We won't know whether it will be successful. We won't know whether there will be good _____.

   A. ends    B. results    C. effects    D. causes

Mail carriers will be delivering some good news and some bad news this week.

The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a “forever stamp,”it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or 3-cent stamps to make up postage differences.

Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp. As the name implies, “forever stamps” will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.

The new “forever stamp” is the United States Postal Service’（USPS） answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increase will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation （通货膨胀），competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a Spokesman for USPS.

The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the “forever stamp” and the savings from not printing as many 2-or 3-cent stamps. “It’s not your grandfather’s stamp,” says Mr. Saunders. “It could be your great-grandchildren’s stamp.”

Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps.

Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, he’s interested in the public’s reaction. “This is an entirely new class of stamps,” Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he’ll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich-the volume printed will be too large for collectors. “We won’t be able to send our kids to college on these,” he says, laughing.

The USPS board of governors has yet o accept the Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps.

72．The main purpose of introducing a “forever stamp”is          .

A．to reduce the cost of printing 2-or 3-cent stamps

B．to help save the consumers’ cost on first-class mailing

C．to respond to the complaints about rising postal rates

D．to compete with online bill paying

73．By saying “It could be your great-grand children’s stamp”, Mr. Saunders means that forever stamps            .

A．could be collected by one’s great-grandchildren

B．might be very precious in great-grandchildren’s hands

C．might have been inherited from one’s great-grandfathers

D．could be used by one’s great-grandchildren even decades later

74．Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The investment in forever stamps will bring adequate reward.

B．America will be the first country to issue forever stamps.

C．The design of the “forever stamp” remains to be revealed.

D．2-or 3-cent stamps will no longer be printed in the future.

75．What can be concluded from the passage?

A．With forever stamps, there will be no need to worry about rate changes.

B．Postal workers will benefit most form the sales of forever stamps.

C．The inflation has become a threat to the sales of first-class stamps.

D．New interest will be aroused in collecting forever stamps.

If you lose your wallet, how often do you think someone will be kind enough to return it to you, with cash and credit cards?
Some people may be greedy, and others are simply too lazy to bother(打搅) with the trip to the post office to send back a wallet to a stranger. But according to a psychology study by Dr. Richard Wiseman, there’s one thing that’ll greatly increase your odds of being reunited with a lost wallet: a photograph of a cute baby.
In the study, hundreds of wallets were scattered(分散) around the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland. The psychologists wanted to see how many strangers would take the trouble to return them to the addresses listed on the drivers’ licenses inside—but more than that, they wanted to find out what would make a person more likely to help out a stranger.
To finish this, they included personal things in most of the wallets: some included a photo of a happy elderly couple, some contained a cute puppy, some contained a family portrait, and some held a photo of a lovely baby. Others had receipts(发票) showing that the wallet’s owner had recently donated to a charity（慈善）. Some contained no personal details.
As the psychologists soon discovered, the sight of a smiling baby is enough to warm nearly any heart: only one in ten of the strangers who retrieved such wallets did not return them. In contrast, the second most successful image, the puppy, had a 53% return rate. When the wallet included no photograph, it stood only a one in seven chance of being returned to the owner.
The success of the baby photograph shows a human compassion(同情) for the young that’s been passed down through the ages, according to Dr. Wiseman. “The baby kicked off a caring feeling in people, which is not surprising from an evolutionary perspective(进化的角度),” he told the Times.
To ensure our species’ survival, scientists think that we must feel empathy and compassion for our young. Scientists say that this study supports the argument that we won’t feel compassion only for our own babies, but for any that we see—hence, the strong desire a stranger would feel to return a wallet to the baby’s parent.
On a more basic level, the study also provides a great tip to help ensure that if your wallet is ever lost, you’re more likely to get it back. “If you want to increase the chances of your wallet being returned if lost, gain a photograph of the cutest baby you can find and ensure that it is clearly displayed,” said Dr. Wiseman.
【小题1】The main purpose of the psychologists’ leaving hundreds of wallets around was to find out________.

第三节：完形填空（共两部分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项（18分）
Have you ever run in the rain?
It was raining outside. We all stood near the door of the  41 , waiting. Suddenly I heard a 
sweet voice. “Mom, let’s  42 the rain,” said a six-year-old girl, with beautiful red hair, who had been shopping with her mum in Wal-mart. 
“What? No, honey. We’ll __43__until it stops raining so hard,” the mother replied.The girl waited about one minute and repeated, “Mom, let’s run through the rain.”
“We’ll  44  if we do,” the mother said. “No, we won’t, mom. That’s not what you said this morning,” the young girl said as she   45  out of her mom’s arm.
“This morning?” “Yes, when you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ‘If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!’”
The whole crowd became   46 . We couldn’t hear anything but   47 . We all stood there silently. Her mom__48___ for a moment and said, “Honey, you’re right. Let’s run through the rain. If God lets us get wet, well, maybe we just need __49__.”
Then off they ran. We all stood there, watching and smiling as they ran through the rain. They held their shopping bags over their __50__just in case. Yes, they got wet. But they were followed by many __51__ who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.
Memory is a fortune, a precious gift. I believe that somewhere down the road in life, the mother will   52 herself looking back on this moment and she will smile. So Don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories every day and take the time to run through the rain.
41. A. cinema                B. school                   C. supermarket                 D. park
42. A. run through                B. go through             C. look through                D. get through
43. A. leave                B. wait                      C. imagine                  D. jump
44. A. get tired                      B. get confused        C. get paid                       D. get wet 
45. A. pushed                 B. pulled                 C. carried                         D. monitored 
46. A. noisy             B. calm                C. silent                      D. thrilled
47. A. her mum              B. the girl                  C. laughter                       D. the rain
48. A. thought             B.       claimed            C. asked                           D. cared
49. A. running                      B. waiting            C. walking                       D. washing
50. A. hands               B. backs                     C. heads                          D. coats
51. A. adults               B. children                     C. parents                 D. drivers
52. A. stop                     B. find                   C. make                           D. impress

Computers are very important to modern life．Many people think that in the future computers will be used in lots of everyday life．It is thought that we won’t have to go shopping because we will be able to get most things which are sold in shops on the Internet．There will be no more books because we will be able to get all texts from computers．The Internet will be used to play games, see films and buy food．Most telephone calls will be made by computers, too．

Some people are glad about those new ways of shopping and communicating．Others do not think that computers will replace our old ways．

Some people think that one day we will not read books made of paper．Instead, we will buy and read books using computers, which will keep many different books in them at the same time．We won’t need to turn lots of pages and paper will be saved．Computerized books will be used more and more．

While many people say it is a pleasure to go into shops and look at things you want to buy．It is also unlikely that many people will want to read large texts on our computers．Because paper books will perhaps be more friendly．Maybe computers won’t change these two habits．

1．Which is the main idea of this passage?

       A．People like going shopping                    B．Reading books is important

       C．Computers are important                      D．Computer can be used to play games

2．There will be no more books because________．

       A．There is no paper in the future．         B．People don’t like reading books．

       C．They are very expensive．                   D．We can read passages from computers．

3．Which of the following is TRUE?

       A．We can see films by computers．      

       B．People all like to go shopping by computers．

       C．We can’t buy anything using computers．

       D．All the people like reading books from computers．

4．Which of the following is mentioned in the passage?

       A．Computers can help us e-mail our friends．   

       B．We can chat by using computers．

       C．Computers can help us make telephone calls．

       D．We can listen to the music by computers．