Animation means making things which are lifeless come alive and move.

Since earliest times, people have always been astonished by movement. But not until last century had we managed to take control of movement, to record it, and in the case of animation, to retranslate it and recreate it. To do all this, we use a movie camera and a projector (放映機).

In the world of cartoon animation, nothing is impossible. You can make the characters do exactly what you want them to do.

A famous early cartoon character was Felix the Cat, created by Pat Sullivan in America in the early nineteen twenties. Felix was a wonderful cat. He could do all sorts of things no natural cat could do like taking off his tail, using it as a handle and then putting it back.

Most of the great early animators lived and worked in America, the home of the moving picture industry. The famous Walt Disney cartoon characters came to life after 1928. Popeye the Sailor and his girl friend Olive Oyo were born at Max Flcischer in 1933.

But to be an animator, you don’t have to be a professional. It is possible for anyone to make a simple animated film without using a camera at all. All you have to do is to draw directly onto an empty film and then run the film through a projector.
57. What does the passage mainly discuss?
   A. Animal world      B. Movie camera    C. Cartoon making      D. Movement
58. Which of the following statements is True?
   A. People were unable to recreate the movement or record it in the nineteenth century.
   B. Pat Sullivan was a famous early cartoon character.
   C. It is impossible to make cartoon characters to do what they are designed to do.
   D. Only professional animators can make animated films.
59. According to the passage, Felix the Cat _________.
   A. was created by the American cartoonist Felix.
   B. was designed by Pat Sullivan in the early twentieth century.
   C. was unable to do what natural cats could not do.
   D. was created in the United States in the nineteenth century.
60. It can be inferred from the passage that _________.
   A. Walt Disney’s cartoon characters were born earlier than Pat Sullivan’s.
   B. only professionals can create cartoon character
   C. Popeye the Sailor and Olive Oyo were famous cartoonists.
   D. the cartoon industry started in the United States.

Remembering names is an important social skill．Here are some ways to master it．

◆Recite and repeat in conversation．

When you hear a person’s name，repeat it．Immediately say it to yourself several times without moving your lips．You could also repeat the name in a way that does not sound forced or artificial．

◆Ask the other person to recite and repeat．

You can let other people help you remember their names．After you’ve been introduced to someone，ask that person to spell the name mad pronounce it correctly for you．Most people will be pleased by the effort you’re making to learn their names．

◆Admit you don’t know．

Admitting that you can’t remember someone’s name can actually make people relaxed．Most of them will feel sympathy if you say，“I’m working to remember names better．Yours is right on the tip of my tongue．What is it again?”

◆Use associations．

Link each person you meet with one thing you find interesting or unusual．For example，you could make a mental note: “Vicki Cheng -- tall, black hair.” To reinforce（加強）your associations, write them on a small card as soon as possible.

◆Limit the number of new names you learn at one time.

When meeting a group of people, concentrate on remembering just two or three names. Free yourself from remembering everyone. Few of the people in mass introductions expect you to remember their names. Another way is to limit yourself to learning just first names. Last names can come later.

◆Go early.

Consider going early to conferences, parties and classes. Sometimes just a few people show up on time. That's fewer names for you to remember. And as more people arrive, you can hear them being introduced to others -- an automatic review for you.

55. How will most people feel when you try hard to remember their names? _________

A. They will be angry.                              B. They will be guilty

C. They will be delighted.                         D. They will be discouraged.

56. If you can't remember someone's name, you may _________.

A. telephone others to help you                   B. tell him a white lie

C. ask him for another name card         D. tell him the truth

In the past industries had more freedom than they have now, and they did not need to be as careful as they must today. They did not need to worry a lot about the safety of the new products that they developed. They did not have to pay much attention to the health and safety of the people who worked for them. Often new products were dangerous for the people who used them; often conditions in the work place had very bad effects on the health of the workers.

Of course sometimes there were real disasters which attracted the attention of governments and which showed need for changes. Also scientists who were doing research into the health of workers sometimes produced information which governments could not ignore. At such times, there were inquiries into the causes of the disaster or the problems. New safety rules were often introduced as a result of these inquiries; however，the new rules came too late to protect the people who had died or become seriously ill.

Today many governments have special departments which protect customers and workers. In the U.S., for example, there is a department which tests new airplanes and gives warnings about possible problems. It also makes the rules that aircraft producers must follow. Another department controls the foods and drugs that companies sell. A third department looks at the places where people work, and then reports any companies that are breaking laws which protect the health and safety of workers.

64. According to Paragraph 1, compared with today, industries in the past __________.

A. were controlled less strictly

B. were worse off

C. affected more peoples health

D. put out more unhealthy products.

65. It is implied in Paragraph 2 that years ago governments __________.

A. paid much attention to the results of scientific discoveries

B. seldom introduced safety laws before disasters occurred

C. hardly ever looked into the causes of tragedies

D. imposed safety rules as soon as disasters occurred

66. The main topic of the passage is __________.

A. industries in the past and at present

B. changes in the development of industries

C. the protection of industrial workers and customers

D. the freedom of industries

67. The purpose of this passage is to __________.

A. inform                     B. criticize                    C. entertain                 D. persuade

Consult the page adapted from an English dictionary and do Questions 65～68.

65. What does the phrase “green shoots” mean in “Green shoots have begun to appear in different markets”?

A. Signs of recovery.                                      B. High prices.

C. Environmental protection.                   D. Change in policy.

66. Fill in the blank in the sentence “I can’t believe this is Joshua—he’s ______ since we last met!”

A. shot out           B. shot through       C. shot up            D. shot down

67. When you are talking about unimportant things, we say you are ______.

A. shooting yourself in the foot                    B. shooting the breeze

C. shooting your mouth off                    D. shooting questions at somebody

68. Choose a word to complete the sentence “The ______, which killed a policeman and wounded a passer-by, was reported to have lasted only 13 seconds.”

A. shooter            B. shoot                C. shot                  D. shooting

When you think about math, you probably don’t think about breaking the law, solving mysteries or finding criminals. But a mathematician in Maryland does, and he has come up with mathematical tools to help police find criminals.

People who solve crimes look for patterns that might reveal(揭示) the identity of the criminal. It’s long been believed, for example, that criminals will break the law closer to where they live, simply because it’s easier to get around in their own neighborhood. If police see a pattern of robberies in a certain area, they may look for a suspect(嫌疑犯) who lives near the crime scenes. So, the farther away from the area a crime takes place, the less likely it is that the same criminal did it.

But Mike O’Leary, a mathematician at Towson University in Maryland, says that this kind of approach may be too simple. He says that police may get better clues to the location of a criminal’s home base by combining these patterns with a city’s layout(布局) and historical crime records.

The records of past crimes contain geographical information and can reveal easy targets — that is, the kind of stores that might be less difficult to rob. Because these stores are along roads, the locations of past crimes contain information about where major streets and intersections are. O’Leary is writing a new computer program that will quickly provide this kind of information for a given city. His program also includes information about the people who live in the city, and information about how a criminal’s patterns change with age. It’s been shown, for example, that the younger the criminal, the closer to home the crime.

Other computer programmers have worked on similar software, but O’Leary’s uses more math. The mathematician plans to make his computer program available, free of charge, to police departments around the country.

The program is just one way to use math to fight crime. O’Leary says that criminology — the study of crime and criminals — contains a lot of good math problems. “I feel like I’m in a gold mine and I’m the only one who knows what gold looks like,” he says. “It’s a lot of fun.”

69. To find criminals, police usually ______.

A. focus on where crimes take place            B. seek help from local people

C. depend on new mathematical tools          D. check who are on the crime scene

70. O’Leary is writing a computer program that ______.

A. uses math to increase the speed of calculation

B. tells the identity of a criminal in a certain area

C. shows changes in criminals’ patterns

D. provides the crime records of a given city

71. By “I’m the only one who knows what gold looks like”, O’Leary means that he ______.

A. is better at finding gold than others

B. is the only one who uses math to make money

C. knows more criminals than other mathematicians

D. knows best how to use math to help solve crimes

72. What is the main idea of the text?

A. Criminals live near where crimes occur.

B. Math could help police find criminals.

C. Crime records could be used to fight crime.

D. Computer software works in preventing crimes.

In ancient Japan, if you saved someone’s life, they would make it their duty to spend the rest of their life serving you. Nowadays, if you rescue someone’s story, he or she will feel the same kind of gratitude(感激).

It happens all the time. Someone in a group is telling a story and, just before their big point, BOOM! There’s an interruption. Someone new joins the group, a waiter with a plate of biscuits comes over, or a baby starts crying. Suddenly everyone’s attention turns to the new arrival, the food on the plate, or the “charming” little child. Nobody is aware of the interruption — except the speaker. They forget all about the fact that the speaker hasn’t made his or her point.

Or you’re all sitting around the living room and someone is telling a joke. Suddenly, just before his big punch line(妙語), little Johnny drops a dish or the phone rings. After the crash, everyone talks about little Johnny’s carelessness. After the call, the subject turns to the upcoming marriage or medical operation of the caller. Nobody remembers the great punch line got unfinished — except the joke teller. When it’s you entertaining everyone at a restaurant, have you ever noticed how you can almost set your clock by the waiter coming to take everyone’s order just before your funny punch line?

Most joke and story tellers are too shy to say, after the interruption, “Now, as I was saying…” Instead, they’ll spend the rest of the evening feeling bad they didn’t get to finish. Here’s where you come in. Rescue them with the technique I call “Lend a Helping Tongue.”

Watch the gratitude in the storyteller’s eyes as he stabilizes where his story sunk and he sails off again toward the center of attention. His expression and the appreciation of your consideration by the rest of the group are often reward enough. You are even more fortunate if you can rescue the story of someone who can hire you, promote you, buy from you, or otherwise lift your life. Big winners have excellent memories. When you do them subtle favors like Lend a Helping Tongue, they find a way to pay you back.

73. Very often, a storyteller cannot make his point because ______.

A. people are more interested in food than his story

B. many guests bring their babies to the party

C. his story is easily forgotten by the listeners

D. he is interrupted by something unexpected

74. From Paragraph 3, we know that when someone is telling a joke, ______.

A. something bad will surely happen just before their punch line

B. the only person really interested in the joke is the joke teller

C. listeners’ attention is often drawn to something else

D. the waiter knows when to take everyone’s order

75. How can we “Lend a Helping Tongue” to the story tellers, according to the writer?

A. Comfort them to make them happy.        B. Give them a chance to finish.

C. Go on telling the story for them.                    D. Teach them some useful techniques.

76. What is the text mainly about?

A. People should learn how to take turns in a conversation.

B. Telling jokes will make you the center of attention. 

C. We can win someone’s heart by getting him back to his story.

D. It is impolite to cut in on someone’s talk.

Although the new year is already here, the great moments of the old year are still in the memory. Let’s look back at some of these.

   the United States

   One of the world’s largest New Year’s Eve parties was held in Times Square, New Year. The festival attracted hundreds of thousands of people to watch brightly-lit ball drop on a landmark building at the stroke(報時的鐘聲) of midnight.

   A great amount of confetti(五彩紙屑) was released from the sky at zero o’clock..

   Britain

   Painted in shining colours and blowing on whistles,50,000 party-goers arrived in London’s Millennium Dome to dance in the New Year. The Millennium Dome came to life at midnight as 50 DJs started up, competing on five separate dance floors to warm the crowd into the party mood.

   Russia

   New Year is the biggest holiday in Russia. It is traditional to put up a tree for celebrations with family and friends. w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m

   On the very last day of the years, Russians with a taste for a very cold swim braved freezing temperatures to plant traditional, festival trees on the bed of the Northern Ocean and at the bottom of Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake.

   Malaysia

   Brave skydivers threw themselves off the world’s tallest buildings near midnight and floated towards the new year.

   The jump from the 452-metre Petronas Twin Tower was called a real leap from one year to the next since the group took off in the last second of the old year and landed a minute later in the new year.“That was really cool,”said Roland Simpson,“over crowds of onlookers to the landing spot.”

61. In New Year the brightly-lit ball dropped______.

A. from the sky onto the Times Square    B. to celebrate the stroke of midnight

C. to welcome the arrival of Christmas    D. at the point between the old and the new year

62. Which of the following is NOT true about celebrations in the world?

A. A large quantity of confetti was given out from the tallest building.

B. Skydivers in Malaysia jumped down from the world’s tallest buildings.

C. Some Russians planted trees on the bed of Lake Baikal.

D. In Britain 50 DJs competed on five separate floors.

63.The underlined word “l(fā)andmark”means______ in the text.

A. an easily recognizable object, such as a tall tree or building

B. something that marks an important point in one’s life

C. something marking the limits of a piece of land

D. a building that is marked on a map

64. The text shows that_____.

A. New Year has been the starting point for people to have dreams

B. people in different countries welcomed New Year in different ways

C. people’s ways of celebrations are exciting

D. the new year is better than the old year

Going home for Christmas is a tradition of the holiday season. No matter where you may be the rest of the years, being at “home” with your family and friends for Christmas is a “must”. The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are the busiest times of the year at airports, train stations and bus stations. It seems that all America is on the move and Americans are on their way to spend the holidays with their loved ones.

This means that the house will be full of cousins, aunts and uncles that might not see each other during the year. Everyone joins in to help in the preparation of the festival. Some family members get to choose a Christmas tree to buy and bring home. Others decorate the house or wrap presents. And of course, each household needs to make lots of food!

At Christmas Eve gatherings adults have eggnog, which is made of cream, milk, sugar, eggs and brandy. Plenty of  eggnog  or hot cocoa is on hand in colder climates for carolers, or people who go from house to house sing Christmas carols to their neighbors.

Long ago, each child hung a stocking, or sock, over the fireplace. Santa entered down the chimney and left candy and presents inside the socks for the children. Today the tradition is carried on, but the socks are now large red sock-shaped fabric bags still called stockings. Each child can’t wait to open his or her eyes to see what Santa has left in the stocking.

Giving gifts is a Christmas tradition. However, in recent years, more and more people have complained that Christmas is too commercialized(商業(yè)化) especially in large cities. Store owners begin advertising and decorating very early in hopes of selling more goods. Some people believe that the origin of Christmas has been lost.

46．It is a traditional custom for Americans ____________.

 A．to buy Christmas trees and bring them to churches for Christmas

 B．to drink beer on Christmas Eve

 C．to go home for Christmas with their family and relatives

 D．to hung stockings on the chimney

47．The underlined word “eggnog” in the third paragraph is a kind ____________.

 A．drink                  B．food                    C．egg                     D．present

48．Each child hung a stocking over the fireplace in order to____________.

 A．get some eggnog                                   B．have a look at Santa

 C．get some candy and presents                  D．get some money from his/ her parents

49．The last paragraph wants to tell us that  ____________.

 A．giving gifts is a Christmas tradition     B．giving gifts is getting more and more commercialized

 C．store owners hope to get more presents  D．people think there will be no Christmas in the future

A holiday is any day when people lay aside their ordinary duties and cares. The word comes from Old English. At first, holidays honored some holy(神的) events or persons. People in Great Britain and other countries speak of holidays as Americans speak of vacations.

Every nation has its special holidays. China observes New Year’s Day(January 1), May Day and National Day as legal(法定的) holidays, as it was on Oct. 1, 1949 that People’s Republic of China was founded. The Chinese have long celebrated the Chinese lunar year. In the United States, congress（國會） has declared(宣告) several as legal days such as New Year's Day (January1), Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and so on. Some holidays celebrate special events in the development of a country, such as Greece’s Independence Day, Italy’s Liberation Day and India’s Independence Day.

In the United States, banks and schools usually close on a legal holiday. When such a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is often observed. Schools and organizations often observe days known as traditional holidays, although schools and businesses do not close then. Those holidays include Valentine's Day and Halloween.

46. Which of the following holidays has nothing to do with a country’s development?

A. China’s National Day            B. Valentine’s Day

C. Italy’s Liberation Day            D. America’s Independence Day

47. From the passage we can infer that _________.

A. Chinese will no longer observe the Spring Festival

B. students don’t have to go to school on any holiday

C. Chinese and Americans share at least one holiday      

D. Americans can easily draw money from banks on legal days

48. In the sentence “China observes New Year’s Day(January 1)”, “observes” means________.

A. praises         B. spends         C. celebrates        D. cares

49. If a legal holiday falls on Sunday, people usually celebrate on_________.

A. Sunday                   B. the following Sunday

C. the following Monday       D. the following Tuesday

The word “cool”

“Cool” is a word with many meanings. Its old meaning is used to express a temperature that is a little cold. As the world has changed, the word has had many different meanings.

“Cool” can be used to express feelings or interest in almost anything.

When you see a famous car in the street, maybe you will say “It’s cool.” You may think “He’s so cool.” You can use it instead of many words such as “new” or “surprising”. Here an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used. A teacher asked her students to write about the waterfall they had visited. On one student’s paper was just the one sentence, “It’s cool.” Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and how he felt.

But the story also show a scarcity(缺乏) of words. Without “cool”, some people have no words to show the same meaning. Can you think of any other words that make your life as colorful as the word “cool”? I can. And I think they are also very cool.

31. We know the word “cool” has had ____.

A. many different meanings   B. only one meaning

C. the same meaning         D. no meaning

32. If you are ____ something, you may say “It’s cool.”

A. afraid of   B. unhappy with   C. interested in   D. angry with

33. The sentence “It’s cool.” On the student’s paper may mean “It looks really ____.”

A. careful    B. wonderful    C. thankful     D. painful

34. The writer takes an example to show he ____ the way the word is used.

A. strange to    B. pleased with    C. worried about     D. excited at