If you look up the word “create” in the dictionary , you will find it means “to bring into being, to cause to exist something each of us does daily”．
We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way First, this includes an awareness of our surroundings．It means using all of our senses to become aware of our world．This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture（质地）,as well as taste, when we plan a meal．Above all, it is the ability to notice things that others might miss．
A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things．If we believe the expression,“There is nothing new under the sun, the creativity is remaking or recombining（重组） the old in new ways．”For example, we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture, or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph．
A third part of creativity is the courage and drive to make use of our new ideas, to ask for them to achieve some new results．To think up a new idea is one thing; to put the idea to work is another．
These three parts of creativity are included in all the great works of geniuses, but they are also included in many of our day-to-day activities．
【小题1】Which of the following activities is NOT a creative one according to the passage?

A．To prepare for a meal．

B．To arrange the furniture in a special way．

C．To buy some books from a bookstore．

D．To“write”a letter with the computer．

There are over one million superstitions(迷信), and most people believe at least one or two of　them.
Many people are superstitious about numbers. They think that there are lucky numbers and unlucky numbers.
The number 13 is often considered unlucky. In some parts of the world, buildings have no 13th floor and streets have no houses with the number 13. In Japan, "4" is considered unlucky because in Japanese the word "four" is pronounced the same as the word "death" .
Japanese never give gifts of four knives, four napkins, or four of anything.
What are the lucky numbers? Seven is a lucky number in many places, and "8" is considered a lucky number in Japan and China. In China, businesses often open on August 8, and many couples register to get married at eight past eight on August 8.
Superstitions about numbers are so widespread that some people--called numerologist--make a living by giving advice about numbers.
In 1937, when the Toyoda family of Japan wanted to form a car company, they asked a numerologist if "Toyoda" would be a good name for the company. The numerologist said it would not be. He explained that "Toyota" would be a better name for the company. The family took his advice. As a result, millions of people drive "Toyota" and not "Toyoda" .
There are many other kinds of superstitions. There are superstitions about eating, sleeping, sneezing and itching(抓痒). There are superstitions about animals and holidays and horseshoes.
There are even superstitions about superstitions. Those superstitions will tell people how to reverse bad luck.
When the Japanese bump heads, they immediately bump heads again. According to a Japanese superstition, the first-bump means their parents will die, but the second bump "erases" the first bump         
To reverse bad luck in general, people turn around three times, turn their pockets inside out, or put their hats on backwards.
In the United States, baseball players sometimes wear their caps backwards when their team is losing. It looks silly, but the baseball players do not mind if it helps them win the game.   
【小题1】It can be inferred that superstitions about numbers are           .

When someone says, “Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music,” it doesn’t mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you did not do this or that. Terrible music, indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time or another, every one of us has had to “face the music”, especially as children. We can remember father’s angry voice: “I want to talk to you!” And only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!
The phrase “face the music” is known to every American, old and young. It is at least one hundred years old. Where did the expression come from?
The first explanation came from the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. He said, in 1851, that expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings (舞台的两侧) to go on stage. After they got their clue(暗示) to go on , they often said, “It’s time to go to face the music. ” And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra (乐队) which was just below the stage.
An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience(观众) that might be friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So “face the music” came to mean: having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.
【小题1】The expression “face the music” means ______.

A． plan to go to a concert

B．get one’s clue to do something

C．have to go through something far less pleasant

D．disobey what one's father says

Ⅱ   阅读(共两节，满分50分)
第一节：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Parents have to do much less for their children today than they used to do，and home has become much less of a workshop. Clothes can be bought ready made; washing can go to the laundry; food can be bought; cooked，canned or preserved; bread is baked and delivered by the baker; milk arrives on the doorstep; meats can be had at the restaurant，the work’s canteen，and the school dining-room.
It is unusual now for father to pursue his trade or other employment at home，and his children rarely，if ever，see him at his place of work. Boys are therefore seldom trained to follow their father’s occupation，and in many towns they have a fairly wide choice of employment and so do girls. The young wage-earner often earns good money，and soon acquires a feeling of economic independence. In textile areas it has long been customary for mothers to go out to work，but this practice has become so widespread that the working mother is now a not unusual factor in a child’s home life，the number of married women in employment having more than doubled in the last twenty-five years. With mother earning and his older children drawing substantial wages father is seldom the dominant figure that he still was at the beginning of the century. When mother works, economic advantages accrue，but children lose something of great value if mother’s employment prevents her from being home to greet them when they return from school.
26. The writer mentions home as workshop because______.
A. fathers often pursue employment at home
B. parents had to make food and necessity themselves for their daily-life
C. many families produce goods at home for sale
D. both fathers and mothers and mothers in most families are workers
27. The writer says that home has become much less of a workshop. He means______.
A. in the past, home was more like a workshop
B. home is much more of a workshop now
C. home-workshops are becoming fewer and fewer
D. home was less like a workshop in the past
28. The word“accrue”in the sentence“When mother...accrue，”is closest in meaning to
__________________.
A. change                            B. dwindle                    C. double                     D. increase
29. The chief reason that boys are seldom trained to follow their father’s occupation is ___________________.
A. that children nowadays rarely see their fathers at their place of work
B. that fathers do not like to pursue employment at home any more
C. that there is a wide choice of employment for children
D. that children also like to have jobs outside
30. What makes father no longer the only dominant person in a family?
A. With their earning，mother and children do not need to depend on father for their life.
B. There are many choice of employment for mothers and children.
C. Father does much less for his children today than he used to.
D. The number of married women in employment has increased greatly now.

B
Supermarkets are trying out new computers that make shopping carts more intelligent（具备智能的）. They will help shoppers find paper cups or toilet soap, and keep a record of the bill.
The touch-screen devices（触摸屏装置）are on show at the Food Marketing Institute’s exhibition here this week. “These devices are able to create value and get you around the store quicker,” said Michael Alexander, manager of Springboard Retail Networks Inc., which makes a smart cart computer called the Concierge.
Canadian stores will test the Concierge in July. A similar device, IBM’s “Shopping Buddy”, has recently been test-marketed at Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts.
Neither device tells you how many fat grams or calories are in your cart, but they will flash you with items on sale. The idea is to make it easier for people to buy, not to have second thoughts that maybe you should put something back on the shelf.
“The whole model is driven by advertisers’ need to get in front of shoppers,” said Alexander. “They’re not watching 30-second TV ads anymore.”
People can use a home computer to make their shopping lists. Once at the store, a shopper can use a preferred customer card to start a system（系统）that will organize the trip around the store. If you’re looking for toothpicks, you type in the word or pick it from a list, and a map will appear on the screen showing where you are and where you can find them.
The device also keeps a record of what you buy. When you’re finished, the device figures out your bill. Then you go to the checker or place your card into a self-checkout stand and pay.
The new computerized shopping assistants don’t come cheap. The Buddy devices will cost the average store about $ 160,000, and the Concierge will cost stores about $ 500 for each device.
59. The underlined word “They”（paragraph 1）refers to ______.
A. supermarkets  B. shop assistants   C. shopping carts   D. shop managers
60. Which of the following is the correct order of shopping with computerized shopping carts?
a. Start the system.                                    b. Make a shopping list.
c. Find the things you want.                       d. Go to a self-checkout stand.
A. abdc                 B. bacd                        C. acbd                        D. bcad
61. We can learn from the last paragraph that ______.
A. intelligent shopping carts cost a large sum of money
B. the Concierge is cheaper than the Buddy devices
C. shop assistants with computer knowledge are well paid
D. average stores prefer the Concierge to the Buddy devices
62. What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A. New age for supermarkets.
B. Concierge and Shopping Buddy.
C. New computers make shopping carts smarter.
D. Touch-screen devices make shopping enjoyable.