The back door of the ambulance (救护车) was suddenly shut and the driver ran to the front, jumped into the seat, and started the engine. Inside were the 　36　 parents, Mr. and Mrs. Green, the mother holding their baby daughter, Ally. The little girl had some food stuck in her 　37　and could hardly 　38　.?

    The driver, Mr. White, 　39　 his siren (警报器) and flashing light, and started speeding toward the 　40　 hospital, fighting against 　41　. The cars ahead of him pulled out of way 　42　 he drove through the busy traffic. From the back of the ambulance the parents were shouting at him to 　43　, since Ally almost stopped breathing. In front of him he saw some traffic 　44　, with the red “stop” light shining. Mr. White knew he had no time to lose, so he drove straight past the traffic lights, looking 　45　 his left and right as he did so.

    Coming towards him from his right was a 　46　. The driver had the windows 　47　, since the car was air-conditioned, and he was playing his radio. He did not hear the ambulance.

    The lights were 　48　, so he drove straight 　49　 into the path of the ambulance. Mr. White tried to stop his ambulance, but it was too late. It hit the taxi. Everyone was shaken but no one was hurt. Mr. White looked back to see 　50　 little Ally was. He was 　51  to see relief instead of fear in the face of the parents.

    “Look!” cried Mrs. Green. “She is 　52　 again.”?

    “It must have been the crash (撞击),” said her husband. “It 　53　 the food out of her throat.” The baby’s color was turning normal, and she was crying in a loud 　54　 healthy voice.

They were all joyful, and quite forgot about the 　55　, the taxi, and the lines of cars all around them.

1.A. worried            B. excited      C. angry            D. surprised

2.A. mouth             B. nose      C. throat           D. ear

3.A. talk　            B. breathe       C. cry                  D. hear

4.A. turned on         B. opened on　   C. turned off       D. sped up

5.A. best              B. biggest　     C. first            D. nearest

6.A. time              B. cars          C. policemen    D. speed

7.A. that              B. as            C. there        D. if

8.A. stop              B. slow down C. hurry            D. keep safe

9.A. lights            B. signs         C. policemen    D. marks

10.A. at                   B. to                C. down     D. forward

11.A. taxi             B. car           C. truck        D. train

12.A. up               B. down          C. open         D. covered

13.A. red              B. green         C. yellow       D. out

14.A. out　            B. away          C. on           D. off

15.A. who              B. what          C. where        D. how

16.A. lucky　          B. astonished        C. worried      D. happy

17.A. crying              B. breathing      C. smiling      D. talking

18.A. made             B. let           C. knocked      D. pulled

19.A. and              B. with          C. or　             D. but

20.A. driver               B. accident      C. girl         D. reporters

Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end. In many ways, this is　 36　 for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the sane　 37　 night after night. One would

 38　 them to know their parts by heart and　 39　 have cause to falter（结巴）.Yet　40　is not always the case.

　　A famous actor in a　 41　 successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat　 42　 had been imprisoned in Bastille for twenty years. In the last act，a gaoler（监狱长，看守）would always come on to the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner.　 43　 the noble was expected to read the letter at each　 44　 ,he always insisted that it should be written out in full.

　　One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke　 45　 his colleague to find out if, after so many performances, he had managed to learn the　 46　 of the letter by heart. The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed（使显露）the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. Just then，the gaoler　 47　 with the precious letter in his hands. He entered the　 48　and presented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy he gave him had not been written out in　

 49　 as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of paper. The gaoler looked on eagerly,　50　 to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines. The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds. Then，squinting（眯着眼看）his eves，he said,“The light is　 51　.Read the letter to me.”And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler.　52　 that he could not remember a word of the letter either, the gaoler replied，“The light is indeed dim，sir. I must get my　 53　”With this, he hurried off the stage. Much to the aristocrat’s　 54　 ，the gaoler returned a few moments later with a pair of glasses and the　 55　 copy of the letter which he proceeded（继续进行）to read to the prisoner.

　　36．A. fortunate B. unfortunate C. happy D. unhappy

　　37．A. lines B. words C. plays D. roles

　　38．A. want B. ask C. expect D. wish

　　39．A. always B. never C. sometimes D. often

　　40．A. such B. the thing C. one D. this

　　41．A. highly B. high C. poorly D. poor

　　42．A. where B. what C. which D. who

　　43．A. Because B. Even though C. When D. Though

　　44．A. play B. performance C. role D. case

　　45．A. with B. in C. on D. to

　　46．A. pages B. joke C. lines D. contents

　　47．A. appeared B. disappeared C. came out D. came in

　　48．A. room B. cell C. stage D. office

　　49．A. English B. French C. order D. full

　　50．A. worded B. surprised C. anxious D. afraid

　　51．A. bright B. dim C. dark D. out

　　52．A. To see B. To find C. Seeing D. Finding

　　53．A. glasses B. lines C. light D. letters

　　54．A. surprise B. satisfaction C. anger D. amusement

　　55．A. usual B. old C. unusual D. new

阅读理解

　　Old Americans are separating into two classes. Retirement can be either heaven or hell. “I do believe on the whole the retirees(退休者)of tomorrow will be wealthier and healthier than the same group of 30 years of age.” says Robert Friedland, director of the National Academy on Ageing, “But that's only part of the picture. There's also a large group whose household income(收入)hasn't been growing very much. For them the future is unhappy. ”

　　“Nature is not always kind. ”says Dr. Robert Butler, an expert in medical care of old people, who was a founding director of the National Institute on Ageing. “The relationship between socio-economic position and life expectancy(估计寿命)has been known for a long time. Race (种族)is also connected. And education is powerful, too in lengthening life.”

　　“The reality is that poor people get sick easily as they age because they live in duty neighborhoods and have dirty jobs, they are left unprotected(保护)from environmental pollution(环境污染), and the pressure of being poor wears down people's health.” according to Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, which studies health problems .

　　“Cigarette smoking has a great effect because it is more common in lower socio-economic groups. ” says Elizabeth Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health, “If you live in a state of hopelessness and helplessness and don't think about the future, you are more likely to take up life-threatening habits.”

　　“Race and income have large effects on death. ” a team of researchers reported in the New English Journal of Medicine in 1996, after researching on 24 million whites and 2.1 million blacks.

　　With the exception of black women, the highest income group had the lowest death rates and the lowest income group had the highest death rates regardless of race . For black women there was no consistent pattern across income group.

1．The sentence “ Retirement can be either heaven or hell . ” means ________.

[　　]

A．If a man is out of work, he or she will feel unhappy.

B．If an American retires from his job ( post), he or she will lead a miserable life.

C．Old people in America have to choose a life style.

D．Some old people in America lead a hard life, or others may lead a happy life.

2．According to Dr. Robert Butler's opinion, ________ plays the most important role in people's life expectancy.

[　　]

3．The reason why poor people are more likely to get ill as they grow old is that ________.

[　　]

A．they live in the countryside

B．they work with their hands

C．their families are too large

D．they suffer a lot from being poor

4．What Elizabeth Whelan says means that ________.

[　　]

A．smoking makes people poor and hopeless

B．smoking is popular among poor people

C．poor people should give up smoking

D．rich people in America never smoke

5．Which is the best title for the story?

[　　]

A．Terrible life leads to short expectancy .

B．Income differences produce life expectancy .

C．The life expectancy can be decided by race.

D．Americans don't like to retire .

The Western world has always been divided into two types of people—the cool and the uncool. It is a　 __36__　 that starts in school. The cool kids are good at sports. They are　 __37__　 with the opposite sex. They are good?looking and people want to　 __38__　 their style. They can do their homework but they don't　 __39__ a big effort. That would not be cool.

The uncool kids are in the　 __40__　 of the playground. They are very bright，but they don't have great　 __41__skills and they are　 __42__　 at sports. When they are not programming computers or doing calculus(微积分) in their heads, they are reading comic books and watching shows　 __43__　 the X Files. They are　 __44__ as the geeks(怪人)．

Here are the geeks. The geeks are taking over(占上风). Make friends with them now　 __45__　 they will put virus in your computer and　 __46__　 your math homework to ruin. Geeks might not be popular at school, yet they do pass their examinations, and they might not be too popular at university，but　 __47__　 good degrees.

The most important　 __48__　 of the 21st century, computers and IT, has been at least partly created by geeks. Geek heroes like Bill Gates　 __49__　 others to follow their examples. Being a geek is a way of earning good money. And the creation of the Internet gave them a　　 __50__　 of their own to work and play in，making them a global force.　 __51__， the effect of the geeks　 __52__ popular culture has started a new trend. It is now cool to be　 __53__. Geek culture is becoming an important part of general popular culture, in which what you know is more important than　 __54__　 you look like.

But there are also　 __55__. Geeks were often bullied (欺侮)or laughed at in school. Now a geek may be your boss. Perhaps it is time for punishment.

36．A.division 　 B．part C．class 　　 D．habit

37．A.pleasant 　 B．popular C．crazy 　 D．particular

38．A.take B．act C．copy　 　 D．advance

39．A.have B．suffer C．support D．make

40．A.corner 　　 B．team 　C．group　 D．center

41．A.operating　 　　　 B．speaking 　C．social 　 D．experimental

42．A.good　 　　 B．active C．hopeless 　　　 D．sharp

43．A.like 　 B．for 　C．such 　　 D．as

44．A.admired　 B．thought 　C．known D．treated

45．A.and　 B．so 　C．or　 　　　 D．that

46．A.put　 B．place 　C．bring 　　 D．take

47．A.win B．take 　C．wish 　　 D．finish

48．A.industry 　 B．progress 　C．discovery 　　　 D．improvement

49．A.excite 　　 B．discourage 　C．demand D．promise

50．A.room 　　　 B．world 　C．chance D．heaven

51．A.Somehow　 　 B．However 　C．Though D．Besides

52．A.in 　　 B．of C．on D．for

53．A.rich B．uncool C．attractive 　　 D．handsome

54．A.how　 　　 B．that C．how much 　 D．what

55．A.risks B．questions 　C．shortcomings 　　　 D．chances