D

Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the first taste to the last. And good writers, like good cooks, do not suddenly appear full-blown（成熟的）. Quite the opposite ,just as the cook as to undergo a particular training, mastering the skills of his trade, the writer must sit at his desk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing, whatever its purpose is — schoolwork, matters of business, or purely social communication. You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort, the more effective the writing, and the more rewarding.

There are still some faraway places in the world where you might find a public scribe（抄写员）to do your business or social writing for you, for money. There are a few managers who are lucky enough to have the service of that rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letters writing with no more than a quick note to work from. But for most of us, if there is any writing to be done, we have to do it ourselves.

We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called on to put words to papers. It would be difficult to count the number of such words, messages, letters, and reports put into mails or delivered by hand, but the daily figures must be extremely large. What is more, everyone who writes expects, or at least hopes whatever he writes will be read from first word to last, not just thrown into some “letters-to-be-read” files or into the wastepaper basket. This is the reason we make efforts toward learning and practicing the skills of interesting, effective writing.

48. In this passage, good writing is compared to fine food because both______.

A. are enjoyable     B. are easy to learn       

C. are unnecessary to life      D. take a short time to prepare

49. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Writing skills are less important than experience.

B. A good writer should have his own way of writing.

C. A good writer should learn to write the same kind of article.

D. The more efforts one makes, the more money one can earn.

50. The authour thinks that the most important reason for us to practice writing skill is ______.

A. to learn about our life                            B. to attract others to read

C. to do daily reports easily                 D. to become good secretaries

51. The purpose of the author in writing his passage is to ______.

A. comment and blame                       B. introduce and describe

C. explain and persuade                      D. interest and inform

A latest national survey has found that over half of China's netizens (网民) are suffering from various mental problems although some 62 percent of them claim at the same time that they are happy on the whole anyway.

This is the result of China's first White Paper on Netizens’ Health Conditions issued on Wednesday by 39.net, China's largest authoritative website on health sciences. It is the first most comprehensive health survey on netizens’ health situation ever conducted in China in ten years’ time. The white paper came out after two months of online and offline research that involved over 150 thousand netizens, covering topics and questions on health knowledge, mental situation, sense of health, and living habits.

According to the white paper, more than 70 percent of China's netizens say they are suffering from mental problems such as bad memory, anxiety, depression, and a lack of confidence. And a similar 72 percent of them also say they are often suffering from diseases like insomnia, dizziness, joint degeneration and achings. Meanwhile, another 53 percent of netizens believe that white collar employees who have bigger work pressures are more likely to catch mental problems.

The white paper adds, doing almost no sports and spending long time surfing online lead to the above mentioned health problems among netizens. Only 9 percent of netizens take up sports on weekends while over 40 percent stay home, surfing. And only 16 percent netizens can assure more than eight hours’ sleeping daily.

At present, China has a netizen population of 162 million, with a monthly consumption of 186 yuan, or about 25 dollars, on Internet surfing.

The national survey on netizens’ health situation ________.

A. was conducted on Wednesday      B. was carried out online and offline

C. is conducted every year      D. covered about half a million netizens

Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined part “white collar”?

A. White clothes.         B. Office workers.     

C. White offices.       D. White people.

All the following factors have been mentioned to cause the health problems among netizens EXCEPT ________.

A. shopping online         B. spending long time online

C. heavy work pressures         D. doing no sports

What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. China has a large netizen population.

B. The Internet has a negative influence on people.

C. Many netizens in China have mental problems.

D. How to surf the Internet safely and healthily.

As we grow up, we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs. These are influenced by society, our family, the education we receive and so on. Once this value system is set up, it’s not easy to change later in life. Financial experts say that everyone also has his own belief of how to manage his money. According to our different values, experts put us in three catagories---the ant, the cricket(蟋蟀) and the snail.

★ The ant — work first

Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter, these people don't care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire. The ant loves to save, but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk.

★ The cricket — fun first

The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn't think too much about the future. They even borrow money when they really want something. Many young people now belong to this group. These people have little savings. When they get old, they might have problems. They should learn to save and buy insurance.

★ The snail — life under pressure

The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves. They take big long-term loans(贷款) from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure they can afford them. This can cause problems in the future. They should plan more carefully.

 One’s values may________.

A. be his ways of managing money

B. be his beliefs about society

C. be connected with his education

D. influence his behavior

 Mr. Smith always enjoys spending a weekend with his friends, fishing, hunting and playing cards. Besides, he spends money in a very luxurious way. So_______.

A. Mr. Smith belongs to the ant type

B. Mr. Smith belongs to the cricket type

C. Mr. Smith belongs to the snail type

D. it’s hard to tell which kind of person Mr. Smith is

The writer of the passage intends _______.

A. to introduce to us the three types of people with different life style

B. to show us his special attitude to the different people

C. to tell us life is full of joy and happiness all the time

D. to warn us how to live a better life in a new way

According to the passage, the most suitable title would be _______.

A. Nature of Spending

B. What Comes First

C. How to Understand Your Belief

D. Work and Fun

A story from the Bible tells of old Babylon, where the men decided to build a tower that would touch the sky．But God was unhappy, and he made them speak different languages．They couldn’t understand each other, so their dream never came true．

Yet the dream remains alive: if all men speak the same language, they can do anything．L．L．Zamenhof from Poland was among the men who pursue this dream．He developed Esperanto（世界语）between 1877 and 1885．

As the most successful man-made world language, it is spoken by over two million people around the world．Last month, the World Esperanto Congress（大会）, dealing with language rights, ended in Sweden．The 2004 conference will be held in Beijing．Most Esperanto speakers are in Central and Eastern Europe and in East Asia, particularly Chinese mainland．

Esperanto has two advantages．First, it’s easy．Each letter has exactly one sound and there are just 16 basic grammar rules．The second advantage is that it belongs to no one country．But Esperanto has only reached a small number of people compared with natural languages widely used around the world-such as English or Chinese．While these languages are deeply connected with their nations and cultures, Esperanto doesn’t have this background．

Will Esperanto really become a global language? It remains a question．

The writer tells us a story at the beginning to          ．

           A．explain why men have been making the effort to create a language shared by all

              B．explain why men now speak different languages

              C．show the relationship between man and God

              D．prove that language is very important

What does the underlined word “pursue” in the second paragraph mean?

              A．“Realize”．     B．“Work for”．   C．“Be against”． D．“Follow”．

What is the basic difference between Esperanto and English?

              A．More people speak English than Esperanto．

              B．Esperanto words are easier to spell．

              C．Esperanto has fewer grammar rules．

              D．Esperanto is not supported by any country or culture．

What does the story mainly talk about?

              A．Advantages and disadvantages of Esperanto．

              B．Men’s dream of sharing the same language．

              C．The most successful planned language-Esperanto．

              D．Comparison of Esperanto and other languages like English and Chinese．

A woman decorating her Christmas tree Monday was shot in her left arm when a bullet went through her living room window．Police said the incident occurred at about 5:00 p.m. A .22 caliber shell（口径的弹壳） casing was found across the street from the victim's home．Police did not find a weapon in the neighborhood．

Mrs．Wilma Johnson was treated at a local hospital and allowed to go home．A hospital spokesman said she should recover nicely．She is in her late 50s, divorced, and living with Bob, the older of her two adult sons．Bob wasn’t home at the time of the shooting．

Police will patrol the area more frequently as a result of this shooting．They don't know if the shooting was intentional or accidental．They are asking the public to help if they know anything．They interviewed the neighbors．One neighbor said he heard a gunshot, but in this neighborhood, he said, he was used to hearing gunshots．

The police also questioned Mrs．Johnson’s ex-husband, Joe, who lives three blocks away．Joe said if he was going to shoot at his ex-wife, he’d make sure he shot her in her butt（头）．“That’s a target you could hit from a mile away as she is like a Tele-tubby.” he laughed．Despite such remarks, the police spokesperson said Joe is not a suspect at this time．

What was the woman doing when she was shot?

       A．She was decorating her room．                    B． She was cooking dinner．

       C．She was sleeping in her room.      D． She was decorating her Christmas tree．

Where is Mrs. Wilma Johnson now ?

       A．She is in hospital．                                 B． She is at home．

       C．She is in another world.                           D． She is in a funeral．    

Which of the following is true according to the third paragraph?

       A．Some neighbors saw the gunman by accident.

       B．The police found the gunman soon after the gunshot．

       C．There used to be gunshots in the area.

       D．The gunshot happened by intention.

What was her ex-husband’s words “That’s a target you could hit from a mile away”?

       A. His ex-wife was too fat                                 B．He still loved his ex-wife．

       C．She was sensitive to anything.                     D． He hated his ex-wife．