?

Forever Young?

　　It's Girls Night Out:Mom Edition, and I'm a player in a whole new game. It occurs to me that I really don't know these　36　women. We've been circling　37　 for about three years, ever since our kids started　38　.We'd bump into each other in the parking　39　,at Valentine's Day parties, and later as one or the other shyly　40　we all sign our kids up for softball, gymnastics or dance. Who knows　41　the five of us clumped together more than　42　of us clumped with other mothers. I suppose it happens　43　,friendship circles spiraling in and around and about and anew.?

This is the　44　time we've gathered without the kids, and I am having a　45　time saying “Janice”, as opposed to “Zoe's mom” or “Susan”,　46　 “Kaitlin's mom”, and so I have decided, for tonight, not to　47　any names at all.?

The　48　has already taken our drink order. I can't believe nobody　49　beer.Nope, this is a Diet Coke and iced tea crowd. In the back of my mind I'm　50　if I'm going to be the naughty　51　who corrupts this group.?

There is so much　52　to take care of when you are just getting to　53　people as people. One of the things we are doing is　54　dates, the years that each of us　55　from this or that. I see where this is going.?

36. A. five      B. three   C. Four   D. two?

37. A. each other    B. one another       C. all of us     D. some of us?

38. A. primary school    B. university   C. high school D. preschool?

39. A. lot       B. Station       C. line     D. square?

40. A. said      B. suggested   C. informed    D. found?

41.A. what     B. that     C. how    D. why?

42. A. some    B. none   C. any     D. all?

43. A. all the time  B. all of a sudden   C. at the same time D. once and for all?

44. A. last      B. first    C. Usual  D. only?

45. A. spare    B. good   C. difficult     D. pleasant?

46. A. instead of    B. as well as   C. in case of   D. in the name of?

47. A. call      B. use     C. forget D. tell?

48. A. kid              B. mother       C. Friend D. waitress?

49. A. brought       B. liked   C. ordered      D. drank?

50. A. wondering   B. fearing       C. Speaking    D. asking?

51. A. girl      B. mother       C. One    D. kid?

52. A. trouble B. business     C. time    D. food?

53. A. regard  B. name  C. Find   D. know?

54. A. comparing   B. making      C. Deciding    D. discussing?

55. A. came    B. changed     C. graduated   D. got??

You're busy filling out the application form for a position you really need. Let's assume you once actually completed a couple of years of college work or even that you completed your degree. Isn't it appealing to lie just a little, to claim on the form that your diploma represents a Harvard degree? Or that you finished an extra couple of years back at State University? More and more people are turning to cheat like this to land their job or to move ahead in their careers, for personnel officers, like most Americans, value degrees from famous schools. A job applicant may have a good education anyway, but he or she assumes that chances of being hired are better with a diploma from a well-known university.

Registrars（登记员） at most well-known colleges say they deal with deceitful claims like these at the rate of about one per week. Personnel officers do check up on degrees listed on application forms, then. If it turns out that an applicant is lying, most colleges are unwilling to accuse the applicant directly. One Ivy League school calls them "cheats"; another refers to them as "special cases". One well-known West Coast school, in perhaps the most delicate phrase of all, says that these claims are made by "no such people". To avoid outright(彻底的) lies, some job-seekers claim that they "attending" means being dismissed after one semester. It may be that "being associated with" a college means that the job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend. One school that keeps records of false claims says that the practice dates back at least to the turn of the century—that's when they began keeping records, anyhow. If you don't want to lie or even stretch the truth, there are companies that will sell you a false diploma.

　　One company, with offices in New York and on the West Coast, will put your name on a diploma from any number of nonexistent colleges. The price begins at around twenty dollars for a diploma from "Smoot State University". The prices increase rapidly for a degree from the "University of Purdue". As there is no Smoot State and the real school in Indiana is properly called Purdue University, the prices seem rather high for one sheet of paper.

The main idea of this passage is that ______.

　　A. employers are checking more closely on applicants now

　　B. lying about college degrees has become a widespread problem

　　C. college degrees can now be purchased easily

　　D. employers are no longer interested in college degrees

According to the passage, "special cases" refers to cases that ______.

　　A. students attend a school only part-time

　　B. students never attended a school they listed on their application

　　C. students purchase false degrees from commercial firms

　　D. students attended a famous school

We can infer from the passage that _______.

　　A. performance is a better judge of ability than a college degree

　　B. experience is the best teacher

　　C. past work histories influence personnel officers more than degrees do

　　D. a degree from a famous school enables an applicant to gain advantage over others in job competition

This passage implies that ______.

　　A. buying a false degree is not moral

　　B. personnel officers only consider applicants from famous schools

　　C. most people lie on applications because they were dismissed from school

D. society should be greatly responsible for lying on applications

The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean，so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other forever.He sent his camera crew out one evening to film the sunset for him.

　 The next morning he said to the men,“Have you provided me with that sunset？”

　 “No，sir,”the men answered.

　 The director was angry.“Why not?” he asked.

　 “Well,sir,”one of the men answered,“we’re on the east coast here，and the sun sets in the west.We can get you a sunrise over the sea，if necessary，but not a sunset.”

　 “But I want a sunset!”the director shouted.“Go to the airport，take the next flight to the west coast，and get one.”

　 But then a young secretary had an idea.“Why don’t you photograph a sunrise，” she suggested，“and then play it backwards? Then it’ll look like a sunset.”

　 “That’s a very good idea！” the director said.Then he turned to the camera crew and said，“Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea.”

　 The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay.Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director.“Here it is，sir，” they said，and gave it to him.He was very pleased.

　 They all went into the studio.“All right，” the director explained，“now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye.Run the film backwards so that we can see the sunset behind them.”

　 The “sunset” began，but after a quarter of a minute，the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop.

　 The birds in the film were flying backwards，and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach.

1.One evening，the director sent his camera crew out 　　　.

　 A.to film a scene on the sea

　 B.to find an actor and an actress

　 C.to watch a beautiful sunset

　 D.to meet the audience

2.Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast?

　 A.Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset.

　 B.Because he was angry with his crew.

　 C.Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset.

　 D.Because it was his secretary’s suggestion.

3.The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because 　　　　.

　 A.it went well with the separation of the hero and heroine

　 B.when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening

　 C.it was more moving than a sunrise

　 D.the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset

4.After the “sunset” began，the director suddenly put his face in his hands 　　　　.

　 A.because he was moved to tears

　 B.as he saw everything in the film moving backwards

　 C.as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined

　 D.because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and heroine

5.Which of the following is NOT true?

　 A.The crew had to follow the secretary’s advice (忠告).

　 B.If you want to see a sunrise，the east coat is the place to go.

　 C.The camera crew wasn’t able to film the scene the first day.

　 D.The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “sunset”.

It　　  that Jane and Mary will be late.They 　　 to miss the party.

A.is like;likely　　　　　　　　　　B.is like;are like

C.is likely;likely　　　　　　　　　D.is likely;are likely

Are you tired of looking for love in all the usual places? Nowadays, millions of lonely singles are now going online instead．The World Wide Web is quickly becoming the world’s most popular matchmaker．With so many singles online, dozens of dating sites like Yahoo Personals and Match．com are helping singles find that special someone．Around the world, from America to China, love is now very much online．

       Singles are flocking to the Internet mainly because their busy lifestyles leave them little time to look for a significant other．Using dating sites is quick and convenient．They can “meet” a lot more people online than they could by hanging out at a club．Besides , many singles say the regular dating scene has just led them from one bad experience to another and are ready to try something else．They also appreciate the first distance of online dating, which allows them to hide themselves until they are ready to meet someone face to face．Dating sites also make it easy to avoid someone you are not interested in．In the real world, however, ignoring someone you don’t like can be awkward．

       Despite all the advantages, online dating also presents its own set of problems．People aren’t always who they claim to be in their online profiles．For instance, someone who tells you he is “handsome, successful and single” might turn out to be homely, unemployed and married．Safety is another concern．You are just as likely to find a criminal online as you are Mr or Miss Right．

       Even so, supporters of online dating see things in a positive way．In their opinion, singles can safely play the online dating game with a little common sense．Online dating experts recommend following a few safety tips:

       Guard your personal information．Never give out your personal information online．This includes your last name, phone number, home address and place of work．

       Watch for red flags．Do any of the people you are chatting with make disrespectful comments? Do they try to control you? Do they give false information about themselves? If so, forget them!

       Meet in a safe place．When meeting someone in person, choose a public location with other people around．

       Following these tips and you might be able to find the person of your dreams．

According to the passage, many lonely singles don’t appreciate the regular dating scene because it is ___．

       A．unpopular　　　    B．troublesome    C．convenient　    D．forgettable

This passage is mainly about 　　．

       A．getting tired of falling in love in a usual way

       B．people with false information on the Internet

       C．new technology to find love through the Interent

       D．web sites such as Yahoo Personals and Match．com

Which of the following is NOT a suitable place for meeting someone you get to know through the Internet for the first time according to the text?

       A．At his/her house．　　　　　      B．At a museum．

       C．At McDonald’s．　　    D．At a bookstore．

From this passage ,we can infer that 　　．

       A．there are mostly homely and unemployed people online

       B．the police had better find criminals online

       C．we can find love only through the dating sites

       D．following safety tips ensure a safe online dating experience