（D）
As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have．It’s likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen will have a washing machine and a microwave oven．Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need． You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat out at least once a week．
Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for．Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world．They feel that the long-hour work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes．Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting_is one of them．
Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year．One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz．They used to work in central London．He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank．They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs （郊区）, leaving their two children with a nanny（保姆）．Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o’clock, and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings．They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by．
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales．“I always wanted to have a farm here,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift．It’s taken some getting used to, but it’s been worth it．We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays．However, I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier．”
Liz, however, is not quite sure．“I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours．I’m not really a country girl, but I suppose I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals．One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children．My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all．”
68．What do the first two paragraphs tell us?
A．People seldom work long hours to make money．
B．People hardly buy more things than necessary．
C．People are sure everything they own is in the right place．
D．People realize more is involved in life than just making money．
69．Daniel agrees that the move to the farm __________．
A．was easy to organize B．has improved family life
C．was extremely expensive D．has been a total success
70．The underlined word "downshifting" in the second paragraph means ________．
A．repairing your car by yourself
B．spending money carefully
C．moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life
D．living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week
Have you ever stayed up late? If so, you know that not getting enough sleep can make you tried and grumpy. Not sleeping enough sleep can also make it harder to think clearly the next day.
Sleep scientists have long known that getting a good night’s sleep is very important. It helps kids be able to do their best during the day.
A recent study shows that sleep helps improve problem-solving skills and creative(创造性的) thinking. For the study, two groups of students answered a math problem. The group that slept for eight hours solved the problem correctly more often than the group that did not get enough sleep.
While you sleep at night, your brain is busy doing its “homework”. It sorts out(整理) al
l the informa
tion that you get in the day. Getting enough sleep each night can improve your thinking ability. That will surely help you do your best at school. Experts say that, i
n return, can lead to better grades.The underlined word grumpy in the first paragraph means_______.
| A．excited and happy | B．active and creative |
| C．impatient and angry | D．bored and weak |
Choose the best title for this pass
age.
| A．Sleep to Success | B．A Recent Study |
| C．Do Sleep Well | D．The More Sleep, the Better |
Mr.Clinton and his 13-year-old son Tony are basketball fans. Last October 10th was Tony’s birthday, so Mr.Clinton decided to drive him to New York, for the first game of the World Series. They had no ticket but hoped to buy a pair from scalpers.
It was a two hours’ ride. After they arrived, they walked in the street for two hours, carrying a sign(牌子) that read, “
We need two tickets.” There were many scalpers around, but the cheapest ticket was $200. They were about to leave when suddenly a man stopped them. He took out two tickets and handed them to Mr. Clinton.
“How much do you want?”
“Just a present,” said the man. “Enjoy the game.”
Mr. Clinton wouldn’t accept, so the man explained, “I’m Jackson. Hans is my boss. He and his wife haven’t missed a World Series in 18 years. But he is ill and can’t watch the game this time. So he told me to give the two tickets to people who I thought would actually enjoy the game. A lot of people looked as if they might just take th
e tickets and sell them. Then I saw you and I followed you for a while. You seemed very disappointed. You made me think of my dad and me when I was a child. I dreamed of going to a World Series game with my father. But my dream never came true.”
How do you suppose this made Mr. Clinton and his son feel? Here is what Mr. Clinton said: “This is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to us. My boy and I must have turned to each other over 30 times and said, ‘I can’t believe this.’ We still never forget Jackson and Hans.” The underlined word scalpers in the first paragraph means ____
__.
| A．people who buy tickets at a reasonable price |
| B．people who sell tickets at a reasonable price |
C．p eople who buy tickets at a high price |
| D．people who sell tickets at a high price |
Algae(水藻) are very simple plants. They grow in fresh water or salty water. Seaweed is algae that grow in salty water. Seaweed is red or brown in color. The Japanese people use these plants from the sea in many ways. From it, they make a food called Kombu. Kombu is seaweed that has been dried, cooked and pressed together. Then it is dried again and cut into long pieces. The Japanese eat a lot of Kombu and like it very much.
Japanese farmers often use seaweed as fertilizer. It makes their plants grow better. Many farmers also find seaweed makes a fine food for their animals.
From seaweed the Japanese also get iodine(碘), which they sell to other countries. Iodine is used in many ways all over the world. It is used in making medicine. It is added to the salt we use at the table. Scientists even use one form of iodine to “ seed clouds” when they want rain to 
fall. Kombu is a kind of ____ according to the text.
| A．plant | B．medicine | C．food | D．fertilizer |
In the last sentence of the text, “seed clouds” means ____.
| A．clouds spreading like seeds |
| B．the seeds like clouds |
| C．to make rain fall with human power |
| D．dropping seeds by clouds |
The main idea of the story is that ____.
| A．The Japanese eat seaweed when they want rain to fall. |
| B．Kombu is made into medicine for farmers. |
| C．The Japanese use seaweed in many ways. |
| D．The Japanese eat a lot of Kombu. |
The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet (彗星) is heading towards the Earth . Most of it will miss our planet, but two pieces will probably hit the southern half of the Earth.
On 17 July , a piece four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere (大气层) with a massive explosion . About half of the piece is destroyed, but the remaining part hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and a huge hole is made in the sea bed. Huge waves are created and spread outwards from the hole. The wall of water, a kilometer high, rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned.
Before the waves reach South America, the second piece of the comet lands in Argentina. Earthquakes and volcanoes are set off in the Andes Mountains. The shock waves move north into California and all around the Pacific Ocean. The cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tokyo are completely destroyed by earthquakes. Millions of people in the southern half of the earth are already dead, but the north won’t escape for long. Because of the explosions, the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero .Crops are ruined. The sun won’t be seen again for many years. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later, no more than 10 million people remain alive.
Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a piece of object in space. The dinosaurs couldn’t live through the cold climate that followed and they died out. Will we meet the same and?What is mainly described in the passage?
| A．A historic discovery. | B．An event of imagination |
| C．A research on space. | D．A scientific adventure. |
When the first piece hits the South Atlantic, it causes________ .
| A．an earthquake | B．damages to cities |
| C．an Earth explosion | D．huge waves |
Why can’t the northern half of the earth escape for long?
| A．Because the land is covered with water |
| B．Because the light and heat from the sun can not reach the earth. |
| C．Because people there can not live at the temperature of zero. |
| D．Because wars break out among countries. |
By giving the example of dinosaurs, the author tries to prove________ .
| A．animals could not live in the cold climate |
| B．what happened 65 million years ago was an invented story |
| C．the human beings will die out in 2094 |
| D．the Earth could be hit by other objects in space |
Who is there among us who hasn’t dreamed of having his or her own small (maybe , several years later , even big )business , and having wonderful freedom , both from a boss and from the time clock ; the freedom to make up our own rules for our work , and our own plans —arranging our own hours of work ? That way work would be both painless and fun. Or, so we imagine.
Well, in fact it isn’t quite as simple as that. Yes , it is true that being the boss has its satisfactions and that you can arrange your working hours freely if you own your own small business . But in those early years of starting your own business, you shouldn’t think of a free day, not to mention flying off for a month’s vacation. It is not unusual for new business owners to work seventy or eighty hours a week , and if there is a day off , that day might need to be devoted to accounting (算账).
But this negative picture doesn’t destroy the beautiful hopes. The possibility of getting something wonderful in return—both material and mental—continues to drive that large number of people who start up small businesses each year in the United States.From the first paragraph, we know that everybody hopes________ .
| A．to rule others | B．to be his or her own boss |
| C．to get a time clock | D．to be free from work |
Most new business owners have to________ .
| A．work more than 10 hours a day | B．devote himself to accounting |
| C．fly to some places in the world | D．have a day off in a week |
The expression “negative picture” most probably means “________ “.
| A．a terrible experience | B．a poor picture |
| C．limited freedom | D．unpleasant situations |
The beautiful hopes will never be destroyed because________ .
| A．people love beautiful things by nature |
| B．people have a strong desire to seek personal gains |
| C．small businesses make big money each year in the US |
| D．small businesses have advantages over big companies |