A few days ago I got a call from my old college friend whom I haven’t seen for a very long time. The topic, which was about all the good old times that we had changed to a touching story when he started talking about his father.
His father’s declining health made him stay at the hospital. Because of his illness, his father suffered from insomnia (失眠) and often talked to himself. My friend, who had not been able to sleep for a few days as he had to keep watching his father’s condition, became annoyed and told his father to keep silent and try to get some sleep. His father said that he really wanted to sleep well because he was very tired and told my friend to leave him alone in the hospital if he did not want to keep him company.
After his father finished talking, he fell unconscious (失去知觉). My friend was very sorry for speaking the ill words towards his father. My friend, whom I knew as a tough person, cried as a baby on the other end of the telephone. He said that from that moment on, he prayed every day, asking God to let his father wake up from his coma. He promised himself that whatever words came out from his father’s mouth after he regained his consciousness, he would gladly take them. His only hope for God was to give him a chance to rectify his past mistake.
Often, we complain when we have to accompany or watch over our parents for years, months, days, hours or even minutes. But do we realize that our parents keep us company and watch over us for as long as we (or they) live? From the day we were born to our adulthood, and even when deaths come to us, they are always at our side.
Imagine how sad our parents will be when they hear a seemingly innocent （天真无邪的）word of “no” come out from our mouths. We can make promises to ourselves that from now on there will be no more complaints that come out from our mouths when we have to watch over or accompany our parents. No more complaints come out from our mouths when we feel that our parents have treated us like little children. There are so many unlucky ones who have neither fathers nor mothers. They long to have the things that we most complain about, but never have them.
Actually, it takes only a second to think and light the lamp that will bring us to a place where peace is dwelling.
【小题1】Which of the following word can be used to describe the writer’s friend?

D
It is hard to predict（预言）how science is going to turn out, and whether it is really good science, it is impossible to predict．If the things to be found are actually new, they must be unknown in advance．You cannot make choices on this matter．You either have science or you don’t and if you have it you have to accept the surprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat and useful bits．
The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we don’t know enough about nature．Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the past hundred years of biology．It is, in its way, a clear piece of news．It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century to be told by any of us how little we know and how strange the way ahead seems．In earlier times, they either pretended to understand how things worked or simply made up stories to give answers．Now that we have begun exploring seriously, we are catching sight of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered．Because of this, we are sorry．It is not so bad being ignorant（无知的）if you are totally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some details the reality of ignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not so bad spots, but no true light at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted．
But we are making a beginning, and there ought to be some satisfaction．There are probably no questions we can think up that can’t be answered, sooner or later．Within our limits, we should be able to work our way through to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention．
51．Acoording to the writer, really good science________．
A．would surprise the brightest minds of the 18th  century．
B．will help people to make the right choice in advance
C．will produce results which cannot be predicted
D．will bring about disturbing results
52．It can be inferred from the passage that scientists of the 18th century________．
A．thought that they knew a great deal and could deal with most problems of science．
B．knew that they were ignorant and wanted to know more about nature
C．were afraid of facing up to the realities of scientific research
D．did more harm than good in man’s understanding of nature
53．Which of the following is NOT mentioned about scientists in earlier times?
A．They falsely declared to know all about nature．
B．They did not believe in results from scientific observation．
C．They paid little attention to the problems they didn’t understand．
D．They invented false rules to explain things they didn’t understand．
54．What is the writer’s attitude towards science?
A．He is sorry because of the ignorance of scientists．
B．He is delighted because of the latest scientific findings．
C．He is doubtful because of the great difficulties in scientific research．
D．He is confident though he knows well the great difficulties in scientific research．
55．The writer believes that sooner or later________．
A．man can’t deal with all the problems he can find because of the limits of human knowledge．
B．man can find solutions to whatever questions concerning nature he can think up
C．questions concerning nature are outsiede the field of scientific research
D．man can think up all the questions and answer them all．

B
Taste is such a subjective matter that we don’t usually conduct preference tests for food．The most you can say about anyone’s preference is that it’s one person’s opinion．But because the two big cola companies-Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola-are marketed so aggressively, we’ve wondered how big a role taste preference actually plays in brand loyalty．We set up a taste test that challenged people who identified themselves as either Coca-cola or Pepsi fans: Find your brand in a blind tasting．
We invited staff volunteers who had a strong liking for either Coca-Cola Classic or Pepsi, Diet Coke, or Diet Pepsi．These were people who thought they’d have no trouble telling their brand from the other brand．
We eventually located 19 regular cola drinkers and 27 diet cola drinkers．Then we fed them with four unidentified samples of cola one at a time, regular colas for the one group, diet versions for the other．We asked them to tell us whether each sample was Coke or Pepsi; then we analyzed the records statistically to compare the participants’ choices with what mere guesswork could have accomplished．
Getting all four samples right was a tough test, but not too tough, we thought, for people who believed they could recognize their brand．In the end, only 7 out of 19 regular cola drinkers correctly identified their brand of choice in all four trials．The diet-cola drinkers did a little worse-only 7 out of 27 identified all four samples correctly．
Both groups did better than chance would predict, but nearly half the participants in each group made the wrong choice two or more times．Two people got all four samples wrong．Overall, half the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first, so tiredness, or taste burnout, was not a factor．Our preference test results suggest that only a few Pepsi participants and Coke fans may really be able to tell their favorite brand by taste and price．
41．According to the passage the preference test was conducted in order to ________．
A．show that a person’s opinion about taste is mere guesswork
B．compare the ability of the participants in choosing their drinks
C．find out the role taste preference plays in a person’s drinking
D．reveal which cola is more to the liking of the drinkers
42．The statistics recorded in the preference tests show that________．
A．there is not much difference in taste between Coca-Cola and Pepsi
B．few people had trouble telling Coca-Cola from Pepsi
C．people’s tastes differ from one another
D．Coca-Cola and Pepsi are people’s two most favorite drinks
43．It is implied in the first paragraph that________．
A．the competition between the two colas is very strong
B．blind tasting is necessary for identifying fans
C．the purpose of taste test is to promote the sale of colas
D．the improvement of quality is the chief concern of the two cola companies
44．The underlined word “burnout” here refers to the state of________．
A．being seriously burnt in the skin           
B．being badly damaged by fire  
C．being unable to burn for lack of fuel     
D．being unable to function because of too much use
45．The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to________．
A．emphasize that taste and price are closely related to each other
B．recommend that blind tasting be introduced in the quality control of colas
C．show that taste preference is highly subjective
D．argue that taste testing is an important marketing strategy

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher emphasized the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.
One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished, gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, he said,“You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him, “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was magnificent.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide.” “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his words. “You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t request you to do so,” he answered, greatly surprised. I said, “Didn’t you say ‘You don’t say’?” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really’. It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.”
Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. Remember: what the English teachers said is always right to us students.
【小题1】A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because_________.

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher emphasized(强调) the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusingexperience.
One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished. Gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, he said, “You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate(适当的) topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him. “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was magnificent.”He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his words：“You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t request you to do so, ”he answered, greatly surprised.I said, “Didn’t you say’ you don’t say？”Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, ‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really!’It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.”Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. Remember: what the English teachers said is always right to us students.
【小题1】A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because ____________.