Think back to this time last year. What was on your mind?

Most likely, you were thinking about finals or the holidays, although in this city I’ve noticed that thinking about the holiday is a fancy way of saying how much stuff will I get.

Now reflect on your thoughts for this holiday season. Most people are still thinking about the holidays, but I say that with a grain of salt. Everybody with a functioning brain and the ability to communicate knows that this holioday season comes with a pretty large price tag: the debt of all the hardships, both domestic and foreign, that we’ve faced over the past 12months.

Let’s face it: some of us will get everything we want over the holidays. But there are others whose parents have lost their jobs or who have lost jobs themselves because of the current economic situation. As much as we try to ignore it, there is still economic unrest in the blue and gold suburb.

In this situation, we have three options. One: We ignore the situation, like we seem to do for every bad thing that happens around us, because by God, it’s the American Way! Two: We recognize that our economy is shot, feel bad about it and spend our time wishing for the good old days. Three: We recognize that our economy is shot, but instead of moping, reflect on every good thing that we have going for us. Now, which option sounds best to you?

I spent a week this summer working in and around New York City with the city’s homeless population. Or so I thought. Although a lot of the people I served were in fact homeless, a significant number of them had a job or a home or both. The truth of the importance of this situation is that they and thousands of others across the country can’t afford even the most basic things of life, even while working two jobs. Yet no one that I met complained about their hardships. Instead, they took whatever I happened to give them(which was, more often than enough, not enough) and were genuinely grateful for what they had.

Wrap your heads around that statement for a second. These people worked their butts off to stay alive with minimal results, yet were overjoyed by a flimsy(脆弱的) paper plate with donated green beans on it. Although I am ashamed to admit it( both as a girthy figure and an affluent citizen), I have taken for granted most of my meals, let alone green beans, and I know for a fact that I am not alone.

64. According to the passage when people think about holidays they care much for ____.

A. where to spend their holidays             B. how to spend their holidays 

C. what they can get for their holidays        D. who they should go to visit

65. When the author wrote the article, the economic situation in his country ____.

A. began to go bad.   B. began to improve   C. was still serious   D. was favorable for middle class.

66. The author wrote the article mainly to advise people____.

A.to be thankful in time of hardship.    B. to spend their holidays in a wise way

C. to think little about their holidays     D. to help the country to sail through the crisis

67. It can be inferred from the passage that the writer is most probably ______.

A. a homeless child    B. an old professor   C. a famous scientist  D. a young student

The German shepherd runs off and noses around in the grass of Kenya’s Laikipia Plateau． “OK, Oakley,” the dog’s handler orders, “Find it!”

Oakley sniffs （嗅） until he comes to a bush, then stops, sits, and looks up at his handler． She bends to see what he has found: the waste of an endangered African wild dog． “Good dog!” she praises． The handler pulls a tennis ball from her pocket． Oakley jumps for his reward．

“He doesn’t actually want the waste,” says Aimee Hurt, a founding member of the U．S．-based group Working Dogs for Conservation． Hurt is in Kenya to train both Oakley and his handler． “He finds it so he can play with his ball． We’re the ones who want the waste．”

Detection dogs are sometimes taught to locate actual animals． Black-footed ferrets （雪貂） have been studied with their help． But more often the dogs learn to locate the waste of creatures such as bears, wolves and mountain lions．

What the dogs find provides scientists with data about a species． Scientists can use the DNA collected from animal waste to identify individuals, sex, and population sizes — all without ever seeing the animal itself． “It can take years to gather this kind of information if you have to trap animals,” Hurt explains．

Waste analysis might make a huge difference when wild species are accused of attacking domestic livestock （家畜）． Hurt says, “A good detection dog will find the waste so we can see what the animal is actually eating．” This may help reduce problems between people and wildlife．

The underlined word “She” in Paragraph 2 refers to  “_____”．

    A． the German shepherd                B． an African wild dog

    C． Aimee Hurt                        D． the handler

Oakley is interested in finding the waste because _____．

    A． he wants to study endangered animals

    B． he can get a tennis ball to play with

    C． he wants to eat it   

    D． he wants to play with it

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

    A． Trapping animals is not difficult．

    B． People are making efforts to protect the environment．

    C． Detection dogs attack domestic livestock frequently．

    D． Collecting animal waste is a good way to gather information．

What is the main idea of the passage?

    A． Detection dogs can help scientists study wildlife．

    B． Detection dogs can defend wildlife．

    C． Detection dogs can help the police catch the criminals．

    D． Detection dogs can help local people defend domestic livestock．

Japan’s All Nippon Airways, which has asked passengers to visit the toilet before boarding to help the environment, said Tuesday it will fit its jets with a women-only lavatory（厕所）.
ANA will introduce one female-only toilet per aircraft on international flights next month after a survey of women fliers identified(确认) it was the second most attractive service they wished for after being offered desserts. The rest of the toilets onboard will be for men and women as usual.
“We received many comments that having a women-only lavatory would be a factor in differentiating our airline from others,” said an NAN spokesman.
“Many women said that they feel uncomfortable taking their time in the lavatory knowing that a male is waiting just behind them in line,” he said. The spokesman denied that the new service was introduced following complaints about men soiling(弄脏) the bathrooms, telling reporters: “Those opinions may exist, but we do not have that data on hand”.
Since 2006 ANA has pursued (开展) a one – month awareness campaign each year in which it asks fliers on 38 domestic flights and four international flights to visit the bathroom before boarding to reduce their body weight and therefore cut he plane’s carbon-dioxide emissions.
The airline is also planning to install “washlets” in it’s aircraft-electric toilet seats with water sprays for washing-a common sight in Japan and generally a source of amusement for first-time visitors and users.
The “washlets” will be installed in the Boeing777-300ER,due to begin operating in April, and the Boeing 787 fleet set to start flying this year.
【小题1】          What is the most attractive service to women passengers according to a survey?

 The simplest way to say it is this: I believe in my mother. My  36 began when I was just a kid. I   37  becoming a doctor.

My mother was a domestic. Through her work, she observed that  38 people spent a lot more time reading than they  39   watching television. She announced that my brother and I  40 watch two to three pre-selected TV programs during the week. With our free time, we had to read two books each from the Detroit Public Library and 41 her written book reports. She would mark them up with check marks and highlights. Years later, we realized her marks were a  42 . My mother was Illiterate(不识字的，文盲的)。

When I entered high school I was a(n) 43  , but not for long. I wanted the fancy clothes.  I wanted to  44 the guys. I went from being an A-student to a B-student to a C-student. One night my mother came home from  45  her various jobs and I complained about not having enough Italian knit shirts. She said, “Okay, I’ll give you all the money I make this week scrubbing floors and cleaning bathrooms, and you can buy  46 food and pay the bills. With everything  47 , you can have all the Italian knit shirts you want.” I was very  48  with that arrangement but once I got through distributing money, there was  49 left. I realized my mother was a financial genius to be able to  50 our heads and any kind of food on the table, 51  buy clothes. I also realized that immediate satisfaction wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Success required intellectual preparation. I went back to my  52 and became an A-student again, and eventually I  53 my dream and I became a doctor.

My story is really my mother’s story—a woman with  54  formal education or property who used her position as a parent to change the lives of many people around the globe. There is no job  55 than parenting.（养育） This I believe.

四、阅读理解。（共20小题：每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

GUANGZHOU: The successful Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival has become a perfect stage to showcase the popularity of Guangdong and Pan Pearl River Delta (PPRD) region as a tourism destination, said Tang Bingquan, vice-governor of Guangdong Province.

According to the provincial tourism administration of Guangdong, more than 40,000 people attended the opening ceremony of the festival. More than 1, 000 high-ranking officials from the central government and Guangdong provincial government, World Tourism Organization, consulates (领事馆) of various countries in Guangzhou, and other provinces of China, also showed up in the ceremony. The activities in the past few days attracted a large number of visitors from home and abroad.

In the past 30 years, Guangdong Province has been one of the leaders in the nation in terms of economic development. Its average annual economic growth maintained a rate of 13.8 percent, according to Tang.

Last year, Guangdong’s gross domestic product (GDP) hit 330 billion, accounting for one-eighth of the total of the country. The province’s import and export volume hit 527.2 billion, accounting for one-third of the country’s total foreign trade volume.

Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua earlier predicted that the province’s GDP will surpass that of Taiwan by the end of this year.

“Guangdong is also leading the development of the whole country’s tourism industry,” Tang said.

Last year, Guangdong’s tourism revenue (年收入) hit 212.5 billion, occupying one-fourth of the country’s total tourism income. The net profit of the province’s tourism industry was 7.5 billion, which was one fifth of the nation’s total.

Tang noted that the tourism festival will give a further boost (促进) to the tourism development of Guangdong and the entire PPRD region.

The closing ceremony of the festival will take place tonight in Foshan, a city in Guangdong Province.                                          （China Daily Nov. 30, 2007）

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

A. Event to boost Guangdong’s tourism industry.

B. Guangdong -- China’s leading city in economy.

C. The increase in Guangdong’s tourism revenue.

D. The development of Guangdong’s tourism industry.

57. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The past 30 years have seen Guangdong’s fast development in economy.

B. Guangdong is one of the leading provinces in national tourism industry.

C. Guangdong’s GDP makes up almost 13% of the total country last year.

D. Guangzhou will be the host city for the closing ceremony of the festival.

58. Which of the following word is the closest to the underlined word in the text?

A. replace       B. survive       C. overtake     D. succeed

59. What is the writer’s attitude towards the event?

A. indifferent  B. neutral            C. opposed          D. supportive