Friend is better than fortune. Friend is worse than poison in some cases. The two sentences above are opposite and seem to be unreasonable but they can be explained as follows: the first refers to all good friends who drive us towards good while the second all bad ones who lead us to wrong ways.

My ideal friend is of course a good friend whose goodness is shown below---he has no bad likings, such as smoking and drinking. He lives in frugality (节俭). He studies hard so as not to waste his golden time. At home he honors his parents and loves his brothers; at school he respects his teachers and shares feelings with his classmates. He treats those truly who are true to him. In a word, he has all the good characters better than mine. I can follow him as a model. With his help I am free from all difficulties.

Indeed, if I have such a person as my friend, I shall never fear difficulty and I shall never know the existence of the word "failure".

This passage tells us (   )

A. how to make friends with others

B. how the writer' s friend helps him

C. what kind of person the writer's friend is

D. what kind of person we should make friends with

An ideal friend means (   )

A. a true friend    B. a false friend    C. an imaginary friend   D. an excellent friend

From the passage we can learn that (   )

A. the writer and his ideal friend have a lot to learn from each other

B. the writer has a lot to learn from his ideal friend

C. the writer's ideal friend has a lot to learn from him

D. the writer has only a little to learn from his ideal friend

From the second paragraph, we can infer the writer is sure that (   )

A. nothing cannot be done with friend

B. only the first sentence is reasonable

C. he who does not smoke or drink must be a good friend

D. good friends should always help each other

Women make better drivers than men for many reasons. Why is that? Wouldn't you think that competing at who has better driving abilities is pointless (无意义的)? If you ask me, I'd like to say, men know that women are better drivers but do not have the courage to admit the truth.

Unlike men, women stop for directions when they have no idea where they are going. Women don't drive around for hours pointlessly wasting a tank ofgas only to find themselves heading in the wrong direction. Have you ever been in a car with a man who is lost? He tells you to shut up when you begin to open your mouth. And every five minutes or so he takes a turn going forty-five miles per hour only to find out he's made another wrong turn.

Speeding is what men do best on the road. Traffic is not a race. There is a reason why men get more speeding tickets than women. Not because women trick to get out of tickets but only because they don't speed. Women don't risk putting their own lives and the lives of others in danger. In other words，they have more responsibility for life.

My largest issue with male drivers is how a majority of them drive with one hand on the wheel and the other hand doing only God knows what. The seat is backed as far as possible. They're totally lost in loud music beyond a necessary level. You don't ever see women driving like that.

I feel that the above evidence（证据） more than proves (证明) my points that women are queens of the road. Oh ，men, if you want to continue criticizing (批评) women for being bad drivers，bring it on. We know you lack confidence, or else you wouldn't be wasting your valuable time making jokes about the ones you may choose to spend the rest of your days with.

1.Who does the author think are the better drivers? (no more than 1 word)

_________________________________________________________________________

2.When will women drivers stop to ask for help? (no more than 9 words)

_________________________________________________________________________

3.Why do men get more speeding tickets (no more than 3 words)

_________________________________________________________________________

4.What quality（品质） do women drivers have when it comes to safety? (no more than 3 words)

_________________________________________________________________________

5.How is the seat backed by most male drivers? (用完整的句子回答）

________________________________________________________________________

Many people now think that teachers give pupils too much homework .They say that

it is _51 for children to work at home in their free time. _52 ,they argue that most teachers do not_ 53 plan the homework tasks they give to pupils. The result is that pupils have to_54 tasks which they have already done at school.

Recently in Greece many parents_ 55_ about the difficult homework which teachers gave to their children. The parents said that most of the homework was a waste of time ,and they wanted to_56__it. Spain and Turkey are two countries which stopped homework recently .In Denmark ,Germany and several other countries in Europe, teachers cannot set homework at weekends .In Holland, teachers allow pupils to stay at school to do their homework .The children are free to help one another.Similar_57 _also exists in some British schools.

Most people agree that homework is not___58 .A pupil who can do his homework in a quiet and_ 59  room is in a much better position than a pupil who does his homework in a small,noisy room with the television on.Some parents help their children with their homework.Other parents take no_ 60  at all in their children's homework.

51.A.unnecessary      B. uninteresting      C. unfortunate     D. unimportant

52.A.Nevertheless     B. However           C. Therefore        D. Moreover

53.A.considerably     B. favourably        C. properly         D. pleasantly

54.A.finish           B. repeat            C. attend           D. accomplish

55.A.quarrelled       B. puzzled           C. explored         D. complained

56.A.delay             B. stop             C. block          D. prove

57.A.schedule          B. operation        C. arrangement    D. behaviour

58.A.fair              B. average          C. balanced       D. comparative

59.A.furnished         B. expensive        C. comfortable    D. suitable

60.A.interest          B. curiosity        C. notice         D. Attention

Gossip moves so quickly that few people have time to cover their ears, even if they want to.

“I hate it when others gossip about me,” said Mandy Miraglia, 16, a high school student from California, “but to be honest, gossip about my friends makes me feel I am trusted and belong to the group.” Miraglia is not the only person feeling like that.

Gossip has long been looked down on as little more than nonsense and bad manners. But recent research has shown that gossip has many positive effects on your social life.

“There has been a trend among people to dislike gossip,” said David Sloan Wilson, Professor from the State University of New York in Binghamton, US, “but gossip appears to be a very important form of behavior in a group of friends, defining their group membership.”

For 18 months, Kevin Kniffin, from the University of Wisconsin, US, researched the behavior of 50 people. He found that gossip levels peaked when a sports team included a slacker, someone who regularly missed practices or showed up late. Other members of the team would soon start to joke about the slacker’s shortcomings behind his back, because they thought they were bad for the whole team.

Gossip about the mistakes of senior members helps newcomers rebuild their confidence after a failure.

It also helps relieve social and professional anxiety. Long-term studies show that people around the world devote from a fifth to two-thirds or more of their daily conversation to gossip, and men appear to be just as eager for gossip as women.

It is hard to judge gossip, but it is more powerful than you think.

The author would probably agree that______________.

A. gossip is bad manners

B. gossip has many good effects

C. gossip is somewhat like nonsense

D. gossip is more powerful than advice

What does the underlined word “slacker” mean according to the context?

A. Someone who values the team benefit much.

B. Someone who does not do what they should well.

C. Someone who is active in sports.

D. Someone who shows no much interest in sports.

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Gossip is a useful way of building group membership.

B. Gossip can possibly make someone confident.

C. Generally, women are fonder of gossip than men.

D. Actually, everyone gossips to some degree in their daily conversation.

Directions: Complete the following passage by using ONE word that fits the context.

What is happiness?   1.   people have different ideas. Some people are rich; they think they are happy.  2.   people have many friends, so they feel   3.  . Still others are happy because their lives are meaningful. Happiness attracts everyone. For children, happiness often suggests eating something good or   4.   with toys.   5.   a stamp collector, stamps bring more delight than meals. And for a scientist, a discovery or an invention rather than  6.  else gives him greatest satisfaction. As everything exists only because of its opposite, happiness exists only when  7.   exists. Just as a person who does not know failure never knows success, a person, who has not experienced suffering or sadness never knows   8.   happiness means. Cheer up and be happy. Happiness is not far from you. It’s just around you. Try to grasp it and enjoy it.