44. He has made it clear ____ he will never go back on his word.

2. Passage Seven A few centuries ago， people looked at the birds and wondered what it would be like to fly like them. There were stories of heroes who glued bird feathers on their arms and flew up into the sky. About 500 years ago， some people dreamed a different dream. Instead of flying up to the sky， they dreamed of falling from the sky! In the 15th century， Italian inventors designed a cone-shaped (雏形) device that was supposed to bring a man down safely from a great height. The operator held on to a handle with straps strapped to his waist. This was the first known design for a parachute (降落伞) . Even the great inventor Leonardo da Vinci sketched a type of parachute. His parachute design was in the shape of a pyramid (金字塔). Other inventors also sketched their own designs for a parachute. Unfortunately， these were only designs on paper and no one tested them . A Croatian inventor named Fausto Veranzio looked at Leonardo da Vinci’s parachute design and replaced the pyramid shape with one that looked like a sail from a ship. When Veranzio was 65 years old， he fell ill. Thinking he would not live longer， he decided to try out his parachute invention. He built his parachute using wood and cloth. Strapping his invention to his waist， he jumped off the tall bell tower in his city. He landed safely! He was supposedly the first man to successfully use a parachute. However， some people thought this story was not true. If that was the case， then the first person to successfully use a parachute would go to a Frenchman named Louis-Sebastien Lenormand in 1783 .Leonardo da Vinci’s parachute was shaped like a ( ) .

A. cone

B. feather

C. pyramid

D. sail

50. Humble (_____)_ it may be, there is no place like home.

A. 　 as

B. 　 although

C. 　 that

D. 　 how

37. It makes (_____) to evaluate the risks before taking any action.

A. 　 reason

B. 　 idea

C. 　 meaning

D. 　 sense

5. 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.” According to Dailly， the idea that humans may be replaced by machines ( ) .

A. is a wise warning

B. is pure imagination

C. may come true

D. needs further study

34. By the time we got to the cinema the film (_____)_ for half an hour.

A. 　 has begun

B. 　 had begun

C. 　 has been on

D. 　 had been on

42. The man tried to force the locked door open but (_____)_.

A. 　 in vain

B. 　 in no way

C. 　 without effect

D. 　 at a loss

4. Passage Sixteen Justin was always prepared. His motto was “Never throw anything out， you never know when it might come in handy.” His bedroom was so full of flat bicycle tires， bent tennis rackets， deflated basketballs， and games with missing pieces that you could barely get in the door. His parents asked him to clean out his room. “What use is a fish tank with a hole in the bottom?” his father asked. But Justin simply smiled and repeated his motto， “Never throw anything out， you never know when it might come in handy.” When Justin was away from home， he always carried his blue backpack. He liked to think of it as a smaller version of his bedroom——a place to store the many objects that he collected. It was so worn and stretched that it hardly resembled a backpack anymore. It was full of the kind of things that seemed unimportant， but when used with a little imagination， might come in handy. Justin had earned a reputation for figuring things out and getting people out of otherwise hopeless situations. Many of his classmates and neighbors sought him out when they needed help with a problem. On the first day of school， his friend Kenny， came looking for Justin. “Do you think you have something in your bag that could help me remember my locker code?” he asked. “I lost the paper it was written on. I have science class in two minutes and if I’m late on the first day it’ll make me look bad for the rest of the year.” Kenny looked genuinely worried. “Relax，” Justin said， taking his backpack off and opened it. “Remember how you borrowed my notebook in hometown to write the code down? Well， I know how we can recover what you wrote. ” He took the notebook and a soft lead pencil out of his bag. The page that Kenny had written on had left faint indentations (旧凹痕) on another page in the notebook. Justin held the pencil on its side and rubbed it lightly over the indentations. Slowly but surely the numbers of the locker code appeared in white， set off by the gray pencil rubbings. “That’s amazing!” Kenny said. “I owe you one.” And he dashed off to open his locker. How come Justin could help Kenny recover his locker combination?

A. Justin remembered Kenny’s locker combination.

B. Kenny had left the scrap of paper in Justin’sbackpack.

C. Kenny had left indentations of the combination on Justin’snotebook.

D. Justin found the scrap of paper the locker combination was written on.

4. Passage Fourteen For a long time， people have disagreed about whether golf is a sport or a game. On one side of the argument， people say that golf meets the dictionary definition of a sport， because it is a physical， athletic activity. They add that golf is recognized as a sport by sporting goods companies， athletic groups， fans， and the media. Also， golf’s inclusion in the Olympics in 2016 is more proof that it is sport. On the other side， people say that golf is a game， not a sport. They say golf is not a very physical activity and can be played well by people who are overweight or injured. Also， golf was only recently added to the Olympics. For more than 100 years it was not included in the Olympic Games. For many， the Olympic Games serve as a measurement for whether an activity should be called a sport. Golf was first included in the Olympics in 1900. However， it was removed shortly thereafter because of a lack of participation and conflict with other golf events. Through the years， there were several attempts to bring golf back to the Olympics. It wasn’t until the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro， Brazil that golf returned. Some say the return of golf does not prove that it is a sport. Rather， it only proves that the Olympics wanted to benefit from the star power of famous golfers like Tiger Woods. The disagreement continues today. Those who think golf is a sport point to pro-golfers like Woods， who are strong and fit. Those who disagree point to golfers like John Daly. He is a successful pro-golfer who once had health problems. So is golf a sport? The answer depends on who you ask——and whether that person owns a set of golf clubs.According to Paragraph 5， the inclusion of golf in the Olympics ( ) .

A. indicates that it is a sport

B. results from the star effect

C. ends the debate on golf

D. benefits its development

4. Passage Eleven Doctors say anger can be an extremely damaging emotion， unless you learn how to deal with it. They warn that anger can lead to heart disease， stomach problems， headaches， emotional problems and breast cancer. Anger is a normal emotion that we all feel from time to time. Some people express anger openly in a calm and reasonable way. Others burst with anger， screaming and yelling. But still others keep their anger inside. They cannot or will not express it. This is called 【repressing】 anger. For years some doctors claim that both repressing and expressing anger can be dangerous. They say that in both situations the brain of an angry person releases the same hormones (荷尔蒙). They spend the heart rate， raise blood pressure or sugar level in the blood. As a result， the angry person feels excited and is ready to react. The violent reaction may lead to high blood pressure. However， some other doctors argue that repressing anger is more dangerous to a person’s health than expressing it. They believe that those who keep their anger inside may face a greater danger of heart disease. Most doctors agree that it is important to learn how to deal with anger. They say the first step is to admit that you are angry and recognize the real cause of the anger， then decide if the cause is serious enough to get angry about. If so， you should not express your anger immediately and try to wait until your anger has cooled down， so that you are able to express yourself calmly and reasonably. They also believe that a good way to deal with anger is to find humor in the situation that has made you angry. After all， it is much healthier to laugh than to get angry .What is the best title for this passage?

A. Anger: ANormal Emotion

B. The Ways to Express Anger

C. Hormones: The Results of Anger

D. Anger and the Ways to Cope with it

1. Passage Five The appeal of advertising to buying motives can have both negative and positive effects. Consumers may be convinced to buy a product of poor quality or high price because of an advertisement. For example， some advertisers have appealed to people’s desire for better fuel economy for their cars by advertising automotive products that improve gasoline mileage. Some of the products work. Others are worthless and a waste of consumers’ money. Sometimes advertising is intentionally misleading. A few years ago， a brand of bread was offered to dieters with the message that there were fewer calories in every slice. It turned out that the bread was not dietetic， but just regular bread. There were fewer calories because it was sliced very thin， but there were the same number of calories in every loaf. On the positive side， emotional appeals may respond to a consumer’s real concerns. Consider fire insurance. Fire insurance may be sold by appealing to fear of loss. But fear of loss is the real reason for fire insurance. The security of knowing that property is protected by insurance makes the purchase of fire insurance a worthwhile investment for most people. If consumers consider the quality of the insurance plans as the message in the ads， they will benefit from the advertising. Each consumer must evaluate her or his own situation. Are the benefits of the product important enough to justify buying it? Advertising is intended to appeal to consumers， but it does not force them to buy the product. Consumers still control the final buying decision. Advertising can persuade the consumer to buy worthless products by ( ) .

A. stressing their high quality

B. convincing him of their low price

C. maintaining a balance between quality and price

D. appealing to his buying motives