B

 You are standing under the most famous neon lights in the centre of London, waiting to cross the road. Suddenly the traffic stops. You hear the distant sounds of cheering, clapping and shouting. Then, like a multi-colored train, 2, 000 people with wheels on their feet zoom past you. You have just witnessed the London Skate, a twice weekly roller-skate(溜旱冰) event that attracts people in their hundreds and thou-

sands London. Skate is a completely free tour of the streets of London -the only condition is that you go along on roller-skates. It lasts between two and three hours and by the end of it you have skated between 10 and 12 miles. The skate snakes round the streets of London along several different routes. Many of the routes pass by tourist attractions such as Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. Marshals (交通协调员) go ahe-  of the group, stopping the traffic so that people can skate as safely as possible. Everyone is welcome to take part and people from the age of 4 to 63 years old join the fun. "I love it very much, it is amazing. It feels just like a carnival (狂欢节)，" said Celeste Beverage regular skater.

Roller-skating is really taking off across Europe and America. It is a very good way to keep fit and can be practised anywhere there is a smooth surface. Many big cities in Western Europe and in the US now ha- ve a regular group skating event. The biggest skates take place in Paris and Munich and tens of thousands of fans show up on warm evenings. "Roller-skating is taking over the world," said Julian Grenoble, a 25-   year-old ski shop employee from London. Grenoble went to the Paris-Roller (Paris skate) regularly until he moved to Britain.

"It's so exciting to skate in Paris. Everyone skates so fast and puts in their best efforts!" he said. The Paris Roller is well known because of the huge attendance, the presence of marshals and the police protection. Paris is a great city for roller-skating because of its long wide streets and smooth surfaces. Roller-skating is also becoming more popular in China among young people and children. Skating fans' favorite places to practise in China are big squares.

60. We can infer from the passage that London Skate Event ________.

A. is probably supported by the city government

B. attracts a great many tourists from all over the world

C. usually causes a lot of traffic problems

D. draws people of all ages into the sport

61. The underlined phrase "taking off " in the passage means________ .

A. rising from the ground

B. becoming popular

C. setting out

D. getting exciting

62. Paris is regarded as one of the most suitable places for roller-skating because ________.

A. a large number of roller players attend it

B. the police protect the roller skaters

C. the streets are safe, wide and smooth

D. the event usually takes place on warm evenings

63. This article mainly talks about________ .

A. places and streets for roller-skating

B. roller-skating in big cities

C. London Skate Event

D. roller skaters in different countries

Friedrich Dobl, a Yugoslav working in Germany, was fed up with traffic jams. At long weekends and holiday times when he wanted to get him quickly he always found himself behind hundreds of other cars moving slowly along the notorious foreign workers’ route through Germany and Austria.

How easy it all was for police and emergency services. A siren, a flashing light? And like magic everyone was out the way. Going home from work one night he passed a garage. And there in front of him was the answer to his problems. An old ambulance(救护车) was for sale. The red cross had been removed. But not the flashing light, and the siren. He tried the light. It flashed magnificently. He tried the siren. That too sounded impressive. He bought the ambulance and opened up for himself a dream world of motoring. It began early in the morning, all his luggage in the back of the ambulance and motorway in Germany looking reasonably clear. Soon, as always, a long line of traffic appeared ahead. He switched on the flashing light and set off the siren. Cars swiftly slowed and pulled off the fast lane. Other cars stopped and drivers waved him ahead to an open road all his own. In record time he crossed the border into Austria. The big bluff was working. Police even waved him through the confusion caused by an accident.

But then the Yugoslav made his big mistake. Until then he had only stopped for petrol. Now he was driving past a real accident, lights flashing , to late realize that it was not another traffic jam as he assumed. They stopped him, and after hearing the story of his ride across two countries fined him 12. 5 pounds.

1.At long weekends and holidays Friedrich Dobl used to ____.

2.Why did he decide to buy the ambulance?

3.The red cross had been removed ____.

4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

It was a year since Susan, 34, became blind．She was   1   thrown into a world of darkness, anger, and self-pity．

       Once so independent, Susan now felt   2   , knowing that her sight was never going to return．But her husband Mark was determined to help her gain the   3   to become independent again．

       When Susan felt ready to   4   to her job, Mark accompanied（陪伴） Susan to and from work each day．Mark knew it was only a matter of time   5   Susan was able to ride the bus by herself．He believed in her．

       Two weeks passed and Susan decided to   6   the trip on her own．

       Monday morning arrived, and for the first time they went their   7   ways．Four days passed smoothly．    8   Friday morning, Susan took the bus to work as usual．As she was   9   her ticket money to get off the bus, the driver said, "How I envy（羡慕）you．"

       "What do you mean?" Susan asked．

       The driver answered, "Every morning for the   10   week, a fine looking gentleman has been standing across the corner  11   you get off the bus．He makes sure you cross the street

   12   and enter your office building．Then he blows you a kiss and walks away．" Tears of  

  13   streamed down Susan's cheeks．

       She was lucky, for he had given her a gift more powerful than   14   , a gift she didn't need to see to believe—the gift of love that can brighten darkness．

1．A．naturally                B．carelessly           C．nervously           D．suddenly

2．A．helpless                B．angry                 C．surprised           D．pleased

3．A．energy                 B．confidence          C．hope                  D．comfort

4．A．go                       B．come                  C．return                 D．get

5．A．before                 B．after                  C．since                 D．when

6．A．take                      B．manage               C．operate                D．try

7．A．special                 B．separate            C．common           D．usual

8．A．At                      B．By                     C．On                    D．In

9．A．spending               B．costing                C．paying                D．taking

10．A．late                    B．following           C．half                  D．past

11．A．noticing              B．watching           C．seeing                D．helping

12．A．safely               B．quietly                C．carefully           D．quickly

13．A．sadness              B．bitterness           C．happiness           D．pain

14．A．work               B．eyesight         C．courage          D．help

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s lives amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.
All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind in another time zone. Again, spending too long at computer results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.
However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing, or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.
There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestors faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.
【小题1】 The new products become more and more time-saving because       .

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s lives amazingly．Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed．Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending．Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts （吹嘘） of saving precious seconds in handling tasks．

       All this saves time, but at a price．When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so．We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind in another time zone．Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers．Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about．

       However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems．We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing, or even just one thing at a time．Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world．

       There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle．No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern．There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this．Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestors faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone．Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence．

1．The new products become more and more time-saving because          ．

       A．time is limited                                     B．our love of speed seems never-ending   

       C．the prices are increasingly high              D．the manufacturers boast a lot

2．What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

       A．Simple life in the past．                        B．Imaginary life．                                  

       C．Times of inventions．                          D．Time for constant activity．

3．What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?

       A．Objective．         B．Critical．             C．Optimistic．        D．Negative．

4．What does the passage mainly discuss?

       A．Machinery and human beings．            B．The present and past times．               

       C．Imaginations and inventions．               D．Modern technology and its influence．