B
In ancient Japan, if you saved someone's life, they would make it their duty to spend the rest of their life serving you. Nowadays, if you rescue someone's story, he or she will feel the same kind of gratitude(感激).
It happens all the time. Someone in a group is telling a story and, just before their big point, BOOM! There's an interruption. Someone new joins the group, a waiter with a plate of biscuits comes over, or a baby starts crying. Suddenly everyone's attention turns to the new arrival, the food on the plate, or the "charming" little child. Nobody is aware of the interruption－except the speaker. They forget all about the fact that the speaker hasn't made his or her point.
Or you're all sitting around the living room and someone is telling a joke. Suddenly, just before their big punch line (妙语), little Johnny drops a dish or the phone tings. After the crash, everyone talks about little Johnny's carelessness. After the call, the subject turns to the upcoming marriage or medical operation of the caller. Nobody remembers the great punch line got unfinished－except the joke teller. When it's you entertaining everyone at a restaurant, have you ever noticed how you can almost set your clock by the waiter coming to take everyone's order just before your funny punch line?
Most joke and story tellers are too shy to say, after the interruption, "Now, as I was saying ..." Instead, they'll spend the rest of the evening feeling bad because of what they didn't get to finish. Here's where you come in. Rescue them with the technique I call "Lend a Helping Tongue. "
Watch the gratitude in the storyteller's eyes as he restarts where his story sank and he sails off again toward the center of attention. His expression and the appreciation of your consideration by the rest of the group are often rewarded enough. You are even more fortunate if you can rescue the story of someone who can hire you, promote you, buy from you, or otherwise lift your life. Big winners have excellent memories. When you do them favors like Lend a Helping Tongue, they'll find a way to pay you back.
45．Very often, a storyteller cannot make his point because_____.
A．people are more interested in food than his story
B．many guests bring their babies to the party
C．he is interrupted by something unexpected
D．his story is easily forgotten by the listeners
46．From Paragraph 3, we know that when someone is telling a joke, _________.
A．something bad will surely happen just before their punch line
B．the only person really interested in the joke is the joke teller
C．listeners' attention is often drawn to something else
D．the waiter knows when to take everyone's order
47．How can we help the joke and story tellers when they are interrupted?
A．By giving them a chance to finish.
B．By going on telling the story for them.
C．By comforting them to make them happy.
D．By teaching them some useful techniques.
48．What is the text mainly about?
A．We can win someone's heart by getting him back to his story.
B．People should learn how to take turns in a conversation.
C．Telling jokes will make you the center of attention.
D．It is impolite to interrupt someone's talk.

                      D

After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a special student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me, and it would mean a great deal to him. I agreed.

During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy（肌肉萎缩症）. When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to see five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter(举重运动员), and I knew about overcoming obstacles (障碍) and going for my dreams.

I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weight with me.

When we finished talking, I went to my briefcase(衣箱) and pulled out the first gold medal I won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “You are a champion(冠军). You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”

Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:

Dear Rick,

My mom said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don’t have long to live anymore. But I still smile as much as I can.

I told you someday I was going to the Olympics and win a gold medal. But I know now I will never get to do that. But I know I’m a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you for loving me.

       Your friend,

        Mathew

72.  The boy wanted to meet the author because ______.

       A. he was interested in what the author was doing 

B. he wanted to get a gold medal himself

       C. he admired the author very much    

D. he wanted the author to know him too

73.  The underlined part in the third paragraph probably means “______”.

       A. Why do you come to see me?    B. Why do I have to stay at home?

       C. Why does the disease fall on me?     D. Why not give a gold medal to me?

74.  We can infer from the passage that ______.

       A. Matthew was a determined boy and considered himself as normal

       B. Rick used to have the same disease and later became a power lifter

       C. Matthew was to become a champion before he died

       D. After meeting Matthew, Rick regarded him as normal.

75.  The author wrote the passage with the purpose of ______.

       A. describing his unusual friendship with a disabled child

       B. showing his admiration towards the disabled child

       C. telling an experience of meeting a disabled child

D. expressing his pity to all the disabled children

B

       In ancient Japan, if you saved someone's life, they would make it their duty to spend the rest of their life serving you. Nowadays, if you rescue someone's story, he or she will feel the same kind of gratitude(感激).

       It happens all the time. Someone in a group is telling a story and, just before their big point, BOOM! There's an interruption. Someone new joins the group, a waiter with a plate of biscuits comes over, or a baby starts crying. Suddenly everyone's attention turns to the new arrival, the food on the plate, or the "charming" little child. Nobody is aware of the interruption－except the speaker. They forget all about the fact that the speaker hasn't made his or her point.

       Or you're all sitting around the living room and someone is telling a joke. Suddenly, just before their big punch line (妙语), little Johnny drops a dish or the phone tings. After the crash, everyone talks about little Johnny's carelessness. After the call, the subject turns to the upcoming marriage or medical operation of the caller. Nobody remembers the great punch line got unfinished－except the joke teller. When it's you entertaining everyone at a restaurant, have you ever noticed how you can almost set your clock by the waiter coming to take everyone's order just before your funny punch line?

       Most joke and story tellers are too shy to say, after the interruption, "Now, as I was saying ..." Instead, they'll spend the rest of the evening feeling bad because of what they didn't get to finish. Here's where you come in. Rescue them with the technique I call "Lend a Helping Tongue. "

       Watch the gratitude in the storyteller's eyes as he restarts where his story sank and he sails off again toward the center of attention. His expression and the appreciation of your consideration by the rest of the group are often rewarded enough. You are even more fortunate if you can rescue the story of someone who can hire you, promote you, buy from you, or otherwise lift your life. Big winners have excellent memories. When you do them favors like Lend a Helping Tongue, they'll find a way to pay you back.

45．Very often, a storyteller cannot make his point because_____.

       A．people are more interested in food than his story

       B．many guests bring their babies to the party

       C．he is interrupted by something unexpected

       D．his story is easily forgotten by the listeners

46．From Paragraph 3, we know that when someone is telling a joke, _________.

       A．something bad will surely happen just before their punch line

       B．the only person really interested in the joke is the joke teller

       C．listeners' attention is often drawn to something else

       D．the waiter knows when to take everyone's order

47．How can we help the joke and story tellers when they are interrupted?

       A．By giving them a chance to finish.

       B．By going on telling the story for them.

       C．By comforting them to make them happy.

       D．By teaching them some useful techniques.

48．What is the text mainly about?

       A．We can win someone's heart by getting him back to his story.

       B．People should learn how to take turns in a conversation.

       C．Telling jokes will make you the center of attention.

       D．It is impolite to interrupt someone's talk.

D

After the September 11 terrorist attacks, some high schools in America wanted the students to pledge allegiance（宣誓效忠） to the flag. Is it necessary or not? Let’s see how the kids think of this requirement.

Lea Mouallem, Marymount High School

I believe that saying the Pledge of Allegiance is a way of reminding our country that no matter what happens, we are united. I don’t think our president wants us to go and join the army now, but he wants to tell us that we will be able to overcome the disaster as a whole nation that is working together.

Harry Chin, 15, Culver City High School

I am not for the Pledge of Allegiance and I am not against the Pledge of Allegiance because I just say it so many times that it loses meaning. I say it every day at school in the second period. It doesn’t mean anything any more.

David Tran, 15, Warren High School.

The Pledge of Allegiance is another sign of country. We should have some respect to it. In many schools, we don’t say the Pledge every morning-we just stand up and let the National anthem ring through the silence. We said the Pledge of Allegiance on Sept. 12.

Danny Maryanor, 16, Santa Monica High School

I wonder why we were suddenly asked to recite the Pledge when many of us stopped after elementary school; and the Pledge was recited before the play of “Ode to Joy” （欢乐颂）with recorders. This was not to express patriotism（爱国主义）, or even to remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 11.

I feel I cannot support a nation that in this time of crisis looks outward for revenge（报复）instead of inward for peace. Perhaps we should think more about our problems.

68.Saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag first appeared in American schools______

    A．after Sept. 11, 2000     B．before Sept. 11, 2001

       C．on Sept. 11, 2001           D．after Sept. 11, 2001

69．Who were for the Pledge of Allegiance?

       A．Lea Mouallem; David Tran         B．Harry Chin; Danny Maryanor

       C．Lea Mouallem; Danny Maryanor    D．Harry Chin; David Tran

70．Which of the following is TRUE?

       A．Harry Chin thought the government required them to join the army.

       B．Lea Mouallem thought the Pledge of Allegiance of no meaning.

       C．Danny Maryanor felt the terrorist attacks happened partly because of America’s own problem.

       D．The Pledge of Allegiance is of another country.

71．According to the passage, it can be imagined that________.

       A．all high school students say yes to the Pledge of Allegiance.

       B．all high school students say no to the Pledge of Allegiance.

       C．all kids don’t agree to the requirement of saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

       D．all high schools will require their students to pledge allegiance to the flag.

A black hole is created when a large star burns out. Like our sun, stars are unbelievably hot furnaces (熔炉) that burn their own matter as fuel. When most of the fuel is used up, the star begins to die.

The death of a star is not a quiet event. First there is a huge explosion. As its outer layer is blasted off into space, the dying star shines as brightly as a billion suns.

After the explosion gravity pulls in what’s left of the star. As the outside of the star sinks toward the center, the star gets smaller and smaller. The material the star is made of becomes tightly packed together. A star is so dense that a teaspoon of matter from it weighs billion of pounds.

The more the star shrinks, the stronger the gravity inside it becomes. Soon the star is very tiny, and the gravity pulling it in is unbelievably strong. In fact, the gravity is so strong that it even pulls light into the star! Since all the light is pulled in, none can go out. The star becomes black when there is no light. Then a black hole is born!

That’s what we know about black holes. What we don’t know is this: What happens inside a black hole after the star has been squeezed into a tiny ball? Does it keep getting smaller and smaller forever? Such a possibility is hard to imagine.

But if the black hole doesn’t keep shrinking, what happens to it? Some scientists think black holes are like doorways to another world. They say that as the star disappears from our universe, it goes into another universe. In other words a black hole in our universe could turn into a “white hole” in a different universe. As the black hole swallows light, the white hole shines brightly—somewhere else. But where? A different place, perhaps, or a different time — many years in the past or future.

Could you travel through a black hole? Right now, no. Nothing we know of could go into a black hole without being crushed. So far the time being, black hole must remain a mystery.

Black holes are a mystery—but that hasn’t stopped scientists from dreaming about them. One scientist suggested that in the future we might make use of the power of black holes. They would supply all of Earth’s energy needs, with plenty to spare. Another scientist wondered if a black hole could some day be used to swallow earthly waste—a sort of huge waste disposal(处理) in the sky!

When the star begins to die ______.

A. there is no fuel left in it                                B. its outer layer goes into space first

C. a huge explosion will happen                         D. it doesn’t give off light any longer

Which of the following doesn’t help produce a black hole?

A. The gravity inside the star is very strong.        B. The light can’t go out of the star.

C. The star becomes smaller and smaller             D. The dying star shines very brightly.

The black hole ______.

A. continues becoming smaller and smaller all the time

B. goes into another universe and becomes a white hole

C. can pull in everything we know of in the world

D. will appear at another place at a different time

What’s the best title for this passage?

A. A New Scientific Discovery: Black Holes

B. How Do Black Holes Come Into Being?

C. What Are Black Holes?

D. Travel Through A Black Hole