C

So what’s the adjective(形容词) most commonly used by teenagers to describe how they feel about school?

“Bored”, according to a Gallup Poll report. In a recent online survey, Gallup asked 785 students aged from 13 to 17 to look over a list of adjectives and choose the three that best describe “how you usually feel at school”. “Bored” was the clear winner, named by half the students, beating out “tired”, which was picked by 42 percent. Girls and boys were equally uninterested, and 16-and-17-year-olds were more often bored and tired and less often happy in school than the 13-to-15-year-olds.

Students who say they drink alcohol(酒) are even more bored than those who don’t. Sixty-three percent of student drinkers said they were bored in school and 50 percent were tired. Only 19 percent said they were happy in school, compared with 36 percent of the teetotalers. Tied for third on the list of adjectives were “happy” and “challenged”, each named by 31 percent of respondents. “Pressured” was ranked fifth, named by 28 percent of the students－so three of the five most commonly named terms reflect negative attitudes about school.

Gallup also asked the same age group, with 439 responding, about how their parents would punish them for a serious offence(过错), like drinking alcohol or stealing, and for a less serious offence, like cursing(说脏话). In both cases, most teenagers reported that they would be grounded or have their privilege(特权) taken away.

Only 8 percent said their parents would “beat me” for drinking or stealing. And 3 percent said they “would never do those things”.

One 16-year-old offender complained, “They shout at me.” One 14-year-old boy had to do “push-ups”.

64．According to the passage, which adjective was ranked second about how the students feel about school?

　　　 A．Bored　　　　　　　　　 B．Pressured　　　　　　 C．Happy　　　　　　　　 D．Tired

65．What does the underlined word “teetotalers” (Para. 3) mean?

　　　 A．Drinkers　　　　　　　 B．Smokers　　　　　　　 C．Nondrinkers　　　　 D．Nonsmokers

66．We can learn from the survey that _____________.

　　　 A．students take passive(消极的) attitudes toward school

　　　 B．students take positive(积极的) attitudes toward school

　　　 C．students feel happy while drinking alcohol

　　　 D．students are bored with study and teachers

67．The children would be punished for their offense in the following way EXCEPT that _____.

　　　 A．they would have themselves beaten

　　　 B．they would get their mouths washed out with soap

　　　 C．they would have their privileges taken away

　　　 D．they would have themselves stopped going out

B

Friends play an important part in our lives, and though we may take the friendship for granted, we often don’t clearly understand how we make friends. While we get on well with a number of people, we are usually friends with only a few－for example, the average among students is about 6 per person. In all cases, two people like one another and enjoy being together, but beyond that, the degree of closeness between them and the reasons for their common interest vary greatly. As we get to know people, we consider things like age, race, physical attractiveness, economic conditions, and social positions and intelligence. Although these factors(因素) are not of chief importance, it is more difficult to remain friends when there is a noticeable difference in age and background.

Some relationships do well as a result of argument and discussion, but it is usual for close friends to have similar ideas and beliefs, to have attitudes and interests in common－they often have a lot to talk about－“being on the same wavelength”. It generally takes time to reach this point; sometimes people become friends immediately. The more they communicate with each other, the more they rely on one another. People want to do friends favors and hate to let them down. Equally, friends have to put up with unpleasant habits, and to accept different opinions.

Unlike marriage, there are no friendship ceremonies to strengthen the connection between two people. But the supporting and understanding of each other that result from shared experiences and feelings overcome difference in background, and break down barriers(障碍) of age, class, or race.

60．According to the author, ___________.

　　　 A．all those who get on well with each other are friends

　　　 B．friends are closer than people who just get on well with each other

　　　 C．everyone understands clearly how to make friends

　　　 D．every student has six friends

61．When we make friends, we consider such things as age, race, and background because ______.

　　　 A．it is not easy to keep a friend with marked difference in age and background

　　 B．the degree of friendship between two people and the reasons for their shared interest can vary

　　　 C．friends need to know all these things

　　　 D．these are the most important factors to make friends

62．The underlined part “being on the same wavelength” means ______________.

　　　 A．having an interesting topic

　　　 B．keeping the same friendly relationship as other people do

　　　 C．having similar ideas, beliefs, attitudes and interests

　　　 D．having the same background

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

　　　 A．Someone’s habits may make his friends feel slightly angry and unhappy.

　　　 B．Even friends may have different opinions.

　　　 C．It generally takes time for people to become close friends.

　　　 D．People should only make friends with those who are of the same age and race.

A

My first performance in front of an audience was coming up soon. I tried as hard as I could to remain calm, but my heart was racing. I stared down at my sweat-covered, shaking hands.

I looked up again at the audience, realizing that these were real people. They were not just my parents, who would say “Good job!” even if I messed up the entire piece.

What if I had the wrong music? What if I played the wrong notes?

As it turned out, I was never able to answer these questions because the spotlight was waiting for me. I grasped my hands tightly together, drying off the sweat.

Slowly I walked to the piano in the center of the room. It contained 88 demanding keys, which were waiting impatiently to be played. Sitting down, slowly, I opened the music. Next, I rested my still shaking hands on the keys.

As my fingers played across the keys, I was becoming more unsure of my preparation for this moment. But the memory of my years of training came flooding back. I knew that I had practiced this piece so many times that I could play it backwards if requested.

Although at one point I accidentally played two keys instead of the intended one, I continued to move my fingers.

My eyes burned holes into the pages in front of me.

There was no way that I was going to lose my concentration. To keep this to myself, I leaned forward and focused carefully on the music.

When I came to the end of the page, a warning went off inside my head. DON’T MAKE A MISTAKE WHEN YOU TURN THE PAGE!

Needless to say, I obeyed myself with all my heart and mind. And, proud of my “page-turning” skill, I finished the rest of the piece without making a single mistake.

After the final note died away, a celebration went into action inside my head. I had finished. I had mastered the impossible.

56．The author was nervous before the performance because __________.

　　　 A．his mother and father weren’t present

　　　 B．The strong spotlight was shining onto the stage

　　　 C．He hasn’t mastered the entire piece

　　　 D．He had never performed in public before

57．The underlined phrase “messed up” in Paragraph 3 probably means ___________.

　　　 A．did badly in　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B．forgot about　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　 C．stopped halfway　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D．did well in

58．The author ______________.

　　　 A．didn’t make any mistakes in the performance

　　　 B．felt good at the beginning of the performance

　　　 C．paid all his attention to his performance

　　　 D．lost his attention all the time during the performance

59．Why did the author lean forward during the performance?

　　　 A．to turn the page without making any mistakes.

　　　 B．to see the page in front of him clearly.

　　　 C．to fix his attention and perform a piece of music carefully.

　　　 D．to move his fingers freely.