I looked ______ lots of different books but couldn’t find anything ______ what John had told me.

   A. through; of        B. up; in           C. for; about        D. in; about

Research shows pet owners visit the doctor less often and experience less sleeping difficulties than ______ without a four-legged friend.

   A. ones             B. those           C. who             D. that

― If you have any question, please feel free to call us.

― Thank you, Mr. Anderson. I certainly ______.

   A. should           B. can             C. will             D. shall

湖南人杰地灵，鱼米之乡，人口约65,000,000，占地约212,000平方公里。身为一个湖南中学生，请用英语写一篇不少于120个单词的短文向外推介我们湖南。要求行文流畅，结构完整，且必须包括以下三个部分：

1．简单介绍其最基本的自然地理概况；

2．着重描叙你认为最重要的一两个文化风俗或人物；

3．谈谈你作为一个湖南人的感想。

阅读短文，根据所读内容在文后76~85的空格里填上适当的单词或短语，并将答案转席写到答题卡上。

注意：每空不超过3个单词

American public education has changed in recent years. One change is that increasing numbers of American parents and teachers are starting independent public schools called charter schools.

In 1991, there were no charter schools in the United States. Today, more than 2,300 charter schools operate in 34 states and the District of Columbia. 575,000 students attend these schools. The students are from 5 years of age through 18 or older.

A charter school is created by groups of parents, teachers and community members. It is similar in some ways to a traditional public school. It receives tax money to operate a number of students. The charter school must prove to local or state governments that its students are learning. These governments provide the school with the agreement, or charter that permits it to operate.

Unlike a traditional public school, however, the charter school does not have to obey most laws governing public schools. Local, state or federal governments cannot tell it what to teach.

Each school can choose its own goals and decide the ways it wants to reach those goals. Class sizes are usually smaller than in many traditional public schools. Many students and parents say teachers in charter schools can be more creative.

However, state education agencies, local education-governing committees and unions often oppose charter schools. They say these schools may receive money badly needed by traditional public schools. Experts say some charter schools are doing well while others are struggling.

Congress provided 200 million dollars for establishing charter schools in the 2006 federal budget. But, often the schools say they lack enough money for their programs. Many also lack needed space. District officials say they have provided 14 former school buildings for charter education. Yet charter school supporters say officials should try harder to find more space.

People visit other countries for many reasons. Some travel on business; others travel to visit interesting places that are only found in other countries, such as the Mahal in India, or the temples of Thailand.

Wherever you go, and for whatever reason, it is important to be safe. A tourist can attract a lot of attention from local people. While the majority of people you will meet when traveling are sure to be friendly and welcoming, there are dangers―theft being the most common. Just as in your home country, do not expect everyone you meet to be friendly and helpful. It is important to prepare for your trip in advance, and to take precautions （预防措施）while you are traveling.

As you prepare for your trip, make sure you have the right paperwork. You don’t want to get to your destination only to find you have the wrong visa, or worse, that your passport is about to expire. Also, make sure you travel with proper medical insurance, so that if you are sick or injured during your travels, you will be able to get treatment. If you want to drive while you are abroad, make sure you have an international driver’s license.

Buy a guidebook and read about the local customs of the country you are going to. Also try to learn a few basic words and phrases---don’t assume that the local people will speak your language.

When you get to your destination, use official transport. Always go to bus and taxi stands; don’t accept rides from strangers who offer you a lift. If there is no meter in the taxi, agree on a price before you get in. If you prefer to stay in cheap hotels while traveling, make sure you can lock the door of your room from the inside. If you are traveling with valuables such as jewelry, or a lot of cash, you should ask about a safe for storing them in. Finally, remember to smile. Smiling is the friendliest and most sincere form of communication, and is sure to be understood in any part of the world!

73. What’s the best title of the passage? （5 words）

74. Find a sentence in the passage closest in meaning to the following one:

“Even at your local place, you shouldn’t be upset if someone couldn’t offer help when needed.”

75. Why do you need to have medical insurance while traveling abroad? （8 words）

“Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television?” How often we hear statements like this! Television hasn’t been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admit the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talk occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the “goggle-box”. We rush home or gulp down（吞咽）our meals to be in time for this or that program. We have even given up sitting at table and have a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do ― anything providing it doesn’t interfere with the program. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a program, he is quickly silenced.

The whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly（television）. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost. The telly is universal pacifier（抚慰者）. It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set. It doesn’t matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or violence ― so long as they are quiet.

There is little limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of programs are bad: It is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programs, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate（无文字的）communities. We become completely dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.

Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with secondhand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world. We got so lazy; we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be a splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware how totally irrelevant（不相关的）television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountain, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the repetitive oppression of King Telly.

68. According to this passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. We used to have hobbies and go to theatres and sporting events.

B. We have a leisurely evening meal and exchange the news when we watch TV.

C. We quickly finish our meals so as to be in time for TV programs.

D. We are usually silent and attentive in front of TV.

69. The main idea of the second paragraph is to show that______.

A. children are very noisy                   B. TV is full of rubbishy commercials or violence

C. television disturbs our sleep            D. the whole generations are fascinated with TV

70. According to this passage, television brings in a lot of harms EXCEPT______.

A. television makes us lazy               

B. TV prevents us from communicating with each other

C. TV may be a splendid medium of communication

D. the same TV programs bring the society into the preliterate conditions

71. Which is the best title for this passage?

A. Television Encourages Passive Enjoyment      B. Television Is Doing Irreparable Harm

C. Television Is a Universal Pacifier                   D. We Can’t Live Without TV

72. This passage is an article of______.

A. narration                  B. description               C. criticism           D. argumentation

65. “Let’s Get Busy Baby” is______.

A. a textbook for children in kindergartens

B. a set of toys for children in kindergartens

C. a book that is not easily torn by small children

D. a set of toys that is not easily broken by small children

66. Which of the following people will probably buy “Let’s Get Busy Baby”?

A. American Africans.                               B. American Spanish.

C. Spanish Americans.                              D. African Americans.

67. “Let’s Get Busy Baby” is intended for______.

A. 3-year-old children and children under three

B. young parents with 3-year-old children

C. grandparents with 3-year-old children

D. kindergarten nurses who care for small children

Some people would say that the Englishman’s home is no longer his castle; that it has become his workshop. This is partly because the average Englishman is keen on working with his own hands and partly because he feels, for one reason or another, that he must do for himself many households for which, some years ago, he would have hired professional help. The main reason for this is a financial one. The high cost of labor has meant that builders’ and decorators’ cost have reached a level which makes them prohibitive for house-proud English-people of modest means. So, if they wish to keep their houses looking bright and smart, they have to tackle（处理）some of the repairs and decorating themselves. As a result, there has grown up in the post-war years what is sometimes referred to as the “do-it-yourself movement”.

The “do-it-yourself movement” began with home decorating but has spread into a much wider field. Nowadays there seem to be very few things that can’t be made by the “do-it-yourself movement” method. A number of magazines and handbooks exist to show hopeful handymen（手巧的人）of all ages just how easy it is to build anything from a coffee table to a fifteen-foot sailing boat. All you need, it seems, is a hammer and a few nails. You follow the simple instructions step by step and, before you know where you are, the finished article stands before you, completely in every detail.

Unfortunately, alas, it is not always quite as simple as it sounds! Many a budding（崭露头角的）“do-it-yourself” has found to his cost that one can not learn a skilled craftsman’s job overnight. How quickly one realizes, when doing it oneself, that a job which takes a skilled man an hour or so to complete takes an amateur（外行）handyman five or six at least. And then there is the question of tools. The first thing the amateur learns is that he must have the right tools for the job. But tools cost money. There is also the wear and tear on the nerves. It is not surprising then that many people have come to the conclusion that the expense of the paying professional to do the work is, in the long run, more economical than “do-it-yourself”.

60. Many Englishmen join in the movement of “do-it-yourself”, because______.

A. they are skilled handymen                             B. they are proud of their houses

C. they can’t afford professional help               D. they are mean enough

61. Which of the following people can repair and decorate their own houses?

A. Skilled craftsmen.  B. Handymen of all ages. C. Hopeful gentlemen. D. Family supporters.

62. The “do-it-yourself” movement originated in______.

A. house repairing         B. house building   C. house decorating            D. furniture building

63. According to the passage we know that some Englishmen prefer hiring professional decorators NOT because______.

A. they are very wealthy                                   B. the craftsman’s job is quite complicated

C. the tools are expensive                                 D. “do-it-yourself” brings a lot of troubles

64. Which of the following might best explain the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A. There is something that needs more decoration than you have thought.

B. There is something that will last a longer time than you expect.

C. There is something else that might be harmful to your nerves.

D. There is something else that might make you less patient and annoyed.

Today, I’m going to talk about the invention of the camera and photography. The camera is often thought to be a modern invention. But as early as 1727, a German physicist discovered that light darkened silver salt, a chemical compound. Using as a camera, a big box with a small hole to let the light in, he made temporary images on the salt. Silver salt is still the base of film today.

Then a French scientist made the first permanent picture by using a special piece of metal sensitized（使…具感光力）with silver salt. A photograph he made in 1826 still exists. The painter Daguerre improved on the process by placing common salt, the kind we eat, on the metal. This was in 1839, the official date of the beginning of photography.

But the problem was the printing of the photographs. And it was not until other scientists developed the kind of paper we now use that good printing was possible and photography became truly common. In the 1860s, Mathew Brady was able to take his famous pictures of the American Civil War, thus making portrait poses very popular.

In the 20^th century, George Eastmen of the United States simplified film-developing film, and Dr. Edwin Land invented the so-called instant camera with self-developing film. If we say that the photography came into existence in 1839, it follows that it has taken more than one hundred years for the camera to reach the present condition of technical refinement（密度）.

56. What was the basis of photography?

A. The invention of the camera.

B. The discovery that light darkens silver salt.

C. A small box with a hole to let in light.

D. Temporary images made by a scientist.

57. How was the first permanent picture made?

A. By placing common salt on a special piece of metal to catch light.

B. By using a very small and simple camera.

C. By using a special piece of metal sensitized with silver salt.

D. By making images on silver salt.

58. What does the writer regard as the official date of the beginning of photography?

A. The use of common salt in the process of making pictures.

B. The first permanent picture made by a French scientist.

C. The temporary images on the salt by a German scientist.

D. The first use of silver salt in making pictures.

59. According to the writer, why is Mathew Brady remembered today?

A. Because good printing was possible at the time.

B. Because photography had become truly common.

C. Because portrait poses were very popular in the United States.

D. Because of the photos he took during the American Civil War.