Footracing(竞走)is a popular activity in the United States．It is not only seen as a competitive sport，but also as a way to exercise，and to donate(捐赠)money to a good cause．Though serious runners may spend months training to compete，other runners and walkers might not train at a11．Those not competing to win might run in an effort to beat their own time，or simply to enjoy the fun and exercise．People of all ages, from those less than one year old to those in their 80s, enter into this sport．The races are held on city streets，on college campuses，through parks，and in suburban areas，and commonly 5 to 1 0 kilometers in length．

The largest footrace in the world is the 1 2-kilometer Bay to Breakers race that is held in San Francisco every spring．This race begins on the east side of the city near San Francisco Bay and ends on the west side at the Pacific Ocean．In 1 993 there were 80，000 people running in this race through the streets and hills of San Francisco．In the front are the serious runners who compete to win，and who might finish in as little as 34 minutes．Behind them are the thousands who take several hours to finish．In the back of the race are those who wear costumes just for fun．In 1 993 there was a group of men all of whom dressed up like Elvis Priestly．There was a group of firefighters who were all tied in a long line and were carrying a fire—hose(水龙带)．One year there was a wedding party in which the bride dressed in a long white gown(长袍)and the groom wore a tuxedo(晚礼服)．They threw flowers to by-standers，and were actually married at some point along the route．

1.The main purpose of this text is to__________．

2.Which of the following is implied by the author?

3.The underlined words “to a good cause” in the first paragraph could best be replaced by ___________.

Most worthwhile careers require some kind of specialized training. Ideally, therefore, the choice of an __16__ should be made even before choice of a curriculum（课程） in high school. Actually, __17__, most people make several job choices during their working lives, __18__ because of economic and industrial changes and partly to improve __19__ position. The "one perfect job" does not exist. Young people should __20__ enter into a broad flexible training program that will __21__ them for a field of work rather than for a single __22__ .
Unfortunately many young people have to make career plans __23__ benefit of help from a competent vocational counselor or psychologist. Knowing __24__ about the occupational world, or themselves for that matter, they choose their lifework on a hit-or-miss __25__. Some drift from job to job. Others __26__ to work in which they are unhappy and for which they are not fitted.
One common mistake is choosing an occupation for __27__ real or imagined prestige (声望). Too many high-school students - or their parents for them - choose the professional field, __28__ both the relatively small percentage of workers in the professions and the extremely high educational and personal __29__. The imagined or real prestige of a profession or a white-collar job is __30__ good reason for choosing it as life's work. __31__, these occupations are not always well paid. Since a large percentage of jobs are in mechanical and manual work, the __32__ of young people should give serious __33__ to these fields.
Before making an occupational choice, a person should have a general idea of what he wants __34__ life and how hard he is willing to work to get it. Some people desire social prestige, others intellectual satisfaction. Some want security; others are willing to take __35__ for financial gain. Each occupational choice has its demands as well as its rewards.

根据下列句子及所给汉语注释，在句子右边的横线上写出空缺处各单词的正确形式。（每空限写一词）。

1.She is due to arrive on Thursday．______, (同时) what do we do?  

2.The rich lady lives in a _______(金碧辉煌的) house．       

3.we benefit a lot from our teacher’s _____(严格) in our study． 

4.They were busy ______ （装）a truck with coal．        

5.Nothing _____ ( 使满意) him and he is always complaining ．

6.High technology helps us enter into a life of ______（便利）．

7.There are twenty books______.(总共)                    

8.I changed into my sports shoes so that I could walk more_____（舒服）

9..How do you adapt to a ______(易变的) environment?                 

10.Looking back, she always______ （祝贺）herself on this decision.       

The cartoon is jokingly updating Shylock, a leading figure from William Shakespeare’s classic play The Merchant of Venice, to fit into the new age of the Internet. In the play, the Christian merchant Antonio has borrowed money from Shylock ,who is Jewish. Because of their religion Jews like Shylock have been regarded as low and worthless and badly mistreated by the noble-styled gentleman Antonio and his friends, who at that time contained the very Christian society of Venice and indeed all Europe .On account of the conflict between members of the two religions, despite their being willing to enter into business deals, there is little love or friendship between the two.

Shylock agrees to lend Antonio the money but as part of the written agreement he insist that should Antonio fail to repay him on time he must cut a pound of his own flesh from his body and present it to Shylock. This of course would kill him but nonetheless Antonio agrees. In the end, Antonio’s business fails as the ships carrying his goods sink （Antonio is truly a gentlemen but not much of a businessman）,and Antonio has to be forced to threateningly face Shylock and his demands.

In the cartoon, Shylock is a merchant who operates, as many businessmen do today, on the Internet. His website, www.poundoffflesh, com. is probably where Antonio would log on to get terms of his loan. The humor lies in the contrast between the very modern business technology and the very old-fashioned costume Shylock is wearing.

1.We may learn from the text that the writer of the article is for the purpose of ____.

A. grandly advertising the new cartoon to the audience

B. warning us not to borrow money from the merchants like Shylock

C. simply introducing a new cartoon on the net to the public

D. telling readers to be sincere and honest when you deal with your friends

2.The underlined word “contain” probably means ____.

A. control　 B. cover　　　　　　 C .include　　　　　 D. create

3.You will find it very funny when you see the cartoon that ____.

A. large amounts of money go into Shylock’s cashbox

B. Antonio doesn’t suffer from his flesh being cut off his body

C. many famous actors and actress are invited to perform the updated classic play

D. all the characters in the cartoon are not in today’s clothes though they do nowaday business

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

A. The E-merchant of Venice

B. Business between Shylock and Antonio

C. Never Borrow Money from Shylock

D. Sow the Wind and Reap（gain） the Whirlwind

The English language is changing fast, thanks to the rapid progress of technology. We all have a rapid choice: we can either bury our heads in the sand and spend the rest of our lives wishing Shakespeare were alive and well. Or we can embrace (拥抱) the new English, enter into the spirit of the Internet age called Weblish.

       “You can’t avoid it, for the simple reason that whenever a new variety of language comes along, it inevitably (不可避免的) impacts（冲击）on the language as a whole.” says Dr. David Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics（语言学）at the University of Wales in Bangor, whose book Language and the Internet has just been published.

       The trouble with keeping up with the new English is not so much that there are so many new words but that the old words no longer mean what we thought they did. In the past, if someone said they did not have Windows, you would have to suppose they lived in a cave. These days, it is probably because they use a Mac (which is a computer, not a rain coat). Spam is as disliked as it ever was ,but it once meant an unappetizing（引不起食欲的）canned meat. It now stands for unwanted “junk” email. Spellings are changing, too. Not only is text-messaging playing “hvc wth vrbs” (havoc（混乱）with verbs), but the conventions of email communication place little emphasis on “perfect speaking”.

       Weblish loves to see nouns happily become verbs (“please bookmark this site”), and verbs become nouns (“Send me the download”). Verbs and prepositions are regularly thrown together to become new nouns or adjectives (e.g. dial-up, logon, print-on-demand, pull-down, upload), while others are created from simply pairing nouns: cyberspace, Etl, hyperlink, netspeak.

1.The best title of this passage would be ______.

A. Keep Up with the Latest Weblish      B. Keep Up with the Latest Development      

C. Newly Invented English Words        D. Technology and English

2.We can infer（推断）from the first paragraph that ______.

A. Some people wish Shakespeare were still alive

B. people may have different attitudes towards Weblish

C. all people welcome Weblish

D. Weblish is not popular among people

3.The author thinks the main difficulty for people in keeping up with Weblish is that ______.

A. old words have new meanings

B. there are so many new words

C. the technology is changing too fast

D. Weblish words are full of spelling mistakes

4.Dr. David Crystal would probably agree that ______.

A. people should not accept Weblish

B. Weblish can cause misunderstandings among people

C. Weblish will destroy the English language

D. people should know something about Weblish