Last week at a friend’s birthday party, there was a mooncake eating contest and I persuaded my good friend Jonathan to take part in it. Even though he had just finished a big dinner, he managed to win the contest. Not only did he win a bottle of nice whiskey, but also a big box of expensive Hong Kong mooncakes. A few days later, I was hosting an opening party for my new office. Jonathan showed up with the lovely box of Hong Kong mooncakes he had won the other night. I thought it was a lovely joke, and the mooncakes were delicious. Still, it got me thinking about the concept of regifting in China.

In the States, we have a tradition around Christmas similar to giving mooncakes, only we call them fruitcakes. Fruitcakes are made from terrible preserved (加工过的) fruit and nobody likes to eat them. You often find your friends giving the fruitcake you gave them to someone else, and so on. But fruitcakes aside, it isn’t very often to catch someone regifting something in America, as it’s seen to be very cheap and embarrassing (尴尬的). An obvious way to tell if something has been regifted is to check the wrapping (包装).

However, many of my friends in China will proudly regift an old gift, especially if it is still wrapped in a pretty box. I find it somewhat uncomfortable to receive a gift that I know wasn’t bought for me. But I also understand that the gift is perfectly good, it just lacks the special meaning of being picked out by a friend. There are many occasions in Chinese culture when gifts are necessary. There are traditional items such as tea, cigarettes and liquor which seem fine to regift. These gifts are not personal and have no special meaning. But is it really proper to give someone something that was never bought for them in the first place?

68．This article is written to          .

       A．praise some customs in China               B．question a social practice

       C．show how to regift                              D．tell an embarrassing story

69．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

       A．Americans often regift things on holidays.

       B．Regifting can hardly be seen in China.

       C．It is comfortable to be seen to regift in America.

       D．It is acceptable to regift some traditional items in China.

70．The second paragraph is mainly about         in the USA.

       A．giving fruitcakes                                  B．regifting

       C．checking the wrapping of gifts              D．Christmas tradition

71．The author thinks it really uncomfortable to receive           .

       A．an expensive gift from a close friend      B．a gift given again by a friend

       C．some items such as tea and cigarettes    D．a box of mooncakes from Hong Kong

   So you want to be a writer … Send us your joke, anecdote or story, and if we publish it in the magazine, we’ll pay as follows:

64．The purpose of this advertisement could be to         .

       A．encourage people to writers                  B．persuade people to buy the magazine

       C．attract people to write articles               D．let people make a living by writing 

65．If you want to get $ 500, your article has to be          .

       A．about personal stories                           B．about heroes

       C．chosen and published before                 D．rewritten from other articles

66．Laughter, the Best Medicine and Life’s Like That are two          .

       A．books                 B．articles                C．programmes        D．columns

67．In the advertisement, rdasia. stands for          .

       A．Record Digital Asia                              B．Reader’s Digest Asia

       C．Remember Day Asia                             D．Register Date Asia

Phyllis Lee of Singapore knew something wasn’t right. Her younger son, Alex, then six years old, was getting good grades in his private kindergarten classes. But Lee realized something was wrong when Alex came home one day, crying, with “zeroes” on his Chinese spelling test. Lee decided to investigate. According to Lee, the teacher would frequently describe Alex’s Chinese writing as ‘ghost writings’ and made him a laughing stock in class instead of helping him out.

Lee, 46, spent the next 12 months teaching Alex and still helps him when necessary. She not only taught him the formation of the Chinese words but also their origin so that he could understand better, often taking more than an hour to read a simple paragraph. Visits to the library and surfing the Internet kept her up to speed on teaching materials. Alex’s grades improved and by the end of Year One, he had become one of the top students in Chinese in his class.

Alex is keeping an A plus average in all subjects, and his mother’s involvement is a big reason behind it. Alex, now 11, recently wrote a book recording his struggles with Chinese, which an international education center has published to inspire its students. He sometimes writes for local student magazines as well.

Lee has always had input into the education of Alex. She reads to him “all the time.” As a result, he is an eager reader who regularly visit the library.

To Lee, one of the most valuable things she does is to take turns with her husband to drive Alex to school. “We’d talk along the way. Talking enables me to have a better understanding of my child and reminds me of changes every now and then so that I know when to get involved, she says.”

60．Alex arrived home with tears because           .

       A．he failed in the Chinese exam                  B．his teacher punished him

       C．he didn’t want to learn Chinese             D．his classmates did him wrong

61．Alex succeeded in learning Chinese with          .

       A．his teacher’s guide                               B．his classmates’ help

       C．his father’s influence                            D．his mother’s instruction

62．For Alex the great achievement recently is that         .

       A．he gets A’s in some subjects                  B．he wrote a book

       C．he earns some money                             D．he understands Chinese better

63．Lee’s education method succeeds mainly because of her         .

      A．involvement         B．communication    C．tolerance             D．encouragement

My name is Hua Fei and I am a sporting robot of the 23^rd century. I am an expert at high flying exercises. I jump from spaceships and as I fall I turn, dive circle and dance until I softly land as close as I can to the finishing line. Robot competitions in the 23^rd century are truly a popular sport. Fans from all over China watch their handheld TVs when a competition comes on. Last time I took part in the 78^th Olympics on a flying island above Brussels in the sky. I won the silver medal for my performance.

This year I had the honour to be chosen again. I wanted to meet robots from other countries and explore ideas about sport. However, my programmer fell ill the week before we were going to leave. It was very painful for her and I felt very frightened. I no longer felt so confident that I would win. The day of the competition was rather cold for my legs and my special oil began to freeze. I paused before I jumped from the starting place on a little spaceship but then I began my performance. At the correct moment I tried to open my parachute but there was a problem. It only opened a little. Instead of flying softly to earth I began to fall faster and faster so that I could not turn, dive, circle or dance. My heart stopped beating as I landed heavily on a mountain covered with snow.

This is why I am writing to you from my hospital bed with two broken legs and a fragile (易碎的) head. I did not win anything at the Olympics after all. I need the factory to build me two new legs and an even bigger head. Then I will be able to compete once more. Let’s hope for greater success in the next Olympics!

56．What we know about Hua Fei is that he is          .

       A．an experienced expert                           B．a computer system

       C．a flying spaceship                                D．a sporting robot

57．According to the passage,           would be a popular sport in the 23^rd century.

       A．computer games                                  B．robot competitions

       C．plane controlling                                  D．sky diving

58．The reason why Hua Fei failed to perform well this year is that          .

       A．he didn’t do it in the right way              B．he couldn’t open his parachute

       C．he didn’t replace the batteries                D．he was affected by a wrong programme

59．At the moment, Hua Fei is           .

      A．being treated in a hospital                      B．being repaired in a factory

       C．being trained for the next Olympics       D．being taught to do high flying exercises

When Don Richmond and his brother Mark stole their mother’s pocket address book one day, some 13 years ago, the two young men had nothing but good intentions.

Their   36   - Brian, a radio personality in Singapore and Suanne, a health advisor had   37   at a young age and didn’t have the means to have a big   38  . Don and his brother had heard their parents   39   several times that they wished they’d been able to   40   more people to share their joy. Since Mark was having great   41   following in his father’s footsteps as a radio host, he felt he was   42   to give his parents the perfect 25 th wedding   43   present the wedding they’d always wanted. Don was   44   in school at that time.

The Richmond boys got   45  . Going through the address book, they   46   family, old friends and colleagues, as well as made   47   to fly their grandmother in from England. At that point, Brian had not seen   48   mother for about seven years. On the evening of the August 1^st wedding anniversary, Don and Mark   49   to meet their parents at the hotel where the feast would take place. They’d   50   thirteen tables and all their invited guests had already been told to remain   51   so as not to spoil the surprise. Their parents were caught   52   unawares (出其不意地) when they entered the room and were   53   by 130 guests yelling at the same time “Surprise!”

“My parents were truly   54   ,” says Don, now 31. “My parents say it was their best wedding anniversary ever. But they also   55   us that peaceful dinners with the family are pretty good, too.”

This is an amazing area of study ______ new discoveries are being made almost every day.

A．from which                                      B．by which       

C．in which                                          D．through which

Unfortunately, all the equipment, the computers and the printers included, ______ in the big earthquake.

A．was damaged                                          B．were damaged   

C．has been damaged                                   D．have been damaged

--- Have you ever heard of the new model of computer, Tom?

 --- Yes, of course. But I haven’t decided whether to buy ________.

    A．this              B．it                C．one              D．that

Our teacher seems unhappy. We don’t understand _______ it was that made him feel that way.

    A．which           B．what            C．why              D．how

There is no _____ in trying to persuade him to join us, for he enjoys being alone.

    A．doubt            B．wonder          C．difficulty         D．point