根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选-优题课

Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the first taste to the last. And good writers, like good cooks, do not suddenly appear full-blown. Quite the opposite, just as the cook has to undergo a particular training, mastering the skills of his trade, the writer must sit at his desk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing, whatever its purpose is—schoolwork, matters of business, or purely social communication.
You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort, the more effective the writing, and the more rewarding.
There are still some faraway places in the world where you might find a public scribe to do your business or social writing for you, for money. There are a few managers who are lucky enough to have the service of that rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letter writing with no more than a quick note to work from. But for most of us, if there is any writing to be done, we have to do it ourselves.
We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called on to put words to papers. It would be difficult to count the number of such words, messages, letters, and reports put into mails or delivered by hand, but the daily figures must be extremely large. What is more, everyone who writes expects, or at least hopes whatever he writes will be read, from first word to last, not just thrown into some “letters-to-be-read” files or into a wastepaper basket. This is the reason we bend our efforts toward learning and practicing the skills of interesting, effective writing.
57. In this passage, good writing is compared to fine food because _______.
A. both are enjoyable B. both are hard to learn
C. both are necessary to life D. both take a long time to prepare
58. according to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. Writing skills are less important than experience.
B. A good writer should have his own way of writing.
C. A good writer should learn to write all kinds of articles.
D. The more efforts one makes, the more money one can earn.
59. The author thinks that the most important reason for us to practice writing skills is _______.
A. to earn our living B. to attract others to read
C. to do daily reports easily D. to become good secretaries
60. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to _______.
A. comment and blame B. introduce and describe
C. explain and persuade D. interest and inform

Africa is now facing many problems. People are suffering(遭受) from a shortage(短缺) of food. They do not have enough health care. Deserts (沙漠) are spreading (扩大) in many places.
In Africa millions of people starved (饿) to death, and two thirds of them were children. Harry Belafonte, a famous singer in America, felt sad when he saw a film about the starving people in Africa. He said to himself, "I should do something to help them. What can I do?" He thought of a plan to gather the stars from the music world and make a special record. The money from the record would help the starving people in Africa. Those famous singers and musicians were always very busy. "How can you gather them?" everyone said to Belafonte. But they were willing to come to the event(活动) from all over the country.
Then who wrote the words and music for the record?
During the Christmas holidays in 1984, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie were writing the words and music for the record at Jackson’ s home in Los Angeles. They often talked about the music far into the night. When they finished the music, they called it "We Are the World". On the evening of January 28th, 1985 ,forty -five superstars made a historical(历史性的) recording in a Hollywood studio(演播室)." Everyone should do something active like this, "said Cyndi Lauper. "We have to be the voice," Stevie Wonere said," to help those people that have lost their future. "A sign was put at the door of the studio: "Please cheek your ego (自我) at the door!"
At 10 P.M. they began their work. They finally finished recording at 8 A.M. that morning. Just at that moment Diana Ross sat down with tears in her eyes and said, "I just don’ t want this to end!"
On April 5, more than 800 radio stations all over the world played "We Are The World" at the same time.
53. What did Harry Belafonte think he should do?
A. He thought he should tell other people about it.
B. He thought he should send a lot of food to Africa.
C. He thought he should ask the government to help them.
D. He thought he should do something to help the starving people.
54. Who was he going to make a record with?
A. With Michael Jackson. B. With the movie stars.
C. With the baseball stars. D. With the stars from the music.
55. What would help the starving people in Africa?
A. The special record. B. The money from record.
C. The money from the stars. D. The money from the government.
56. What did Diana Ross want?
A. She didn’t want to continue such kindness.
B. She wanted to continue doing such kindness.
C. She didn’t want to stop recording.
D. She wanted to have a good rest.

I was 9 years old when I found out my father was ill. It was 1994. But I can remember my mother’s words as if were yesterday: “Kerrel, I don’t want you to take food from your father, because he has AIDS. Be very careful when you are around him.”
AIDS wasn’t something we talked about in our country when I was growing up. From then on, I knew that this would be a family secret. My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone. For a while, he could take care of himself. But when I was 12, his condition worsened. My father’s other children lived far away, so it fell to me to look after him.
We couldn’t afford all the necessary medication for him, and because Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn’t buy even food for dinner. I would sit in class feeling completely lost, the teacher’s words muffled as I tried to figure out how I was going to manage.
I did not share my burden () with anyone. I had seen how people reacted to AIDS. Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be cruel. When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would put his food on the bedside table even though he was too weak to feed himself.
I had known that he was going to die, but after so many years of keeping his condition a secret, I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days. Sad and hopeless, I called a woman at a nonprofit National AIDS Support. That day, she kept me on the phone for hours. I was so lucky to find someone who cared. She saved my life.
I was 15 when my father died. He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me. He didn’t want to call attention to AIDS. I do.
49. What does Kerrel tell us about her father?
A. He had stayed in the hospital since he fell ill.
B. He depended on the nurses in his final days.
C. He worked hard to pay for his medication.
D. He told no one about his disease.
50. What can we learn from the underlined sentence?
A. Kerrel couldn’t understand her teacher.
B. Kerrel had special difficulty in hearing.
C. Kerrel was too troubled to focus on the lesson.
D. Kerrel was too tired to hear her teacher’s words.
51. Why did Kerrel keep her father’s disease a secret?
A. She was afraid of being looked down upon.
B. She thought it was shameful to have AIDS.
C. She found no one willing to listen to her.
D. She wanted to obey her mother.
52. Why die Kerrel write the passage?
A. To tell people about the sufferings of her father.
B. To show how little people knew about AIDS.
C. To draw people’s attention to AIDS.
D. To remember her father.

Sometimes people add to what they say even when they don't talk.Gestures are the "silent language" of every culture.We point a finger or move another part of the body to show what we want to say.It is important to know the body language of every country or we may be misunderstood.
In the United States,people greet each other with a handshake in a formal introduction.The handshake must be firm.If the handshake is weak,it is a sign of weakness or unfriendliness.Friends may place a hand on the other's arm or shoulder,some people,usually women,greet a friend with a hug(拥抱).
Space is important to Americans.When two people talk to each other,they usually stand about two and a half feet away and at an angle,so they are not facing each other directly.Americans get uncomfortable when a person stands too close.They will move back to have their space.If Americans touch another person by accident,they say,"Pardon me." or "Excuse me."Americans like to look at the other person in the eyes when they are talking.If you don't do so,it means you are bored,hiding something,or are not interested.But when you stare at someone,it is not polite.
For Americans,thumbs-up;means yes,very good,or well done.Thumbs-down means the opposite.To call a waiter,raise one hand to head level or above.To show you want the check,make a movement with your hands as if you are singing a piece of paper.It is all right to point at things but not at people with the hand and index finger.Americans shake their index finger at children when they scold them and pat them on the head when they admire them.
Learning a culture's body language is sometimes confusing(困惑的).If you don't know what to do,the safest thing to do is to smile.
45.From the first paragraph we can learn that_________.
A.gestures don't mean anything while talking
B.gestures can help us to express ourselves
C.we can learn a language well without body language
D.only American people can use gestures
46.In the United States,people often_________.
A.show their friendship by facing each other directly
B.show their friendship by touching each other
C.say "Pardon me." to each other when they are talking
D.get uncomfortable when you sit close to them
47.If you talk with an American friend,it's polite to_________.
A.look up and down at your friend
B.look at the other person in the eyes
C.hide your opinion
D.look at your watch now and then
48.When your friend gives you the thumbs-up,he,in fact,_________.
A.shows his rudeness to you
B.shows his anger to you
C.expresses his satisfaction to you
D.expresses his worries about you

三、阅读理解
Maps are our oldest literature(文献),older than books.People think a map was the first thing the human ever wrote to communicate each other.Perhaps one million years ago,with a stick in the mud of a lake bed,the earlier human drew some lines to stand for a lake,a river,a thick forest and some good hunting grounds beyond the forest.
It made so much sense that people took it for magic(魔术),they expressed the world in a picture.There was something so real about this new thing called "map" that it helped us believe we could get there.It not only strengthened belief that good hunting existed beyond the forest,but it strongly suggested that the future existed;it was a place we could go to and be there tomorrow.What a comfort.On maps all paths lead somewhere.
41.Which of the following statements is true?
A.Maps can't be used to communicate each other.
B.Maps have the same long history as books.
C.No matter how hard you study them,maps don't make any sense.
D.None of the above is true.
42.The earlier human used lines drawn in the mud to express_________.
A.the whole world B.real places
C.strong belief D.great comfort
43.Now people regard some lines drawn by the earlier human as _________.
A.the beginning of maps B.the chanting form of maps
C.real maps D.a part of maps
44.It can be concluded that _________.
A.maps are the most useful way of communicating each other
B.the first map showed somewhere far away
C.the first map showed somewhere very near
D.the first map showed all directions