It might have been a really bad stressful day, feeling trapped inside by the cold and snow which surrounded us. My husband was the first to shift his consciousness. He dressed accordingly and announced that he was going outside to build a giant snowman.
At first he stood alone, piling massive amounts of snow. Soon after a neighbor joined in my husband’s quest to embrace the opportunity the winter presented. Maintaining less than desirable attitudes, we reluctantly put on our snow gear(用具) and headed outside. It wasn’t long before we were smiling and enjoying the abundance of snow that Mother Nature had provided. Others came to our yard one by one to give a hand in the making of our giant snowman.
In the end we all stood back and marveled at what we had created. He was eleven feet high, twenty-five feet around at the base and decorated with many household items supplied by various families. There he stood, our glorious, gigantic (巨人般的) snowman.
People drove by and smiled. Some even stopped to enjoy his existence. The spirit that went into creating him seemed to catch on and we all enjoyed it while the cold temperatures allowed.
With the passing of time, the spring made its way back into our yard and the snowman changed form considerably. In a final effort to save what we created for just a little bit longer somebody stopped by and changed the snowman’s remains to look like a rabbit.
As I prepared for the start of another week, I decided to check my email before going to bed. I found a curious message that contained the subject line: enjoy the snowman. I decided to read the message even though I did not recognize who sent it. The words it contained melted my heart.
The email said: … your neighbor looks on in disbelief! I am sure you people are enjoying the sounds and smells, along with sights of spring. The energy displayed in Mr. Snowman or Ms, is filled with vigor and joyous energy. You and your family keep it up, as this is what the world needs now. Love sweet love. More power to you and your loved ones, keep sharing with the world around.
Perhaps it was more than snowman we built that day. I’d like to agree that it was. The message seems clear. Our circumstances will turn out to be what we make of them. The possibilities are endless and the choice is ours.
60. How did the author plan to spend that cold day at first?
A. By having a busy day.      B. By staying at home. C. By building a snowman.   D. By visiting neighbors.
61. The reason for her husband to make a snowman was that ________.
A. he had to please his neighbors                       B. he was better at it than others
C. he wanted to cheer himself up                       D. he must get the last chance before spring
62. From the passage we can know that the snowman_______.
A. was built only by the author’s family            B. was surprisingly big in size
C. made people more forgiving                   D. made building snowman popular

（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

    根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

     How can we all get more laughter into our lives? Here is what the experts suggest:

 ___.Nancy Alguire, a teacher in Clifton Park, N. Y., was once painfully shy and had a hard time laughi ng. Then she married a circus clown (小丑) . "I became interested in the clowns, " she recalls " One day I put on a costume and paint my face. That afternoon my whole life changed. I learned to laugh and enjoy life in a way I had never done before." ___ To this day, she still makes it a rule to be with people who enjoy life and laughing.

 __ It doesn't take you too much time and can be easy. Collect favourite cartoons and jokes. Also, keep a paper for writing down humour you find in everyday life. " Good ideas come and go fast, you have to capture them quickly or they are gone, " says Virginia Tooper.

 Laugh when you need it most. "____ " says comedian Bill Cosby. " And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it, " he insists.

 Gray Alan, a sociology professor at the University of Minnesota, claims that laughter is a skill we can all gain—because it comes naturally. _ . Just remember: we are just here for a period, so get a few laughs.

A. You can soften the worst blows through humour.

B. Mix with people who laugh.

C. Practise the art of laughing.

D. Keep a laughter file (文档).

E. He who laughs last laughs best.

F. But it's also something that has to be developed (培养).

G. People's joy can affect those around them.

Howling is a behavior commonly observed among a wolf nark. An animals, wolves work together to hunt and rely on howling was an important means of communication each other. There are different explants of a wolf’s howl and it appears that there may be more to discover.      One theory is that wolves howl to bend better together. It’s almost as if howling together helps the pack stay together. Perhaps something similar to people feeling a sense of involvement with each other when singing a song together . But this theory may be wrong, explains Fred H. Harington, a professor who studies wolf behavior.     Indeed, there have been tines when wolves have been seen one moment howling in a exhorts, and the next, quarreling anions each other. It appears that usually the lowest-tanking menthes of the pack may actually be “punished” for
Joining in the churs at times. So is howling a way to strcagthen a social boad or just a way to reconfirm status among its members? ——Why do welves howl for sure?
What is cleat, however, is that howling is often used among packmates to locate each other. Hunting grounds are distant and it happens that woloves may separate from one another at times. When this happens, howling appcars to be an ercellent means of gathering.
Howling, interestingly, is a contagious behaviour. When one wolf starts to howl, very likely others will follow. This is often seen to occat in the morning, as if wolves were doing some sotr of “roll rall”where wolves all howl togeter to howl, very likely others will follow. This is often seen to occar in the morning, as if wolves were doing w some sotr of “roll call”where wolves all howl together to repotr their pteence.
【小题1】.What the por similarity between wolves’ how humaes ting in chorus?

When Christopher Columbus landed on the then unnamed Costa Rica in 1502, he saw many Indians wearing gold earrings. So he thought the land must be rich in gold. He named the place Costa Rica, which means “rich coast” in Spanish.
Though little gold was found, Costa Rica today is indeed rich with coffee and bananas. Coffee is the most important product in Costa Rica and most of it is exported (出口) to other countries like America and Germany. Bananas are the country’s second most important export.
Costa Ricans also grow many other crops such as fruits, corn and beans for their own use. Costa Ricans love colors and their houses are painted in bright colors.
Education is very important to the Costa Ricans. Almost every village has a school and education is a must for children between seven and fourteen years of age. Boys and girls go to separate (单独的) schools. Classes begin in March and end in November. The other three months of the year are harvest time and the children have to help their parents to pick coffee beans.
【小题1】    What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?