阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36-55所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项。

There is a beautiful story about a child playing with a vase his mother had left on the table for a few moments. When the mother turned   16  the sound of her son’s crying she saw that his  17   was in the vase and was apparently stuck. She   18  to help him and pulled and pulled until the child cried out   19 . But the hand was stuck fast（牢固地）. How would they get it out? The father suggested   20  the vase but it was quite valuable and the child’s hand might be cut in the   21 _. Yet he knew that if all else   22  there would be no other alternative.

So he said to the boy, “Now, let’s make one more   23 . Open your hand and stretch your   24  out straight, as I’m doing, and then pull!” “  25  Dad,” said the boy, “if I do that I’ll   26  my penny!”

The boy had had a coin in his hand   27  and was holding it   28 in his tight little fist. And he wasn’t   29  to open his hand and lose it. But  30  he opened his hand it came out of the vase easily.

The father said to the boy, “What are you holding onto so tightly as to hinder (阻碍) your walk with God? That vase can be  31  to the entrance to the Kingdom of God. It is narrow yet quite  32   to pass in, but first you must open your hand to God and   33  earthly（世俗的）things to fall. If we keep our fists   34  and hold fast to what we have and keep it for ourselves, we will be unable to   35  hold of the hand of God. Open your hand to the hand of God and you will see great things take place.”

For many years, I was sure that my suffering was because of my size. I believed that when the weight disappeared, it would take old wounds, hurts, and rejections with it.

Many obese（overweight）people also mistakenly believe that changing our bodies will fix everything. Perhaps our worst mistake is believing that being thin means being loved, being special, and being cherished. We imagine what it will be like when we reach the long-awaited goal. We work very hard to realize this dream. Then, at last, we find ourselves there.

But we often gain back what we have lost. Even so, we continue to believe that next time it will be different. Next time, we will keep it off. Next time, being thin will finally realize its promise of happiness, and of course, love.

It took me a long while to know that there was something more for me to learn about beauty. Beauty standards are different with culture. In Somoa a woman is not considered attractive unless she weighs more than 200 pounds. More importantly, if it’s happiness that we want, why not put our energy there rather than on the size of our body? Why not look inside? Many of us try hard to change our body, but with no result. We have to find a way to live comfortably inside our body and make friends with and cherish ourselves. When we change our attitudes toward ourselves,  the whole world changes.

1.The passage tries to tell us the importance of ______.

2.What does the underlined word “everything” (paragraph 2) mean?

3.What can be inferred about the author?

4.According to the author, what is the common view of those who have lost some weight first and gained it back later?

   I had never seen sand dunes（沙丘）before. If you go to the seaside in Britain, you may see some small hills of sand, but nothing very impressive. Of course, Africa is home to many beautiful “sandscapes”, but I was in China, so I went to Dunhuang.

I had spent my first day looking at the beautiful Mogao caves. Now I wanted to experience something very different.

I have been walking in Asia, Europe and America, but nothing prepared me for walking over hills of sand. Whenever I took a step up a hill, my feet would sink into the sand and move backwards. Sometimes it seemed as if I were moving in the wrong direction.

I wanted to see the sunset so I had to climb to the top of the highest sand dune. The sun was beating down upon my back as I walked slowly over the sand. Some plants had managed to survive in the dry ground but not many.

As I climbed higher, the hills of sand became steeper and my feet started to slip further backwards. I ended up with my hands and knees, crawling (爬行)upwards through the top. I just let go if I would fall the way down. But I refused to give up: inch by inch, I made my way to the top of the sand dune.

When I got there I was amazed by what I saw. The sand formed a very sharp point, just like a knife-edge. One side of the dune was bathed in sunshine, the other covered by shade. As I looked into the distance, the same pattern was repeated on all of the hilltops, and the difference between dark and light was beautiful.

As the sun began to sink, the shadows grew longer and the light became warm and orange. The wind had come to life and sand was blown against my legs as I walked along the dunes. Soon it was getting dark and I could only just make out the line of footprints that marked my journey to the top of the hill. I slowly made my way down to the bottom, my path lit by the dying sun.

65 The author probably went to climb the sand dunes __________ after he arrived at Dunhuang.

A. on the afternoon of the first day       B. on the afternoon of the second day

C. on the evening of the second day     D. on the evening of the first day

66. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Africa has many beautiful sand dunes.

B. The author could see nothing but his own footprints on his way back.

C. The author had seen some kinds of sand dunes before he visited Dunhuang

D. What attracted the author most was that the sand formed a very sharp point.

67. The author got to the top of the highest hill of sand _____________.

A. on his hands and knees all the way

B. with falls to the bottom many times

C. on his hands and knees in the last leg (一段旅程)

D. with a few rests all the way                

68. The author mainly wants to tell readers about_____________.

A. the beautiful sunset         B. his experience of climbing the sand hills

C. the joy of traveling in nature  D. the difficulty of climbing the sand dunes

Everyday, 340 million people speak it. One billion people are learning it and it is said that by 2050, half of the world’s population will be using it. What are we talking about? That global language—English.

The English language started in Britain in the 5th century. It is a mixed language. It was built up when German. Scandinavian and French invaders settled in England and created a common language for communication.

Today it is the official language of the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Ireland as well as many islands in the Caribbean . Many other countries and regions use it for politics and business, for example, India. Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines. English is also one of the official languages of Hong Kong.

But global advertising and pop music mean that in most countries, you will see or hear some English. Thanks to McDonalds, we all know about "burgers". "fries" and "milkshakes". Songs by Madonna, Britney Spears and Celine Dion are in English. We can sing along, even if we do not understand what we are singing!

English is a messy (杂乱的) language. Every year, dictionaries include new words that talk about popular culture, for example, computer-related words such as "blogging", "download" and "chatroom". Also included are words that teenagers use. Who does not know "cool", "OK" and “hello” ?

Other languages also influence English. Many English words come from French. Words like "cafe" and expressions like "c'est la vie" (that is life) are all part of the English language. On the other hand, the French language includes English words like "le weekend" and "le camping". German words are also part of English. Words like "kindergarten" come from the German language.

Recently, British people have become interested in "yoga". But the word comes from an ancient Hindu language in India.

1.The English language has a history of  ______.

2.The underlined expression “thanks to ” can be replaced by ______.

3.Which of the following statements is true about the language of English ?

4. Many countries and regions use it for politics and business except______.

阅读理解

　　Have you ever asked yourself why children go to school? You will probably say that they go to school to learn both their native and some foreign languages, maths, history, but what do they learn these things for? And are these things all that they learn at school?

　　We send our children to school to prepare them for a bright future. Many of the things they study at school have some practical use in their life. But is that the only reason why they go to school?

　　There is more in education than just memorizing facts. We go to school above all to learn how to learn independently(独立的)or teach ourselves, so that when we finish our schooling, we can continue to learn. A man who really knows how to learn will always be more likely to succeed in his life than those who are not good at self-taught. The educated person, whenever he has to do something new, will rapidly teach himself how to do it in the best way. The uneducated person, on the other hand, is either unable to do something new or does it badly. Modern education, therefore, should emphasize (强调)both knowledge transferring and general ability cultivating(能力培养).

1．Children go to school to ________.

[　　]

A．learn languages only

B．learn science only

C．get strong and tall

D．learn many kinds of knowledge

2．Parents hope ________ .

[　　]

A．their children will be successful when they grow up

B．their children master a certain skill

C．they can teach their children themselves

D．they can do all for their children's future

3．Most probably, the person ________ will be a great success in his/her life.

[　　]

A．who's good at all the lessons

B．who keeps healthy

C．who's learned how to learn on his own

D．who does as they say

4．Which of the following is TRUE?

[　　]

A．The uneducated person can't get much money .

B．Pupils should learn how to find the best way to deal with problems they meet.

C．The uneducated person lives a hard life.

D．Teachers and parents should tell the children everything they will meet.