Directions：For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A，B，C and D．Fill each blank with a word or phrase that best fits the context．
In the past, man didn’t have to think about the protection of his environment. There were few people on the earth, and natural resources seemed to be 36  .
Today things are 37  , and the world has become too  38  . We’re using up our natural resources too quickly, and at the same time we are  39  our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we continue to do this, human life on the earth will not survive.
Everyone 40   today that if too many fish are taken from the sea, there will soon be none left. Yet, with modern fishing 41  , more and more fish are caught. We know that if too many trees are cut down, forests will disappear and nothing will grow on the land. Yet, we   42  to use bigger and more powerful machines to cut down more and more trees.
We know that if rivers are polluted with waste products from factories, we’ll die.  43  , in most countries wastes are still put into rivers or into the sea, and there are 44   laws to stop this.
We know, too, that if the 45   of the world continues to rise at the present rate, in a few years there will not be enough food . What can we do to solve these problems? 
If we eat more vegetables and less meat there will be more food available for every one. Land that is used to grow crops   46  five times more people than land where animals are kept. Our natural resources will last longer if we learn to recycle them.
The world population will not rise so quickly if people use modern methods of birth control.
Finally, if we educate people to think about the problems, we shall have a better and cleaner 47   in the future.

The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone．Enter the Red Hat Society －a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun．

“My grandmothers didn’t do anything but keep house and serve everybody．They were programmed to do that,” said Emily Cornett, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society．

While men have long spent their time fishing and playing golf, women have sometimes seemed to become unnoticed as they age．But the generation now turning 50 is the baby boomers(生育高峰期出生的人), and the same people who refused their parents’ way of being young are now trying a new way of growing old．

If you take into consideration feminism(女权主义), a bit of spare money, and better health for most elderly, the Red Hat Society looks almost inevitable(必然的)．In this society, women over 50 wear red hats and purple(紫色的) clothes, while the women under 50 wear pink hats and light purple clothing．

“The organization took the idea from a poem by Jenny Joseph that begins: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple．With a red hat which doesn’t go,” said Ellen Cooper, who founded the Red Hat Society in 1998．When the ladies started to wear the red hats, they attracted lots of attention．

“The point of this is that we need a rest from always doing something for someone else,” Cooper saiD．“Women feel so ashamed and sorry when they do something for themselves．” This is why chapters are discouraged from raising money or doing anything useful．“We’re a ladies’ play group．It couldn’t be more simple,” added Cooper’s assistant Joe Heywood．

1.The underlined word “chapter” in paragraph 2 means __________．

         A．one branch of an organization  B．a written agreement of a club

         C．one part of a collection of poems     D．a period in a society’s history

2.From the text , we know that the “baby boomers” are a group of people who       ．

         A．have gradually become more noticeable         

         B．are worried about getting old too quickly 

         C．are enjoying a good life with plenty of money to spend

         D．tried living a different life from their parents when they were young

3.It could be inferred from the text that members of the Red Hat Society are         ．

         A．interested in raising money for social work    

         B．programmers who can plan well for their future

         C．believers in equality between men and women

         D．good at cooking big meals and taking care of others

4.Who set up the Red Hat Society ?

         A．Emily Cornett．         B．Ellen Cooper．  C．Jenny Joseph． D．Joe Heywood．

The kids at Shute Country Primary School in Devon are surprisingly quiet when it’s time to go home in the afternoon, instead of the usual shouting and running you can hear them asking each other, “ Are the lights all off?”, “Shall we check the taps in case they are dripping （滴水）?”, “How many paper towels did we use today?”
But it’s not unusual here．The kids have declared a war on waste．
“We’ve never made the children do anything,” explains Liz Templar, the school’s head teacher, “they came up with all ideas themselves．They’re doing this because they want to．”
If you take a look around the school you won’t see anything thrown away unnecessarily．Everything is collected and reused, or sent to be recycled．
Shute School started its green_revolution_two years ago．They looked carefully at every party of school life－from the teaching to the cleaning．They looked at the way stationery（文具） was used－especially photocopying, the way cleaning was carried out, and how food was used and wasted!
Even parents were looked at: how many children came in each car? Did they use unleaded petrol? Could they bring more children in fewer cars?
High on the list was the waste of paper．Next came unfriendly cleaning products．Paper towels were replaced with recycled paper．But the hardest thing for the kids was when they found out how much rubbish was created by the chocolate, crisps and other snacks（小吃） eaten at lunch time．Of their own accord（自愿地）, the children gave them up．Now they bring apples and home-made snacks．
The school has its own garden where they grow vegetables and flowers so that they can learn about the environment．They also use this area for their recycling store-large containers to collect aluminum, bottles, plate and fabric（织物）．
Even the school’s play area is made from recycled things．
Since the children started, the school’s heating and lighting bills have fallen obviously and the number of rubbish bags has gone down from seven a week to two or three．
Everywhere in Shute School there are bright posters asking everyone to take their rubbish home, to save energy and paper and to keep the green flag flying．
1．Which of the following best describes the writer’s idea?
A．The pupils at Shute School are fighting against pollution．
B．The pupils at Shute School are learning to save things．
C．The pupils at Shute School have declared a war on waste．
D．The pupils at Shute School have found a way to recycle waste things．
2．We can infer from the text that “green revolution” means _______．
A．beautifying schoolyard    B．activity against waste
C．planting green plants       D．throwing away waste
3．What do the children think creates the most waste?
A．Paper towels． B．Cleaning products．   
C．Snacks．     D．Paper．
4．We learn from the text that the children’s behavior ____________．
A．has brought arguments   
B．has saved the school’s cost
C．was against by their parents   
D．was forced by their head teacher

The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone．Enter the Red Hat Society －a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun．

“My grandmothers didn’t do anything but keep house and serve everybody．They were programmed to do that,” said Emily Cornette, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society．

While men have long spent their time fishing and playing golf, women have sometimes seemed to become unnoticed as they age．But the generation now turning 50 is the baby boomers(生育高峰期出生的人), and the same people who refused their parents’ way of being young are now trying a new way of growing old．

If you take into consideration feminism(女权主义), a bit of spare money, and better health for most elderly, the Red Hat Society looks almost inevitable(必然的)．In this society, women over 50 wear red hats and purple(紫色的) clothes, while the women under 50 wear pink hats and light purple clothing．

“The organization took the idea from a poem by Jenny Joseph that begins: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple．With a red hat which doesn’t go,” said Ellen Cooper, who founded the Red Hat Society in 1998．When the ladies started to wear the red hats, they attracted lots of attention．

“The point of this is that we need a rest from always doing something for someone else,” Cooper saiD．“Women feel so ashamed and sorry when they do something for themselves．” This is why chapters are discouraged from raising money or doing anything useful．“We’re a ladies’ play group．It couldn’t be more simple,” added Cooper’s assistant Joe Heywood．

56．The underlined word “chapter” in paragraph 2 means __________．

         A．one branch of an organization  B．a written agreement of a club

         C．one part of a collection of poems     D．a period in a society’s history

57．From the text , we know that the “baby boomers” are a group of people who       ．

         A．have gradually become more noticeable         

         B．are worried about getting old too quickly 

         C．are enjoying a good life with plenty of money to spend

         D．tried living a different life from their parents when they were young

58．It could be inferred from the text that members of the Red Hat Society are         ．

         A．interested in raising money for social work    

         B．programmers who can plan well for their future

         C．believers in equality between men and women

         D．good at cooking big meals and taking care of others

59．Who set up the Red Hat Society ?

         A．Emily Cornette．       B．Ellen Cooper． 

         C．Jenny Joseph．          D．Joe Heywood．

Hidden in our subconsciousness(潜意识）is a perfect mental picture.  We see ourselves on a long trip that goes across the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows, we think in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways,  of children waving at a crossing , of cattle feeding on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, or row upon row of corn and wheat, of flat lands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hills, of city skylines and village halls.
But uppermost in our minds is the final destination.  On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, condemning(谴责）the minutes for loitering(虚度）— waiting, waiting,  waiting for the station.
"When we reach the station, that will be it!”we cry. "When I’m 38." "When I buy a new 450SL Mercdes Benz!""When I put the last kid through college.""When I have paid off the debt!" "When I get a promotion.""When I reach the age of rement, I shall live happily ever after!"
Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream.It constantly outdistances us.
"Relish(appreciate) the moment" is a good motto,  actually it isn’t the burdens of today that drive man mad. It is the regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.
So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, swim more rivers,  watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. Then the station will come soon enough.
【小题1】
Why does the author describe the mental picture?