The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone. Enter the Red Hat Society －a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun.

“My grandmothers didn’t do anything but keep house and serve everybody. They were programmed to do that,” said Emily Cornette, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society.

 While men have long spent their time fishing and playing golf, women have sometimes seemed to become unnoticed as they age. But the generation now turning 50 is the baby boomers(生育高峰期出生的人), and the same people who refused their parents’ way of being young are now trying a new way of growing old.

If you take into consideration feminism(女权主义), a bit of spare money, and better health for most elderly, the Red Hat Society looks almost inevitable(必然的). In this society, women over 50 wear red hats and purple(紫色的) clothes, while the women under 50 wear pink hats and light purple clothing.

 “The organization took the idea from a poem by Jenny Joseph that begins: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple. With a red hat which doesn’t go,” said Ellen Cooper, who founded the Red Hat Society in 1998. When the ladies started to wear the red hats, they attracted lots of attention.

 “The point of this is that we need a rest from always doing something for someone else,” Cooper said. “Women feel so ashamed and sorry when they do something for themselves.” This is why chapters are discouraged from raising money or doing anything useful. “We’re a ladies’ play group. It couldn’t be more simple,” added Cooper’s assistant Joe Heywood.

1．The underlined word “chapter” in paragraph 2 means __________.

A．one branch of an organization              

B．a written agreement of a club

C．one part of a collection of poems         

D．a period in a society’s history

2．From the text , we know that the “baby boomers” are a group of people who         

A．have gradually become more noticeable                                

B．are worried about getting old too quickly 

C．are enjoying a good life with plenty of money to spend

 D．tried living a different life from their parents when they were young

3．It could be inferred from the text that members of the Red Hat Society are          .

A．interested in raising money for social work

B．programmers who can plan well for their future

C．believers in equality between men and women

D．good at cooking big meals and taking care of others

4．Who set up the Red Hat Society ?

A．Emily Cornette .   B．Ellen Cooper .  

C．Jenny Joseph .    D．Joe Heywood .

5．Women join the Red Hat Society because          .

A．they want to stay young  

B．they would like to appear more attractive

C．they would like to have fun and live for themselves

D．they want to be more like their parents

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

    Alice, my friend’s daughter, goes to an expensive private school where she has a friend, Jane, who is on a full scholarship at this school. Jane has   36   economic resources—her father has been dead for years and her mother works   37   a maid. Although her mother works very hard, she can        38  __ support the family. Jane is very bright and gifted at   39   and that’s how she has got the scholarship, which included a(n)   40   for things like lunch, school uniform and music lessons.

Alice became friends with Jane and would   41   talk to her at lunch. She did it that way in order to avoid the other kids   42   her. 

On her birthday last month, she   43   her new friend to her birthday party, but Jane said she couldn’t come.  Alice wanted her to be   44   so much that she   45   on her coming. Eventually, the girl said, “I don’t have any   46__ clothes that I could wear at your birthday party.” After a brief pause, the girl remembered, “I have a   47   from my piano performance,” and asked, “Could I   48   a skirt from you?”

Alice was happy that her friend would be   49   to come and hurried home to ask her Mum     50   she could lend her friend one of her skirts. To her surprise, her Mum said, “No.” The daughter was very   51   and angrily said to her Mum, “   52   I could, I would give my friend all my clothes.” The Mother didn’t understand why her daughter should have had such an outburst as she’s normally very well   53   . 

Finally, Alice explained to her Mother her friend’s   54   .  Her Mother immediately changed her mind and said, “Yes.” She also encouraged her daughter not to feel like she should secretly be friends with Jane but to feel proud of her   55   with her. 

So the true friendship seeks to give, not to take; to help, not to be helped; to minister, not to be ministered to.

A. personal               B. extra                      C. limited                     D. adequate

A. for                    B. with                        C. like                       D. as

A. hopefully            B. obviously                 C. hardly                      D. temporarily

A. music                   B. drawing                   C. maths                       D. biology

A. bonus                   B. allowance                C. donation                   D. pension

A. secretly              B. happily                    C. quietly                            D. eagerly

A. pointing at            B. shouting at               C. laughing at               D. glaring at

A. took                     B. invited                            C. accompanied             D. sent

A. happy                    B. independent              C. confident            D. present

A. depended            B. insisted                    C. focused                    D. agreed

A. casual                  B. comfortable                     C. nice                         D. tight

A. shirt                   B. jeans                        C. handbag                   D. necklace

A. get                     B. copy                       C. order                       D. borrow

A. free                   B. able                      C. glad                              D. willing

A. how                   B. when                      C. why                        D. whether

A. stubborn             B. upset                      C. firm                      D. enthusiastic 

A. If                       B. When                     C. Unless                    D. Though

A. treated                B. controlled               C. educated                 D. behaved

A. cleverness           B. character                 C. circumstances           D. competences

A. study              B. friendship                C. sympathy                D. performance

完形填空(共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分)
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Alice, my friend’s daughter, goes to an expensive private school where she has a friend, Jane, who is on a full scholarship at this school. Jane has   36   economic resources—her father has been dead for years and her mother works   37   a maid（女佣）. Although her mother works very hard, she can   38   support the family. Jane is very bright and gifted at   39   and that’s how she has got the scholarship, which included a(n)   40   for things like lunch, school uniform and music lessons.
Alice became friends with Jane and would   41   talk to her at lunch. She did it that way in order to avoid the other kids   42   her. 
On her birthday last month, she   43   her new friend to her birthday party, but Jane said she couldn’t come. Alice wanted her to be   44   so much that she   45   on her coming. Eventually, the girl said, “I don’t have any   46   clothes that I could wear at your birthday party.” After a brief pause, the girl remembered, “I have a   47   from my piano performance,” and asked, “Could I   48   a skirt from you?”
Alice was happy that her friend would be   49   to come and hurried home to ask her Mum   50   she could lend her friend one of her skirts. To her surprise, her Mum said, “No.” The daughter was very   51   and angrily said to her Mum, “  52   I could, I would give my friend all my clothes.” The Mother didn’t understand why her daughter should have had such an outburst as she’s normally very well   53  . 
Finally, Alice explained to her Mother her friend’s   54  .  Her Mother immediately changed her mind and said, “Yes.” She also encouraged her daughter not to feel like she should secretly be friends with Jane but to feel proud of her   55   with her. 
So the true friendship seeks to give, not to take; to help, not to be helped; to minister, not to be ministered unto.
36. A. personal               B. extra                           C. limited                   D. adequate
37. A. for                                     B. with                                C. like                             D. as 
38. A. hopefully                           B. obviously                        C. hardly                              D. temporarily
39. A. music                      B. drawing                          C. maths                              D. biology
40. A. bonus                      B. allowance                     C. donation                         D. pension
41. A. secretly                            B. happily                            C. quietly                             D. eagerly
42. A. pointing at             B. shouting at                   C. laughing at                     D. glaring at
43. A. took                                  B. invited                             C. accompanied                 D. sent
44. A. happy                       B. independent                  C. confident            D. present
45. A. depended                        B. insisted                           C. focused                           D. agreed
46. A. casual                       B. comfortable                            C. nice                                  D. tight
47. A. shirt                                  B. jeans                                C. handbag                         D. necklace[
48. A. get                                  B. copy                             C. order                              D. borrow
49. A. free                       B. able                           C. glad                              D. willing
50. A. how                       B. when                            C. why                                 D. whether
51. A. stubborn              B. upset                            C. firm                            D. enthusiastic 
52. A. If                               B. When                           C. Unless                         D. Though
53. A. treated                            B. controlled                   C. educated                    D. behaved
54. A. cleverness           B. character                             C. circumstances             D. competences
55. A. study                B. friendship                      C. sympathy                    D. performance 

Wednesday, October 29,2008.
The United States federal government had two young men in the state of Tennessee arrested on October 22 on unknown charges.
In court documents published on Monday, it came to light that the men had discussed attacking an African – American school and killing 14 of them.
Another crime was about planning to murder Presidential candidate Barack Obama. According to their affidavits (口供), the suspects’ “final act of violence” would be like this: when they attacked Obama they would wear white suits and top hats and drive “their vehicle as fast as they could toward Obama shooting at him from the windows.”
The two suspects are Paul Schlesselman, 18, of West Helena, Arkansas and Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tennessee. According to the court papers, they met last month over the Internet through a friend. Schlesselman and Cowart are believed to share “very strong views” about White Power.
Schlesselman listed “being racist” as his occupation on his MySpace page. He further wrote: “I'm white. I'm proud. I get angry. I like guns.”
Cowart also had a MySpace page on which photos of guns were presented under a heading of “My Guns”. On his page he wrote, “Better to die quick fighting on your feet than to live forever begging on your knees.”
Some have questioned the pair's ability to carry out the charged plan, but authorities have been very concerned about Obama as the first black presidential candidate from a major party.
“We honestly don't know if they had the ability or the skill to carry out the kind of plan that they talked about.” said Malcolm Wiley, of the United Satates Secret Service in an interview with The New York Times. “But we take any threat seriously no matter how big or how small it is.”
Cowart and Schlesselman are scheduled to appear before a judge on Thursady.
【小题1】The passage is mainly about____________.

My house is made out of wood, glass and stone. It is also made out of software.

If you come to visit, you’ll probably be surprised when you come in. Someone will give you an electronic PIN （个人身份号码）to wear. This PIN tells the house who and where you are. The house uses this information to give you what you need. When it’s dark outside, the PIN turns on the lights nearest you, and then turns them off as you walk away from them. Music moves with you too. If the house knows your favorite music, it plays it. The music seems to be everywhere, but in fact other people in the house hear different music or no music. If you get a telephone call, only the nearest telephone rings.

Of course, you are also able to tell the house if you want something. There is a home control console (控制台), a small machine that turns things on and off around you.

The PIN and the console are new ideas, but they are in fact like many things we have today. If you want to go to a movie, you need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you can use my car. The car works for you because you have the keys. My house works for you because you wear the PIN or hold the console.

I believe that ten years from now, most new homes will have the systems that I’ve put in my house. The systems will probably be even bigger and better than the ones I’ve put in today.

I like to try new ideas. I know that some of my ideas will work better than others. But I hope that one day I will stop thinking of these systems as new, and ask myself instead, “How will I live without them?”

1.What does the passage mainly discuss?

2.What’s the purpose when the writer wrote the fourth paragraph?

3.The writer’s new house is different from ordinary ones mainly because _____.

4.What is the writer most likely to be according to the passage?

5.What can’t be done in the writer’s new house?