Directions: Read the following passage．Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage and required words limit．Write your answers on your answer sheet．

Scientists have determined it's not advisable to hurry marriage．But what's the best age to wed?

When Avril Lavigne announced she was splitting from her husband, comments from her friends suggested that she was only 21 when she tied the knot and later she said that she realized she'd been too young to make such a life-altering decision．Could fellow young celebrity divorcées（离婚者） Reese Witherspoon, Kate Hudson, and Britney Spears have also hit the same age-related issue?

The Magic Number

       There are practical reasons for the mid-20s dividing line, and most of them boil down to two biggies: education and money．

It turns out that the more years of higher education a woman has under her belt on her wedding day, the lower the chances that she'll get divorced ．．．and by 25, you're more likely to have earned a degree or two．Educated women tend to be more confident about who they are and less willing to settle for a man who doesn't meet their standards．

Odds（可能性） are that by 25 you're also supporting yourself, so there's less incentive（刺激; 鼓励）for you to rush into marriage because you're seeking financial security from him．But the marriage-related benefits of working and having money of your own go beyond feeling secure．Learning to budget your cash carefully when you're single will help you avoid financial problems-one of the main causes of couple fights-for the rest of your life．

Knowing the Real You

At 25, you've had time for some crucial life experiences, including a relationship or two that may have improved your Mr．Right radar．You've probably dated enough to have a better idea of what you don't want in a man, which makes it easier to know what you can live with and can't live without．

Perhaps the most important aspect of waiting is that you'll know what your goals and values really are．While you don't want to marry someone just like you, marriage is a lot easier if you two share a similar outlook on life．

Twenty-four and already married to the man of your dreams? Don't worry: Many young marriages survive．But given the choice, you might consider putting off the big day until your mid-20s or later．

What main factors influence the mid-20s dividing line? （No more than 3 words）

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According to the author, why does a couple probably fight？（No more than 4 words）

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How do you know what you don't want in a man? （No more than 5 words）

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What suggestion does the passage mainly give? （No more than 10 words）

I went to a local post office to send a gift to Florida yesterday afternoon. When I __1  _ the door, there were many people waiting there. A bit   2  , I decided to calmly wait for my turn to place the precious package on the    3  .
Since I didn’t    4  the tape to seal(封住)the box, I went to buy the tape. As I   5 secure the top of the box, a woman in front of me, a similar situation, asked if she could use some    6  . I gave her some and helped her put the gift into her    7  . Then a woman behind me also asked me if she could have some tape, since her envelop had ripped and I gladly    8  it to her.
When the woman  in front of me    9  who I was sending the package to, I explained that my 80-year-old   10  Selma lives in Florida, 1200 miles from my home. She has a(n)   11  
neighbor named Diane who has, on several occasions, accompanied her to the hospital. My mom  12   her “her angel” and had asked me to send her two willow tree angel.
As we spoke, the line moved and she offered me a place in front of her. I was   13  and thanked her. At that moment, the other people in front of her ushered me in front of them by the time
I __14  the counter, we were all smiling and laughing and I thanked them sincerely.
A few inches of tape can seal the world    15  .

Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to perform euthanasia(安乐死)—that’s to say, doctors are permitted to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. Word that the law was passed by the vote of 15 to 10 immediately flashed on the Internet and was picked up by John, the director of the Right to Die Society of Canada, who posted it on the group’s homepage online, saying, “This isn’t merely something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”
The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill Law has left physicians and citizens trying to deal with its moral and practical influence. Some have breathed sighs of relief; but others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the law. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia--where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part—other states are going to consider making a similar law. In the U. S. and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes (多米诺骨牌) to start falling.
Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death--probably by a deadly injection or pill--to end suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as incurably ill by two doctors. After a "cooling off" period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill Law means he can get on with living without the disturbing fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. "I' m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks," he says.
【小题1】According to the text, which of the following statements is TURE?

第二节完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文．掌握其大意，然后从36-55各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项。                                                     
My 23-year-old son Dan stood in the doorway, ready to say goodbye to his home. In a couple of hours he was going to fly out to France. He was going to be away for at least a year to learn a foreign language and __36__ life in a foreign country.
It was a milestone in Dan’s life, a change from school days to   37  . When we were to say goodbye, I   38   closely at his face. I would like to provide him with good   39_  that would last longer than here and now.
But not a sound came over my lips. I   40   motionless and silent, looking    41__    my son’s green eyes.
I knew that this wasn’t the first time I    42    such an opportunity pass me by. When Daniel was a little boy, I followed him to the bus on his first day in preschool. I   43   the excitement in his hand that held mine when the bus came round the corner. He looked at me —just _ _44    he did now. And then he boarded the bus and   45  . The bus drove away. And I hadn’t     46   a word.
Some ten years later, a similar experience    47  . His mother and I drove him to the university where he was going to   48  . Dan was ill in bed when I wanted to say goodbye.  __49   the words let me down. I only murmured something like “I hope you are   50   , Dan.” Then I turned around and left.
Now I stood in front of him and recalled all the   51    when I hadn’t make use of those opportunities. Why does it have to be so    52    to tell your son what you feel? My mouth was
53   , and I knew I would only say a few words.
“Dan,” I   54   stammered out（结结巴巴地说）, “if I had the choice myself, I would have   
55    you.” That was all I could say. It was nothing, and yet it was everything.
36. A．experiment B．experience       C．business    D．knowledge
37. A．neighborhood    B．childhood C．adulthood D．brotherhood
38. A．looked       B．fixed C．glared       D．stared
39. A．gift     B．support     C．skill  D．advice
40. A．walked       B．stood C．sat     D．wondered
41. A．like     B．for    C．at      D．into
42. A．made  B．had   C．let     D．got
43. A．felt     B．knew C．found       D．realized
44. A．when  B．as      C．since D．once
45. A．enjoyed      B．ran    C．left    D．disappeared
46. A．heard  B．said   C．gave  D．left
47. A．took place  B．took on     C．turned out D．turned up
48. A．play    B．visit  C．study D．search
49. A．Luckily      B．Once C．Again       D．Therefore
50. A．stronger     B．happier     C．greater      D．better
51. A．times  B．places       C．days  D．ways
52. A．eager  B．important  C．difficult    D．lovely
53. A．wet     B．dry    C．anxious     D．painful
54. A．directly      B．finally      C．kindly      D．nervously
55. A．loved  B．praised     C．supported  D．chosen

Farming was once the chief way of life in nearly every country. People cannot live without food, and nearly all their food comes from crops and animals raised on farms. Not many people farm for a living any more, but farming remains the most important work in the world.

    Before the nineteenth century, the typical American family lived on a small farm. They raised pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, and planted corn, fruits, garden vegetables, and wheat. Everyone worked long and hard, but the results were often poor. Families barely harvested enough food for themselves. This situation began to change during the last half of the 1800's and it changed remarkably(明显地) in the next century.

Scientific methods and labor-saving machinery have made farming increasingly productive. The development of improved plant varieties and fertilizers has helped double and even triple the production of some major crops. More scientific animal care and animal raising have helped increase the amount of meat and products that animals produce. At the same time, the use of tractors and other modern farm equipment has sharply reduced the need for farm labor.

As farming has become less important as a way of life in the United States, it has become more important as a source which offers materials to industry. Today's successful farmers are experts not just in agriculture but also in accounting, marketing, and finance. Farms that are not run in a similar way have great difficulty surviving.

We are told in the first paragraph about ____.

A. the history of farming                       B. the importance of farming  

C. the development of farming                  D. the changes of farming

Which of the following describes American farming before the 19^th century?

A. Farmers didn’t work hard on their farms.  

B. Farmers used tractors to help them.

C. Farming was the main way of living for most people.

D. Farmers could supply materials to industry.

Crop production has increased greatly now thanks to all the following EXCEPT __.

   A. scientific methods                 B. labor- saving machinery    

C. farmers’ hard work                 D. chemical fertilizers

The passage mainly talks about_____.

   A. the advantages of American farming              B. the changes in American farming 

C. the situation of American farms                  D. how rapidly farming has developed