Mr and Mrs King have two children , Jim and Liz. The whole family are all busy, so they often leave notes to each other, Read these four notes of today and know something about them.

Note 1

3.30 p.m.

To dad and mum,

Mr Brown rang. No football practice today. I’m going to Tom’s house to plan our project and be back at 5.00 p.m.

Liz

Note 2

4.00 p.m

To Liz,

It’s your turn to walk the dog. I have to do my homework after school. Remember to play with Teddy when you get home.

Jim

Note 3

6.45 p.m.

Has anyone seen my tennis shoes ? I’m in my bedroom doing my homework, and I need to wear them tomorrow.

Jim

Note 4

10.00 p.m.

I saw your tennis shoes this morning . They smelt terrible so I put them outside the back door. Good night, dears.

Mum

67. Liz will be back home at ______.

A. 3.30.p.m.    B. 4.00 p.m.    C. 5.00 p.m.    D. 10.00 p. m.

68. ______ should walk the dog today.

A. Liz       B. Mrs king      C. Jim      D. Mr Brown 

69. Jim was ______ at 6.50 p.m.

A. practicing football   B. going to Tom’s house    C. playing tennis     D. doing his homework

70. Jim can find his tennis shoes _______.

A. in his bedroom    B. outside the back door     C. in the living room         D. at Tom’s house             

       England has a longstanding problem with youngsters dropping out of training.

Almost half of 17-year-olds in some parts of England have dropped out of fulltime education or training．

The statistics（統(tǒng)計）show 49% in Thurrock and 44％ in Salford have dropped out of school or job training．

    Across England，31％of 17-year-olds are not in education or training．

    The figures also reveal（揭示）deep regional（地域性的）divides，with wealthier areas such as Richmon and Harrow recording18％ of 17-year-olds out of official education．

    The statistics confirm England’s poor international standing for staying-on rates in education．

    The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development considers England’s drop-out rates as among the worst among the industrialised countries．

    Regionally，the statistics show Yorkshire and the Humber have the highest rate of 17-year-olds not in full-time education or work-based training at 35％．

    Outer London has the highest staying-on rate，with l3％of 17-year-olds having dropped out of official learning．

    In the east of England this figure stands at 31％and at 29％in the South West．

    Edward Davey，Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary，said the government “should be ashamed”that so many youngsters were dropping out of school．

    A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said the government had carried out a series of reforms，with a￡2.5 billion rise in funding（投資）for further education．

63.This text mainly talks about________

A. why so many 17-year-olds have dropped out of education

B. the troubles facing 17-year—olds across whole England

C. how the government helps 17-year-olds to go back to school

D. the problem with 17-year-olds dropping out of school in England

64. Which part of England has the lowest rate of 17-year-olds dropping out of education?

A. Thurrock and Salford．        B. Outer London．

C. Yorkshire and the Humber．    D. Richmon and Harrow．

65. The statistics mentioned in the text show that_______．

A. industrialised countries have more problems with youngsters dropping out of school

B. England has a higher rate of youngsters not in education among the industrialised countries

C. in England different regions have the same rate of 17-year-olds dropping out of school

D. more than half of 17-year-olds in England are not in full--time education or training time education

66. What Edward Davey said suggests that the government ________．

A. has done little to solve the problem with youngsters dropping out of school

B. pays no attention to the problem with youngsters dropping out of school

C. is doing its best to deal with 17-years-olds’ problems across England

D. will encourage youngsters to stay on in or return to further education

 (Four students are talking about the future after class.)

Deng Yu: In 2050 , China will be richer than it is now. Beijing will be getting ready for the 40th Olympic Games in 2052. We will see the blue and clear sky and smell the fresh air . There will be more pandas living happily in China.

Liu Yuan : A holiday to the moon will no longer be a dream. We can also travel far to other planets and talk with spacemen . We might also eat something like pills instead of today’s meals . Everyone will enjoy a longer life.

Sun Wei : Robots will be very popular . They will do what people don’t want to do . We’ll build new homes on other planets. By then , I’ll be sixty years  old.

Zhang Lan: By the year of 2050,cloning will have been used in many ways .It will bring back animals which disappeared many years ago. There will be no pollution. The whole world will be one big family. There will be no wars. As time passed, we’ll live a much easier and better life.

60. Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

A. China will be richer than it is now

B . Shanghai will be getting ready for the 40th Olympic Games.

C. We will see the blue and clear sky and smell the fresh air.

D. More pandas will live happily in China. 

61. ______ thinks that people can spend their holidays on the moon in the future.

A. Deng Yu    B. Zhang Lan     C. Sun Wei    D. Liu Yuan

62. Zhang Lan thinks ______in the future.

A. people will live in a world without wars

B. robots will do everything for people

C. people can talk with spacemen

D. 2050 will be the year of China

    When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble – a word game – against herself, I knew I had to do something. My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against. I wasn’t sure my mother was ready for it. After all, it had taken 10 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker. Even so, we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents’ home. And so began my mother’s adventure in the world of computers.

    It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me. I’ve taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything. She has been the one teaching me all my life: to cook and sew; to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad. Now it was my turn to give something back.

    It wasn’t easy at the beginning. There was so much to explain and to introduce. Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook. After a few months of Scrabble and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing(文字處理). This proved to be a bigger challenge to her, so I gave her some homework I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces.

    “Are you this demanding with your kindergarten pupils?” she asked.

    “No, of course not,” I said. “They already know how to use a computer.”

     My mother isn’t the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period. Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy(過敏反應). For as long as I can remember, any time I called, my mother would answer. Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we’ve had in the past 20 years.

56. What does the author do?

A. She is a cook.                  B. She is a teacher.

C. She is a housewife.              D. She is a computer engineer.

57. The author decided to give her mother a computer            .

A. to let her have more chances to write letters

B. to support her in doing her homework

C. to help her through the bad times

D. to make her life more enjoyable

58. The author asked her mother to write her a letter                .

A. because her mother had stopped using the telephone

B. because she wanted to keep in touch with her mother

C. so that her mother could practice what she had learned

D. so that mother could be free from housework

59. After the computer was brought home, the author’s father             .

A. lost interest in cooking           B. took more phone calls

C. played more games              D. began to use it

My father was a hard-working man who delivered bread as a living to support my family. He spent all his evenings after work having classes, hoping to 41 himself so that he could find a better job. Except for Sundays, Father 42 ate a meal together with us.

Whenever the family complained that he wasn’t spending enough time with us, his 43 was that he was doing all this for us.

The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Father passed! Soon he was offered a good job with high pay. Father could now 44 to provide my family with nice clothing and fine food.

However, the family 45 did not see Father for most of the week. He 46 to work very hard, hoping to be promoted (晉升). He took another 47 in the Open University so as to get more chances of being promoted.

Father’s hard work paid off and he was promoted. He decided to hire a servant to do housework. He also 48 that our three-room house was not big enough and it would be wonderful for my family to 49 a comfortable house. Having experienced the 50 of his hard work many times before, Father decided to continue his 51 and work for being promoted again.

As expected, Father’s hard work 52 again and he bought a beautiful villa (別墅). On the first Sunday at our new 53, Father 54 not to take courses or expect any more promotions. He would 55 more time to our family. But Father did not wake up the next day.

41. A. understand    B. change          C. improve           D. control

42. A. actually         B. finally            C. hardly              D. frequently

43. A. fact              B. reason           C. truth                D. words

44. A. succeed        B. prefer            C. remember        D. afford

45. A. recently         B. really             C. rarely               D. still

46. A. continued      B. began            C. stopped            D. refused

47. A. course          B. prize              C. duty                D. position

48. A. heard            B. felt                C. ignored            D. permitted

49. A. design           B. invent            C. enjoy               D. imagine

50. A. pains             B. troubles         C. responsibilities  D. rewards

51. A. vacation        B. studies           C. research           D. project

52. A. took off        B. came true      C. paid off            D. made sense

53. A. work            B. house            C. office              D. school

54. A. tried              B. forgot            C. regretted         D. decided

55. A. spend            B. give               C. live                  D. devote

 Jane won’t join us for dinner tonight and _____.

   A. neither won’t Tom                                 B. Tom won’t either

   C. Tom will too                                                D. so will Tom

 --- It’s nice. Never before ______ such a special drink!

   --- I’m glad you like it.

   A. I have had                  B. have I had           C. I had                 D. had I

---What about the student teacher’s (實習老師) future?

---With a lot of difficult problems _______, she will have a hard time.

A. settled             B. settling         

C. to settle         D. being settled

 ---- Do you think computers will  ______ televisions?---No, I don't think so. 

A. instead            B. instead of       

C. in place of        D. take the place of

 Finding information in today’s world is easy, but the ______ you are likely to face is how you can tell whether the information you get is useful or not.

A. bravery            B. challenge        C. conflict          D. possibility