Shopping is not as simple as you think! There are all sorts of tricks at play each time we reach out for that particular brand of product on the shelf.

Coloring, for example, varies according to what the producers are trying to sell. Health foods are packages in greens, yellows or browns because we think of these as healthy colors. Ice cream packets are often blue and expensive foods, like chocolates, are gold and silver.

When some kind of pain killer was brought out recently, researchers found that the colors turned the customers off because they made the product look weak and ineffective. Eventually, it came on the market in a dark blue and white package because we think of it as safe, and white as calm.

The size of a product can attract a shopper. But quite often a bottle doesn’t contain as much as it appears to.

It is believed that the better-known companies spend, on average, 70 percent of the total cost of the product itself on packaging.

The most successful producers know that it’s not enough to have a good product. The founder of Pears soap, who for 25 years has used pretty little girls to promote their goods, came to the conclusion: “Any fool can make soap, but it takes a genius to sell it.”

64. Which of the following may trick a shopper into buying a product according to the text?

 A. The cost of its package.             B. The price of the product.

   C. The color of its package.            D. The brand name of the product.

65. The underlined part in paragraph 3 means that the colors ________.

 A. attracted the customers strongly       B. had weak effect on the customers

   C. tricked the customers into shopping    D. caused the customers to lose interest

66. Which of the following would be the best title for this text?

 A. Choice of Good Products            B. Disadvantages of Products

   C. Effect of Packaging on Shopping      D. Brand Names and Shopping Tricks

Not everyone goes to university after high school graduation. Some work, others join the army and an increasing number worldwide are taking a “gap year” to travel or do community service in their own countries or abroad. They are studying sharks off the Australian coast, building schools in Mexico and learning Spanish or Italian.

The concept of a gap year may not be new, but the recent surge(涌現(xiàn)) of interest certainly is. Some students are putting off admissions. Others, who don’t get into the college of their choice, are taking a year to explore new frontiers before reapplying.

Students are choosing to take a breather; they are thinking. They are not sure what they are going to do. They are going and exploring some of their interests. They are getting experience they can take to the school they finally go to.

It is an idea actively encouraged by colleges. Princeton University has just launched a “bridge year” program that will send 10 percent of its incoming class to do volunteer work abroad, starting in 2009. And the Harvard has spent the last 30 years urging incoming students to take a gap year.

“Many speak of their year away as a ‘life-changing’ experience or a ‘turning point’” says Harvard admissions director Marlin Lewis. “Many come to college with new opinions about their academic plans, their extracurricular interests and the career possibilities they observed in their year away.”

60. The reasons why some take a gap year are the following EXCEPT that ________.

A. they hate studying                   B. they don’t know what to do

     C. they want to get experience          D. they want to know their real interests

61. A student won’t ________ in a gap year.

     A. travel      B. join the army    C. do community service   D. learn a foreign language

62. After a gap year, one would probably _________.

     A. take another year off                        B. earn a lot of money

     C. be refused by his college                 D. have new ideas about their future career

63. From the passage we know that ________.

     A. more and more students will take a gap year

     B. fewer and fewer colleges will encourage his students to take a gap year

     C. the gap year can only give one some experience about society

     D. nobody will change his own interests after the gap year

English is a very interesting language. It has borrowed words from many other languages. Immigrants(移民) coming into the United States have contributed many words to the language, which have kept their original pronunciation. “Coolie” and “kowtow” were taken from the Chinese language, “kamikaze” from the Japanese, “shampoo” from India, “blitz” from German, “amigo” and “Los Angeles” from Spanish and so on.

   Many students have studied English for years, some as many as eight. However, some students still have difficulty in speaking fluent English. Some know many words but are unable to discern them when native speakers use them. In our Oral English classes we will focus on speaking and listening to native English speakers. For this reason, because we are trying to train your ears to hear English and your mouths to speak intelligible (易理解的) English, we will have a rule that ONLY ENGLISH will be spoken in our English classes. Anyone speaking Chinese in class will be required to pay a fine in order to encourage the speaking and understanding of English. If teachers enter a classroom and discover that anyone is speaking Chinese, they will require everyone in the room to pay the fine. It is everyone’s job to enforce the English-Only rule. It is for your benefit. It is because we want to accustom (使習慣于) your ears to hearing English.

   Other subjects may be learned solely from books but the only way to learn a foreign language is to SPEAK IT! Students are often nervous about speaking in class at first but we hope to make the classes fun, so you will forget your nervousness and learn to speak out. Enjoy your classes.

56. The first paragraph is mainly about________.

  A. the difficulty of learning English.            B. how interesting and various English is

C. different words in different languages    D. the immigrants’ contributions to America

57. The underlined word “discern” in Para 2 can be replaced by___________.

  A. understand                B. notice                            C. hear                D. speak

58. In the author’s opinion, the only way to learn a language well is to__________.

  A. listen to it on the radio      B. learn it from books  C. play games with it D. speak it often

59. The article is probably aimed at________.

  A. Japanese students                                        B. German students          

C. Chinese students                                          D. Indian students

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

  However, one day I learned the true lesson of   39   and witnessed the only miracle I had   40  seen before. I was cooking in the kitchen when I saw my son, Billy,   41   toward the woods. He was walking   42   with effort, trying to be as still as possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the   43  , he came running back. I went on cooking,   44   that whatever he had been doing was finished. Moments later,   45  , he was once again walking slowly toward the woods. This activity went on for an hour. Finally I couldn’t help   46   him and saw the most amazing  47 .

  Several large deer stood in front of him. Billy walked right up to them. I  48  screamed(尖叫) for him to get away, because a huge deer was dangerously   49   to him at that time. But the deer didn’t even move as Billy knelt down(跪下). I saw a tiny   50   lying on the ground, obviously suffering from    51  ,  lifting its head to drink the water cupped in Billy’s hands. When the water was    52  , Billy ran back to get more. It then became quite   53   to me what my son was doing.

  I stood there, watching my    54    boy working so hard to save another life. As my tears began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God himself was    55    with pride. The rain that day saved our farm.

36. A. water              B. rain                         C. cloud                      D. storm

37. A. decided                   B. chose              C. tried               D. offered

38. A. before               B. if                            C. until                        D. unless

39. A. sending                   B. sharing                          C. forgiving           D. begging

40. A. ever                    B. never                      C. once                             D. yet

41. A. running                    B. jumping             C. walking            D. riding

42. A. slowly             B. quickly             C. hurriedly           D. dangerously

43. A. plants               B. flowers                    C. vegetables       D. woods

44. A. thinking        B. wondering               C. worrying           D. dreaming

45. A. though         B. besides           C. however           D. too

46. A. beating              B. following                 C. teaching                D. hoping

47. A. sign            B. field                     C. world             D. scene

48. A. almost         B. already            C. just                    D. even

49. A. weak           B. ill                    C. close              D. brave

50. A. horse                B. crop                C. baby               D. deer

51. A. thirst           B. diseases           C. heat                   D. pain

52. A. lost             B. cleaned            C. gone               D. dried

53. A. comfortable          B. clear              C. acceptable         D. simple

54. A. kind                 B. clever                   C. naughty                 D. honest

55. A. speaking        B. joking             C. singing                    D. weeping

 ---- It is said that Tom considered the English exam to be very difficult.

   ---- I have heard that, but he never studied hard. It is “______”.

A. A burden of one's choice is not felt.

B. Actions speak louder than words.

C. A bad workman always blames his tools.

D. A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.

 I'm sure your suggestion will ______ the problem.

　  A. be contributed to solving           B. be contributed to solve

　  C. contribute to solve                D. contribute to solving

 Our country _____ great changes in the last 30 years and it is no longer        it used to be.

A. went through; what                B .went through; that   

C. has experienced; that           D. has experienced; what

 At a rough estimate, he must have made _______ in the past 20 years.

A. ten times what his parents earned  

B. ten times what his parents have earned 

C. ten times as much as money his parents earned 

D. as ten times much money as his parents have earned 

 One-third of the country _______ covered with trees and 80% of the citizens ______ black people.

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

 Not only _____ the importance of protecting the environment but also _____ others to keep the surroundings clean.

A. did he realize; did he teach      B. did he realize; he taught

C. realized he; did he teach        D. he realized; he taught