61. It can be inferred(推测出) from the text that ________.

　 A. the fax service had been fully developed by the 1980s

　 B. letters have been used in China for about 1,000 years

　 C. the fax machine was invented after the 1980s

　 D. letters have been used in Egypt for about 2,000 years

60. We can learn from the text that ______.

　 A. email is less popular than the fax service

　 B. the postal service has become faster over the years

　 C. the postal service has become lower over the years

　 D. the fax service has a history as long as the postal service

59. It can be inferred from what the mother said that _____.

　 A. they had no damage at all　　　 B. everything went beyond their expectation

　 C. everything was under control　 D. the family could have suffered a greater loss.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　B

　　 For centuries , the only form of written correspondence (通信) was the letter. Letters were, and are, sent by some form postal service , the history of which goes back a long way. Indeed , the Egyptians began sending letters from about 2000 BC, as did the Chinese a thousand years later.

　　 Of course , modern postal services now are much more developed and faster, depending as they do on cars and planes for delivery . Yet they are still too slow for some people to send urgent documents(紧急文件) and letters.

　　 The invention of the fax(传真) machine increased the speed of delivering documents even more. When you send a fax , you are sending a copy of a piece of correspondence to someone by telephone service. It was not until the early 1980s that such a service was developed enough for businesses to be able to fax documents to each other.　

　　 The fax service is still very much in use when copies of documents require to be sent, but, as a way of fast correspondence, it has been largely taken place of by email. Email is used to describe messages sent from one computer user to another.

　　 There are advantages and disadvantages with emails. If you send someone an email , then he will receive it extremely quickly. Normal postal services are rather slow as far as speed of delivery is concerned .

　　 However, if you write something by email , which you might later regret , and send it immediately , there is no chance for second thoughts . At last , if you are posting a letter you have to address and seal(封) the envelope and take it to the post box. There is plenty of time to change your mind . The message is thought before your email !

58. The underlined word “stock” in the third paragraph refers to _______.

A.　　 money owned by the family　　　　　 B. goods for sale.

C. supplies for family use　　　　　　　 D. farm animals

57. “There was very little we can do about the crops” indicates that _________.

　 A. little damage would be done to the crops　 B. they had everything ready for the crops

　 C. they felt unable to protect the crops　　　 D. the crops should be safe enough there

56. When the black clouds appeared suddenly in the distance, _________.

　 A. the family were surprised　　　　 B. they were extremely worried

　 C. they were preparing for the worst　 D. they faced the storm bravely

54.　 A. day　　　　　　　　　 B. week　　　　　　　　 C. afternoon　 D. night

53.　 A. but　　　　　　　　　 B. and 　　　　　　　　 C. on　　　　　　 D. so

52.　 A. before　　　　　　　 B. after 　　　　　　　　 C. because　　　 D. if