73. By saying “It could be your great-grandchildren’s stamp”, Mr. Saunders means that forever stamps ________.

　 A. could be collected by one’s great-grandchildren

　 B. might be very precious in great-grandchildren’s hands

　 C. might have been inherited from one’s great-grandfathers

　 D. could be used by one’s great-grandchildren even decades later

72. The main purpose of introducing a “forever stamp” is ______.

　 A. to reduce the cost of printing 2-or-3-cent stamps

　 B. to help save the consumers’ cost on first-class mailing

　 C. to respond to the complaints about rising postal rates

　 D. to compete with online bill paying

68. Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?

　 A. Tasting with Eyes　　　

B. Flavors of Ice Cream

　 C. John Harrison’s Life　　

D. One Cool Job

答案　 65.B　 66.B　 67.D　 68.D

Passage 62

(07·上海C篇)

Mail carriers will be delivering some good news and some bad news this week.

The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a “forever stamp,” it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or-3-cent stamps to make up postage differences.

Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp. As the name implies, “forever stamps” will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.

The new “forever stamp” is the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increases will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation (通货膨胀), competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a spokesman for USPS.

The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the “forever stamp” and the savings from not printing as many 2-or-3-cent stamps. “It’s not your grandfather’s stamp,” says Mr. Saunders. “It could be your great-grandchildren’s stamp.”

Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps.

Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, says he’s interested in the public’s reaction. “This is an entirely new class of stamps.” Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he’ll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich - the volume printed will be too large for collectors. “We won’t be able to send our kids to college on these,” he says, laughing.

The USPS board of governors has yet to accept the Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps.

67. What does Harrison do first when testing ice cream?

　 A. He stirs the ice cream.

B. He examines the color of the ice cream.

　 C. He tastes the flavor of the ice cream.　

D. He lets the ice cream warm up.

66. According to John Harrison, to be qualified in the “cool field”, it is helpful to ______.

　 A. keep a diary of work　

B. have a degree in related subjects

　 C. have new ideas every day　　

D. find out new flavors each day

65. What is John Harrison’s job?

　 A. An official.　 　　　　 B. An ice-cream taster.

　 C. A chemist.　　 　　　　 D. An ice-cream manufacturer.

47. We can infer from the passage that 　　　

A. the old should led a simple life

B. the old should face the fact of aging

C. the old should take more exercise

D. the old should fill themselves with curiosity

答案　 44. B　 45.A　 46.C　 47.B

Passage 61

(07·上海A篇)

What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster?

Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrison, an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream - as well as for developing over 75 flavors (味道).

Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No - there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this “cool” field.

In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains, “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup.”

While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. “Tasting begins with the eyes,” he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?” Next it’s time to taste!

Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy - working at one cool job.

46. The author considers his fifty years of life 　　　

A. peaceful　　 　　 B. ordinary　 　　　 C. satisfactory　 　　 D. regretful

45. When the author turned fifty ,people around him ________.

A. tried to comfort him 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. got inspiration with him

C. were friendlier with him 　　　　　　　 D. found him more talkative

44. The author seems to tell us in Paragraph 1 that ________.

A. time alone will tell 　　　　　　　　　　　 B. time goes by quickly

C. time will show what is right 　　　　　 D. time makes one forget the past