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 Cornett, 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 Cornett．         B．Ellen Cooper．  C．Jenny Joseph． D．Joe Heywood．

I'll be the first to admit that I am a technophobe(对技术有恐惧感的人）.Who would have guessed that a website would help repay a 20-year-old loan?

     I'1l always remember my last day at school. My best friend, Jenny, had organized a party in the Sixth

Form Common Room;

     Jenny asked me to go to the supermarket with her to buy all the snacks. "I'm really looking forward to this party, Stingy," she said. Everyone called me Stingy instead of Debbie because they thought I didn't like to spend money. Actually, it was true.

       "There's lots of money in the kitty(零星凑起的一笔钱）. Let's go crazy!" Going crazy meant buying enough snacks to feed an army. It came to ￡ 19.90,which was a lot of money in 1982.

       Jenny gave me a guilty( 内疚的) look. "I've left-the kitty money in the common room. Can you pay and I'll give you back the money?"

       "Sure," I replied, trying to look relaxed. ' Neither a lender or a borrower be' was my motto but I didn't want to look stingy(小气). I gave ￡20 to the impatient shop assistant.

       Well, the Party was a great success. So great that I completely forgot about my loan until I was flying to America the next day.  I was going to live with my uncle's family until I started university.

       I tried to get in touch with Jenny but her family had moved. My ￡20 was lost. Until...

       I'd heard about a website called Friends Reunited which helped people contact old school friends.  My husband helped me log on and find my school. There she was,Jenny Frost.

       I'm now married with a beautiful daughter called Debbie. Does anyone know how to get in touch with Debbie 'Stingy' Jones? I still owe her ￡20!

        We met two months later and the ￡20 was returned, plus interest(利息)of course. After all, I'm a bank manager now, so loans are my business.

Why did Jenny spend a lot of money on the snacks?                                                       A. Debbie had money.                                             B. There was money she could use.

  C. She wanted Debbie to stop being stingy.         D. She wanted to be crazy.

How did Debbie get her money at last?                                                      

A. Her husband found Jenny. B. Jenny had a website on the Internet.

  C. Debbie met Jenny.           D. Debbie put a message on the Friends Reunited website.

We know from the passage that Jenny       .                            

   A. liked parties at school and felt guilty about borrowing money

   B. had fun at school but soon forgot about her school friends

   C. forgot her best friend at school until she saw the Friends Reunited website

   D. was forgetful about the money

信息匹配（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
首先，请阅读一些关于针对学生在生活或学习中遇到问题给出建议的信息。

Dear David,
My daughter will be five years old. She is happy, well-mannered, loving and pretty. She has attended a Montessori school since she was 16 months old and has made two friends. The three girls are always together, or talking with each other.
But recently the girls told my daughter that they would not play with her if she kept playing with the boy who was disliked by most of the class. My daughter always finds good things in others and insisted they play with him, too. Then one of the friends told my daughter she didn’t have straight hair and shouldn’t play with them. Then she started ignoring my daughter. My mother-in-law decided to iron my girl’s beautiful curly hair(卷发).
With her birthday coming, my child decided to invite her friends to her party. When I asked her why, she said because they were always together, but I know one of the girls will not attend her party. 
I’m concerned about her. I feel lost, not knowing how to help my child.
Jenny
Dear Jenny,
It’s always painful to a mother when someone hurts her child. Your daughter’s friends weren’t nice to her, but little kids are still learning how to get along with others. As a result, young friendships are often fleeting, even changing from day to day. Your daughter seems to be remarkably loving, outgoing and mature(成熟的) beyond her years. Perhaps you need to be proud of the way she treats people.
Ironing your daughter’s hair won’t send your daughter or the other girls a good message. It implies that there is something wrong with the way she is. You have no choice but to let your daughter know that one of the girls won’t be attending her birthday party. If she seems upset, remind her that other friends will be there. My guess is that she will rise to the occasion.
Hope this helps.
David
【小题1】What’s the mother’s problem?

Like most English children, I learned foreign languages at 36. When I made my first visit 37 the Unites States, I was 38 I could have a nice easy holiday without any 39 problem. But how 40 I was!
At the American airport, I was looking for a public telephone to 41 my friend Jenny I had 41 . A worker asked if he could 43 me. “Yes,” I said. “I want to give my friend a ring.” “Well, that’s nice. Are you getting married?” he asked. “No,” I answered. “I just want to tell her 44 the phone I have arrived.” “Oh,” he said, “there is a 45 downstairs on the first floor.” “But we’re on the first floor now,” I said. “Well, I don’t know what you are 46 about. Maybe you aren’t feeling too well after your 47,” he said. “You just go and wash up, and you will feel a lot better.” And he went 48 , 49 me wondering where on earth I was: at home we wash up after a 50 to get the cups and plates clean. How can I wash up at an airport?
At last we did 51. She 52 the misunderstanding(误会): American say “to give someone a 53 ”, but we English say “ to give someone a ring”. When we say “to wash your hands”, they say “to wash 54”. And Englishmen start numbering from the floor, so the 55 floor is the second for Americans.