A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this  problem.

First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.

Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.

In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore, some institutions should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.

One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.

To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.

66．What is the passage mainly about?

       A．The problems faced by the old in society.

       B．Why we should take responsibility for the old.

       C．How we can improve the lives of the old.

       D．Where the old can go to get their pensions.

67．What is the writer’s main purpose in writing this article?

       A．To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem.

       B．To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people.

       C．To point out the need for government support for old people.

       D．To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.

68．What does the underlined word “vialble” most probably mean?

       A．Impossible.          B．Practical.             C．Useful.                D．Successful.

69．According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?

       A．Set aside some profits to help people with problems after they retire.

       B．Increase savings levels of people during their working years.

       C．Increase the discounts for food and transport for the old.

       D．Make available pensions for those who have retired.

70．What can be concluded from the passage?

       A．Taking care of the old is mainly an issue of money.

       B．Employers should allow their workers to retire at a later age.

       C．Becoming independent should be the goal of most old people.

       D．There is no single solution to the problems of the old.

Let us begin by saying what does not cause our dreams．Our dreams do not come from “another world”．They are not messages from outside source．They are not a look into the future, either．

All our dreams have something to do with our feelings, fear, longings, wishes, needs and memories．If a person is hungry, or tired, or cold his dreams may include a feeling of this kind．If the covers on your body, such as a quilt or a blanket have slipped off your bed, you may dream that you are sleeping on the ice or snow．The material for the dream you will have tonight is likely to come from the experiences you have today．

So the subject of your dream usually comes from something that has effect on you while you are sleeping (feeling of cold, a noise, a discomfort, etc)and it may also use your past experiences and the wishes and interests you have now．This is why very young children are likely to d ream of fairies, older children of school examinations, hungry people of food, home-sick soldiers of their families, and prisoners of freedom．

To show you how that is happening while you are asleep and how your wishes and needs can all be joined together in a dream, here is a story of an experiment．A man was asleep and the back of his hand was rubbed with absorbent cotton．He would dream that he was in a hospital and his charming girl friend was visiting him, sitting on the bed and feeling his hands!

There are some scientists who have a special study of why we dream, what we dream and what those dreams mean．Their explanation of dreams, though a bit reasonable, is not accepted by everyone, but it offers an interesting way of dealing with the problem．They believe that dreams are mostly expressions of wishes that did not come true．In other words, a dream is a way of having your wishes carried out.

1.From the passage we know that our dreams___    _ .

       A．are imagination of our daily life     

       B．are man’s curious look into the future

       C．have nothing to do with our feelings  

D．are to some degree connected with our feelings

2.Older children often dream of examinations probably because___    _ .

       A．they are interested in exams

       B．they are often worried about their studies

       C．they hope for better life

       D．they show much interest in their studies

3.According to the writer, the explanation of dreams that some scientists made___    _ .

       A．is considered interesting, but meaningless．

       B．gives a good answer to the question why we dream．

       C．has some value, though not fully convincing．

       D．has been proved by the findings of their studies.

4.What is the best title for this passage?

       A．Why people Dream                              B．New Findings about Dreams

       C．Dream Makes Hopes                            D．What Dreams Mean

In a US city, a woman parked her car in an attended lot. Hoping to get a discount on the cost of parking, she asked, “Do you give validation(批准)?” “Certainly,”replied the store's manager:“You are an excellent person and I love your hair.” That might be worth the cost of parking．I mean，who wouldn't pay a couple of dollars for this kind of validation?

   Author Alan McGinIlis cites an interesting study about the power of positive encouragement．A second-grade teacher complained that her children were spending too much time standing up and roaming around the room rather than working．

   Two psychologists observed the behavior of the children and the teacher. Every ten seconds they noted how many children were out of their seats. They counted 360 unseated children throughout each 20-minute period．They also noted that the teacher said "Sit down!" seven times during the same period．

   The psychologists tried an experiment．They asked the teacher to tell the children to sit down more often. This time they noted that she commanded her students to sit down 27.5 times in an average 20-minute period, and now 540 were noted to be out of their seats during the same average period．Her increased scolding actually made the problem worse．

    Then the experimenters tried a different task．They asked the teacher to quietly praise those children who were seated and working．At this time, children's roaming was decreased by 33％．They showed their best behavior when they were praised more and blamed less．

    People who motivate others to take great action are almost always those who encourage more than criticize; who praise more and blame less.

    Perhaps the woman's question is the correct one after all．"Do you give validation?" I hope I can always answer “YES”.

1.When parking her car in an attended lot, the woman ________.

 A. made a very silly mistake              B. was laughed at by the manager

 C. got great praise from the manager    D. failed to pay the cost of parking at last

2.The students in the study performed better mainly because_______.

 A．they were motivated by the psychologists

 B．they were inspired by the teacher's attitude

 C．they regretted roaming around the classroom

 D．they changed their relationship with the teacher

3. In the passage, the author thinks that_______.

A. it is better to blame others than to praise others

B. sometimes it's hard to receive praise from others

C. criticizing children does no good to their growth

D. we all know how to encourage others by praising

4. Why does the author talk about the study in the passage?

A. To show the power of encouragement.  [来源:Zxxk.Com]

B. To show how the teacher praises children.

C. To show his argument is scientifically based.

D. To show the teacher is a successful motivator.

5.What is the author's attitude towards giving validation?

A. Neutral        B. Negative      C. Positive    D. Reasonable[来源:学_