Dennis Sinar, 51, a doctor from Washington, N. C., is quick to explain why he took a yearlong break from his job. “I was pretty burned out after practicing medicine for 26 years. I needed a recharge.” So he took a “gap year”, from July 2011 to June 2012, to explore things like ancient buildings, antique restoration, and traditional Eastern medicine, in locations including Alaska, Nepal and Romania.

“Taking a break from work is an excellent way for adults to go into a new career or refresh an old one,” said Holly Bull, president of the Center for Interim（过渡时期）Programs in Princeton, N, J., which sets up gap-year programs. The group works mainly with college-age students, but it has also served older adults since it was formed 28 years ago. “In recent years, mid-career breaks have been gaining more interest,” she said. A report on adult gap years published this year by a market research company also described the potential（潜在的）American market for gap years as a “sleeping giant.”

“A gap year is a challenge for the older individual to step out of a comfort zone and take a risk. I enjoyed that side most.” said Dr. Sinar, who kept a daily blog about his experience. His time studying Eastern medicine “reaffirmed（再次肯定）the reasons I went into health care,” said Dr. Sinar, who returned to practice medicine at his old job, although he works fewer days. “I use those experiences to provide my patients with more care,” he added. “And I listen better than I did before.”

George Garritan, chairman of the Department of Leadership and Human Capital Management at New York University, certainly agrees with Dr. Sinar. He said a gap-year experience could be worthwhile for employees and companies. For employees, investing in themselves and improving skill sets is a move that will benefit throughout their career. He added that returning employees feel refreshed and have given more thought to their career. For companies, offering unpaid leaves makes good sense for attracting and keeping talented employees.

“My hope is that this takes off,” Dr. Garritan said. “We’re all thinking, ‘What’s my next act?’ ”

59. Dr. Sinar took a gap year because he _________.

A. gave up his old job

B. felt exhausted after 26 years’ work

C. wanted to travel very much

D. became interested in historical research

60. After his gap year, Dr. Sinar _________.

A. became more considerate in his job       B. regretted taking a “gap year”

C. was eager to explore ancient buildings     D. Improved his speaking ability

61. What’s George Garritan’s attitude toward the “gap year”?

A. Unhappy..        B. Positive                   C. Uninterested.          D. Negative.

62. What’s the passage mainly about?

A. Whether a gap year is popular with adults.

B. How an adult plans a mid-career gap year.

C. Why a gap year is worthwhile for adults.

D. Why a gap year is challenging for individuals.

 Perhaps most _______ of all, we were not able _______ what we heard.

A. astonishing; to make no sense of

B. puzzled; making sense of

C. astonished; making no sense of

D. puzzling; to make sense of

 The new teacher was annoyed that the students couldn’t ________ his meaning because of his strong accent.

A. get across                                                   B. make sense of

C. get through                                                  D. make up

从每小题的A、B、C、D四个选项中,找出所给单词的正确读音,并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑.

doors   A.[ dR:z]    B. [ d R::s ]     C. [ d R?? z ]     D. [ d ???? s]

loose   A.[l ????s ]    B. [ l U:s ]      C. [ l U::z]      D.[ l ??s]

ignore  A.[ ?? ^ n????]  B. [ e^n??:]     C.[ ?? ^ ' n??: ]    D. [ '??^n ??:]

suffer  A. [ 'sBf: ?? ]   B. [ 's ??f ??]     C. [ sQ'f ??]      D .[ 'sQf ??]

concern A.[ 'k ?? ns ??:n ] B.[ k ?? n' s ??:n ] C. [ k ?? n's ??:n ]  D. [ k ?? ns' ?? n]

Consult the page adapted from an English dictionary and do Questions 45–48．
root1 /ru:t/ n [C]
1 ?PLANT? the part of a plant or tree that grows under the ground and gets water form the soil: Be careful not to damage the roots when repotting．| tree roots —see picture at germinate
2 ?CAUSE OF A PROBLEM? the main cause of a problem: Money is the root of all evil．| be/lie at the root of （="be" the cause of a problem） Often allergies are at the root of a lot of the problems．| get to the root of （="find" out the cause of a problem） | root cause （="the" main reason for a problem）
3 ?OF A CUSTOM/TRADITION? roots the origins of a custom or tradition that has continued for a long time: has its roots in Jazz has its roots in the folk songs of the southern states of the US．
4 ?OF AN IDEA/BELIEF? the main part of an idea or belief which all the other parts come from: be/lie at the root of Foucault is challenging the very root of 20th century liberalism．
5 ?FAMILY CONNECTION? sb’s roots your con- nection with a place because you were born there, or your family used to live there: Naita has come to Ghana in search of her roots．
6 put down roots if you put down roots somewhere, you start to feel that this place is your home and to have relationships with the people there
7 ?TOOTH/HAIR ETC? the part of a tooth, hair etc that fixes it to the rest of your body
8 take root a） if an idea takes root, people begin to accept or believe it: The concepts of democracy and free trade are finally beginning to take root．b） if a plant takes root, it starts to grow where you have planted it
9 have a （good） root round informal especially BrE to search for something by moving other things around
10 root and branch if you destroy something root and branch, you get rid of it completely and permanently because it is bad
11 ?LANGUAGE? technical the basic part of a word which shows its main meaning, to which other parts can be added: The suffix ‘ness’ can be added to the root ‘cold’ to form the word ‘coldness’．—compare stem1 （4）
12 ?MATHEMATICS? technical a number that when multiplied by itself a certain number of times, equals the number that you have: 2 is the fourth root of 16．
—see also cube root, square root, grass roots
root2 v
1 ?SEARCH? [I always + adv/prep] to search for something by moving things around: [+ through/in/ around] “Hang on a second,” said Leila, rooting through her handbag for a pen．| [+ for] pigs rooting for food
2 ?PLANT? a） [I] to grow roots: New shrubs will root easily in summer．b） [T usually passive] to fix a plant firmly by its roots: The bush was too firmly rooted in the hard earth to dig up easily．| root itself Clumps of thyme had rooted themselves between the rocks．—see also deeply rooted （deeply （5））
3 be rooted in to have developed from something and be strongly influenced by it: policies that are rooted in Marxist economic theory
4 be rooted to the spot to be so shocked, surprised, or frightened that you cannot move
root for sb phr v [T] informal 1 to give support and encouragement to someone in a competition, test or difficult situation, because you want them to succeed: Good luck – we’ll all be rooting for you! 2 especially AmE to support a sports team or player by shouting and cheering: We’ll all be rooting for the Dallas Cowboys in the Superbowl．
root sth ? out phr v [T] 1 to find out where a particular kind of problem exists and get rid of it: Racism cannot be rooted out without strong government action．2 informal to find something by searching for it: I’ll try and root out something suitable for you to wear．
root sth ? up phr v [T] to dig or pull a plant up with its roots
1．What’s meaning of the word “roots” in the sentence “Many Americans have roots in Europe．”?
A．The underground part of a plant．    B．One’s connection with a place．
C．The origins of a custom or tradition．   D．The main cause of a problem．
2．What’s the fourth root of 81?
A．27． B．9．   C．6．   D．3．
3．Which phrase can complete the sentence “Do you think it is possible to ____ crime?”
A．root for           B．root out           C．root up            D．root through
4．In which of the following situations can we use the phrase “be rooted to the spot”?
A．A bush is so firmly rooted in the ground that it is difficult to pull it up．
B．A football fan got excited when his favorite football team scored a goal．
C．A girl became too scared to walk when she caught sight of a long snake．
D．A man is unable to walk because he was caught in a car accident years ago．