I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, midlife for an elephant , and ancient for a sportsman, Fifty is a nice number for the states in the US or for a national speed limit but it is not a number that I was prepared to ave hung on me．Fifty is supposed to be my father’s age．but now I am stuck with this number and everything it means．

A few days ago, a friend tried to cheer me up by saying,  “ Fifty is what forty used to be ．”He had made an inspirational point, Am I over the hill ?People keep telling me that the hill has been moved, and I keep telling hem that he high-jump bar has dropped from the six feet I once easily cleared to the four feet that is impossible for me now．

“ Your are not getting older, you are getting better ．” says Dr．Joyce Brothers ．This, however, is the kind of doctor who inspires a second opinion．

And so．as I approach the day when I cannot even jump over the tennis net．I am moves to share some thoughts on aging with you．I am moved to show how aging feels to me physically and mentally．Getting older．of course, is obviously a better change than the one that brings you eulogies（悼词）．In fact , a poet named Robert Browning considered it the best change of all :

Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to me．

Whether or not Browning was right , most of my first fifty years have been golden ones, so I will settle for what is ahead being as good as what has gone by．I find myself moving toward what is ahead with a curious blend （混合）of both fighting and accepting my aging, hoping that the philosopher（哲学家） was right when he said ．”Old is always fifteen years from now．”

20．The author seems to tell us in Paragraph I that _____

       A．time alone will tell B．time goes by quickly

       C．time will show what is right   D．time makes one forget the past

21．When the author turned fifty , people around him _____

       A．tried to comfort him      B．got inspiration with him

       C．were friendlier with him        D．found him more talkative

22．The author considers his fifty years of life ______

       A peaceful            B．ordinary                              

       C．satisfactory             D．regretful

23．We can infer from the passage that _____

       A．the old should led a simple life      B．the old should face the fact of aging

       C．the old should take more exercise   D．the old should fill themselves with curiosity

你的一天活动安排如下，请你据此写一篇日记。

This year some twenty-three hundred teenagers（young people aged from 13 —19）from all over the world will spend about ten months in U. S. homes. They will attend U.S. schools, meet U.S. teenagers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.
Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George’s family. In turn, George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s home in America.
Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months’ study, the language began to come to him. The school was completely different from what he had expected — much harder. Students rose respectfully^① when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.
Family life, too, was different. The father’s word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual. Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car.
“Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.”
At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I should criticize^② American schools,” he says. “It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two.”
Notes:
①    respectfully  adv. 尊敬地，谦恭地
②    criticize  vt. 批评，责备
Choose the best answers according to the above:

1. 1.

   This year       __ teenagers will take part in the exchange programme between America and other countries.

   1. A.
      twenty-three hundred
   2. B.
      thirteen hundred
   3. C.
      over three thousand
   4. D.
      less than two thousand
2. 2.

   The whole exchange programme is mainly to        __.

   1. A.
      help teenagers in other countries know the real America
   2. B.
      send students in America to travel in Germany
   3. C.
      let students learn something about other countries
   4. D.
      have teenagers learn new languages
3. 3.

   What is particular in America schools is that        __.

   1. A.
      there is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings.
   2. B.
      there are a lot of outside activities
   3. C.
      students usually take fourteen subjects in all
   4. D.
      students go outside to enjoy themselves in a car
4. 4.

   After experiencing the American school life, Mike thought        __.

   1. A.
      a better education should include something good from both American and Germany
   2. B.
      German schools trained students to be better citizens
   3. C.
      American schools were not as good as German schools
   4. D.
      the easy life in the American school was more helpful to students

单词拼写(共10小题，分值为1分，共10分). 请根据句子逻辑, 从模块二课本所学的词汇中选用恰当的单词并且使用其正确的形式填空。

1. According to the new standard, p_________ health and mental health are equally important.

2. To enter a university, all Chinese students should take part in the college e_____________ examinations which take place in June every year.

3. The number of students who leave school because of financial difficulty has d___________ with the help of the government and society.

4. This room used to be very dirty and old. But after we have designed it again and d__________ it, it now looks like a new one.

5.I would a_____________ it if you could give me an early reply.

6. Such romantic story only happens in films. In r_________, it will never happen.

7. When I came into the room, she p____________ to be asleep. As soon as I stepped out of the room, she got up again.

8. There are too many steps to operate this machine and they are very confusing (容易混淆的). You had better s__________ the steps so that they can be easily understood.

9. When kids step into this toy shop, it is not easy to take them out because there are too many things that are a____________ to them.

10. Whoever breaks the window should take the r___________________ and should pay for it.