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.

Tips on Making a Decision

Decision-making never ends. It is an important part of everyday life, and it is how we choose our path.   1. Sometimes we leave things to luck. Other times we take a more active role. Here are some of the ways we usually make decisions.

◆ Make a list of pros and cons（利与弊）. When you try to make a difficult decision, you can take out a piece of paper, and then list the pros and cons of each choice.   2. 

◆ Ask a friend.  3. While I don’t think this is always true, I can see how friends can point out certain things that we may be unaware of. By getting a choice from a third party who knows us well, we can get good ideas that we didn’t take into consideration before.

◆ 4. Some decisions require that we know more about the subject we are deciding on. Making a choice without first doing some research can turn things into a nightmare（噩梦）, so don’t hurry. Take your time to search Google or Wikipedia or find a forum（论坛）to ask a couple of questions. Be careful and check your sources.

◆ Go to an expert. Seldom are we the most knowledgeable person on a particular subject. Our friends can sometimes be no better.  5. Investing（投资）? Talk to a market analyst. Feeling depressed? Go to see a psychologist. Not sure how to write a book? Discuss tips with other authors.

A．Do your research.

B．Leave our choices to chance.

C．We make decisions in all kinds of ways.

D．These can be important questions to ask.

E.This can help provide a bigger picture of what you are working with.

F.In this case it may be better to get advice from an expert in the field.

G.Some studies have shown that others may know us better than ourselves.

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 fears 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 neighbors.

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 people's 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.

1.According to the passage, people usually talk to their neighbors_____.

A．in the hope of learning something new

B．in the hope of getting on well

C．about whatever they have prepared

D．about whatever they want to

2.According to the author, people make conversation to______.

A．achieve success in life

B．exchange ideas

C．overcome their fear of silence

D．prove their value

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

A．To persuade people to stop making noises．

B．To explain why people keep talking．

C．To discuss why people like talking about weather．

D．To encourage people to join in conversations．

4.By "the buzzing of a fly"(Para.1), the author means"_____".

A．the voice of a chatterbox

B．meaningless talk sound

C．a low whispering

D．the noise of an insect

BEIJING, Sep. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- The extra-large model baby in the Spain Pavilion（馆） was “conceived”（构思）by a Spanish filmmaker, Shi Yingying reports.

Visitors admiring the 6.5-meter-high giant baby, Miguelin, in the Spain Pavilion may be surprised to realize that it was not the concept of a famous designer or a group of groundbreaking engineers. It came from one filmmaker’s interpretation of the meaning of “Better City, Better Life”.

Spanish director Isabel Coixet developed the idea after being asked to contribute to Expo 2010 Shanghai.

“They asked me to do something to tell the Chinese audience about Spain in the future and the first thing jumping to my mind was a baby,” said Coixet. “If we really fight to have better cars, better cities and better lives, it’s for them - for our children.”

Despite her Spanish heritage, Coixet doesn’t focus on making Spanish films or using Spain as the setting. Fans of her various award-winning films, including My Life Without Me, The Secret Life of Words and Elegy, may not even be aware of Coixet’s Spanish background.

“The borders between countries are just illusion（假象）,” said Coixet. “Some directors feel really comfortable telling stories that belong to their territory.”

But Coixt feels the opposite: “I'm more comfortable outside my country. It gives me a strange freedom.”

One of her favorite things about being a director is the freedom. “The thing is that the world is wide and this freedom lets you make films everywhere,” she said.

Coixet’s curiosity took her latest exploration and movie work to Japan. In the movie Map of the Sound of Tokyo, the Catalan actor Sergi Lopez is the owner of a wine shop in Tokyo, and Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi is a young woman who works both as a fishmonger and as a hired killer.

The conflict of the two people's very different worlds and the tango-like relationship they develop is just one representation of what Coixet is able to produce by mixing cultures.

While she doesn’t know if she will shoot a film in Shanghai, two things have caught her attention: Shanghainese women and crickets（蟋蟀）.

After just arriving in the city, she was surprised by the mix of old Chinese culture in a booming chief city “Behind the skyscrapers, there is a flower and bird market with heaps of crickets and birdcages in,” she said. “I'm totally amazed with the city.”

The huge baby represents the idea that ______________.

  A. our children are the new generation full of imagination.

  B. our children will develop the friendship between China and Spain.

  C. our children are our future.

  D. our children will understand the meaning of “better city, better life”.

We learn from the passage that Coixet’s award-winning films were set ____________.

  A. only in Spain.                              B. only in Japan.

  C. mainly in the countries outside Spain.      D. mainly in the countries within Europe.

According to Isabel Coixet, a flower and bird market behind the high rises_______________.

  A. shows people in Shanghai are living a rich life spiritually and materially.

  B. reflects prosperity of the market.

  C. indicates the Chinese people are leading a rich life.

  D. represents the traditional culture of China.

From the passage we can learn that ____________.

  A. Isabel Coixet is dissatisfied with the design of the extra-large model baby.

  B. A mix of different cultures is reflected in Isabel Coixet’s films.

  C. Isabel Coixet feels less comfortable while making films all over the world.

  D. Isabel Coixet designed the huge baby according to the requirement of a group of engineers.

请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。
A. Busy parents? Bored children? Do you want something educational to entertain your children while you do     something else? This is the most popular book for the under-fives. Wonderful stories and beautiful pictures. They are promised to be quiet when they open the book. What’s more, it is cheap.
B. Written by Bill Poole, CEO, president, and founder of Life Lead International, it is a good choice for your  children. With an animated fable, the Journey to Newland storybook provides readers with a cast of memorable characters, a captivating story, and a common language to deal with difficult and often emotionally sensitive issues in negotiating change within their organizations.
C. Sorts out some misunderstandings and common confusions of the English language with practical savvy and occasional sass. The Word Book from Writers.com answers simple questions succinctly (is it discreet? or discrete? sensual or sensuous?). Other answers go a step further—with entertaining forays into the quirks and fascinations of English.
D. IELTS consists of four parts: listening, reading, writing and speaking. Listening is very important. Are you confident? Have you made well preparation? IELTS Listening is helpful for your preparation for IELTS, which is supposed to enable you to obtain an overall score.
E. As the world's most popular automotive magazine, Car and Driver informs and entertains people who like cars. It offers the highest quality vehicle tests in the business by applying a discerning eye to every car, pickup truck, van, and sport-utility vehicle that is marketed for consumers. The magazine also covers the latest developments in technology, which affect automobiles and driving.
F. Susan Weinschenk’s excellent ideas on making a perfect speech are so effective that once you own the book, you will become a good speaker. How to organize, how to present, how to conquer your audience become so easy. Speakers will become confident with the guidance of the book.
请阅读以下的人员资料，依据不同人员的需求，进行匹配。
【小题1】Susan comes from China. As a middle school student, she wrote quite a lot of short stories, some of which were published in the newspaper. But sometimes she is confused when she comes across some words and phrases. She wants to find something to help her to sort out the misunderstandings and common confusions of the English language.
【小题2】Arthur has been working in China for about two years. Now he needs a car, for he has to send his daughter to school before he goes to work. Before that he has to collect all kinds of information about cars so as to make a good choice.
【小题3】Ron’s wife is in hospital. He has to take care of the four-year-old John and do all the housework. But John follows him all the time. Ron feels tired and he wants to find something suitable for John, which should be educational and cheap.
【小题4】Li Ming tends to enter the training for IELTS for immigration purpose next term. But he is afraid that his listening is not good enough. He needs more special training on his listening to make well preparations for the IELTS.
【小题5】Alice is now studying in China, and she is especially interested in making a speech. She is invited to make a speech to introduce IELTS for her new classmates next week. She needs a book to help her improve her speech.