In the mid 1990’s, people started doing business on the Internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies. They sold things in stores. Then there were Internet companies. They didn’t have a store, and they only sold things on the Net.

   Traditional companies didn’t want to lose any business. Quickly they made their own websites and began selling things on the Net. These are the so-called “brick and click” companies. Many stores are made of brick. And you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That’s where the name “brick and click” comes from.

   By the late 1990’s, e-business like amazon.com, buy.com and etoys.com were in trouble. Their profits（利润） were not very high. Competition was great. Many of these business were losing lots of money. In 2000, many e-business went out of business.

  Why are “brick and click” companies, like Barnes and Noble, Toys RVs and Walmart so successful? First, many customers know and trust their names. Their websites like walmart.com. are easy to remember. These companies also have lots of experience. They know how to run a successful business.

   In the world of e-commerce, companies are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will “brick and click” companies win the war? Only time will tell.

63 . Which of the following would be a “brick and click” company?

A. A restaurant.          

B. A clothing company with no website.

C. A bookseller with five stores and a website.             

D. A video seller with a big website but no stores.

64 , What gave Internet companies lots of trouble in the late 1990’s?.                

A. Heavy competition                B. They were short of money.   

C. They didn’t know what to do.        D. people didn’t believe in them.

65 . “Brick and click” companies are so successful because______.               

A. people trust them                  B. their names are easy to remember   

C. they are experienced               D. all the above

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

A. All the “brick and click” companies run a successful business.

B. “Brick and click” companies are certain to win the business competition.

C. It is uncertain whether “brick and click” companies will win the competition.

D. Both “brick and click” companies and Internet companies will be successful in the future.

Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the United States and Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education. Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter.

However, what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap.

Parents can see that their children are very skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize though, is that today’s children lack self-respect and self-confidence.

The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills that they need to be confident, happy and clever.

Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework.

Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking demands patience and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully. His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and lots of self-confidence.

Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make him curious and arouse his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to fix them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. These activities are not merely teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind. And that is more important.

60．Parents in China, according to this passage, ____________.

A．are too strict with their children

B．are too rich to educate their children

C．have some problems in educating their children correctly

D．are too poor to educate their children

6 1 .The writer of this passage does not seem to be satisfied with_______.

A. the parents’ ideas of educating their children

B. the education system

C. children’s skills

D. children’s hobbies

62 . Doing some cooking at home helps children_________.

A. learn how to serve their parents

B. learn how to become strong and fat

C. benefit from it and prepare themselves for the future

D. make their parents believe that they are clever

My mother loves flowers. As soon as warm weather comes around，you will find her planting，watering and weeding over everything .For many years we lived next door to each other，and she spent as much time in my garden as she did her own .After the flowers became plentiful each summer，she would cut colorful bouquets(花束)to enjoy inside the house－both hers and mine. I would often come home from work and find a beautiful arrangement(布置) of fresh flowers on my coffee table.

Shortly before Christmas one year，a local flower shop offered a bouquet a month special. It seemed to be a great way to thank her for all of the flowers she had given me through the years.

After the holidays，in early January，I drove her to the flower shop to pick up her first month’s bouquet. The small fresh colorful bouquet would hardly fill a small vase(花瓶)．

I was so embarrassed(尴尬的)．However，after we returned home，she began to arrange the flowers she had received. “Mom，I’m sorry，”I told her. “I can’t believe how skimpy that bouquet is.” She looked at me and smiled. “It’s Okay，”she said. “It allows me to better enjoy the beauty of each one.”

Mom’s words helped me to realize something bigger and more important－when we have too many good things，we often fail to enjoy the beauty of each one.

Thanks，Mom，for helping me understand that less is sometimes more.

56．According to Paragraph 1，which of the following is TRUE?

A．The author’s mother put fresh flowers on the author’s coffee table.

B．The author used to buy some fresh flowers on her way home.

C．The author’s mother usually bought flowers for her daughter.

D．The author and her mother shared a beautiful garden.

57．The author bought her mother flowers to________.

A．celebrate the coming Christmas

B．express thanks for all her mother’s done

C．bring more flowers to her mother’s garden

D．arrange her mother’s new house

58．What can we infer from the passage?

A．The author couldn’t afford a big bouquet.

B．The mother was not happy when receiving the bouquet.

C．The author would pick up another bouquet the next month.

D．The mother would send back the bouquet to the flower shop.

59．The underlined word “skimpy” in Paragraph 4 means________.

A．beautiful　　　B．colorful        C．cheap          D．small

Water costs money. In some places water is hard 36 . What 37 when a town has these problems ? A small town in California found a happy 38 .

　　　 Very 39 rain ever fell there. The town had no water 40 . The water it used was 41 from a river 300 miles away. As more people 42 live in the town, 43 water was needed. Now water 44 to be brought in from 600 miles ways. All these cost 45 money.

　　　 The town 46 a plan. It found 47 to clean its “dirty” water. Once the cleaned water was reused 48 many ways. Five 49 lakes was built. Here people could swim and fish and go 50 . They 51 have picnics in their new parks. Farmers had more water 52 their crops. New factories can be built, now that they have the promise of 53 .

　　　 In most places, water is used and thrown 54 . The town that saved 55 water has saved the town!

36. A. supplying　　　　　 B. getting　　　　　　　 C. to get　　　　　　　　　　　 D. to supply

37. A. happens　　　　　　 B. happening　　　　 C. is happened　　　　　　 D. happened

38. A. key　　　　　　　　　　 B. answer　　　　　　　　　　 C. answering　　　　 D. way

39. A. little　　　　　　　　 B. a little　　　　　　　 C. few　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. a few

40. A. of itself　　　 B. of its own　　　　　　　　 C. for its own　　　 D. for itself

41. A. fetch　　　　　　　　 B. take　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. brought in　　　　 D. guided

42. A. come to　　　　　　 B. came to　　　　　　　　　 C. coming to　　　　　　　　 D. came for

43. A. many　　　　　　　　 B. plenty of　　　　　　　　　 C. more　　　　　　　　　　　 D. many more

44. A. has 　　　　　　　　　 B. had　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. must　　　　　　　　　　　 D. needed

45. A. many　　　　　　　 B. a few　　　　　　　　　　　 C. a great many　　　　　　 D. a lot of

46. A. put　　　　　　　　　　 B. made　　　　　　　　　　　 C. supply　　　　　　　 D. noticed

47. A. a way　　　 B. ways　　　　　　　　　　　 C. an answer　　　　　　　 D. a key

48. A. for　　　　　　　　　　 B. by　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. at　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. in

49. A. man-making B. man-make　　　　 C. man-made　　　　 D. man made

50. A. boating　　　　 B. to boat 　　　　　　　　　 C. to boating　　　　　　　　 D. on boating

51. A. must　　　　　　　　　 B. could　　　　　　　　　　　 C. needed　　　　　　　　　　 D. had to

52. A. as　　　　　　　 B. with　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. for　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. to

53. A. water enough B. enough water C. crops enough D. enough crops

54. A. off　　　　　　　　　　 B. of　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. away　　　　　　　　　　　 D. out of

55. A. it’s　　　　　　　　　　 B. its　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. one’s 　　　　　　　 D. his

 To my delight, there was my purse, in the back seat of the taxi, _____ the driver couldn’t possibly see it before.

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

 －Tom, why didn’t you come to the meeting yesterday?

－I _____, but my car broke down.

A. would             B. was going to            C. had      D. did

 This is the third time I ____ the Great Wall.

   A. came to visit       B. am on     C. have come to visit   D. am visiting

 One thousand people died in the disaster, two hundred and fifty-five children ____.

   A. were included    B. including         C. include         D. included

--Smoking is bad for your health.

--Yes, I know. But I can’t _____.

　 A. give it up　　　 B. give it in　　 　C. give it out　　　 D. give it away

 The reporter said that the UFO ______ east to west when he saw it.

  A. was traveling       B. traveled    C. had been raveling   D. was to travel