I look in the mirror, and I’m not happy with what I see. I don’t have a “perfect” face. I look in the magazines and all I see are girls with the fair hair, blue eyes, and, of course, a pretty little nose. They’re on the outside of the buses that I take home, the television programs I watch, and the billboards I walk under. Almost every advertisement I see shows this human physical “perfection”. These billboards not only tell me what to drink, but also how to look.

    Our society tends to place more importance on a person’s physical beauty, rather than their ability, honesty and character. We have influenced women to go through painful surgeries and starve themselves to become this socially constructed physical model. To be a beautiful woman in the 21^st century doesn’t mean that you are a brilliant doctor or caring mother. It means you have the perfect jaw structure, eyes and lips. It means that you can be six feet tall and weigh one hundred and ten pounds.

    But what about the women who are starting to leave their youth? Instead of looking at aging as a sign of wisdom, we attempt to prevent the aging process. It’s a kind of funny thing to want to look eighteen when fifty. Fifty is a relaxed age, where you can step back and look at all you’ve achieved．It is when your hard work pays off. Unfortunately, our society just sees you as “old”. To stop the aging process, women buy wrinkle creams, do eye lifts and face lifts. They spend thousands of dollars to win the hopeless battle against age.

    I remember when I was about thirteen years old and going through teens, I had oily hair, and a half developed body. I hated the way I looked. I used to cry to my mother all the time, but she would just laugh and tell me that “you don’t want anyone to like your appearance. It’s your heart that matters, because beauty fades.” I knew that she was right. If you work on your heart enough, people will start to see the beauty in you, which lasts and remains on even after you die.

72．The main idea of the first paragraph is that__________.

       A．the author doesn’t have a perfect face    

       B．women have to look beautiful

       C．photos of beautiful girls can be seen everywhere

       D．there are too many beauties in daily life

73．What’s the author’s attitude toward being “old”?

       A．It’s a pity that people have to get old.     B．It’s a fruitful and wise time.

       C．It’s stupid to try to stay young               D．It’s a pity that society looks down upon the old.

74．It is_________ that regard(s) the physical beauty as more important.

      A．women themselves                                 B．the author’s parents

      C．newspapers and magazines                      D．society

75．What’s the author’s opinion about beauty?

       A．The author doesn’t like the beauties our society values.

       B．It is not important whether a person looks beautiful or not.

       C．It is a person’s inner qualities that matter rather than the physical beauty.

       D．The author feels appearance is important to a person.

Every five minutes my children ask me for the “latest thing”. They tell me that all their friends have it already and they can’t live without it. Our house is full of Game Boys, Play Station CDs and a million other “latest things”.

But, the one “latest things” we have refused to buy is a mobile phone. Our twelve-year-old son wants one, and we’ve said “no”. He says he’ll only use it for texting and he really needs it for emergencies.

We don’t want him to have a mobile phone, because it may be bad for children’s health. Unfortunately, when I say, “As your father, I don’t want you to have a mobile phone, because you might get a brain tumour(肿瘤),” he tells me that he doesn’t mind.

 Why do twelve-year-old boys only want things that are bad for them? We’ve already told him that he can’t listen to rap music―the words are disgusting(令人反感的). And I’ve said no to beer with his meals. Right now I’m saying no to everything.

Then a few weeks ago he asked for something called a BB gun. He says everybody’s got one. Of course they have. He shows me a website full of them and tells me it only fires plastic pellets (小子弹). Finally, I say yes. I can’t believe I’ve said no to phones and yes to guns.

In October our son becomes a teenager, and I pray that research will find that mobile phones are safe…even better, that young people may become less moody―and more interested in personal hygiene(卫生).

Until then, I’m saying no.

64．Why do the children want “latest things” so much?

   A. “Latest things” are fun to play with.

   B. “Latest things” are easy to play with.

   C. They want to keep up with other children.

   D. They want to show off the latest things to others.

65. We can infer from the passage that the father __________.

   A. can’t afford a mobile phone for his children      B. hates his children very much

   C. cares about his children’s health very much      D. only has one daughter 

66. Which of the following is NOT the reason why the father said yes to a BB gun for his son?

   A. Many other children have one.     

   B. The father wants to satisfy his son.

   C. The father thinks that his son can’t live without the gun.

   D. The father is told gun is safe for children to play with

67. What does “then” in the last paragraph refer to?

   A. When mobile phones prove to be safe.      B. When my son is twelve years old.

   C. After my son gets a BB gun.                    D. After my son becomes a teenager.

Bali is a small island of Indonesia, with an area of only 5,632 square kilometers. It lies to the east of Java Island closely. It is a pretty island that has many mountains and a pleasant climate. For a long time Bali was cut off from much of the world.

The people of Bali were happy and had a peaceful way of life. They were not allowed to fight. At one time there had been terrible wars on Bali. Then the people decided it was wrong to fight and have wars. They made rules to keep apart those people who wanted to fight.

Bali was divided into seven small kingdoms. The land around each kingdom was kept empty, and no one lived there. Since the kingdoms did not share the same borders, the people could not fight about them.

On Bali, even the young were not allowed to fight. If two children started a fight over a toy, someone stopped them. When two boys argued, they would agree not to speak to each other. Sometimes they did not talk to each other for months. This gave the boys a chance to forget their anger.

Families who were angry with each other also promised not speak to one another. Their promise was written down, and the whole village knew about it. If they broke their promise, they had to offer presents to their gods.

60. The text is written mainly to tell us that __________.

   A. Bali was an island of quiet and beauty

   B. speaking after argument often leads to fight

   C. Bali was a safe place to have a holiday

   D. the people of Bali were not allowed to fight

61. According to the passage, why did the people of Bali love peace so much?

   A. The people of Bali were kind enough               B. Bali was cut off from the world.

   C. The people of Bali thought it wrong to fight.    D. There had never been wars on Bali.

62. The land around each kingdom was kept empty so that __________.

   A. it could be easier o have battles                       B. there would be no war over borders

   C. fights might take place outside the kingdoms    D. people could not talk to each other

63. What would probably happen if the people of Bali argued?

   A. They would quarrel with each other every day.

   B. They would ask the government to solve the problem.

   C. They would promise not to speak to each other.

   D. They would offer presents to their gods.

Plants are very important living things. Life could not go if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. So animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us.

If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants: flowering plants and non-flowering plants.

Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed, some have two, three or four, and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit.

Most non-flowering plants don’t grow from seeds. They grow from spores. Spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as the seeds. When these spores fall on wet and shady places, they usually grow into new plants.

56.   The main idea of the passage is that __________.

A. plants are important for life             B. plants cannot grow without air

C. there are many plants around us      D. we cannot live without water

57.   Which of the following is NOT TRUE?

A. Plants can be divided into main types: flowering plants and non-flowering plants.

B. All fruits have seeds in them     

C. Seeds are protected by the fruits.

D. Some plants grow from spores.

58. The word “non-flowering ” in this passage means __________.

   A. 开花的      B. 有花的      C. 多花的      D. 不开花的

59. In “shady” place there is __________.

   A. a lot of sunshine      B. a lot of water      C. no water      D. little sunshine

The Most Beautiful Heart

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town saying that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole town. A large crowd gathered, and they all   36   his heart for it was perfect.

  37  , an old man said, “Why, your heart is not nearly as   38   as mine.”

The   39   and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was full of   40  . It had places where pieces had been   41   and other pieces put in, but they didn’t fit quite exactly.  42   in some places there were deep holes where whole pieces were missing.

The young man laughed. “  43   your heart with mine, mine is   44   and yours is a mess of scars.”

“  45  ,” said the old man. “Everyone can see yours looks perfect,  46   I would never trade with you. You see, every scar   47   a person to whom I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my   48   and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their hearts. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn’t   49   a piece of his or hers to me. These are the empty holes ---- giving   50   sometimes takes a chance.(冒险)”

The young man walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect heart, and tore a piece out. He   51   it to the old man. The old man placed it in his heart, then take a piece from his old   52   heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It   53  , but not perfectly, as there were some jagged(不整齐的) edges.

The young man   54   at his heart, not perfect any more but more beautiful than ever, 55   love from the old man’s heart flowed into his. They embraced(拥抱) and walked away side by side.

  What’s the matter with the man hanging his head there?

Well, if you _______ know, he was caught stealing my car.

   A. must       B. may      C. can      D. shall

This is the very place __________ we once had military training.

   A. that      B. which      C. where      D. there

It took Mary a long time to __________ a new dress at the store.

   A. pick up      B. pick out       C. take up      D. take out

Last year the advertising rate __________ by 20 percent.

   A. raised       B. raising       C. was rising        D. rose

 Is __________ necessary to complete the design before National Day?

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