A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party, Whitney Houston, the great star, walked on stage and closed the evening with a brilliant performance．

Last Saturday, Houston was once again the focus before the Grammy, but her presence was a regrettable one．Earlier that day, the pop music's former queen was found dead in her hotel room．She was 48．This, no doubt, is sad news to the whole music industry and her fans all over the world．

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music world．From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists．She impressed audiences with her effortless, powerful and peerless performance．

Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Ha-oe Nothing , and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．She also influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．

       But by the end of her career, there was a shocking fall for this superstar．Houston had been addicted to drugs．Her album sales declined and the hits stopped coming and her once beautiful voice became hoarse （嘶啞的）, unable to hit the high notes as she used to．

In 2009, Houston staged a successful comeback with the album I Look To You, which fell on top of the charts．But hoarse voice, canceled concerts, and continuous illness-Houston's comeback trail wasn't smooth at all．In an interview with Oprah Winfreyin2009, Houston admitted: "It （show business） is too much for me and I wanted out．"

       Now that Houston has finally taken a break from all the chaos, may she rest in peace．

64．Whitney Houston died ______．

       A．shortly before the Grammy this year     B．earlier last Sunday

       C．a year ago                        D．at the annual pre-Grammy party

65．The underlined word "peerless" in Paragraph 3 most probably means ______．

       A．having great power                   B．having no equal

       C．requiring no effort                   D．leaving no impression

66．The cause of the fall of Whitney Houston was that _____ ．

       A．her album sales declined

       B．show business was too much for her

       C．her once beautiful voice became hoarse

       D．she had been addicted to drugs

67．Whitney Houston's achievements include the following except that     .

       A．She made countless hits such as I Have Nothing

       B．She influenced a generation of younger singers

       C．She became the focus before the Grammy this year

       D．She staged a successful comeback in 2009

第二節(jié) 完形填空（共20小題；每小題1分，滿分20分）

請認真閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。

What is it about maths, anyway? Why is it that a ___36___ who would rather die than ___37___ they found reading difficult at school will happily say he is brain-dead when it ___38___ to numbers?

“I was ___39___ at maths at school,” they say. “still am. Can’t ___40___ up to save my life. My little girl takes after____41___. Thinks take-aways are something to do with fish and chips. Ha-ha!” Oh, how we all laugh.

But how many of us remember it being ___42___ at the time? How many of us remember the blind panic of the Monday morning maths test when the ___43___ we could hope for was a miracle(奇跡) to make the numbers we ___44___ without thinking as answers somehow ___45___ the questions?

On the face of it, today’s children can ___46___ be considered happier and more satisfied. They have a daily numeracy lesson ___47___ to improving their maths skills. But if that sounds like hell to you, you may ___48__ find that your child surprises you by actually quite ___49__ it.

One of the __50___ is that over the last ten years or so, there has been a ___51___ in the way maths is taught. And many of those who teach it feel it’s been a ___52__ for the better. There’s generally much more emphasis now on __53___ arithmetic, getting children used to doing calculations without forever having a pen in one hand and a calculator in the other. Often the first question a teacher will ask is: can you do this in your___54___? And if they can, they do.

The whole approach is more___55___, the goal to get children understanding numbers, not just putting them through the uninteresting process of learning something by repeating it until they remember it.

36     A.     teacher    B.     parent      C.     pupil          D.     teenager

37     A.     understand      B.     admit        C.     observe    D.     pretend

38     A.     add  B.     relate       C.     comes      D.     reject

39     A.     good         B.     expert      C.     special      D.     rubbish

40     A.     add  B.     make        C.     look  D.     pick

41     A.     stranger  B.     me   C.     herself      D.     somebody

42     A.     funny        B.     easy C.     attractive         D.     remote

43     A.     worst        B.     prize         C.     best D.     surprising

44     A.     missed     B.     lost  C.     found        D.     chose

45     A.     get   B.     foresee    C.     fit     D.     evaluate

46     A.     however  B.     frequently         C.     mostly      D.     hardly

47     A.     suggested        B.     devoted   C.     intended  D.     adapted

48     A.     well  B.     sometimes       C.     seldom     D.     extremely

49     A.     enjoying   B.     hating       C.     objecting D.     mastering

50     A.     consequences B.     reasons    C.     findings    D.     incidents

51     A.     mistake    B.     program  C.     policy        D.     revolution

52     A.     preparation      B.     reputation        C.     requirement    D.     change

53     A.     difficult     B.     general    C.     mental     D.     basic

54     A.     class         B.     head         C.     textbook  D.     own

55     A.     logical       B.     unbelievable    C.     direct        D.     conservative

Do you want to live a happier, less stressful (有壓力的) life?
Try laughing for no reason at all. That’s how thousands of people start their day at Laughter Clubs around the world – and many doctors now think that having a good laugh might be one of the best ways to stay healthy.
The first Laughter Club was started in Mumbai, India, in 1995 by Dr Madan Kataria. “Young children laugh about 300 times a day. Adults laugh between 7 and 15 times a day,” says Dr Kataria. “Everyone’s naturally good at laughing – it’s the universal language. We want people to feel happy with their lives.” There are now more than 500 Laughter Clubs in India and over 1,300 worldwide.
Many doctors are also interested in the effects (效果) of laughter on our health. According to a 5 – year study in the body. Laughter improves our health against illness by about 40%.
So, what happens at a Laughter Club? I went along to my nearest club in South London to find out. I was quite nervous at the beginning of the class, to be honest – I wasn’t interested in laughing with a group of strangers, and I was worried about looking stupid. Our laughter teacher told us to clap our hands and say “ho ho ho, ha ha ha,” while looking at each other. However, our bodies can’t tell the difference between fake laughter and real laughter, so they still produce the same healthy effects.
Surprisingly, it works! After ten minutes everybody in the room was laughing for real – and some people just couldn’t stop! At the end of the class I was surprised by how relaxed and comfortable I felt. So if you’re under stress, then start laughing. You might be very pleased with the results!

1. 1.

   In which country was the first Laughter Club started?

   1. A.
      Britain.
   2. B.
      America.
   3. C.
      Australia.
   4. D.
      India.
2. 2.

   How did the writer feel at the beginning of the class?

   1. A.
      Surprised.
   2. B.
      Pleased.
   3. C.
      Nervous.
   4. D.
      Stressful.
3. 3.

   When did the people in the club begin to laugh for real?

   1. A.
      After a few minutes.
   2. B.
      After a few hours.
   3. C.
      After a few seconds.
   4. D.
      After a few days.
4. 4.

   Which of the following is true according to the passage?

   1. A.
      Fake laughter and real laughter are both good for health.
   2. B.
      40% of the people in Laughter Clubs are good friends.
   3. C.
      Adults laugh more often than children in a day.
   4. D.
      Laughing is the best way to prevent illness.