Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population. Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago. Because more people live longer, there are more people around at any given time. In fact, it is a decrease in death rates, not an increase in birthrates, that has led to the population explosion.

Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load. In all societies, people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures, old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die. In times of famine (饥荒), infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved, where as if the parents survived they could have another child. In most contemporary societies, people feel a moral obligation (责任) to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work; we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age. Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement, somebody else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illnesses than young or middle-aged people; unless they have wealth or private or government insurance, they must often “go on welfare” if they have a serious illness.

When older people become senile (衰老的) or too weak and ill to care for themselves, they create grave problems for their families. In the past and in some traditional cultures, they would be cared for at home until they died. Today, with most members of a household working or in school, there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person. To meet this need, a great many nursing homes and convalescent (疗养的) hospitals have been built. These are often profit making organizations, although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups. While a few of these institutions are good, most of them are simply “dumping (倒垃圾的) grounds” for the dying in which “care” is given by poorly paid, overworked, and under skilled personnel (员工).

1.The author believes that the increased size of the human population results from _______.

A．an increase in birthrates                  B．the industrial development

C．a decrease in death rates                 D．childhood diseases

2.It can be inferred from the passage that in hunting and gathering cultures _______.

A．it was a moral responsibility for the families to keep alive the aged people who could not work

B．the survival of infants was less important than that of their parents in times of starvation

C．old people were given the task of imparting (传授) the cultural wisdom of the tribe to new generations

D．death was celebrated as a time of rejoicing for an individual freed of (免除) the hardships of life

3.The phrase “this need” in the last paragraph refers to ________.

A．prolonging the dying old people’s lives

B．reducing the problems caused by the retired people

C．making profits through caring for the sick or weak people

D．taking care of the sick or weak people

4.According to the passage, which of the following statements about the old people in the United States is true?

A．Many of them live on social security money which is hardly enough.

B．Minority of them remain in a state of near poverty after their retirement.

C．Many nursing homes are sponsored by religious and nonprofit groups.

D．Older people have wealth or private insurance if they have a serious illness.

It helps to choose the colors you plan to live with in your home with awareness of how different colors affect your emotional and physical states. Every color has a unique meaning, and this can significantly affect how you feel in a room.

Simple Solution:

Using this simple chart, you can choose a room’s color to be in balance and harmony with the role you want a room to have in your and your family’s life.

1.What impression can green rooms give to you?

A．Passionate and powerful.                 B．Refreshing and harmonious.

C．Cool and calming.                       D．Inspiring and bright.

2.If you are going to hold a family gathering, which color of the room can best enhance your atmosphere?

A．Red.             B．Orange.           C．Blue.             D．Green.

3.Which of the following statements about color is NOT true?

A．Yellow rooms inspire logical and clear thinking.

B．Blue creates a quiet meditative quality.

C．Different colors affect you emotionally and physically.

D．Red rooms are acceptable when you are in a bad mood.

A new study of 8,000 young people in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that although love can make adults live healthily and happily, it is a bad thing for young people. Puppy love (早恋) may bring stress for young people and can lead to depression (忧郁症). The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys, and younger girls are the worst of all.

The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is “loss of self”. According to the study, even though boys would say “lose themselves in a romantic relationship”, this “loss of self” is much more likely to lead to depression when it happens to girls. Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions. They won’t tell that to their parents.

Dr Marian Kaufman, an expert on young people problems, says 15% to 20% young people will have depression during their growing. Trying romance often causes the depression. She advises kids not to jump into romance too early. During growing up, it is important for young people to build strong friendships and a strong sense of self. She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends, attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family.

Parents should watch for signs of depression -- eating or mood changes -- and if they see signs from their daughters or sons, they need to give help. The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age. Love will always make us feel young, but only maturity (成熟) gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects.

1.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Puppy love may bring young people depression.

B．Parents should forbid their children’s love.

C．Romance is a two ­ edged sword for adults.

D．Romance is good for young people.

2.Which of the following is more likely to have depression?

A．Young people who have a strong sense of selfishness.

B．Young boys whose parents watch for their behavior.

C．Young girls who always hide their feelings and opinions.

D．Careless parents whose children are deep in love.

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Lacking love can lead young people to grow up more quickly.

B．Early love makes young people keep close to their friends and parents.

C．Parents should help their children to be aware of the signs of depression.

D．The older a woman is，the less likely she seems to lose herself in romance.

4.What’s the author’s attitude towards puppy love?

A．Confused.         B．Disapproving.       C．Disinterested.      D．Scared.

When we read books we seem to enter a new world. This new world can be similar to the one we are living in, or it can be very __50__. Some stories are told as if they were true. Real people who live in a __51__ world do real things; in other words, the stories are about people just like us doing what we do. Other stories, such as the Harry Potter books, are not __52__. They are characters and creatures that are very different from us and do things that would be impossible for us.

But there is more to books and writing than this. If we think about it, even realistic writing is only __53__. How can we tell the difference between what is real and what is not real? For example, when we read about Harry Potter, we do seem to learn something about the real world. And when Harry studies magic at Hogwarts, he also learns more about his real life than __54__. Reading, like writing, is an action. It is a way of thinking. When we read or write something, we do much more than simple look at words on a page. We use our __55__, which is real, and our imagination, which is real in a different way, to make the words come to life in our minds.

Both realism and fantasy (幻想) use the imagination and the “magic” of reading and writing to make us think. When we read something realistic, we have to __56__ that the people we are reading about are just like us, even though we __57__ that we are real and they are not. It sounds __58__, but it works. When we read, we fill in missing information and __59__ the causes and effects of what a character does. We help the writer by __60__ that what we read is like real life. __61__, we are writing the book, too.

Most of us probably don’t think about what is going on in our __62__ when we are reading. We pick up a book and lose ourselves in a good story, eager to find out what will __63__ next. Knowing how we feel when we read can help us become better __64__, and it will help us discover more about the real magic of books.

1.                A．different        B．possible        C．important D．necessary

2.                A．common        B．usual           C．normal   D．certain

3.                A．instructive      B．realistic         C．reasonable    D．moral

4.                A．planned        B．thinkable        C．designed  D．imagined

5.                A．magic          B．lessons         C．dreams   D．experience

6.                A．grammar        B．knowledge      C．skill  D．words

7.                A．recall          B．ensure         C．imagine   D．understand

8.                A．hope          B．find            C．learn D．know

9.                A．terrible         B．dangerous       C．serious   D．strange

10.               A．think about      B．talk of          C．learn from D．forget about

11.               A．guessing        B．telling          C．pretending D．promising

12.               A．In a way        B．As usual        C．On the contrary D．By the way

13.               A．society         B．minds          C．life   D．world

14.               A．appear         B．argue          C．happen   D．develop

15.               A．writers         B．fans           C．professionals   D．readers

Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. based      B. schedule      C. individual     D. determined     E. achieving

F. ambitious   G. success       H. studying       I. marvel         J. smarter

The Secret of Success

The secret of success is that there is no secret. Some people succeed because they are just __1__ than other people. Some people succeed because they just work harder than other people. And some people succeed because they are just plain lucky.

　　Ma Donghan is a student at Tsinghua University who is __2__ to be successful and she’s not going to leave it to luck. Ma is obviously smart because she’s a student at the best university in China, but her plan for success is __3__ on the old fashion value of hard work. You can see that by the weekly schedule she’s set up for herself which was recently posted online.

　　Every hour of every day is accounted for. There is her classroom __4__, of course, but then blocks of time are set aside for __5__ each subject and also for a few activities like playing sports. There are no hours set aside for just relaxing and there are only five hours allotted (分配) each night for sleeping. She has set a very __6__, almost punishing schedule for herself, but it seems to be working.

　　Other students __7__ at Ma’s diligence and discipline but doubt that they could achieve the same level of success. Perhaps not, but Ma is obviously a unique and special __8__. She has set high goals, made a plan to achieve those goals, and worked hard to keep to her plan. This is what other students can learn from Ma.

In school, as in life, __9__ is never guaranteed and not everyone will find him or herself at the top of the pyramid. The important thing to remember is that having a plan and working hard to stay with the plan will bring you a level of success that just being smart and lucky cannot.

-- How long do you think it will be ______ the bus arrives here?

-- No more than five minutes.

A．when             B．before            C．since             D．after

Making a proper choice ______ the future will probably make much difference in our life.

A．concerning        B．to concern         C．concerned        D．having concerned

In Canada, cross country skiing is a popular sport among people ______ they can enjoy excitement and adventure.

A．that              B．where            C．whom            D．which

According to what he complained about, something must have gone wrong with the computer, ______?

A．mustn’t it        B．didn’t he         C．hasn’t he        D．didn’t it

      an important position in a big company, Richard has a good chance to improve himself.

A．Offered           B．Offering           C．Having offered     D．To offer