William James, the great psychologist (心理学家), said that most men are “old fogies (守旧者) at twenty-five”. He was right. Most men at twenty-five are satisfied with their jobs. They have closed their minds to all new ideas; they have stopped to grow.

The minute a man stops to grow –no matter what his years –that minute he begins to be old. On the other hand, the really great man never grows old. Goethe passed away at eighty-three, and finished his Faust only a few years earlier; Gladstone took up a new language when he was seventy. Laplace, the astronomer, was still at work when death caught up with him at seventy-eight. He died crying, “What we know is nothing; what we do not know is immense (extremely large).”

And there you have the real answer to the question, “When is a man old?”

Laplace at seventy-eight died young. He was still unsatisfied, still sure that he had a lot to learn.

As long as a man can keep himself in that attitude of mind, as long as he can look back on every year and say, “I grew”, he is still young.

The minute he ceases (stops) to grow, the minute he says to himself, “I know all that I need to know,” –that day youth stops. He may be twenty-five or seventy-five; it makes no difference. On that day he begins to be old.

According to William James, _______.

A. most people are not open to new ideas before 25.

B. few people continue to improve themselves after 25.

C. some people still try to make progress after 25.

D. all the people stop to make progress after 25.

The author mentions Goethe, Gladstone and Laplace to show that _____.

A. the great man stops to grow that minute he begins to be old.

B. the really great man never grows old.

C. the great man usually dies young.

D. the really great man never dies.

What do we know about Laplace?

A. He was a great writer.

B. He was not pleased with what he had learned.

C. He thought he was one of the greatest man.

D. He thought he was old when he was 25.

The author probably agrees with _______.

A. people should be pleased with what they have.

B. people should try to make a great difference.

C. people should cease to grow when they are 25.

D. people should not be satisfied with what they know.

I searched the website. Unfortunately, the movie that I had seen many times was no longer _____.

A. valuable            B. reliable             C. available           D. incredible

________ my finishing reading the magazine Reader , you can have it _______ .

 A. On , immediately   B. At , quickly   C. For , fortunately   D. With , likely

Mr. Smith, I often hear people say DVD, but I never know what they really mean. Would you tell me what DVD ____?

A. acts as           B. prefers to         C. stands for      D. points to

The lady said she would buy a gift for her daughter with _____.

A. 20 dollars remained                               B. 20 dollars to remain

C. remained 20 dollars                               D. remaining 20 dollars

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

                            C

China’s economic growth “hard to predict”

The worsening global economic situation makes it difficult for China to predict its growth for next year, a senior official said on Friday.

“How fast China’s economy will grow next year is uncertain,” Liu He, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economy Work, told China Daily.

“To a large extent, the rate will be decided by the external(外部) situation,” Liu said during a discussion with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other economists in Beijing.

“This year, GDP is estimated to grow at 9.4 or 9.5 percent, down from 10.6 percent last year,” he said. “However, the impact of the current financial turbulence on our economy is much less than on the rest of the world.”

Nicholas Stern, a former UK government advisor, also told China Daily it will take at least one or two years for the world to recover from the recession, which is now spreading from the US and the UK to the rest of the world.

“We don’t know how long the recession will last, but it is unlikely to be short,” he said.

Liu said China can use the downturn(衰退) as an opportunity to restructure its economy, which has relied heavily on government investment, foreign trade and low-cost technology over the past years.

“When the economy is experiencing fast growth, companies are unwilling to upgrade their technologies,” Liu said.

“The slowdown gives such firms the opportunity to enhance(提高) their competitive edge through better technologies.”

                                         (From China Daily 2009-01-11)

How many people are mentioned in this passage?

A. Only 2.                    B. No more than 3.        C. Not more than 4.              D. At least 5.

It can be inferred from Liu’s words that the impact of the current financial turbulence on China’s economy is ______.

   A. more                  B. less                        C. the most                   D. the least

The underlines word “extent” probably means ______.

   A. sense                  B. degree                      C. size                          D. depth

According to the passage, the reason why Liu said this downturn is an opportunity for China to restructure its economy is that ______.

A. China’s economy will not depend on government investment in the future

B. Foreign trade will grow in the future

C. The downturn will force China’s companies to upgrade their technologies

D. Low-cost technologies will not exist in China

Mary ____ at school wearing a T-shirt with some slogans.

A. broke up           B. came up                   C. ended up                  D. turned up

No one believed his reason for being late        he was caught in a traffic jam,      made him embarrassed.

       A．that; which      B．why; which      C．why; what D．that; what

The flowers      sweet in the botanic garden attract the visitors to the beauty of nature.

       A. to smell     B. smelling     C. smelt  D. to be smelt

So hard-working _____ that he sets a good example to all the other classmates.

   A. he is           B. is he          C. does he          D. he does