Hee-haw! Scores of farms across the country are opening up to overnight guests. The best have all the appeal of a first-rate inn ----- plus here a moo, there a moo.
Sure, you and your kids plan to conquer the theme parks. In the meanwhile, why not make a little hay? Farm stays are fast becoming the great American alternative to the pre-packaged vacation.
LIBERTY HILL FARM
Rochester, Vt.; 802/767-3926; www.libertyhillfarm.com. Adults$75, teens $50,kids 12 and under $35, including breakfast and dinner; shared baths.
Beth and Bob Kennett run a farm straight out of a storybook. You’ll find Beth in the kitchen, rolling out dough（生面团） for a pie. Bob’s busy with other work. Guests sleep in seven sunny bedrooms right in the farmhouse and can participate in any of the farm jobs. Maybe you and your kids won’t be up at 6 a.m. to meet the milk truck, but you can help with the milking twice a day, collect eggs, and pick sweet corn and wild blackberries in season.
HULL-O FARM
Durham, N.Y.; 518/239-6950; www.hull-o.com; Adults $110, kids 10—14 $60, 5—9 $50, 2—4 $35, under 2 free, including breakfast and dinner; private baths.
It started in 1993 as a way to bring in some extra money at a time of falling milk prices. But soon after Frank and Sherry Hull opened their Catskill Mountains dairy farm to overnight visitors, they discovered they loved it. As you drive up, Sherry greets you on the porch（入口处）of the 1825 farmhouse with a cow-shaped cookie jar. Before long your kids are playing around with the cows, sheep, ducks, goats and getting ready for a hayride（乘坐装满干草的牛车出游）.
MERAMEC FARM CABINS
Bourbon, Mo.; 573/732-4765; http://www.wine-mo.com Doubles with private bath $75, $10 per additional person. Trail and riding fees extra.
Climb onto the back of the Ford pickup and catch up with the herd. One gentle cow named Cricket will even let the kids sit on her back. At the barn（牲口棚）, Carol will introduce you to the horses ---15 Missouri Fox Trotters --- and lead you on a trail ride over the hills and down along the spring-fed Meramec River, where everyone swims. Grab a fishing pole and head back to the river. When you have your fill of the wild, try Carol and Dave’s favorite restaurants or wineries（酿酒厂）, within 20 miles of the farm.
【小题1】The underlined sentence in the first paragraph implies that ___________.

Japanese people,who never miss a chance to be photographed,were lining up to get their pictures on a postage stamp．Vanity（虚荣）stamps with personal photographs went on sale for the first time in Japan as part of an international postage stamp exhibition．The customer’s photo was taken with a digital camera and then printed on stamp sheets,a process that takes about five minutes．Sold in a sheet of 10 stamps for $8．80,little more than the cost of lunch in Tokyo,each stamp printed a different scene from a traditional painting along with the photo．
The stamps can be used normally to mail a letter,and postal officials hope they will help encourage interest in letter writing in the Internet age．“Certainly e-mail is a useful method of communication,but letters are fun in a different way,”said Hatsumi Shimizu an official in the Post Ministry．“We want to show young people that letters can be fun too．”
While similar stamp sheets appeared in Australia in 1999 and are now sold in some nations and territories,Japan’s fondness for commemorative photos is likely to make them especially popular here．Indeed,officials had prepared 1 000 sheets but they were sold out in less than 30 minutes．Although the stamps are currently only available as a special service during the exhibition,postal officials said they may start selling them on a regular basis in the future．
【小题1】The best title of this passage might be______．

I have learnt a lot about Chinese life and culture while teaching in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province and found them very interesting．
First, family life is quite   36  in China． In the USA, many young people   37  home after they finish their education and start working． However, in China, it is   38  for people to live with their parents until they get married．   39 , many of my Chinese friends told me that their  40  lived with them and helped take care of them when they were children． It seems that Americans think independence is more important   41  the Chinese think family relationships are more important．
Bargaining is another   42  that I have tried to learn． In the USA, prices are   43  and you can’t ask for a lower price． However in some small Chinese stores and tourist places, you are   44  to bargain． My Chinese friends taught me to ask for 40 percent or 50 percent   45  the original price． If the salesperson doesn’t agree to my price, I should   46  to leave and he might let me come back and sell me the item． It is a skill that you have to   47  if you live in China．
Tipping hasn’t been easier to   48 ． In the USA, many people in the service   49  want to get   50  money for serving customers． Tipping is not a part of Chinese culture．   51  I tried to tip a taxi driver． He looked a little   52  and refused to take the money．
In dinners, perhaps what surprises an American visitor most is that some of the Chinese hosts like to put food into the plates of their   53 ． Actually, this is a   54  of true friendship and politeness． My Chinese friend told me if I didn’t want to eat it, I should just   55  the food in the plate．

第二部分：阅读理解（共20题，每小题3分，满分60分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在机读卡上将该项涂黑。
The part of the earth’s history known as the coal age began more than 250 million years ago and lasted millions of years. During that time, in the area that is now the United States, coal beds formed from Texas to the north Atlantic coast.
At that time thick forests swamps（沼泽） covered much of the earth’s surface. Great trees died and fell into the swamps. Then they rotted （腐烂）and new trees and plants grew on top of them. The process repeated itself for thousands of years. The rotted plants turned into a substance called peat（泥炭）, which is still forming today in many swamps.
Meanwhile the land surface was changing. Movement in the earth’s crust (地壳) pushed up hills in some places, while elsewhere land sank. Swift rivers ran from the hills; heavy rains fell and the rivers overflowed, leaving muddy sand in the sunken wooded places and swamps. Oceans, too, poured in over the low-lying land, carrying sand that covered the peaty areas.
The pressure of water and sand pressed the oxygen and hydrogen out of the peat, leaving carbon. Under constant pressure, the rotted material, containing a high percentage of carbon, formed gradually into coal.
56. This main idea of the passage is about the ______.
A. coal beds in the U.S.   B. earth’s history   C. formation of coal   D. swamp age
57. When plants died, they _____.
A. grew up again       B. fell into the water and rotted
C. fell into coal beds    D. turned immediately to coal
58. Hills were formed as a result of _____.
A. movements of the earth’s crust       B. the remaining from swamps
C. the remaining from swift rivers       D. ocean currents
59. What is implied but not stated in the passage?
A. Peat is still forming today.
B. The formation of coal requires high pressure.
C. The land surface changed during the coal age.
D. The formation of coal was very rapid.

“If you want to see a thing well, reach out and touch it!”
That may seem a strange thing to say. But touching things can help you to see them better.
Your eyes can tell you that glass ball is round. But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is. You can feel how heavy the glass is.
When you feel all these about the ball, you really see it.
With your skin, you can feel better. For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two coins in your pocket. You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too.
You can even feel sounds against your skin. Have you ever wanted to know why some people like very loud music? They must like to feel the sounds of music.
All children soon learn what “Don’t touch!” means. They hear it often. Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up. In shops, we touch things we might buy, such as food, clothes and so on. To see something well, we have to touch it.
The bottoms of our feet can feel things, too. You know this when you walk on warm sand, cool grass or a bad floor. All feel different under your feet.
There are ways of learning to see well by feeling. One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin. Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin. At first, it is not easy to feel these things. You are too used to them!
Most museums are just for looking. But today some museums have some things to touch. Their signs say, “Do touch! There you can feel every thing on show. If you want to see better, reach out and touch. Then you’ll really see!”
【小题1】By touching things _______.