Alicia was a young woman who liked to exercise for her health. In fact, she walked five kilometers before    26   every morning, and went swimming once a week at the swimming pool. She didn’t smoke and never    27   . She didn’t eat chocolate. She didn’t eat sweet and

fatty food,    28   . She weighted herself every day.

One day Alicia was on her daily walk when she saw a    29    sitting in a rocking chair under a tree. He looked very old and his hair was white. He looked thin and weak, and his hands were shaking,   30    he looked very happy.

He smiled at her and said, “Good morning! Lovely day, isn’t it?”

He had a wide smile    31    his face, and his eyes shone with happiness. But Alicia saw that he did not have teeth.

“Good morning!” replied Alicia. “Yes, it is a lovely day.”

Alicia thought he    32   very old and wise. She thought he must be at least 90 years old! She decided to ask him about the    33    of a happy old age.”

“I hope you don’t    34    me asking,” she said, “but what is your secret for being so happy at your age? I hope I can look as happy as you do    35    I am your age.”

The man in the rocking chair said, “My secret for   36   ? I smoke twenty packets of cigarettes every week, and drink three bottles of wine every day. I eat hamburgers and chocolates whenever I want. I never eat vegetables. I never walk anywhere and I never play sports. I sit at home every day.”

Alicia was    37   . She didn’t expect the man to give her an answer like that. She wondered how the man got to be so old when he did    38    wrong. She thought he should be    39    and unhappy. Perhaps she was wrong. Maybe, she thought, people could live a long happy life    40    eating well or doing lots of exercise.

“How old are you?” she asked.

“It’s my birthday today,” said the man. “I’m forty-seven!”

1. A. lunch         B. breakfast    C. dinner           D. supper

2. A. exercised         B. drank        C. worked           D. slept

3. A. too               B. also         C. either           D. still

4. A. man               B. woman        C. boy          D. girl

5. A. so            B. but              C. and          D. or

6. A. in            B. with         C. at               D. on

7. A. saw               B. looked           C. listened         D. found

8. A. secret        B. dream        C. plan         D. future

9. A. stand         B. mind         C. allow        D. enjoy

10. A. when         B. since        C. though           D. for

11. A. health           B. success          C. happiness   D. life

12. A. surprised        B. worried          C. excited          D. relaxed

13. A. something        B. anything     C. everything       D. nothing

14.A. angry             B. serious     C. quiet        D. sick

15. A. through          B. from         C. without          D. by

Hearst Castle is in California, America. A person called William Randolph Hearst built it between 1922 and 1939, at a cost of more than $30 million. Last year, I had a trip to that castle.

I spent the whole day looking around. But there was much to see, and a day wasn’t enough. Hearst Castle has four houses. The main house, “Casa Grande”, is the biggest one. Visitors can live in the other three ones. Many of them are Hollywood film stars, and they often come to the parties there.

At Hearst Castle, there are also beautiful gardens and two swimming pools, one inside and a larger one outside. I loved the one outside, the “Neptune Pool”. It was a pity that we couldn’t go swimming there!

The guide told us that Mr. Hearst travelled around Europe with his mother at the age of ten and looked at paintings and castles. He never forgot that tour and wanted his house to look like a castle. When Mr Hearst died in 1951, his family gave Hearst Castle to the people of California. Now it’s a museum.

1.The underlined word “Castle” in the first paragraph means _____.

A．城堡             B．胜地             C．城垛             D．楼阁

2. “Casa Grande” is _____ the other three ones at Hearst Castle.

A．younger than                          B．bigger than

C．older than                             D．smaller than

3.There are _____ at Hearst Castle.

A．beautiful gardens

B．one swimming pool inside

C．one swimming pool outside

D．all the above

4._____ made Mr. Hearst build this wonderful castle.

A．A tour around Europe

B．The paintings and castles in Europe

C．His mother

D．His dream

5.Which of the following sentences is TRUE?

A．Hearst Castle in California was cheap to build.

B．Hearst Castle is on a mountain near the sea.

C．Many Hollywood film stars come to Hearst’s parties.

D．After Mr. Hearst died, his family lived at Hearst Castle.

If you open today’s newspaper, what do you see? Ads! Look through a magazine. More ads! Turn on the TV. Still more ads! Everywhere you look, someone has something to sell.

      Here are some ways ads get us to buy. Some ads use famous people. Stars are paid to sell a product. Think about it. Do they really know about medicine? Do they know about soft drinks? There people may be famous, but they may not know about what they are selling.

      Some ads make you think you’re getting the word of an expert. They say, “Doctor said.” A man in a white coat comes on TV. He looks nice. “I use Bright and White,” he says. This man looks like a doctor. But he is an actor. He has been paid to sell this product.

      Does soap have anything to do with a pretty child? But ads may show their product with something nice, such as the sun, the flowers and so on. Such an ad is about feelings rather than facts. Ads are full of strong words. Words like “new” and “improved” have strong influence. They can help a product sell. The soap may be called “Spring Rain”. A car may be called “Tiger”. Strong words work on our feelings.

      Some ads make promises（承诺）. But can they keep them? No. Some ads use our fear of being too late. “Buy now!” they say. “Selling ends soon.” Check to see if this is true. Don’t hurry. Take time to think. All ads hope we will buy something, do something, or think in a certain way. Know what ads are doing. Ask questions to yourself. Don’t let their words and pictures fool you.

1.Why do famous people appear in ads?

      A. Because they know every product well.

      B. Because they want to serve the people.

      C. Because they can make money from the ads.

2.The underlined word “expert” in Paragraph Three probably means _____.

      A.主持人                   B.专家                      C.演员

3.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

      A. The famous people may not know about what they are selling.

      B. Some ads make promises to people and they can keep them.

      C. Ads are full of strong words, such as “new” and “improved”.

4.According to the passage, we know that “Tiger” might be the name of _____.

      A. a kind of car            B. a kind of computer   C. a kind of soap

5.What does the writer want to tell us?

      A. We should not always believe the ads.

      B. We should buy things that ads ask us to buy.

      C. We should think about ads before buying things.

I have returned to my hometown after I was away ten years ago. So many things have changed around here. It has become better and better. When I left here, there was a small pool on the right of my house. Now the pool has gone and people have built a large shopping mall(商场) there.

The biggest changes have taken place in the center of the city. There are sidewalks on both sides of the street. You can see a street center with so many tall buildings around. You can’t drive there any more because no vehicle is allowed to pass there. A European-style fountain(喷泉) has been built in the street center garden.

There used to be an old school near my house. I spent my five years studying there. There was a small payground in front of the school. But now what I can see are five tall buildings standing there. There are two big classroom buildings and a library. A new post office has also been built just across from the new school.

1.I have been away from my hometown for ________.

A. ten months????????????? B. one year????????????? C. five years????????????? D. ten years

2.On the right of my house, there was a _________ ten years ago.

A. library????????????? B. garden????????????? C. supermarket????????????? D. pool

3.No vehicle is allowed to pass the _________.

A. center of the city????????????? B. old school????????????? C. street center????????????? D. playground

4.Which of the following is WRONG(错的)?

A. A fountain is in the street center garden.???

B. Now there is an old school near my house.

C. There are two big classroom buildings and a library in the new school.

D. There is a post office across from the school.

5.What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Great Changes in My Hometown.?? ????????????? B. A Wonderful Place

C. What a Nice Town????????????? ????????????? D. My School.