Valentine’s Day is on Feb. 14, and Chinese call it “lovers day”. I don’t think the translation is an accurate one, since it doesn’t only belong to lovers. Valentine’s Day is for expressing affection of all sorts. But it is uniquely for the romantically involved who shine the brightest, who spend the most money, whose hearts are the most engaged.

When I was b boy, my mother would buy enough cheap cards with ugly drawings of butterflies and little rabbits and honeybees for me to give one to every kid in my class, about 20 or so. The cards came in bags, and each card had a few foolish words-“Be Mine” or “I like you” or “You’ve Got My Heart” or the uninteresting words, “Hi, Valentine!” I would sign my name on the cards quickly and the name of one of my classmates on each easily-broken envelope. I would lick （舔）each one shut, but they were so cheap that the envelopes rarely had enough glue. On Valentine’s Day, I would take the cards to school-everyone did. We would have a party in our classroom, with cupcakes（杯形蛋糕）and juice and tiny candy hearts, which also had Valentine messages printed on them-“You’re sweet” or “Cupid（爱神丘比特）”or “Love”.

Ah, love! That’s the Valentine’s Day message: love. No one knows for certain the origin of the holiday. Several, Catholic victims were named Valentine, but it’s difficult to separate legend from fact. One story tells of a priest（牧师）named Valentine who was imprisoned and may have been stoned to death around 270 for performing marriages in going against the orders of the Roman Emperor Claudius II. But it’s hard today to find any religious connection.

From the first paragraph, why does the author say that we Chinese call Valentine’s Day “lovers’ day ”is not accurate?

       A．Because only lovers would spend it.

       B．Because it is only spent on Feb. 14.

       C．Because it doesn’t only belong to lovers.

       D．Because only those rich people could enjoy it.

A priest named Valentine was stoned to death for the sake of           .

       A．his not attending a ceremony on time.

       B．his stealing something from the church

       C．his rude words to Roman Emperor Claudius II

       D．his not obeying the orders by Roman Emperor Claudius II

According to the passage, we can know Valentine’s Day may be related to          .

       A．religion    B．sports       C．entertainment   D．art

   Most of us think that when we step under a shower we’re getting clean．We are, but we’re also giving a home to lots of tiny little creatures we didn’t even know about．

   A showerhead carries thousands of bacteria (细菌) called Mycobacterium．These can cause problems like coughs and tiredness, and a general feeling of poorliness (身体不舒服)．When you turn on the water, the bacteria go from the showerhead onto and into your body．

   This is a finding of Norman R．Pace and his team at the University of Colorado, in the US．The scientists investigated bacteria in all kinds of human environment, including showers．

   Pace's team looked at 45 showerheads in nine American cities．They discovered that 30 percent of them had large amounts of flying Mycobacterium．

   But Pace said that they pose few threats to the health．Only those with a frail (脆弱的) immune (免疫的) system might need to worry．

   He told the New York Times that the bactertia are not as unpleasant as might be thought．He said that having a shower is no more dangerous than anything else we do in the morning．

   But for those who feel sick about the idea of all those microorganisms (微生物), he had some advice．

   Let the water run for 30 seconds before getting into the shower．Why? The number of bacteria is smaller than when the water is just turned on．If that seems like a waste of water, he added that you could also change your showerhead every few months．

   But Pace had good news too．He has also been testing the air in US subways．Apart from iron particles (粒子), which are ground off the track by the wheels of trains, subway air is fresh．The reason is that a train’s movement pumps fresh outdoor air into the tunnels(隧道)．

   Pace explained that he wanted to understand the natural microbial(微生物的) environments of public places．This kind of knowledge might help detect the microbes to be used in a bioterrorist (生物恐怖分子) attack．

49．According to the finding of Norman R．Pace, after taking a shower, we might ______．

       A．get much dirtier                 B．be covered by bacteria

       C．get a frail immune system      D．catch a cough or feel tired

50．Pace’s research into showers shows that ______．

       A．there is no reason to fear microorganism

       B．shower water contains much less bacteria after being left to run for 30 second

       C．having a shower in the morning is more dangerous than at other time

       D．of 45 showerheads surveyed in nine cities, 30 carried large amounts of Mycobacterium

51．According to the research of Pace’s team, which of the following contributes to fresh air in US subways?

       A．Train wheels．                B．Iron particles．

       C．The movement of the trains． D．Air conditioners on the trains．

52．The word “detect” in the last paragraph probably means “______”．

       A．to discover      B．to protect        C．to make   D．to prevent

 Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly ever _________ the skill to do difficult things easily.

Only those who have enough courage and determination can _______ the difficulties they meet with．

1. A.
   undertake
2. B.
   upset
3. C.
   overcome
4. D.
   download

The noise was so _____ that only those with excellent hearing were aware of it.

   A. dim    B. soft    C. faint    D. gentle