Japanese couples，too busy for a normal social life，are increasingly turning to actors to play their friends on the most important days of their lives．

Several agencies have sprung up (涌现) offering actors to attend weddings or even funerals．The first guest-for-hire company was established about nine years ago and around 10 now send out dozens of pretend friends to family events．

Agencies such as Hagemashi Tai —— which means “I want to cheer you up” —— charge around ￡100 for each “guest”．Other services such as giving a speech in praise of a bride or the groom cost extra．

The appearance of the small fake friends industry has been linked to social and economic changes in Japan．With lifetime employment (终身雇佣制) a thing of the past，couples feel uncomfortable about inviting work colleagues to their wedding．Increasingly busy and stressed out，many Japanese surround themselves with only a very small circle of friends．

??? When they marry，however，they are under pressure to match the number of their new partner’s wedding guests．Office Agents，the largest provider of pretend friends，makes sure that its employees have done their homework and know all about the bride or groom before the wedding．

??? Hiroshi Mizutani，the company’s founder，said the fake friends he provides must look happy，be well dressed and look like people with good jobs．

1.Why did fake friends industry come into being in Japan?

A．Because of social and economic changes．

B．Because of lifetime employment．

C．Because of normal social life．

D．Because of work pressure．．

2.Pretend friends will be present on the following occasions except __________ ．

A．weddings????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B．funerals

C．work????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D．family gathering

3.The agents make sure that fake friends __________ ．

A．have done their housework

B．have good jobs

C．must look happy and be well dressed

D．feel uncomfortable

4.What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Japanese couples are under pressure to get married．

B．The first guest-for-hire company in Japan started．

C．Japanese couples’ social life is boring．

D. Japanese couples rely on fake friends．

A well－dressed man came into a famous jewelry shop. He explained that he wished to buy a pearl (珍珠) for his wife's birthday and that the price didn't matter since business had been  very good for him that year. After examining a number of beautiful and valuable pearls, he chose a nice black one that cost $5,000.He paid for the pearl, shook hands with the jeweller and left.

A few days later the man returned and said his wife had liked the pearl so much that she wanted another one just like it. It had to be exactly the same size and quality (质量) as she wanted a pair of earrings(耳环) made.“Can you give me any advice on how to get such a pearl? ” said the man. The jeweller replied, “I would say it's nearly impossible to find an exact one like that pearl.”

The rich man asked the jeweller to advertise (登广告) in the newspapers, and offered $25,000 for the matching pearl. Many people answered the ad (广告) but nobody had a pearl that was just right. Just when the jeweller gave up hope, a little old lady came in. To his surprise, she pulled the wonderful pearl from her handbag. “I don't like to sell it，” she said sadly, “I inherited (继承) it from my mother, and my mother inherited it from hers. But now I really need the money.”

The jeweller was quick to pay her before she changed her mind. Then he called the rich man's hotel to tell him the good news. The rich man, however, was nowhere to be found.

1．From the first paragraph we can guess that the jeweller consider the well－dressed man was ________.

A．an honest jeweller to make friend with

B．a clever cheat with a lot of money

C．a rich businessman and a good husband

D．a poor gentleman who spent money like water

2．He paid $5,000 for the pearl without bargaining ________.

A．because he loved his wife very much

B．in order to get it as quickly as possible

C．since his business had been successful

D．so as to make the jeweller believe him

3．Both the man and the jeweller thought it ________.

A．possible to find an exact one like that pearl

B．difficult to get the matching pearl

C．impossible to advertise in the newspaper

D．easy to buy a similar pearl

4．Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The people who answered the ad wanted to sell their pearls at a high price.

B．The woman was the well－dressed man's wife.

C．The jeweller was lucky enough to buy the little old lady's pearl.

D．The rich man didn't know the little old lady.

5．The jeweller could not find the rich man anywhere because he ________.

A．had moved to another hotel

B．was busy doing business with others

C．had escaped with $20,000

D．had told the wrong telephone number

B
The man traveling in the back of the ambulance which was running at a high speed along the streets of Baltimore that morning in 2008 had no business to be alive．By everything that was reasonable，and there were plenty of such things before，he should have been very dead indeed．But he wasn’t．As the people in the hospital pointed out after they had examined him，he was only slightly hurt．Yet he had just fallen 150 feet down a hotel lift shaft（电梯通道）!
Unknown to the man，two things had occurred which were to affect his life that day．On the thirteenth f1oor of the hotel, somebody had carelessly left the lift gate open．Down in the basement, a pipe had burst and，it had flooded the bottom of the lift shaft to a depth of two feet．
Modern lifts have all sorts of fail-safe system to prevent accidents，but this was ancient equipment unreliable，slow，dangerous，and suitable material to recycle．
The man had plenty of things to occupy his mind that morning. He had overslept. The hotel had forgotten to call him and now he was late for an important business appointment. He dressed quickly, shaved hurriedly, took hold of his briefcase and hurried off down the hotel corridor.
Good! The life gate was open. The life must be there. He need not press the button and wait while the large, clumsy life made its way upwards. Without looking or thinking, he stepped out into space. The lift cage was, in fact, one floor above him on the fourteenth. The would which he had walked was a narrow space of not very fresh sir, ending 150 feet below in two feet of dirty water.
The man fell, making his journey to the ground at a speed he had never dreamed of. Confused patterns, a rush of air, time enough to be afraid, split-second thoughts of death, then-crash!
Perhaps this gave him the record for some sort of high-diving act. No doubt in future he always looked before he jumped. Certainly be learnt that this was no way to save time. The experts said that those two feet of water had saved his life.
59．What do we learn about the man?
A．He fell from the 13th floor.       B．He was hit by an ambulance．
C．He got caught in a serious flood．  D．He made a record for high-diving.
60．By “……had no business to be alive”，the writer means that the man_______.
A．had missed his business appointment      B．was alive with excitement
C．was alive and this was surprising       D．didn’t do any business
61．Tile lift did not have a fail-safe system because it was____________.
A．narrow     B．slow  C．1arge D．old
62．Which of the following was NOT the cause of the accident?
A．A pipe burst．                  B．The man overslept
C．The hotel forgot to call him      D．Someone left the lift door open

The man traveling in the back of the ambulance which was running at a high speed along the streets of Baltimore that morning in 2008 had no business to be alive．By everything that was reasonable，and there were plenty of such things before，he should have been very dead indeed．But he wasn’t．As the people in the hospital pointed out after they had examined him，he was only slightly hurt．Yet he had just fallen 150 feet down a hotel lift shaft（电梯通道）!

  Unknown to the man，two things had occurred which were to affect his life that day．On the thirteenth f1oor of the hotel, somebody had carelessly left the lift gate open．Down in the basement, a pipe had burst and，it had flooded the bottom of the lift shaft to a depth of two feet．

Modern lifts have all sorts of fail-safe system to prevent accidents，but this was ancient equipment unreliable，slow，dangerous，and suitable material to recycle．

The man had plenty of things to occupy his mind that morning. He had overslept. The hotel had forgotten to call him and now he was late for an important business appointment. He dressed quickly, shaved hurriedly, took hold of his briefcase and hurried off down the hotel corridor.

Good! The life gate was open. The life must be there. He need not press the button and wait while the large, clumsy life made its way upwards. Without looking or thinking, he stepped out into space. The lift cage was, in fact, one floor above him on the fourteenth. The would which he had walked was a narrow space of not very fresh sir, ending 150 feet below in two feet of dirty water.

The man fell, making his journey to the ground at a speed he had never dreamed of. Confused patterns, a rush of air, time enough to be afraid, split-second thoughts of death, then-crash!

Perhaps this gave him the record for some sort of high-diving act. No doubt in future he always looked before he jumped. Certainly be learnt that this was no way to save time. The experts said that those two feet of water had saved his life.

59．What do we learn about the man?

    A．He fell from the 13th floor.        B．He was hit by an ambulance．

    C．He got caught in a serious flood．  D．He made a record for high-diving.

60．By “……had no business to be alive”，the writer means that the man_______.

       A．had missed his business appointment      B．was alive with excitement

       C．was alive and this was surprising        D．didn’t do any business

61．Tile lift did not have a fail-safe system because it was____________.

       A．narrow     B．slow  C．1arge D．old

62．Which of the following was NOT the cause of the accident?

       A．A pipe burst．                   B．The man overslept

       C．The hotel forgot to call him       D．Someone left the lift door open

阅读短文，根据所读内容在表格的空格处填上适当的单词或短语，每空不超过3个单词。

Happy birthday! Do birthdays really make people happy ?  Of course they do．Birthdays celebrate the day when we were born．Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggests  another year of growth and maturity（成熟）—or so we hope．We all like to imagine that we are getting wiser and not just older．Most of us enjoy seeing the wonder of growth in others, as well．For instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud．For Americans, like people in most cultures,  growing up is a wonderful process．But growing old? That is a different story． 

Growing old is not exactly for people in youth-oriented（ 以 年轻人为 中心）American culture．Most Americans like to look young, act young and feel young．As the old saying goes, “You’re young as you feel．” Older people joke about how many years young they are,  rather than how many years old．People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom．But Americans seem to favor those that are young, or at least “young at heart”．

Many older Americans find the  “golden years”  to be anything but golden．Economically, “senior citizens” often struggle just to get by．Retirement at the age of 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income．Social security benefits usually cannot make up the difference．Older people may suffer from poor nutrition,  medical care,  and housing．Some even experience age discrimination（歧视）．American sociologist Pat Moore once dressed up like an older person and wandered city streets．She was often treated rudely--even cheated and robbed．However, dressed as a young person, she received much more respect．

Unfortunately, the elderly population in America is increasing fast．Why? People are living longer．Fewer babies are being born．And middle-aged “baby boomers” are rapidly entering the group of the elderly．America may soon be a place where wrinkles（皱纹）are “in”．Marketing experts are ready noticing this growing group of consumer．

Title: Different Opinions About 1.____________