such efforts. So while we are running out of some scarce resources we may well find technological substitutes（代用品） for many of them through our research programs.

Therefore, in the final analysis the three major factors of production(land, labor and capital) are all influenced by technology. When we need new skills on techniques in medicine, people will start developing new technology to meet those needs. As equipment proves to be slow or inefficient, new machines will be invented. Technology responds to our needs in helping us maintain our standard of living.

1．What is the best title of the passage?

      A．The definition of technology.                  B．Modern technology.

       C．The application of technology                D．The development of technology

2．From the passage, we can infer that this article is probably         .

       A．a(chǎn) part of the introduction to American business

       B．followed by the passage talking about factors of production

       C．taken from a learned journal.

       D．Both A and B

3．Which is the main idea of the passage?

       A．Modern technology is the key to the improvement of standard of living.

       B．The three major factors of production---land, labor and capital are all influenced by technology

       C．Technology is the response to our needs.

       D．The United States is making greater efforts to advance its technology

4．According to the passage, people can live a long life with the help of          .

      A．higher quality of life                              B．medical technology

       C．modern farming machinery             D．technological substitute