One of the greatest stories of rags (貧窮) to riches success is that of Andrew Carnegie, who started life in poverty but became the richest man in the world.

Carnegie was born in Scotland in 1837, the son of a weaver. In 1848, the family moved to the United States and at 13 Carnegie began work in a cotton mill, earning $1.5 per week. About three years later, he found a better job as a telegraph messenger boy. At work, his superiors (上級) were impressed by his abilities and willingness to work hard. In 1853, he gained an office job at the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. This was his first big break. He continued to impress and rose rapidly through the company, gaining more and more responsibility. At the same time, Carnegie loved reading very much and made use of every opportunity to visit the library. He read widely on all subjects, particularly literature.

Carnegie now began to save a little money and, with the help of his employer, began to make some successful investments. He invested in the iron industry and eventually set up in business himself, owning several iron and steel plants. This was where he made his fortune. By the 1890s, the Carnegie Steel Company was the biggest and most profitable business in the world.

Carnegie had always believed that the pursuit(追求)of wealth was never an end in itself. In his view, successful, wealthy people should re-distribute their wealth for the benefit of everyone in society. True to his word, in 1901, at the age of 66, he retired from business and devoted the rest of his life to charity work. (奉獻于慈善工作).

Carnegie’s lack of formal education and his poor family background clearly didn’t put barriers in the way of success. His rapid rise from poverty to wealth was due to his willingness to work hard, his intelligence and good business sense, and his talent for making things happen. He died in 1919 at the age of 83.

64. What can be learnt from the text?

A. Carnegie’s employers at the railroad company had a high opinion of him.
B. Carnegie made the investments independently after saving enough money.
C. Carnegie believed that we should not devoted our life to charity work..

D. Carnegie could have been more successful if he had been formally educated.

65. When did Carnegie get his first big success in his life?
   A. When he took a job as a telegraph messenger boy.
   B. When he worked at the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
   C. When he made investments in the iron industry.
   D. When he founded the Carnegie Steel Company.

66. Which of the followings will be the suitable title for the text?
A. Andrew Carnegie: A Wealthy Man
B. Steel & Iron: The Most Profitable Business
C. Intelligence and Good Business Sense: Tow Factors in Becoming Wealthy

D. From Rags to Riches: The Story of Andrew Carnegie

On 26 May 1928, at a meeting in Amsterdam (阿姆斯特丹), the FIFA congress (國際足聯(lián)) decided that a new competition open to all its members should be played. A year later in Barcelona it was agreed that Uruguay(烏拉圭), the strongest football team at the period of time., should celebrate 100 years of independence（獨立） by hosting the first World Cup the following year.
    Only 13 nations came to the opening of the games and nine from South America. All games were played in three stadiums in Montevideo(蒙得維的亞) and, as expected, the South American countries were stronger, although the European teams did not bring shame.
    Some 100,000 fans came for the final on 30 July between Argentina(阿根廷)and Uruguay. The FIFA president and brains(主要領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人)behind the World Cup, presented the trophy(獎杯)to winning captain and football’s greatest tournament was born.
    After a pre-match row(爭吵)over which ball to use for the final, it is believed the Argentine ball was used in one half and the Uruguayan ball in the other.
60.When was the first World Cup played?
  A. 1928.    B. 1929.        C. 1930.  D. 1931.
61.Which of these statements about the first World Cup is NOT TRUE?
  A. Most of the teams came from South America.
  B. The South American teams were stronger.
  C. All the matches were played in European countries
  D. The European teams did not play badly.
62.The best title of the passage is _____.
  A. The history of football
  B. The history of the World Cup
  C. The FIFA
  D. The first World Cup  

Marco Polo was born in Venice in 1254．He was the most famous Westerner to visit Asia during the Middle Ages．He wrote a book about his travels．In his book he wrote about all the things he saw and heard．Many people read the book, but few believed what Marco Polo said．He spoke of strange people and places that nobody knew about at that time．But, he even said, “What I have written down is only half of what I have seen．”

As a young man, Marco Polo decided to travel together with his father．It took them more than three years to travel to China．He became the Chinese emperor’s (皇帝)friend．He learned the Chinese language when he traveled around and talked to many people．Before he reached the age of 30 he was made a Chinese official．After nearly 17 years in the east, Marco and his father prepared to return home．When they finally arrived in Venice, their family and friends were surprised to see them again．They had been away for almost 25 years and everybody thought that they must have died a long time ago．

56、What did Marco Polo write about in his book?

A. About Venice．                                    B. About the Chinese emperor．

C. About what he saw and heard in Asia．   D. About how he returned home．

57、What did Marco Polo learn Chinese for?

To become a Chinese official．           

To become the Chinese emperor’s friend．

To become a translator for his father.

D. To travel around conveniently in China．

58、Which is NOT true according to the text?

A. Marco Polo and his father had been in China for 17 years．

B. Marco Polo and his father spent nearly 5 years returning home．

C. Marco Polo’s father died on the way home．

D. Marco Polo spent more than three years traveling from Venice to China．

59、By saying “What I have written down is only half of what I have seen…”,  Marco Polo meant that       ．

he only saw half of the country during his stay in China           

there were still a lot more he couldn’t write down

C. half of the people went to China during that time

D. he wanted to write down the other half of what he saw in China

Throughout time, people have loved music for its ability to transport them into a world of rhythm and melody. Recently more and more hospitals and clinics have been tapping into the power of music - not only to comfort patients, but to help them heal as well. Welcome to the world of music therapy.

After each of the two world wars, musicians visited hospitals and played instruments for injured soldiers suffering from emotional and physical pain. Today’s music therapists continue this practice, playing instruments such as guitars and harps to bring comfort to their audiences.

Therapist Eric Mammen encourages his patients at a children’s hospital to participate with him as he plays. During visits with 13-year-old cancer patient Lawrence Garcia, Mammen encourages Garcia to beat on electric drums while he plays the guitar. The therapy won’t cure his cancer, but it does, according to Garcia’s mom, take away much of the boy’s depression.

Music therapy can elevate patients’ moods and ease the symptoms of depression according to the American Music Therapy Association. Other benefits include relieving pain, calming tension, aiding sleep, counteracting worry or fear, and easing muscle tension.

Jose Haro personally experienced the benefits of music therapy when he was recovering from heart surgery. During his recovery, he played a piano whose keys lit up, indicating which keys to touch to play along with the background music. Soon, he was playing tunes and noticing something strange. “I was searching for my pain.” He says of his experience, “but it was gone.”

While Haro’s experience provides an evidence of the power of music to relieve pain, scientific research has proven music also helps patients with Alzheimer’s disease and arthritis.

In addition, music therapy helps premature (早產(chǎn)的) babies. Doctors are tapping into a powerful way to teach premature babies that haven’t yet learned how to suck. Doctors use a device that comforts the babies by playing music when they suck on a pacifier (奶嘴). Soon, the babies learn to suck in return for music, gaining weight faster and going home earlier than those who don’t use the device.

Even perfectly healthy people are discovering the power of music to calm and heal. Drum circles attract people who find stress relief in pounding out rhythms. While music isn’t a cure-all, it does make life a little easier.

68.   In the first paragraph, the underlined phrase “tapping into” can be replaced by “________”.

       A. discussing on                                        B. looking for

       C. showing interest in                                D. making use of

69.   According to the passage, Jose Haro ________.

       A. went through an obvious effect of music on his recovery                    

       B. recovered from heart disease completely

       C. felt no pain in his surgery              

       D. was asked to play the piano by his doctors

70.   From the passage, we know ________.

       A. musicians cured many soldiers after each of the two world wars

      B. Garcia found much comfort in music according to his mom

       C. music can prevent people from suffering from arthritis

       D. the more music they listen to, the faster premature babies gain weight

71.   What is the best title for this passage?

       A. Music Is Becoming Popular in Most Hospitals

B. Music Helps Patients Recover

C. Musicians Work with Doctors

D. People’s Life Benefits from Music

The Channel is the name given to the stretch of water which separates England and France. Ferries operate all year round to carry people across the Channel, and they are busy most of the year. January is the only quiet month nowadays. As well as summer holiday-makers, there are day trippers and coach traffic, not to mention lorries and other commercial vehicles. Some ferries carry cars and their passengers, while others also connect train passengers with the Continental rail network.

The biggest hazard for the ferry is the wind. The crew listens to BBC weather reports four times a day. Or they sometimes get gale warnings from local radio station.

Crossing the Channel by ferry is a bit like trying to cross Oxford Street on a busy afternoon, according to one ferryboat captain. The ferries from Folkstone and Dover to Calais and Boulogne have to cross the main flow of traffic. This consists of ships traveling through the Channel to and from Northern Europe. There may be four hundred ships making the journey at any one time, and they all pass through a “choke point” which is only fifteen miles (twenty-five kilometers) wide. The cross-channel ferries have to sail right through the middle of all this traffic.

68. The passage is mainly concerned with _____.

A. the English Channel                              B. the weather on the Channel

C. cross-channel ferries                              D. what crossing the Channel by ferry is like

69. The word hazard is closest in meaning to ________.

A. trouble                            B. danger                     C. enemy               D. problem

70. We can infer from the passage that _______.

A. if there is a gale warning from the BBC, the ferries will stop operating.

B. the traffic on the Channel is very busy only in winter

C. ferries are busiest in the afternoon

D. the crew of the ferry listens to the weather reports four times a day

71. Where does this passage most probably appear?

A. In a dictionary.                                     B. In a novel.

C. In a transportation magazine.                  D. In a geography textbook.

Frederick Law Olmsted （1822 - 1903）, a Connecticut farm boy, saw his first public park in Liverpool, England, as he accompanied his brother on a walking tour. He was impressed by the park’s winding paths, open fields, lakes and bridges. Perhaps the most wonderful things of all was that the park was open to everyone.

A moment beginning in 1840 to set aside park land on New York City’s Manhattan Island has successful result in 1856 with the purchase of 840 acres of rocky and swampy （沼澤） land, bought with about $ 5 million in state funds. Olmsted’s chance meeting with a project organizer led to his applying for the job of park manager. In 1857 Olmsted was appointed manager of the proposed park, and the clearing of the site began.

Calvert Vaux, a British architect, asked Olmsted to collaborate with him on a park design, and Olmsted agreed. Vaux saw the park as a work of art, while Olmsted saw the park as a place for people to escape the noise of the city. Together they invented a plan that would give the persons and animals living in the city a quiet, green park and would also preserve and increase the good qualities of the natural features of the land. The commissioners voted in favor of Vaux and Olmsted’s plan, and in 1858, the two became the official designers of New York City’s Central Park.

It took millions of cartloads of topsoil to build Central park’s gentle slopes, shady glens, and steep, rocky ravines. Five million trees were planted, a water – supply system was laid, and bridges, arches, roads and paths were constructed. The park officially opened in 1876, and today, well over a century later, people still escape the noise of the city in Olmsted and Vaux’s great work of art.

53．What is the text mainly about?

       A．A history of the planning of Central park.

       B．An engineering plan for Central Park.

       C．A biography of Frederick Law Olmsted.

       D．A guided walking tour of Central park.

54．Olmsted became manager of Central Park because of         .

       A．his friendship with Calvert Vaux

       B．his hard work in clearing the land

       C．his winning a design competition

       D．a(chǎn) chance meeting with one of the park’s organizers

55．The underlined word “collaborate” in the third paragraph means         .

       A．disagree    B．comment  C．vote  D．work together

56．Which of the following is true about Central Park?

      A．It is out of date nowadays.     

       B．The designers came from the same country.

       C．It is an old park in America.  

       D．It is only for people who can well afford it.

His first fight was for the equal rights of black people in South Africa. Then, as the first black president he fought to unite the country and organize the government. Now Nelson Mandela has set his sights on a new enemy, AIDS.

On March 19 the 82-year-old, former president, hosted his second AIDS-awareness concert. He warned that 25 million people in Africa were already infected with the fatal disease.
  Mandela was born in a small village in South Africa in 1918. He was adopted by the chief of his tribe (部族) and could have been a chief himself and lived a happy country life.
  But he refused to be a chief when his people lived under racial discrimination ( 種族歧視). He decided to fight for equal rights for all the people in South Africa. Before 1990, under the country’s Racial Segregation Law (種族隔離法), colored and white people lived separately. Black people were treated unfairly even when taking a bus. Blacks had to stand at the back of the bus to make room for white people even when there were only a few of them on board.
  For his opposition to the system Mandela was arrested and spent 27 years in prison. He was freed in 1990 and become the president of the country after the first elections were held in which everyone could vote.
  Mandela was not only a political fighter who attacked with speeches. He was also a trained boxer (拳擊手) and fought in the ring when he was young.
  “ Although I did not enjoy the violence of boxing, I was interested in how one moved one’s body to protect oneself, how one used a strategy both to attack and retreat (撤退),” he wrote in his autobiography.
  As a skilful fighter, he chose music as his weapon against AIDS. He hopes to win another victory against AIDS.
54. Nelson Mandela succeeded in doing the following except _____.
     A. winning the equal rights for the black people in South Africa
     B. uniting South Africa
     C. organizing a government in South Africa
     D. controlling the spread of AIDS
55. If Nelson Mandela hadn’t fought against racial discrimination, he _____.
     A. could easily have been the president of South Africa
     B. could still have lived a happy life
     C. could have been in a difficult situation
     D. would have been an excellent boxer
56. It can be inferred that Nelson Mandela _____.
     A. continues to help the black people with the political struggle
     B. is taking a position in a music group
     C. is taking on the world’s greatest fight against AIDS
     D. is preparing for the next election of president
57. Which statement can best describe the life of Nelson Mandela?
      A. Struggle is his life.                      

B. Sports make his fame.
      C. Fight for equal rights.                   

D. Great fighter against government.