Senior citizens are permitted to travel cheaply on a bus if they have a special card. Women may get cards when they are sixty.
Mrs. Matthews lived in the country but she went into town once a week to buy food and other things for the house, and she usually went by bus. She always had to pay the full price for her ride.
Then she reached the age of sixty and got her senior citizen’s card, but when she used it for the first time on the bus, it made her feel very old.
The bus driver had often seen her traveling on the bus before, and he noticed that she was feeling unhappy, so after she had paid her money, he winked at her and whispered, “Don’t forget to give your mother’s card back to her when you see her again.”
Mrs. Matthews was very happy when she heard this.Senior citizens in the story refer to .
| A．those who have special cards |
| B．old people with special cards |
| C．people who hold high positions in the government |
| D．those who wanted to travel cheaply |
Women over sixty .
| A．don’t have to pay for taking buses |
| B．pay less for their ride if they have a special card |
| C．have to pay the full price for their ride |
| D．have to pay their special card |
Mrs. Matthews used to pay the full price for her ride because .
| A．she didn’t know the rule |
| B．she wasn’t old enough |
| C．she didn’t know where to get the card |
| D．she had reached sixty but had not got her senior citizen card |
Mrs. Matthews felt unhappy on the bus because .
| A．she still had to pay for the ride |
| B．the card wasn’t hers |
| C．she felt she was now an old woman |
| D．the driver found out she was not honest |
The driver whispered to her .
| A．in order to make her feel younger |
| B．because he thought that she shouldn’t have borrowed her mother’s card |
| C．because he wanted her to pay the full amount |
| D．because he knew her mother was still alive |
Mike Maietta was eating lunch when he got a text message from his mom.
“Notre Dame,” it said. “Big envelope!”
Mike, a senior at a Californian high school, shouted with joy. The big envelope meant that the excellent university in Indiana had offered him a place in its Class of 2013. But the $51,300 annual fee is a big obstacle. So Mike and his parents are considering offers from several other colleges and are calculating the costs of tuition, housing and holiday trips home.
This year, money is the driving factor for a growing number of high school seniors, who have to decide what colleges to attend this fall. Less jobs and plunging house prices have changed family spending.
“We’re excited that Mike got into eight great schools,” said Mike’s father, an engineer at Microsoft. “But if you consider going to school out of state, you’ve got to think about all of the other costs: moving, flying back and forth for the holidays. You’re looking at about $3,000 a year, just for travel.”
As families weigh their choices, some are going back to financial aid offices hoping help packages can be increased.
Rachel Brown was happy to get a thick envelope from New York University (NYU). Although she has always wanted to live in Manhattan, she is seriously considering the University of California San Diego (UCSD), because of the high cost in New York.
“The tuition for NYU is twice as much as UCSD,” said Rachel, 17. “My mom doesn’t want me to have a big debt when I graduate, and I don’t want that either. I’d have to take out a loan of $15,000. I’ll check and see if there’s any way that NYU can offer me any financial aid.”
More than 7.6 million American students have filled out the Free Application for Students Aid, a 19.9 percent increase over last year.
This month the Federal Department of Education urged college financial aid officers to give more help to certain families. A record 30,428 students applied for 2,300 places at Stanford, partly because the university increased financial aid for families earning below $10,000.
68. Mike may give up Notre Dame because of ______.
A. travel fees B. financial concerns
C. poor exam results D. worries about living far away from home
69. The phrase “Big envelope” in paragraph 2 probably refers to “______”.
A. A text message B. A large gift package
C. An admission letter D. A scholarship letter
70. What can we learn from the passage?
A. The number of American senior students applying for financial aid is increasing.
B. Rachel Brown has given up NYU because of its high tuition and big debts.
C. It is inevitably hard for college students to borrow money to cover costs.
D. An interest-free loan for students helps more students apply for Stanford.
71. The passage mainly focuses on ______.
A. the calculation of different costs including tuition
B. the extremely hard financial situation in America
C. the excitement of students’ being able to enter ideal colleges
D. the financial crisis of families over college entrance
Dear Daughter, 
As we drove off from Columbia, I wanted to write a letter to you to tell you all that is on my mind.
First, I want to tell you how proud we are. Getting into Columbia is a real proof of what a great well-rounded student you are. You should be as proud of yourself as we are.
It is in college that you will discover what learning is about. This will be the period where you go from teacher-taught to master-inspired, after which you must become self-learner. So do take each subject seriously, and even if what you learn isn’t critical for your life, the learning skills you acquire will be something you will treasure forever.
Follow your passion in college. Take courses you think you will enjoy. Don’t be trapped by what others think or say, but make up your own mind.
Most importantly, make friends and be happy. Pick a few friends and become really close to them – pick the ones who are genuine to you. Don’t worry about their grades, looks, or even personalities.
Start planning early. I think your plan to study fashion is good, and you should decide where you want to be, and get onto the right courses.
Whether it is coursework planning or picking a major, you should take control of your life. I will always be there for you, but the time has come for you to be in the driver’s seat – this is your life, and you need to be in control. Being in control feels great.
So please treasure your college years – make the best of your free time, become an independent thinker in control of your destiny fate, learn and grow through your successes and challenges.
May your years at Columbia be the happiest of your life, and may you blossom into just what you dream to be.
Love,
Dad (& Mom)
65. According to the letter the author’s daughter is ______.
A. scared to be leaving home B. a well-rounded student
C. the pride of her university D. learning to drive a car
66. Which advice below is given to his daughter by the author?
A. Party with friends in her free time.
B. Ignore what others think or say.
C. choose friends with similar personalities.
D. Treasure and make the best of her college years.
67. From the passage, we can conclude the father is ______.
A. worried about his daughter B. strict with his daughter
C. positive about his daughter’s future D. sad about his daughter’s leaving home
When I stepped out the plane from Miami into Charlotte, North Carolina, airport for a connecting flight home, I immediately knew something was wrong. Lots of desperate people crowded the terminal. I quickly learned that flights headed to the Northeast were called off because of a storm. The earliest they could get us out of Charlotte was Tuesday. It was Friday. A gate agent stood on the counter and shouted, “Don’t ask us for help! We cannot help you!”
I joined a crowd that ran from terminal to terminal in search of a flight out. Eventually, I found six strangers willing to rent a van with me. We drove through the night to Washington, where I took a train the rest of the way to Providence.
The real problem, of course, is that incidents like this happen every day, to everyone who flies, more and more often. It really gets to me, though, because for eight years I was on the other side, as a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines(TWA).
I know the days are gone when attendants could be written up if we did not put the lines napkins with the TWA logo in the lower right-hand corner of the first-class diners’ trays. As are the days when there were three dinner options on flights from Boston to Los Angeles in economy class. When, once, stuck on
a tarmac (机场停机坪) in Newark for four hours, a planeload of passengers got McDonald’s hamburgers and fries by thoughtfulness of the airline.
I have experienced the decline of service along with the rest of the flying public. But I believe everything will change little by little, because I remember the days when to fly was to soar (翱翔). The airlines, and their employees, took pride in how their passengers were treated. And I think the days are sure to come back one day in the near future. Many people crowded the terminal because ________.
| A．they were ready to board on the planes |
| B．something was wrong with the terminal |
| C．the flights to the Northeast were canceled |
| D．the gate agent wouldn’t help the passengers |
The writer got to Providence ________ at last.
| A．by air | B．by van | C．by train | D．by underground |
Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
| A．Incidents happened to those who fly quite often. |
| B．The writer used to be a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines. |
| C．Even a small mistake might cause complaints from passengers in the past. |
| D．McDonald’s hamburgers and fries were among regular dinner options. |
What can be implied from the passage?
A．The writer lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. |
| B．The writer thought the service was not as good as it used to be. |
| C．The writer with other passengers waited to be picked up patiently. |
| D．Passengers would feel proud of how they were treated on the plane. |
Putting Movies on Mobiles
Movies in the theater get their recognition at awards ceremonies such as the Oscars. But how about movies for phones? They are getting their turn at MoFilm — the first mobile film festival.
The first MoFilm competition received 250 entries from more than 100 countries. Entries were restricted to films that were five minutes or less in length — ideal for viewing and sharing on mobile phones. An independent jury then selected a shortlist of five film-makers. The winner was chosen from the shortlist by an audience voting using their phones.
lNew Platforms
The awards highlight the increasing impact that mobile phones are making in the entertainment industry. Many grassroots filmmakers start out with short films. They are thwarted by the lack of opportunities to screen their work. Therefore, mobile phones are increasingly being seen as a new platform for these short works.
It is a good place for anyone who wants to express themselves and find a way to have that expression be seen by a wide audience. Just think about how many people have mobile phones in the world!
lNew Technology Advances
MoFilm is pioneering content for mobile and online services that is a world away from Hollywood. The majority of films made for mobiles are now short in length, taking into account the screen size. However this could be overcome as technology advances.
In the near future, longer films will likely be seen on the mobile phone. And there are mobile companies creating phones where users can watch movies at higher quality.
Wherever you see movies, one thing is certain: the quality of work, the simple ability at story telling, and the thing that inspires someone to tell a story can really come from anywhere.At the first MoFilm, ________.
| A．movies in the theater got their recognition |
| B．more than 100 countries took part in the competition |
| C．ideal films were five minutes or less in length |
| D．the winner was chosen by experts’ voting |
They are thwarted by the lack of opportunities to screen their work. The underlined word means “________”.
| A．disappointed | B．surprised | C．frightened | D．encouraged |
Nowadays the majority of films made for mobiles are short in length because of _______.
| A．online services | B．the screen size |
| C．technology advances | D．the mobile phone |
In a new study, 186 four-year-old kids were given regular carrots and, on other lunch days, they were given the same vegetables renamed X-ray Vision Carrots. On the latter days, they ate nearly twice as many.
The study suggests the influence of these names might persist. Children continued to eat about 50 percent more carrots even on the days when they were no longer labeled as anything special.
The research, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was presented at the annual meeting of the School Nutrition Association in Washington, D.C..
“Cool names can make for cool foods,” said the lead author Brian Wansink of Cornell University. “Whether it be ‘power peas’ or ‘dinosaur broccoli trees’, giving a food a fun name makes kids think it will be more fun to eat. And it seems to keep working — even the next day,” Wansink said.
Similar results have been found with adults. A restaurant study showed that when the Seafood Filet was changed to Romantic Hawaii, sales increased 28 percent and taste rating increased by 12 percent. “Same food, but different expectations, and a different experience,” said Wansink, author of “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.”
The study was conducted in pre-schools, but the researchers believe the same naming tricks can work with children at home.
“I’ve been usi
ng this with my kids,” said researcher Collin Payne, “Whatever sparks(激发) their imagination seems to spark their appetite.” Those four-year-old kids ate ________ when the carrots were renamed X-ray Vision Carrots.
| A．twice more carrots | B．nearly double carrots |
| C．about 50 percent more carrots | D．as m any carrots as they used to |
According to the passage, _______ make(s) kids think it will be more fun to eat.
| A．power peas | B．dinosaur broccoli trees |
| C．fun names of food | D．cool foods |
The restaurant study didn’t show that ________.
| A．sales increased 28 percent when the name Romantic Hawaii was taken |
| B．taste rating increased by 12 percent after the Seafood Filet was renamed |
| C．same food would let people have a different experience with different names |
| D．the researchers got similar results when they work with children at home |
The purpose of the passage is to tell us ________.
| A．people prefer food with cool names |
| B．how to name the food which kids eat |
| C．how to help kids eat in a healthy way |
| D．kids often imagine when they eat food |