70．Why do experts think this spring season will be tougher than the last?　

　　 A．Because there are few signs of recovery in hard-hit areas．

B．Because citizens feel pessimistic about the Obama administration．　　

C．Because prices keep falling and more homes will flood onto the market．

D．Because many mortgages were illegal or in foreclosure．

69．What would be the best title for the passage?

　　 A．A Gloomy Outlook for Home Sales' Big Season

　　 B．New York Facing More Housing Problems

　　 C．A Negative Effect of America's Financial Recession

D．Houses Becoming Cheaper in America

68．The reason why Jobs doesn't involve himself much in animation is that　　　 ．

　　 A．he considers himself neither professional nor qualified

　　 B．he spends most of his time at Apple and spares little time at Pixar

　　 C．he shows no talent for animation，nor is he into it

D．his 69 percent share of Pixar is worth about $1．3 billion，which enables him not to be concerned about the management

D

The“For Sale”signs are just starting to grow, but already experts worry that this spring home-buying season will be even tougher than the last．

Despite tentative signs of recovery in hard-hit areas like California and Florida，the broader housing market is far from reaching bottom, economists say．Across much of the nation, prices are likely to keep falling into 2010．

So this March-to-June season, when most homes are bought and sold，will be bad，perhaps the worst since the market began to spiral down in 2006．

Across the nation, 19 million houses and apartments-nearly one out of every seven-are vacant, the highest percentage since the 1960s．But only about six million of those homes are for sale or for rent．That means millions more could still flood onto the market，depressing prices further．

For would-be sellers, the bad news keeps coming．This week，one new report showed that one in nine mortgages(抵押)was illegal or in foreclosure(失去赎回权)，while another showed that January contract signings for sales of previously owned homes fell at their fastest pace in two years．

On Wednesday, the Obama administration announced details of a plan that will pay banks to lower monthly payments for troubled borrowers，hoping to prevent millions of foreclosures and keep more homes occupied．Despite that effort，most analysts expect the outlook to worsen．

But as the recession deepens，the downturn in housing, where the economic crisis began, is starting to play out in new，unexpected ways．Cities where home values held up last year are suffering now, while some suburban areas where prices fell arc slowly starting to improve．

“The further you get from the city，the more prices have declined，and that's where we see sales increasing．”said Glenn Kelman，chief executive of Redfin，a real estate brokerage firm．“Eighteen months ago, the city was the only place where people were still buying homes．”

In inland areas of California，for instance，sales are surging now that prices have fallen sharply．But most of the sellers are not individuals but rather banks that foreclosed on homeowners who could not or would not pay their mortgages．By contrast, in cities like New York and San Francisco, where prices have not fallen as much, the market is largely frozen．

67．The underlined word“nabbed”in Para 2 probably means“　　　 ”．

A．pulled up　　 B．brought in　　 C．went through　 D．handed over

66．We can infer from the passage that　　　　 ．

　　 A．although Jobs does a good job at Apple，he isn't equal to handle his business at Pixar

　　 B．iMac is Apple's hit product for its convenience and fair price

　　 C．being a CEO at Apple，Jobs needs a considerable income to make sure that his family can get medical treatment

D．Jobs makes a big difference at Apple as a designer as well as a marketing planner

65．According to the passage，the following adjectives can be used to describe Jobs EXCEPT　　　　 ．

A．creative　　 B．demanding　　 C．easy-going　 D．distinguished

64．What is the writing style of this passage?

　　 A．A news report．　　　　　　　 B．An argumentative writing．

C．An expository writing．　　　 D．A practical writing．

C

Personal Background

Steve Jobs

Apple Computer

3-year return：26%

AGE：42

CEO since：1997

Here's a guy with enough knowledge，ability and brainpower to effectively hold down two CEO jobs at once-and do a pretty amazing job at both．We've listed him for his post at Apple, but of course Steve Jobs also runs Pixar，the animation company．Coming in after a $ 1 billion loss in fiscal 1997，Jobs turned a $106 million profit-38 percent above Wall Street's consensus target．A lot of credit goes to a very simple idea: Make computers in different colors. Jobs was the only one who thought to make it happen．The colorful mid-priced iMac has also succeeded by playing down the compatibility(兼容性)problem．Apple positioned it as the machine for the Internet, where compatibility questions are no big deal．Behind the scenes，Jobs also streamlined the product line，reduced the head count，consolidated distribution，and slimmed inventory. Meanwhile，over at Pixar，A Bug's Life nabbed a total $159 million in domestic box office，the highest domestic animated take since Toy Story and third highest ever，after Toy Story and the leader，The Lion King．

Business philosophy：“The technology isn't the hard part．The hard part is，Who's going to buy it? How are they going to buy it? How do you tell them about it?”

How he got the job：The Apple board begged him to return．

Management Style：At Apple，Jobs is a micromanager-some say nanomanager who changes mood suddenly and unexpectedly．Virtually every decision goes by him. “At any time，10，000 employees are wondering，‘What would Steve say?’not‘What is the right thing to do?’”said a former Apple exec．At Pixar， realizing that he isn't a film visionary，he leaves the experts to their knitting．

Financial reward：His Apple rewards are minimal-a salary of one dollar a year so that his family is eligible for the health plan．But his 69 percent share of Pixar is worth about $ 1.3 billion.

63．Which of the following diagrams shows the correct position of the islands?

62．Which of the following is WRONG?

　　 A．Bouvet Island，Heard Island and Gough Island are all in the southern hemisphere．

　　 B．Winds in the researched area blow anti-clockwise．

　　 C．The scientists shouldn't base this research on how winds affect where ferns grow．

D．Without the discovery of QuikSCAT，the research wouldn't have made sense．

61．The underlined word”data”in the fourth paragraph means“　　　 ”．

A．signal　　 B．pattern　　 C．information　 D．research