________ rapid spread of railways and the increase in ocean transport, long-distance travelling became more common.

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________ rapid spread of railways and the increase in ocean transport, long-distance travelling became more common.

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All the wisdom of the ages and all the stories that have delighted mankind for centuries are easily and cheaply available to all of us within the covers of books. The most unfortunate people in the world are those who have never discovered how satisfying it is to read good books.

Reading is the pleasure of the mind, which means that it is a little like a sport: your eagerness and knowledge and quickness make you a good reader. Reading is fun, not because the writer is telling you something, but because it makes your mind work. Your own imagination works along with the author's or even goes beyond his. Your experience, compared with his, brings you to the same or different conclusions, and your ideas develop as you understand his.

Every book stands by itself, like a one--family house, but books in a library are like houses in a city. Although they are separate, together they all add up to something. They are connected with each other and with other cities. Books influence each other; they link the past, the present and the future and have their own generations, like families. Wherever you start reading, you connect yourself with one of the families or ideas, and in the long run, you not only find out about the world and the people in it but also you find out about yourself, too.

Reading can only be fun if you expect it to be. If you concentrate on books somebody tells you "you ought" to read, you probably won't have fun. But if you put down a book you don’t like and try another till you find one that means something to you, and then relax yourself with it, you will almost certainly have a good time  and if you become, as a result of reading, better, wiser, kinder, or more gentle, you won't have suffered during the process.

72. In the writer's opinion, in fact reading is a process of ________.

A. listening to the author                                   B. accepting the author's ideas

C. communicating with the author and yourself             D. judging the author's work

73. The writer thinks that the most unfortunate people are those _______.

A. who don't have any books                                  B. who can't enjoy reading books

C. who don’t like books                                     D. who read too many books

74. To find pleasure in reading, you should read the books _______.

A. written by famous writers                                             B. written in humor style

C. which you like to read                                     D. which are recommended by your friends

75. The author's purpose in writing the passage is to _______.

A. show the importance of reading                               B. tell us how to make reading more effective

C. tell us how to read                              D. show the pleasure of reading

72-75 CBCD

We have gathered nearly 100,000 quilts,        up to half have gone to the flood-hit areas.

President Coolidge’s statement, “The business of America is business,” still points to a very important truth today — that business organizations have more prestige (威望) in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government. Why do business institutions still possess this great prestige?

One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the idea of competition than other organizations in society. Since competition is seen as the main source of progress and development by most Americans, competitive business organizations are respected. Competition is not only good in itself; it is the means by which other basic American values, such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected.

Competition protects the individual freedom by making sure that there is no monopoly (垄断) of power. Compared with one and all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for benefit. If one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to the competing business which treats its customers more fairly. Since there are many businesses competing for the customers’ dollars, they cannot afford to treat them unfairly and the customers would lose nothing.

A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it gives more support for freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people while business leaders are not. Many Americans believe that competition is as important, or even more important, as democracy in protecting freedom.

Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the idea of equal opportunities. Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to any person regardless of his or her social class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the American choice of the higher social position which is not based on one’s family background. Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equal opportunities.

Which of the following is discussed as the main topic in the passage?

A. Competition in America’s business.        B. Freedom in America’s business.

C. Americans’ different values.                   D. Business against government.

Americans believe that they can realize their personal values ______.

A. when given equal opportunities

B. through doing business

C. by protecting their individual freedom

D. by means of competition

Who can benefit from business competition?

A. Businessmen who compete.

B. Customers of those businesses.

C. People with the idea of equality and freedom.

D. Both business organizations and government.

It could be inferred from the passage that the author believes ______.

A. business in other countries are not as competitive as those in the USA

B. business problems are very important to the American government

C. the competition in business plays a very important role in America

D. American business is the most powerful one in the whole world