We all know what it is like to be unable to turn your head because of a cold in the muscles (肌肉) of your neck, or because an unexpected twist（扭曲）has made your neck ache. The slightest move makes you jump with pain. Nothing could be worse than a pain in the neck.

That is why we use the phrase to describe some people who give you the same feeling. We have all met such people.

One is the man who always seems to be clapping his hands—often at the wrong time—during a performance in the theater. He keeps you from hearing the actors.

Even worse are those who can never arrive before the curtain goes up and the play begins. They come hurrying down to your row of seats. You are comfortably settled down, with your hat and heavy coat in your lap. You must stand up to let them pass. You are proud of yourself-control after they have settled into their seats…Well, what now…God, one of them is up again. He forgot to go to the men’s room, and once more you have to stand up, hanging on to your hat and coat to let him pass. Now, that is “a pain in the neck”.

Another, well—known to us all, is the person sitting behind you in the movies. His mouth is full of popcorn (爆米花); he is chewing（嚼）loudly, or talking between bites to friends next to him. None of them remain still. Up and down, back and forth, they go—for another bag of popcorn, or something to drink.

Then, there is the man sitting next to you at lunch, smoking. He wants you to enjoy it too, and blows smoke across your food into your mouth.

We must not forget the man who comes into a bus or subway and sits down next to you, just as close as you will let him. You are reading the newspaper and he gets closer so that he can read the paper with you. He may even turn the paper to the next page before you are ready for it.

We also call such a person a “rubber neck”, always getting close to where it does not belong, like neighbors who watch all your visitors. They enjoy learning about your personal business. People have a strong dislike for “rubber necks”. They hate being watched secretly.

60. According to the passage, how do you feel when late comers walk back and forth in front of you in a cinema?

A. disturbed.             B. bored.               C. ignored.              D. relaxed.

61. A “rubber neck” often __________________ .

A. says bad words behind people.            B. quarrels face to face with neighbors.

C. bargains with salespeople over the price     D. asks about other people’s business

62. Which of the following persons CANNOT be described as a “pain in the neck”?

A. Someone who often claps at the wrong time during a performance.

B. Someone who feels ache in his neck due to a cold in the muscles.

C. Someone who sits next to you smoking, which you never enjoy.

D. Someone who keeps eating or talking all through the movies.

63. What is the main purpose of the author?

A. To tell people what might be bad manners in public.

B. To criticize (批评) the people who might be a “pain in the neck”

C. To show anger to those who are described as a “pain in the neck”.

D. To tell people how to stop the pain in the neck.

The habit of reading is one of the greatest resources of mankind: we enjoy reading books that belong to us much more than if they are borrowed.  Some people regard a borrowed book as a ___50___ in the house.  It must be treated with care and considerate ___51___. Casual attitudes are forbidden.  Because the book is borrowed it tolerates no damage which means it must not suffer while ___52___.  While reading the book, you are not allowed to make any mark or underline the important ___53___ when a flash of creative idea emerge.  This is huge ___54___ to one’s imagination. 

___55___, your own books belong to you and you can treat them with so much closeness that you are not afraid to mark it up or to place it in a dirty place. Your own books are there for use, not for ___56___.  You don’t need to display them in front of others.  Private ownership also encourages ___57___ marking.  A good reason for marking instructive passages in books is that this practice enables you to remember more easily the significant sayings, to ___58___ them quickly and then review them more frequently in the future.

Given the importance of owned books to a man, everyone should begin collecting a private library, making up his own ___59___ property.  One should have his own bookshelves, which should not be having doors, glass windows, or keys.  They should be free and ___60___ to the hand as well as the eye.  Like the jewellery to a woman, the best moral ___61____ to a man is books.  They are more varied in colour and appearance than any wall-paper.  Their variety indicates ___62___ out of brains of different book writers.  The knowledge that books are in plain view is also stimulating.  Your body and mind are both ___63___.  With books at hand, your mind is free to land any ___64___ or even strange possibility, which eventually gives birth to new discoveries or inventions. 

50.   A. teacher       B. guest   C. relative      D. servant

51.   A. maintenance     B. resolution   C. formality    D. structure

52.   A. under your roof        B. on your behalf

       C. beyond your reach     D. within your grasp

53.   A. trends B. goals   C. definitions  D. points

54.   A. discipline   B. discouragement  C. relief  D. reminder

55.   A. On the other hand     B. In result

       C. Meanwhile        D. Furthermore

56.   A. benefit       B. profit  C. show   D. excuse

57.   A. meaningful B. secondary   C. sufficient    D. tough

58.   A. stick to      B. refer to      C. devote to    D. adapt to

59. A. imaginative  B. economic   C. intellectual        D. public

60.   A. familiar     B. effective     C. flexible      D. accessible

61. A. decoration    B. truth   C. training      D. expense

62.   A. simplicity   B. creativity    C. experiment D. life

63. A. conscious     B. calm   C. wild    D. excited

64.   A. purposeful  B. resourceful C. fresh   D. memorable

.

No matter where he lives, 16-year-old Danny Lopez feels like an outsider: he is half-Mexican and half-white.

    At his private high school in wealthy northern San Diego, California, US, Lopez is too brown to fit in, whereas for the Mexican side of his family in National City, just a dozen miles from the border, he is too white to belong.

    Different from both sides, Lopez is silent in school. He focuses on his passion for baseball and working hard to improve the pitches (球场) that have kept him off the school team.

    Mexican Whiteboy, by Matt de la Pena, is about a teenager’s search for identity. It was named as one of the Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults in 2009 by the US Young Adult Library Services Association.

    When Lopez’s mother decides to go to live with her wealthy white boyfriend in San Francisco, he chooses to spend the summer with his father’s family in San Diego. It’s a trip to explore roots and self-identity, filled with unexpected friendship.

    There he meets Uno, of mixed heritage (遗传) like himself, also with a divorced mom. Uno understands Danny’s split background and helps him improve his baseball skills. Both boys have big league dreams, but they both have to learn to come to terms with their mixed heritages before they can achieve their goals.

    Aside from discussions of racism, Mexican Whiteboy takes on other issues, such as the importance of family and the negative influence of hiding the truth. It also shows how sports can draw cultures together.

59. The reason why Lopez feels like an outsider lies in the fact that ___________.

A. he is a Mexican                                  B. he lives in San Diego

C. he is half-white and half-Mexican           D. he studies in a private school

60. Most probably “Mexican Whiteboy” is a ____________.

A. book         B. club           C. newspaper         D. organization

61. When Lopez found it is hard for him to fit in, he ____________.

A. starts writing a book about himself

B. begins to look for identity with the help of Mexican Whiteboy

C. loses his interest in baseball

D. works in the fields in which he was kept off the school team

62. Lopez and Uno have a lot in common except that ____________.

A. they both have a divorced mom

B. they both have mixed heritage

C. they were both in the school baseball team

D. both of them have big league dreams

                         History Has Arrived 

  Nine-year-old Barack Obama was looking through a magazine But the African-American boy was shocked by a series of photos. The pictures were of a black man who destroyed his skin with chemicals that promised to make him white.

For the first time, the boy began to doubt who he was. “I stood in front of the mirror and wondered if something was wrong with me,” Obama said.

However, now the boy who used to struggle with his identity doesn’t see it as a problem any more, but an advantage for his career. In January, 2009, Obama made history by being elected as the first black president of the US. He defeated John MaCain in a landslide(压倒性的) victory.

Obama’s story starts in opposite corners of the world. His white mother was born in the heartland of the US. His black father grew up in a tiny village in Kenya. They met in Hawaii, but his father left the family when Obama was just two years old and his mother moved to Indonesia.

At 10, Obama moved back to live with his white grandparents in Hawaii where his sense that he didn’t belong grew. At his class a white boy asked Obama if his father ate people. Out of embarrassment, Obama lied to his classmates that his father was prince. “I kept asking who I am and I ended up trying drugs and drinking,” Obama recalled.

Things came to change after the young man made friends with those with a similar background at college. Their experiences back in Africa helped Obama to finally face up to his African origin. He worked hard to become a star at Harvard Law School and the third black senator(参议员) in US history.

  At the beginning of his campaign for the White House, few people viewed Obama favorably(赞同地).Many doubted his unusual background, which left him neither “ black” enough nor white enough.

But Obama turned his pain of growing up into a tool to make Americans believe: “There is not a black America, an Asian America. There’s the United States of America.”

Barack Obama’s victory is “a historic victory that promised change and overcame centuries of prejudice(偏见)。 His success fulfilled Martin Luther King’s dream that a man be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character,” wrote ABC news.

60. From the above passage we can know that Barack Obama was born in _____.

A. Kenya, Africa     B. Hawaii, the USA   C. Indonesia, Asia  D. an unknown city, in Latino America

61. He lied to his classmates that his father was prince because _______.

A. he felt ashamed of his African origin   B. he had unusual background—neither black nor white

C. his black father deserted him when he was very young

D. he didn’t have the sense of belonging

62. Put the following things in order of time.

a. Obama is the third black senator in US history  

b. Obama’s mother settled down in Indonesia with Barack Obama

c. Obama stood out among his classmates in Harvard Law School

d. Obama lived with his white grandparents in Hawaii.

e. Obama’s balck father left him and his mother.

A. c,d,a,b,e   B. e, d, b, c, a     C. d, b, a, e, c     D. e, b, d, c, a

63. What does the title “History has arrived” probably mean?

A. Barack Obama eventually defeated his white opponent, John MaCain in a landslide victory.

B. Barack Obama’s victory has given blacks and other minorities a true national role model.

C. Barack Obama has become the first African-American President, overcoming centuries of prejudice(偏见).

D. Through his great efforts, Barack Obama became the third black senator in the US history.

.

III, Reading Comprehension

Section A

Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D.  Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.

The habit of reading is one of the greatest resources of mankind: we enjoy reading books that belong to us much more than if they are borrowed.  Some people regard a borrowed book as a ___50___ in the house.  It must be treated with care and considerate ___51___. Casual attitudes are forbidden.  Because the book is borrowed it tolerates no damage which means it must not suffer while ___52___.  While reading the book, you are not allowed to make any mark or underline the important ___53___ when a flash of creative idea emerge.  This is huge ___54___ to one’s imagination. 

___55___, your own books belong to you and you can treat them with so much closeness that you are not afraid to mark it up or to place it in a dirty place. Your own books are there for use, not for ___56___.  You don’t need to display them in front of others.  Private ownership also encourages ___57___ marking.  A good reason for marking instructive passages in books is that this practice enables you to remember more easily the significant sayings, to ___58___ them quickly and then review them more frequently in the future.

Given the importance of owned books to a man, everyone should begin collecting a private library, making up his own ___59___ property.  One should have his own bookshelves, which should not be having doors, glass windows, or keys.  They should be free and ___60___ to the hand as well as the eye.  Like the jewellery to a woman, the best moral ___61____ to a man is books.  They are more varied in colour and appearance than any wall-paper.  Their variety indicates ___62___ out of brains of different book writers.  The knowledge that books are in plain view is also stimulating.  Your body and mind are both ___63___.  With books at hand, your mind is free to land any ___64___ or even strange possibility, which eventually gives birth to new discoveries or inventions. 

50.   A. teacher               B. guest           C. relative              D. servant

51.   A. maintenance         B. resolution       C. formality            D. structure

52.   A. under your roof        B. on your behalf   C. beyond your reach     D. within your grasp

53.   A. trends             B. goals           C. definitions          D. points

54.   A. discipline           B. discouragement  C. relief              D. reminder

55.   A. On the other hand     B. In result         C. Meanwhile            D. Furthermore

56.   A. benefit                   B. profit          C. show               D. excuse

57.   A. meaningful         B. secondary       C. sufficient            D. tough

58.   A. stick to              B. refer to          C. devote to            D. adapt to

59. A. imaginative          B. economic       C. intellectual            D. public

60.   A. familiar             B. effective         C. flexible              D. accessible

61. A. decoration            B. truth           C. training              D. expense

62.   A. simplicity           B. creativity        C. experiment         D. life

63. A. conscious             B. calm           C. wild                D. excited

64.   A. purposeful          B. resourceful     C. fresh               D. memorable