68．What is the passage mainly about?

　　　 A．To hope people remember the terrible suffering in the terrorist attacks

　　　 B．The colorful life of Americans．

　　　 C．The hopes of Americans in the coming new year．

　　　 D．The celebrating activities on New Year’s Eve in America．

67．Why does the New Year’s Ball contain pieces of lighted cut glass?

　　　 A．To attract people in the square．　

　　　 B．To light the Times Square

　　　 C．To give people atmosphere of a festival

　　　 D．To make people interested in the festival．

66．What does the tradition refer to in the passage?

　　　 A．The celebration of New Year’s Eve．

　 　　 B．The New Year’s Ball．

　　　 C．The fireworks show．　　　

　 　 D．The parties at home．

65．Which of the following can you NOT learn in Peggy Newfield’s charm school?

　　　 A．How to dress in a job interview

　　　 B．How to hack into the company central database．

　　　 C．How to maintain an edge over other competitors in the job market．

　　　 D．How to improve your communicative skills with your colleagues．

C

　　　 Americans hope Two-Thousand-Two will be happier than Two-Thousand-One．New York suffered terrible losses in the terrorist attacks on September Eleventh．However, the city is continuing with its New Year's Eve traditions in Times Square for the ninety-seventh year．

　　　 The tradition began in Nineteen-Oh-Four．That year, the owners of the building at Number One Times Square held a party on top of the building．Today, the New Year's Ball falls from the top of the same building．The ball contains thousands of pieces of lighted cut glass．It looks like burning stars as it falls through the darkness．When it reaches the ground, people in Times Square dance and sing．They throw tiny pieces of colorful paper into the air．Many people in the United States also watch this event on television．

　　　 Other cities also have New Year celebrations．For example, Chicago has a fireworks show．The fireworks are launched from the Navy Pier, a land area that extends into Lake Michigan．Some people like to watch the fireworks from a boat on the lake．The boat serves a special meal on New Year's Eve．People drink a special wine called Champagne to celebrate the clock striking midnight．

　　　 Many young people in Chicago celebrate New Year's Eve at the Lincoln Park Zoo．Children wear funny hats as they wish the animals a good New Year．

　　　 Many other Americans celebrate New Year's Eve with parties at home．Or they celebrate at public eating and drinking places．These events are usually noisy．People shout and sing．They often blow on small noise-makers when the New Year arrives at midnight．They kiss their husband or wife or the person they are with．They dance to broadcast music, records or live bands．

　　　 Some people drink too much alcohol at New Year's Eve celebrations．This can lead to tragic results if a person drinks too much and then drives a car．The National Safety Council says hundreds of people die in road accidents during the holiday．

　　　 In recent years, the danger of accidents has resulted in a new tradition called the "designated driver．" One person among a group of friends drinks little or no alcohol during New Year's Eve celebrations．Then this designated driver can safely drive the other people home．Many American cities also offer free taxi service on New Year's Eve to take people home safely．

　　　 Other Americans observe the coming of the New Year at events without alcohol．More than two-hundred American cities hold these First Night celebrations．Artists in Boston, Massachusetts, started the tradition of First Night celebrations in Nineteen-Seventy-Six．They wanted to observe the coming of a New Year．But they did not want to hold noisy drinking parties．So they organized music, art and other events to observe the holiday．

64．We can infer from the last paragraph that ____________．

　　　 A．good examples contribute to etiquette teaching

　　　 B．good public behavior doesn’t exist any more

　　　 C．teaching etiquette has become a tougher task

　　　 D．some famous people don’t have good manners

63．The underlined sentence “you’re groomed to the nines” probably means “you’re ____________”．

　　　 A．dressed in the best way　

　 　 B．fully understood

　　　 C．greeted with good manners　

　　　 D．very concerned

62．From the passage we learn that the charm school____________．

　　　 A．helps those who are unemployed　

　　　 B．deals with moral problems

　　　 C．becomes more popular with people

　　　 D．does good to the economy

61．The writer wants to tell the readers____________．

　　　 A．the etiquette training in America

　 　 B．the ways to avoid failure

　　　 C．good manners count in keeping a job

　　　 D．how to keep business up

60．The purpose of the writing is to ____________．

　　　 A．celebrate the success of New York Fashion Week

　　　 B．stress the role of technology in fashion

　　　 C．introduce the activities in New York Fashion Week

　　　 D．advertise New York Fashion Week

B

　　　 Most Americans are turning to charm school to gain an advantage over competitors in a job market stricken by the longest economic slowdown since the Great Depression．

　　　 Etiquette (礼节) trainers report business growing from clients who believe that good manners could be the key selling point that helps them get hired or keeps them off the unemployment line．

　　　 “People are prepared to do whatever it takes to keep their job”, said Gloria Starr, an adviser on image, etiquette and communications in North Carolina．Starr, who says business is up 40 percent in the past year at her school, said people were “realizing that it takes more than just ability and knowledge” to keep or win a job．

　　　 Peggy Newfield, who had been teaching etiquette for 30 years and runs a charm school, said business was “booming．” “When the economy is down etiquette training will always be up．They’re focusing on‘What I can do to survive, I really have to keep up my game because the competition is keen．’”

　　　 Proper business manners, however, extend far beyond greeting or thanking a would-be employer．Etiquette classes deal with the basics of presentation in an interview, including what to say and how to dress．

　　　 “It’s so much more than writing the thank-you note at the end,” Newfield said．“It’s about walking in for the job interview, every hair is in place, your clothes are perfectly pressed, your shoes are polished, you’re groomed to the nines, you speak the part, and your English is correct．”

　　　 It’s great that we have seen this renewal in etiquette and manners and self respect．

　　　 Studies have shown that 85 percent of the reason a person gets a job, keeps a job and moves up is related to their personal skills．There are very few jobs out there where your manners, where your socials skills, are not a big piece of being successful．If you have manners you can walk into any business or social situation．

　　　 Teaching etiquette has become a tougher task．Some people point to bad public behavior by athletes and celebrities as a factor in ruining good manners in US society．Hotel owner Paris Hilton, actress Lindsay Lohan and singer Britney Spears are among those who have been charged with setting a poor example, especially for children and adolescents．Hilton is infamous for a sex tape that became an Internet hit, Lohan has long been gossip stuff due to her quarrels with the law and Spears was photographed partying without underwear．

59．According to the last paragraph, we know that Collins ____________．

　　　 A．is a successful businessman

　　　 B．does not agree that technology is helpful in designing works

　　　 C．pays more attention to people’s natural gift and hard work

　　　 D．does not understand the fashion of actual design work