B
“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” --a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores. Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)
After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, completely humbled（挫败的）,”  admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press, stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”
Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs, “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however----until Bob signed the contract, therefore, she decided to relax and enjoy it. 
Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria, his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.
As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”
Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative（暂时的） title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.
45. The couple signed the contract because _______.
A. Pat complained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself
B. Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest
C. they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks
D. Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book
46. It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.
A. pay a certain amount of money
B.  admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood 
C. say sorry to his wife         D. do all the housework for years
47. What can we learn about Pat Peters?
A. She was hard-working and selfless.   B. She was pretty and kind-hearted.
C. She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks.
D. She did not love Bob any longer.
48. Which of the following can best end the news story?
A. “Wait till your mother gets home!”    B. “My experience of being a mother.”
C. “I’m proud of you all, my dear!”     D. “Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.”

A boy of 14 has become the youngest student to win a place at Cambridge University. Arran Fernandez, who was  16 at home by his father, Neil, will 17  a mathematics degree at Fitzwilliam College next month and he hopes to have a career as a research mathematician to 18  the Riemann hypothesis(黎曼猜想) that has confused the brightest minds. It will make him the youngest Cambridge student  19 14-year-old William Pitt the Younger studied there in 1773.

Last night the child genius said: “I am looking forward to going to the  20  . I have started the first-year books  21   and it is all right, not too  22  . I can understand it. I am excited about going to Cambridge,  23  I am used to making records about being the youngest in education. It isn’t the youngest moment that is so important to me--  24  I’m more interested in going to Cambridge than comparing   25  with other people who go there.”

But  26 his age he will not be able to    27  many of the alcohol-fuelled festivities(庆典) traditionally  28  to Freshers’ Week. “I don’t think I’m missing too much fun,” he insisted. “Even if I was 18, I wouldn’t want to go out  29 . ”

Arran,  30   plans to join the bird-watching society instead and go boating while at university, was five when he  31  the youngest person to be  32   a GCSE (General Certificated of Secondary Education), after passing maths. He was offered the   33  to learn at Cambridge in 2010, when he was 14, on the condition he gained an A-level in physics, which he  34  with an A+ grade. Arran had already gained an A grade in further maths last year.

Cambridge also asked him to attend three GCSEs in subjects which were not related to maths and physics to  35   his knowledge. He gained A+s in English literature and French and an A in English language this summer.

B

“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” --a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores. Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)

     After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, completely humbled（挫败的）,”  admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press, stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”

     Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs, “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however----until Bob signed the contract, therefore, she decided to relax and enjoy it. 

Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria, his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.

     As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”

     Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative（暂时的） title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.

45. The couple signed the contract because _______.

    A. Pat complained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself

    B. Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest

    C. they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks

    D. Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book

46. It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.

    A. pay a certain amount of money

B.  admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood 

  C. say sorry to his wife         D. do all the housework for years

47. What can we learn about Pat Peters?

    A. She was hard-working and selfless.   B. She was pretty and kind-hearted.

    C. She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks.

    D. She did not love Bob any longer.

48. Which of the following can best end the news story?

 A. “Wait till your mother gets home!”    B. “My experience of being a mother.”

 C. “I’m proud of you all, my dear!”      D. “Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.”

Ever since I was little I loved doing things for other people. As I got older I began doing random ( 随意的 ) things for people. For example, during holidays, such as Christmas, I would make an extra   21  along with the ones for my relatives. Then I would go and find someone in the grocery store and just hand it to them and walk away. It was so much fun. I admit,   22 , the first time I did it I was so   23 . I didn’t know who to give the card to. So I said a little prayer and knew that the   24  person would just appear. About that time an elderly man ran   25  me with his shopping cart. It was an accident, and he   26  a million times. We smiled and he walked away, and I knew that he was the one.  Later I found him in a different isle(过道), handed him the card, and smiled. I said Happy Holidays, and then walked away. It was so great, and the   27  I had afterwards was unexplainable.

Then one day I came across your website (the coolest website ever) and   28  some Smile Cards. When they came in, I started a new project. When I go into a store, I locate a person who I think needs a   29 . Then, I buy a flower, a carnation, to be exact, and   30  it in the most beautiful paper they have. I tie lots of ribbons on it to make it   31 , and then slip the smile card into an envelope and   32  it to the flower. After that, I pay for it and explain to the cashier   33  it is to go to (I live in a pretty small town so it’s easy to get the help of the cashiers). They then give it to that person when they come through.. Once in a while I’ll buy the flower and then just leave it for the cashier. That gets smiles.

My favorite time was when I picked out this elderly woman who was walking around the   34  somewhat confused. I had come across her numerous times and she only smiled slightly once. When she came to the check out (I was watching from outside) her face   35  and the smile was the biggest I had ever seen. Later that week the cashier whom I had had   36  me told me that the lady had been so surprised and while she was walking out with the grocery bag to her car, she was planning what she was going to do for someone else. It was awesome.

I absolutely love the random acts of kindness cards. I   37  at least two in my purse and others in my car, locker and everywhere I go. As I mentioned, my club, STARS, is doing a Random Acts of Kindness Project with the smile cards so they also are using them. I look forward to hearing about their success. It’s really great. I   38  used them in school. I bought my entire math class cans of pop after lunch one day. They came in from lunch and a can of pop and a smile card were setting   39  that day. It totally lightened the mood in the class that day   40  we were studying for a test. Thank you for all of the help that you provide. The smile cards are a great program that brings smiles into the lives of many!

It is a matter of common observation that although money income keeps going up over the years, we never seem to become richer. Prices are rising continuously. This condition is what we call inflation: the money supply is becoming inflated so that each unit of it becomes less valuable. We have got used to higher and higher rates of inflation in recent years. What could be bought twenty years ago for one pound now costs well over 2 pounds. And at present this rate of inflation seems to be rising rather than falling. If in the real world our money incomes go up at the same rate as prices do. One might think that inflation doesn’t matter. But it does ------.When money is losing value it also loses one of the qualities of a good money—stability of value. It is no longer acceptable as a store of value; and it becomes an unsuitable means of delayed payment. Nobody wants to hold a wasting possession, so people try to get rid of money as quickly as possible. Inflation therefore simply stimulates（刺激）our spending and discourages saving.
【小题1】From the passage we can know that inflation is a situation in which________.