I’m a pig, and my son is a rabbit. I have snakes for daughters, and my wife, believe it or not, is a dragon! Do I live in a zoo? No, of course not! I am talking about Chinese zodiac signs（十二生肖）. Depending on the year of your birth, each person has an animal for a sign. That’s why I am a pig and my wife is a dragon. If you, like me, were born in the year of the pig, then you are brave, thoughtful and loyal. The year of the pig is filled with good fortune.

　　 Now let’s take a closer look at this interesting animal.

　　 Pigs were first raised by man about 9,000 years ago, and are still a very common farm animal in many parts of the world. We don’t just use pigs for their meat — almost every part of the animal is used. The hair is used for artists’ brushes. The fat is used to make floor wax, rubber and plastics.

　   Pigs have also been important in the world of entertainment. In 1995 the film ‘Babe’ starred a loveable talking pig as its main character. The film won an Oscar and was nominated （提名）for 6 more. In England you can even go to watch pig racing. A farmer, Rob Shepherd, has been raising money for charity by holding pig races on his farm. The events have been very successful. People don’t just want to eat pigs, it seems!

　   Pigs also play an important role in the English language. For example, if someone says that he will travel to the sun one day, you can say “pigs might fly!” to him. Hungry? Well then, you can “pig out” and eat lots of food. And what if someone rescues you? Well, you can say that they “saved your bacon”.

1. The writer wrote the first paragraph in a ______ tone.

　　A. sad　　　　　　B. confused       　C. serious　　　　 D. humorous

2. We may know from the passage that ______.

　　A. people in England like pigs more than other animals

　　B. pigs are more useful than ordinary people imagine

　　C. pigs are the first animals raised by man

　　D. more people don’t want to eat pigs now

3.The underlined sentence “pigs might fly!” in the fifth paragraph means “______”.

　　A. What you have just said is impossible

　　B. Pigs are great animals

　　C. I don’t understand your words

　　D. I can’t agree with you more

4.Which diagram shows the structure（结构） of the passage?

　　　　　A 　　　　　　　　B 　　　　　　　C　　　　　　　　　 D

America is growing older. Fifty - eight years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. To day, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect（影响）American society in many ways—education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society—one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior（行为） is suitable（合适）at various , ages.

　　A person s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29 - year - old university president or a 35 - year -old grandmother, or a 70 year - old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.

　　Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother— or my father— was at my age. ”No one says“Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.

1.It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America ________ .

2.The underlined word “one” refers to ________ .

3.“Act your age” means people should ________ .

4.If a 25 - year - old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it ________ .

D
　　As the country's economy continues to steam ahead,once popular forms of entertainment,such as Karaoke(卡拉OK),card games and even boxing bars,appear to be losting their attractiveness.Stressed out white - collar wokers are camping out on rooftops,smashing(砸）up restaurants,pretending to be children and even visiting cemeteries in a effort to ease the pressure of modern life.
　　Consider the members of Shanghai's Cat Rain club.By day,this group of young women work executive (决策管理的) jobs,but by night they climb buildings so they can spend the night on the roof."You feel relaxed when you're sitting on the roof,looking up to the sky and chatting with friends," said Gong Ying,25.
　　The stress of work is not just limited to people in Shanghai.A recently opened restaurant in Beijing encourages customers(顾客) to smash plates --- as long as they are willing to pay to replace them.Some workers even wish to return to their childhoods.Recently,hundreds of people took part in a festival in which adults pretended to be children.It was an adultsonly event,and participants could read comics and eat sweets all day.
　　Scenic places such as parks and rivers can also help people relax and put things in perspective.But a cemetery?
　　Cemetery companies in Shanghai organized visits to local graveyards for stressed - out workers in March.The participants were taken to quiet spots in the cemetery where they could think about life and their futures."Pressure may bring us unhappiness,but it doesn't mean we can't find ways out,"says Chen Bin,a rooftop camping fan with still some other interests."Life should be imaginative."
　　68.Peopel are going to those new activities mainly for ______.
　　　A.recreation   B.new ideas   C.physical refreshment   D.psychological relaxation
　　69.The underlined phrase "put things in perspective"in the 4th paragraph possibly means______.
　　　A.have a good rest          B.get over negative feelings
　　　C.take physical exercise      D.judge things correctly
　　70.When Chen Bin says:"Life should be imaginative",she means______.
　　　A.life should be lived in imaginations
　　　B.the dead can be alive in our imagination
　　　C.people should create new ways of life
　　　D.we should view life positively