In 1837, the historian Carlyle made the first recorded use of the word " queue" (排队). He spoke of the French and their "habit of standing in a queue". Forty years later Paris was the best place to wait in line.

      However, queuing became popular in Britain too. The Second World War was the golden age of queuing, and people joined any line in the hope that it was a queue for something to buy. This was the source of many Second World War jokes:

     Shopkeeper to customer : Excuse me, miss, are you pregnant (怀孕)?

     Customer : Well, I wasn't when I joined the queue.

     Today, according to research in America, we (in Britain) can spend up to 5 years of our lives queuing－ as compared to twelve months looking for things we have lost. But things may be changing. Many people no longer have the patience to stand in a queue. The law of the jungle (丛林) has begun to operate at bus stops, with people using their arms to push others out of the way.

      One way to make life easier is to introduce "queue management". Customers at supermarket cheese counters can now take a ticket with a number which appears on a screen when it is their turn. And while they wait for their number, they can do a bit of shopping.

      In some booking offices there is also a system telling customers how long they may have to wait before they are served.

One of the latest technical progress is the use of an electronic scanner (电子识别器) which can read all the contents of your shopping basket or trolley in just a few seconds. If these become popular, queuing in supermarkets may become a thing of the past.

      But some people just like queuing. One man queued all night for Harrods famous January sale, and then returned home for breakfast at nine o' clock the next morning without going into the shop.

68. The joke in Paragraph 2 implies that the young woman _______.

A. has been waiting in the queue for a long time         B. doesn't need to stand in the queue

C. enjoys standing in the queue                                 D. has stood in the wrong line

69. According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A. The British spend more time queuing than looking for lost things.

B. The Americans criticized the British for their way of queuing.

C. The British are always patient when they wait in line.

D. People queue only when they want to buy something.

70. The British try to solve the problem of queuing by all the following EXCEPT _______.

A. making a law to prevent queuing                         

B. telling the customers the waiting time

C. using numbered tickets to put the customers in order

D. checking the price of the goods customers buy with a scanner

71. We can infer from the passage that ________.

A. queue management doesn't work well                    B. there is still queuing in England

C. we don't see much queuing in Paris                       D. the French like queuing more than the British

   Breathe, wave and smile. Along with more than 300 other seniors, I marched into the stadium on the afternoon of May 10. The audience burst into deafening cheers. The huge stadium shook with all the whistling and clapping.

It was as if a Hollywood superstar had walked on stage. And indeed, every single senior that day was a star of the moment. Each deserved it. The seniors had been preparing for four years for this once-in-a-lifetime moment—the commencement (graduation ceremony).

Seated, I waited anxiously for the opening address. As a foreign exchange student, I was not able to receive a diploma. However, I still had the wonderful feeling of being part of things. Like the other graduates, I was dressed in marron cap and gown.

Our principal, Mr. Glover, delivered a short, warm greeting. The US national anthem followed and then, hands on chests, a solemn Pledge of Allegiance(美国的爱国誓言).

Students who had excelled academically gave farewell speeches. The tears in some eyes convinced me that many had deep feelings about the occasion. It was as the class motto says, “Life brings us tears, smiles and memories. The tears dry; the smiles fade; but the memories last forever.”

Then came the core (the most important part) of the commencement. Hundreds of names were announced. Each graduate walked across the stage to receive his or her diploma from the principal. From the different cheers each graduate got, we had the funny sense that it was a kind of competition of who could cheer the loudest.

To be honest, the presentation of diplomas got boring. A girl sitting next to me even started yawning. But it wasn’t boring for those receiving the diploma: they would treasure the moment the principal placed the sacred brown document in their hands for the rest of their lives.

A new page in the book of that person’s life had turned. They were glimpsing their futures: futures of challenge, hardship, perhaps loneliness too, which would take all of their courage.

What’s the article mainly about?

A. An American high school’s graduation ceremony.

B. The opening ceremony of a sports meeting.

C. A presentation of college diplomas.                     

D. A US college’s farewell party.

Which of the following statements about the author is FALSE?

A. She was one of the graduates.                               B. She was a foreign exchange student.

C. She was excited to receive her diploma.              D. She felt it great to be at the ceremony.

The right order of the following events is______.

a. Diplomas were presented to graduates.     b. Students gave farewell speeches.

c. The US national anthem was played.      d. The principal gave a short, warm speech.

e. Seniors went into the stadium.

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

From the text, we can conclude that_______.

A. a diploma ensures a good job                       

B. a diploma guarantees a bright future

C. the commencement symbolizes the beginning of a new stage in life

D. everyone felt excited at the presentation of the diploma

According to the passage, which of the following statement is true?

A. Hollywood superstars went to attend the commencement.

B. Every single senior became a superstar on the commencement day.

C. All graduates would treasure the diploma for the rest of their lives.

D. When each graduate got his or her diploma, there were loud cheers.

.___ knows where he lives.

       A. None      B.No one         C.None else       D.No anybody

We may look at the world around us, but somehow we manage not to see it until whatever we’ve become used to suddenly disappears. ___36___, for example, the neatly-dressed woman I ___37___ to see--or look at--on my way to work each morning.

For three years, no matter ___38___ the weather was like, she was always waiting at the bus stop around 8:00 am. On ___39___days, she wore heavy clothes and a pair of woolen gloves. Sometimes ___40___out neat, belted cotton dresses and a hat pulled low over her sunglasses. ___41___, she was an ordinary working woman. Of course, I ___42___ all this only after she was seen no more. It was then that I realized how ___43___ I expected to see her each morning. You might say I ___44___ her.

“Did she have an accident? Something ___45___?” I thought to myself about her ___46___. Now that she was gone, I felt I had ___47___ her. I began to realize that part of our ___48___ life probably includes such chance meetings with familiar ___49___: the milkman you see at dawn, the woman who ___50___walks her dog along the street every morning, the twin brothers you see at the library. Such people are ___51___markers in our lives. They add weight to our ___52___ of place and belonging.

Think about it. ___53___, while walking to work, we mark where we are by ___54___ a certain building, why should we not mark where we are when we pass a familiar, though ___55___ person?

36. A. Make    B. Take   C. Give   D. Have

37. A. happened     B. wanted       C. used    D. tried

38. A. what     B. how    C. which D. when

39. A. sunny   B. rainy   C. cloudy       D. snowy

40. A. took     B. brought      C. carried       D. turned

41. A. Clearly B. Particularly       C. Luckily      D. Especially

42. A. believed       B. expressed   C. remembered      D. wondered

43. A. long     B. often   C. soon   D. much

44. A. respected     B. missed       C. praised       D. admired

45. A. better   B. worse  C. more   D. less

46. A. disappearance      B. appearance C. misfortune  D. fortune

47. A. forgotten     B. lost     C. known       D. hurt

48. A. happy   B. enjoyable   C. frequent     D. daily

49. A. friends  B. strangers    C. tourists       D. guests

50. A. regularly      B. actually      C. hardly D. probably

51. A. common      B. pleasant      C. important   D. faithful

52. A. choice  B. knowledge  C. decision     D. sense

53. A. Because       B. If       C. Although    D. However

54. A. keeping       B. changing    C. passing       D. mentioning

55. A. unnamed      B. unforgettable     C. unbelievable      D. unreal