The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone．Enter the Red Hat Society －a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun．

“My grandmothers didn’t do anything but keep house and serve everybody．They were programmed to do that,” said Emily Cornett, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society．

While men have long spent their time fishing and playing golf, women have sometimes seemed to become unnoticed as they age．But the generation now turning 50 is the baby boomers(生育高峰期出生的人), and the same people who refused their parents’ way of being young are now trying a new way of growing old．

If you take into consideration feminism(女權(quán)主義), a bit of spare money, and better health for most elderly, the Red Hat Society looks almost inevitable(必然的)．In this society, women over 50 wear red hats and purple(紫色的) clothes, while the women under 50 wear pink hats and light purple clothing．

“The organization took the idea from a poem by Jenny Joseph that begins: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple．With a red hat which doesn’t go,” said Ellen Cooper, who founded the Red Hat Society in 1998．When the ladies started to wear the red hats, they attracted lots of attention．

“The point of this is that we need a rest from always doing something for someone else,” Cooper saiD．“Women feel so ashamed and sorry when they do something for themselves．” This is why chapters are discouraged from raising money or doing anything useful．“We’re a ladies’ play group．It couldn’t be more simple,” added Cooper’s assistant Joe Heywood．

The underlined word “chapter” in paragraph 2 means __________．

       A．one branch of an organization B．a(chǎn) written agreement of a club

       C．one part of a collection of poems   D．a(chǎn) period in a society’s history

From the text , we know that the “baby boomers” are a group of people who       ．

       A．have gradually become more noticeable      

       B．a(chǎn)re worried about getting old too quickly 

       C．a(chǎn)re enjoying a good life with plenty of money to spend

       D．tried living a different life from their parents when they were young

It could be inferred from the text that members of the Red Hat Society are         ．

       A．interested in raising money for social work  

       B．programmers who can plan well for their future

       C．believers in equality between men and women

       D．good at cooking big meals and taking care of others

Who set up the Red Hat Society ?

       A．Emily Cornett．     B．Ellen Cooper．       C．Jenny Joseph．       D．Joe Heywood．

A friend and I were standing in line at the grocery store the other day, and I was telling her how lazy my children were．I had come in from work that morning, and like most times, my house was wrecked.

  “I believe children nowadays are just out for what they can get．They can never help keep our house clean.” I said, feeling unhappy.

“Do you know how happy you are?” a woman behind us asked．“I would love to go home and find my house a mess．I wouldn’t mind my floor being dirty．Nor would I mind the dirty clothes being piled high．I wouldn’t even mind anyone talking about my dirty home．I would love it．I would love to kick my way through the house just to get to my kids and be able to hug them, kiss them and tell them how much I love them．You see, my two children were killed in an accident． My house stays clean; my clothes stay put up; the dishes are done.”

“There are no fingerprints on my walls．There are no sounds of arguing, either．So you see, you are very lucky．I would give anything to be going through what you are now! How I’d love to be able to hold my kids, wipe away their tears and share their dreams! I wouldn’t care how my house looked．I would be happy just to have them.”

Now if you come into my house and see a big mess, you can think bad thoughts if you want, but I feel greatly blessed.(268 words)

The writer was complaining about her children to her friend because they ____.

       A．would go out without permission   B．couldn’t keep the house clean

       C．made her look dirty and bad   D．were too lazy to hug or kiss her

My house was wrecked in the first paragraph means my house _____.

       A．was very dirty                     B．was broken into

       C．needed to be painted       D．looked beautiful

What is the main idea of the passage?

       A．Children shouldn’t be left home alone.

       B．A mother lost her children in an accident.

       C．People should be thankful for what life gives.

       D．A mother complained about the mess at her house.

In a world where comparisons happen non-stop, it is difficult to look outside yourself and to ever be content with who you are. There's always someone who's a bit better. The only solution is to reach inside and measure against what Warren Buffett calls your own inner yardstick. There is no more accurate measure for comparison than who you were yesterday, last week or last decade, when you were at your best.

Nothing useful ever comes from comparison to others. Either you see yourself as better than someone and you get lazy, or you see someone else as better than you and you feel like all your hard work is for nothing. It is a fool's game. None of us are inherently above or below the person next to us. We are who we are. Not one of us is exactly alike. The only direct and honest comparison is within yourself. Everything else is apples to oranges.

My opinion is that you are only allowed to compare yourself to someone else if their life situation is the same as your own. Good luck finding that match. And one thing is for sure. No matter how hard you work and how dedicated you are, there will always be someone who can run a little faster, jump a little higher, score a little better or look a little nicer in a swimsuit. And if there's not, you can bet someone is coming up fast behind you. So how can you always win in life? Become your best competitor.

The following are the reasons why you are your own best competitor.

1. You will always be motivated.

Having an image of your most recent past limits is the perfect thing to push you to the next level. If you ran 7 flights of stairs yesterday, then do 8 today. Who cares if the guy next to you did 15? It doesn't make a bit of difference. You are a more fit person today than you were yesterday. Your own progress is all you need.

2. You will continuously be your personal best.

If you commit to a slightly higher standard of yourself every day, you will always be at the top of your game. And that game will only get better. But if for some reason you fall off your mark, you will always have the past image of your best performance to show you what you're capable of. Once you've done it, you know what's possible and then it's just a matter of doing it again.

Through the passage the writer advises the readers to ________.

A. avoid comparison with others                 B. work much harder

C. pay attention to others’ progress                  D. make full use of motivation

If you want to be content with yourself, according to the author, you should ________.

A. see yourself better than others                B. measure accurately  

C. compare with yourself                           D. be honest with yourself

Which of the following is certain to happen according to the author?

A. Finding someone else who is in the same life situation as you are.

B. Finding someone who runs faster and jumps higher than you.

C. Finding someone who is hiding right behind you.

D. Finding someone who almost always wins in their life.

What can help you up to higher level in your life according to the passage?

A. Comparing yourself with the guy next to you.

B. Thinking about your own progress.

C. Promising to play a game every day.

D. Thinking of your most recent past limits.

Dieters are often advised to stop drinking alcohol to avoid the extra calories lurking in a glass of wine or a favorite cocktail．But new research suggests that women who regularly consume moderate（適度的） amounts of alcohol are less likely to gain weight than nondrinkers and are at lower risk for obesity （fatness）．

       The findings, reported this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, are based on a study of 19,220 United States women aged 30 to 40 who fall into the “normal weight” based on their body mass index．Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston tracked the women’s drinking habits over 13 years．About 60 percent of the women were light or regular drinkers, while about 40 percent reported drinking no alcohol．

       Over the course of the study, 41 percent of the women became overweight．Although alcohol is packed with calories, the nondrinkers in the study actually gained more weight over time: nine pounds, on average, compared with an average gain of about three pounds among regular moderate drinkers．The risk of becoming overweight was almost 30 percent lower for women who consumed one or two alcohol drinks a day, compared with nondrinkers．

       The findings are certain to be confusing for women who continue to receive conflicting messages about the health benefits and risks of alcohol．Although moderate drinking is associated with better heart health, regular drinking also increases breast cancer risk．

       The trend toward less weight gain among drinkers doesn’t appear to hold true for men．A 2003 study of British men showed that regular drinkers gained more weight than nondrinkers．Studies suggest that drinking alcohol has different effects on eating habits among men and women．Men typically add alcohol to their daily caloric intake, whereas women are more likely to substitute（替代）alcohol for food．In addition, there may be differences in how men and women metabolize（代謝）alcohol．Metabolic studies show that after men drink alcohol, they experience little if any metabolic change．But alcohol appears to slightly speed up a woman’s metabolism．

       The findings don’t mean women should rush to drink alcohol to lose weight．Other research shows that once a person is already overweight, her alcohol metabolism is more efficient, and so an overweight woman may gain more weight from alcohol than a lean（瘦的） woman．The data do, however, suggest that for many women facing weight problems, the extra calories are probably not coming from alcoholic drinks．

According to the study, which of the following regular drinker is less likely to gain weight than nondrinkers?

       A                 B                 C                  D

That men regular drinkers gained more weight than women regular drinkers is due to the following except ______．

       A．women are more likely to substitute alcohol for food．

       B．men drink alcohol much faster than women．

       C．men and women metabolize alcohol differently．

       D．men have different effects on eating habits with women．

The underlined word “whereas” may probably mean _______．

       A．so     B．in order that         C．but             D．a(chǎn)nd then

What can a dieter probably do before reading this passage?

       A．Rush to drink alcohol to lose weight

       B．Add alcohol to his or her daily caloric intake．

       C．Face the weight problems alone．

       D．Try to stop drinking any alcohol or wine．

------Mum，can I go out to play with Tom for just a while ？

       ------ _______ and do what you like．

       A．No way        B．Go ahead       C．It depends      D．Don’t worry

Susan was just  _____ at those pigeons at the time, so I don’t think she saw me．

       A．spotting        B．watching       C．glaring        D．staring

Now that we’ve discussed our problem, are people happy with the decisions______?

       A. taking B. take    C. taken  D. to take

The plan _________ just because people were unwilling to cooperate (合作).

A. broke down     B. pulled down     C. turned down           D. put down

Hua Jianhui was appointed       vice-governor of Anhui province in     place of the former, Wen Haiying.

A. /; /           B. the; /            C. /; the               D. a; the

We use the Internet for many things: business, shopping, writing letters, talking to people, finding information and so on. In recent years, a new kind of English has grown on the Internet. There’s no real word for it yet, so we’ll call it e-talk. People don’t like typing too much. To save time, they turn phrases into a few letters (called acronyms). Acronyms are often used in chat rooms(聊天室). Some of them are:

BTW(by the way);  BRB(be right back);  LOL(laughing out loud);  IMO(in my opinion)

People also use many abbreviations. They are shortened forms of words. Some common abbreviations are:

info(information);   puter(computer);    pic(picture);     sec(second)

We ususally don’t see people when we communicate on the Internet, so people have new ways to show feelings. Most people use their keyboards to draw “feelings”, such as:

:-) (happy);     ;-)(joking);        :-((sad);       :-O(surprised)

These days, many forums(論壇)have picture feelings. For example:

(happy)              (sad)               (angry)               (cool)

There are even whole new words, like ”newbie’s” (someone who is new on a chat board or forum). When you write something bad about someone else, it’s called “flaming” the person.

It takes time for people to get used to e-talk. Also, different groups on the Net have their own special ways of communicating. Newbie’s sometimes have to ask other people what they mean. As the Internet grows, e-talk will continue to grow and change.

Why do people type acronyms?

A. To show their feelings.      B. To make jokes.

C. To save time.                D. In this way newbie’s won’t understand them.

What does “BTW, my computer is not working well, :-( ”mean?

A．The person is happy about getting a new computer.

B. The person has to go away from his/her computer.

C. The person is angry at somebody.

D. The person is sad that his computer is having problems.

If someone is angry, what may he type?

A.      B. BRB          C. LOL        D.

E-talk will probably_______.

A. keep changing                       B. stay the same

C. be used by people on the telephone       D. be easy for newbie’s to understand.