I needed to buy a digital camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps (快照), maybe occasionally for magazines. Being the cautious type, I fancied a reliable brand. So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations and headed for my nearest big friendly camera store. There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list. And it was on special offer. Oh joy. I pointed at it and asked an assistant, “Can I have one of those?”? He looked perturbed (不安). “Do you want to try it first?” he said. It didn’t quite sound like a question. “Do I need to?” I replied ,“There is nothing wrong with it？” This made him look a bit insulted and I started to feel bad. “No, no. But you should try it,” he said encouragingly. “Compare it with the others. ”
I looked across at the others: shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering a wide range of slightly different prices and discounts, with each company selling a range of models based around the same basic box. With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to take Z and possibly H into account at the same time. But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with: first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model.
But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps by making the right choice, the clever choice, the wise choice. In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen. The assistant seemed a sincere man. So I let him take out of my chosen camera from cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers… and when he started to introduce the special features, I interrupted to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well.
Why do we think that new options still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer an opportunity to avoid facing the fact that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine.
【小题1】The shop assistant insisted that the writer should________.

　 I needed to buy a digital camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps（快照）, maybe occasionally for magazines. Being the cautious type, I fancied a reliable brand. So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations and headed for my nearest big friendly camera store. There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list. And it was on special offer. Oh joy. I pointed at it and asked an assistant, “Can I have one of those?” He looked perturbed（不安）. “Do you want to try it first?” he said. It didn’t quite sound like a question. “Do I need to?” I replied. “There’s nothing wrong with it?” This made him look a bit insulted and I started to feel bad. ‘‘No, no. But you should try. it,’’ he said encouragingly. “Compare it with the others.”

　 I looked across at the others：shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering a wide range of slightly different prices and discounts, with each company selling a range of models based around the same basic box. With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to take Z and possibly H into account at the same time. But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with：first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model.

　 But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps by making the right choice, the clever choice, the wise choice. In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen. The assistant seemed a sincere man. So I let him take out my chosen camera from the cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers…and when he started to introduce the special features, I interrupted to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well.

　 Why do we think that new options（选择）still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer an opportunity to avoid facing the fact that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine.

68. The shop assistant insisted that the writer should　　 .

　A. try the camera to see if there was anything wrong with it

　B. compare the camera he had chosen with the others

　C. get more information about different companies

　 D. trust him and stop asking questions

69. What does the writer mean by “it would be worth half what I paid for it”（Paragraph2）？

　 A. He should get a 50％discount.

　 B. The price of the camera was unreasonably high.

　C. The quality of the camera was not good.

　D. The camera would soon fall in value.

70. It can be inferred from the passage that in the writer’s opinion.

　A. people waste too much money on cameras

　 B. cameras have become an important part of our daily life

　 C. we don’t actually need so many choices when buying a product

　 D. famous companies care more about profit than quality

Once upon a time, there was an island inhabited by: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all the rest of it, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.

    Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

    Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?"

    Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."

    Love decided to ask Vanity(虚荣) who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!"

    "I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.

    Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you."

    "Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"

    Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

    Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way.

What idea did the writer intend to tell us in this passage?

     A. Love takes a long period.                   B. Love gets along without richness.    

C.  Love goes on against Vanity.             D. Love is different from happiness.

Why did all except the elder refuse to take Love with them?

       A. Because they have enough Love already.     

B. Because they don’t need Love.

  C. Because they look down upon Love.

   D. Because in the writer’s opinion, Love has nothing to do with them.

It can be inferred from the passage that the elder probably refers to ________.

A. Cleverness       B. Time       C. Knowledge     D. Beauty

Once upon a time, there was an island inhabited by: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all the rest of it, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.
Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.
When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.
Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?"
Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."
Love decided to ask Vanity(虚荣) who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!"
"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.
Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you."
"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"
Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.
Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way.
【小题1】What idea did the writer intend to tell us in this passage?

Once upon a time, there was an island inhabited by: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all the rest of it, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.

    Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

    Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?"

    Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."

    Love decided to ask Vanity(虚荣) who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!"

    "I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.

    Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you."

    "Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"

    Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

    Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way.

1.What idea did the writer intend to tell us in this passage?

     A. Love takes a long period.                   B. Love gets along without richness.    

C.  Love goes on against Vanity.             D. Love is different from happiness.

2.Why did all except the elder refuse to take Love with them?

       A. Because they have enough Love already.     

B. Because they don’t need Love.

  C. Because they look down upon Love.

   D. Because in the writer’s opinion, Love has nothing to do with them.

3.It can be inferred from the passage that the elder probably refers to ________.

A. Cleverness       B. Time       C. Knowledge     D. Beauty