I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, midlife for an elephant , and ancient for a sportsman, Fifty is a nice number for the states in the US or for a national speed limit but it is not a number that I was prepared to have hung on me. Fifty is supposed to be my father’s age. but now I am stuck with this number and everything it means.

A few days ago, a friend tried to cheer me up by saying,  “ Fifty is what forty used to be . ”He had made an inspirational point, Am I over the hill ?People keep telling me that the hill has been moved, and I keep telling them that he high-jump bar has dropped from the six feet I once easily cleared to the four feet that is impossible for me now.

“ Your are not getting older, you are getting better . ” says Dr. Joyce Brothers . This, however, is the kind of doctor who inspires a second opinion.

And so. as I approach the day when I cannot even jump over the tennis net. I am moves to share some thoughts on aging with you. I am moved to show how aging feels to me physically and mentally. Getting older. of course, is obviously a better change than the one that brings you eulogies(悼詞). In fact , a poet named Robert Browning considered it the best change of all :

Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to me.

Whether or not Browning was right , most of my first fifty years have been golden ones, so I will settle for what is ahead being as good as what has gone by. I find myself moving toward what is ahead with a curious blend ( 混合) of both fighting and accepting my aging, hoping that the philosopher(哲學(xué)家) was right when he said . ”O(jiān)ld is always fifteen years from now. ”

44. The author seems to tell us in Paragraph I 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

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

46. The author considers his fifty years of life       

A peaceful                  B. ordinary                 C. satisfactory              D. regretful

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

30. In my opinion, all Mr. White ___ good to his students in his class at present. He is very strict in their study.

A. does does does                                      B. does do do

C. does does do                                         D. did do does 

30. Having introduced the advanced scientific methods, the factory turned out ______ in 2006 as a year before.

A. as many as four times machines       B. four times machines as many

C. four times as many machines as       D. four times as many machines

My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister's bureau(衣櫥) and picked out a wonderful skirt. "Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion.” Well, I guess this is the occasion.

He took the skirt from me and put it on the bed.His hands touched the soft material for a moment, then he shut the drawer and turned to me, "Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion."

I'm still thinking about his words, and they've changed my attitude to life. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to enjoy,not suffer.I'm tryingto recognize these moment now and treasure them.

"Someday" and "one of these days" are being lost from my vocabulary.If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now. I' m not sure whatmy sister would have done if she had known she wouldn't have tomorrow .

I think she would have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend her fences for past things. I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food.

If I knew that my hours were limited ,those little things left undone would make meangry. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get in touchwith someday.Angry and sorry because I didn't tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them.

I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter to our lives. And every morning when  I open my eyes, I tell myself that everyday, every minute, every breath truly, is... a gift from God.

56．The best title for the passage would be______.

       A．Everyday is A Gift                    B．My Poor Sister

       C．Value Friendship Every Day           D．Everyday is An Important Occasion

57．Jan bought the wonderful skirt but didn't wear it because______.

       A．she wanted to wear it on special occassions

       B．she kept it as a special gift for someone else

       C．she saved it untill she grew older

       D．she waned to keep it as a sweet memory

58．Which of the following is not the wirter’s attitude to life?

       A．spending more time staying with family

       B．a(chǎn)ttending social activities as often as possible

       C．enjoying life and valuing every day

       D．trying to get along well with friends

59．Which of the following can best explain the expression underlined “mend her fences for past things” in Paragraph 5?

       A．try to be friendly again with someone

       B．break her word

       C．give up her point of view

       D．keep her promise

60．The passage is intended chiefly to ______.

       A．warn people to treasure every day and find the meaning of life

       B．encourage people to be hard on themselves for a bright  life

       C．tell people how to get rid of being angry and sorry in life

       D．persuade people to care for themselves more than others

When I come across a good article in reading newspapers. I often want to cut and keep it. But just as I am about to do so I find the article on the ___1___ side is as much interesting. It may be a discussion of the way to ___2___ in good health, or a ___3___ about how to behave and conduct oneself in society. If I cut the front article, the opposite one is likely to ___4___ damage, leaving out half of it or keeping the text ___5___ the title. Therefore, the scissors would ___6___ before they start, ___7___ halfway done when I find out the ___8___ result.

Sometimes two things are to be done at the same time, both worth you ___9___. You can only take up one of them, the other has to wait or be ___10___ up. But you know the future is unpredictable(不可預(yù)料) — the changed situation may not allow you to do what is left ___11___. Thus you are ___12___ in a difficult position and feel sad. How ___13___ that nice chances and brilliant ideas should gather around all at once? It may happen that your life ___14___ greatly on you preference of one choice to the other.

In fact that is what ___15___ is like, we are often ___16___ with the two opposite sides of a thing which are both desirable like a newspaper cutting. It often occurs that our attention is drawn to one thing only ___17___ we get into another. The ___18___ may be more important than the latter and give rise to a divided mind. I ___19___ remember a philosopher’s remarks, “When one door shuts, another opens in life.” So a casual(不經(jīng)意) ___20___ may not be a bad one.

1. A. front               B. same       C. either          D. opposite

2. A. get               B. keep        C. lead         D. bring

3. A. advice             B. news       C. theory        D. report

4. A. suffer              B. reduce       C. prevent       D. cause

5. A. on                B. for          C. without       D. off

6. A. use               B. handle        C. prepare       D. stay

7. A. or                B. but          C. so           D. for

8. A. satisfying            B. regretful     C. surprising      D. impossible

9. A. courage           B. strength      C. attention     D. patience

10. A. given             B. held         C. made           D. picked

11. A. near               B. alone      C. about               D. behind

12. A. filled              B. attracted   C. caught           D. struck

13. A. dares             B. comes      C. deals          D. does

14. A. improves           B. changes    C. progresses            D. goes

15. A. study             B. society     C. nature           D. life

16. A. faced             B. supplied      C. connected        D. fixed

17. A. before            B. after        C. until             D. as

18. A. following          B. next        C. above           D. former

19. A. still                B. also         C. once            D. almost

20. A. treatment          B. action         C. choice          D. remark

A store owner was putting a sign above his door that read “Puppies For Sale”. Signs like that have a way of   1   small children, and   2   enough, a little boy appeared under the store owner’s sign. “  3   are you going to sell the puppies for?” he asked.

The store owner replied, “Anywhere from $30    4   $ 50.”

The little boy   5   in his pocket and pulled out some   6  . “I have $ 2.37,” he said. “  7   I please look at them?”

The store owner   8   and whistled and out of the kennel (狗窩) came a lady, who ran down the aisle (過道) of his store   9   by five puppies. One puppy was   10  . Immediately the little boy singled out the puppy and said, “What’s   11   with that little dog?”

The store owner explained that the veterinarian (獸醫(yī)) had   12   the little puppy and had discovered that it didn’t have a hip socket. It would always walk slowly and with difficulty. It would always be lame. The little boy became   13   “That’s the little puppy that I want to buy.”

The store owner said, “No, you don’t want to buy that little dog. If you really want him, I’ll just give him to you.”

The little boy got quite upset. He looked   14   into the store owner’s eyes, pointing his finger and said, “I don’t want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I’ll pay   15   price. In fact I’ll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month    16   I have him paid for.”

The store owner answered, “You really don’t want to buy this little dog. He is   17   going to be able to jump and play with you like the other puppies.”

To his surprise, the little boy reached   18   and rolled up his pant leg to show a badly twisted, crippled (殘疾的) left leg   19   by a big metal brace (支架). He looked up at the store owner and softly replied, “Well, I don’t run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who   20  !”

1. A. absorbing       B. attracting         C. bargaining      D. greeting

2. A. sure               B. luckily          C. surprisingly      D. interestingly

3. A. What          B. How come        C. When          D. How much

4. A. on           B. at               C. to             D. between

5. A. put          B. arrived         C. reached         D. filled

6. A. coin           B. note             C. value          D. change

7. A. Can         B. Shall            C. Will            D. Must

8. A. performed      B. smiled          C. disagreed       D. announced

9. A. applied        B. guided         C. followed         D. linked

10. A. falling behind       B. setting foot C. lending a hand  D. putting forward

11. A. the price       B. the matter      C. the weight             D. the name

12. A. tested        B. studied           C. examined         D. experimented

13. A. excited       B. shocked          C. worried       D. disappointed

14. A. straight      B. deeply            C. closely              D. totally

15. A. half           B. lower           C. higher           D. full

16. A. unless        B. after            C. until            D. once

17. A. always      B. often             C. no            D. never

18. A. up         B. down           C. out             D. over

19. A. supported     B. assisted            C. adjusted      D. surrounded

20. A. encourages   B. cooperates       C. understands     D. recognizes

I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was 21 and when I was 14 he said, “You’re never going to be 22 but a failure.”

After five years of 23 jobs, I fell in love with a very nice middle-class girl. It was the best24 that could have happened to me. I 25  I wanted to do something positive (積極的) with my life because I wanted to prove to26 that what people said about me was 27. Especially her mother, who had said to me, “Let’s28 it, you’ve failed at everything you’ve ever done.” So I tried hard with my29 and went to college. My first novel (小說)30 while I was at college.

After college I taught during the31 in high schools and attended evening classes at London University, where I got a 32 in history. I became a lecturer at a college and was thinking of33 that job to write full time 34 I was offered a part-time job at Leeds University. I began to feel proud of myself — 35 was a working-class boy who’d 36 school early, now teaching at the university.

My writing career (職業(yè)) took off when I discovered my own style. Now I’m rich and 37 , have been on TV, and met lots of film stars. 38 what does it mean? I39 wish all the people that have put me down had 40 : “I believe in you. You’ll succeeD．”

21．A．bright              B．useless         C．simple         D．hopeful

22．A．a(chǎn)nything            B．something      C．everything     D．nothing

23．A．low                B．poor           C．good          D．useful

24．A．support             B．happiness       C．surprise        D．thing

25．A．a(chǎn)dmitted            B．decided         C．planned        D．told

26．A．me                 B．them          C．her           D．it

27．A．wrong              B．right          C．stupid         D．faulty

28．A．see                 B．know          C．understand     D．face

29．A．experiment          B．practice        C．writing        D．composition

30．A．came on             B．came in        C．came out     D．came back

31．A．day         B．night        C．month       D．year

32．A．graduation           B．pass           C．degree       D．success

33．A．giving in     B．giving back   C．giving out    D．giving up

34．A．while               B．if           C．when          D．or

35．A．there        B．here         C．it           D．that

36．A．left           B．a(chǎn)ttended             C．changed             D．graduated

37．A．tired          B．calm                C．nervous      D．famous

38．A．And          B．But                 C．However     D．Well

39．A．just         B．exactly              C．so            D．very

40．A．praised    B．said C．a(chǎn)nswered D．a(chǎn)dvised

He said he had seen that film ___.

A. yesterday   B. the next day    C. the following day   D.the day before

Do make sure that you ___ a seat today!

A. got   B. get    C. should get   D. have got

— People says your little brother has been admitted into Qinghua University.

    — Yes. Never ________ he could achieve so much success.

       A．I had thought          B．I would have thought     

       C．could I have thought       D．will I have thought