Dear Carol,
I wear braces （牙箍） and I know I look just terrible in them. Is there anything I can do to improve my appearance until they come off?
Connie N.
Philadelphia, PA
Dear Connie,
Start by thinking about how good you are going to look when your braces come off. If you are negative about your appearance, people will pick that up right away about you. In the meantime there are several things that you can do to lift your spirits:
Change your hairstyle. Be sure to get a good cut so that the shape of your hair will be flattering to your face and also good for your type of hair （fine, thick, straight, curly, etc.） Choose a hairstyle that draws attention away from your face. Hair pulled back into a pony-tail or into a ball on top or slightly off-center can be attractive and practical for this purpose.
Keep skin clean. If you choose to wear makeup（化妆品）, it should look natural. Blusher（腮红） and lip gloss（润唇膏） in light tones of peach or pink are best.
Be well-groomed（打扮）. Neatness really counts. People see a total look about you before they ever become aware of your braces. And first impressions are lasting ones!
68. Why did Connie write to Carol?
A. Because she really cared about her clothes.
B. Because she cared much about her appearance.
C. Because her teeth were not good.
D. Because she didn’t know how to make up.
69. Carol’s idea about one’s appearance is that ___________.
A. change your hairstyle and you will look beautiful
B. wear your make-up and you will look good
C. neatness is not important
D. if you yourself don’t think you look smart, neither will people
70. Carol tries to let Connie know that ___________.
A. the deepest impressions one leaves on others is the first ones
B. spirits are important when we talk about one’s appearance
C. there are some practical ways to draw people’s attention away from where you don’t feel good 
D. all of the above
71. The underlined word “count” means “___________” in the last paragraph.
A. say numbers in order        B. be of importance           C. not include        D. be accepted

We are often asked to make a speech in life. Most of us are afraid of it and don’t do a good job. Here are some simple steps to make your speech a successful one. First of all, find out everything you can about your subject and at the same time find out as much as you can about your audience. Who are they? What do they know about your subject? Put yourself in their shoes as you prepare your speech. Then try to arrange your material so that your speech is clear and easy to follow. Use as many examples as possible. Never forget your audience. Don’t talk over their heads or talk down to them. When you are giving your speech, speak slowly and clearly, look at your audience and pause for a few seconds from time to time to give your audience chances to think over what you’ve said. Just remember: be prepared, know your subject and your audience, say what you have to say and be yourself so that your ideas will bring you and your audience together.
60. When he is giving his speech, the speaker should ___________.
A. let his eyes rest on the subject                       B. follow the audience step by step
C. face the audience in a natural way                D. look up and down from time to time
61. During the course of a speech, it is not right for a speaker to ___________.
A. think nothing of the audience                       B. speak in a clear voice
C. take a short stop at times                               D. give a lot of examples
62. What does the underlined word “pause” mean in the passage?
A. listen                             B. stop                         C. choose                     D. search
63. Which title best gives the main idea of the passage?
A. How to Remember the Audience
B. How to Pick out the Topic for a Speech
C. How to Prepare the Material for a Speech
D. How to Improve Your Speech

Eat your vegetables. Wash your hands. Always say “please" and“thank you". We are full of advice for our children, but when it comes to money, we often have little to say. As a result, our children may grow up with clean hands and good manners, but without any idea how to manage their money.
Here are some basics that will help guide them their entire lives：
Show them the future. If your 13-year-old girl were to save＄1,000，invest（投资）it at 8%and add＄100 every month，by the time she's 65，she would have＄980,983！
Be careful of credit（信用）．Credit cards can help you buy necessary things and build a credit history，but they must be used responsibly, which means paying off your debt in time. Explain to your children that when you buy something using a credit card，you can easily end up paying two or three times what you would have paid if you used cash.
Teach patience. Suppose your child wants a new bicycle that costs $150. Rather than paying the cash，give him some regular pocket money and explain that by putting aside，say ＄15 each week，he will be able to buy it for himself in only ten weeks.
Provide incentive. Tell your children the importance of saving.“For every dollar he or she agrees to save and invest rather than spend, you agree to add another dollar to the pot,”says Cathy Pareto, expert in money planning.
Explain your values. Values and money are deeply intertwined, says Eilleen Gallo, co-author of The Financially Intelligent Parent. When your child demands that you buy something, explain why you really don’t want to buy it.“You might say,‘I'd rather save that money for your education,”，advises Gallo. Every time you spend or don't spend money，you have a chance to share your values.
64. The underlined word“incentive" in paragraph 6 means _____.
A. honor          B. praise         C. excitement      D. encouragement
65. What leads the writer to write this article?
A. Parents want to know how to educate their children.
B. He wants to share his good ideas about money matters.
C. He thinks money management the most important for children.
D. Parents care little about their children's management of money.
66. The writer gives some basics to help __________ in a proper way.
A. parents teach their children how to deal with money 
B. children follow their parents' instructions
C. children manage their money                   
D. parents save their money

 If you are in charge of a project, the key to success is getting everyone to want to help you. As a director, I point, I suggest. I gently push the actors in the direction I want them to go. In the 1986 movie, “Nothing in Common”, Jackie Gleason’s character, Max Basner, gets fired from his job as a clothing salesman. The scene, shot on a boat, shows Max’s despair about being out of work. I was looking for some gesture that would allow Max to show his feelings.
Jackie had far more experience at everything than I did, and at first I was frightened. What could I possibly tell “The Great One” about acting? Finally I decided to direct by suggestion, and sat down with Gleason to talk about the scene. “So Max is sad, right?” I said.
Gleason nodded.
“And he’s probably still carrying his pens with name on them—the ones he used to hand out to his customers, right?”
Gleason nodded.
“So what would you want to do with the pens after you were fired?”
He was silent for a moment. “Why don’t I throw them overboard?”
I stood up and turned up and turned toward the crew. “Hey, everybody, Jackie has a wonderful idea. Let’s shoot it.”
After filming the scene, Gleason called me over and said with a smile. “Garry, what kind of wonderful idea am I going to have tomorrow?”
You and your team can discover the answers to problems together. When there are no prizes or gold stars for who gets the solution first, you’ll all benefit when everything turns out right.
61.According to the writer, to succeed in a project you are in charge of , you should______.
A. make everyone work for you          B. get everyone willing to help 
C. let people know you have the idea     D. keep talking to them
62. “The Great One” in Paragraph 2 refers to______.
A. Gleason     B. the director himself    C. Max   D. Max’s boss
63. After filming the scene, Gleason called the director over and smiled at him. That’s because Gleason________.
A. thought the director gave him a good idea 
B. formed the habit of thinking of ideas while talking
C. was not confident about his acting
D. appreciated the director’s directing skill
64. The most suitable title for the passage is “_______”.
A. Directing a Film              B. The Key to Success
C. A Wonderful Experience        D. Working with Film  

Everywhere you look, large quantities of information in the world are pouring. This data flood is already starting to transform business, government, science and everyday life. It has great potential for good — as long as consumers, companies and governments make the right choices about when to restrict the flow of data, and when to encourage it.
A few industries have led the way in their ability to gather and take advantage of the data. Credit-card companies monitor every purchase and can identify cheats with a high degree of accuracy. Stolen credit cards are more likely to be used to buy hard liquor than wine, for example, because it is easier to overlook. Insurance firms are also good at combining clues to spot doubtful claims: dishonest claims are more likely to be made on a Monday than a Tuesday, since policyholders (保险客户) who stage accidents tend to assemble friends as false witnesses over the weekend. By combining many such rules, it is possible to work out which cards are likeliest to have been stolen, and which claims are untrue. By analyzing “basket data”, supermarkets can make promotions to appeal to particular customers’ preferences. The oil industry uses supercomputers to help them before drilling wells.
But the data flood also poses risks. There are many examples of databases being stolen: disks full of social-security data go missing, laptops loaded with tax records are left in taxis, credit-card numbers are stolen by online purchase. The result can be privacy made public, identity stolen and cheats permitted large space. Rather than owning and controlling their own personal data, they very often find that they have lost control of it.
The best way to deal with the data flood is to make more data available in the right way, by requiring greater transparency in several areas. First, users should be given greater access to and control over the information held about them, including whom it is shared with. Google allows users to see what information it holds about them, and lets them delete their search histories or modify the targeting of advertising, for example. Second, organizations should be required to disclose details of security breaches (安全漏洞), as is already the case in some parts of the world, to encourage bosses to take information security more seriously. Third, organizations should be subject to an annual security check, with the resulting grade made public (though details of any problems exposed would not be). This would encourage companies to keep their security measures up to date.
64. What is the best title for this passage?  
A. Information Flood             B. Benefits of Data Flood
C. Harms of Data Flood          D. How to Use Data in a Right Way
65. From the passage we can infer that _____.
A. lots of data are lost because of hardware problems
B. online purchases are becoming more and more popular
C. credit cards are not so secure to use and will go out of use very soon
D. insurance firms have to investigate before they confirm their policyholders’ claims
66. Which of the following is the writer’s opinion about how to deal with the data flood?
A. Personal information should be used for public benefits.
B. The users should be given the right to access public information.
C. Companies should update their measures to guarantee their data safety.
D. Organizations should keep their resulting grade of security checks unknown to the public.
67. From the passage we can conclude that _____.
A. the data flood makes peoples’ life less convenient and more expensive
B. companies and insurance firms are responsible for the data flood
C. the information flood is more useful to organizations than to individuals
D. the information flood has both positive and negative influence on modern life

Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch. But he is in for an unwelcome surprise. The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer (发动机防盗系统), and a radio signal from a control centre miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine off, he will not be able to start it again.
The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the car contains a mini-cellphone, a micro-processor and memory, and a GPS satellite positioning receiver. If the car is stolen, a coded cellphone signal will tell the control centre to block the vehicle’s engine management system and prevent the engine being restarted.  
In the UK, a set of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves. “The pattern of vehicle crime has changed,” says Martyn Randall, a security expert. He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a person how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools, but only if the car is more than ten years old. Modern cars are far tougher to steal, as their engine management computer won’t allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out by the ignition key (汽车等的点火开关).
In the UK, technologies like this have helped achieve a 31% drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997. But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars, often by getting hold of the owner’s keys .And key theft is responsible for 40% of the thefts of vehicles fitted with a tracking system. If the car travels 100 metres without the driver confirming their ID, the system will send a signal to an operations centre that it has been stolen. The hundred metres minimum avoids false alarms due to inaccuracies in the GPS signal. Staff at the centre will then contact the owner to confirm that the car really is missing, and keep police informed of the vehicle’s movements via the car’s GPS unit.
56. What’s the function of the remote immobilizer fitted to a car?
A. To allow the car to lock automatically when stolen
B. To prevent the car thief from restarting it once it stops
C. To help the police make a surprise attack on the car thief
D. To prevent car theft by sending a radio signal to the car owner
57. By saying “The pattern of vehicle crime has changed” (Lines1-2,Para.3) Martyn Randall suggests that _____.
A. Self-prepared tools are no longer enough for car theft
B. the thief has to make use of computer technology
C. it takes a longer time for the car thief to do the stealing
D. the thief has lost interest in stealing cars over 10 years old
58. What is essential in making a modern car tougher to steal?
A. A GPS satellite positioning receiver
B. A unique ID card
C. A special cellphone
D. A code ignition key
59. Why does the tracking system set a 100-metre minimum before sending an alarm to the operations centre?
A. To give the driver time to contact the operation centre
B. To allow for possible errors in the GPS system
C. To keep police informed of the car’s movements
D. To leave time for the operations centre to give an alarm

I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job. I also think my work is important. There was a time when I thought that I would never have that sort of career.
I wasn’t an excellent student because I didn’t do much schoolwork. In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn’t have much to offer. I just accepted that I wasn’t the type to have a career.
I then found myself a job, looking after two little girls. It wasn’t too hard at first. But the problems began when I agreed to live in, so that I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening. We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week, she’d give me time off the next. But unfortunately, it didn’t often work out. I was getting extremely tired and fed up because I had too many late nights and early mornings with the children.
One Sunday, I was in the park with the children and met Megan who used to go to school with me. I told her about my situation. She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification if I wanted to work with children. I didn’t think I would be accepted because I didn’t take many exams in school. She persuaded me to phone the local college and they were really helpful. My experience counted for a lot and I got a part-time course. I had to leave my job with the family and got work helping out at a kindergarten.
Now I have got a full-time job there. I shall always be thankful to Megan. I wish I had known earlier that you could have a career even if you aren’t top of the class at school.
47. What is the author’s present job?
A. Working part-time in a college.                     B. Taking care of children in a family.
C. Helping children with their schoolwork.  D. Looking after children at a kindergarten.
48. When staying with the two girls’ family, the author _______.
A. was paid for extra work                      B. often worked long hours
C. got much help from her boss             D. took a day off every other week
49. What has the author learned from her own experiences?
A. Less successful students can still have a career.
B. Qualifications are necessary for a career.
C. Hard work makes an excellent student.
D. One must chose the job she likes.
50. What does the underlined sentence probably mean?
A. The boss didn’t go out to work very often.
B. The boss often failed to keep his agreement with the writer.
C. The writer couldn’t go out to find another job.
D. The writer seldom had any chance to work outside.

Did you ever wonder why leaves change colors in autumn, or how it happens? Here’s a quick explanation.
First of all, you’ve probably noticed that not all trees lose their leaves. There are two major types of trees: deciduous trees and evergreens. Evergreens keep their leaves and stay green all year long. The deciduous trees are the ones that lose their leaves each year.
In autumn, the days begin to get shorter. The sun is also lower in the sky at noon, which causes temperatures to be cooler. The combination of less sunshine and lower temperatures is what causes the deciduous trees to drop their leaves. In winter, deciduous trees “go to sleep”, sort of like a bear goes into hibernation.
Leaves are the food factories for a plant. Unlike animals，plants make their own food by taking energy directly from the sun. Plants do this by using a chemical in their leaves called chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll is green. During the spring and summer the leaves of a deciduous tree look green because there is a lot of chlorophyll there. In autumn, however, the sunshine becomes more  scarce and the leaves on the trees stop making new chlorophyll. As the old chlorophyll starts to break down, the green color of the leaf begins to go away.
You’ve probably also noticed that the leaves of different kinds of trees change different colors. The leaves of some trees turn yellow or orange, while the leaves of other trees turn bright red or purple. The different colors are caused by the different chemical reactions that are happening in the leaves.
For example, the leaves of some trees turn yellow when the chlorophyll breaks down. When the green chlorophyll goes away, a yellow pigment in the leaf becomes visible. The yellow pigment, called cartenoid, was already there during the summer, but is was not easily seen because there was too much green chlorophyll.
In other trees where the leaves turn red or purple a different chemical reaction takes place. In those leaves the chlorophyll also breaks down, but another chemical reaction takes place at the same time. Chemicals in the leaves, called starches, begin to change into chemicals called anthocyanins, which give the leaves their red and purple colors.
So next time you see the beautiful colors of autumn you will also know the science behind that beauty.
46.   What is the correct term for trees that lose their leaves in the autumn?
A. Evergreens       B. Deciduous        C. Cartenoids  D. Anthocyanins
47.   Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a cause of trees dropping their leaves?
A. A change in temperature   B. The amount of daylight available
C. Extra chlorophyll         D. Chemical changes in the leaves
48.   If there are 50 evergreens and 10 deciduous trees in a forest, in autumn what color are most of the leaves in the forest likely to be?
A. Green B. Red and purple
C. Yellow        D. not enough information to determine the answer
49.   Which of the following is only present in leaves during the autumn?
A. Chlorophyll       B. Starch C. Cartenoids        D. Anthocyanins
50.   Where would such an article mostly likely be published?
A. In a book                   B. In a primary school science text book
C. In a magazine for young people       D. All are equally likely

It is a typical case. A young professional has just moved to a new city. She is very active in her new job but wishes to meet people socially outside of work. How does she do this？
　　Signing up for a night class is always a good starting point. Not only is it an ideal way to meet like-minded people，it can also be a great new learning experience. Pubs and clubs can be a good meeting place but can be a bit hard if you are on your own.
　　Join a gym
　　GL-14 health club in Manchester city centre is a gym which also has lots of member activities outside the gym from charity fashion shows to dinner dances giving members a chance to socialize away from the treadmill（繁忙的工作）. Or if you want a gym with a difference，try a“Green Gym”for people who want to exercise but wish to be outdoors and doing something that will benefit the environment at the same time. The“work out”could involve such activities as practical conservation or gardening work. It’s a great way to get people’s heart and muscle working. And many agree that meeting other people and having a matter and a laugh is a big attraction of the scheme.
　　Reading groups
　　In the Reading Groups，Jenny Hartley suggested that there may be as many as 50，000 people in reading groups in the UK. They range from informal groups of friends or colleagues who meet in someone’s home or at the local pub，to discuss a book. If you want something a bit more structured，lots of libraries have reading groups and could have a broader group of members.
　　Statistics
　　The BBC recently conducted a survey called Going solo：single life in the 21st century. You can look at the overall results or search by area. It found that：
　　*69％ of people thought that the gym was a good place to meet new
　　*Pubs or clubs were considered to be good meeting places by 58％ of people in the UK
　　*68％ thought that work was a good place to meet people
　　*72％ thought that internet chat was not an ideal way to meet people
（  ）56．“Green Gym”in Paragraph 3 refers to an activity in which you can________.
A．have night classes with like-minded people
B．do something good for the environment on your own
C．discuss a book with other members at a pub
D．benefit the environment while doing outdoor exercise
（  ）57．Which of the following is a Green Gym activity？
A．Gardening work.         B．Chatting on the Internet.
C．A charity fashion show.    D．A dinner dance away from the treadmill.
（  ）58．What’s the most popular place to meet new people outside of work？
A．Pubs or clubs. 　B．The Internet.  C．The working place. D．The gym.

Your cellphone holds secrets about you.  Besides the names and numbers that you’ve programmed into it, traces of your DNA remain on it, according to a new study.
DNA is genetic material that appears in every cell. Like your fingerprint, your DNA is unique to you - unless you have an identical twin. Scientists today usually analyze DNA in blood, saliva （唾液）or hair left behind at the scene of a crime. The results often help detectives identify criminals and victims.
Meghan J. McFadden, a biologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, heard about a crime in which the suspect bled onto a cellphone and later dropped it. This made her wonder whether traces of DNA remained on cellphones - even when no blood was involved. To find out, she and a colleague collected flip-style （翻盖式）phones from 10 volunteers. They collected invisible traces of the users from two parts of the phone: the outside, where the user holds it, and the speaker, which is placed at the user’s ear.
The scientists cleaned the phones using a liquid mixture made mostly of alcohol. The aim of washing was to remove all detectable traces of DNA. The owners got their phones back for another week. Then they returned the phones and the researchers collected traces on each phone once more. They discovered DNA that belonged to the phone’s owner on each of the phones.
Surprisingly, DNA was even picked up immediately after the phones were cleaned. That suggests that washing won’t remove all traces of evidence from a criminal’s cellphone. So cellphones can be added to the list of clues that can settle a crime-scene investigation.
64. In a crime-scene investigation, now experts are likely to turn to ________.
A. the criminal’s fingerprint             B. the DNA analysis of physical items
C. the detectives                      D. the criminal’s cellphone
65. According to the passage, McFadden was inspired by ________.
A. the secrets stored in people’s cellphones   B. the special characters of DNA
C. a cellphone-involved case             D. the challenging job of detectives
66. According to the passage, the potential application of the new study would be ________.
A. identifying criminals         B. designing new cellphones
C. protecting individual privacy    D. preventing cellphone-involved crimes
67. Which of the following has the closest meaning with the underlined word “identify” in Paragraph 2?
A. imagine       B. recognize         C. discover          D. determine