2. Passage Twenty-Three Washington Irving was America’s first man of letters to be known internationally. His works were received enthusiastically both in England and in the United States. He was， in fact， one of the most successful writers of his time in the country， and at the same time winning the admiration of fellow writers like Scott in Britain and Poe and Hawthorne in the United States. The respect in which he was held was partly owing to the man himself， with his warm friendliness， his good sense， his urbanity， his gay spirits， his artistic integrity， his love of both the Old World and the New. Thackery described Irving as “a gentleman， who， though himself born in no very high sphere， was most finished， polished， witty; socially the equal of the most refined Europeans. ” In England he was granted an honorary degree from Oxford—an unusual honor for a citizen of a young， uncultured nation—and he received the medal of the Royal Society of Literature. America made him ambassador to Spain. Irving’s background provides little to explain his literary achievements. A gifted but delicate child， he had little schooling. He studied law， but without zeal， and never did practice seriously. He was immune to his strict Presbyterian home environment， frequenting both social gatherings and the theatre. What is implied by the mention of Scott， Poe and Hawthorne?

1. Passage Twenty All friendships require a certain amount of chemistry. But when two people of the opposite sex become friends， sometimes those friendly feelings can start to resemble something more like sexual tension. Male-female friendships can be an emotional minefield of hidden desires. Does this mean you secretly want to jump into bed with all of your friends? Of course not. But do you ever wonder how many of them might be interested if the opportunity presented itself? Maybe you and your platonic (柏拉图式的) friendship are just a bad breakup and a bottle of wine away from crossing that boundary and hooking up (结合). So can two people of the opposite sex ever really be “just friends?” The Hollywood answer to this age-old question is a decisive HELL NO. On screen， male-female friendships always turn into something more. Harry and Sally， Chandler and Monica， Jim and Pam … … Do I need to go on? Even the characters in Just Friends wind up becoming much more than the film’s definitive title suggests. Cinematic stories dictate that when reasonably attractive men and women befriend one another， they are always on the road to romance， whether they realize it or not. But how much truth is there to this friendship as foreplay theory? It is not a whole lot. Real life isn’t a romantic comedy. Men and women go to school together， work together and hang out in plenty of platonic settings without falling hopelessly in love with one another. Last year， a close female friend of mine moved in with a new male roommate. My immediate reaction was， “You two are definitely going to sleep together.” It seemed to me that a single man and woman living under the same roof would inevitably end up doing it. Much to my surprise， the roommate romance never happened. Almost one year later， the two of them have never even come close to seeing each other naked. Instead， their way of life has come to resemble a sexless marriage. They cook for each other， argue over domestic chores and insist that they never， ever think about each other “that way.” The author believes that two people of the same sex can ( ) .

A. really be just friends

B. never be just friends

C. have nothing but romance

D. work together better than the same sex

1. Passage Twenty-Two Though some people have suggested that women should return to housework in order to leave more jobs for men， the idea has been rejected by both women and men in public opinion polls (民意测验). Lately some union officials have suggested that too many women are employed in type of work more suitable for men and that women should step aside to make way for unemployed young men. They argue that women—especially women in their childbearing years actually delay economic development and result in lower productivity， poor quality and inefficiency. To solve the problem， they have suggested that the working women stay at home while their husbands or brothers were given double wages. They argue that under these circumstances， families would retain their same level of income， and women could run the house and raise children much better. The suggestion has been rejected by 9 out of 10 people polled. A hundred persons in a big city were questioned last summer. Out of 50 women， 46 said they were unwilling to leave their jobs， no matter what the situation was. The other 4 said they would like to return home if their jobs could be taken by their sons or daughters. Of 50 men polled， only 6 said they would like to see their wives give up their jobs， if it meant higher wages for themselves. Some other people have suggested another way called “phased employment theory” . The theory suggests that a woman worker take leave from her job when she is seven months pregnant (妊娠) and stay off the job until her baby reaches the age of 3. It suggests that women on leave receive 75 percent of their normal salary and be allowed to return to work after the 3-year period. This will benefit children， women， their families and the society. Some of those polled， both women and men， felt the idea is a good one. It definitely seems to be more acceptable than the suggestion that women return to home forever. Some union officials have suggested that women should return home because ( ) .

A. all of them are employed in unsuitable types of work

B. most skilled male workers are now unemployed

C. their participation in work has a bad influence on the economic development

D. nowadays no one can take care of children except women

5. Passage Ten Nowadays， children heavily cling to digital devices such as computers and smart phones. Some spend up to six hours a day on their digital devices. They can be playing games online with people elsewhere， updating their status on social media， texting friends， or looking for the latest apps to download to their computers or smart phones. This worried Martin Strott. He is the headmaster of the Old Hall School in Wellington， England. He was so concerned that he challenged his students to take part in a week of 【 “digital】 【detox”】， a program to reduce their reliance on digital devices. Mr. Strott told the local newspaper， the Shropshire Star， that too much screen time would affect the development of their social skills. At another interview with a magazine， he mentioned that this over-reliance on digital devices “takes away family time and reduces their chances of face-to-face communication” . The parents are happy with the program. But what about the children? Nine-year-old Fred usually spends around two hours on his digital devices at home after school and around 12 hours on weekends. For him， the digital detox experience was “really hard” . He said that he had been engaged in many interesting outdoor activities organized by the headmaster， but still missed his phone and online games. The idea of keeping children away from their digital devices for a while to prevent too much dependence on them is not particularly new. There have been similar practices in the United States. But are they effective in the long run? According to Mr. Strott， even if kids go back to their digital devices， the hope is that at least they will think about how they will use their time. What is the passage mainly about?

A. The functions of smart phones.

B. An introduction to digital devices.

C. The after-class activities for students.

D. A project to prevent over-reliance on digital devices.

50. This project is said right now and so far everything is going on quite smoothly.

A. 　 to have carried out

B. 　 having been carried out

C. 　 to have been carried out

D. 　 to be being carried out

47. From then on, a sound system of Party Committee meetings was(_____)in all leading bodies.

A. 　 constructed

B. 　 instituted

C. 　 confirmed

D. 　 given up

44. Americans eat (_____)_ vegetables per person today as they did in 1910.

A. 　 more than twice

B. 　 as twice as many

C. 　 twice as many as

D. 　 more than twice as many

31. The conference (_____)_ a full week by the time it ends.

A. 　 must have lasted

B. 　 will have lasted

C. 　 would last

D. 　 has lasted

4. Passage Seventeen No one knows how man learned to make words. Perhaps he began by making sounds like those made by animals. Perhaps he grunted like a pig when he lifted something heavy. Perhaps he made sounds like those he heard all round him——water splashing， bees humming， a stone falling to the ground. Somehow， he learned to make words. As the centuries went by， he made more and more new words. This is what we mean by language. People living in different countries made different kinds of words. Today there are about fifteen hundred different languages in the world. Each contains many thousands of words. A very large English dictionary， for example， contains four or five hundred thousand words. But we do not need all these. Only a few thousand words are used in everyday life. The words you know are called your vocabulary. You should try to make your vocabulary bigger. You’re supposed to read as many books as you can. There are plenty of books written in easy English for you to read. You will enjoy them. When you meet a new word， you should find it in your dictionary. Your dictionary is your most useful book. Man ( ) to make sounds.

A. used words

B. followed many things in nature

C. lifted heavy things

D. grunted like a pig

5. Passage Twenty-Three Washington Irving was America’s first man of letters to be known internationally. His works were received enthusiastically both in England and in the United States. He was， in fact， one of the most successful writers of his time in the country， and at the same time winning the admiration of fellow writers like Scott in Britain and Poe and Hawthorne in the United States. The respect in which he was held was partly owing to the man himself， with his warm friendliness， his good sense， his urbanity， his gay spirits， his artistic integrity， his love of both the Old World and the New. Thackery described Irving as “a gentleman， who， though himself born in no very high sphere， was most finished， polished， witty; socially the equal of the most refined Europeans. ” In England he was granted an honorary degree from Oxford—an unusual honor for a citizen of a young， uncultured nation—and he received the medal of the Royal Society of Literature. America made him ambassador to Spain. Irving’s background provides little to explain his literary achievements. A gifted but delicate child， he had little schooling. He studied law， but without zeal， and never did practice seriously. He was immune to his strict Presbyterian home environment， frequenting both social gatherings and the theatre. Why might Irving’s literary ability have been surprising to the English?

A. They feared competition from American writers.

B. They did not expect the United States to produce good writers.

C. They disapproved of the language American writers used.

D. They thought of the United States as a purely commercial power.

4. Passage Fifteen Big data can be defined as information that is too big or complex to be contained or processed by any one machine or person. As a student at the University of Sussex， Julian Dailly had two majors——English and philosophy. When he completed his studies， Dailly wondered how he would ever earn a living in a world filled with machines and technology. Now， he is part of the big data industry that includes Google and Facebook. Dailly’s research company， Morar Consulting， started three years ago with five employees. The company’s earnings have increased by 25% each year. It now employs 90 people. “What we do here is we try to discover what’s meaningful for people and link that to their economic behavior，” Dailly said. He noted the importance of working with people with different skills. “We have people from traditional research backgrounds， in addition to some in social sciences， economics， people from tech backgrounds， and salespeople，” Dailly said. Companies like Dailly’s employ recent college graduates. The industry profits from the ideas of these young men and women. New forms of data also make it possible for some observers to predict the future. They are more valuable to companies than the traditional forms of data recording or reporting. “We have access to the core information inside people’s heads，” Dailly said， “They tell you what people are going to do as opposed to what they’ve done. That helps people take proper action in advance. This makes it much more useful for strategy.” Julian Dailly dismisses concerns that computers have finally taken control of our daily lives. “Some may worry that humans will be allowed to be replaced by machines. I think it’s a fantasy.” The company is aimed at making use of the information to help people ( ) .

A. take predictive action

B. remember the past

C. learn from each other

D. stick to the tradition