A new plan for getting children to and from school is being started by a local government in Eastern England. This could end the worries of many parents fear ful for their children's safety on the roads.

Until now the local government have only been prepared to provide bus services for children living more than three miles from their school, or sometimes less if special reasons existed. Now it has been decided that if a group of parents ask for help in organizing transport they will be prepared to go ahead, as long as the arrangement will not lose money and children taking part will be attending their nearest school.

The new plan is to be tried out this term for children living at Milton who attend Impington School. The children live just without the three mile limit and the local government have said in the past that they will not undertake to provide free transport to the school. But now they have agreed to offer a sum of money for a bus service from Milton to Impington and back, a plan which has the support of the school's headmaster.

Between 50 and 60 parents have said they would like their children to take part. Final calculations have still to be carried out, but a government official has said the cost to parents should be less than ￡ 20 a term.

They have been able to arrange the service at a low cost because there is already an agreement with the bus company for a bus to take children who live further away to Impington. The same bus would now just make one more journey to pick up the Milton children. The official said they would get in touch with other groups of parents who in the past had asked if transport could be provided for their children, to see if they would like to take part in the new plan.

1.What is the aim of the plan?

A.To prevent the students' road accident.        

B.To relieve the traffic pressure.

C.To save time for the parents and students.        

D.To help the parents save money. 

2.How can the local government arrange the new bus service at a low cost?

A.By letting the bus run in the morning only.

B.By limiting the number of the students.

C.By obtaining the support from the headmaster.

D.By lining the new bus service with the existing one. 

3.The new bus service will be paid for by  ________ .

A. the parents             B. the local government

C. the bus company         D. the local government and the parents 

4.Which of the following is possible if the plan is carried out?

A.The bus company will make much more money.

B.The children can choose whatever school they like.

C.The parents can get rid of their worries.

D.The students in Impington School can have free bus rides. 

5.This passage is most probably ________  .

A.a personal letter         B. a headmaster's report

C.an advertisement          D. a newspaper article 

A businessman had two sons. While he gave the younger son a lot of love and gifts, he neglected (忽视) the elder son. It was completely puzzling (令人费解) and no one knew why.

When the boys grew up, they were asked to manage the father’s business. The elder son was absorbed in the business. From morning till late in the evening, he was busy working. Within a few years, he ran the business very well and even expanded (扩大) it.

What about the younger son? He didn't have much to do except have a good time. But the father believed that his favorite son would be a success. If the elder son could be a successful businessman, surely the younger one, with a higher education, would do much better.

A few years later, the results of his decision became clear. Uninterested in business, the younger son continued spending his time enjoying himself. And he went out of business. But the elder son’s far smaller share (份) of business had expanded and he had proved himself to be a good decision maker.

Ashamed at the turn of events, the father met the elder son and was angry with the younger one. The elder son, who was listening to all this quietly, suddenly said he wanted to set up an independent business and live on his own.

“Why?” asked the father.

“I blame (责备) one person for the way my brother has turned out, and it’s not him. You can’t blame children for the faults (过失) of their parents, can you?” asked the elder son.

Before the younger son went into the father’s business, he______.

A. was interested in business          B. had achieved great success

C. often looked down upon his brother  D. was well-educated at school

Why did the father treat the two sons differently?

A. the elder son didn’t work hard      B. no one knew why he did it

C. the younger son was hardworking   D. he wanted to do an experiment

Which is NOT the reason for the younger son’s going out of business?

A. he himself didn’t work hard

B. his father didn’t educate him properly

C. he was not interested in business at all

D. he was busy working every day

What does the text really want to teach us?

A. Parents are responsible for children’s development.

B. Once something is done, you should do it well.

C. Interest is the most important for success.

D. One has responsibility for what he himself has done.

Nothing is more pleasing and romantic as flowers in the bedroom. Now, a new study says that the sweet smells of flowers in the bedroom can also lead to sweet dreams.

Researchers in Germany have carried out the study and have found that sleeping with flowers in the bedroom may encourage sweet dreams, a major finding they claim could help nightmare sufferers to and extent.

They came to the conclusion after an analysis of the sleep patterns of 15 female volunteers for a period of nearly 30 nights, a leading British newspaper reported on Monday.

The researchers pumped scents of rotten eggs, roses or no scent under their noses for nearly ten seconds while the women were in the Rapid Eye Movement period of sleep when a dream occurs.

The subjects were then woken up and asked to record their dreams. The smells had an effect on the emotions of the dreams but did not become part of the dream in that the women exposed to roses did not dream about roses the study found.

There was a correlation between the negative smells and negative emotional scores the sleepers reported from their dream.

According to the researchers, it’ll be interesting to study nightmare sufferers and if positive smells can actually influence the mood of their dreams as a form of treatment in the future.

The study has been presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otoblaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting in Chicago.

What is the best title for the text?

A. A recent study on dreaming   B. Smells influence one’s dreams

C. Do you want to have a good dream?  D. Flowers in the bedroom lead to sweet dreams.

What is the right order of the events related to the experiment?

a. The female volunteers get to sleep.  b. The researchers wake up the sleeping women.

c. A particular smell is pumped under dreamers’ noses  d. The dreamers are asked to describe their dreams.

A. a, c, b, d     B. d, c, b, a    C. a, c, d, b    D, d, b, c, a

The underlined word “correlation” in paragraph 6 can be replaced by _______

A. combination  B. coincidence  C. connection  D. cooperation

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. People are very sensitive to smells at night.

B. The subjects were tested on when they dreamed

C. Pleasant smells get sleepers to dream of roses.

D. The experiment is designed to treat sleeplessness.

What is the future perspective（前景）of the study?

A. Sleeplessness can be cured in the near future.

B. Nightmare sufferers are likely to recover soon.

C. The finding can give hope to nightmare sufferers.

D. Roses will become more popular among patients.

     Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson River must remember the Catskill Mountains. They are a branch of the great Appalachian family, and can be seen to the west rising up to a noble height and towering over the surrounding country. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their beautiful shapes on the clear evening sky, but sometimes when it is cloudless, gray steam gathers around the top of the mountains which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will shine and light up like a crown of glory （华丽的皇冠）.

     At the foot of these mountains, a traveler may see light smoke going up from a village.

     In that village, and in one of the houses （which, to tell the exact truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten）, there lived many years ago, a simple, good-natured fellow by the name of Rip Van Winkle.

     Rip's great weakness was a natural dislike of all kinds of money-making labor. It could not be from lack of diligence （勤劳）, for he could sit all day on a wet rock and fish without saying a word, even though he was not encouraged by a single bite. He would carry a gun on his shoulder for hours, walking through woods and fields to shoot a few birds or squirrels. He would never refuse to help a neighbor, even in the roughest work. The women of the village, too, used to employ him to do such little jobs as their less helpful husbands would not do for them. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to everybody's business but his own.

      If left to himself, he would have whistled （ 吹口哨） life away in perfect satisfaction; but his wife was always mad at him for his idleness （懒散）. Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was endlessly going, so that he was forced to escape to the outside of the house -- the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband.

68. Which of the following best describes the Catskill Mountains?

     A. They are on the west of the Hudson River.

     B. They are very high and beautiful in this area.

     C. They can be seen from the Appalachian family.

     D. They gather beautiful clouds in blue and purple.

69. The hero of the story is probably_____________.

A. hard-working and likes all kinds of work

B. idle and hates all kinds of jobs

C. simple, idle but very dutiful

D. gentle, helpful but a little idle

70. The underlined words "henpecked husband" in the last paragraph probably means a man who____.

    A. likes hunting        B. is afraid of hens

    C. loves his wife        D. is afraid of his wife

71. What would be the best title for the text?

     A. Catskill Mountains.        B. A Mountain Village.

     C. Rip Van Winkle.          D. A Dutiful Husband.

A patient came to see me about the stress in her life. She described all the things she had to do －one was to make her bed－from the moment she woke up until she flew out of the door for work. I suggested she experiment by not making her bed for two weeks. She was shocked, probably thinking I’d been raised by wolves in a forest. However, she went along with my idea.

Two weeks later she went into my office beaming. She had left her bed unmade for the first time in 42 years－and nothing bad had happened. “And you know what?” she said. “I don’t dry my dishes anymore, either.”

    This woman had made two major breakthroughs (突破). One was discovering that she had choices in her life that she had never seen before. The other was giving herself permission to be less that perfect. This story shows an important principle (原理) about managing time: No one can do it all. Each of us has to make choices and accept trade – offs. The problem is, many people choose in ways that put themselves and their health last. They take better care of their houses and cars than they do of themselves. They put everyone else’s needs ahead of their own.

    So what is the solution? There’s an easy way. Decide what you want in your life, and put that first. On a daily basis, that should include regular meals, enough sleep and time with your family. Exercise, leisure, friendships and hobbies should also be regular aspects of life. The point is to do something for yourself every day. The choice is yours: whatever makes you feel good about yourself and your life. Take a nap. Take a walk. Take time to play the piano. Stop bringing your briefcase home from the office. Stop keeping your house as clean as your mother kept hers. Fill more of your time with want – to – dos instead of have – to – dos.

What is the solution to the problem of managing time?

       A．Doing more exercises every day.    B．Taking time to visit friends regularly.

       C．Stopping making bed occasionally. D．Doing what you want to do first.

What does the word “beaming” in Line 1, Paragraph 2 probably mean?

       A．Worrying  B．Smiling    C．Depressed D．Luckily

What is the major problem of most people managing time?

       A．Most people do not take care of their health.

       B．Most people put others’ needs ahead of their own.

       C．Most people cannot keep balance on managing time.

       D．Most people do not take time to relax themselves.

What is the author’s attitude toward people’s problems in the passage?

       A．Matter – of – fact.  B．Negative. C．Indifferent.             D．Worried.