More than a third of the babies born this year could receive a 100th birthday message from whoever happens to be on the throne in the second decade of the 22nd century, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It forecasts that 35% of the 826,000 people born in 2012 will live to become centenarians.
But a long life is not unalloyed good news. David Sinclair, head of policy and research at the International Longevity Centre UK, warned that for many the future may mean social isolation(隔离）as they live longer than friends and members of their families.
"It is of course good news that so many more people are living longer," he said, "but there is a big 'but1. We will be older, but in worse health, and at high risk of living alone. The other problem is that we are very poor at forward planning. We deal with the problems that are under our noses, but even problems two or three years away seem quite distant enough to put off.When you're talking about forecasts for a time half a century away and more, I see no evidence that we are putting in place the measures to deal with it."
This year there will be 14,500 centenarians in the UK, a number which is expected to increase to 110,000 in 2035.
Women have higher life expectancies than men at every age: the likelihood of a girl born this year reaching her century is estimated to be 39%; for boys the figure is 32%.
The estimated number of female centenarians has risen from 500 in 1961 to more than 10,000 in 2010，a figure which is projected to reach 71,000 by 2035 and 276,000 by 2060.
Men are also living far longer, although their numbers are far fewer. There were an estimated 92 male centenarians in 1961 and just below 2,000 in 2010.The underlined word centenarians probably means people who_____.
| A．are born this year | B．live longer than their friends |
| C．are in poor health | D．are a hundred or more years old |
From what David Sinclair said, we can learn_____.
| A．he doesn't believe so many people are living longer |
| B．the older we are, the more likely we are to live alone and in poor health |
| C．the people who are good at forward planning are likely to live longer |
| D．too distant planning is not always necessary for most of us |
Which of the following statement is true?
| A．About 289，100 people born in 2012 will live to 100. |
| B．More men will reach their century than women in the future. |
| C．The number of the female centenarians was 1,000 in 1970s |
| D．More than 600 people reached their century in 1961. |
What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．A long life is not always good news. |
| B．A long life also means social and physical isolation |
| C．In the future, more people will live to 100 in the UK. |
| D．It is good to live to 100. |
C
This summer vacation,Xiaokai,a high school student in Guangzhou,planned to spend his time surfing the Internet,playing basketball and watching TV.
But Xiaokai's parents tried to make him read some classics at home.In their yees,reading the classics would do his son much more good than other activities.
Though his room was full of the classic books,he had just finished reading one of them,The Old Man and the Sea.
"I picked up the book just because it was not very thick,"he said."Nothing impressed me at all after reading."
Xiaokai is not alone in today's China.Now most of the teenagers are fond of reading martial arts stories,cartoons and popular magazines.Theose classics cannot get them interested at all.
Parents areworrying about this phenomenon(现象).They always tell their chilren to read the classsics,which is supposed to help their children improve their academic studies.
Ms Li made a classics reading plan for her daughter,but her daughter refused to carry it away.She just finished less than 10 pages of the Dream of Red Chamber(阁楼) during the whole summer vacation. Ms Li sighed,"What's wrong with the children today?"
It is the same with teachers.One middle school Chinese teacher once prepared a chart(图表) of Interpersonal relationship in the best-known novel Dream of Red Chamber for his students. They were asked to remember how the characters are related to each other while preparing for the final exam.
To improve the situation in which the fastfood culture (快餐文化) seems to be winning over teenagers,parents are expected to understand their children's interests, and guide them to read the books instead of forcing them,according to some experts.It is not necessary for the kids to read the classics in their childhood.They can read classics after having their own life experience.
64.Xiaokai read only one classic book because _______.
A.he didn't have more
B.he wasn't interested in the classics
C.it took him a lot of time
D.he just acted on his parents' advice
65.When the writer says"Xiaokai is not alone",she means that ________.
A.many others don't like classics either
B.some parents and teachers support Xiaokai
C.Xiaokai is not the family's only child
D.Xiaokai often reads together with others
66.Which belong,or belongs,to the fastfood culture according to the article?
A.The old Man and the Sea.
B.The Dream of Red Chamber.
C.Martial arts stories.
D.The books filling up Xiaokai's room.
67.Who would be more likely to stand on the side of that Chinese teacher?
A.The students. B.The parents. C.The experts. D.The writer.
B
More and more young people enjoy having pets,but they don't like to keep them.At present in Changchun,people prefer to rent pets and play with them during weekends,regarding this as a fashionablelifestyle.
Mr.Feng,from Jilin Province,likes pet dogs.Last weekend he rented a Scottish shepherd dog from a localpet shop.He bathed the dog,and went walking with it.He said he could not keep pets in his spare time because he was busy everday except weekends.To rent pets during weekends seemsto be the most practical and economical way to relax himself.
A manager from a pet shop says his customers(主顾) are all like Mr.Feng,usually too busy to keeppets,and some of them have never kept any pets before. But they hope torent pets and learn to keep pets so that they can know whether they can be good pet masters or not.
It's reported that all pets for rent need to beimmunized(免疫).Before they are rented out,pet shops will teach their customers the ABCs of pet keeping and preparing pet food based on each pet's taste.
Shop assistants will also provide(提供)different konds of services for pets like health checkup if their customers want to rent pets for a longer period.
Dogs for rent are often not ordinary ones,so their rent is high,usually 200 - 500 yuan(US＄ 25-63) per day.Sometimes,you have to leave thousands of yuan with the owner before you can take a dog away.
60.Mr.Feng rents pets instead of keeping them mainly because _______.
A.it's cheaper B.it is more fun
C.he has little spare time D.he wants a new pet for each week
61.What do we know about those who rent pets?
A.None of them ever kept a pet before.
B.They'll become pet owners later.
C.They enjoy having pets.
D.They want to help protect animals.
62.The underlined phrase "the ABCs(of…)"in the 4th paragraph refers to "______(of…)".
A.the possible dangers B.the basic knowledge
C.the communicative language D.the rules set by the shops
63.The dogs' rent is high because___________.
A.the customers are rich B.there are few dogs to rent
C.their owners hate to leave them D.they are top - class dogs
第三部分阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30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
Nearly a thousand people laugh heartily together for jalf an hour every morning in a park in Shenzhen.The Guangzhou Daily took a closer look at those happy people.
They are members of a group named Laughing Club,and when they get together,all they do is laugh.
Zheng Lixin,the fouder of the club and regarded as the "laugh leader",told the paper that laughing does him a lot of good.He started after he read some advice in a book and tried giggling afer quarrelling with his wife to relax.
After laughing for a few days,Zhang found himself more outgoing and relaxed.Soon his wife joined him,bringing the family more laughter and less bickering.
When he got to know a kind of "laughing yoga(瑜珈)" is good for the health,Zhang went to Bomday to learn from locals and developed what he learned into more than 30 ways of laughing.
The "lion bellow"is to shout with the fingers outstretched(伸开) near the ears.There is the "open mouth laugh".The "bow-pulling laugh",the "welcoming laugh" and evenn the "quarrelling laugh",with different arm movements of laugh style.
The "laugh movement" swept over Shenzhen in a matter of months,attracting tens of thousands of people to join,and has been followed in nearby cities such as Guangzhou.
Every morning at the lakefront and at 8 p.m.on every Monday,Wednesday and Friday at the mountain peak square in Linadhua Mountain Park,club members gather to laugh and shout loudly.
56.From the first paragraph we know that________.
A.the Guangzhou Daily is the source of the information
B.those happy people come from the Guangzhou Daily
C.there is a Guangzhou Daily office near the Laughing Club
D.the Guangzhou Daily supported the laughing movement
57.Which of the underlined words has a meaning similar to "laughing""
A.B.C.D.
58.What is the "lion bellow"?
A.It's a kind of "laughing yoga".
B.It's a bombay style of laughing.
C.It's one of the 30 ways of laughing.
D.It's not among the 30 ways of laughing.
59.What's the idea expressed by the last two paragraphs?
A.The Laughing Club is getting larger.
B.The laugh movement is becoming popular.
C.The laughing is done only in parks.
D.Lianhua Mountain Park also has a lake in it.
E
Thousands of people in the world are a hundred years old－or more and certain parts of the world are famous for the long lives of their inhabitants: the Vilacamba Valley in Ecuador, and the home of the Hunzas in the Himalayas．
Why do so many people live to a healthy old age in certain parts of the world? What is the secret of their long lives? Three things seem to be very important: fresh air, fresh food and a simple way of life．People work near their homes in the clean mountain air instead of travelling long distances to work by bus, car or train．They do not sit all day in busy offices or factories, but work hard outdoors in the fields．They take more exercise and eat less food than people in the cities of the West．For years the Hunzas of the Himalayas did not need policemen, lawyers or doctors．There was no crime, no divorce and not much illness in their society． They were a happy, peaceful people, famous all over India for their long, healthy lives．
Do you want to live to a hundred years old? Here are some rules for success．Firstly, choose your parents and grandparents carefully．If they lived or live to a good old age, so will you．Secondly, live in the right place．Thirdly, choose the right kind of job．Doctors, dentists and bus-drivers die young．Farmers, priests and orchestral conductors live much longer．If you are in the wrong kind of job, you can still improve your way of life．
An old man in the Caucasus was talking about his past life．"I was young then," he said, as he described his 87th year．His secret was: "Think young and stay young．" An old woman from Missouri, USA, gave this advice, "Drink a little whisky and some warm beer every day．" An English lady just said, "Take a cold bath every morning．" The shortest, simplest piece of advice came from Mr．Jim Chapman, aged 103．"Just keep breathing," he told reporters．
72．Who is most likely to live a long life?
A．A doctor．B．A bus-driver．C．A dentist．D．An orchestral conductor．
73．We can see from the passage that long-lived people avoid ____．
A．working hard B．drinking
C．eating too much D．taking cold baths
74．The passage indicates that we can change our _____to live a long life．
A．jobs B．places of living C．ways of living D．ways of thinking
75．What is mainly talked about in the last paragraph?
A．Whose advice is the best．
B．Who is the most long-lived person in the world．
C．Lifestyles of long-lived people．
D．How long-lived people think of their life．
D
For jet-setters, a new way to get a restful night
Many people hate the idea of having to sleep on a plane. But Swedish entrepreneur Oscar Dios thinks they can be persuaded otherwise and he has created a new kind of hotel to prove it.
Dios says it is the world’s first jumbo jet hostel, an actual jet-plane at’ Sweden’s main airport outside Stockholm which has been converted into a 25-robin guesthouse that sleeps as many as 72 people.
“I learned abo0t this plane that was-standing abandoned at Arlanda airport and I’ve been trying the concept of hostels in many different houses and buildings,” he told reporters. “I thought, ‘Why not a plane?’”
Jumbo Hostels opened for business on Thursday, giving customers the chance to check in and sleep in a room that can best be described as cozy.
“The most challenging part with this project is trying to build something inside a metal hull -- it’s just really, really tight.”
The jet, which was originally produced for Singapore Airlines, was taken out of service in 2002.
One thing the hostel has. going for it is price-a room starts al 35.0 Swedish crowns (about $4.1% which is a lot less than hotel rooms outside of major airports.
Another feature: customers can get married on the wing of the plane and reside in the plane’s more luxurious honeymoon room situated in the cockpit.
Instead of walking down the aisle, lovebirds can take what Jumbo Hotel calls the “wing walk,” where they can be joined in bliss at the wing tip. The hostel has someone ready to perform the ceremony.
But in some respects, this hostel remains a plane-most clients have to share the jet’s nine bathrooms and staff only wear air steward and stewardess outfits. The only room that has its own bathroom is the honeymoon suite.
68. Why does Oscar Dios make jet plane hotel?
A. Because he is fond of plane very much.
B. Because he is very curious
C. Because he wants to earn more money.
D. Because he likes trying the concept of hotel in many different things.
69. Which of the following statement is not true about the plane?
A. The plane was in service before 2002 .
B. Now the plane as hostel is at Arlanda airport.
C. The plane was first produced for Singapore Airline.
D. The metal of the plane is very hard.
70. For the customers who get married on the plane, _________.
A. they can live in the room situated in the cockpit.
B. They will have their own bathroom
C. They can walk down the aisle
D. The wedding ceremony will be performed by the person prepared by the hotel.
71. Which of the following is the disadvantage of the Jumbo Hotel?
A. It’s price is too high.
B. It hasn’t enough rooms.
C. Sleeping on it is not comfortable.
D. Most clients don’t have their own bathroom.