Shanghai:       Car rentals（出租） are becoming more and more popular as an inexpensive way of taking to the roads. Business people, foreigners and families alike are making good use of the growing industry.

The first car rental firm opened in Shanghai in 1992 and now 12 car rental players are in the game, with more than 11,500 cars in their books.

The largest player - Shanghai Bashi Tourism Car Rental Center offers a wide variety of choices - deluxe sedans, minivans, station wagons, coaches. Santana sedans are the big favorite.

Firms can attract enough customers for 70 percent of their cars every month. This figure shoots up during holiday seasons like National Day, Labor Day and New Year's Day, with some recording 100 percent rental.

The major market force rests in the growing population of white-collar employees （白领雇员）, who can afford the new service, said Zhuang Yu, marketing manager of Shanghai Angel Car Rental Co.

56. The words "deluxe sedans, minivans" and "station wagons" used in the text refer to ______.

       A. cars in the making     B. car rental firms        C. cars for rent           D. car makers

57. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

A.70% of the cars can be rented out on holiday.

B. 70% of the customers are white-collar employees.

C. More firms are open for service during holiday seasons.

D. Some firms rent out all their cars during holiday seasons.

58. Shanghai's car rental industry is growing so fast mainly due to ______.

A. better cars supplied by producer

B. fast service offered by car rental firms

C. the increasing number of white-collar employees

D. People's growing interest in travelling during holidays

I made a pledge(发誓) to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. 

   The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical (圣经的) passage about husbands being thoughtful of their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.

   And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.”

   “Oh, Tom, you noticed,” she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled.

After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew the kites.

So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love.

There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression. “What’s the matter?” I asked her.

“Tom, ” she said in a voice filled with sadness, “do you know something I don’t?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…..that checkup(体检) I had several weeks ago….. our doctor ….. did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me….. am I dying ?”

It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.

“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just start to live.”

1.The writer thought he was a _______ husband in the past.

A. lovely   B. loyal      C. strict               D. selfish

2. From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage _______.

A. with his family     B. with Evelyn C. alone    D. with his children

3. The underlined words “one thing” in the text refer to the fact that _______.

A. he praised her sweater, which puzzled her

B. she insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated

C. he knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her

D. he was so good to her that she thought she must be dying

Just as mankind has always had a desire to fly, the human race has wanted to swim under the water since prehistoric times. Pictures of primitive devices to enable people to breathe underwater have been found dating from 3000 years ago, but our dream of moving freely beneath the ocean waves for long periods of time was only realized about 60 years ago, when French diving legend Jacques Cousteau developed the first practical Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus(SCUBA). Since then the sport of SCUBA diving has gone from strength to strength.

Lovers of SCUBA diving like the feeling of weightlessness, the peace and quiet under the water, the ability to move in three dimensions and the sense of adventure they get while on a dive. SCUBA divers often travel to some of the most beautiful and remote places in the world in the search for rare underwater flora and fauna(动、植物). Palau, The Red Sea, The Maldives and Hawaii have many of the most popular diving sites, but recreational divers often have to make do with less exotic local destinations, like the North Sea in Britain.

SCUBA diving is not without its dangers, however. The mixture of nitrogen and oxygen divers breathe underwater, combined with the pressure under the water can be deadly if a diver rises too quickly to the surface, causing a condition called ‘the bends’. Divers can also get lost or trapped when diving on wrecks, and fatalities(死亡)are particularly common in cave diving, where divers add to the dangers of diving by swimming through underground caves filled with water. Diving can also be harmful to the underwater environment. However with proper precautions diving can open up a whole new world, far from the stresses of daily life.

63. What is the writer trying to do in the text?

A. Advertise some popular diving sites.

B. Describe how to dive underwater.

C. Warn people against diving in the sea.

D. Give information about SCUBA diving.

64. What can the reader learn from the text?

A. There is uncertainty about SCUBA diving safety.

B. Divers have caused a lot of damage to the environment.

C. SCUBA diving is an old sport with a long history.

D. Divers always face the pressures in their life.

65. How might the writer describe SCUBA diving?

A. Interesting.   B. Relaxing.   C. Frightening         D. Unpleasant.

66. What do you think the author is most likely to suggest if he continues to write?

A. Getting out to dive underwater.   B. Stopping damaging environment.

C. Making better use of SCUBA.       D. Getting over the troubles of daily life.

We have proof that you become what you eat. When you know the effects of different types of food, you can use your knowledge well and eat what you want to become.

Food has an impact on our physical and mental health. Have you ever heard any of the following advice?

Lettuce (莴苣) or milk can make you sleepy.

To stop feeling sleepy you should eat peanuts or dried fish.

Everyone has their own advice to give, which they have read about or have been told by older relatives. Some of these pieces of advice seem to contradict each other.

Eating chocolate makes you fat and gives you spots.

Chocolate contains the essential minerals: iron and magnesium (镁).

What we need to figure out is what type of chocolate to eat to get the benefits and how much of it to eat. We can do this by reading the list of ingredients (原料) on the chocolate bar package. Exactly how much real chocolate is in there? And how much of that do we need to eat to get the benefits of the minerals it contains?

Future restaurants might be named after the physical or mental state they hope to create. Their menus will list the benefits of each dish and drink. Some restaurants have already started this concept, and list the nutritional (营养的) content of their dishes on the menus.

Let’s take the restaurant “Winners” as an example. Their menu would list dishes specifically designed to help you win sports competitions. Or you could choose the Go-faster salad, which is a large bowl of mixed raw vegetables in a light salad dressing, giving you energy without making you gain weight. And what kind of dishes do you think would be on the menu at the “Clever Café”?

So what’s going to happen to hamburgers and biscuits? Will the concept of eating food, because it’s tasty, go out of fashion? Of course not! Junk food is also changing. If ice-cream is not good for children, can’t we give them fat-free, sugar-free tofu ice-cream? Unhealthy food is going out of fashion, so brands are changing. We are told not to drink cola because of the sugar and caffeine content so cola companies are making sugar-free and caffeine-free drinks. We are told dried fruit is a healthier snack than biscuits so some biscuit companies are making biscuits with added vitamins.

1.By saying “you become what you eat”, the writer means that ________.

A．you will become your own food

B．you will know what food is good by its appearance

C．food has an effect on your health

D．you will know the effects of different types of food

2.What does the underlined word “contradict” mean in the text?

A．Oppose to                             B．Help with

C．Have influence on                       D．Benefit from

3.How can we eat chocolate properly, according to the passage?

A．To eat chocolate containing the essential minerals.

B．To read the list of ingredients on the package.

C．To get advice from others before eating real chocolate.

D．To learn how much chocolate we can consume before eating.

4.Which is true about the future restaurants?

A．The food in “Winners” can ensure you to win sports competitions.

B．They might list the nutritional content of their dishes on the menus.

C．Hamburgers will disappear in these restaurants.

D．The Go-faster salad helps you go faster.

5.The concept of eating tasty food will not go out of fashion because ________.

A．the junk food companies are changing their brand names

B．biscuit companies are making dried fruit

C．junk food will become healthier than before

D．Cola companies are still making cola

No one really knows how and why people change as they get older. Also, no theory sufficiently explains all the changes of the aging process. Aging is a complex and varied process that varies in how it affects different people and organs. In fact, even in one person , different organ systems “age “ at a different rate.

    At a certain point in our lives our body systems will begin to weaken . It may become more difficult for us to see and hear. The slow change of aging causes our bodies to lose some of their ability to bounce back from disease and injury. In order to live longer , we have always tried to slow or stop this change that leads us toward the end of our lives.

   Many factors decide our health . A good diet plays an important role. The amount and the type of exercise we get are another two factors. Our living condition is yet another. But scientists studying the aging problem want to know: Why do people grow old? They hope that by studying the aging medical science they may be able to make the length of life longer.

    There is nothing to be afraid of as the old age comes. Many consider the later part of life to be the best time for living. Physical activity may become less, but often we get better understanding of the world and ourselves.

    What we consider the old age now may only be middle-aged some day soon. Who knows ,with so many advances in medical science happening so quickly, life length may one day be measured in centuries ,rather than in years!

The underlined phrase “bounce back ”means “__________.”

   A. jump backward     B. run fast    C. prevent     D. recover

In order to make people live longer, scientists _______according to the text.

   A. teach people how to eat properly

   B. discover how important the exercise is to one’s health

   C. study the ways to slow or stop the process of aging

D. invent new medicine to slow down the process of aging

Many consider the later part of life to be the time of living because they__________.

  A. consider their lives have been very successful

  B. have come through the battle of life safely

  C. know more about themselves and the outside world

  D. can have a good rest and enjoy themselves

How many factors which decide our health are mentioned in the text?

  A. Two  B. Four   C. Five   D. Six