Just before Mother’s Day I purchased the Flex Belt for my mother to help her lose some weight. I wasn’t sure if she was going to like the present but she seemed to love it. I saw the Flex Belt review on the Internet by chance and was very impressed with what I read. It seems that the Flex Belt is helping thousands of people achieve their weight loss goals.

I asked my mother a few questions about the Flex Belt such as whether this product was easy to use, whether she felt painful while using it and the most important question was whether she lost any weight. She told me that it was so easy to use, and that even a child could operate it. She also said that in the first period of using this product she did feel that it was a little bit magical and she was pleased with the amount of weight she had lost.

Over the past few years it seems that my fitness routine(健身计划) has gone downhill(减少). I used to enjoy going to my local gym to do a bit weight lifting, or enjoy meeting up with friends once a week for a game of soccer. Recently I noticed that I became a bit “round”, so I have started to do some exercise by taking a thirty-to-forty-minute run every morning. I feel like the weight that I have put on especially around my midsection is slowly dropping off. Everyone knows the benefits of having a slim waist but it seems that we don’t actually do anything about trying to achieve this. There are a few reasons for this, such as lack of time, not being motivated(有积极性的) enough, or not having enough money to join a gym. So this is the reason I think the Flex Belt is great to own.

I am happy that my mum loves the present and because the product is working great for my mum, I’ve decide to get one for myself as well.

53. The most important question the author asked her mother was ____.

A. if she used the Flex Belt every day

B. if she felt painful while using the Flex Belt

C. whether the Flex Belt was easy to operate

D. whether the Flex Belt worked well

54. After the author’s mother had used the Flex Belt for some time she ____

A. was heartbroken           B. was very delighted       

C. was bored.          D was disappointed

55. In the past few years the author ____.

A. has spent a great deal of time in running

B. has been playing football once a week

C. has been to her local gym many times

D. hasn’t taken exercise as often as before

The 92-year-old, thin, calm and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, even though she is nearly blind, moved to a nursing home today.
Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the hall of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.
As she walked slowly to lift, I provided a true description of her tiny room, including the old sheets(床单) that had been hung on her window. “I love it.” She said with the happiness.
“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room…. Just wait..”  “That doesn’t matter.” She replied. “ Happiness is something you decide ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It is how I arrange my mind, I have already decided to lobe it. It is a decision I make every morning when I wake up. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I will focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away.” She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account(帐户). You put what you have in. So, my advice to you would be to put in a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank.” And with a smile, she said, “All my memories are happy ones.”
Mr. Jones was always happy in the nursing home and she died at the age of 108.
【小题1】 We can infer from the passage that the writer_____________.

Many of us don’t like what we see around us but the last thing we do is to change it. I think that is the beginning of failure and that is why what we hate remains around us. If you don’t want to see things around you, don’t just hope it’ll change.

We have such an amazing power of creativity inside us to change the way things work around us. Only lazy people go about and say that is the way things have been working. I’ve come to discover that things around us depend on our actions and inactions. What I mean is that the circumstances that we like depend only on the things we do and the things we don’t do.

Do you want your country to change? Start by changing the small things around you. Before you think too far about any small thing to change, your habit should be the first thing to change. Change what you think about and talk about. Can you remember how difficult it was for you to break a habit that you desired to break some years back? If so, then you must accept that things aren’t just going to change by a magic thought. If it isn’t so easy to change yourself when you want to, it isn’t going to be so easy to change the people around you.

I think the best way I’ve changed people around me is that I changed myself. When you change, they’ll change. Just change yourself and see how many people will tell you later that you are the one who changes them. That’s one simple way young people can change their nations.

1. According to the text, why do we fail to change what we don’t like? _______

2.The author can change people around him because he has realized that 　　　　.

3.The third paragraph aims at 　　　　.

4.What can we learn from the text? ________

We all have our ways of marking time. As a photographer, my life is measured from one story to the next. My oldest son was born in the middle of a long story about the Endangered Species Act. My daughter came along with a pack of gray wolves.

Twenty stories later, though, it’s the story in Alaska that I’ll remember best. It was the story about the loss of wilderness — and the story during which my wife Kathy got cancer. That’s the one that made time stand still. I stopped taking pictures on the day when she found that tumor (肿瘤). Cruelly, it was Thanksgiving. By Christmas, she had become very weak. Some days she was so sick she couldn’t watch TV.

Early examination saves time. But ours was not early. By the time you can feel it yourself, it’s often bigger than the doctor want it to be.

Cancer is a thief. It steals time. Our days are already short with worry. Then comes this terrible disease, unfair as storm at harvest time. But cancer also has the power to change us, for good. We learn to simplify, enjoying what we have instead of feeling sorry for what we don’t. Cancer even made me a better father. My work had made me a stranger to my three kids. But now I pay attention to what really matters. This is not a race. This is a new way of life and new way of seeing, all from the cancer.

In the end each of us has so little time. We have less of it than we can possibly imagine. And even though it turns out that Kathy’s cancer has not spread, and her prognosis (诊断) is good. We try to make it all count now, enjoying every part of every day.

I’ve picked up my camera again. I watch the sky, searching for beautiful light. When winter storms come, Kathy and I gather our children and take the time to catch snowflakes (雪花) on our tongues. After all, this is good. This is what we’re living for.

1.As a photographer, the author used to ______.

A. leave his daughter with a pack of gray wolves

B. express his love for his family in a special way

C. miss a great many important historical moments

D. devote much more to his career than his family

2.Why did the author decide to stop taking pictures?

A. To cure his own disease.                                    B. To spend more time with his wife.

C. To seek a better position.                                   D. To leave the wilderness alone.

3.What is the biggest change the cancer has brought to the author?

A. He treasured every bit of time with his family.

B. He has become a stranger to his children.

C. He takes his work more seriously.

D. He focuses more on medical care.

4.The author and his family catch snowflakes on their tongues probably because ______.

A. the snowflakes taste very good                       

B. snowflakes are what they feed on

C. they regard that as a way to enjoy life            

D. there is beautiful light in the snowflakes

While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me.
Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.
First he kissed his three children one by one and said, “It’s nice to see you. I missed you so much!” Then he hugged his wife, “I’ve saved the best for last!” giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other’s eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds（新婚夫妇）, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t  possibly be.
Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?” “Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well, then, how long have you been away?” I asked. “Two whole days!” “Two days?” I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!”
The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. “Don’t hope, friend…decide!” Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”
With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.
I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, “What are you looking at?” Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, “My future!”
【小题1】The best title of the passage may be __________.