Marjorie Baer used to joke about her retirement plans．She wasn't married and had no kids, but she didn't intend to be alone—she and all her single friends would move into a fictional home she called Casa de Biddies．Instead, Baer developed terminal brain cancer when she was 52．But just as she'd hoped, her friends and family provided her with love and care to the end．
Ballance was only the first of Baer's friends who became her unofficial caregivers．With her brother Phil Baer from Los Angeles, they worked out a system to watch over their friend and allow her to keep some of the privacy and independence she cherished.
Baer's good friend Ruth Henrich took Baer to doctors' appointments and helped her deal with all the aspects of life —answering machines, TV controls, and even phone numbers．After Henrich sent out an e-mail request, a group of volunteers signed up to ferry Baer back and forth to radiation therapy（放疗）．Others in Baer's circle offered up particular talents: A nurse friend helped Baer figure out how to get what she was due from Social Security and her disability insurance; a lawyer pal helped Baer with her will; a partner who was an accountant took over her bills when she could no longer manage them．"There was this odd sense that the right person always showed up," says Ballance．Their arrangement worked remarkably well．
Unmarried women are one of the fastest-growing groups in America; experts are concerned about how care-giving will be managed for them as they age．If the experience of Baer's friends is a guide, the Internet will play a role．It's already making it possible to create communities of caregivers who may have only one thing in common: the person who needs their help．On personal "care pages" set up through services such as Lotsa Helping Hands, friends and family members can post a list of tasks that need to be done, volunteer to do them, and keep updated on the person's condition．As Baer's cancer progressed, for example, her friends set up a page on Yahoo! where people could sign up to deliver meals or do errands（差事）.
Catherine Fox, one of the friends who were present when Baer died, was deeply affected．"It was so comforting to know that if you're willing to ask for help, the generosity of family and friends can be phenomenal（显著的）．It makes me feel secure and hopeful to know that help is there when you need it．"The most appropriate title of this passage should be ______．
| A．On her own, but not alone |
| B．A friend in need is a friend indeed |
| C．A new practice of American government |
| D．A phenomenal advantage of the Internet |
Who helped Marjorie Baer get her disability insurance?
| A．Ruth Henrich. | B．Her brother. |
| C．A nurse friend. | D．Ballance. |
The underlined part in paragraph four suggests that the Internet will ______.
| A．play a role in American future pension system |
| B．provide online medical care for aged unmarried women |
| C．help manage care-giving for unmarried women as they age |
| D．help those aged unmarried women to kill their spare time |
The writer tells us the story of Marjorie Baer for the purpose of ______．
| A．reminding us to be kind and make as many friends as we can |
| B．informing that there will be a new trend of care-giving for the single elderly |
| C．persuading us that we can enjoy our retirement even if we don’t have a child |
| D．introducing the convenience that will be brought by the Internet after we retire |
The findings of a new survey have American professors talking about the good old days—when A's were a lot tougher to earn．
Sites like RateMyProfessors．com make it easy for students to find a class taught by a professor who is known as an "easy grader"．A recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep found that 46 percent of the more than 1,200 students polled admitted to using the site for just such a purpose．
"Our research shows that many of today's college students are looking at multiple factors when picking out courses: overall teacher quality that will result in a good learning experience, but also instructors who don't like to award a lot of C's and D's," said Jeff Olson, vice president of research at Kaplan Test Prep．
"While it makes sense that students would choose kinder graders, it also helps explain the recent popularity of grade inflation（膨胀）．"
Grade inflation is seen by many professors as poisoning the learning environment．Some, like former Duke University professor Stuart Rojstaczer, are righting it head-on．
On his website, Gradelnflation．com, he releases an annual list of schools where grade inflation is the worst．
This year, he decided to name the schools where grades were inflated the least．He praised, for example, Princeton University, as well as Purdue University, where the average GPA has remained around 2．8 for over 30 years．
"Purdue doesn't even seem to know that grade inflation exists in the US," Rojstaczer says．"Ignorance is bliss（极大的幸福）．"
68．From the passage we may know that Kaplan Test Prep is most probably _____
A．an institute B．a professor
C．a vice president D．a course
69．Grade inflation is spreading because _____．
A．it's poisoning the learning environment
B．instructors intend to improve their overall teaching quality
C．many instructors adapt to the students' expectations
D．students get easy access to sites like RateMyProfessors．com
70．The passage suggests that _____．
A．universities will employ hard graders
B．if we want to be happy, we should be ignorant
C．A's are becoming easy to earn at most US universities
D．professors and instructors should give students higher grades
71．The writer tends to _____．
A．favor easy graders B．see grade inflation as unavoidable
C．oppose Kaplan Test PrepD．miss the days when A's were hard to earn
Monarch butterflies（黑脉金斑蝶）are a common summer sight in the northern United States and Canada. These large orange
and black insects brighten parks and gardens as they fly lightly among the flowers. What makes monarchs particularly interesting is that they migrate（迁飞）— all the way to California or Mexico and back. They are thought to be the only insect that does this.
Every year in the late summer monarchs begin their journey to the south. Those heading for Mexico go first for the 
Louisiana-Mississippi area, and then fly across the Gulf of Mexico into Texas. Once in Mexico, they settle themselves in one of about fifteen places in a mountain forest filled with fir trees. Each place provides a winter home for millions of monarchs. There are so many butterflies that they often cover entire trees. When spring comes, they begin their long journey north.
The question is often asked whether every butterfly makes the round-trip journey every year. And the answer is no. The average monarch lives about nine months. So one flying north might lay eggs in Louisiana and then die. The eggs of that generation may be found in Kentucky; the eggs of the next generation may end up in Wisconsin or Michigan. The last generation of the season, about the fourth, will make their way back to Mexico and restart the journey.
Scientists learn about monarchs’ migration by catching and making marks on the insects. By recatching a monarch with such a mark and noticing where it came from, the next scientist can get to know things like the butterfly's age and its routing（路线）.
68. One of the places where monarchs spend the winter is _____.
A. the Gulf of Mexico B. an area in Mississippi
C. a forest in Mexico D. a plain in Texas
69. The routing of monarchs’ migration can be learned _____.
A. by examining the marks made on them B. by collecting their eggs in the mountains
C. by comparing their different ages D. by counting the dead ones in the forests
70. Which is the best title for this passage?
A. Migration of monarchs. B. Scientists’ interest in monarchs.
C. Winter home of monarchs. D. Life and death of monarchs.
There’s a man in the habit of hitting me on the head with an umbrella. At first I couldn’t 
stand it; now I’m used to it.I don’t know his name. I know he’s ordinary in appearance, wears a gray suit and has a common face. One hot morning, when 1 was sitting on a tree-shaded bench in Palermo Park, reading the paper, suddenly I felt something touch my head. It was the very same man who now,as I’m writing, keeps striking me with an umbrella.So I turned around filled with anger. He just kept on hitting me. I asked him if he was crazy. He didn’t even seem to hear me. Then I threatened (威胁) to call a policeman. Calmly cool as a cucumber, he went on hitting me. After a few moments of hesitation (犹豫), and seeing that he was not about to change his attitude, I stood up and hit him on the nose. The man fell down. But he immediately got back on his feet, obviously with great effort, and without a word again began hitting me on the head with the umbrella. His nose was bleeding and, at that moment. I felt sorry for him I regretted having hit him so hard. After all, the man wasn’t exactly hitting me；he was only tapping me lightly with his umbrella, not causing any pain at all. Of course, those taps were extremely upsetting. As we all know, when a fly lands on your forehead, you don’t feel any pain；what you feel is annoyance (烦恼). Well then, that umbrella was one huge fly that kept landing on my head time after time.Believing that I was dealing with a madman, I tried to escape. But the man followed me, wordlessly continuing to hit me. So I began to run (I should point out that not many people run asfast as I do). He ran after me, trying to hit me. The man was out of breath so that I thought, if I continued to force him to run at that speed, he would drop dead right then and there.64. When the man began to strike the author with an umbrella, the author_________ A. became angry B. called the police C. turned around and escaped D. turned around and fought back65. The author would most probably agree that the man was________. A. deaf B. blind C. dead D. mad66. The author felt sorry for the man because _______. A. there was a fly on the man’s headB. he hit the man so h
ard that his nose bledC. the man couldn’t catch up with him D. the man formed a bad habit of beating others67. It can be learned from t
he passage that the man__________. A. shouted loudly while hitting the authorB. wanted to tell the author somethingC. ran after the author breathlesslyD. acted as if he were a fly
Last week’s topic: What’s your opinion about cheating in exams?
Wilson 822 (Fujian): An oath isn’t enough to keep anyone from cheating. Who can tell that they won’t promise something that goes against their will? So I think the punishment is important. Punishments should be serious enough to stop people breaking the oath!
Wang Changling (Anhui): The oath itself makes all test-takers think that others may consider them would-be cheaters, which can hurt their feelings. In my opinion, prevention is better than a punishment. Educators should set good examples for students to follow and be role models for them. Even if only a few educators continue to copy other people’s work and their research papers, surely, students will follow.
Anonymous(匿名的): I support the school’s action against cheating. Although the oath
isn’t a duty, it can warn the would-be cheater.
Cathy Cheng: I find it is hard to refuse a friend who wants help in exams. And I think the rule of Maryland University gives the students like me a good excuse to refuse.
Zzq8301: I think it is a promising step toward what we’re talking about when we say “fair play” these days. Cheaters should be stopped because they make it difficult for the honest to succeed.
Freda (Tianjin): I was told by my foreign teacher to write down the oath on the back of my test paper in the same way that was described in the article. It is a rule everyone should obey in a fair game. Whether this method succeeds or fails is up to you. What I want to say is to be true to yourself.
60. The underlined word “oath” in Paragraph 2 may have the same mea
ning as “_________”.
A. idea B. promise C. plan D. opinion
61. It is clear that people mentioned in the text are talking about the rule made by _________.
A. Maryland University B. some colleges
C. the Education Department D. the government
62. How many people are in fact in favor of the rule?
A. 3 B. 2 C. 4 D. 5
63. 
Who think teachers should set a good example?
A. Wilson 822 B. Freda C. Cathy Cheng D. Wang Changling
第三部分：阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Quick Reference Index (索引)
| ACTORS & ACTRESSES |
385-399 |
MAPS (COLOR) |
517-528 |
| MUSEUMS |
454-469 |
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS |
492 |
| ANIMALS |
493-496 |
HOLIDAYS |
841-873 |
| ART |
480-481 |
PLANTS RIVERS |
108-109 112-114 |
| HIGHWAYS |
131-141 |
NATIONAL PARKS |
747-749 |
| BOOKS, BEST SELLERS |
478 |
COUNTRIES |
529-615 |
| DISCOVERIES & INVENTIONS |
336-338 |
POPULATION |
142-144 |
| ENVIRONMENT |
80-101 |
PASSPORTS |
616-619 |
| EDUCATION |
284-321 |
POSTAL INFORMATION |
1033-1039 |
FLAGS OF THE WOR LD (COLOR) |
513-516 |
SPORTS |
884-978 |
56. Where can you find information on elephants?
A. On Pages 517-528 B. On Pages 529-615
C. On Pages 616-619 D. On Pages 493-496
57. If you want to know more about Chinese film star Jackie Chen, where should you begin
your search?
A. POSTAL INFORMATION on pages 1033-1039
B. ACTORS & ACTRESSES on pages 385-399
C. ENVIRONMENT on pages 80-101
D. NATIONAL PARKS on pages 747-749
58. One who likes surfing can find the information about how to surf on pages ________.
A. 142-144 B. 841-873 C. 884-978 D. 517-528
59. If you are interested in Thomas Edison, you may search __________.
A. DISCOVERIES & INVENTIONS B. ART
C. POPULATION D. EDUCATION