Despite rising education levels, Americans of every age are reading less and less for pleasure these days, according to an analysis by the National Endowment for the Arts. The decline(下降) could have bad effects as people tune out books, tune in popular culture and become less socially engaged.

"We've got a public culture which is almost entirely commercial(商业化)and novelty - driven (追新)," says NEA chairman Dana Gioia. "I think it's letting the nation down."

The study gathers years of data on Americans' reading habits and finds that, at every age group, we're reading less.

Most of the data have appeared in private, government and university surveys, but today's report is the first to combine them into a single portrait. It suggests that the demands of school, work and family and the decisive advantage of other forms of entertainment have caused the decline in reading for millions of Americans.

·Only 38% of adults in 2006 said they had spent time reading a book for pleasure.

·65% of college freshmen in 2005 said they read little or nothing for pleasure.

·30% of 13 - year - olds in 2004 said they read for fun "almost every day," down from 35% in 1984.

According to Gioia, a poet, they decline is probably the single most important social issue in the United States today. The findings should be a wake - up call to educators to change the way they teach literature at every level. It was once believed that if someone went to college, they would become a lifelong reader. What we're seeing right now is that we're no longer producing readers. We're producing B. A. s and M. A. s and Ph. D. s.

Cioia also wants main media to wake up to how they can promote good books in many ways. He notes that when a character in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral recited a few lines of W. H. Auden's poem Funeral Blues, the poet briefly became a best seller.

65.The underlined phrase "tune out" in the first paragraph probably means________.

A.close    B.publish C.prove   D.read

66.According to Dana Gioia, the change of Americans' reading habit________.

A.is positive and valuable      B.does harm to the nation

C.is caused only by popular culture      D.can make poets best sellers

67.Which of the following is NOT the cause for the change in reading habit?

A.Demands of getting a B. A., M. A. or Ph. D.

B.Demands of family, school and work.

C.The change in the way the literature is taught.

D.Advantages of the entertainment.

68.We can infer that the number of teenagers reading for pleasure reduced by________in 20 years.

A.30%    B.38%    C.65%    D.5%

A Frenchman went to a small Italian town and was staying with his wife at the best hotel there. One night, he went out for a walk alone. It was late and the small street was dark and quiet. Suddenly he felt someone behind him. He turned his head and saw an Italian young man who quickly walked past him. The man was nearly out of sight when the Frenchman suddenly found that his watch was gone. He thought that it must be the Italian who had taken his watch. He decided to follow him and get back the watch.
Soon the Frenchman caught up with the Italian. Neither of them understood the other’s language. The Frenchman frightened the Italian with his fist (拳头) and pointed at the Italian’s watch. In the end the Italian gave up his watch to the Frenchman.
When he returned to the hotel, the Frenchman told his wife what had happened. He was greatly surprised when his wife pointed to the watch on the table. Now he realized that by mistake he had robbed the watch and it was the Italian’s.
【小题1】The Frenchman went to a small Italian town _______.

第二节：信息匹配（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）

下面是一组应用文及其应用场合，请阅读下列应用文和相关信息，并按要求匹配信息。

首先，请阅读下列应用文。

Fujiko has produced an amazing new mini camera—the advanced 1001ix. No bigger than a credit card! Convenient and very reliable. Easy to use. Automatic focus and flash. Made from an attractive and strong material.

Price: $ 199.98

E. Special Jewelry for your ears

Made of gold and attractive.

When you are tired of loud disco music, or bored at a party, you don’t have to listen. Simply put them on. Thousands of satisfied customers! A bargain at $109.

F. Remote Headphones

Radio and TV programs can be heard from 100 metres away with Remote Headphones. This exciting new product gives you freedom to move around plus top quality sound.

Price : $ 110.98

请阅读以下购物者的信息，然后匹配购物者和他/她拟要购买的物品的广告：

66. Jane’s mother wants to fry some bread for their lunch but she found there’s no oil in the kitchen and ask Jane to buy some while shopping.

67. Jack’s girl friend, Helen, came to Beijing for further study on Chinese literature but she couldn’t find a suitable living place so she just wants to live together with someone else.

68.Maggie just bought a second-hand flat a month ago so she wants to buy some furniture for her new home and maybe she will go shopping on the coming Sunday.

69. Nathan’s father is retired from work and stays at home watching TV all day

long so Nathan has decided to buy him something convenient when he watches TV.

70. Nelda, my English teacher, decided to have a tour in China during the coming summer holidays so he decided to buy something to be useful during his trip.

第二卷（两部分共35分）

第四部分：写作（共两节，满分35分）

第一节：短文填词（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）

阅读下面短文，根据以下要求：1）汉语提示；2）首字母提示；3）语境提示，在每个空格内填入一个适当的英语单词，并将该词完整地写在右边相对应的横线上。所填单词要求意义准确、拼写正确。

The snowstorm in our city last week wasn’t a large one, but      

it ______ many accidents. The snow started to come down in     76．_________

the late afternoon. I saw it ______ the window of the office building where     77．_________

Mary and I work as ______(秘书). It had been snowing for an hour  78．_________

b______ I started to drive home. After twenty minutes, the accident  79．_________

happened. My heater didn’t work, and the snow ______(结冰) on my    80．_________

window, so I couldn’t see well. I had to c______ my window every few   81．_________

minutes. To make matters ______, the car hit the hill, turned over    82．_________

and stopped. I looked to see w______ I was hurt, but I wasn’t.  83．_________

_____(幸运) I’d been wearing my seatbelt. Soon the police       84．_________

came to r______ me, and I managed to return home later.  85．_________

阅读下面短文，根据以下提示：1）汉语提示; 2)首字母提示；3）语境提示，在每个空格内填入一个适当的英语单词，并将该词完整地写在右边相对应的横线上。所填单词要求意义准确、拼写正确。
What are the students’ favourite jobs in the future?
The following is a report on the students’ v   on their【小题1】____________
future job preference．_______ seems to be some differences 【小题2】____________
_________ boys and girls．The most striking contrast lies in teaching: 【小题3】___________
most girls would like to become teachers w  ____few boys want 【小题4】__________
to do this job．_______（有趣的是）, many boys want to do business【小题5】____________
and still some want to become _______（律师） though only a small 【小题6】____________
part of girls s  _ interest in these two fields．The second largest 【小题7】____________
group of all the __________（受调查） students, expect to be scientists.【小题8】__________
That is, both boys and girls are w   to display their talents in 【小题9】____________
this field．And the third c for girls is to be     interpreters or translators．【小题10】___________