My father was a worker of a sugar-cane plantation（甘蔗種植園） in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a stick. For $ 1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.  

It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More important, I earned my pay; it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.  

I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $ 18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack （棚屋）with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem（自尊心）, one of the most important things a person can have.  

When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dreamt of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.  

The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club（高爾夫球桿） out of guava limb（番石榴樹枝） and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can（飲料罐） into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity. I learned working in the field ― except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a stick.

71. The writer’s first job was _______.

A. to stand down the fairway at a golf course  

B. to watch over the sugar-cane plantation  

C. to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields  

D. to spot the balls as they landed so the golfers could find them  

72. The word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means _______.  

A. strange              B. boring        C. interesting  D. unusual  

73. The writer learned that_______ from his first job.  

A. he should work for those who he liked most

B. he should work longer than what he was expected  

C. he should never fail to say hello to his owner  

D. he should be respectful and faithful to the people he worked for  

74. _______ gave the writer self-esteem.  

A. Having a family of eight people  

B. Owning his own golf course  

C. Bringing money back home to help the family  

D. Helping his father with the work on the plantation  

75. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?  

A. He wanted to be a successful golfer.  

B. He wanted to buy a golf course near his house.  

C. He was satisfied with the job he got on a plantation.  

D. He wanted to make money by guiding oxen with a stick.  

67. Falling objects are pulled down to the ground by   .  

A. gravity                         B. resistance              C. speed                   D. acceleration（加速度）  

68. Why do people make parachutes（降落傘）?  

A. To look pretty and colourful in the air.            B. To slow down the falling speed.  

C. To push against the air in the sky.                  D. To accelerate the falling movement.  

69. Which did Galileo discover?  

A. A heavy ball falls faster than a light ball.          B. A light ball falls faster than a heavy ball.  

C. A light ball and a heavy ball fall at the same speed

D. A light ball and a heavy ball fall at different speed.

70. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage？

A. Heavy and light objects fall equally when they are different in size.

B. When air resistance equals gravity, objects fall at terminal speed.

C. Without air; all falling objects get faster and faster at the same rate.

D. Slippers（拖鞋） and boots （靴子）fall at the same speed because they have the same shape  

Mail was usually carried west on ships that sailed around the bottom of South America and then north to California. That could take several months.  

So, in eighteen fifty-seven, D.C. Lawmakers in Congress（國會(huì)） in Washington wanted to make it possible to send mail all the way across the United States by land. Congress offered to help any company that would try to deliver mail overland to the West Coast. A man named John Butterfield accepted this offer. He developed plans for a company that would carry the mail―and passengers, too.  

Congress gave John Butterfield six hundred thousand dollars to start his company. In return, he had to promise that the mail would travel from Saint Louis, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, in twenty-five days or less.  

It was not possible to travel straight through because of the Rocky Mountains and the deep snow that fell in winter. So the stagecoach（馬車） would travel south from Saint Louis to El Paso, Texas, then over to southern California, then north to San Francisco. The distance was about four thousand five hundred kilometers.  

Two hundred of these stations were built, each about thirty-two kilometers apart. The workers were to quickly change the horses or mules whenever a stagecoach reached the station. There could be no delay. Each stagecoach was to travel nearly two hundred kilometers a day.  

One hundred stagecoaches were built and painted red or dark green. They were the most modern coaches that money could buy. They were designed to hold as many as nine passengers and twelve thousand pieces of mail. The seats inside could be folded down to make beds. Passengers either slept on them or on the bags of mail.  

The cost would be one hundred fifty dollars to travel from Saint Louis to San Francisco. If a passenger was not going all the way, the cost was about ten cents a kilometer.

Two hundred of these stations were built, each about thirty-two kilometers apart. The workers were

to quickly change the horses or mules whenever a stagecoach reached the station. There could be no delay. Each stagecoach was to travel nearly two hundred kilometers a day.  

One hundred stagecoaches were built and painted red or dark green. They were the most modern coaches that money could buy. They were designed to hold as many as nine passengers and twelve thousand pieces of mail. The seats inside could be folded down to make beds. Passengers either slept on them or on the bags of mail.  

The cost would be one hundred fifty dollars to travel from Saint Louis to San Francisco. If a passenger was not going all the way, the cost was about ten cents a kilometer. The passengers had to buy their own food at the stations. The stagecoach would stop for forty minutes, two times a day.  

The company warned passengers about the possible dangers. A poster said: “You will be traveling through Indian country and the safety of your person cannot by granted by anyone but God.”  

63. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Different ways of sending mail in the United States.

B. The difficulty in sending mails across the USA by land.  

C. The first stagecoaches that carried both passengers and mail.  

D. The history of the first stagecoaches carrying mail to the American West.  

64. The reason why Lawmakers wanted to send mail by land was that ________.  

A. mail was usually carried west on ships

B. it was safer to travel to send mail by land  

C. it would take less time to send mail by land

D. stagecoaches could carry passengers and mail  

65. As is described in the passage, the stagecoach ________.  

A. could only stop once a day                         

B. was modern with seats ,beds and cooking equipment  

C. was a closed wagon operated only by skillful drivers.  

D. had different horses or mules pulled all the way  

66. What can we learn from the passage?  

A. John Buttterfield got thousands of dollars for delivering mail in stagecoaches.  

B. John Buttterfield kept his promise to deliver mail straight to the West Coast.  

C. Passengers might be robbed by Indians when traveling through the West.  

D. Passengers needed to pay one hundred dollars for their journey.  

If I were writing a history of my family, some of the darkest moments recorded would be those about Christmas trees. One would certainly think otherwise; selecting and putting up our trees have always been filled with risk. For example, one afternoon dangerously close to Christmas Eve my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain, a glorious tree that was so full and tall that we could hardly get it into the house. Once we did, my father immediately realized that we would have to hire a carpenter（木匠） to build a stand for it. Another December, perhaps the very next one, we bought a tree earlier than we ever had before. We were happy with its shape and delighted that its size was manageable. We easily placed it in a stand, decorated（裝飾） it from top to bottom, and then self-satisfiedly sat back by the fire in its soft light. Two or three days passed and the truth could not be hidden; we had bought a tree cut so long ago that its needles were coming off. There was nothing to do but undecorate it, take it down, and begin tree shopping again. Our most recent Christmas tree offered still another difficult task. When we brought it home, once again it seemed larger than it was in the great outdoors. To complicate matters, we had bought a new stand, one whose nuts （螺帽） and bolts （閂子） worked more mysteriously than those of our old stands. I persuaded two young neighbors to stop playing basketball and to help us get the tree into the house and set it correctly in the stand. Unfortunately, no one noticed the mud on our helpers' shoes, so only after removing several reddish brown spots from the carpet were we able to discuss the question of where the lights and ornaments （裝飾物）were stored. Perhaps those who cut their own trees have tales more painful than these. I don't care to hear them, as my family's experiences are enough to cause me to make the following suggestion:" Let's forget the tree next Christmas. Let's simply hang some flowers on the front door and over the mirror in the hall. "  

59. The darkest moments in the writer's family were with the fact that _____.  

A. the family bought big Christmas trees

B. they had problems decorating their Christmas trees  

C. they had problems picking suitable Christmas trees  

D. they had problems finding carpenters for putting up Christmas trees  

60. We can learn from the passage that the writer would like to _____.  

A. forget about Christmas stories 

B. get the neighbors to put up their trees  

C. buy a better tree to celebrate Christmas 

D. make other decorations rather than Christmas trees  

61. When the writer said “my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain", he means ____.  

A. she bought the tree at a cheap price 

B. she didn't really want to buy it  

C. she had to bargain hard with the salesman

D. she couldn't afford a more expensive one  

62. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?  

A. How to Choose a Christmas Tree  B. No More Christmas Tree for Us  

C. Dark Moments of Life   D. Christmas Without Trees  

In the past, people who graduated from college felt proud of their academic（學(xué)業(yè)的）achievements and confident that their degree would help them to find a good job.  

However, in the past four years the job market has changed greatly. This year’s college graduates are facing one of the worst job markets. For example, Ryan Stewart, a graduate of San Jose State University, got a degree in religious studies, but he has not gotten any job offers. He points out that many people already working are getting laid off and don’t have jobs, so it’s even harder for new college graduates to find jobs.  

Four years ago, the future looked bright for his class of 2006. There were many high-tech（“dot com”） job opportunities, graduates received many job offers, and they were able to get jobs with high salaries and benefits such as health insurance and paid vacations. However, “Times have changed. It’s a new market,” according to an officer of the university.  

The officer says students who do find jobs started preparing two years ago. They worked during summer vacations, they have had several short-time jobs, and they majored in fields that are still paying well, such as accounting or nursing.  

Even teaching is not a secure profession now. Ryan Stewart wanted to be a teacher. But instead he will probably go back to school in order to become a college teacher. He thinks college teaching could be a good career even in a bad economy.  

In conclusion, these days a college degree does not automatically lead to a good job with a high salary. Some students can only hope that the value of their degree will increase in the future.  

56. What did a college degree mean to people in the past?  

A. It was a proof of their professional skills. 

B. It would guarantee their quick promotion（升職）.  

C. It built up their confidence in the job market.　

D. It would help them to start an academic career.  

57. Why does Ryan Stewart want to be a college teacher?  

A. Teaching jobs are well-paid.

B. He majored in teaching in the university.  

C. College teaching is less challenging than high-tech jobs.  

D. College teaching career won’t be influenced by economy.  

58. It can be concluded from the passage that _____.  

A. the value of a college degree has decreased now

B. new college graduates today can’t find any job  

C. a college degree can still lead to a good job

D. graduates must prepare early to find jobs  

My ears are recently full of joyous remarks from my friends such as, “Oh, Beckham is so handsome, so cool, that I can’t help falling in love with him!” Or “What perfect skills he has!” Yeah, I agree 36 some degree, though I sometimes do want to ask them how much they 37  Beckham, apart from his appearance and how much they know about football 38 scoring goals. It seems funny that we are crazy for things, with which we are unfamiliar or 39 which we are uncertain, but we all, my friends 40 I, consider this one of life’s 41 .  

We need these pleasures to brighten up our lives. But that doesn’t amount to craziness 42 nonsense（胡鬧）. As an old saying 43 : “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” We should not 44 anything from its appearance. We should all know, it is one’s good character and great contribution that 45 one a star and unforgettable. Therefore we’d better say 46 about Beckham’s good looks.  

If we close our eyes, 47 in deep thought, we can find that the things that 48 us to be in truth happy, sad or touched 49 a clear meaning. If we don’t go deeper and just satisfied with superficial（表面的）things, 50 we will find that we have not really gained anything 51 our first impression has blinded and misled us, and we’ll remain ignorant（無知） 52 we realize that and make some changes.  

It is believed that thinking and going deeper than before is a sign of great 53 . If one day we are willing to go deeper into everything, no matter how much it 54 us, we will finally prove how much we have grown up, how much more sensible（理智的）, mature（成熟的）, and intelligent we have 55 .  

Eliza remembers everything exactly as if it ______ yesterday.    

A. was happening   B. happens     C. has happened     D. happened      

―Did you see who the driver was?    

―No, so quickly_________ that I couldn’t get a good look at his face.    

A. does the car speed by                                 B. the car sped by    

C. did the car speed by                                   D. the car speeds by    

We rushed to the football court, only to see a sign _____ into the ground reading PERIODIC MAINTENANCE （定期維修）.  

A. knocked                               B. knocking                    C. to be knocked           D. being knocked    

― I don’t think we have met before.    

― Yes, once at a party, but we _______.    

A. didn’t introduce                                           B. weren’t introduced    

C. haven’t introduced                                       D. weren’t introducing