STRANGERS parties go wild these days. The main idea of them is to never let the people know who their matches are until the last minute. These are some popular practices that are storming the world’s youth on this V-day.
Speed dating
It’s exactly what the name implies. Complete with a timer, a whistle and 50 willing singles, speed dating is not the traditional dinner and a movie type of first date. Singles pay US $35 for three minutes with more than two dozen future dates. They ask questions and try to get to know each other. At the sound of a whistle, they do the same thing all over again―25 times in all.
Lock and key party
Women are given a lock and men are given a key, upon arriving at the party. Each key and lock has several matches. One can hunt for his/her later-to-be sweetheart in various groups, and try out the key or lock. Each time a lock and key match the pair are entered into a ballot (票数） for top prizes!
Dinner in the dark
Waiters wearing night vision glasses guide the guests through the pitch-black dining room. They are seated at the table and familiarized with the wine glass and plate. Food is handled with the fingers. People will not see the food they are eating or the guests at their table until the dessert course. At that moment, dining partners will appear.
Message party
Have A Cocktail, Leave A Message! When you arrive, you get a tag with a number and a pad of post-it notes. If you see someone you like, write a message on the message board. But wait… You’ve got a message… Go and collect it! You can make new friends and win lots of gifts. The more messages you leave on the bulletin board, the more chances you have of winning prizes.
【小题1】What do you think the similarities of these parties are?

A new study warns that about thirty percent of the world’S people may not have enough  water by the year 2025．
A private American organization called Population Action International did the new  study．It says more than 335 million people lack enough water now．The people live in 28  countries．Most of the countries are in Africa or the Middle East．
P—A—I researcher Robert Engelman says by the year 2025，about 3，000 million people may lack water．At least 18 more countries are expected to have severe water problems．The
demand for water keeps increasing．Yet the amount of water on Earth stays the same．
Mr．Engelman says the population in countries that lack water is growing faster than ini other parts of the world．He says population growth in these countries will continue to increase．
The  report says lack of water in the future may result in several problems．It may increase health problems．Lack of water often means drinking waters not safe．Mr．Engelman says there are problems all over the world because of diseases，such as cholera。
which are carried in water．Lack of water may also result in more international conflict．Countries may have to compete for water in the future．Some countries now get sixty percent of their fresh water from other countries．This is true of Egypt，the Netherlands，Cambodia，Syria，Sudan，and Iraq．And the report says lack of water would affect the ability of developing to improve their economies．This is because new industries often need a large amount of water when they are beginning．
The Population Action International study gives several solutions to the water problem．One way，it says，is to find ways to use water for more than one purpose．Another way is to teach people to be careful not to waste water．A third way is to use less water of agriculture．
The report also says long--term solutions to the water problem must include controls on population growth．It says countries cannot provide clean water unless they slow population growth by limiting the number of children people have．
1．The first four paragraphs mainly tell us__________
A．the fact of the global lack of water
B．the importance of water resources
C．the seriousness of water shortage
D．the study of the global water condition
2．Which of the following problems is NOT true according to the passage?
A．It may bring about a lot of health problems．
B．It may result in more international conflict．
C．It may lead to the improvement of new industries．
D．It may influence the development of the economies．
3．Which of the following is the way to solve water problem in the long run?
A．To use water in a variety of ways
B．To become aware of the water problem
C．To reduce the use of agricultural water 。
D．To limit the rising birthrate of the earth
4．Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
A．①②③→④⑤→⑥⑦
B．①②③④→⑤→⑥⑦
C．①②③④→⑤⑥→⑦
D．①②③→④→⑤→⑥⑦

二．语言知识及应用 (共两节，满分60分)
第一节完形填空 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从11—25各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项。
Students will need to use all of their skills in order to understand the reading selections in Reader’s Choice.
The book    11   many types of selections on a wide variety of topics. These selections provide practice on    12    different reading skills to get the  13   of the writer. They also give students   14   in four basic reading skills: skimming, scanning, reading for   15   comprehension, and critical reading. E:\Zujuan\WCFUpload\Upload\2010-05\06\Local Settings\Temp\Rar$DI00.140\www.canpoint.cn\
Skimming involves reading quickly through a text to get an overall idea of its contents. This kind of rapid reading is   16  when you are trying to decide if careful reading is desirable or when there is not    17    to read something carefully.
Like skimming, scanning is also quick reading. However, in this case the search is more    18    .To scan is to read quickly in order to find out specific information. When you read to find a    19   date, or number you are scanning. E:\Zujuan\WCFUpload\Upload\2010-05\06\Local Settings\Temp\Rar$DI00.140\www.canpoint.cn\
Reading for thorough comprehension is   20    reading in order to understand the total   21   of the passage. At  this level of comprehension the reader is    22    to summarize the author’s ideas but has not yet made a critical evaluation of those ideas. E:\Zujuan\WCFUpload\Upload\2010-05\06\Local Settings\Temp\Rar$DI00.140\www.canpoint.cn\
Critical reading demands (需要)that a reader   23   judgments about what he or she reads. This kind of reeding    24    posting and answering questions such as “Does my own experience support that of the author?”, “Do I    25    the author’s point of view?” And “Am I convinced by the author’s arguments and evidence?
11.A.contains                B.uses                   C.put                    D.writes
12.A.making                 B.understanding     C.speaking             D.employing
13.A.message                B.secret                 C.content               D.nature
14.A.power                  B.point                  C.practice              D.opinion
15.A.better                   B.basic                  C.general               D.thorough(彻底的)
16.A.suitable                B.interesting          C.wrong                D.true
17.A.interest                 B.habit                  C.time                   D.desire
18.A.funny                   B.concentrated(专心的) C.perfect     D.important
19.A.common               B.different             C.fine                   D.particular
20.A.carefully               B.slowly                C.quickly                     D.perfectly
21.A.design                  B.explanation         C.meaning             D.feeling
22.A.impossible            B.able                   C.difficult             D.simple
23.A.makes                  B.findsE:\Zujuan\WCFUpload\Upload\2010-05\06\Local Settings\Temp\Rar$DI00.140\www.canpoint.cn\                 C.puts                   D.offers
24.A.lacksE:\Zujuan\WCFUpload\Upload\2010-05\06\Local Settings\Temp\Rar$DI00.140\www.canpoint.cn\                 B.requires              C.demands      D.affords(提供)
25.A.tell                      B.express               C.share                  D.argue

To hitch-hike successfully in any country you must be able to do two things: attract attention and at the same time convince the driver at a glance that you do not intend to rob or murder him．To fulfill the first requirement you must have some mark to distinguish you at once from all other hikers．A serviceman, for instance, should wear his uniform, a student his scarf．In a foreign country an unmistakable indication of your own nationality will also arrest a driver’s attention．
When I hitch-hiked 9,500 miles across the United States and back recently I wore a well-tailored suit, a bowler hat and a trench coat, and carried a pencil-thin rolled black umbrella．My suitcase was decorated with British flags．Having plenty of luggage, moreover, I was not likely to be suspected of being a dangerous lunatic（精神病患者）．I then had to get across to the driver the idea that I was a real traveler, and needed to get somewhere cheaply．
But even with careful preparation, you must not assume（认为） that the task will be easy．You should be prepared to wait a little, for there are drivers who confess to（承认） a fierce prejudice against, （not to say hatred of）, hitch-hikers, and would no more pick up a hiker than march from Aldermaston to London．In America, my average wait was half-an-hour, and my longest two hours, but I have heard of people waiting all day; they probably took less pains to make themselves easy to notice．
Nor must you assume that all the drivers who stop for you are nice, normal people．On one occasion I found myself driving with two boys of about nineteen who turned out to be on the run from the police, and were hoping to use me as an alibi．There are also lesser（较小的） risks: you may find yourself in the car of a Fascist fanatic, a Mormon missionary（传教士）, or just a bad driver．You cannot tell, of course until you are in the car．But you soon learn the art of the quick excuse that gets you out again．
If the hitch-hiker in the U．S．will remember that he is seeking the willingness of drivers to give him a free ride, and is prepared to give in exchange entertainment and company, and not go to sleep, he will come across the remarkable, almost legendary, hospitality of American of the West．It will also help if he can drive—I think that I drove myself about 4,500 of those 9,500 miles I hitch-hiked in the States．
71．A hitch-hiking serviceman should wear his uniform      ．
A．so as not to look too unusual              B．to attract attention
C．to show he is on duty                    D．to put the driver at ease
72．In paragraph 3, we learn that the writer     ．
A．has sometimes failed to hitch a ride
B．has marched from Aldermaston to London
C．has always been successful in hitching a ride
D．has had to wait for long hours for a ridew
73．The main idea of Paragraph 4 is that      ．
A．it is dangerous to be in a car with strangers
B．hitch-hiking may turn out to be risky sometimes
C．a hitch-hiker must also learn the art of quick excuse
D．hitch-hikers might come across bad drivers
74．In the last paragraph, the writer mainly wants to tell us that a hitchhiker should     ．
A．not talk to the driver too much
B．fall asleep to make it a peaceful ride
C．try to make himself pleasant and entertaining
D．seek the willingness of drivers
75．A suitable title for the passage would be     ．
A．“The Art of Hitch-hiking”      B．“An Englishman’s View of the U．S．”
C．“An English Hitch-hiker”        D．“The joys and Dangers of hitch-hiking

D
Is a recently discovered hormone the reason why folks who lose weight can’t keep it off?
Like millions of other fat people, at 530 inches high, more than 300 pounds, Carnie Wilson was not just fat. After trying all sort of diets that didn’t work, she has to go to the stomach – bypass surgery (胃部迂回手术), ie, have most of her stomach sewed up, only leaving tiny room to hold several tablespoonfuls at most. Result: she simply couldn’t eat the way she used to. In three years, Wilson is one third of her former weight.
Wilson’s experience is not all that unusual, and while doctors still aren’t exactly sure what is going on, a report in last week’s Journal of Medicine offers an explanation. The loss of appetite in bypass patients may be linked to a recently discovered hormone called ghrelin. Not only that, ghrelin may turn out to be one reason we feel hungry and it’s hare for didters to keep weight off.
Nowadays, researchers are careful to stress only what they know for sure. For the three conclusions, the leading Dr. David of the University of Washington says, “I feel very solid about two of them.” The first is that ghrelin levels in the bloodstream rise significantly before meals and drop afterward. The second conclusion is that ghrelin levels are higher on average in people who have lost weight from dieting.
Dr. David is less sure of the third conclusion, that bypass patients have only a quarter as much ghrelin as most people of normal weight. After all, ghrelin is produced by cells in the stomach. Years ago, leptin, a hormone was found as an appetite suppressant (食物抑制剂). But after years of trying, it had to be given up.
What doctors suspect is that both leptin and ghrelin are part of a complex system of brain and body chemicals that govern weight and appetite. That does not mena pharmaceutical (药物的) weight control is forever out of the question. “In the next ten years, we will be able to develop new drugs to help people lose weight healthily and effectively.”
47．What can we learn about ghrelin according to the passage?
A．After meals ghrelin levels are higher in the bloodstream.
B．People who have lost weight have less ghreilin in their body.
C．Without ghrelin, people are really difficult to lose weight.
D．Ghrelin is something produced by cells in the stomach.
48．What is Dr. David not sure?
A．pharmaceutical weight control is impossible.
       B．There is less ghrelin in the bypass patients.
C．new drugs will be developed in 10 years.
D．ghrelin levels are higher in people on diet.
49．In fact, people’s weight and appetite are controlled by        
A．ghrelin and leptin                      B．hormone and medicine
C．brain and body chemicals                  D．stomach and food
50．What can we infer from the passage?
A．People with a lower ghrelin level go hungry easily.
B．Doctors managed to use leption to control the appetite.
C．Doctors are optimistic about how to lose weight healthily.
D．The loss of appetite in bypass aptient is linked to leptin