The thing is, my luck’s always been ruined. Just look at my name: Jean. Not Jean Marie, or Jeanine, or Jeanette, or even Jeanne. Just Jean. Did you know in France, they name boys Jean? It’s French for John. And okay, I don’t live in France. But still, I’m basically a girl named John. If I lived in France, anyway.

This is the kind of luck I’ve had since before Mom even filled out my birth certificate. So it wasn’t any big surprise to me when the cab driver didn’t help me with my suitcase. I’d already had to tolerate arriving at the airport to find no one there to greet me, and then got no answer to my many phone calls, asking where my aunt and uncle were. Did they not want me after all? Had they changed their minds? Had they heard about my bad luck—all the way from Iowa—and decided they didn’t want any of it to rub off on them?

So when the cab driver, instead of getting out and helping me with my bags, just pushed a little button so that the trunk (汽車后備箱) popped open a few inches, it wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to me. It wasn’t even the worst thing that had happened to me that day.

According to my mom, most brownstones in New York City were originally single-family homes when they were built way back in the 1800s. But now they’ve been divided up into apartments, so that there’s one—or sometimes even two or more families—per floor.

Not Mom’s sister Evelyn’s brownstone, though. Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted Gardiner own all four floors of their brownstone. That’s practically one floor per person, since Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted only have three kids, my cousins Tory, Teddy, and Alice.

Back home, we just have two floors, but there are seven people living on them. And only one bathroom. Not that I’m complaining. Still, ever since my sister Courtney discovered blow-outs, it’s been pretty frightful at home.

But as tall as my aunt and uncle’s house was, it was really narrow—just three windows across. Still, it was a very pretty townhouse, painted gray. The door was a bright, cheerful yellow. There were yellow flower boxes along the base of each window, flower boxes from which bright red—and obviously newly planted, since it was only the middle of April, and not quite warm enough for them.

It was nice to know that, even in a sophisticated (世故的) city like New York, people still realized how homey and welcoming a box of flowers could be. The sight of those flowers cheered me up a little.

Like maybe Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted just forgot I was arriving today, and hadn’t deliberately failed to meet me at the airport because they’d changed their minds about letting me come to stay.

Like everything was going to be all right, after all.

Yeah. With my luck, probably not.

I started up the steps to the front door of 326 East Sixty-Ninth Street, then realized I couldn’t make it with both bags and my violin. Leaving one bag on the sidewalk, I dragged the other up the steps with me. Maybe I took the steps a little too fast, since I nearly tripped and fell flat on my face on the sidewalk. I managed to catch myself at the last moment by grabbing some of the fence the gardeners had put up…

67. Why did the author go to New York?

A. She intended to go sightseeing there.

B. She meant to stay with her aunt’s family.

C. She was homeless and adopted by her aunt.

D. She wanted to try her luck and find a job there.

68. According to the author, some facts account for her bad luck EXCEPT that ________.

A. she was given a boy’s name in French

B. the cab driver didn’t help her with her bags

C. her sister Courtney discovered blow-outs  

D. nobody had come to meet her at the airport

69. The underlined phrase “rub off on” in Paragraph 3 probably means _________.

A. have an effect on    B. play tricks on     C. put pressure on       D. throw doubt on

70. From the passage, we can know that _________.

A. the author left home without informing her mother

B. the author arrived in New York in a very warm season

C. her aunt’s family lived a much better life than her own

D. her aunt and uncle were likely to forget about her arrival

Joanne was stuck in traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5:30.and at 6:30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club.At last.the traffic was moving.She swung quickly racing to her house.As she opened the door,she nearly tripped over Sheba.

“Hey,Sheba.”she said,“I’ve got no time for you now,but I’ll take you out as soon as I get back from tennis club.”Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking Obviously,she could hardly breathe.Immediately,Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet（獸醫(yī)）.When she got there,that vet was just about to close for the day Seeing the state of Sheba,Dr.Sterne brought her quickly into his office.

“Listen,doctor,I’m really in a rush to get to a meeting can I leave her with you,and go and get changed?I’ll be back in ten minutes to pick her up,and then I’ll take her on to the meeting with me.Is that OK?”

“Sure.”said the doctor.

Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes.As she was once more entering the hallway,the phone by the door began to ring.

“This is Dr.Sterne,”said an anxious vioce,“I want you to get out of that house immediately,”said the doctor’s voice.“I’m coming round fight away,and the police will be there any time now.Wait outside!”

At that moment,a police car screeched to a stop outside the house.Two policemen got out and

rain into the house.Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened.Then the doctor arrived.

   “Where’s Sheba?Is she OK?”shouted Joanne.

   “She’s fine,Joanne.I took out the thing which was choking her,and she’s OK now.”

   Just then,the two policemen reappeared from the house,half-carrying a white-faced man,who could hardly walk.There was blood all over him.

   “My God,”said Joanne,“how did he get in there?And how did you know he was there?”

   “I think he must be a burglar.”said the doctor.“I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’throat:it turned out to be there human fingers”

56.What was Joanne supposed to do at 6:30?

   A.To walk her dog

B.To see her doctor

C.To attend a club meeting

D.To play tennis with her friends

57.Joanne wanted to get back to her home again                  

   A.to dress up for the meeting

B.to phone the police station

C.to catch the badly hurt burglar

D.to wait for her dog to be cured

58.From the passage,we can infer that                 

   A.Sheba fought against the burglar

B.the police found the burglar had broken in

C.Joanne had planned to take her dog to the meeting

D.the doctor performed a difficult operation on the dog

59.In the passage,the writer intends to tell us that the dog is               

   A.clever          B.friendly          C.frightening           D.devoted

B

U.S. airlines are seeing a major interruption because of hundreds of flights canceled due to the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano, but European flight companies will face the biggest losses.

The airline business has been tough: The decline dramatically slowed traffic; February heavy snow forced U.S. airlines to cancel thousands of flights; and now the ashes from the volcano stopped all traffic in and out of northern Europe for days.

"For U.S. flight companies, it'll be a relatively short-term hit," said Michael Boyd, president of Boyd Group International, an aviation (航空學(xué)) consulting firm. "We think right now they're down about $80 million in terms of lost income, and they're down domestically about 80,000 passengers that would have been flying domestically but aren't because they can't get here."

Delta announced that volcano-related interruption grounded about 400 flights until Monday at a cost of $20 million in lost revenues. But compare that to the recent snowstorms, when the airline canceled 7,000 flights and lost $65 million in revenue.

The disruption has created uncertainty for customers, but analysts say U.S. airlines won't face as many costs as you might think. They are not flying in extra planes to handle the passengers in trouble because, airline analyst Robert Mann said, companies simply don't have them.

"Airlines run a very lean operation now," Mann said. "So, since there are no spare aircraft or crews, the airlines will attempt to maximize loads on every one of their aircraft that do fly. But it may take days, or in some cases a week or so, to get some of these customers to where they want to go."

46. Which negative consequences mentioned in the passage did the disasters cause?

A. coldness, pollution and airlines’ losses    

B. airport damage, pollution and slow traffic

C. passenger delay, coldness and airport damage   

D. passenger delay, airlines’ losses and slow traffic

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

A. The fewest airplanes will fly the trapped passengers to their destinations.

B. All the customers are sure to be sent to their destinations in time.

C. The U.S. and U.K. airlines suffered the same losses in the natural disasters.

D. The volcano eruption reduced the traffic to and from northern Europe.  

48. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?

A. the troubles that the airlines will face after the ash cloud disappears

B. the measures that the airlines will take to maximize their profit

C. the present situation of the airlines and their plan to deliver the passengers

D. the reasons why the airlines run a fine operation

49. Why will it take a long time for airlines to send the passengers to their different destinations?

A. Because the passengers enjoy staying in airports to talk with one another.
B. Because the airlines don’t have spare planes or employees to serve.
C. Because the airlines don't have enough financial support after the disaster.
D. Because the passengers are asking for full refund from the airlines.

50. The passage is most probably from_______.

A．a(chǎn) novel                                    B．a(chǎn) news report        

 C．a(chǎn) magazine                                D．a(chǎn) thesis

Can you imagine a stranger will read your e – mails without your permission or scan the website you’ve visited or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills? All of the things may happen to you one day.

In fact，it’s likely that some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is，they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen or even do something that may bring a disaster to you.

     Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, and that it's important to reveal to friends, family and lovers at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain nowadays. The digital bread crumbs (碎屑) you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to know who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can leak the deepest thought in your mind. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.

The key question is：Does that matter? For many Americans, the answer apparently is “no”.

When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most of them say they are really concerned about losing it. And 60 percent of the respondents say they feel their privacy is “slipping away, and that bothers me”. 

But people say one thing and do another．Only a small of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy．Few people turn down a discount attollbooths (收費(fèi)站)to avoid using the EZ—Pass system that can track automobile movements. Privacy economist Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will give up personal information such as telephone number, address, or social security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon(優(yōu)惠券).      But privacy does matter—at least sometimes．It's like health；when you have it，you don’t notice it．Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it. Without privacy, one will be naked in front of others.

41．What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?

    A．Friends should open their hearts to each other．

    B．Friends should always be faithful to each other．

    C．There should be a distance even between friends．

    D．There should be fewer quarrels between friends

42．Why does the author say “we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret”?

    A．Modern society has finally developed into an open society．

    B．People leave traces around when using modern technology．

      C．There are always people who are curious about others’ affairs．

    D．Many search engines profit by revealing people’s identities．

43．What do most Americans do about privacy protection?

    A．They change behavior that might disclose their identity．

B．People turn down a discount at tollbooths to avoid using the EZ – Pass system.

C．They rely more and more on advanced technology.

    D．They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it.

44．According to the passage，privacy is like health in that         .

    A．people will make every effort to keep it

    B．its importance is hardly understood

    C．It is something that can easily be lost

    D．people don’t value it until they lose it

45．What would be the best title for the passage?

       A．No privacy, no health.

       B．Treasure your privacy.

       C．Boundaries are important between friends.

       D．The information age has its own shortcomings.

Traffic jam and cities, it seems, go hand in hand. Everyone complains about being stuck in traffic; but, like the weather, no one seems to do anything about it. In particular, traffic engineers, transportation planners, and public officials responsible for transportation systems in large cities are frequently criticized for failing to solve traffic jam.

But is traffic jam a sign of failure? Long queues at restaurants or theater box offices are seen as signs of success. Should transportation systems be viewed any differently? I think we should recognize that traffic jam is an unpreventable by-product of successful cities, and view the “traffic problem” in a different light.

Cities exist because they promote social interactions and economic transactions.

Traffic jam occurs where there are lots of people but limited spaces. Culturally and economically successful cities have the worst traffic problems, while decaying cities don’t have much traffic. New York and Los Angeles are America’s most crowded cities. But if you want access to major brokerage houses (經(jīng)紀(jì)行), you will find them easier to reach in crowded New York than in any other large cities. And if your firm needs access to post-production film editors or satellite-guidance engineers, you will reach them more quickly through the crowded freeways of LA than through less crowded roads elsewhere.

Despite traffic jam, a larger number and wider variety of social interactions and economic transactions can be made perfect in large, crowded cities than elsewhere. Seen in this light, traffic jam is an unfortunate consequence of prosperity, not a cause of economic decline and urban decay.

So while we can consider traffic jam as increasing costs on the areas of big cities, the costs of inaccessibility (交通不便) in uncrowded places are almost certainly greater.

There is no doubt that traffic jam brings the terrible economic and environmental damage in places like Bangkok, Jakarta, and Lagos. But mobility is far higher and traffic jam levels are far lower here in the US, even in our most crowded cities. That’s why, for now, we don’t see people and capital streaming out of San Francisco and Chicago, heading for cities like California, and Illinois.

46. We can conclude from the first paragraph that_______.

   A. traffic jam and weather are the two factors preventing the development of the big city

   B. traffic jam seems to be very difficult to deal with

   C. if traffic engineers try their best, traffic jam can be solved

   D. public officials are always criticized for misusing their power

47. According to the passage, what’s the author’s opinion towards traffic jam？_____

   A. In cities, traffic jam is unavoidable.

   B. Traffic jam is both a sign of failure and a sign of success.

   C. Traffic jam is the consequence of successful cities.

   D. For a successful city, traffic jam is not unpreventable.

48. By saying “decaying” (in Para. 4), the writer probably means_______.

   A. declining             B. developing 

C. rich and successful     D. strong and healthy

49. According to this article, which statement about “New York” and “Los Angeles” is true? _____

   A. The traffic jam in the two cities has been worsened.

   B. New York and Los Angeles are the most successful cities in the USA.

   C. It is easier to reach major brokerage houses in the two cities than in other cities.

   D. Despite the traffic jam in LA, you’ll find a satellite-guidance engineer more quickly there.

50. What can we learn from the last paragraph? _______

   A. Traffic jam has caused terrible bad effects in cities such as Bangkok and Lagos.

   B. The traffic jam in San Francisco has resulted in the capital becoming empty.

   C. The traffic jam level in Jakarta is lower than that in the US.

   D. California is as crowded and successful as San Francisco. 

So I’m driving the lovely and patient older daughter to work. At 7 a. m., she pushes the seat

warmer button as her new Honda zooms across L. A., the City of Padded Shoulders.

"Oh, look, I’m low on gas," she says.

First, we pick up her boss, then we pick up her other boss. They are all headed to Staples Center for some awards show. My daughter does something in public relations, I’m not sure what. But when this show comes along, she gets very busy.

"In the past two nights I’ve gotten, like, seven hours sleep," she notes, the implication being that I sleep all the time, which is pretty much true.

In Los Feliz, a dashboard light confirms that we are, indeed, low on fuel. This does not perturb my daughter.

"Don’t worry, we’ll get there," she says.

My daughter says nothing about getting back home, which is my job. I’ve just agreed to drop her off, so she can avoid traffic later. My task is simple, though now full of uncertainty.

I don’t know how I ended up dropping my daughter and her bosses off at 7 a.m. on a Sunday. I just know that J.D. Salinger may now be dead, but I still feel like Holden Caulfield -- at the mercy of too many yammering adults.

Now, I’ve had mixed luck with adults.

Apparently, my daughter’s job in PR is to keep everyone happy while telling the truth as much as possible. I sent her to college to study that. Now she is an expert.

"After you drop us off, you can get gas," my daughter assures me.

I have been her chauffeur for 26 years. By the time she was 3, I’d snapped her into a car seat some 14,000 times. I took her to seventh-grade dances, ski trips, college.

Even after all that, we continue to have a civil relationship, sort of a queen-mum-and-her-

driver sort of dynamic. When I screw up, she just raises her pretty chin and snorts. It’s very British.

By the way, my daughter now has a nicer car than I do, which is a sign she is doing well. Or, as with so many young people, she is up to her hoop earrings in consumer debt.

46．Which of the following statements in NOT true about the author’s daughter?

       A．She is fashionable.   B．She always tells the truth.

       C．She is doing well in her work.       D．She lives a fast-paced life.

47．The author’s tone suggests that         .

       A．he is feeling left behind when his daughter has grown up and begun adult life

       B．he is content with his grown daughter

       C．he does not like his daughter’s bosses

       D．he will not believe his daughter any more

48．It can be concluded from the passage that         .

       A．the author won’t have any difficulty in getting gas

       B．the daughter cares for her father a lot

       C．the author has done a lot to help his daughter get where she is 

       D．the British people have pretty chin and snort often

49．By referring to J. D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield, the author is most probably       .

       A．recalling his daughter’s childhood

       B．mentioning his family members who are now dead

       C．comparing his situation to a scene in a famous literary work

       D．telling a story about his daughter’s friends

50．What is the best title for this passage?

       A．A PR’s Busy Life

       B．Relationship Between Dad and Daughter

       C．A Loving Father

       D．Go Ahead and Fill Her up, Dad

A British girl on holiday in Florida has been killed by a car on one of the most famous beaches in the world. Ellie Bland, aged four and from Nottingham, was walking down to the water’s edge in Daytona Beach, a Florida resort known for the Daytona 500 motor race. The town is one of the few in America that allows cars to drive on the beach.

John, her great-uncle, said he had been holding Ellie’s hand as they waited to cross the car lane on the beach on Saturday but she took a step ahead of him. A passing Lincoln Town Car driven by Barbara Worley, 66, clipped the girl and knocked her over. As bystanders shouted, the driver apparently hit the accelerator(加速器) instead of the brake and ran the child over.

“The child was walking hand-in-hand in front of her uncle when the child stepped out in front of the car and was struck,” a Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman said. “Bystanders yelled for the driver to stop as the child lay in front, but for an unknown reason the driver panicked(恐慌) and ran over the child.”

After the accident, it was said that Ms Worley sat “dazed” in her car as police shrouded the child’s body with beach umbrellas. A reporter from WESH local television asked Ms Worley for comment. “I really don’t want to be interviewed,” she replied. Off camera, however, she said she was so sorry for what happened.

Ellie was on her sixth trip to Florida, and was traveling with her five-year-old sister, her great-uncle and aunt and family friends. Her parents had stayed in Britain and were told of her death by telephone. It is understood that they were flying to Florida last night. Ellie’s great-aunt said the girl had suffered from various medical problems, including a heart murmur and a digestive tract disorder. “She was a quiet little girl,” she told the Daytona Beach News Journal. “She’d play in activities at nursery, but she’d rather go off and read a book. It’s unreal,” she added. “It just took her. I can’t believe it.”

A two-year-old boy was killed on a nearby beach 22 years ago when he ran out from between parked cars and was hit by a van. The last car-related death on the area’s beaches happened in 1996 when a 57-year-old woman was hit by a drunk driver traveling at 40mph.

 46．How many people killed on the area’s beaches were mentioned in this report?

      A. One.      B. Two.       C. Three.        D. Four.

 47. What was the right order when the accident happened to the little girl?

   ①  Some bystanders shouted to get the driver to stop.

②  The girl took a step ahead of her uncle.

③  The girl was run over by the car

The girl was struck, lying on the ground.

  A. ①②③④    B. ④③②①    C. ②③④①   D. ②④①③

 48. It refers that the reporter’s attitude towards driving on beaches is ____.

   A. positive    B. negative    C. suspicious   D. sympathetic

 49. The underlined word “dazed” can be probably translated into Chinese as_____.

   A. 痛哭流滴    B. 目瞪口呆    C. 后悔不已      D. 啞口無言

50. Which of the following is not exactly known to us after reading the report?

   A. The health condition of the girl.     B. Whom she was traveling with.

   C. When and how her parents got the news of her death.

   D. Where Ms Worley was asked for comment by a reporter from local television.

Vacations are a chance to take a break from work, see the world and enjoy time with family. But do they make you happier?

Researchers from the Netherlands set out to measure the effect that vacations have on overall happiness and how long it lasts. They studied happiness levels among 1,530 Dutch adults, 974 of whom took a vacation during the 32-week study period. The study showed that the largest lift in happiness comes from the simple act of planning a vacation. In the study, the effect of vacation anticipation lifted happiness for eight weeks.

After the vacation, happiness quickly dropped back to baseline levels for most people. How much stress or relaxation a traveler experienced on the trip appeared to influence post-vacation happiness. There was no post-trip happiness benefit for travelers who said the vacation was “neutral” or stressful.”

Surprisingly, even those travelers who described the trip as “relaxing” showed no additional jump in happiness after the trip. “They were no happier than people who had not been on holiday,” said the lead author, Jeroen Nawijn, tourism research lecturer at Breda University. The only vacationers who experienced an increase in happiness after the trip were those who reported feeling “very relaxed” on their vacation. Among those people, the vacation happiness effect lasted for just two weeks after the trip before returning to baseline levels.

One reason vacations don’t increase happiness after the trip may have to do with the stress of returning to work. And for some travelers, the holiday itself was stressful. “In comments from people, the thing they mentioned most referred to disagreements with a travel partner or being ill,” Mr. Nawijn said.

The study didn’t find any relationship between the length of the vacation and overall happiness. Since most of the happiness boost comes from planning and anticipating a vacation, the study suggests that people may get more out of several small trips a year than one big vacation, Mr. Nawijn said.

51. What’s the best title for this passage?

  A. Post-vacation happiness         B. Pre-vacation planning

  C. Influence to vacations           D. Research on vacations

52. The study implies that _________.

  A. The longer the vacation is, the happier the travelers will be.

  B. The better you get your vacation planned, the more happiness you will get.

  C. It will make you happier if you divide a big vacation into small ones.

  D. None of the travelers were happier than those who had not been on holiday,

53. Which of the statements is not mentioned in the passage?

  A. People never have additional jump in happiness after the trip.

  B. For most people, happiness quickly dropped back to baseline levels after the vacation.

  C. The largest lift in happiness comes from the simple act of planning a vacation.

  D. Vacations are a chance to get relaxed from work.

54. Which of the following is NOT the reason for not increasing happiness after a trip?

  A. You got different ideas with your partners on holiday.

  B. You caught a bad cold during the trip.

  C. The worry about whether could return to work or not.

  D. The holiday itself could get you stressed.

55. During the 32-week study period _______of the people involved took a vacation.

  A. about one seconds                B. about two thirds

  C. more than one third              D. less than three fifth

I was working as a consultant in a beer company, helping the president and senior vice-presidents form and carry out their new planning projects. It was really a great challenge.

At the same time, my mother was in the final stages of cancer.

I worked during the day and drove 40 miles home to be with her every night. It was tiring and stressful, but it was what I wanted to do. My commitment was to continue to do excellent consulting during the day, even though my evenings were very hard. I didn’t want to bother the president with my situation, yet I felt someone at the company needed to know what was going on. So I told the vice-president of Human Resources, asking him not to share the information with anyone.

A few days later, the president called me into his office.

I figured he wanted to talk to me about one of the many issues we were working on. When I entered, he asked me to sit down. He faced me from across his large desk, looked me in the eye and said, “I hear your mother is very ill”.

I was totally caught by surprise and burst into tears. He just looked at me, let my crying subside(平息), and then gently said a sentence I will never forget: Whatever you need.

That was it. His understanding and his willingness both to let me be in my pain and to offer me everything were qualities of sympathy that I carry with me to this day.

41．When the author was working in a beer company, his mother        .

A．was concerned about him                                   B．drew the president’s attention

C．was seriously ill                                          D．was proud of her son

42．Although he felt tired and stressed, he felt it his duty        .

A．to carry out their new strategic vision

B．to avoid bothering the president

C．to tell the vice-president his difficult situation

D．to do his job well and look after his mother

43．Most probably, the president got the information from        .

A．a(chǎn) relative of the author’s

B．the vice president

C．the author’s good friends

D．the author’s collegues

44．Which of the following can be used to best describe the president?

A．Considerate.

B．Intelligent.

C．Honest.

D．Consultative.

45．Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A．Understanding Is Everywhere

B．Generous President

C．Sympathy Is Needed

D．An Unforgetable Memory

Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day. “I was a clothes addict,” jokes. “I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled.” Today David wears casual clothes---khaki pants and sports shirt---to the office. He hardly ever wears necktie. “I’m working harder than ever,” David says, “and I need to feel comfortable.”

More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work in the United States. The change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday (but only on Friday). This became known as “dress-down Friday” or “casual Friday.” “What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing,” said business consultant Maisly Jones.

Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it’s easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code. “A lot of young people don’t want to dress up for work,” says the owner of a software company, “so it’s hard to hire people if you have a conservative dress code.” Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study conducted by Levi Strauss and Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale. Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative impact on productive. Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money. “Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day,” one person said. “For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes.”

65. David Smith refers to himself as having been “a clothes addict” because_______.

A. he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt

B. he couldn’t stand a clean appearance

C. he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time

D. he didn’t want to spend much money on clothes

66. David Smith wears casual clothes now, because________

A. they make him feel at ease when working

B. he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes

C. he looks handsome in casual clothes

D. he no longer works for any company

67. According to this passage, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A. Many employees don’t like a conservative dress code.

B. Comfortable clothes make employees more productive

C. A casual clothes code is welcomed by young employees

D. All the employers in the U.S are for casual office wear.

68. In this passage, the following advantages of casual office wear are mentioned EXCEPT_______.

A. saving employees’ money                     B. making employees more attractive

C. improving employees’ motivation          D. making employees happier