Heredity （遗传） is not the only thing that influences our color. Where we live and how we live after we are born are important too. For instance, our genes influence how fat or thin we are. But our weight depends mainly upon how much we eat and how much exercise we get. In the same way, our skin color depends to a large extent upon how much sunshine we get.

       When summer arrives and light-colored people go to the beaches, some will tan darkly, some will tan lightly and few will not tan at all. Each one is born with a different ability to tan, but the differences do not appear until the conditions are right An outdoor man will soon become pale if he changes to an indoor job, while a desk clerk will take on tan after a short vacation in the sun. Sometimes people decide that being tanned is better than being pale. Sometimes they decide the opposite.

       Centuries ago, most of the people in Europe were peasants and they had to work in the fields all day. Noblemen, on the other hand, did not have to work. They stayed indoors and remained pale. You could always tell a nobleman from a peasant because a peasant had a tan. As a result, noblewomen did their best to keep skins as light as possible. A skin so pale was considered a mark

of great beauty and nobleness.

       During the Industrial Revolution things changed. Farmers left their fields and went to work in factories, mines and mills. Working for long hours in dimly-lit factories and mines made their skins pale. Wealthy people, however, could afford to travel to sunny countries. They had the leisure （空闲）to lie around on the beaches and get tan. Having a tan became a sign of wealth.

       In Western Europe and North America pale skin is no longer desirable. Instead of bleaching themselves white with lemon juice, many women spend their time under a sun-lamp. The desire for a quick tan has led to the invention of pills and lotions （化妆水）that darken the skin artificially without exposure to sunlight These pills and lotions can be bought by anyone at any drugstore. A rich man can spend hundreds of dollars on a vacation in the sunny West Indies and get his suntan there. But his lowest-paid clerk can have what looks like the same tan out of a bottle for a few cents.

1．Besides genes, our skin color has much to do with ______.

      A．exercise           B．sunshine          C．food               D．weight

2．Centuries ago in Europe, it was considered of great beauty to have ______.

       A．pale skin                           B．light-colored skin

       C．dark-colored skin                       D．a suntan

3．During the Industrial Revolution people began to like to have a tan because it was a sign of

          .

       A．good health          B．great strength       C．wealth                 D．youth

4．Pills and lotions have been invented in Western Europe and North America        .

       A．to make people look wealthy                 B．to smooth people’s skin

       C．to help people to have a quick tan          D．to protect people from suntan

5．What does the passage mainly tell us?

       A．Noblemen centuries ago did not like traveling.

       B．Attitudes towards the color of skin change with time.

       C．Exposure to sunlight is the only thing that determines skin color.

       D．Having a tan is considered a sign of wealth nowadays in North America.

At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous（强壮的）. It has yet to reach its full size and strength. At this age the chance of death is least. Earlier, we were babies and young children, and consequently weaker; later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigor and resistance which, though unnoticed at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society and our doctors look after us.
　　This decline in vigor with the passing of time is called ageing. It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and disease we shall eventually "die of old age", and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds in favor of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer---on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it_, and there is an actual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and energetic we are.
　　Normal people tend to forget this process unless and until they are reminded of it. We are so familiar with the fact that man ages, that people have for years assumed that the process of losing vigor with time was something self-evident, like the cooling of a hot kettle or the wearing-out of a pair of shoes. They have also assumed that all animals, and probably other organisms such as trees, or even the universe itself, must in the nature of things "wear out". Most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do, if given the chance to live long enough; and mechanical systems like a wound watch, or the sun, do in fact run out of energy according to the second law of thermodynamics (热力学). But these are not analogous to what happens when man ages. A run-down watch is still a watch and can be rewound. An old watch, by contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending. But a watch could never repair itself---it does not consist of living parts, only of metal, which wears away by friction. We could, at one time, repair ourselves---well enough, at least, to overcome all but the most instantly fatal illnesses and accidents.　　

67. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?
A. Our first twelve years represent the peak of human development.
B. People usually are unhappy when reminded of ageing.
C. Normally only a few of us can live to the eighties and nineties.
D. People are usually less likely to die at twelve years old.　　

68. The word "it" in the last sentence of Paragraph Two refers to ________.
A. remaining alive until 65.

B. remaining alive after 80.

C. dying before 65 or after 80. 　　

D. dying between 65 and 80.　　

69. What is ageing?　　

A. It is usually a phenomenon of dying at an old age.　　

B. It is a fact that people cannot live any longer.　　

C. It is a gradual loss of vigor and resistance.　　

D. It is a stage when people are easily attacked by illness.　　

70. What do the examples of watch show?　　

A. Normally people are quite familiar with the ageing process.　　

B. All animals and other organisms undergo the ageing process.　　

C. The law of thermodynamics functions in the ageing process.　　

D. Human's ageing process is different from that of mechanisms.

At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous（强壮的）. It has yet to reach its full size and strength. At this age the chance of death is least. Earlier, we were babies and young children, and consequently weaker; later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigor and resistance which, though unnoticed at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society and our doctors look after us.
　　This decline in vigor with the passing of time is called ageing. It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and disease we shall eventually "die of old age", and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds in favor of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer---on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it_, and there is an actual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and energetic we are.
　　Normal people tend to forget this process unless and until they are reminded of it. We are so familiar with the fact that man ages, that people have for years assumed that the process of losing vigor with time was something self-evident, like the cooling of a hot kettle or the wearing-out of a pair of shoes. They have also assumed that all animals, and probably other organisms such as trees, or even the universe itself, must in the nature of things "wear out". Most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do, if given the chance to live long enough; and mechanical systems like a wound watch, or the sun, do in fact run out of energy according to the second law of thermodynamics (热力学). But these are not analogous to what happens when man ages. A run-down watch is still a watch and can be rewound. An old watch, by contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending. But a watch could never repair itself---it does not consist of living parts, only of metal, which wears away by friction. We could, at one time, repair ourselves---well enough, at least, to overcome all but the most instantly fatal illnesses and accidents.　　

67. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A. Our first twelve years represent the peak of human development.
B. People usually are unhappy when reminded of ageing.
C. Normally only a few of us can live to the eighties and nineties.

D. People are usually less likely to die at twelve years old.　　

68. The word "it" in the last sentence of Paragraph Two refers to ________.
A. remaining alive until 65.

B. remaining alive after 80.

C. dying before 65 or after 80. 　　

D. dying between 65 and 80.　　

69. What is ageing?　　

A. It is usually a phenomenon of dying at an old age.　　

B. It is a fact that people cannot live any longer.　　

C. It is a gradual loss of vigor and resistance.　　

D. It is a stage when people are easily attacked by illness.　　

70. What do the examples of watch show?　　

A. Normally people are quite familiar with the ageing process.　　

B. All animals and other organisms undergo the ageing process.　　

C. The law of thermodynamics functions in the ageing process.　　

D. Human's ageing process is different from that of mechanisms.

Shundagarh is a village on India's east-facing coast.It is a village of simple mud and grass houses built on the beach just above the waterline.The Khadra Hills rise immediately behind the village,to a height of one hundred and fifty meters.A simple,good-hearted old man,whose name was Jalpur,farmed two small fields on the very edge of these hills.From his fields he could see the fishing boats that travelled up and down the coast.He could see the children playing on the sands;their mothers washing clothes on the flat stones where the Shiva River flowed into the sea;and their fathers landing the latest catch or repairing nets and telling stories that had no end.

All Jalpur owned in the world were the clothes he wore day in and day out,the miserable hut(小屋) that he slept in at night,a few tools and cooking pots—and his fields.The corn that he grew was all that made life possible.If the weather was kind and the harvest was good,Jalpur could live happily enough—not well,but happily.When the sun was fierce,and there was little or no rain,then he came close to the line between life and death.

Last year the weather had been so kind,and the harvest promised to be so good,that Jalpur had been wondering whether he could sell all that he had and live with his son farther up the coast.He had been thinking about doing this for some years.It was his dearest wish to spend his last days with his son and his wife.But he would go only if he could give;he would not go if it meant taking food out of the mouths of his grandchildren.He would rather die hungry than do this.

On the day when Jalpur decided that he would harvest his corn,sell it,and move up the coast,he looked out to sea and saw a huge wave,several kilometers out,advancing on the coast and on the village of Shundagarh.Within ten minutes everyone in Shundagarh would be drowned.Jalpur would have shouted,but the people were too far away to hear.He would have run down the hill,but he was too old to run.He was prepared to do anything to save the people of Shundagarh,so he did the only thing that he could do: he set fire to his corn.In a matter of seconds the flames were rising high and smoke was rising higher.Within a minute the people of Shundagarh were racing up the hill to see what had happened.There,in the middle of his blackened cornfield,they found Jalpur;and there they buried him.

On his grave,they wrote the words: Here lies Jalpur,a man who gave,living: a man who died,giving.

Which of the following could Jalpur NOT see from his Fields?

A.Mothers washing clothes.

B.Fathers taking their corn to market.

C.Fishing boats traveling on the sea.

D.Children playing on the sands.

Why didn't Jalpur live well?

A.He didn't work hard.

B.He had too many children to feed.

C.He only depended on good weather and harvest for survival.

D.The villagers kept taking his corn.

Jalpur's dearest wish was to _________.

A.move away from his son

B.take a vacation up the coast

C.make a great deal of money in order to live an easy life

D.spend his last days with his son and his wife

What did Jalpur do when he saw the huge wave?

A.He set his corn on fire so the people of Shundagarh would leave the beach.

B.He screamed loudly to get the villagers' attention.

C.He ran down the hill to tell the people.

D.He stood still,not knowing what to do.

　　Shundagarh is a village on India’s east-facing coast. It is a village of simple mud and grass houses built on the beach just above the waterline. The Khadra Hills rise immediately behind the village, to a height of one hundred and fifty meters. A simple, good-hearted old man, whose name was Jalpur, farmed two small fields on the very edge of these hills. From his fields he could see the fishing boats that traveled up and down the coast. He could see the children playing on the sands; their mothers washing clothes on the flat stones where the Shiva River flowed into the sea; and their fathers landing the latest catch or repairing nets and telling stories that had no end.

　　All Jalpur owned in the world were the clothes he wore day in and day out, the miserable（蹩脚的）hut that he slept in at night, a few tools and cooking pots--and his fields. The corn that he grew was all that made life possible. If the weather was kind and the harvest was good, Jalpur could live happily enough--not well, but happily. When the sun was fierce, and there was little or no rain, then he came close to the line between life and death.

　　Last year the weather had been so kind, and the harvest promised to be so good, that Jalpur had been wondering whether he could sell all that he had and live with his son farther up the coast. He had been thinking about doing this for some years. It was his dearest wish to spend his last days with his son and his wife. But he would go only if he could give; he would not go if it meant taking food out of the mouths of his grandchildren. He would rather die hungry than do this.

　　On the day when Jalpur decided that he would harvest his corn, sell it, and move up the coast, he looked out to sea and saw a huge wave, several kilometers out, advancing on the coast and on the village of Shundagarh. Within ten minutes everyone in Shundagarh would be drowned. Jalpur would have shouted, but the people were too far away to hear. He would have run down the hill, but he was too old to run. He was prepared to do anything to save the people of Shundagarh, so he did the only thing that he could do: he set fire to his corn. In a matter of seconds the flames were rising high and smoke was rising higher. Within a minute the people of Shundagarh were racing up the hill to see what had happened. There, in the middle of his blackened cornfield, they found Jalpur; and there they buried him.

　　On his grave, they wrote the words: Here lies Jalpur, a man who gave, living: a man who died, giving.

(1)Which of the following could Jalpur NOT see from his Fields?

[　　]

A．Mothers washing clothes.

B．Fathers taking their corn to market.

C．Fishing boats traveling on the sea.

D．Children playing on the sands.

(2)Why didn’t Jalpur live well?

[　　]

A．He didn’t work hard.

B．He had too many children to feed.

C．He only depended on good weather and harvest for survival.

D．The villagers kept taking his corn.

(3)What did Jalpur do when he saw the huge wave?

[　　]

A．He set his corn on fire so the people of Shundagarh would leave the beach.

B．He screamed loudly to get the villagers’ attention.

C．He ran down the hill to tell the people.

D．He stood still, not knowing what to do.

(4)The villagers were thankful to Jalpur because he had _______.

[　　]

A．given his life in order to save theirs

B．saved their village from being drowned by the wave

C．given them many things during his life

D．given them his corn in order to save them from hunger