Because of the stress and strains of modern life folks today would rather watch television than get together with neighbors. Their behavior doesn't mirror TV soaps like Coronation Street and East Enders.?

The Street's Ashley Peacock and Toyah Battersby know all their neighbors. But the Royal Mail survey shows that real-life under?35s wouldn't dream of popping next door for a chat or to borrow a cup of sugar.?

Three out of ten say they wouldn't know their neighbors if they saw them in the street. The same proportion would only offer to help neighbors if absolutely necessary, while thirty-one? ?percent? don't want to get to know them better. Twenty-six percent rarely or never speak to the person next door. Thirty-five percent only talk to neighbors occasionally, and six percent actively dislike them. The older generation are still sociable, with seventy percent of over?55s ?taking? time to chat to people next door. The report says: “In the past, the British tradition of village green gossip（闲聊）between neighbors was celebrated worldwide. But there's been a clear shift away from local links by the young generation.” Londoners are least likely to be neighbors, with a third rarely or never chatting over the garden fence. People in the Midlands—where 65 percent often speak to their neighbors are most friendly.?

Sociologist Jane Blakeman said: “People are working longer hours than ever before, and are traveling further to work. It leaves them far less time at home.”?

Almost a third of young people_______.?

A. know their neighbours quite well?

B. have no idea who lives next door to them ?

C. talk to their neighbours when they want to borrow something?

D. spend time chatting with neighbours like their parents?

It can be inferred that Ashley Peacock and Toyah Battersby are both_______.?

A. important roles in a popular TV series

B. famous stars in TV programmes?

C. old soap operas

D. members of royal family?

Gossip among neighbours is still common among_______.?

A. people under 35       B. people between 35 and 55?

C. people over 55     D. people of different ages?

In jokes, the chicken only crosses the road. In Australia, cane toads (蔗蟾) use roads to travel.

A new study finds that Cane toads are using roads to spread across the continent.   They take shelter overnight close to the open corridors (走廊), and then hit the road each evening in their damaging way.

Cane toads were brought into Australia from Hawaii in 1935 to control the spread of beetles (甲虫) that were destroying Australia's sugar cane crop. They are now moving into new places at the speed of 30 miles a year.

Toads can grow as large as dinner plates and can weigh up to 4.5 pounds. Their heads and backsides are covered with rows of warts (疣). They are known to kill snakes, lizards and other animals, including pet dogs. They have no natural enemy in Australia.

According to a research, toads make slower progress through thick plants than along open spaces and they hop (跳) alongside roads and fences whenever possible. Toads use long corridors that are well-suited for them to travel long distances.

Another study recently found that toads have evolved (进化形成) longer legs in recent years and that this is also helping them in their spread.

Efforts to kill toads have been largely unsuccessful, although scientists tried their best.  

Another new finding suggests ways to slow down its population.  For example, roadside borders can be changed to make them less attractive to toads, or allowing thick plants to grow along the sides of highways, thus forcing toads onto the road of themselves.

1. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A. Ways to kill cane toads in Australia.

B. Cane toads have evolved a lot in Australia.

C. Australian cane toads hit the road.

D. Worse environment forces toads to travel.

2. At first, cane toads were brought to Australia to_______.

A. kill snakes, lizards and other animals

B. stop pet dogs from spreading

C. protect the sugar cane crop

D. hate a scientific research

3.According to the passage, the ways to slow down the population of toads are based on the fact that cane toads_________.

A. move slower through thick plants

B. have no natural enemy in Australia

C. mainly live near the roadside

D. like traveling at night

4.The underlined word "They" in Paragraph 3 refers to “________”.

A. Beetles                         B. Cane toads

C. Australia's sugar cane crop          D. New places

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

More and more students want to study in "hot" majors (专业课程). _36_a result, many students want to_37_their interests and study in these _38_ such as foreign languages, international business and law. etc.

Fewer and fewer students choose scientific majors, _39_maths, physics, and biology; and art majors,_40_history, Chinese and philosophy(哲学). _41_students can study in these "hot" majors, because the number of these "hot" majors_42_limited.

If one_43_interest in his work or study, _44_can he do well? I _45_ this from one of my classmates. He is_46_the countryside. His parents are farmers. Though he_47_biology, he chose "international business". He_48_to live a life which is different_49_of his parents.

In the end, he found he_50_in doing business. He found all the subjects to be_51_.

Maybe this wouldn't have happened if he had chosen his major _52_ his own interests.

Choosing a major in university_53_decide one's whole life. Majors_54_are not "hot" today may become the "hot" major of tomorrow. Choosing your major according to your own_55_ is the best way to succeed.

In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bicycles to work every day. In New York, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike for a Better City. They declare that if more people rode bicycles to work, there would be fewer automobiles in the downtown part of the city and so less dirty air from car engines.

For several years this group has been trying to get the city government to help bicycle riders. For example, they want the city to draw special lanes（车道）for bicycles only on some of the main streets, because when bicycle riders must use the same lanes as cars, there are accidents. Bike for a Better City feels that if there were special lanes, more people would use bikes.

But no bicycle lanes have been drawn. Not everyone thinks it is a good idea—they say it will slow traffic. Some storeowners on the main streets don’t like the idea—they say that if there is less traffic, they will have less business.

The city government has not yet decided what to do. It wants to keep everyone happy. On weekends, Central Park—the largest place of open ground in New York—is closed to cars, and the roads may be used by bicycles only.

But Bike for a Better City says that this is not enough and keeps fighting to get bicycle lanes downtown.

65. In New York, a group of bike riders______.

A. are keeping practising for health

B. have no cars of their own

C. are complaining（埋怨）there are not enough buses

D. are trying to settle the problem of air pollution

66. The bike riders suggest that______.

A. bicycles should be used instead of cars

B. bicycle lanes should be drawn

C. fewer buses or cars should be used

D. the number of special lanes should be increased

67. The advantage of the special lanes is that______.

A. they will make cars and buses run slowly

B. they will make it easier for bike riders to go to parks

C. they will make the city more beautiful

D. the lanes will prevent accidents

68. The government has not decided whether special lanes should be drawn______.

A. so that everyone is disappointed

B. because there are different opinions

C. because most people travel by train

D. because Bike for a Better City is not strong enough

With so many other ways to get information these days, do we still need books? Old habits die hard, and are passed down from generations. If your parents read to you, the chances are you will read to your children and so on. Well, that is an ideal world.

I think it comes from the educational side of life. If you have a good experience in school with books, then reading on after school years won't be a problem. For me I did very well in English language and literature as I had an inspiring and interesting English teacher who let us write our stories freely without correcting our spelling right away. The creative side of you should always come first and then the technical errors can be corrected.

Starting reading early is very important to children's relationship with books. If you casually read to your children then the books will have always been there in their lives and by the time reading comes along at the age of 4－5 years old it will all be fun and start to make sense. It has to be said that books are vital to learning.

Getting information and searching on the Internet is fine and necessary at this moment but it requires reading and reading requires practice, I believe we should relax whilst learning and digesting facts and information, and this can only be done with the simple book. Learn the basic habit of reading a book and then expand on and use the technology available, like e－books to make things convenient. But when you're not in a rush or whilst on a sunny beach, spending time with your children, what could be better than holding that book in your hands and feeling the achievement of getting to the last page?

1. The author of the passage thinks that ________.

A. the habit of reading should be passed down from generations

B. books are less important with so many other ways to get information

C. reading to children has become an old habit

D. it's difficult to get children to read books today

2. We can conclude from the second paragraph that ________.

A. children can develop the good habit of reading by themselves

B. it's not necessary to correct children's errors in reading

C. reading on after school years is becoming a difficult problem today

D. a good teacher can cultivate the habit of reading

3. According to the third paragraph, if you casually read to your children, they will ________.

A. form the habit of reading in time

B. have no idea of their relationship with books

C. lose the interest in reading books later

D. realize the importance of reading by the age of 4

4. What is the author's attitude towards the Internet?

A. He thinks it can only ruin people's pleasure in reading.

B. He thinks it is an important way to get information.

C. He thinks it will replace traditional books.

D. He believes we should limit the use of it.

5. We learn from the last paragraph that ________.

A. reading e－books is a better way to digest facts and information

B. the technology available can help us learn the basic habit of reading books

C. reading books on a sunny beach is only a way to kill time

D. reading can be a great pleasure when you are not in a hurry