58.　 Following this passage which of the following topics is most probably to be discussed?

A.　　　 Who will win the prize?

B.　　　 What will the “car of tomorrow” be like?

C.　　　 Different opinions on the “car of tomorrow”

D.　　 How to use less fuel?

57. From the passage we can see that the key to developing the “car of tomorrow” is that ______.

A.　　　 the promise has remain unfulfilled

B.　　　 the Middle East seems more unstable than ever

C.　　　 mileage(英里数) for per gallon of gas should be increased

D.　　 a prize should be offered for the first car to break 100 miles per gallon

56．Why was Hung able to win the hearts of America?

A．His success was based on luck rather than his own hard work.

B．He attracted people’s attention and won wide praise in the contest.

C．He was good-looking in his pants and shirt though he didn’t sing well.

D．In the contest he did what every one of us is happy to do in daily life.

E

Over the past several decades, the promise of the “car of tomorrow” has remained unfulfilled, while the problems it was supposed to solve have only intensified (加剧). The average price of a gallon of gas is higher than at any time since the early 1980s. The Middle East seems more unstable than ever. And even climate experts are starting to admit that the carbon we’re pumping into the atmosphere might have disastrous consequences. To these circumstances, automakers have responded with a fleet of cars that averages 21 miles per gallon, about four miles per gallon worse than the Model T.

Yet hope is coming faster than that hydrogen economy you’ve been hearing about. Several small companies are developing new engine technologies and advanced automotive designs that promise to deliver 100 miles from a single gallon of gas. The proposals run from the simple-reduce weight, improve aerodynamics(空气动力)-to the incredible (one company wants to borrow a few tricks from jet engines).

The race should heat up further when the X Prize Foundation-the group that kick-started the space-tourism industry with its $10-million competition to produce a reusable private spacecraft-announces in the next few months a competition for the first car to break 100 miles per gallon and sell a yet-to-be-decided number of units. The prize money hadn’t been finalized at press time, but X Prize officials are discussing figures in the $25-million range as a proper amount. They hope the prize will urge people to completely reconsider what a car should look like and how it should function. “We need a paradigm shift,” says Mark Goodstein, the executive director for the automotive X Prize. “We need to change the way people think about automobiles.”

55．Which of the following shows the correct order of what happened to Hung?

a．The entertainment firms made an agreement with Hung.

b．The judges cut Hung off in mid-act in the singing contest.

c．Hung became popular among Americans.

d．Hung gave a terrible performance though he tried his best.

e. Three websites put Hung’s funny performance on the Internet.

A．d, b, e, c, a　　 　 B．a, c, d．b, e　　 C．a, d, b, c, e　 D．d, b, a, e, c

54．What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 6 refer to?

A．William Hung.　　　　 B．Hung's bad performance.

C．Hung’s website.　　　　 　　 D．The public’s opinion.

53．Hung was popular in America for all the following reasons EXCEPT ________

A．his shirt and pants　　　　　 B．his off-key singing

C．his jerking hips　　　 D．his excellent version

52．What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Sometimes an idol behaves quite foolishly.

B．Hung's performance attracted the public eye.

C．How an unsuccessful person became famous.

D．Success sometimes does not require hard work.

51. The opportunity of ______ is offered only to college students graduating in 2009.

　 A. working in large companies in America

　 B. traveling in America

　 C. positions in VW

　 D. OPI internship

D

In the age of reality television, success isn’t the only way to the public eye. Failure can also create fame, just like William Hung, 21, a native of Hong Kong.

Hung recently has made an agreement with US-based entertainment firms Koch Records and Fuse Music Network. They will publish a full-length record, titled “The True Idol” on April 6.

The idol (偶像) is a civil engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley. He did a version (改写本) of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” on the television show “American Idol 3", on January 27. The Fox TV singing contest searches for pop stars among ordinary people. In the case of Hung, however, his act was so bad that the judges cut him off in mid-act. Hung’s response? “I already gave my best, so I have no regrets at all.” That’s interesting, because any common person would have found plenty to regret: the off-key singing, the blue Hawaiian shirt worn with pants pulled up too high, the terrible dancing, the hips jerking (摇摆) to a beat that did not belong to the song, maybe not even to this planet. It was, by all accounts, bad.

But, it was this very bad act that sold well.

Marc Juris, president of Fuse, explained it this way: “Every one of us is happily guilty of singing our favorite song at the top of our lungs with complete freedom, completely off-key and completely unworried. That’s what William did and immediately won the hearts of America.”

Whatever it is, for the moment it’s big. Three websites devoted to Hung have gone up on the Internet in the past few weeks. Versions of his performance have been remixed with hip hop and techno music and have made it to the top 10 request list at a Chicago radio station.

So, what does Hung think of this?

“There were all these people saying things about me. A lot were saying I was very courageous and that I was great on the show, but some didn’t have much respect for me and some were kind of mean.”

Now he says he’s not so sure whether to distance himself from the glamour (魅力) or to accept it. Returning to normal hasn’t been easy.

50. According to the first advertisement ______.

　 A. the program offers an opportunity to college students to work in large American companies as well as to travel in America

　 B. the applicants are required to have college degrees and pay a registration fee

　 C. applicants who can not pass the language test must go through an interview

　 　D. the program must be applied for during the summer of 2009

49. These advertisements are most probably ______.

　 A. advertisements on the Internet intended for the general public to read

　 B. advertisements in a newspaper intended for large companies to read

　 C. advertisements on the Internet intended for college student to read

　 D. advertisements in a newspaper intended for college students to read