Nothing says love like a dozen long – stemmed roses on Valentine’s Day. More than a million roses will be sold during this festival for lovers, the biggest day of the year for the nation’s rose industry. It’s going to remain the most popular flower because love never goes out of style.
Yes, a rose is a rose is a rose. But selling them is no longer a beautiful experience for traditional flower shops. Supermarkets now offer convenience to the busy and discount rose shops help those hopelessly in love save money. Roses only is a good example of a discount rose retailer that was transformed from a traditional shop to answer the challenge in the’ 90s.
Inside this store on Sixth Avenue near 40 th Street, contemporary white furniture and wall – to – wall mirrors give it an expensive look. Customers move about freely among the counters, looking eagerly at the roses in more than 50 colors from shelf to shelf. Some customers say it’s the high quality of the roses that attracts them there. “I spent $ 20 but the flowers looked like I paid 60 or 70 dollars,” says one customer.
Studies show more people are buying roses in ones, two and threes these days. In fact, more than half of all roses are sold in bunches of fewer than a dozen. But Roses Only's low prices encourage people to spend. Even on Valentine's Day, when the price of a dozen roses and delivery can soar as high as $150, 12 of Roses Only's most expensive flowers sell for just $35. The company's key to success is to hold prices down by controlling every link in the rose chain. It grows its own roses in the sunshine of the Andes Mountains. In addition, the company also sells other items such as ballons and stuffed animals.    
While discount rose retailers are witnessing their business bloom, U.S. rose growers aren’t able to compete with the fierce foreign competition. More than 57% of roses sold in the USA are grown in other countries. The biggest foreign producers are Colombia and Ecuador, which accounted for almost 90% of the total imported last year. The trend has hurt domestic rose growers such as Johnson Flowers of California, considered to be this country's leading producer.
Now, instead of fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. "We have a few big fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. “We may also widen our business to include the service area and be a representative for overseas flower producers.”
As a result of severe competition, those in the rose business long for the good old days, whereas ordinary people benefit from the low price.
60．What is the central theme of this text?
A．The US rose business is going from bad to worse in spite of the efforts made.
B．The rose will remain the most popular flower as love never goes out of date.
C．The rose business is trying to meet the challenges in the market to succeed.
D．The rose industry plays an important role in American economy.
61．How does Roses Only obtain success in the discount rose retailing field?
A．By setting up more chain stores across the country.
B．By selling roses in supermarkets.
C．By selling high quality roses at a low price.
D．By selling roses by the dozen.

62．Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?

(①to ⑦ represent paragraphs 1 to 7)
63．After reading the passage, we learn all of the following EXCEPT________.
A．Selling roses is no longer as easy for traditional flower shops as it was.
B．Almost 90% of roses sold in US are imported from Colombia and Ecuador.
C．US rose growers are faced with intense foreign competition.
D．the Johnsons are trying to co-operate with foreign competitors instead of fighting them.

Happiness is U-shaped, for we are happier at the start and end of our lives but hit a slump when we are middle-aged, British and US researchers say.

Economists from the University of Warwick, central England, and from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, looked at data on the mental health of two million people from 80 countries.

In Britain, the probability of depression for men and women peaks at around 44 years of age, Warwick University said in a press release.

In the United States, though, ________________________between men and women. Among women, unhappiness peaked at around the age of 40, whereas among men, it was about 50.

But the U-shape of happiness is constant around the world, and mid-life depression occurs regardless of marital status（婚姻状况）, changes in job or income.

The study appears in Social Science & Medicine, published by the Dutch publishing house Elsevier.

"It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children.” said co-author Andrew Oswald.

One possibility may be that people realize they won't achieve many of their ambitions at middle age. The researchers said.

Another reason could be that after seeing their fellow middle-aged peers begin to die, people begin to value their own remaining years and embrace life once more.

But the good news is that if people make it to aged 70 and are still physically fit, they are on average as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old.

"For the average persons in the modern world, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year," Oswald said. "Only in their fifties do people emerge from this low period.”

1. Which sentence in the passage is the closest in meaning to the following one?

There are chances that the middle-aged people will realize their ideal is likely to be unattainable.

__________________________________________________________________________

2. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with a proper sentence．（within 10 words）

__________________________________________________________________________

3. How do you understand the sentence that “Happiness is U-shaped”? （within 20 words）

__________________________________________________________________________

4. Is mid-life depression a common Phenomenon in the world? How do you know? （within 15 words）

__________________________________________________________________________

5. Translate the underlined sentence in the last paragraph into Chinese

__________________________________________________________________________

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据短文的内容要点完成文章后的表格。注意：补全填空应符合语法和搭配要求，每空只填一个单词。

Happiness is U-shaped, for we are happier at the start and end of our lives but hit a slump when we are middle-aged, British and US researchers say.

Economists from the University of Warwick, central England, and from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, looked at data on the mental health of two million people from 80 countries.

In Britain, the probability of depression for men and women peaks at around 44 years of age, Warwick University said in a press release.

In the United States, though, there was a big difference between men and women.

Among women, unhappiness peaked at around the age of 40, whereas among men, it was about 50.

But the U-shape of happiness is constant around the world, and mid-life depression takes place  regardless of marital status, changes in job or income.

The study appears in Social Science & Medicine, published by the Dutch publishing house Elsevier.

"It happens to men and women ,to single and married people, to rich and poor and to those with and without children." said co-author Andrew Oswald.

One possibility may be that people realize they  won't achieve many of their aspirations at middle age, the researchers said.

Another reason could be that after seeing their fellow middle-aged peers begin to die, people begin to value their own remaining years and embrace life once more.

But the good news is that if people make it to aged 70 and are still physically fit, they are on average as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old.

"For the average persons in the modern world, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year," Oswald said. "Only in their fifties do people emerge from this low period,"

Title: People happiest at start and end of lives, but slump in middle

Theme	Happiness is in the (1)           of U, for we are happier when are young and old but unhappy when we are middle-aged.
Findings	For (2)          men and women, depression is most (3)         to peak when they are about 44 years old.
For American people, men and women are very (4)       . Most women feel (5)         at around the age of 40. Among men, unhappiness peaks at about 50.
The U-shape of happiness is constant around the world, and mid-life depression  (6)         regardless of marital status, changes in job or income.
(7)	Possibly because people realize they are (8)        to achieve many of their aspirations at middle age.
Possibly because after they have seen their fellow middle-aged peers’ deaths, people begin to value their own years (9)         and embrace life once more.
Good news	If people are still in good (10)         when they reach 70, they are on average as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old.

 

 

Happiness is U-shaped, for we are happier at the start and end of our lives but hit a slump when we are middle-aged, British and US researchers say.

Economists from the University of Warwick, central England, and from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, looked at data on the mental health of two million people from 80 countries.

In Britain, the probability of depression for men and women peaks at around 44 years of age, Warwick University said in a press release.  

In the United States, though, ________________________between men and women. Among women, unhappiness peaked at around the age of 40, whereas among men, it was about 50.

But the U-shape of happiness is constant around the world, and mid-life depression occurs regardless of marital status(婚姻状况), changes in job or income.

The study appears in Social Science & Medicine, published by the Dutch publishing house Elsevier.  

"It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children." said co-author Andrew Oswald.

One possibility may be that people realize they won't achieve many of their ambitions at middle age. The researchers said.

Another reason could be that after seeing their fellow middle-aged peers begin to die, people begin to value their own remaining years and embrace life once more.

But the good news is that if people make it to aged 70 and are still physically fit, they are on average as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old.

"For the average persons in the modern world, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year," Oswald said. "Only in their fifties do people emerge from this low period.  

1.Which sentence in the passage is the closest in meaning to the following one?

 There are chances that the middle-aged people will realize their ideal is likely to be unattainable. 

_________________________________________________________________________

2.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with a proper sentence．(within 10 words)

                                                                         

3.How do you understand the sentence that “Happiness is U-shaped”? (within 20 words)

_________________________________________________________________________

4.Is mid-life depression a common Phenomenon in the world ? How do you know?(within 15 words) 

_________________________________________________________________________

5.Translate the underlined sentence in the last paragraph into Chinese

_________________________________________________________________________

                                                                         

 

PART FOUR WRITING SECTION A

Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in the numbered blanks by using the information from the passage. Write NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS for each blank.

The Chilean earthquake, measuring 8.8 – magnitude, which struck early Saturday morning, released 500 times the energy of the 7.0 – magnitude quake that hit Haiti last month, a geophysicist told CBS’ “The Early Show. ” Tsunami warnings were issued for much of the Pacific, including Hawaii, following the quake that struck near the Chilean coast.

“When the earthquake occurred, it moved the land and then it moved the water causing the tsunami,” said U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Jessica Sigala. “And the coastal areas of Chile have already noticed the wave heights up to about 7 feet.”

Sigala said Hawaiians can expect to see the waves from this tsunami around 11:20 a.m. local time (about 4:20 p.m. ET). “So we have to wait and see how big the waves will be.”

“It's not so much the height [of the wave] but it's the width, it's how long the duration, and then it's also the speed at which it's traveling,” said co-anchor Kelly Cobiella “Correct me if I'm wrong, but these waves are traveling at the speed of a jetliner, about 500 miles per hour?”

“That's correct. It's a big block of water coming onto the land,” Sigala said.

Chile has already experienced several aftershocks following the quake.

“Aftershocks are definitely a concern,” said Sigala. "We always see aftershocks with a large quake and a shallow quake, which this one was. And as of right now, we've located about maybe 15 aftershocks and those are of the larger kind. I'm sure they felt much more than that.”

“A shallow earthquake just means that it happened pretty close to the surface,” said Sigala. “And because of that the energy is really close to the surface, where all the buildings and people are.”

    50 deaths caused by aftershocks have been reported, according to the national emergency agency, adding the estimate casualties to 960.

Title: Concerns after        1.

I. Tsunami:

●      2.: much of the Pacific, including Hawaii

●Cause: the earthquake moved     3.

●Wave Heights: about        4.

●      5.___  : about 500 mph

II.      6.:

●Reason: the Chilean Earthquake was a      7.__   and a    8.earthquake, which always have them after the major one

●Number: at least     9.

●Loss:       10.

SECTION B

Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage and required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet

From bankers to factory staff, employees in the west face the bleak prospect of losing their jobs as a global recession starts to bite. For colleagues in the East the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut.

Human resource experts say cultural differences explain why Asian firms try harder to keep jobs in difficult times, which will stop unemployment and may help keep Asian economies afloat at a time of slowing exports.

The East Asian attitude may also make it easier for firms to recover quickly from the economic downturn since they will not need to rehire or train new staff, leaving some experts predicting Western shift to Eastern flexibility.

“In the Confucian attitude, the right thing to do is to share the burden. There is the sense of collective responsibility whereas in the west, it’s more about the individual survival,” said Michael Benotlel, associate professor of organizational behavior at Singapore Management University.

Steven Pang, Asian Regional director for Aquent, a headhunting firm, said in many East Asian companies there was an responsibility “ to take care of the members of the family and go through the pain together” even if that meant causing losses.

Us firms from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousands. But at the Asian units of Western multinationals, jobs cuts will probably less severe.

Japan’s jobless rate was 4 percent in September, up from 3.8 percent in January, while Hong Kong’s was flat at 3.4 percent. But US unemployment is expected to have jumped to 6.3 percent last month from below 5 percent in January.

Experts say that while there are noticeable differences in labor practices in East and West, the gap will narrow as more firms become more multinational and competition forces firms to adopt the best practices of rivals from abroad.

11.According to the passage, what does “to share the burden” mean?

(no more than 6 words)

____________________________________________________________________

12.Why would firms in the west lay off workers when facing a bleak prospect?

( no more than 5 words)

____________________________________________________________________

13.Why is it easier for the East Asian firms to recover quickly from the economic downturn? (no more than 12 words)

____________________________________________________________________

14.What’s the passage talking about? (no more than 15 words)

   ____________________________________________________________________