The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated(愤怒的) when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy."

The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found out the box was empty. He yelled at her, stating, "Don't you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside? The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They're all for you, Daddy."

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.

Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each one of us, as humans beings, have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family members, friends, and God. There is simply no other possession, anyone could hold, more precious than this.

The 3-year-old girl was punished by her father for ________.

A. wasting gold                                   B. wasting wrapping paper

C. putting the box under the Christmas tree         D. bringing the gift to her father

What’s inside the box according to the little girl?

A. nothing             B. air            C. kisses         D. gold wrapping paper

Choose the best title for the passage.

A. The kisses in the box.                 B. A girl and his father 

C. A love story                          D. The box under the Christmas tree.

-- Doing it like this means _______ time.

--I didn’t mean ______ it.

  A. wasting…to do                      B. to waste…doing   

  C. waste…do                            D. wasting…doing 

It is a matter of common observation that although money income keeps going up over the years, we never seem to become richer. Prices are rising continuously. This condition is what we call inflation: the money supply is becoming inflated so that each unit of it becomes less valuable. We have got used to higher and higher rates of inflation in recent years. What could be bought twenty years ago for one pound now costs well over 2 pounds. And at present this rate of inflation seems to be rising rather than falling. If in the real world our money incomes go up at the same rate as prices do. One might think that inflation doesn’t matter. But it does ------.When money is losing value it also loses one of the qualities of a good money—stability of value. It is no longer acceptable as a store of value; and it becomes an unsuitable means of delayed payment. Nobody wants to hold a wasting possession, so people try to get rid of money as quickly as possible. Inflation therefore simply stimulates（刺激）our spending and discourages saving.

1.From the passage we can know that inflation is a situation in which________.

2.．In the writer’s view, if incomes and prices rise at the same rate, ________.

3.．Under inflation people are likely to ________.

4.．We can conclude according to the passage that ________.

5.. Which of the following words is omitted at the end of the underlined sentence “But it does”?

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分；满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中选出最佳选项。
The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated(愤怒的) when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy."
The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found out the box was empty. He yelled at her, stating, "Don't you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside? " The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They're all for you, Daddy."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.
Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.
In a very real sense, each one of us, as humans beings, have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family members, friends, and God. There is simply no other possession, anyone could hold, more precious than this.
56. The 3-year-old girl was punished by her father for ________.
A. wasting gold                          B. wasting wrapping paper
C. putting the box under the Christmas tree      D. bringing the gift to her father
57. What’s inside the box according to the little girl?
A. nothing                               B. air 
C. kisses                                D. gold wrapping paper
58. The father remembered the love of his daughter by ________.
A. kissing the gold box.             
B. putting gold into the box.
C. taking out an imaginary kiss from the box. 
D. keeping the little girl’s ash box by his bed.
59. Choose the best title for the passage.
A. The kisses in the box.             B. A girl and his father 
C. A love story                     D. The box under the Christmas tree.

Shopping in the United States changes a lot. About ninety years ago most people shopped in small stores that were owned by one person or a family. Women went from the bakery to the butcher’s to the grocer and on to the fruit and vegetable seller in order to get their food for the week. Then, about sixty years ago, supermarkets were born. In a supermarket, people could get all the different kinds of food they needed without going to different stores.

The next big change in shopping in the United States was the shopping mall. A shopping mall is a group of stores under one roof. Because malls allowed people to shop without worrying about the weather, they soon became very popular. The mall became a place for people to socialize in addition to shopping. If you walk through a mall, you will see older people sitting, chatting and drinking coffee. Malls are places for teenagers to hang out. Many teens will often just “go to the mall” and spend time with their friends.

The recent change in American shopping was the superstore. Large chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Office Depot and Toys“R”Us have been built all across the United States. Because they are so large, they can buy goods at a great discount and sell them much cheaper than smaller stores. Sometimes, when they are built near small towns, many of the small town stores have to close. They just cannot compete with their giant neighbors.

And now, online shopping is becoming more and more popular all over the States. People are too busy to go to the physical stores, so they go shopping over the Internet. Online shopping has lots of advantages. For instance, online stores are usually available 24 hours a day. Searching or browsing online shops can be faster than browsing the physical stores. While, online shopping also has its disadvantages. People are at higher risk of being cheated on the part of the merchant than in a physical store. And privacy of personal information may be let out.

1.Which of the following shows the right order of shopping development in the United States?

①small stores  ②superstores  ③shopping malls  ④shopping online   ⑤supermarkets

A. ①②③④⑤               B. ①⑤②③④             C. ②③④①⑤                D. ①⑤③②④

2.Which is the place for people to spend time with others according to the passage?

A. Small stores.              B. Shopping malls.       C. Supermarkets.           D. Superstores.

3.Why can the superstores sell products at much lower prices?

A. Because they can buy goods at a reduction in price.

B. Because they are across the United States.

C. Because they sell all kinds of products people need.

D. Because they are built near small towns.

4.What’s the disadvantage of online shopping according to the passage?

A. Wasting time.                                                    B. Fixed prices.

C. Leaking personal information.                       D. No chance to do physical activities.