Think back to this time last year. What was on your mind?

Most likely, you were thinking about finals or the holidays, although in this city I’ve noticed that thinking about the holiday is a fancy way of saying how much stuff will I get.

Now reflect on your thoughts for this holiday season. Most people are still thinking about the holidays, but I say that with a grain of salt. Everybody with a functioning brain and the ability to communicate knows that this holioday season comes with a pretty large price tag: the debt of all the hardships, both domestic and foreign, that we’ve faced over the past 12months.

Let’s face it: some of us will get everything we want over the holidays. But there are others whose parents have lost their jobs or who have lost jobs themselves because of the current economic situation. As much as we try to ignore it, there is still economic unrest in the blue and gold suburb.

In this situation, we have three options. One: We ignore the situation, like we seem to do for every bad thing that happens around us, because by God, it’s the American Way! Two: We recognize that our economy is shot, feel bad about it and spend our time wishing for the good old days. Three: We recognize that our economy is shot, but instead of moping, reflect on every good thing that we have going for us. Now, which option sounds best to you?

I spent a week this summer working in and around New York City with the city’s homeless population. Or so I thought. Although a lot of the people I served were in fact homeless, a significant number of them had a job or a home or both. The truth of the importance of this situation is that they and thousands of others across the country can’t afford even the most basic things of life, even while working two jobs. Yet no one that I met complained about their hardships. Instead, they took whatever I happened to give them(which was, more often than enough, not enough) and were genuinely grateful for what they had.

Wrap your heads around that statement for a second. These people worked their butts off to stay alive with minimal results, yet were overjoyed by a flimsy(脆弱的) paper plate with donated green beans on it. Although I am ashamed to admit it( both as a girthy figure and an affluent citizen), I have taken for granted most of my meals, let alone green beans, and I know for a fact that I am not alone.

64. 1.According to the passage when people think about holidays they care much for ____.

A．where to spend their holidays	B．how to spend their holidays
C．what they can get for their holidays	D．who they should go to visit

65. 2.When the author wrote the article, the economic situation in his country ____.

A．began to go bad.

B．began to improve

C．was still serious

D．was favorable for middle class.

66. 3.The author wrote the article mainly to advise people____.

A．to be thankful in time of hardship.	B．to spend their holidays in a wise way
C．to think little about their holidays	D．to help the country to sail through the crisis

67. 4.It can be inferred from the passage that the writer is most probably ______.

A．a homeless child

B．an old professor

C．a famous scientist

D．a young student

 

Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media website has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week，a guy whom I hadn't seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for “Easy E” to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out，after all.
I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However，I'm pretty sure we won't ever write wall-to-wall，let alone e­mail each other. But he'll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list.
My pool of friends consists of family members，college buddies，co­workers from past and  present，and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old e­mail addresses，I'm confident that I could increase my friend count actually.
A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends，former  classmates，distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of on­screen relationships，keeping up with the daily happenings of  their small army of companions. After all，there are worse fates than having too many friends.
Thanks to e­mail，the inability to schedule face-to-face meetings no longer means a  friendship must come to a close. But even with e­mail，people will lose touch if one or both  parties stop writing back. That’s normal. People move from school to school，job to job，city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away.
Every day，the masterminds of Web 2.0 find new ways of making human communication  easier. However，convenience can be a crutch(拐杖)．Some things shouldn't be simplified. When it comes to friendship，there can be no shortcuts.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1，the website is famous because ________.

A．it has an interesting name of “Facebook”

B．it helps people get in touch with old friends

C．it can send people a greeting of some kind

D．it reminds people of events in the past

【小题2】From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer ________.

A．would write to the friend quite often

B．asked the friend to e­mail him

C．did get some information about the friend

D．would keep in touch with the friend forever

【小题3】Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．There are 35 people in the author's list of friends right now.

B．The author communicates with all the 35 friends by e­mails.

C．The list of 35 friends doesn't include the old e­mail addresses.

D．It is not difficult for the author to increase his friend count.

【小题4】What does the author think of the convenience of communicating online?

A．The technology could not keep true friendship forever.

B．The social website of Facebook means nothing at all.

C．There will be no ways of making real friends online.

D．People will not lose friends with the help of the Facebook.

“BANG!” the door caused a reverberation（冲击声）. It was just standing there, which father standing on one side, and I on the other side.

We were both in great anger, “Never set foot in this house again!” stormed father. With tears welling up in my eyes, I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street.

The street lights were shining, causing rather sad-feeling．I wandered aimlessly．

A young father who held a child in his arms walked past me．I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and carefree．

But now．．．I don’t know whether it is because I have grown up or because dad is getting old．We differ in our ways of thinking．He always put his opinions and codes of behavior on me．Whenever I do something wrong, he never admits it．We are just like two people coming from two different worlds．It feels like there is an iron door between us that can never be opened．

 I wandered the streets, without a destination in mind．My heart was frozen on this hot summer night．As I walked on there were fewer and fewer people on the streets, until I had only the street lights to keep me company．When I finally reached the high-rise apartment block in which I lived ,I saw that the light was still on．

I thought to myself: “Is father waiting for me, or is he still angry with me?”

In fact, it was nothing．Perhaps, dad was throwing away some of his old stamps．Perhaps he thought they were useless．I never had the courage to tell him that I liked collecting stamps．I can’t stand his words: “I can’t throw you away, let alone these old papers ?”

All the lights were off except father’s．

Dad was always like this．Maybe he didn’t know how to express himself．After shouting at me, he never showed any mercy or any moments of regret．After an argument he has the habit of creeping up in my sleep and then tucking me underneath the covers．

This was how he always was．He has been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do has become his second nature．

The light was still on． “Am I wrong?” I whispered ,maybe．．．With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been．At last, I decided to open the door, as soon as I opened the door tears ran down my cheeks．I suddenly realized that the iron door that I had imagined between us did not exist at all．Love—it second to none．

Decide which is the best order of the following according to what happened in the passage．

a．I opened the door and entered the house．

b．Sadly I ran out into the street．

c．I reached the place where I lived and saw my house still brightly lit．

d．I thought of my father’s kindness towards me．

e．I walked about in the street without any aim．

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

What made the writer think of his childhood?

A．The sight of the street lights．

B．The sight of the empty street．

C．The sight of a father with a child in his arms．

D．The sight of light in his own house．

Why do you think the father often shouts at his son?

A．perhaps the father is getting older and older．

B．perhaps the son has already grown up．

C．perhaps they never agree with each other．

D．perhaps the father has got used to doing that．

What conclusion can you come to after reading the passage?

A．The father treats his son in an unfair way．

B．The father is actually kind to his son．

C．The father is neither kind nor cruel to his son．

D．The father is always finding fault with his son．

Think back to this time last year. What was on your mind?

Most likely, you were thinking about finals or the holidays, although in this city I’ve noticed that thinking about the holiday is a fancy way of saying how much stuff will I get.

Now reflect on your thoughts for this holiday season. Most people are still thinking about the holidays, but I say that with a grain of salt. Everybody with a functioning brain and the ability to communicate knows that this holioday season comes with a pretty large price tag: the debt of all the hardships, both domestic and foreign, that we’ve faced over the past 12months.

Let’s face it: some of us will get everything we want over the holidays. But there are others whose parents have lost their jobs or who have lost jobs themselves because of the current economic situation. As much as we try to ignore it, there is still economic unrest in the blue and gold suburb.

In this situation, we have three options. One: We ignore the situation, like we seem to do for every bad thing that happens around us, because by God, it’s the American Way! Two: We recognize that our economy is shot, feel bad about it and spend our time wishing for the good old days. Three: We recognize that our economy is shot, but instead of moping, reflect on every good thing that we have going for us. Now, which option sounds best to you?

I spent a week this summer working in and around New York City with the city’s homeless population. Or so I thought. Although a lot of the people I served were in fact homeless, a significant number of them had a job or a home or both. The truth of the importance of this situation is that they and thousands of others across the country can’t afford even the most basic things of life, even while working two jobs. Yet no one that I met complained about their hardships. Instead, they took whatever I happened to give them(which was, more often than enough, not enough) and were genuinely grateful for what they had.

Wrap your heads around that statement for a second. These people worked their butts off to stay alive with minimal results, yet were overjoyed by a flimsy(脆弱的) paper plate with donated green beans on it. Although I am ashamed to admit it( both as a girthy figure and an affluent citizen), I have taken for granted most of my meals, let alone green beans, and I know for a fact that I am not alone.

64. According to the passage when people think about holidays they care much for ____.

A. where to spend their holidays             B. how to spend their holidays 

C. what they can get for their holidays        D. who they should go to visit

65. When the author wrote the article, the economic situation in his country ____.

A. began to go bad.   B. began to improve   C. was still serious   D. was favorable for middle class.

66. The author wrote the article mainly to advise people____.

A.to be thankful in time of hardship.    B. to spend their holidays in a wise way

C. to think little about their holidays     D. to help the country to sail through the crisis

67. It can be inferred from the passage that the writer is most probably ______.

A. a homeless child    B. an old professor   C. a famous scientist  D. a young student

B

Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the ‘wash up’. An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.

At school the children are taught to add up and subtract（减法） but, extraordinarily, are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.

Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England. Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say. And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed. Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.

As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long. Over 75% of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17, over half of them are in debt to family and friends. By this age, 26% see a credit card or overdraft（透支） as a way of extending their spending power. Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”

The UK has been in the worst financial recession（衰退）for generations. It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university. In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97% supported financial education in schools, while 3% said it was a job for parents.

61. The passage is mainly about _____________.

A. how to manage school lessons

B. how to deal with the financial crisis

C. teaching young people about money

D. teaching students how to study effectively

62. It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that __________.

A. the author complains about the school education

B. pupils should not be taught to add up and subtract

C. students have been taught to manage their finances

D. laws on financial education have been effectively carried out

63. The website and the consumer campaigner joined to _________.

A. instruct the pupils to donate their pocket money

B. promote the connection of schools and families

C. ask the government to dismiss the parliament

D. appeal for the curriculum of financial education

64. According to Pfeg, ___________.

A. it is easy to keep good habits long

B. teenagers spend their money as planned

C. parents are willing to pay the debt for their kids

D. it will be in trouble if the teenagers are left alone

65. A poll is mentioned to ___________.

A. stress the necessity of the curriculum reform

B. show the seriousness of the financial recession

C. make the readers aware of burden of the parents

D. illustrate some people are strongly against the proposal