But, curiously, one of the rarest coins in the world is not made of gold, but of the relatively cheaper silver. In 1840, the United States mint struck 19, 570 silver dollars. That is what its records show. Today only six of this original number remain and these are unlikely ever to the auction market. So what happened to some 19, 564 large silver coins, not the easiest sort of things to lose? One of the more romantic theories is that they were part of the payment to Napoleon for the American territory then known as Louisiana. But they never reached France. Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, the ship transporting them was sunk, either by a storm or by pirates. The probable answer to the mystery is that they were melted down—since the silver value was greater than the actual value of the coin. What really happened to the rest will probably always remain a mystery. What .is known is that whoever can come up with one will find himself instantly rich.

　　 1. It can be inferred from the passage that——.

　　　　  A. money buys as much as it did before

　　    B. money does not buy as much as it did before

　　　　  C. paper money buys more than metal money

　　　　  D. metal money buys more than paper money

　　 2. Which of the following is true of a coin?

　　　　  A. The longer it is held, the less valuable it becomes.

　　　　  B. The more it wears out, the more valuable it becomes.

　　　　  C. The less it gets scratched, the less it values.

　　　　  D. The longer it lasts, the more it values.

　　 3. Coins becomes more valuable because

  　　　　A. they make purses and pockets untidy

　　　　  B. the price of metal goes up

　　　　  C. they fall more readily into a category for collections due to their duration

　　　　  D. both B and C

　　 4. What really happened to some 19, 564 large silver coins?

　　　　  A. They were melted down.　　　　 B. They were sunk in the Gulf of Mexico.

　　　　  C. It is still mystery.　　 　　    　　  D. They were stolen by pirates.

Behind our house is the start of a fascinating trail (小径). This trail is one of the old roads that wind through untold miles of forest. My 　1 , Beans, and I walk the trail frequently. Normally, Beans sniffs alongside the 2　 to follow the smell of a deer track or 3 some cause known only to him.

　 Beans is a white dog, quite handsome and very 　4　 . He not only understands what

we tell him, but also often makes sounds as if he were trying to 　5 back.

　 One morning, we took a different route, which led us to a(n) 　6　 trail. I was sure this trail would eventually lead us to our familiar 　7　 . But, no. We seemed to be far off course. After two hours, I suddenly realized that Beans probably 　8　 the way home. So I urged, "Beans, take me home." He ran down a new trail. But it merely led to an intersection (岔道口) of trails.

　 Soon it became 　9　 that we were getting nowhere. I began to picture the rest of the day in the 　10 , without food or drink. We had walked about ten miles. But Beans seemed totally 　11　 . The sniffing and exploring was going well for him.

　 Finally, we 　12 a crossroad near a highway. Lady Luck suggested I should turn left. We did and 13　 　reached a cottage beside a field. I knocked on the door and explained my situation to an old man. He laughed and then 14　 us home.

　 Since our adventure, I 15 that Beans probably knew all along how to get home.

He was just having too much fan exploring new trails.

完形填空

　　Life in the 21st century will obviously be very different from ___1___ it is ___2___ now. It is interesting to try to ___3___ what Me will be like ___4___. Our life style will be ___5___ in many ___6___. For example, I think that everyone will live in ___7___. There will be houses under the sea. ___8___ people will get settled ___9___ on the moon and do scientific researches. Every house will have a wireless telephone. Solar energy will be ___10___ used in houses and factories. As for education in the future, I think that children will start ___11___ at the age of 3 .To some extent, computers will take the place of ___12___. People will study ___13___ they are 30. Our __14___ life will be different too. It is possible that people will only work ___15___ hours a day. At the age of ___16___, people will retire and do ___17___ they want. Finally, when we think about the future of travel, it seems to me that it is ___18___ that most people will have a chance to ___19___ in space. Our future is promising, let's work hard for ___20___ our beautiful future.

We have saved as a final set of emotions the two most important emotions pertaining to other people: love and its opposite, hate. Love can be seen everywhere. Yet surprisingly, love has been the subject of less scientific research than other emotions, such as anger and fear. The reason for this may be twofold. First, love is a very complex emotion, difficult to describe and measure. Secondly, unlike many extreme emotions, extreme love is generally not a problem; thus less medical attention has been paid to it.

What is love? This is a complex question and requires a complex answer. Love is an enduring, strong, positive attraction and feeling for another person or thing. But it is more than this. It also involves feelings of caring, protection, excitement, and tenderness. When two people are in love, they feel drawn to one another; they greatly enjoy each other's company; and they may be sexually attracted to one another.

Sometimes it is easier to think in term of different kinds of love: “puppy” love, romantic love, brotherly love, and so forth. Though they differ in some respects, they share one important characteristic: a strong positive feeling toward another.

Our feeling toward other people are often complex. We may love someone and, at the same time, be angry with him. Or we may love someone, even though we are jealous of him. We might even love someone and, at the same time, hate him for some specific reason. Hate is a strong negative emotion toward someone, and is due to anger, jealousy, or some other factor. Like love, hate can be a very strong emotion. It can also be very dangerous. The question is often asked, “Is it bad to hate?” The best answer is probably “sometimes yes and sometimes no.” Usually hate does not help us; it makes us feel unhappy and makes us do things that may hurt others. However, sometimes it may be necessary to hate and hurt someone in order to protect loved ones.

　　  1. In the parts previous to the passage you've just read, the author has probably been discussing

　　　　   A. the two most important human emotions—love and hate

　　　　   B. some emotions that are only produced by animals

　　　　   C. some other sots of human emotions than of love and hate

　　　　   D. none of the above

　　  2. According to the passage, the emotion of love has been medically paid less attention to because——.

　　　　　　 A. it is too common to be talked about

　　　　　　 B. compared with other kinds of emotions, love is not so important

　　　　　　 C. the study of love needs great effort and advanced scientific research

　　　　　　 D. love is harmless and too complex for description

　　  3. When two people are in love, they

　　　　　　 A. will never be angry with or hate each other

　　　　 B. are strongly attracted to each other

　　　　     C. will not be jealous of each other

　　　　　　 D. tend to do all of the above

　　  4. Which of the following might best be used as the tide for the passage?

　　　　　　 A. Two Most Important Emotions towards Others

　　　　　　 B. Love More and Hate Less

　　　　　　 C. The Great Benefits of Love and the Serious Harm of Hate

　　　　　　 D. Some Advice to Those Who Are In love