LOS ANGELES Jesus Ibarra was puzzled by the elderly man.

He was obviously much older than other students at Central Ault High School. And he was an Anglo on a campus where most students are Latins, Blacks, and Asian Americans.

“I asked myself what he was doing here,” said Ibarra, 21, of Los Angeles. “I thought he was a visitor. The first time I talked to him, I asked a question in English, and he answered in Spanish. I thought he was white and Jewish. I never imagined that he would speak Spanish.”

Jacob Blitzstein surprised his fellow students all the time. He isn’t some stuffy man, though he wears his neat gray beard and conservative (traditional) clothes.

Blitzstein is warm and gregarious (enjoys being with others). He likes to hear a good joke and loves to tell a good story. He is determined, especially when it comes to realizing his dream.

Recently, that dream came true. At a graduation ceremony attended by two of his children and three grandchildren, Blitzstein, 81, graduated from high school.

After Principal Lanny Nelms handed him the diploma（毕业证书）and announced his age, Blitzstein waved to the audience and cried.

And why not? He’s probably the oldest Central High School graduate since the school opened in 1974. According to the Los Angeles district spokesman, although no records of such things are kept, Blitzstein is the oldest graduate he’s ever heard of.

Earning his diploma took 10 years, during which the retired store owner suffered heart attack and ill health, and lost his wife and two brothers.

He kept to his task for a reason. “School is the best medicine you can have,” he said. “You have something on your mind a goal.”

With his diploma in hand, Blitzstein states that he’s not through yet.

“You know something ? I’m going to college,” He told a visitor recently. He has checked out West Los Angeles and Santa Monica community colleges and hopes to move from there to a four-year school.

“It’s not a joke,” he said. “If I live to the year 2008, maybe I’ll be a doctor.”

64．What was Jacob Blitzstein’s dream?

       A．To be the oldest graduate.

       B．To graduate from high school.

       C．To surprise his fellow students.

       D．To invite his children to attend his ceremony.

65．The underlined word “stuffy” in the 4th paragraph means “       ”.

       A．old fashioned                                    B．respectable

       C．narrow minded                                 D．fat

66．What does Blitzstein mean by saying “he’s not through yet?”

       A．It’s a dream from which he can’t wake up.

       B．He will continue his studies and there is a long way to go.

       C．He can’t believe that he can get the diploma.

       D．He doesn’t think he’ll pass the examination.

67．You can conclude from the passage that          .

       A．Jacob is the oldest graduate in the world

       B．it’s necessary to receive college education

       C．learning is an art

       D．a person’s effort can lead to success

WASHINGTON-After years working in financial and real estate management, 61-year-old

Bill Copeland retired to his version of the American dream—not full-time rest but a less-taxing job．

He’s hardly alone. Close to two-thirds of Americans who have not yet retired say that when the time comes they will work for pay after retiring. The reason given most often has nothing to do with money—they simply want to stay busy．

For Copeland, after years of 60-and 80-hour work weeks , that means “only” 40 hours a week at a job selling power tools and advising people on how to use them．

“I’m doing something I want to do , that I know about and I can help people,” said Copeland , who works in Falls Church , Virginia , at a Home Depot , a company that makes a special effort to attract older workers.

The political debate on the future of Social Security has fixed fresh attention on retirement and how older Americans make ends meet. As they live longer , healthier lives , work is a choice for an increasing number of old Americans．

In a recent Associated Press—Ipsos poll, 63 percent of those who have not retired said the thought they would work for pay after they retired ．The reason given most often was “to stay busy,” followed by “to make ends meet” and “to have enough money for extras．”

People find various ways to stay in the work force —working past retirement age , cutting back to part-time , or retiring and then taking a new job —often with less stress, fewer hours and less money．For many people , retirement is not an event but a process．

Dennis Bardy, a 47—year-old teacher , shares the same view with many who plan to keep working．

“It would be nice to have a little bit of extra money ,” he said , adding , “I also want to stay active．Too many times , you see people who retire just seeming to fade away．

1．According to the passage, Bill         ．

       A．works in a company serving older workers ．

       B．has many children and grandchildren to live together with him

       C．has found another job after retirement

       D．now works part time in financial and real estate management

2．We can learn from the passage that         ．

       A．more and more Americans prefer to retire step by step

       B．over half of the Americans plan to keep working just for pay after retirement

       C．nearly two-thirds of Americans are working 60 to 80 hours per week

       D．American people find various ways to stay where they are working after retirement

3．The underlined phrase “fade away” in the last paragraph probably means         ．

       A．lose their jobs                                     B．disappear completely

       C．become less active                              D．move away to live in other places

4．What would be the best title for this passage ?

       A．Older Americans In Trouble                 B．Bill Copeland’s Life After Retirement

       C．Living Conditions Of Older Americans   D．Americans Choosing Work After Retirement

When she returned home after a year in South America, Judith Martin, a North American writer, began to have a problem. People kept interpreting her behavior as aggressive, but that was not right. Fairly soon she figured out what was happening.

When most South Americans talk to each other face-to-face, they stand closer together than North Americans do. Martin had not readjusted to North American distances. Apparently, she had forgotten about the phenomenon known as personal space --- the amount of physical distance people expect during social interaction. Everyone has expectations concerning the use of personal space, but accepted distances for that space are determined by each person’s culture.

Observations about personal space began about twenty years ago. Anthropologist Edward T. Hall was a pioneer in the field. He became very interested in how interpersonal distances affected communication between people. In his book The Hidden Dimension, Hall coined (invented) the word “proxemics” to describe people’s use of space as a means of communication. As Hall’s book title indicates, most people are unconscious that interpersonal distances exist.

Personal space depends on invisible boundaries. Those boundaries move with people as they interact. Personal space gets larger or smaller depending on the circumstances of the social interaction at any moment. People do not like anyone to trespass (侵犯) on their personal space. As Cooper explains, invasions of personal space bring about negative reactions.

Researchers working with Hall’s data found that accepted interpersonal distances in the United States also depend on other factors. For example, subcultures help determine expectations

concerning personal space. Fisher, Bell, and Baum report that groups of Hispanic-Americans

generally interact more closely within their subculture than Anglo-Americans do within theirs. They further explain that in general subcultural groups tend to interact at closer distances with members of their own subculture than with nonmembers.

Age also affects how people use personal space. Cooper reports that North American children

seem unaware of boundaries for personal space until the age of four or five. As the children get older

they become more aware of standards for personal space. By the time they reach puberty (青春期), they have completely adapted to their culture’s standards for interpersonal distances.

Gender (性别) also influences people’s use of personal space. For example, North American males’ most negative reaction is reserved for anyone who enters their personal space directly in front of them. Females, on the other hand, feel most negative about approaches from the side. Also, females have smaller interpersonal distances than males do, although pairs of the same sex communicate across larger spaces than do pairs of males and females. The gender factor changes, however, in high-density situations such as crowded subways or elevators in the United States. As Maines observes, when people have some choice about where they stand or sit in crowded settings, they choose people of the same sex.

As international travel and commerce increase, intercultural contact is becoming commonplace. Soon, perhaps, cultural differences in expectations for personal space will be as familiar to everyone as are cultural differences in food and dress. Until then, people need to make a special effort to learn one another’s expectations concerning personal space. Once people are sensitive to such matters, they will not go either away from or toward a person from another culture.

50. Judith Martin’s experience tells that interpersonal distance in social interaction is determined by _________.

A. personal preference　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　 B. cultural background

C. social awareness D. geographical features

51. According to Hall, ________.　

A. people are unaware that personal space contributes to communication

B. personal space in social interaction is used quite regularly

C. people show not enough interest in learning about interpersonal distances

D. he shared the idea that personal space affects communication

52. Which of the following can be implied from the first four paragraphs?

A. Judith Martin went to South America to explore about personal space.

B. Being unaware of interpersonal distance may lead to discomfort.

C. Nobody has ever noticed the existence of personal space decades.

D. People don’t like those who are trying to keep distance in communication.

53. We can infer that accepted interpersonal distance in the US is better shown among ________.

A. subcultural groups　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. age groups

C. racial groups D. gender groups

54. By “they will not go either away from or toward a person from another culture”, the writer means __________.

A. people try their best to avoid embarrassment by knowing more about culture

B. People are always afraid that they might take a wrong step when talking

C. people can keep appropriate personal distance in communication

D. people will choose to approach the right person to ask about the culture thing