About 70,000,000 Americans are trying to lose weight. That is almost 1 out of every 3 people in the United States. Some people eat ___36__ food and they hardly(几乎不) have any fats or sweets. Others do running ,exercise with machines, take medicines, or even have operations(手术). ___37___ you can see losing weight is __38___ work, and it will also cost a lot of money. But ___39__ do many people in the United States want to lose weight?

Many people in the United States are worried about their look of the body. For many people， looking nice also means to be____40____ . Other people worry about their health as many doctors ___41____ overweight is not good.

Most people want to find an____42___ way to take off  fat，and books of this kind are very popular. These books tell people how to lose weight. Each year a lot of new books like these are ___43___. Each one says it can easily help people take fat away.

Losing weight can be ___44___ . Some overweight people go to health centres， like La Costa in California. Men and women ____45____several hundred dollars a day at these health centres. People live there for one week or two，____46____ exercise， eating different foods. Meals there may be just a little. All these work for losing weight. ____47___ 4 days on the programme， one woman called Mrs. Warren lost 5 pounds （2.27kg）. At $ 400 a day， she spent $ 320 to lose each pound. But she said she was still ____48____ to do so.

Health centres， books， medicines， operations， running and exercise machines all ___49__ a lot of money. So in the United States， losing weight may mean losing ___50__ too.

  36. A. less            B. more         C. nice           D. fast

  37. A. For            B. So           C. Or             D. And

  38. A. good           B. useful        C. hard           D. easy

  39. A. why            B. what         C. how           D. when

  40. A. high           B. short         C. thin            D. fat

  41. A. talk            B. say          C. speak          D. tell        

  42. A. dearer          B. harder        C. shorter         D. easier

  43. A. taken          B. given         C. written          D. copied

  44. A. cheap          B. expensive      C. easy           D. safe

  45. A. pay           B. cost          C. take            D. have

  46. A. making        B. taking        C. playing         D. using

  47. A. Before        B. In            C. After           D. At

  48. A. sorry          B. angry         C. sad            D. glad

  49. A. need          B. have          C. use            D. get

  50. A. health        B. time           C. food           D. money

Two brothers worked together on a farm. One was married and had a large    36   .The other had no wife yet. Although they lived in different houses, they shared everything they got from their farm.

One day, the single brother said to himself, “It’s not    37    that we share all the rice. I’m   38    and I need less than my brother.” So, every night he took a bag of rice from his store-room and    39   across the field    40    their houses, putting it into his brother’s store-room.

At the same time, the married brother thought, “It’s not fair to share all the rice. I’m married and I have my wife and children to   41   me when I am   42  . However, my brother has no one to take care of his   43    .” So, each night he also took a bag of rice and put it into his brother’s store-room.

Several months passed by. They found    44   strange that their rice never became less. Then, one dark night the two brothers ran into each other. Slowly they began to understand what was happening. Their bags fell onto the ground and tears    45   their eyes at once.

（   ）36. A. group     B. family           C. class            D. team

（   ）37. A. right     B. popular      C. interesting      D. wrong

（   ）38. A. poor      B. happy            C. alone            D. rich

（   ）39. A. jumped        B. played           C. went         D. rode

（   ）40. A. from      B. through      C. off          D. between

（   ）41. A. look after    B. look for     C. look out     D. look at

（   ）42. A. worried       B. old          C. healthy      D. dead

（   ）43. A. hope      B. children     C. farm         D. future

（   ）44. A. them      B. this             C. it               D. that

（   ）45. A. appeared      B. filled           C. dropped      D. rose   

"I can't believe what I’m hearing!" I thought to myself. Jeff was the last candidate (候选人) for president of Student Council. My best friend Tony came to me and said, “I’m sorry, Mike, I really thought you should be _ 36_ ."

Later that day, I happened to pass Jeff in the dining room. I offered him a 37 "congratulations" and walked to my usual table. To my surprise, Jeff put his plate beside mine.

"I'm, er—I'm just wandering if you would … consider coming to work on my team," he said 　38 . "You are really smart, and you would he a great manager."

“I don't think so," I replied, feeling unsure.

"Well, if you change your mind, we are meeting tomorrow,” he said before moving to another table.

All right, I thought about the 39 from Jeff. Maybe being a part of the election process ( 选举过程) would give 　40　 a chance to make important changes at our school. I decided to join them.　

My first goal was to 　 41_ a catchy advertisement. Within a few days, we designed a poster with Jeff's pictures showing him in a number of activities. No one could walk through any hallway 　 42_ passing Jeff's smiling face.

My next step was to 43 which new activities students would like to have at our school. Many of them wanted a chess club and. a volleyball team.

With tile information I had collected, Jeff met with the headmaster. The headmaster 　 44 to add these activities to our school program.

With my help, Jeff and our ideas were well 　 45　 at school.

An eighth grader said, "It'll be like attending a new school with Jeff as president.

Hearing these words made my heart filled with 　46 I had wanted to become president of Student Council to make a difference. I achieved that and more by working as a member of Jeff's team. He became the most popular candidate and I was a large part of his 　47　 . The fact that it has made a difference in other people's lives is the real prize. What a great feeling!

36. A. beard B. chosen C. invited D. followed

37. A. polite B. loud C. warm D. cheerful

38. A. proudly B. quickly C. nervously D. regretfully

39. A. advice B. chance C. message. D. offer

40. A. them B. him C. me D. us

41. A. print B. invent C. create C. send

42. A. for B. from C. with D. without

43. A. carry out B. try out C. work out D. find out

44. A. agreed B. wanted C. expected D. asked

45. A. allowed B. received C. introduced D. required

46. A. pride B. surprise C. patience D. hope

47. A. hick B. spirit C. life D. success

阅读下面短文，理解其大意，然后从各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出一个最佳选项。

Alicia was a young woman who liked to exercise for her health. In fact, she walked five kilometers before    26   every morning, and went swimming once a week at the swimming pool. She didn’t smoke and never    27   . She didn’t eat chocolate. She didn’t eat sweet and fatty food,    28   . She weighted herself every day.

One day Alicia was on her daily walk when she saw a    29    sitting in a rocking chair under a tree. He looked very old and his hair was white. He looked thin and weak, and his hands were shaking,   30    he looked very happy.

He smiled at her and said, “Good morning! Lovely day, isn’t it?”

He had a wide smile    31    his face, and his eyes shone with happiness. But Alicia saw that he did not have teeth.

“Good morning!” replied Alicia. “Yes, it is a lovely day.”

Alicia thought he    32   very old and wise. She thought he must be at least 90 years old! She decided to ask him about the    33    of a happy old age.

“I hope you don’t    34    me asking,” she said, “but what is your secret for being so happy at your age? I hope I can look as happy as you do    35    I am your age.”

The man in the rocking chair said, “My secret for   36   ? I smoke twenty packets of cigarettes every week, and drink three bottles of wine every day. I eat hamburgers and chocolates whenever I want. I never eat vegetables. I never walk anywhere and I never play sports. I sit at home every day.”

Alicia was    37   . She didn’t expect the man to give her an answer like that. She wondered how the man got to be so old when he did    38    wrong. She thought he should be    39    and unhappy. Perhaps she was wrong. Maybe, she thought, people could live a long happy life    40    eating well or doing lots of exercise.

“How old are you?” she asked.

“It’s my birthday today,” said the man. “I’m forty-seven!”

26. A. lunch        B. breakfast   C. dinner           D. supper

27. A. exercised        B. drank        C. worked           D. slept

28. A. too              B. also         C. either           D. still

29. A. man              B. woman        C. boy          D. girl

30. A. so               B. but              C. and          D. or

31. A. in               B. with         C. at               D. on

32. A. saw              B. looked           C. listened         D. found

33. A. secret           B. dream        C. plan         D. future

34. A. stand        B. mind         C. allow        D. enjoy

35. A. when         B. since        C. though           D. for

36. A. health           B. success          C. happiness   D. life

37. A. surprised        B. worried          C. excited          D. relaxed

38. A. something        B. anything     C. everything       D. nothing

39. A. angry            B. serious     C. quiet        D. sick

40. A. through          B. from         C. without          D. by

Every child has his own dream. Every child hopes to be an adult.  36 , is it really like what they imagine? As a boy  37 lives in modern times and in a modern city, I feel  38 

pressure (压力) on me with the city’s development. Although we  39 worry about money, we still have some  40 problems, such as competition among classmates and expectation (期望) from parents. These experiences are very  41 to our future. But  42 , they really give me a lot of pressure. I still clearly  43 the happiness of my childhood.  44 , we had to face the fact with time passing by. We began to  45 this invisible (无形的) pressure come upon us. We get up before sunrise and  46 after sunset. We work and study  47 an adult, even harder.

  48 we do is in order to get an excellent  49 . Growing up is very boring, but we  50 try to find happiness while growing up. I think friendship among our friends, the support from our parents and the encouragement from our teachers can help us. Why not enjoy the pleasure of growing up and its delicious taste?

1. A. However           B. And             C. So

2. A. which             B. who             C. whom

3. A. less              B. fewer               C. greater

4. A. always            B. often           C. seldom

5. A. other             B. another         C. others

6. A. helpful           B. happy           C. bad

7. A. at first              B. for example     C. in fact

8. A. think             B. remember        C. forget

9. A. Luckily           B. Unluckily       C. Impossibly

10.A. see            B. touch               C. feel

11. A. come out      B. come down       C. come back

12. A. as            B. like            C. alike

13.A. What               B. That            C. How

14. A. progress          B. mark            C. success

15.A. should         B. shouldn’t       C. mustn’t