Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.
In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, King of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.
Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War Ⅱ. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea: clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?
Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist(免疫学家)，encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.The kings of France and England in the 16th century closed bath houses because .
| A．they lived healthily in a dirty environment. |
| B．they believed disease could be spread in public baths |
| C．they thought bath houses were too dirty to stay in |
| D．they considered bathing as the cause of skin disease |
Which of the following best describes Henry IV’s attitude to bathing?
| A．Uninterested. | B．Curious. |
| C．Approving. | D．Afraid. |
How does the passage mainly develop?
| A．By following the order of time. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By providing examples. |
| D．By following the order of importance. |
What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To stress the role of dirt. |
| B．To introduce the history of dirt. |
| C．To present the change of views on dirt. |
| D．To call attention to the danger of dirt. |
There’s talk today about how as a society we’ve become separated by colors, income, city vs suburb, red state vs blue．But we also divide ourselves with unseen dotted lines．I’m talking about the property lines that isolate us from the people we are physically closest to: our neighbors．
It was a disaster on my street, in a middle-class suburb of Rochester Town, several years ago that got me thinking about this．One night, a neighbor shot and killed his wife and then himself; their two middle-school children ran screaming into the night．Though the couple had lived on our street for seven years, my wife and I hardly knew them．We’d see them jogging together．Sometimes our children would share cars to school with theirs．
Some of the neighbors attended the funeral（葬礼）and called on relatives．Someone laid a single bunch of yellow flowers at the family’s front door, but nothing else was done to mark the loss．Within weeks, the children had moved with their grandparents to another part of the town．The only indication that anything had changed was the “For Sale” sign in front of their house．
A family had disappeared, yet the impact on our neighborhood was slight．How could that be? Did I live in a community or just in a house on a street surrounded by people whose lives were entirely separate? Few of my neighbors, I later learned, knew others on the street more than casually; many didn’t know even the names of those a few doors down．
Why is it that in an age of low long-distance expenses, discount airlines and the Internet, when we can create community anywhere, we often don’t know the people who live next door? Maybe my neighbors didn’t mind living this way, but I did．I wanted to get to know the people whose houses I passed each day – not just what they do for a living and how many children they have, but the depth of their experience and what kind of people they are．
What would it take, I wondered, to break through the barriers between us? I thought about childhood sleepovers（在外过夜）, and the familiar feeling and deep understanding I used to get from waking up inside a friend’s home．Would my neighbors let me sleep over and write about their lives from inside their own houses?
72．The underlined word “this” in the second paragraph probably refers to the talk about ____．
A．how a society is divided by dotted lines
B．the property lines separating us from our neighbors
C．the couple’s death
D．understanding each other between neighbors
73．Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the author’s description?
A．The husband killed himself．
B．The couple had the habit of jogging together．
C．Their children moved to live with grandparents after the couple’s death．
D．The author never knew the couple until they died seven years later．
74．From the last paragraph, we can infer that the author _____ in his childhood．
A．had once slept in the open air outside
B．had slept in his friend’s home more than once
C．had slept at home but woke up to find himself inside his friend’s home
D．used to live in his friend’s home
75．Following the last paragraph, the author will perhaps _____．
A．leave his home and began his writing career
B．sleep in the open air and write about his experiences
C．sleep in his neighbors’ homes and write about their family lives
D．interview his neighbors and write about their houses
Cellphone users in the United States have contributed more than $11 million to Haitian earthquake relief through text messages in what is being called as an unexpected mobile response to a natural disaster．
The Mobile Giving Foundation called it a “mobile-giving record” for funds raised for a single cause．Donations are rising swiftly, as former President Bill Clinton and other politicians urge the American people to give．
Jim Manis, chief officer of the organization helping to manage cellphone donations, said it was receiving up to 10,000 text messages per second．The foundation said more than $11 million has been donated．
Cellphone users can donate $5 to Haiti-born hip-hop musician Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund by texting the word “Yele” to 501501, or they can donate $10 to other nonprofit organizations, such as the American Red Cross, by texting the word “Haiti” to a specified number, like 90999．
The donation is charged to a user’s cellphone bill．
The American Red Cross said it has received more than $ 9 million in donations from more than 900,000 mobile phone users．
“It’s beyond our imagination that we’ve received this amount,” said spokeswoman Nadia Pontif．
Jean’s fund had raised $2 million via text messages, according to Give on the Go, Yele’s mobile application service provider．
The giving is also being fueled by the popularity of websites like Facebook and Twitter, where users are urging one another to make donations using cellphones．
Wireless carriers(无线运营商) Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc．, Sprint and T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG, have waived(免收) fees for customers wishing to send mobile donations．Carriers are also letting users know they are not taking a cut of the donations．
“There are no text messaging fees and 100% of the $10 donation goes to the American Red Cross, and every carrier is working through a solution to push those funds out faster．” Verizon said in a statement．
68．A mobile phone user can donate some money to Haiti by texting the word _____ ．
A．“Yele” to 501501 to donate $10
B．“Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10
C．“Yele” or “Haiti” to 501501 to donate $ 5
D．“Haiti” to the American Red Cross to donate $ 5
69．The underlined word “fueled” in the ninth paragraph most probably means “_____ ”．
A．protected B．discouraged C．inspired D．reflected
70．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Facebook and Twitter are two relief organizations from the USA．
B．Many American politicians force Americans to give donations to Haiti．
C．The American Red Cross expected to receive much more donations．
D．Carriers have promised not to take a share from the donation．
71．Which may be the best title for the passage?
A．U．S．Texting Raises $11 Million for Haiti Earthquake
B．An Unexpected Terrible Earthquake Hit Haiti
C．The American Red Cross Offers Help to Haiti
D．Wireless Carriers Donate $11 Million to Haiti
A．You and Me, Baby
|
B．Ruff! Ruff! Where's Scruff?
|
C．The Giving Tree
|
D．Where the Wild Things Are
|
64．Little Tom who likes to read picture books with a hide-and-seek adventure will be likely to buy _____．
A．Ruff! Ruff! Where’s Scruff? B．You and Me, Baby
C．The Giving Tree D．Where the Wild Things Are
65．How much will you pay if you order three books named Where the Wild Things Are?
A．$16．26 B$ 75 C．$ 50．58 D．$34．59
66．Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
A．The language of four kinds of books is English．
B．Four kinds of books are available at present．
C．The cover of four kinds of books is hardcover．
D．The reading level of four kinds of books are the same．
67．Where would this advertisement probably appear?
A．In a children’s story-book B．On the front page of a newspaper．
C．On the Internet． D．In a popular magazine．．
Two new studies suggest that modern running shoes could increase the risk of injuries to runners．
One study involved sixty-eight healthy young women and men who ran at least twenty-four kilometers a week．The runners were observed on a treadmill machine．Sometimes they wore running shoes．Other times they ran barefoot．
Researchers from the JKM Technologies Company in Virginia, the University of Virginia and the University of Colorado did the study．
They found that running shoes create more stress that could damage knees, hips and ankle joints than running barefoot．They observed that the effect was even greater than the effect reported earlier for walking in high heels．
The study appeared in the official scientific journal of the American Academy of Physical Medicine．
The other study appeared in the journal Nature．It compared runners in the United States and Kenya．The researchers were from Harvard University in Massachusetts, Moi University in Kenya and the University of Glasgow in Scotland．
They divided the runners into three groups．One group had always run shoeless．Another group had always run with shoes．And the third group had changed to shoeless running．
Runners who wear shoes usually come down heel first．That puts great force on the back of the foot．But the study found that barefoot runners generally land on the front or middle of their foot．That way they ease into their landing and avoid striking their heel．
Harvard’s Daniel Lieberman led the study．He says the way most running shoes are designed may explain why those who wear them land on their heels．The heel of the shoe is bigger and heavier than other parts of the shoe, so it would seem more likely to come down first．Also, the heel generally has thick material under it to soften landings．
60．How many organizations are involved in the two studies?
A．Three． B．Four． C．Five． D．Six．
61．What can we learn from the text?
A．Most running shoes are designed improperly．
B．The design of high heels is better than that of running shoes．
C．No one will run with running shoes in the future．
D．Both of the studies are done in America．
62．Why do running shoes increase the risk of injuries to runners?
A．They could create stress．
B．They’re too big and heavy．
C．They can affect the way the runners land．
D．Their heels can soften landings．
63．How did the researchers do the two studies?
A．By practising． B．By comparing．
C．By questioning． D．By reasoning．
The wedding took place in a Birmingham hotel．The bride and her father arrived in a new black American sport car．Her father looked nervous and uncomfortable in front of the cameras．The bride wore a silk wedding dress．She smiled nervously at the waiting photographers and went to a room on the first floor where she met her future husband for the very first time．
Carla Germaine and Greg Cordell were the winners of a radio station’s competition．The aim of the competition was to find two strangers prepared to marry without having met each other．Miss Germaine, 23, is a model．Mr．Cordell, 27, is a TV salesman．They were among the two hundred people who entered a peculiar “experiment” organized by BMRB radio in Birmingham, England, Greg, and Carla were among eight finalists who were interviewed live on a radio．They took a lie detector（测谎仪） test and the station also spoke to their friends and family about their personalities．The competition judges include an astrologer（占星家） who declared that they were suited．
The couple celebrated their wedding with a wedding breakfast and a party for 100 guests in the evening, but not everyone shared their joy．Miss Germaine’s mother looked anxious throughout the wedding and Mr．Cordell’s parents are reported to be less than delighted．
Organizations, including the marriage guidance Service Relate, have criticized the marriage．As one person put it, “We have enough problems getting young people to take marriage seriously without this．Marriage should always be about love．”
The couple are now on a Caribbean honeymoon followed by journalists．Their other prizes include a year’s free use of a wonderful apartment in the center of Birmingham, and a car．But will it last?
56．How did the couple’s parents react to the wedding?
A．The bride’s mother shared their joy．
B．The bride’s father felt uncomfortable about the wedding．
C．The bridegroom’s parents were quite delighted．
D．The bridegroom’s parents were not that joyful．
57．Some experts believe that _____．
A．marriage without the couple’s meeting each other first ends up in divorce
B．young people nowadays are too careless about marriage
C．taking a lie detector test can not solve all the marriage problems
D．most young people take marriage seriously except this couple
58．One of the prize for the couple is _____．
A．to spend their honeymoon wherever they like
B．to use an apartment free for some time
C．to have a wedding dress free
D．to own an American sports car
59．Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A．Two strangers and a wedding B．A wedding based on love
C．A short-lived marriage D．A well-matched couple
