If you are a recent social science graduate who has had to listen to jokes about unemployment from your computer major classmates, you may have had the last laugh. There are many advantages for the social science major because this high-tech" Information Age" demands people who are flexi­ble (灵活的) and who have good communication skills.

There are many social science majors in large companies who fill important positions. For exam­ple, a number of research studies found that social science majors had achieved greater managerial success than those who had technical training or pre-professional courses. Studies show that social science majors are most suited for change, which is the leading feature (特点) of the kind of high­ speed, high-pressure, high-tech world we now live in.

Social science majors are not only experiencing success in their long-term company jobs, but they are also finding jobs more easily. A study showed that many companies had filled a large percentage of their entry-level positions with social science graduates. The study also showed that the most sought-after quality in a person who was looking for a job was communication skills, noted as "very important" by 92 percent of the companies. Social science majors have these skills, often without knowing how important they are. It is probably due to these skills that they have been offered a wide variety of positions.

Finally, although some social science majors may still find it more difficult than their technical­ly trained classmates to land the first job, recent graduates report that they don't regret their choice of study.

72. By saying that" you may have had the last laugh" in the first paragraph, the author means that you may have ________.

A. shared the jokes with computer majors

C. found jobs more easily than computer majors

B. earned as much as computer majors

D. stopped joking about. computer majors

73. Compared with graduates of other subjects, social science graduates _______.

A. are ready to change when situations change.

B. are better able to deal with difficulties

C. are equally good at computer skills

D. are likely to give others pressure

74. The underlined word “ land” in the last paragraph probably means ______.

A. keep for some time               B. immediately start

C. successfully get                     D. lose regretfully

75. According to the text, what has made it easy for social science graduates to find jobs?

A. Willingness to take low-paid jobs.

B. Skills in expressing themselves.

C. Readiness to gain high-tech knowledge.

D. Part-time work experience.

I grew up poor---living in the housing projects (住房) with six brothers, three sisters, a varying assortment (各式各样东西的混合) of foster kids (养子), my father, and a wonderful mother, Scarlette Hunley. We had little money and few worldly goods, but plenty of love and attention. I was  36  and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still  37  a dream.
My dream was  38 . By the time I was sixteen, I could crush a baseball, and hit anything that moved on the baseball field. I was also  39 : My high school coach Jarvis, who not only believed in me, but taught me how to believe in myself. He  40  me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction (信念). One particular incident with Coach Jarvis changed my life forever.
It was the summer between my junior and senior years, and a friend  41  me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket—cash for dates with girls, certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and the start of savings for a  42  for my mother. The prospect of a summer job was attractive and interesting, and I wanted to jump at the opportunity. Then I realized I would have to  43  summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing.
When I told Coach Jarvis, he was  44  as I expected him to be. “You have your whole life to work，” he said. “Your  45  days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them.”
I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the words that would explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his  46  to me.
“How much are you going to make at this job, son?” He demanded. “3.5 dollars an hour.” I replied. “Well,” he asked, “Is $3.5 an hour the price of a dream?”
That question, the plainness of it, laid bare for me the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I dedicated myself to sports that summer and with the year I was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and was  47  a $20,000 contract. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1998 for $1.7 million, and bought my mother the house of my dreams.

BRITAIN is a popular tourist place. But tours of the country have pros and cons.

                             Good news

Free museums: No charge for outstanding collections of art and antiquities(古董).

Pop music: Britain is the only country to rival (与……比敌)the US on this score.

Black cabs: London taxi drivers know where they are going even if there are never enough of them at weekends or night.

Choice of food: Visitors can find everything from Ethiopian to Swedish restaurants.

Fashion: Not only do fashion junkies love deeply and respect highly brand names such as Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen; street styles are justly loved, too.

                             Bad news

Poor service: “It’s part of the image of the place. People can dine out on the rudeness they have experienced,” says Professor Tony Seaton of Luton University’s International Tourism Research Center.

Poor public transport: Trains and buses are promised to defeat the keenest tourists, although the over-crowded London tube is inexplicably(不可解的) popular.

Lack of language: Speaking slowly and clearly may not get many foreign visitors very far, even in the tourist traps.

Rain: Still in the number one complaint.

No air-conditioning: So that even splendidly hot summer become as unbearable as the downpours.

Overpriced hotels: The only European country with a higher rate of tax on hotel rooms is Denmark.

Licensing hours: Alcohol is in short supply after 11 p.m. even in 24-hour cities.

What do tourists complain most?

A. Poor service.

B. Poor public transport.

C. Rain. 

D. Overpriced hotels.

What do we learn about pop music in Britain and the US through this passage?

A. Pop music in Britain is better than that in the US.

B. Pop music in Britain is as good as that in the US.

C. Pop music in Britain is worse than that in the US.

D. Pop music in Britain is quite different from that in the US.

When is alcohol not able to get?

A. At 9:00p.m.      B. At 10:00p.m.     C. At 11:00p.m.     D. At 12:00p.m.

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. You have to pay to visit the museums.     B. It’s very cheap to travel by taxi there.

C. You cannot find Chinese food there.      D. The public transport is poor there.

       Are your table manners much better when you are eating  at a friend’s home or in a restaurant than they are at your own home ?Probably so ,   45    you are aware that people judge you by your table manners .You take special pains when you are eating    46   .Have you ever stopped to realize how much less self-conscious you would be on such occasions if    47   table manners had become a habit for you ?You can make them a habit by   48    good table manners at home.

       Good manners at mealtimes help you and those around you to feel  49     .This is true at home as much as it is true in someone else’s home or in a restaurant. Good  50    make meals more enjoyable for everyone at the table.

       By this time you probably know quite well what good table manners are .You    51   that keeping your arms on the table ,talking with your   52   full ,and wolfing down your food are not considered good manners .You know also that if you are mannerly ,you say “Please” and “Thank you” and ask for things to be passed to you.

       Have you ever thought of a pleasant attitude as being    53     to good table manners ? Not only are pleasant mealtimes enjoyable ,but they aid digestion .The dinner table is a  54    for enjoyable conversation. It should never become a battleground. You are definitely growing in social maturity（成熟）when you try to be an agreeable table companion.

Head held high, hands firmly gripping her walker, Mary Arnott, 99, walks slowly with dignity through the women’s changing room at the Etobicoke Olympium pool, past the teenage girls who have been blow-drying their hair for half an hour, into the mist of the showers, then out the door and first one into the heated pool. She jumps over to the shallow end, stopping to talk to friends—everyone knows Arnott here;she swims twice a week and treats it as a job—about their children, the viciousness（谬误）of bridge and their health.

 In fact, Arnott is an exception to the exception. Not only has she lived 20 years past the average lifespan for Canadians, she’s healthy, her mind is sharp and she lives independently.

Born in Brooklyn on May 28, 1909, Arnott was raised on Staten Island. She survived scarlet fever（猩红热）, helped bring up four siblings（兄弟姐妹）after her mother died in 1923 and worked as a secretary in New York City for 12 years, earning＄35 a week and a＄150 bonus at Christmas.

 Now she’s happy living in a one-room apartment with a kitchen and a bathroom in her daughter’s house. She wears a hearing aid, does the cryptic crossword（有隐义的纵横字谜）with a magnifying glass, and can’t really explain why she has lived so well so long.

Until recently, she has still liked to drink red wine—she used to drink two glasses before supper each day. It’s more likely genes, she admits. Her interest in other people and life in general may have had something to do with it. Asked if a star photographer can take her picture at the pool, Arnott seems cheerful.

“I look good in a swimsuit, ” she says, nodding her head firmly. “I look better in a swimsuit than I do in pants. ”

31. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A. Mary Arnott likes to swim and is known to the local people.

B. Mary Arnott is afraid to swim at the swimming pool.

C. Mary Arnott can’t swim but she likes water.

D. Mary Arnott just likes to talk to her friends at the bank of the swimming pool.

32. Which of the following is TRUE as for Mary Arnott as an exception to the exception?

A. She has lived 30 years past the average lifespan for Canadians.

B. She’s healthy and her mind is sharp.

C. She lives with her daughter.

D. She likes to live with her children and has a happy life.

33. What happened when Mary Arnott was 14?

A. She had a disease called scarlet fever but survived.

B. Her mother died and she had to help her father to bring up her sisters and brothers.

C. She found a job as a secretary in New York City.

D. She was born in Brooklyn.

34. What may Mary Arnott think of her living alone?

A. Bitter.                        B. Happy.

C. Meaningless.               D. Boring.

35. If someone asks about swimming, Mary Arnott may ________.

A. like pants                  B. like swimsuit better

C. like to sit at the bank         D. like to swim with girls