.

Driving to a friend's house on a recent evening, I was attracted by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s rooftops. I stopped to watch it for a few moments, thinking about what a pity it was that most city people? Myself included? Usually miss sights like this because we spend most of our lives indoors.

My friend had also seen it. He grew up living in a forest in Europe, and the moon meant a lot to him then. It had touched much of his life.

　I know the feeling. Last December I took my seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some friends. We stayed in a forest rest-house with no electricity or running hot water. Our group had campfires outside every night, and indoors when it was too cold outside. The moon grew to its fullest during our trip. Between me and the high mountains lay three or four valleys. Not a light shone in them and not a sound could be heard. It was one of the quietest places I have ever known, a bottomless well of silence. And above me was the full moon, which struck me deeply.

Today our lives are filled with glass, metal, plastic and fibre-glass. We have televisions, cell phones, pagers, electricity, heaters and ovens and air-conditioners, cars, computers.

Struggling through traffic that evening at the end of a tiring day, most of it spent indoors, I thought: before long, I would like to live in a small cottage. There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains And perhaps write, but not in anger. I may become an old man there, and wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled and measure out my life in coffee spoons. But I will be able to walk outside on a cold silent night and touch the moon.

71.The best title for the passage would be______.

A. Touched by the moon

B. The pleasures of modern life

C. A bottomless well of silence

D. Break away from modern life

72. The writer felt sorry for himself because________.

A. there was too many pollution

B. he failed to see the fullest moon

C. he didn’t adapt to modern inventions

D. there were too accidents on the road

73. What impressed the writer most in the mountainous jungle of northern India?

A. No modern equipment     B. Complete silence.

C. The nice moonlight        D. The high mountains

74. Modern things (Paragraph 4) are mentioned mainly to______.

A. show that the writer likes city life very much

B. tell us that people greatly benefit from modern life

C. explain that people have less chances to enjoy nature

D. show that we can also enjoy nature at home through them

75. The author wrote the passage to_______.

A. express the feeling of returning to nature

B. show the love for the moonlight

C. advise modern people to learn to live

D. want to communicate longing for modern life

 

Our surroundings are being polluted faster than nature and man’s present efforts cannot prevent it. Time is bringing us more people, and more people will bring us more industry, more cars, larger cities, and the growing use of man-made materials.

What can explain and solve this problem? The fact is that pollution is caused by man — by his desire for a modern way of life. We make “increasing industrialization” our chief aim. So we are often ready to offer everything: clean air, pure water, good food, our health and the future of our children. There is a constant flow of people from the countryside into the cities, eager for the benefits of our modern society. But as our technological achievements have grown in the last twenty years, pollution has become a serious problem.

Isn’t it time we stopped to ask ourselves where we are going — and why? It makes one think of the story about the airline pilot who told his passengers over the loudspeaker, “I’ve some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we’re making rapid progress at 530 miles per hour. The bad news is that we’re lost and don’t know where we’re going.” The sad fact is that this becomes a true story when spoken of our modern society.

1. Man cannot prevent the world from being polluted mainly because ______.

   A. the population of the world is decreasing fast 

   B. people use too many man-made materials

   C. we have more and more industry  

   D. we are producing more cars, trucks and buses

2. People crowd into the cities because ______.

　 A. they want very much to find well-paid jobs

　 B. they are anxious to enjoy the achievements of our society

   C. they have become tired of their homeland

   D. they have a strong wish to become industrial workers

3.According to the passage, what does man value most?

   A. Industry.                                                 B. Health.   

   C. Clean air.                                         D. The future of the children.

4.The story about the airline pilot tells us that ______.

   A. man knows where the society is going

   B. people do not welcome the rapid development of modern society

   C. man can do little about the problem of pollution

   D. the writer is worried about the future of our society

5.What does the writer really want to say in this passage?

   A. With the development of technology, pollution has become a serious problem.

   B. Lower the speed of development to stop pollution.

   C. It’s time we did something to reduce pollution.

   D. As industry is growing fast, pollution is the natural result.

 

Mr. Harris used to work in Dover, but then he changed his work, and he and his wife moved to another town. They did not have many friends there, but they soon met a lot of interesting people, and after a few weeks, they often went to dinner or to parties at other people's houses.
Then Mrs. Harris said to her husband, "We've been to a lot of other people's houses, and now we must invite them to our house, mustn't we?"
"Yes, certainly," answered her husband, "A big party will be the easiest thing, won't it? Then we can start to invite people to dinner in small numbers next month."
So Mrs. Harris said, "Yes, I'll invite all our friends here to a big party on 5th December."
"How many will that be?" Mr. Harris asked. "Don't invite too many."
Mrs. Harris was beginning to write the invitations when her husband saw that she was writing, "Party: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m."
"That isn't very nice, is it?" he said. "You're telling our guests that they must go at 8:30." So Mrs. Harris just wrote "Party: 6:30 p.m."
A lot of guests came, and they all had a good time, so they did not go home at 8:30. In fact they were still there at mid-night when the door bell rang and a policeman arrived. He said, "You must stop making a noise, because someone has complained(抱怨)."
Mr. Harris said he did not want to quarrel with the policeman, so everyone went home. They were sorry to have to go.
When Mr. and Mrs. Harris were alone again, she said to him. "That was a surprise, wasn't it? Who complained about the noise?"
"I did," Mr. Harris answered in a tired voice.
【小题1】Why did Mr. Harris and his wife move to another town?

A．Mr. Harris changed his work.

B．They wanted to make some new friends.

C．They wanted to meet a lot of interesting people.

D．They enjoyed going to parties and visiting other people's houses.

【小题2】What made Mr. and Mrs. Harris hold a party at their house?

A．It was easy to hold a big party at home.

B．They could ask people to dinner in small numbers.

C．They had gone to other people's parties many times.

D．They liked making friends with others.

【小题3】How long would Mrs. Harris like the party to last?

A．From the morning till night.	B．About two hours.
C．About fourteen hours.	D．Till midnight

【小题4】When did the party end that evening?

A．At about 8:30.

B．About twelve o'clock..

C．When the policeman talked with Mr. Harris on the phone.

D．When someone telephoned the police station.

【小题5】Why did Mr. Harris telephoned the policeman about the noise?

A．Because someone rang his door bell many times at mid-night.

B．He did not want his friends to stay late that night.

C．His friends had a good time that night and also feel tired.

D．Because he hated the noise.

Drunken driving –sometimes called America’s socially accepted form of murder—has become a national epidemic (流行病). Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers，adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past ten years. A drunken driver is usually referred to as one with 0.10-blood alcohol content or roughly three beer glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American manly image and judges were lenient in most courts，but the drunken killing has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies，especially concerning young children，that public opinion is no longer so tolerant.

    Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21，reversing a trend in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18，the number of people killed by 18-20 years old drivers more than doubled，so the state recently upped it back to 21.

    Reformers，however，fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop ‘responsible attitudes’ about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.

    Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests in many areas already，to a marked drop in accidents，some states are also punishing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A bar in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who was ‘obviously drunk’ and later drove off the road，killing a 9-year-old boy.

As the accidents continue to occur daily in every state，some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years national prohibition of alcohol that began in 1919，which President Hoover called the ‘noble experiment’. They forgot that legal prohibition didn’t stop drinking，but encouraged political corruption and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally，there is no easy solution.

1.Statistics issued in New Jersey suggested that ____________.

A. many drivers were not of legal age.　　      B. young drivers were often bad drivers.

　　C. the level of drinking increased in the 1960s.    D. the legal drinking age should be raised.

2.The underlined word ‘lenient’ in the first paragraph means ‘_________’.

A. serious          B. cruel                C. merciful         D. determined

3.In America, public opinion about drunken driving has changed because __________.

A.  judges are no longer tolerant

B.  new laws are introduced in some states

C.  the increasing number of traffic accidents has got the attention of the public

D.  drivers do not appreciate their manly image any more

4.Which of the following best shows the writer’s opinion of drunken driving?

A. It may lead to organized crime.          B. It is difficult to solve this problem.

C. The new laws can stop heavy drinking.        D. There should be no bars to serve drinks. 

 

The best way to improve your reading ability is, of course, to read. The student must make a real effort to improve his speed, and if necessary his comprehension, with each exercise. Too many students read passages passively（被动的） and without judgment: they simply start at the first word and read through to the end. You should read a passage actively, selectively（选择地） and purposely. You must believe that you indeed have the ability to read faster and understand, and that you will.

Reading, like everything else in life, is best done when you’re relaxed. The key to improve it is concentration. You must be willing to break some old habits and form new ones. Extra body movement, such as turning the head from side to side, pointing at the line with a finger or pencil, or moving the lips, should be stopped immediately. Reading is mostly a mental process(大脑活动过程) and body movement helps neither speed nor comprehension. Then you should see words as part of a whole sentence or paragraph, not just in isolation(孤立), This is why a slow, word-by-word student often understands far less, or misses much of the joy and excitement of reading.

The student must learn to improve reading skills on their own, and not just when a teacher is looking over his shoulder. Reading improvement takes discipline（纪律） and effort. Don’t give up.

1. According to the author, how should we not read a passage?

A. actively        B passively.   C. purposely        D. selectively

2. You may conclude that whether you can improve your reading depends on________.

A. your attitude                      B. your good habits of reading

C. discipline                         D. all of the above

3. Which of the following is true according to the passage?        

A. When reading, you’d better point at the line with a pencil. 　　

B. When reading, you should turn your head from side to side.

C. When reading, you should pay attention to basic unit of meaning, that is a phrase or sentence that contains an idea.    

D. Body movement will help you to improve reading.

4. The best title for this passage is___________.

A. Reading Faster                         B. Understanding Better

C. How to Improve Your Reading             D. Don’t Give Up