D
While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me.
Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.
First he kissed his three children one by one and said, “It’s nice to see you. I missed you so much!” Then he hugged his wife, “I’ve saved the best for last!” giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other’s eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds（新婚夫妇）, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t possibly be.
Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?” “Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well, then, how long have you been away?” I asked. “Two whole days!” “Two days?” I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!”
The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. “Don’t hope, friend…decide!” Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”
With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.
I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, “What are you looking at?” Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, “My future!”
74. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The man replied to the author, with his eyes still fixed on his wife’s face.
B. After being away for several weeks, the man missed his family very much.
C. It was fourteen years since the couple had got married.
D. Their three kids reminded the author of newlyweds.
75. By saying “my expression betrayed me” (in Paragraph 4), the author means that _________.
A. he failed to express his ideas to the man
B. the man sensed his real feelings from his expression
C. he didn’t believe in his expression any more
D. his expression was not faithful to him
76. From the passage, we can infer that __________.
A. the experience may be easily forgotten by the author
B. the author will live a passionate life from now on
C. the author will be away from his family and hug them passionately upon his return
D. Americans prefer to save the best for last
D
It is hard to predict（预言）how science is going to turn out, and whether it is really good science, it is impossible to predict．If the things to be found are actually new, they must be unknown in advance．You cannot make choices on this matter．You either have science or you don’t and if you have it you have to accept the surprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat and useful bits．
The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we don’t know enough about nature．Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the past hundred years of biology．It is, in its way, a clear piece of news．It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century to be told by any of us how little we know and how strange the way ahead seems．In earlier times, they either pretended to understand how things worked or simply made up stories to give answers．Now that we have begun exploring seriously, we are catching sight of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered．Because of this, we are sorry．It is not so bad being ignorant（无知的）if you are totally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some details the reality of ignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not so bad spots, but no true light at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted．
But we are making a beginning, and there ought to be some satisfaction．There are probably no questions we can think up that can’t be answered, sooner or later．Within our limits, we should be able to work our way through to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention．
51．Acoording to the writer, really good science________．
A．would surprise the brightest minds of the 18th century．
B．will help people to make the right choice in advance
C．will produce results which cannot be predicted
D．will bring about disturbing results
52．It can be inferred from the passage that scientists of the 18th century________．
A．thought that they knew a great deal and could deal with most problems of science．
B．knew that they were ignorant and wanted to know more about nature
C．were afraid of facing up to the realities of scientific research
D．did more harm than good in man’s understanding of nature
53．Which of the following is NOT mentioned about scientists in earlier times?
A．They falsely declared to know all about nature．
B．They did not believe in results from scientific observation．
C．They paid little attention to the problems they didn’t understand．
D．They invented false rules to explain things they didn’t understand．
54．What is the writer’s attitude towards science?
A．He is sorry because of the ignorance of scientists．
B．He is delighted because of the latest scientific findings．
C．He is doubtful because of the great difficulties in scientific research．
D．He is confident though he knows well the great difficulties in scientific research．
55．The writer believes that sooner or later________．
A．man can’t deal with all the problems he can find because of the limits of human knowledge．
B．man can find solutions to whatever questions concerning nature he can think up
C．questions concerning nature are outsiede the field of scientific research
D．man can think up all the questions and answer them all．
C
The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, painfree life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever getting real happiness．If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness．But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness is connected with some pain．
As a result, many people avoid the very attempts（尝试）that are the source of true happiness They fear the pain brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment（承担的义务），self-improvement．
Ask a bachelor（单身汉）why he refuses marriages even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying, if he’s honest he will tell you afraid of making a commitment．For commitment is in fact painful．The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement．Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most unusual features．
Couples with baby children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation．I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children．But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild．
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has noting to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations．It liberates（解放）time; now we can devote more hours to activities that can increase our happiness．It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless．And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all．
48．Raising children, in the author’s opinion, is________．
A．a duty we should have to perform B．a thankless job
C．a source of pain that can’t be avoided D．a rewarding task
49．To understand what true happiness is one must________．
A．have as much fun as possible during ones lifetime
B．make every effort to free oneself from pain
C．put up with pain in all conditions
D．be able to tell happiness from fun
50．What is the writer trying to tell us?
A．One must know how to get happiness
B．Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain
C．It is important to make commitments
D．Pain usually leads to happiness
B
HOW TO BOOK
Booking opens for Beckett Shorts on 8 September．
BY TELEPHONE
For credit card（信用卡）bookings．Calls are answered．
BOX OFFICE
01789 295623 9 a．m．— 8 p．m．（Mon—Sat）
0541 541051（24 hours, 7 days, no booking charge）
BY FAX
For credit card booking．Please allow least 48 hours for reply, if required．
BOX OFFICE
01789 261974 or 01862 387765
BY POST
Please enclose（附上）a cheque or credit card details together with an SAE or add 50p to the total amount（总额）to cover postage．Please send to the Box Office．RST．Startford-upon-Avoe, CV37 6BB．
Booking opens for all other plays on 19 September
IN PERSON
BOX OFFICE
RST hall, 9:30 a．m．—8 p．m．（Mon—Sat）（6p．m．when theatres are closed）
OVERSEAS BOOKING
The easiest method of payment is by credit card．You can also pay by Euro-cheque（up to ￡500）with your card number written on the back．
PSYING FOR YOUR TICKETS
CHEQUES
We accept Visa, Master Card, American Express and Diners Club, Please give the card number, name and address of cardholder．
Cheques and postal orders should be payable to: Royal Shakespeare Theatre．
45．In which of the following ways of booking does one probably have to pay extra money?
A．In person B．By telephone C．By fax D．By post
46．One has to wait for 2 days or longer for a reply if he/she pays________．
A．in person B．by telephone C．by fax D．by post
47．What is useful number to call at 11 a．m．Sunday?
A．01789 295623 B．0541 541051 C．01789 261974 D．01862 387765
第二部分阅读理解（共25小题。第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
If I were writing a history of my family, some of the darkest moments recorded would be those surrounding Christmas trees．One would certainly think otherwise; selecting and putting up our trees have always been filled with risk．For example, one afternoon dangerously close to Christmas Eve my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain, a glorious tree that was so full and tall that we could hardly get it onto the house．Once we did, my father immediately realized that we would have to hire a carpenter to build a stand for it．Another December, perhaps the very next one, we bought a tree earlier than we ever had before．We were happy with its shape and delighted that its size was manageable．We easily placed it in a stand, decorated（装饰）it from top to bottom, and then self-satisfiedly sat back by the fire in its soft light．Two or three days passed and the truth could not be hidden; we had bought a tree cut so long ago that its needles were coming off．There was nothing to do undecorated it, take it down, and begin treeshopping again．Our most recent Christmas tree offered still another difficult task．When we brought it home, once again it seemed larger than it had in the great outdoors．To complicate matters, we had bought a new stand, one whose nuts and bolts worked more mysteriously than those of our old stand．I persuaded two young neighbors to stop playing basketball and to help us get the tree into the house and set it correctly in the stand．Unfortunately, no one noticed the mud on our helpers’ shoes, so only after removing several reddish brown spots from the carpet were we able to discuss the question of where the lights and ornaments（装饰）were stored．Perhaps those who cut their own trees have tales more painful than these．I don’t care to hear them, as my family’s experiences are enough to cause me to make the following suggestion：“Let’s forget the tree next Christmas．Let’s simply hang some flowers on the front door and over the mirror in the hall．”
41．The darkest moments in the writer’s family were with the fact that________．
A．the family bought big Christmas trees
B．they had problems decorating their Christmas trees
C．they had problems picking suitable Christmas trees
D．they had problems finding carpenters for putting up Christmas trees．
42．We can learn from the passage that the writer would like to________．
A．forget about Christmas
B．get the neighbors to put up their trees
C．buy a better tree
D．make some other decorations to celebrate Christmas rather than the tree
43．When the writer said“mother bought what she thought to be a bargain”, he means________．
A．she bought the tree at a cheap price
B．she didn’t really want to buy it
C．she had to bargain hard with the salesman
D．she couldn’t afford a more expensive one
44．Which 
of the following can be the best for the passage?
A．How to Select a Christmas Tree B．No More Christmas Tree for US
C．Dark Moments of Life D．Christmas without Trees
Trip 1 Black Bear Count
There have been fires in this area in the last few years and the Office of the National Park is not sure how many black bears are still living. Some bears have been seen since the fires, and the Office has asked for young people to help count them. The entire trip will last three hours. Bookings necessary.
Cost: Free When: May 8
Trip 2 Garland Valley
Bring your drink and lunch for this walk in a beautiful area of the Blue Mountains. Garland Valley is close to the town of Garland but is part of the National Park. Many wild animals live in this area, including many rare birds. This is a great walk for bird-lovers. The trip lasts four hours. Bookings necessary.
Cost: $ 15 When: May 8, May 15
Trip 3 Flashlight Adventure
Put on your warm clothes, bring a flashlight and a pair of glasses, and come for a night walk along the Dungog Valley. A guide will lead the tour. Many of the animals you will see on this trip can only be seen at night. The guide will tell you about the lives of the animals you see. Numbers are strictly limited on night trips, so be sure to book early. This walk lasts two and a half hours.
Cost: $ 12 When: May 8, May 15, May22
Equipment to be needed:
•Please bring enough water and food for all walks.
•Wear good walking shoes—no high heels.
•Wear a hat for day walks.
•Dress warmly for night walks.
•Children must be with an adult.
•Make sure your flashlight works well and bring extra batteries for night walks.
•Follow all instructions from guides during the walks. The mountains are a dangerous place.
Bookings:
Bookings for the above trips can be traded by telephone (893 — 4847) or on the Internet at www. Bluemountaintour. com
72. Where are these trips?
A. In a large city. B. In a park in the mountains.
C. In a special kind of zoo. D. In three different countries.
73. On which trip might you see animals that sleep during the day?
A. Black Bear Count B. Garland Valley
C. Flashlight Adventure D. None of the trips.
74. Which of the following is NOT necessary for the three trips?
A. Good walking shoes B. A pair of glasses
C. Food and water D. A sleeping-bag
75. What is the best title for the passage?
A. Adventure Travel in America
B. Hunting around the Great Mountains
C. Interesting Trips in the East of the USA
D. Discovery Trips in the Blue Mountains