I love charity(慈善) shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.

The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations(捐贈(zèng)物). They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.

Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.

The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡110 million a year, funding（資助）medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment.

40. The author loves the charity shop mainly because of _______.

   A. its convenient location

   B. its great variety of goods

   C. its spirit of goodwill

   D. its nice shopping environment

41. The first charity shop in the UK was set up to ____.

   A. sell cheap products

   B. deal with unwanted things

   C. raise money for patients

   D. help a foreign country

42. Which of the following is TRUE about charity shops?

   A. The operating costs are very low.

   B. The staff are usually well paid.

   C. 90% of the donations are second-hand.

   D. They are open twenty-four hours a day.

43. Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?

   A. What to Buy a Charity Shops.

   B. Charity Shop: Its Origin & Development.

   C. Charity Shop: Where You Buy to Donate.

   D. The Public’s Concern about Charity Shops.

Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had “seven fathers,” because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated(躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.

In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because her thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university’s Writers’ Workshop, however, she felt lonely----a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her “Creative voice.”

“It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That’s when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn’t write about.”

Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book tells about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children’s book, and a short-story collection.

36. Which of the following is TRUE about Cisneros in her childhood?

A. She had seven brothers.

   B. She felt herself a nobody.

C. She was too shy to go to school.

D. She did not have any good teachers.

37. The graduate program gave Cisneros a chance to _____.

   A. work for a school magazine

   B. run away from her family

   C. make a lot of friends

   D. develop her writing style

38. According to Cisneros, what played the decisive role in her success?

   A. Her early years in college.

   B. Her training in the Workshop.

   C. Her feeling of being different.

   D. Her childhood experience.

39. What do we learn about The House on Mango Street?

   A. It is quite popular among students.

   B. It is the only book ever written by Cisneros.

   C. It wasn’t success as it was written in Spanish.

   D. It won an award when Cisneros was twenty-nine.

Jenna, a popular girl from Westwood Middle School, had graduated first in her class and was ready for new  16  in high school.

17, high school was different. In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts(選拔賽)for cheerleaders(拉拉隊(duì)隊(duì)員). She was competing against very talented girls, and she knew it would be 18 for her to be selected. Two hours later, the  19  read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart  20  as the list ended without her name. Feeling  21 , she walked home carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

Arriving home, she started with math. She had always been a good math student, but now she was  22 . She moved on to English and history, and was  23  to find that she didn’t have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to  24 math for the time being.

The nest day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school  25 . Mrs. Biden wasn’t as  26  as Jenna. “I’m sorry, but we have enough  27  for the newspaper already. Come back next year and we’ll talk then.” Jenna smiled  28  and left. “Why is high school so  29 ?” she sighed.

Later in  30  class, Jenna devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much  31 . By the end of class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she’d continue to try to  32  at her new school. She wasn’t sure if she’d succeed, but she knew she had to  33 . High school was just as her mom had said: “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond  34  a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the  35  fish you can be.”

At the railway station, the mother waved goodbye to her daughter until the train was _______.

   A. out of sight      B. out of reach      C. out of order    D. out of place

Every person leaves a footprint. That’s what I learnt when I started to work as a private investigator 10 years ago．People pay restaurant bills with their bank card，check into hotels or travel around. In every case，they leave a trace．And because of this，I’m able to track them down even when they don’t want to be found．

The first thing I do when I want to find out where someone is staying is to go to the neighbourhood where he used to live．It’s human nature to tell stories―which is why neighbours will tell me all they know when I ring at their houses．Sometimes，someone even talks about his friend’s dishonesty．Then I produce a pattern of my subject’s life：if he likes to have a holiday in Spain or in Italy，if he prefers two- or three- star hotels and where he might hide his assets(資產(chǎn))．When I’ve got this life pattern，I start my rescarch．

Nine times out of l0，I find the people I’m looking for．I once investigated a lorry supplier who owed ￡500,000 to a subcontractor(分包商)．The subcontractor wanted to find out if it was worth bringing charges against the supplier．I found out the supplier had moved assets to his son，who founded a new company offering the same product．It was a11 done within the law．There was no money to be got from that operation．

However, I asked the son if I could speak to his father and he told me that his parent was on a long holiday in Spain and wouldn’t be back for a while．It didn’t take me long to find out that the father wasn’t in Spain．

I went back to the son and this time he told me that his father might be in Bulgaria,and I found him doing winter sports in a beautiful mountain area．He was 1iving in a big house on a 1arge piece of land he had bought for є 400，000．This was exactly the kind of asset my customer was loooking for．

52．We learn from the text that a private investigator is one who_______.

    A．follows people reports on what they do

    B．helps people start businesses

    C．gives advice to people about the law

    D．settles arguments between companies

53．Why does the author visit the place where his subject used to stay？

    A．To find out hi hidden assets．

    B．To gather information about him．

    C．To discover why he is dishonest．

    D．To find out where he spends his holiday．

54．The lorry supplier moved his assets to his son in oder to______．

    A．pass on his debt to his son

    B．double the business of his company

    C．le this son take over his lorry business

    D．prevent paying back the money he owed

55．We may infer from the text that the subcontractor might______.

    A．bring charges against the lorry supplier’s son

    B．give up hope of settling the debt

    C．sell the big house in Bulgaria

    D．get his money back

  Spending beyond one’s means is becoming a national problem for Americans．Borrowing has become so easy that it takes great willpower for people to refuse it．“I received a number of gold MasterCard and gold Visa card offers in the mail during the past two months，”said one computer engineer at AT ＆T Bell Laboratories in Chicago．“I got three of them in one day last week．”

 Lenders are providing easy credit（信貸）for borrowers．Many banks now offer every borrower a great variety of credit，a service once offered almost only to big companies．Norwest Bank Minneapolis offers lending programs for cars and boats that can cut monthly payments nearly m half .Carmakers，too，are lengthening easier terms．Ford Motor Credit states that 45 % of its recent lendings has been for sixty months，rather than the sixty-six-month period that was usual before．

 The total consumer debt（債務(wù)）in the United States rose 73 percent between 1974 and 1984，as the debt for each man，woman，and child increased from $10，264 to $26，566．Huge debt now is present in our economy（經(jīng)濟(jì)）at all levels．As a nation，we are more than $7 trillion in debt，and the total keeps increasing astonishingly.

 As we have over borrowed，so have we overspent．In late 986，the share of after-tax income that Americans saved sank below 2 percent for a short time，less than half the figure at which we saved only 10 years ago．Americans now are buying from foreigners between about $50 and $100 billion more Mercedes and Toyotas, Paris fashions，and tours to Europe than the Boeing 747s， agriculture machinery , or Kansas wheat that the foreigners bought from America. The country could not produce and pay for all the things it wanted.

 To make a long story short, we Americans have serious problems in keeping down spending and keeping up personal savings．It is high time for us American people to learn the basics of long-term money management.

48．According to the author,  what is a main reason for Americans to overspend？

A.        Americans buy a lot of  foreign products．

B.        It is easy for Americans to manage their debts．

C.        Borrowing money has become a simple matter．

D.       Americans have more extra money than before．

49．Ford Motor Credit lengthens 45％of its lending to 60 months in order to_______．

A.        help more Americans to settle their debts

B.        encourage people to buy foreign cars

C.        make better use of its money

D.       attract more customers

   50．What does the author suggest as a way to deal with over borrowing?

A.        Teaching people how to manage money．

B.        Advising people on what to buy．

C.        Limiting the use of credit cards．

D.       Reducing average incomes．

   51．Which of the following points does the author wish to make?

A.        America should sell more of its products abroad．

B.        A healthy society has to learn to 1ive within its means．

C.        People’s income determines their money management．

D.       Government should prevent people from over borrowing．

 My bookshelves are full of dust―and with good reason．When iIt comes to cleaning that part of my home，I suffer from the most serious case of avoidance（回避反應(yīng)癥）．

 The thing is this：when I do set out to clean and re-organize my books，which seldom happens，I place myself into a really bad situation．No sooner do I take a title from the shelf, blow off the dust，and wipe down the cover thanI find myself sitting on the floor with legs crossed and my back against the wall．Pretty soon books get piled up on my legs as I am reunited with old friends．

  It is as if these boobs have voices，and each  wants to say its piece．“Remember me？I was given to you when you went into the Navy , so that you would never lack for companionshlp，”one whispers．Another says，“I  was your first book of poems，given to you before you learned  to love poetry.”And a third，“I was the book that made history so attrctive to you．”

  Perhaps thegreatest pleasuret of  re-organizing my books are the surprise―or better said，reunions―that occur. During my latest book cleaning adventure，I found one that had fallen behind the shelf:“Tales of Edgar Allan Poe．”Not an unusual title，but the words written on the first page made it very special“With Love from Mom and Dad，Christma 1965．” What’s this? A book on the physics of lasers（激光）．It is filled with mathematical statements，and I had bought it at a library sale when I was 12，not long after the laser had been invented．I couldn’t  understand a bit of it，bul  I did  learn what “l(fā)aser”meant．

  What I end up with when I empty my bookshelves is a cross-section（橫剖面）of my personal history. It’s like a road cut whre one sees all the layers of rock going back through time to the beginning of the simplest life forms．The books I’ve read―and kept―are not just old fiends．They’ re my resume．

44．What could be said about the author?

    A．He is too busy to tidy up his bookshelves．

    B．He considers his books treasured possessions．

    C．He has made a lot of notes in his book．

    D．He is a lover of sclence books．

45．By saying that his book have voices，the author means_________.

    A．they bring back happy memories

    B．they are recorded in human voice

    C．they say a lot about human history

    D．they offer good topic for discussion

46．What does the author enjoy most from re-orgazining his books？

    A．Finding some missing books．

    B．Putting books in good order．

    C．Learning something new from the books，

    D．Rediscovering interesting stories behind some books．

47．The underlined word     “resume”in the last paragraph probably means_______．

    A. personal history

    B. precious notes

    C. good companion

    D. simple life forms

                                                        New Zealand

40．Which of the following is a fact about New Zealand?

A.        20％of the population being Maoris．

B.        Four million white people．

C.        About 1600 km south of the Equator．

D.       Nearly 1/3 of the country being plants．

41．The country’s population ss mainly made up of_______．

A.        the white people and the Polyesians

B.        the white people and the “pakeha”

C.        the Maoris and the white people

D.       the Maoris and the Polynesians

42．When did the white people begin to live in New Zealand？

A.        1000 years ago，

B.        200 years ago．

C.        85 years ago．

D.       50 years ago．

43．What do the Maoris value most in life？

A.        Living in small villages．

B.        Developing farming skills．

C.        Keeping their own culture．

D.       Taking up government jobs．

Monarch Butterflies

 One of the last West Coast homes of the Monarch butterfly，a type of insect（昆蟲(chóng)），may soon disappear．Strangely，it is in a town that calls itself Butterfly U．S．A，Pacific Grove, California．

 The  town  of Pacific Grove loves the butterflies．Every year they have a parade（游行）and hundreds of children dress up as butterflies．Monarch butterflies are the town mascot．Tourism is very important，and many people come to see the butterflies．The butterflies are good for the development of the town．

 In 1981 there were so many butterflies it looked like it was raining butterflies．Tens of thousands of Monarchs stayed on tree branches near Pacific Grove．Now there are not so many．

The building goes on a little bit at a time，and you don’t notice it day by day．Over time，you can see that there has been a lot of development．As new buildings go up，many trees are cut down．

This reduces the natural homes for the butterflies．

Monarchs travel hundreds of miles each year，returning to the same woods，often to the same trees．The female Monarchs need milkweed to lay their eggs；the males will follow the females．

Millions of Monarchs have traveled regularly along the same path for thousands of years．They start their trip in the mountains of Mexico and travel to the middle part of America．If the woods where the butterflies live are destroyed，the whole species（物種）could be lost．There have been Monarch butterflies along the coast of California for as long as man can remember，but no one is sure how much longer they will last．

36．Why are Monarch butterflies important to Pacific Grove？

A.        They may disappear．            

B.        They come to stay every year．

C.        They help develop the town’s tourism．

D.       They give a name to Pacific Grove．

37．The underlined word  “mascot”in Paragraph 2 probably refers to_________.

A.        a new type of butterfly          

B.        an insect believed to bring good luck

C.        a parade organized by Pacific Grove 

D.       a special dress for children in Pacific Grove

38．What problem do Monarch butterflies face now？

A.        New buildings take up their living space．

B.        There has been too much rain m recent years．

C.        Their natural homes are destroyed by tourism．

D.       They have tot travel a long distance to get home．

39．Where do Monarch butterflies start their trip to Pacific Grove？

A.        From Central America．

B.        From the West Coast．

C.        From California．      

D.       From Mexico．

 As Christmas drew near , Ursula was faced with just that problem．She had come to live in an American home and learn English． 16    she would mind the children and   17  anything she was asked．

 One of her task was to keep track of  18  Christmas presents．Ursula did this faithfully, but she became increasingly  19   ．What could she buy for her   20   with the little money she had that would compare with the gifts she was recording daily？  21   ，even without any of the   22   ，her employer seems to have everything．

 Ursula   23    long and hard．On Chritmas Eve，she went to a   24  ．She moved slowly through crowds of shoppers，  25   things in her mind．Finally she bought a baby dress．She immediately called   26  ．“Excuse me，please，can you help me find a poor family with a baby？” “A poor family？”  said the   27  driver.“Yes，a very poor family.” Ursula told the man of what she was trying to do．He   28   in silence，and then said，“I know a family who  29   just about everything．”

 When they reached a   30   ，the driver said，“They live on the third floor．” Ursula shook her head，“Would you take this dress to them and tell them it’s from someone … someone who has everything．”

  Early the next day Ursula   31    everyone for the presents she received．Then，she began to   32    why there seemed to be none   33   her． She told about what she did the night   before．When she finished，there was a long   34   ．“You see，” she added，“I try to do a kindness in your   35   ．And this is my Christmas present to you．”