Once again, rumors are spreading．Judgment Day, this time, is set to happen on December 21st, 2012．The date originated（起源于） from the Mayan calendar, but actually gained popularity through the hit movie, "2012"．

How will the world end? And how do we know the exact date? There are many theories: A meteoroid （流星体）from outer space; a solar storm; a shift（变换） in the earth's poles; bla bla bla．They all supposedly pointed to the date of December 21st, 2012．Unfortunately, none of it is true．

Zhu Jin, director of Beijing Planetarium, said, "For earth itself, the end will be billions of years away from now．And for us humans, there is a very small chance that we may be affected by some astronomical factors．However, we don't have the ability to foresee such events so far．So when someone tells you the world is going to end on an exact date, it must be fake．"

But the truth hasn't stopped people from believing．In the sci-fi movie "2012", the director imagined the end of the world based on the Mayan calendar．The film earned nearly 770 million US dollars worldwide. Ning Hong, Hebei Province, said．"The movie 2012 did get one thing right．There are arks  being made in China, But they're not being built secretly inside the mountains．They are constructed here in the courtyard of a factory．"

In April, Liu Qiyuan quit his furniture business and devoted himself to developing these huge round balls．He doesn't believe the end is near, but he wants to be prepared just in case．

Liu Qiyuan, the "Ark" builder, said, "The concept originated twenty years ago．The Tangshan earthquake had flattened our house, so I wanted to build a shelter that wouldn't fall．Then in 2004, I saw the tsunami in Indonesia that killed so many people．Then I realized it should be something that could withstand（抵挡） the earthquake and float on water．"

Liu is hoping to use his invention as a life boat on the sea．He's planning to test his product on the water next year．

It turns out that rumour, though false, is good for business．Doomsday discounts and products are hot on many online stores．While it's surely attracted attention, many complain that it misleads consumers．

Their purpose is to promote products．If they believe the world is going to end．who would buy things? Money would be useless, too．

67．The purpose of the movie "2012" was                 .

       A．to popularize（普及） scientific knowledge for the viewers

       B．to make a profit from the viewers

       C． to tell the viewers an interesting factual story

       D．to warn the viewers of a disastrous(灾难性的) event

68．Liu Qiyuan quit his job and built his "ark" because _________．

       A．he believed that the world was going to end on Dec．21,2012

       B．he was tired of making money from his furniture business

       C．he was almost killed in Indonesia in 2004

       D．he wanted to make preparations for destructive natural disasters

69．Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?

       A．Rumors were created by businessmen to promote their products．

       B．The movie "2012" was very popular and a great many people watched it．

       C．One theory said that the earth was to shift its two poles on Dec．21,2012．

       D．Liu Qiyuan's ark was intended to survive earthquakes and terrible floods．

70．We can infer from the passage that _________．

       A．Time and time again people spread rumours about the world's end for one reason or another．

       B．The Maya's prediction about the world's end has failed．

       C．In the movie 2012 big arks were built secretly inside the mountains

       D．Liu Qiyuan was born before 1976 and is at least 36 years old．

In this century the traditional American family is constantly faced with the threat of breakdown. Some sociologists suggest that one little-noticed cause may be the introduction of the TV dinner.
Before the appearance of television sets, the American dinner was a big event for the family. In many homes, dinner time may be the only time when everyone got together. A typical dinner was usually in three stages. In the preparation stage, the children and Father frequently helped with setting while Mother put the last touches on the roast. In the eating stage, family members shared the day's experiences and more than food was eaten. In this stage families got to know one another and made joint decisions around the dinner table, and thus the family unit was strengthened. In the cleaning-up stage, children or Father again gave their hands, so that their importance to the home community was clear. Unfortunately, all of these have been removed by a product---the television set.
By the beginning of the 1980s, the typical American family dinner was just twenty minutes long. The speed-up of the once-leisurely experiences is clearly connected to the pace of modern life and maybe a model of the modern life is the TV dinners --- meals designed to be eaten from the beginning to the end of a half-hour program. The once family affair has now become nothing more than the use of a fork and knife.
64. The underlined word in the second paragraph can be replaced by ____.
A. big             B. important             C. combined      D. separate
65. In the past, Americans tended to ____.
A. spend more time eating their food at dinner table
B. eat more food than they have today
C. spend more time talking about their day's experiences at dinner table
D. talk so much that they forgot to eat
66. The shortening of the dinner time in America is related to ____.
A. the TV programs                    B. the pace of modern life
C. the wide use of electrical equipment    D. the popularity of fast food
67. The best title for this passage might be ____.
A. Talk at Dinner Table                  B. TV Dinner
C. Pace of Modern Life                        D. Problems Caused by TV

In this century the traditional American family is constantly faced with the threat of breakdown. Some sociologists suggest that one little-noticed cause may be the introduction of the TV dinner.

     Before the appearance of television sets, the American dinner was a big event for the family. In many homes, dinner time may be the only time when everyone got together. A typical dinner was usually in three stages. In the preparation stage, the children and Father frequently helped with setting while Mother put the last touches on the roast. In the eating stage, family members shared the day's experiences and more than food was eaten. In this stage families got to know one another and made joint decisions around the dinner table, and thus the family unit was strengthened. In the cleaning-up stage, children or Father again gave their hands, so that their importance to the home community was clear. Unfortunately, all of these have been removed by a product---the television set.

     By the beginning of the 1980s, the typical American family dinner was just twenty minutes long. The speed-up of the once-leisurely experiences is clearly connected to the pace of modern life and maybe a model of the modern life is the TV dinners --- meals designed to be eaten from the beginning to the end of a half-hour program. The once family affair has now become nothing more than the use of a fork and knife.

64. The underlined word in the second paragraph can be replaced by ____.

A. big       B. important                 C. combined         D. separate

65. In the past, Americans tended to ____.

A. spend more time eating their food at dinner table

B. eat more food than they have today

C. spend more time talking about their day's experiences at dinner table

D. talk so much that they forgot to eat

66. The shortening of the dinner time in America is related to ____.

A. the TV programs                      B. the pace of modern life

C. the wide use of electrical equipment    D. the popularity of fast food

67. The best title for this passage might be ____.

  A. Talk at Dinner Table                        B. TV Dinner

  C. Pace of Modern Life                      D. Problems Caused by TV

In this century the traditional American family is constantly faced with the threat of breakdown. Some sociologists suggest that one little-noticed cause may be the introduction of the TV dinner.

     Before the appearance of television sets, the American dinner was a big event for the family. In many homes, dinner time may be the only time when everyone got together. A typical dinner was usually in three stages. In the preparation stage, the children and Father frequently helped with setting while Mother put the last touches on the roast. In the eating stage, family members shared the day's experiences and more than food was eaten. In this stage families got to know one another and made joint decisions around the dinner table, and thus the family unit was strengthened. In the cleaning-up stage, children or Father again gave their hands, so that their importance to the home community was clear. Unfortunately, all of these have been removed by a product---the television set.

     By the beginning of the 1980s, the typical American family dinner was just twenty minutes long. The speed-up of the once-leisurely experiences is clearly connected to the pace of modern life and maybe a model of the modern life is the TV dinners --- meals designed to be eaten from the beginning to the end of a half-hour program. The once family affair has now become nothing more than the use of a fork and knife.

64. The underlined word in the second paragraph can be replaced by ____.

A. big              B. important              C. combined       D. separate

65. In the past, Americans tended to ____.

A. spend more time eating their food at dinner table

B. eat more food than they have today

C. spend more time talking about their day's experiences at dinner table

D. talk so much that they forgot to eat

66. The shortening of the dinner time in America is related to ____.

A. the TV programs                   B. the pace of modern life

C. the wide use of electrical equipment    D. the popularity of fast food

67. The best title for this passage might be ____.

  A. Talk at Dinner Table                   B. TV Dinner

  C. Pace of Modern Life                         D. Problems Caused by TV

At the moment, when looking round the world, all kinds of dance performances are being offered．There are competitions that claim to be a World Cup or World Championship, and the young dancer or the dance teacher who wants to enter his students might be quite confused．Which is which? Which is of high standard and good quality, and which is not worth going to? First of all it has clearly got to be distinguished between the different styles of dance and the purpose of such competitions．When a person wants to learn classical ballet,, he or she would never dream of going to a ballroom teacher．Such a teacher might even have been world champion in his ballroom dancing, but he would definitely not be qualified in teaching proper classical ballet．

People in Britain and the USA are taking more interest in modern dance．Dance classes of all kinds are popular; the audiences going to watch modern dance companies are also larger．And perhaps the most popular modern dance company in Britain is the Ballet Rambert．

The Ballet Rambert is Britain's oldest established dance company which began in 1926．In the 60 s the company lacked the money to go on staging big productions．The directors wanted to encourage new talent and to keep up their high standards．A change of direction was necessary, They decided to give the ballet a “new look" in 1966．The purpose was to provide a chance for new talent - for musicians and designers as well as dancers - and to show dance as a contemporary art form．And although some of the company's previous fans dislike the change, new audiences came to see the productions．

The modern dance pieces and modern music found unexpected popularity．In the 21st century the Ballet Rambert was a great success in London's West End．The company became a focus for new, progressive talent in the art．

Then, the Ballet Rambert started to introduce young people to modem dance by giving performances at schools, which again, was a success．

The Ballet Rambert has managed to make modern dance popular while creating original and often avant—garde （标新立异） productions．It can claim to be the oldest dance company in Britain and at the same time one of the most modern!

65．If a person wants to learn classical ballet, he or she will go to 　　　　　．

　　　 A．the Ballet Rambert　　　　　　　　 　　　 B．a ballroom teacher

　　　 C．a world champion　　　　　　　　　 　　 D．a qualified school

66．The underlined phrase "new talent" in Para．3 probably means ______．

　　　 A．new programs　　　　　　　　　　 　　 B．new audiences

　　　 C．avant - garde productions　　　　　 　　　 D．skilled young dancers

67．From the passage we know that the Ballet Rambert　　　　　　 .

　　　 A．has succeeded in making modem dance popular

　　　 B．wanted to become the oldest dance company

　　　 C．was once a popular dance company

　　　 D．changed old dance into new ones

68．This passage is mainly about _____．

　　　 A．the popularity of modem dance

　　　 B．the introduction to new modem dancers

　　　 C．the development of me Ballet Rambert

　　　 D．the high standard of dance performances