Do you know what Down Syndrome is? It's a disease in which an extra chromosome (染色體) causes a( n) 1       disability that makes it harder for one to learn things. When my mom first told me I had Down Syndrome,I was 2        that people would think I wasn't as smart as they were,or that I talked or looked 3        I just want to be like everyone else,so sometimes I wish I could 4        the extra chromosome.

  Having Down Syndrome,however,doesn't make me feel too different. I am 5        of who I am. I am a hard worker,a good person,and I 6        about my friends. My 7       is also a lot like yours. I read books and watch TV,and I think about the 8       ,like who I'll marry. I get along well with my sisters 9       when they take my CDs without asking！

  Sometimes it's hard being with 10        kids. For instance,I don't drive,but a lot of kids in my school do. I try not to let things like that 11        me and just think of all the good things in my life,such as the fact that I've published two 12        and right now someone else is 13        my songs.

  It's true that I don't learn things as 14        as others,but that won't stop me from 15      . I just know that if I work really hard and be myself,I can do almost 16       .

  I can't change the 17        that I have Down Syndrome,but one thing I would like to change is how people think of me. I'd tell them: 18       me as a whole person,not just the person you see. Treat me with 19       ,and accept me for who I am. Most importantly,just be my friend. 20      ,I would do the same for you.

(   ) 1. A. physical   B. intellectual   C. spiritual   D. actual

(   ) 2. A. excited   B. surprised   C. annoyed   D. worried

(   ) 3. A. different   B. simple   C. low   D. ugly

(   ) 4. A. call on   B. ask for   C. pick up   D. give back

(   ) 5. A. fond   B. tired   C. proud   D. afraid

(   ) 6. A. talk   B. care   C. dream   D. worry

(   ) 7. A. study   B. interest   C. life   D. condition

(   ) 8. A. future   B. marriage   C. dream   D. profession

(   ) 9. A. including   B. providing   C. despite   D. except

(   ) 10. A. disabled   B. typical   C. special   D. unusual

(   ) 11. A. upset   B. attract   C. control   D. prevent

(   ) 12. A. articles   B. poems   C. novels   D. songs

(   ) 13. A. considering   B. singing   C. criticizing   D. buying

(   ) 14. A. hard   B. soon   C. far   D. fast

(   ) 15. A. struggling   B. exploring   C. trying   D. experimenting

(   ) 16. A. something   B. nothing   C. anything   D. none

(   ) 17. A. fact   B. idea   C. dream   D. trouble

(   ) 18. A. Help   B. Judge   C. Love   D. Forgive

(   ) 19. A. pity   B. surprise   C. respect   D. satisfaction

(   ) 20. A. In fact   B. In all   C. Above all   D. After all

HOST;

Tonight is New Year's Eve. Many people will attend New Year's parties where they will drink alcohol. A listener in Vietnam wrote to ask why a person in the United States must be at least twentyone years old to do this legally. Nguyen Hoang Phong noted that eighteen years is the legal age for drinking alcohol in most countries. Here is Faith Lapidus with our answer. ANNCR:

Discussing the drinking age in the United States can lead to an argument. I will try to explain both sides of this issue. In nineteen-eighty-four,Congress passed a measure called the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. President Ronald Reagan signed the measure into law.

It bans people in the United States from drinking alcohol unless they are twentyone years of age or older. States must obey the law or risk losing federal money for building roads and road repairs. The measure was the result of work by several lawmakers and groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Last July,that group and members of Congress celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the law. They praised the measure as one of the most effective antidrunk driving laws ever passed. They said that twentythousand lives have been saved since its passage.

However,some opponents of the measure say it did not save anyone. They say young people who want to drink will find a way to get alcohol. They also reject the number of young people reportedly saved by the law. They say fewer young people are drinking now than twenty years ago.

Other people say the National Minimum Drinking Age Act is not fair. They say a young person can join the military and fight in a war at age eighteen. However,they are still not permitted to drink alcohol until they are twentyone.

Many Americans would like to change the law to make eighteen the age when a person can drink alcohol. But just as many want to keep the drinking age at twentyone.

The question of a legal drinking age involves ideas of freedom,responsibility,religion,politics and the rights of parents. It is a question that will be argued in the United States for many years to come.

(   ) 5. The writer's purpose in writing the text is         .

   A. to discuss the drinking age in America

   C. to show us the argument in America

   D. to call up people's memory

(   ) 6. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

   A. All the Americans think that the law is effective.

   B. It was President Ronald Reagan that made the law come into effect.

   C. It is believed that twentythousand lives have been saved since the law signed.

   D. Only those who are over twenty years old in the US can drink alcohol legally.

(   ) 7. From this passage we can safely draw a conclusion that "Mothers Against Drunk Driving" is         .

   A. a department of the government .

   B. a scientific research institute

   C. an association of lawmakers

   D. a kind of social organization

(   ) 8. What can we infer from the passage?

   A. Any state in the US has no right to change the law of the federal government.

   B. If a man was not at least twentyone years old,he wouldn't get any alcohol in the US.

   C. The young people in the USA become mature later than those of the other countries.

   D. It will be not easy to change the law of the drinking age in a short time.

  The boat was blocked in ice when dawn came. The captain had 1        asleep,so the rest of the crew hurriedly woke him. He took a big axe,and 2       great care,he began to knock the ice so as to 3       a hole in the ice on the deck. From time to time,a wave burst over the boat and swept over him,but he kept working for ten minutes 4        the others looked on 5       . By this time he was so 6        that he could no longer trust whether what he was doing would help.

  Each member of the crew took it in 7        to cut the ice away as long as he could 8        it.

  First,they had to knock off enough ice to get down on their 9       . Standing on that rolling deck meant 10       ,because a man who had fallen into the sea could not have been rescued.

  Then the captain discovered that ice was forming inside the cabin. He called 11        one of the crew and together they managed to get the stove alight,hoping that it would 12        enough heat to warm the cabin above 13        point. Unless the ice in the bottom could be melted enough so that the 14        could be raised,they were in 15       .

  It took an hour's 16        before the boat began to float better. But by this time they had succeeded in 17        most of the ice.

  Throughout the afternoon,the coating of ice began to build up again 18        their work. In the face of this danger,Captain Slater 19        the crew to clear the ice so that the boat would 20        until the next morning. Then they settled down to wait for another day.

(   ) 1. A. gone   B. fallen   C. become   D. grown

(   ) 2. A. at   B. for   C. with   D. by

(   ) 3. A. make   B. drill   C. dig   D. fill

(   ) 4. A. until   B. before   C. after   D. while

(   ) 5. A. excitedly   B. anxiously   C. happily   D. strangely

(   ) 6. A. hungry   B. cold        '   C. tired   D. sleepy

(   ) 7. A. surprise   B. time   C. trouble   D. turn

(   ) 8. A. support   B. help   C. bear   D. make

(   ) 9. A. knees   B. legs   C. feet   D. arms

(   ) 10. A. life   B. pain   C. damage   D. death

(   ) 11. A. to   B. on   C. up   D. at

(   ) 12. A. get out   B. give off   C. get over   D. give in

(   ) 13. A. boiling   B. marking   C. freezing   D. melting

(   ) 14. A. boat   B. deck   C. sail   D. back

(   ) 15. A. ruins   B. excitement   C. danger   D. surprise

(   ) 16. A. delay   B. work   C. break   D. wait

(   ) 17. A. pilling   B. getting   C. greezing   D. removing

(   ) 18. A. thanks to   B. according to   

       C. as a result of   D. in spite of

(   ) 19. A. wished   B. forbad   C. ordered   D. promised

(   ) 20. A. sink   B. appear   C. float   D. flow

  In a living statue,just as the name implies,somebody transforms himself or herself into a statue. Last year,I came across an article in a magazine describing living statues in the streets of some Australian cities. The article was vividly written,except that there was not even a single picture;one could only imagine what a scene it would have been!All the harder,then,to believe that I ran into the "wonder" in Barcelona this year. The performers一the living statues—were street artists at Las Ramblas.

  Las Ramblas is the most famous street in Barcelona. Especially in summer,thousands of tourists go to the seaside by passing through this street,making it a center of shops and bazaars (市場) .Not only can you find tourists there,but also thieves,swindlers,cops ... among whom the living statue artists are the most special group.

  They were covered with greasepaint (油脂漆) in different colors,wearing season disproportional clothes,standing on a base for several hours without making even a single move. Are they real or fake,the guests were wondering ... and then suddenly the statues came to life,just for a few seconds to shift positions. But the movement of the statues seemed like someone just had breathed life into them. They really do look like statues,and that's how they got their name.

  Usually there is a jar or a hat in front of them. They would change to another pose whenever some tourists put a coin in the hat. You may take photos after giving a Euro,or even less,but be careful not to touch the statues,unless you want yourself to be covered in paint. It's a really special experience,don't you think?

  For Chinese people,this is undoubtedly a surprising style of art and way of making a living. I haven't seen or heard any report at all about living statues in Chinese cities. Body painting of course sometimes can be seen,but it's not quite the same as having a living statue.

(   ) 5. From the passage we know that a living statue is         .

   A. a statue which can be made in the face of the people

   B. a kind of statue that people can touch freely

   C. a statue that somebody pretends and that looks like a real one

   D. a common statue that can stand in the street

(   ) 6. Where did the writer first know about the living statues?

   A. In a magazine.

   B. In the street of Bacelona.

   C. In some squares in China.

   D. From some pictures.

(   ) 7. According to the passage,which of the following statements is true?

   A. At Las Ramblas you can see different kinds of people except the living statues.

   B. Body painting is the same as the living statues.

   C. You can take photos of the statues for free but better not touch them.

   D. Up to now,there are no living statues appearing in the streets in China.

(   ) 8. The underlined word "vividly" probably means         .

   A. lively   B. interestingly   C. carefully   D. lovely

 Several weeks ago,I had a letter from Mr. Li Pengyi,President of the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,Beijing. He asked me to prepare some formal documents and send them to him soon. At the beginning,I imagined I could complete the task in a couple of days. Quite quickly,I found that this was impossible.

It has been hot in London lately. The wind blows dust and leaves around. People go to work feeling tired,thinking it would be nice to have a bit of rain. Dull work in offices is even duller than usual in weather like this.

  On 17 June,I reached the last part of my paperchase at the Chinese Consulate (領事館) . After I pushed my pile of documents through the hole in the glass screen. He glanced through the documents,checking them. Without much interest,he asked me a few routine questions. Then he went on scanning the documents and making notes. I saw him write the name, "Alexander"，in Chinese. He looked up,suddenly a very bright individual,no longer just a bored senior official.

  "Are you the author?" he asked.

  "No”， I replied. "The author was my husband,L. G. Alexander. He died. On 17th June. He died a year ago today."

He turned to his colleagues,firing off a statement in Chinese. They all paused in their work and turned to me,smiling kindly. Then the official spoke quietly but very clearly.

  "We are very sorry to hear it,very sorry indeed. But you must cheer up. Mr. Alexander is very popular in China. I learned English from New Concept English. My colleagues learned English from New Concept English. Now my daughter is learning from New Concept English as well. So for us he has not died."

Coming out into the glare of Portland Place,I felt Louis take my hand. Sharing this moment with him,I remembered a line from a Roman poet：Et haec meminisse iuvabit：Even these things we will remember with pleasure.

(   ) 1. The purpose that the writer described the weather in Paragraph 2 is         .

   B. to suggest that she was tired and felt heavy in her heart during that process

   C. to introduce the view of the Thames

   D. to indicate that her health became poorer and poorer

(   ) 2. What does the underlined sentence "Et haec meminisse iuvabit" mean?

   A. Life is very beautiful,so we should enjoy it.

   B. During the life time,we should remember the pleasant things and forget the sad things.

   C. Even the things are full of sorrow,we still should remember them with pleasure.

   D. Forgetting the sad things is a kind of pleasure.

(   ) 3. The official suddenly changed his attitude because         .

   A. he recognized the old lady

   B. he met L. G. Alexander at last

   C. he was very thankful to the writer of New Concept English

   D. he was very sorry to hear the sad news

(   ) 4. From the passage we can infer that         .

   A. Many Chinese officials at the Chinese Consulate learned New Concept English

   B. The weather in London is so changeable that Ms Alexander dislikes the city

   C. People will always remember those who do good to them

   D. The old lady was tired of doing such kind of task

 In December of 2002,I was a happy husband and father of two young children. A month 1       ,I was diagnosed with hemophilia        (出血不止癥) .

After two years of 2      ,my body was weak and lifeless. I felt like a puppet (木偶) who needed help to lift his arms or 3        his head. I began to run. After six months,my 4       came back. So I decided to try to run a marathon.

  I 5       with my father about my plan. He told me of a program that trained people to run a marathon to 6        money for hemophilia research. So that summer,7       the Hemophilia Society's training program,I started to 8        for the day to come to run the marathon.

On October 27,2005,at 8 a.m.，the shot 9        and so did I. Along with 19 ,000 other brave souls,I started on a 26. 2 mile journey that I will 10        forget.

  I first saw my wife Patty at the sixmile mark; she seemed 11        that I was having a good time doing it. At mile 17       ,my mind was going back to those two 12 years that had brought my family and me down. I saw her again. The 13 in her face told me that she knew I was starting to struggle. I felt 14        we were thinking about the same thing,nine 15 miles would soon be behind us.

That thought alone pulled me 16       . Mile 22,23, slowing but going,24. 25,then there is was. 3 hours and 6 minutes after I had started,I 17       what I thought to be the most exciting finish line of all races！

  The Luekemia Society gave me a (n) 18       with a note saying, "Hemophilia26. 2". If I 19        ill again,my cancer may once again take away my hair and my strength,and maybe 20        my life. But it can never take away the award,or the fact that I am a marathoner.

(   ) 1. A. later   B. ago   C. before   D. after

(   ) 2. A. check   B. rest   C. treatment   D. work

(   ) 3. A. use up   B. hold up   C. turn up   D. pick up

(   ) 4. A. spirit   B. power   C. force   D. strength

(   ) 5. A. talked   B. said   C. spoke   D. told

(   ) 6. A. make   B. raise   C. earn   D. offer

(   ) 7. A. by   B. in   C. for   D. through

(   ) 8. A. prepare   B. look   C. search   D. ask

(   ) 9. A. turned off   B. got off   C. went off   D. took of

(   ) 10. A. ever   B. never   C. always   D. frequently

(   ) 11. A. angry   B. worried   C. happy   D. sad

(   ) 12. A. terrible   B. wonderful   C. generous   D. long

(   ) 13. A. interest   B. disappointment   C. worry   D. concern

(   ) 14. A. as for   B. as if   C. as with   D. as to

(   ) 15. A. another   B. less   C. more   D. fewer

(   ) 16. A. forward   B. backward   C. toward   D. upward

(   ) 17. A. went   B. ran   C. walked   D. crossed

(   ) 18. A. book   B. apartment   C. house   D. award

(   ) 19. A. go   B. fall   C. become   D. get

(   ) 20. A. even   B. still   D. very   D. quiet

  One of the most expected anticipated revolutions in aviation (航空) is to take off in 2008,as new superfast,relatively cheap airplanes called "very light jets" finally go into service.

  Thanks to breakthroughs in the performance of engines for small jets,along with better airplane manufacturing techniques,companies such as Eclipse Aviation,the Albuquerque,N. M.，and Adam Aircraft of Denver are promising a new kind of aircraft for a new category of travel：jetspeed transportation between as many as 5 ,500 US airports,in planes that cost as little as $1. 5 million.

  That's a part of the price of today's private jets.

  Waiting for final certification by the Federal Aviation Administration,which is now expected in the second quarter of 2008,Eclipse's sixseat E500 could be in the hands of pilots this July.

  A private charter service based at Hanscom Field in Lexington,Mass., Linear Air LL C. already has ordered 30 of the Eclipse very light jets and plans to put them in service between August and late 2009. The planes can fly at more than 400 mph,twice the typical speed of private propellerdriven planes.

  "This is the absolute future,and everybody in the aviation business knows it," said Arthur Allen,chairman of the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission,which oversees 38 smaller airports around the state.

  Because VLJs weigh as little as a minivan (微型車) ，they can land on runways as short as 3 ,000 feet―compared with the 4 ,000 or 5,000 feet required by the smallest private jets today. Allen envisions (預測) them opening up new markets for air taxi and charter services. 

  "It's like an executive car service,with wings," said Bill Herp,Linear Air's chief executive. " VLJs are going to revolutionize the way a large percentage of the traveling public gets around."

  Part of Linear's plan with scheduled charter service is to introduce passengers to the private plane experience and turn them to future customers for $1,500 or $3,000 charter flights,either for business or vacation travel for rich consumers.

  For Herp,the huge advantage of VLJs is they will cost a third as much to buy and half as much to operate per hour as traditional small jets,vastly broadening the market for air taxi and charter services.

(   ) 5. What is the best title of the passage?

   A. New Jets May Change Air Travel

   B. The Bright Future for New Jets

   C. The Advantage of the New Jets

   D. Fast and Cheaper Jets

(   ) 6. What is NOT the advantage of the new jets,compared with the private jets today?

   A. They can cost less both in buying and using.

   B. They can carry more people on the board.

   C. They can fly faster and can be more convenient.

   D. They need shorter runway.

(   ) 7. We may learn from the passage that         .

   A. they are beginning to sell the new jets at lower prices

   B. they will let some people experience the travel of the new jets

   C. they will make the course and the price of the tickets of the jets

   D. they are making contracts with taxi business

(   ) 8. What does the underlined phrase "charter services" mean in the passage?

   A. To hire the plane for a particular purpose.

   B. To make a chart while flying.

   C. The first flight.

   D. A pleasant flight.

(   ) 9. We can infer from the passage that         .

   A. the jets can be operated by an ordinary car driver in the future

   B. the new jets can only be used by the rich as their private planes

   C. the new jets will have a promising market

   D. all the companies will use them to take the place of the cars

  Although women lead healthier,longer lives,the cruel perception that they reach their sellby date and become "old" sooner than men is widespread in the workplace,research shows.

  A survey of more than 2 ,600 managers and personnel professionals showed that age discrimination is not only popular in the workplace,but is shot through with inconsistencies (不協調) .

  Six in ten managers reported being a victim of age discrimination―usually because they were turned down for a job for being too old or too young. Yet more than a fifth admitted that they used age as a standard for the new.

  Although the survey found widespread agreement that older workers were better than younger colleagues when it came to reliability,commitment,loyalty and customer service,these qualities were not necessarily considered to be deserving of advancement.

  More than half of respondents believed that workers between 30 and 39 had the best promotion chances,with only 2 percent citing 50-year-olds or above.

Dianah Worman of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said that there was unpublished evidence that people were considered old at different ages in different sectors.

  "We heard of one man working in IT who said he was considered too old by the age of 28, ”she said.

  There was no evidence to suggest that older workers were less valuable to companies than younger workers,in fact the opposite was often true because older workers often brought experience,she added.

  The findings also suggested that the Government's ideas on age in the workforce may also be out of step with reality.

(   ) 1. According to the passage,in most people's minds,women         .

   A. can live longer than men

   B. have the same chance in promotion as men

   C. become old sooner than men

(   ) 2. What is the purpose of the writer to write the third paragraph?

   A. To prove there is age discrimination.

   B. To tell us some people's experiences.

   C. To tell us age is very important when people look for jobs.

   D. To tell us not to care about your age wherever you are.

(   ) 3. Compared with younger workers,the older workers         .

   A. are better in reliability,quicker in customer service

   B. have fewer chances to get higher positions in the workplace

   C. are less valuable to companies

   D. are too old to work well

(   ) 4. The underlined sentence quoted by the writer means that         .

   A. it is easy for people working in IT to get old

   B. IT business develops too fast

   C. people working in IT are most young people

   D. the man is tired of his job in IT

  Narrator： (scene shows an old woman,washing her supper dishes) For several years,a widow has lived in her own pleasant tworoom and kitchenette apartment in a rebuilt brownstone near East River. Her late husband,Mr. H. T. Miller,had left a fair amount of insurance money before he passed away. Mrs. Miller is,in fact,not an average sixty-one-year-old woman;she has little interest outside her apartment,has no friends to speak of,and she only ventures out as far as a nearby grocery store. No one who lives near her has taken note of her existence,with her oldfashioned dress and oldfashioned hairstyle,and she never uses any cosmetics (化妝品) .Her daily activities are monotonous,smoking an occasional cigarette,preparing her own meals,feeding her canary (a kind of bird) named " Tommy"， and keeping her tworoom apartment as clean as possible. (Mrs. Miller sits down on her couch,reading through the afternoon newspaper.) Narrator： (camera changes scene to Rod Serling,a glowing cigarette held in his hand) One would think that her life would be as normal as anyone else's. She doesn't mind the wall of isolation she has created around herself all these years. But all of this is going to change. Mrs. Miller is going to meet a person,a small child,who,like her,has no friends,goes through life unnoticed,and ventures only as far as Mrs,Miller. Would it be a dream of happiness come true? Or perhaps the worst nightmare Mrs. Miller has ever experienced ...In the Twilight Zone!Title shows： " Miriam" Act I：At the Theater (Scene 1,at Mrs. Miller's apartment)

(   ) 1. Where is the passage from?

   A. It is from a science book. B. It is from a TV show script.

   C. It is from a news report. D. It is from a textbook of history.

(   ) 2. The underlined word "monotonous" in the passage means         .

   A. various   B. not changing   C. special   D. interesting

(   ) 3. Which of the following statements about Mrs Miller is true?

   A. She lives a happy and calm life although she is short of money.

   C. She spends most of her time doing her own things at home.

   D. She is not fashionable but likes to decorate her own house.

(   ) 4. Which of the following things is what Mrs. Miller would not do?

   A. She doesn't want to disturb her neighbors.

   B. She cares more about her neighbor's opinions.

   C. She is not interested in fashion show.

   D. She always tries to keep her house clean.

  Imagine a people whose language has no word for "marriage" or "husband". Just such a tribe lives in the mountains of southeastern China. Lake Lugu,known as the " Country of Women"，is home to the Mosuo. It is one of the few 1        matriarchal (母系的) societies in the world which manage to 2        through thousands of years.

  Mosuo culture goes around women：the women make all the important 3       ,control the family's resources,and pass their 4        onto their children. 5       marrying,a Mosuo woman takes many lovers over her lifetime,and the 6        children will always live with her.

  7       the Mosuo language has a word for "mother"，there is 8        word for "father" and Mosuo children 9        all older men as "uncle".

Getting to Lake Lugu isn't easy,which helped the tribe keep their customs and 10       . A generation ago,few outsiders had ever 11        Lake Lugu or the Mosuo.

  But in recent years,word 12       about the value of their culture and the beauty of the lake. These reports attracted travelers and,13       ，this onceisolated paradise seems filled with tourists who've come to see the locals. Along with the visitors 14        stories of the outside world,15       the young to leave home for the 16        in search of new opportunities.

  For better or worse,the unique world of the Mosuo people is 17       . Many of the older Mosuo women 18        the old days,before the outsiders came with their strange clothing and strange 19       . But most agree that change is necessary. And some of the younger Mosuo women are speaking openly about getting 20       a word their grandmothers still don't understand.

(   ) 1. A. lost   B. left   C. remaining   D. imaginable

(   ) 2. A. survive   B. leave   C. prove   D. continue

(   ) 3. A. plans   B. decisions   C. clothes   D. notes

(   ) 4. A. full names   B. middle names   C. nicknames   D. surnames

(   ) 5. A. Rather than   B. Other than   C. More than   D. Better than

(   ) 6. A. intending   B. surviving   C. desiring   D. resulting

(   ) 7. A. Because   B. When   C. Unless   D. While

(   ) 8. A. one   B. some   C. no   D. proper

(   ) 9. A. refer to   B. make for   C. look at   D. turn to

(   ) 10. A. habits   B. culture   C. arts   D. science

(   ) 11. A. thought of   B. speak of   C. heard of   D. admit of

(   ) 12. A. took out   B. broke out   C. went out   D. sent out

(   ) 13. A. at times   B. in no time   C. at a time   D. in time

(   ) 14. A. go   B. take   C. bring   D. come

(   ) 15. A. making   B. forcing   C. attracting   D. advising

(   ) 16. A. villages   B. cities   C. factories   D. schools

(   ) 17. A. changing   B. improving   C. developing   D. remaining

(   ) 18. A. dislike   B. hate   C. enjoy   D. prefer

(   ) 19. A. words   B. styles   C. opinions   D. ideas

(   ) 20. A. paid   B. separated   C. dressed   D. married