Life became hard when I was 14. My mother and I moved to New York to 36 my father, who’d moved there to find 37 work when I was three years old. He had a job at a restaurant and only visited us 38 every couple of years.

　　Before I moved, I knew that people in the US spoke English. But honestly, I didn’t stop to analyze the 39 when I was 40 to leave. Just like I assumed I could easily become a doctor or a lawyer. I assumed that I had the skills to learn English in a few weeks. 

When I 41 in the US and started 8th grade at Ditmas Middle School in Brooklyn, everyone was speaking a(n)  42  language I couldn’t understand. I  43  that life had subtitles, like in foreign movies. School was such a serious place here. Sometimes I felt like I was in a geek（呆子） class. The teachers were always  44  my moves so I couldn’t even throw a paper ball at a classmate’s head. And the worst thing was having to read 45 .

46  after almost seven months of complaining about everything, I realized that complaining didn’t change things.  47 just made my life worse. If I was going to 48   in this new concrete jungle, I had to 49 . I began to learn English by reading newspapers on my own  50  school. After about four months, I started enjoying reading the crime and sports stories. After six months of studying, my teachers 51  my improvement and moved me into a more  52  English class. I could go to the store and ask for things that I wanted to buy without 53 frustration. For the first time I felt like I was living on earth again, 54  I didn’t hear foreign talk. I 55 understand people.

1.                A．find           B．join            C．see  D．help

2.                A．good-looking    B．well-dressed     C．better-paying  D．highly-thought

3.                A．once           B．other          C．each D．only

4.                A．case           B．condition       C．situation  D．state

5.                A．packing         B．trying          C．managing D．arranging

6.                A．reached        B．entered        C．got  D．arrived

7.                A．strange         B．unusual         C．standard  D．foreign

8.                A．hoped         B．wished         C．expected D．demanded

9.                A．staring         B．looking         C．checking  D．watching

10.               A．texts           B．newspapers     C．English    D．poems

11.               A．Although       B．Even if         C．But   D．Since

12.               A．It             B．They           C．I D．Things

13.               A．live            B．study          C．survive    D．continue

14.               A．adapt          B．adopt          C．adore D．admire

15.               A．for            B．in             C．after  D．at

16.               A．made          B．noticed         C．concerned D．remember

17.               A．modern        B．advanced       C．difficult   D．convenient

18.               A．even          B．ever           C．some D．any

19.               A．if             B．though         C．ever  D．because

20.               A．could          B．should         C．would D．might

Dear Economist,
My newly-wedded wife and I are deeply in love. There is, however, one issue that threatens the happiness of our marriage. I absolutely insist on shopping at Walmart. My wife, meanwhile, would rather avoid Walmart at all costs.
　　I have recently tried to convince her that not only does Walmart offer the lowest prices known to man, but that the chain is also a force for good―lower prices mean better standards of living for all consumers, increased global trade means a tighter-knit(紧密团结的) international community, and efficient operations translate into higher productivity growth for the economy. My wife complains about poor labour policies, the “fact” that Walmart squeezes suppliers, and that it puts local shops out of business.
　　Who is right? Will our marriage survive?
　　                                                                                                                                                  Brian Gee
Dear Brian,
I have to agree with you about Walmart. Jason Furman, then an economist at New York University, now an adviser to President Obama, famously argued in 2005 that Walmart was unwittingly (不知不觉地) a progressive success story. The chain’s prices don’t much affect me (I prefer Whole Foods) but Furman estimated that they benefited low-and-middle-income Americans to the sum of around $250 billion a year.
　　Walmart does not pay much, so it may depress wages. Then again, it may increase wages by offering jobs to the otherwise-unemployed. Either way, the benefits of low prices to Walmart shoppers far outweigh any seemingly reasonable costs to Walmart employees. And while it is true that Walmart employees tend to be poor, the same is true of Walmart shoppers.
　　Armed with this information you can face your wife with confidence. You are sure to win the conversation. The divorce is likely to be more argued.
Economist
68. What concerns Brian Gee so much that he wrote the letter?
A. His wife refuses to shop at Walmart.
B. They are faced with a divorce.
C. They can’t afford the costs of shopping at Walmart.
D. They are in conflict about shopping at Walmart. 
69. Brian Gee’s wife tends to hold the opinion that _________.
A. it is wrong for Walmart to depress its employees’ wages
B. consumers’ lives have improved thanks to Walmart
C. Walmart’s business operation increases productivity in economy
D. Walmart’s business increases global trade
70. What can be inferred from the reply letter?
A. Some employees accept the low pay to keep the job.
B. Walmart appeals to only poor consumers and poor employees.
C. Employees suffer from Walmart’s low prices more than consumers.
D. Jason Furman, a New York University economist, spoke highly of Walmart.

People who are hit by lightning and survive often have long-term effects. These may include memory loss, sleep disorders, muscle pain and depression(郁闷).
Experts tell people to seek(寻找) the safety of a building or a hard-top vehicle any time they hear thunder, even if it is not raining. They say lightning can strike as far as sixteen kilometers from any rainfall. Lightning can travel sideways. And at least ten percent of lightning happens without any clouds overhead that you can see.
People who are outdoors should make sure they are not the tallest thing around. Bend(屈身) low to the ground, but do not lie down. And do not stand near a tree or any tall object. Get away from water and anything made of metal. A car is safe, but do not touch any metal inside.
Safety experts say people in buildings should stay away from anything with wires or pipes that lead to the outside. The National Weather Service says if you plan to disconnect any electronic equipment, do so before the storm arrives. Do not use a wired telephone. Do not use water. All these can carry electricity.
Some people think a person struck by lightning carries an electrical charge （电荷） afterward. Experts say this is not true. It is safe to begin emergency treatment.
Each year about four hundred people in the United States are struck by lightning. Last year forty four people died. The average(平均) is close to seventy. The National Weather Service says that is more than the number of people killed by severe storms.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

Studies show that laughter is something that makes you feel calm or relaxed for both physical and psychological wounds though it may seem futile to laugh in the face of pain and fear.

When Dan Rather interviewed comedian Bill Cosby just one week after his son, Ennis, was killed, Cosby said, “I think it is time for me to tell people that we have to laugh. You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, you can survive it.”

Call it a flashlight for dark times: laughter just seems to adjust attitude better than anything else. Inspirational speaker Steve Rizzo recalls a TV interview with an injured firefighter a few days after 9.11．The man had fallen more than 30 stories in one of the towers and had broken a leg. Everyone was crying, and the reporter asked, “How is it that you’ve come out of this alive?” He looked at her and without missing a beat, said, “Look, lady, I’m from New York and I’m a firefighter; that’ all you need to know.”

“Everyone laughed and though the laughter was only a couple of seconds,” says Rizzo. “Sometimes that’s all you need to catch your second breath. Laughter gives you that couple of seconds. You’re sending a message to your brain, and the message is: If you can still laugh even a little among the pain, you are going to be OK.”

Of course, there is a difference between laughing off a serious situation and laughing off the fear that results. The firefighter was doing the latter, states Rizzo, the author of Becoming a Humorous Being, and so should we. “If there is anything we have learnt from 9.11, it’s how precious life really is,” she says. “We have to send a message that our spirit won’t die. One important thing that unites us is our ability to laugh.”　

60．The writer uses the examples of the comedian and the firefighter to show　　　　　　 .

　 A．laughter is a good way to get rid of pain and fear

　 B．laughter is the best way to cure psychological wounds

　 C．it is your attitude that decides whether you can survive the pain or not

　 D．laughing off a serious situation is different from laughing off the fear that results

61．We can infer from the passage that Steve Rizzo is　　　　　　　　　　　 .

　 A．a reporter B．a soldier　　 C．a firefighter　　 D．a doctor

62．The underlined word futile in the first paragraph means　　　　　　　 .

　 A．hopeless　　　　　　 B．useless

C．careless　　　　　　 D．worthless 　

63．From the passage, we can know that Americans are　　　　　　　　 .

　 A．really inspired after 9.11　　　　　　　　　　 B．hardly united after 9.11

C．nearly surprised by 9.11　　　　　　 D．greatly hurt by 9.11

 A Swedish man was dug out alive after being snowed in his car on a forest track for two months with no food, police and local media reported on Saturday.

  The 45-year-old from southern Sweden was found on Friday, February17, too weak to say more than a few words.

  He was found not far from the city of Umea in the north of Sweden by snowmobilers who thought they had come across a ruined car until they dug their way to a window and saw movement inside.

  The man, who was lying in the back seat in a sleeping bag, said he had been in the car since December 19.

  “Just incredible that he’s alive considering that he had no food, but also since it’s been really cold for some time after Christmas.” a rescue team member told regional daily Vasterbottens- Kuriren, which broke the news.

  Ebbe Nyberg, duty officer at the Umea police, said police saw no reason to doubt that the man had been stuck in the car for a very long time.

  “We would not make up something like this. The rescue services were on site too and saw the same as us.” he told Vasterbottens-Kuriren.

  Umea University Hospital, where the man is recovering after being rescued by police and a rescue team, said in a statement he was doing well considering the circumstances.

  Doctors at the hospital said humans would normally be able to survive for about four weeks without food. Besides eating snow, the man probably survived by going into a dormant-like(休眠似的）state, physician Stefan Branth told Vasterbottens-Kuriren.

  “A bit like a bear that hibernates. Humans can do that.” he said. “He probably had a body temperature of around 31 degrees which the body adjusted to. Due to the low temperature, not much energy was used up.”

  “Why the man ended up under the snow in the forest remains unknown,” police said.

1.Who found the Swedish man in the snow?

    A．Snowmobilers.  B．The police.  C．A rescue team.  D．Local people.

2.“Police saw no reason to doubt that the man had been stuck in the car for a very long time.” implies that 　　　　.

    A．police didn’t think it true         B．police were sure of the fact

    C．police had some doubt on the fact  D．police had reasons to doubt the fact

3.The reason why the man could survive was most probably that 　　　　.

    A．he was only forty-five year old    B．he did not use any energy

    C．he slept in the sleeping bag       D．he was in a dormant-like state

4.Which is the correct order of the following events?

    a．The Swedish man was stuck in the snow.

    b．He was sent to Umea University Hospital.

    c．He was found by snowmobilers.

    d．He was recovering after treatment.

    e．He stayed in his car for nearly two months.

    f．He was dug out by people.

    A．e, a, c, d, f, b         B．a, e, c, f, b, d

 C．a, f, c, e, b, d         D．e, c, f, a, d, b

5.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

    A．A Traffic Accident              B．A Long Sleep in Winter

    C．An Incredible Survival           D．A Successful Rescue