Silence is unnatural to man. He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness. In between he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and he feats silence more than anything else. Even his conversation is an attempt to prevent a fearful silence. If he is introduced to another person, and a number of pauses occur in the conversation, he regards himself as a failure, a worthless person, and is full of envy of the emptiest headed chatterbox (喋喋不休的人). He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than the buzzing of a fly, but he is anxious to join in the buzz and to prove that he is a man and not a waxwork figure (蜡塑人像).

    The aim of conversation is not, for the most part, to communicate ideas; it is to keep up the buzzing sound. There are, it must be admitted, different qualities of buzz; there is even a buzz that is as annoying as the continuous noise made by a mosquito (蚊子). But at a dinner party one would rather be a mosquito than a quiet person. Most buzzing, fortunately, is pleasant to the ear, and some of it is pleasant even to the mind. He would be a foolish man if he waited until he had a wise thought to take part in the buzzing with his neighbours.

    Those who hate to pick up the weather as a conversational opening seem to me not to know the reason why human beings wish to talk. Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new. Some of them are content if they are merely allowed to go on making a noise into other peoples ears, though they have nothing to tell them except that they have seen two or three new plays or that they had food in a Swiss hotel At the end of an evening during which they have said nothing meaningful for a long time, they just prove themselves to be successful conservationists

 72. According to the author, people make conversation to ______

   A. exchange ideas             B. prove their value

   C. achieve success in life   D. overcome their fear of silence

 73. By "the buzzing of a fly" (Para. 1), the author means"________”

    A. the noise of an insect              B. a low whispering sound

    C. meaningless talks                   D. the voice of a chatterbox

74. According to the passage, people usually ______talk to their neighbors ______.

    A. about whatever they have prepared

    B. about whatever they want to

    C. in the hope of learning something new

    D. in the hope of getting on well

75. What is the author's purpose in writing the passage? ________.

     A. To discuss why people like talking about weather.

     B. To encourage people to join in conversations.

     C. To persuade people to stop making noises.

     D. To explain why people keep talking.

Our bodies are strengthened by taking exercise.  ______，our minds are developed by learning.

1. A.
   Probably
2. B.
   Likely
3. C.
   Similarly
4. D.
   Generally

Some children want to challenge themselves by learning a language different from ______ their parents speak at home.

A.what               B. that               C. which             D. One

E

Governments and health officials around the world continued to take steps Tuesday against the outbreak of swine flu that has killed scores of people in Mexico and spread to the U.S., Europe and possibly Asia.

By early Tuesday, the swine flu outbreak in Mexico had caused in 152 deaths and more than 1,600 illnesses. So far, at least 113 cases have been proved worldwide, including 64 in the United States; six in Canada; 11 in New Zealand and two each in Spain the United Kingdom and Israel. None has yet resulted in death.

The World Health Organization on Monday raised its alert level from three to four on its six-level scale. The move means the U.N. agency has determined that the virus can transmit

from human to human.

"In this age of global travel, where people move around in airplanes so quickly, there is no region to which this virus could not spread," said Fukuda, assistant director-general of the WHO.

Governments around the world struggled to prevent further outbreak. Some, like China and Russia, banned pork imports from the United States and Mexico. U.S. President Barack Obama said the outbreak was a cause for concern, not for alarm. The government urged travelers to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico.

The latest WHO report listed only seven proved swine flu deaths in Mexico but it was not clear why there was the discrepency.

Mexico City has closed all schools until at least May 6 to help curb(control) the spread of swine flu and ordered 35,00 public venues to close or serve only takeaway meals. In addition, bars, clubs, movie theaters, pool halls, gyms, sport centers and convention halls have been told to close until May 5. Armed police officers are also guarding hospitals in Mexico City while roads and schools in the city of 20 million people are deserted. Officials also have talked about shutting down the bus and subway systems.

57.How many people were found catching swine flu in Spain?

A. 2.                     B. 11.             C. 6.                     D. 64.

58.When learning the outbreak of swine flu, the WHO was ____.

A. calm          B. nervous      C. shocked      D. careful

59. Fukuda’s words suggest that _____.

A. he likes travel by air

B. global travel hasn’t been affected

C.this virus can spread quickly because of global travel

D. planes must be forbidden to take to prevent swine flu

60.The last paragraph mainly tells us _____.

A. Mexico has taken measures to control swine flu

B. Mexico City is too dangerous to live in

C. the normal life in Mexico has been changed

D. people in Mexico are badly in need of help