My sister and I grew up in a little village in England. Our father was a struggling   16 , but I always knew he was   17 . He never criticized us, but used   18  to bring out our best. He’d say, “If you pour water on flowers, they flourish. If you don’t give them water, they die.” I   19  as a child I said something   20  about somebody, and my father said, “   21  time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it’s a reflection of you.” He explained that if I looked for the best   22  people, I would get the best   23 . From then on I’ve always tried to   24   the principle in my life and later in running my company.
Dad’s also always been very   25 . At 15, I started a magazine. It was   26  a great deal of my time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a   27 ：stay in school or leave to work on my magazine.
I decided to leave, and Dad tried to sway me from my decision,   28  any good father would. When he realized I had made up my mind,  he said, “Richard, when I was 23, my dad   29   me to go into law. And I’ve   30  regretted it. I wanted to be a biologist,   31  I didn’t pursue my   32 . You know what you want. Go fulfill it.”
As   33  turned out, my little publication went on to become Student, a national   34  for young people in the U.K.  My wife and I have two children, and I’d like to think we are bringing them up in the same way Dad   35  me.

Learning to drive is important to the independence of teenagers, but it is also a great responsibility．Although having a law that keeps 16-year-old drivers from having more than one teenager in the car with them at first seems unfair, there are convincing reasons for this requirement．
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that teens are four times more likely than older drivers to be involved in an automobile accident．It also reports that 16-and 17-year-old drivers are twice as likely to have an accident if they have two teenage friends in the car and four times as likely to have one if they have three or more teenage friends in the car with them．Fatal （ 致命的） crashes of 16-year-old drivers involve the highest percentage of speeding, driver error, and number of passengers．This information is enough to cause any reasonable person to wonder about the wisdom of allowing new teen drivers to take a carload of friends anywhere, even if the law permits it．
A study at the National Institutes of Health indicates that the part of the human brain that controls judgment and evaluates the consequences of our actions might not be fully formed until the age of 25．Until this study, researchers had placed the age at 18．If this is true, it could explain the reckless （鲁莽的） behavior of many teens, behavior that often extends into their twenties．It also could be a strong reason for being cautious about the driving circumstances of young people．
This is not the only study that indicates such caution is necessary．One study at Temple University in Philadelphia examines the results of peer（同龄人） pressure in risky driving situations．The study, which uses a driving game, has an individual guide a car through a course, both alone and in the presence of friends．Three different age groups participated in the study: 13-16, 18-22, and 24 and older．Members of the oldest group showed caution whether driving alone or with friends present, but the two younger groups took more chances when they were with their friends．Furthermore, because these drivers were accustomed to the noise and distraction of many passengers, they were unable to see their own mistakes．Once again, this is a good indication that a law restricting the number of teenagers in the car with a young driver is a good idea．
【小题1】What does the author mainly tell us in Paragraph 2?

Who are these people rushing by you in the street?  More than 215 million people now call America “home”, but most of them can trace their families back to other parts of the world. If you look at the names on shop windows, you will see that Americans come from many different lands. The idea that these people, who once were strangers to the United States, have lost the customs and cultures of their original countries and have become “Americans” is really not true. In fact, what exists in America is more often a kind of “side-by-side” living in which groups of people from other countries often have kept many of their customs and habits. They join the general American society only in certain areas of their lives—such as in schools, business, and sports—but they keep many of their own native customs and manners socially and at home. This “side-by-side” living style has both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes it may cause disagreements to develop between groups whose ways of life are very different from one another. However, there are also great advantages that come from the variety of cultures brought by settlers from other lands. There is great freedom of choice among ideas and dress, food, and social customs in America. Everyone can find some part of his or her familiar world in the United States, in churches, music, food, national groups, or newspapers.

71. More than 215 million people call America “home” because_______.

A. they buy their houses there

B. they settle there now

C. they get married there

D. they were born there

72. “Side-by-side” living style means_______ .

A. making friends with native people and keeping their own cultures

B. keeping their own customs while sharing American ones in certain areas

C. the groups of people who live nearby

D. that they get closer to American society

73. According to the passage, people in the USA_______ .

A. share American customs and culture

B. live in a kind of “side-by-side” society

C. keep their own customs and habits firmly

D. make no choice to accept American customs

74. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. They always stick to their own customs and habits.

B. “Side-by-side” living style is not suitable.

C. They face the society they are not familiar with and make changes in their customs.

D. The advantages coming from the variety of cultures make life in America colorful.

75. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A. Advantages and Disadvantages

B. Different Customs and Habits

C. Home for the People

D. “Side-by-side” Living Style in America

I went to Beijing this National holiday, and it was an interesting experience of my life.
My friends told us that taking the “hard   16 ” to Beijing would be really terrible. So we didn’t know what to   17 . But we were pleasantly surprised when we finally boarded the   18 , which was relatively modern and   19 . During the 14-hour ride we ate peanuts and talked. It was not   20  at all.
It was morning when we arrived. We stepped out of the railway station, having sat in hard seats and not getting much   21 . However, we had energy. First, we tried to get return tickets to Shanghai, but the tickets seller   22  us that tickets would not be on   23  for another two days. We were a little worried about getting   24  , but we made up our minds to   25  for the hotel to put our bags down. After fighting our way   26  the “gypsy” taxi driver who tried to   27  one hundred yuan for the ride, we found another taxi and it   28  cost us thirty yuan to get   29  we had planned to go. When we reached the hotel, there was a window for airplane and train tickets.   30 , the man behind the counter could get tickets that day, which we   31 . The most important lesson about China I ever   32  is to get someone to do your work for you, and it seems to work out much   33 . We were not able to get tickets, but the   34  agents could.
While in Beijing we saw a lot of places of interest, most of which were very   35 . It was fun to be with thousands of people in one place. There aren’t any words to describe it.

Blue Collar
Graduates from China's " blue-collar " vocational schools have an employment rate of 95. 6 percent, but many lose their jobs because of unrealistic expectations, according to a senior official with the Ministry of Education(MOE).
MOE figures show a total of 3. 64 million students graduated from vocational schools last year, of whom 3. 48 million found jobs. The employment rate for these students was 95. 6 percent.
"The employment rate for blue-collar workers has stayed high since 1999 and above 90 percent since 2002," Wang Jiping, the MOE's deputy head of vocational education section, said on Wednesday. "However, the figure is not the cause for optimism because it only indicates that people get employed. "
He said many students find jobs, but are unable to stay in the posts for reasons such as overly high expectations for salaries or poor performance.
Wang said vocational school graduates needed more guidance to find jobs that could use their skills and meet "rational" demands for wages (工资), so that they can stay in the posts.
"The government is to set up a national information platform to better show market demand for blue collar talents", he said.
MOE figures show 73. 23 percent of the 3. 64 million graduates from vocational middle schools found jobs in companies and factories, 10 percent started their own businesses, and 16. 37 percent went on to further study.
Wang said the demand for highly skilled workers boosted the development of vocational education. _____________ , the MOE called for vocational schools to set up more market-oriented training courses with which students could easily find jobs.
55. Many vocational school graduates lose their jobs for the following reasons EXCEPT _________according to the text.
A. their high expectations for salaries          B. their poor performance
C. their lack of working experience                  D. their unrealistic expectations
56. The underlined word boosted in the last paragraph can be replaced by _______.
A. improved         B. prevented              C. ended         D. started
57. Among the vocational school graduates last year about ________took up their own business.
A.540,000             B360,000                          C.150,000             D.70,000
58. Which of the following is the best sentence to be put into the blank of the last paragraph?
A. To develop vocational education                   B. To build up graduates' own business
C. To offer graduates more jobs                         D. To meet the demand