Yesterday's paper had a short article about the Coming-of-Age ceremony in a large city in Japan. According to the article, the mayor of the city formally apologized to an enraged professor who delivered a speech at the ceremony that was all but ignored by 20-year-olds in the city.

The officials prepared 7,000 seats in a gymnasium where the ceremony was held for the 17,000 twenty-year-olds residing in the city. But most of the seats were empty during the speech. And many of the 20-year-olds who did show up ignored the professor and spoke among themselves or talked on their mobile phones. Some even made a ruckus (骚动) outside the gymnasium.

One 20-year-old who attended the ceremony said youngsters came to the ceremony not to

listen to speeches but to see their classmates. The mayor criticized the young generation at a news conference on Tuesday, saying such behavior "is symbolic of the postwar era which failed to

nurture healthy character and social intelligece."

Personally I feel people should not generalize the whole generation or the whole era when he criticizes something. But it is also true generation gap is getting bigger and bigger regarding the ceremony of Coming-of-Age Day. So far this ceremony has been held with citizens' tax money. Many older generations understand this festival as an entrance ceremony of adults' world which requires maturity including responsibility, patience, and cooperativeness. Older people tend to be "educational" to younger ones, while younger people tend to feel they finally obtain a right to behave freely because they are now adults. Though, ironically, young people have to ask their parents to buy them new clothes for the ceremony.

It is about time to change the way we celebrate this festival, I think. The idea of blessing new 20-year-olds is not so bad. But there seems to be some other ways to celebrate more properly. The present way seems to me a little superficial and materialistic. It can provide solutionless arguments between different generations, instead of friendships and respects. Instead of eternally complaining about the young's behaviors at the ceremonies, people should consider how they can make their ceremonies worthier, I feel.

1．We can infer from the passage that 

    A．in Japan, girls and boys, when they are 20 years old, come to their adulthood

    B．there are 7,000 twenty-year-olds residents in the city

    C．the mayor criticized the young generation at a news conference

    D．it’s about time to change the way we celebrate the Coming-of-Age

2．When the professor was giving a speech the 20-years-olds are NOT________.

    A．talking with each other               B．chatting on their mobile phones

    C．talking with the professor             D．making ruckus outside

3．According to the author _________

    A．the festival is an entrance ceremony of adults’ world which requires maturity including responsibility, patience, and cooperativeness

    B．the young people tend to obtain a right to behave freely because they are now adults

    C．young people have to ask their parents to buy them new clothes for the ceremony

    D．it’s time to end complaining about the young’s behaviors at the ceremonies, and people should consider how to make their ceremonies worthier

4．What’s the best title for the passage

    A．There are solutionless arguments between different generations.

    B．Coming-of-Age ceremony should be much worthier.

    C．Old people should be educational to young people

    D．The younger ones’ behaviors stand for an era which failed to nurture healthy character and social intelligence

A young man once went to town and bought himself a pair of trousers. When he got home, he went to his room and put them on. He found that they were about two inches too long. He went into the kitchen, and his mother and two sisters were doing some washing there. He said to them, “The new trousers are too long. They need cutting by two inches. Would one of you mind doing this for me?” His mother and sisters were busy and none of them said anything.

But as soon as his mother had finished washing up, she went to her son’s room silently and cut the trousers by two inches. She came back without saying anything to her daughters. After supper, the elder sister remembered her brother’s trousers. She went to his room and cut the trousers by two inches without saying anything to anyone. The younger sister went to the cinema. But when she came back, she also remembered her brother’s trousers. So she went to his room and cut them by two inches, too.

1.The trousers were ______.

A．too long          B．new              C．for the young man   D．A, B and C

2.Why didn’t the young man’s mother and sisters answer him?

A．Because they didn’t hear him clearly.

B．Because they thought others would do it for him

C．Because they didn’t want to do it for him.

D．Because they were busy at that time.

3.What can we infer from the story?

A．Maybe the young man didn’t try on the trousers when he bought them

B．The trousers are just right for the young man now.

C．His mother and sisters didn’t hear what the young man said.

D．The young’s mother and sisters didn’t want to help him.

4.If the trousers were 197 inches at first, how long were they at last?

A．191 inches        B．193 inches         C．195 inches        D．199 inches.

5.Which one is true from the story?

A．The young man’s mother and sisters want others to know what they did.

B．They young man would be very happy to see his trousers were short.

C．The young man had to throw the trousers away at last.

D．The young man would be very thankful to his mother and sisters.

A young man once went to town and bought himself a pair of trousers. When he got home, he went to his room and put them on. He found that they were about two inches too long. He went into the kitchen, and his mother and two sisters were doing some washing there. He said to them, “The new trousers are too long. They need cutting by two inches. Would one of you mind doing this for me?” His mother and sisters were busy and none of them said anything.
But as soon as his mother had finished washing up, she went to her son’s room silently and cut the trousers by two inches. She came back without saying anything to her daughters. After supper, the elder sister remembered her brother’s trousers. She went to his room and cut the trousers by two inches without saying anything to anyone. The younger sister went to the cinema. But when she came back, she also remembered her brother’s trousers. So she went to his room and cut them by two inches, too.
【小题1】The trousers were ______.

E
It is difficult in the modern world to do anything other than a basic job without  being able to read. Reading as a skill is the key to an educated workforce, which in turn is the bedrock of economic advancement, particularly in the present technological age. Studies have shown that by increasing the literacy skill of primary school children in the UK, the benefit to economy generally is in billions of pounds. The skill of reading is now no mere just an intellectual （知识的） or leisure activity, but rather a completely developed economic force.     
Part of the problem with reading is that it is a skill which is not appreciated in most developed societies. This is an attitude that has forced a large number of the population in most Western nations to illiteracy (文盲). It might surprise people in countries outside the West to learn that in the United Kingdom, and indeed in some other European countries, the literacy rate has fallen to below that of so-called less developed countries.
There are also forces against reading in our modern society. It is not seen as cool among a younger generation more at home with computer screens or e-libraries.
And reading is not very appealing. Students at school, college or university, who read a lot are called bookworms. The term indicates the contempt (轻蔑) in which reading and learning are held in certain circles or subcultures. It is a criticism, like all such attacks, driven by the insecurity of those who are not literate or are semiliterate. Criticism is also a means, like all bullying, of keeping peers（同辈） in place so that they do not step out of line. Peer pressure among young people is so powerful that it often kills any attempts to change attitudes towards habits like reading.
But the negative senses apart, is modern Western society standing Canute-like (自以为是地) against an uncontrollable drop? I think not.
57．What is the main idea of Paragraph 1?
A．Reading plays an important role in education.
B．People can't find a job without being able to read.
C．The skill of reading has become an economic power.
D．More intellectual activities are needed in the technological age.
58．What problem exists in most Western nations?
A． Younger generations are addicted to modern technology.
B．The literacy skills have weakened their financial benefit.
C．Literacy rate has decreased because of people' s attitude.
D．School children spend more money on leisure activities.
59．What does the underlined sentence probably mean?
A．Criticism may help the young make reading a habit.
B．The contempt makes peers refuse to change their reading habit.
C．Peer pressure stops bully boy from stepping out of line.
D．Criticism strongly influences the young' s behavior towards reading.
60．What is the author' s purpose in writing this passage?
A．To explain his own attitudes.
B．To describe the decrease in reading.
C．To draw people' s attention to reading.
D．To criticize negative attitudes towards reading