Steve: So how's everything going for Christmas?

Jerry: My family is working together to get all the food ready. That's easy,but I have another problem to deal 61. 

Steve: What's that? Don’t tell me you’ve still got Christmas cards to write. It usually takes my wife a month 62.(write) all of ours.

Jerry: No,I 63. (do) that a long time ago. It's about 64. (tell) my son the truth about Santa Claus.

Steve: Does he still think Santa is real? Do you think 65. is better that he should be told?

Jerry: Yes. He's never said anything so I've never told him. But now he's getting older,he doesn't find that type of thing 66. (convince) to any-one.

Steve: That happened to my oldest girl. She became 67. (real) upset when she knew the fact 68. Santa wasn’ t real.

Jerry: I can understand. I was lucky with my oldest girl; she found it out by 69.(her) and didn’ t tell my son.

Steve: Well,try to come up with a satisfactory 70. (explain) . It's hard for kids to find out something like that.

    One day,a friend told me about his problem. He has been spending more time 41 lately — he goes to the mall every weekend,and once or twice in the week as well. The shop windows are really 42 for him and it's true that he 43 a few things when he is there. Besides,he can51 44 shopping during sales. His wife tells him they don't need all those things,  45 he thinks they are so cheap and good ... Now my friend's wife has decided to get his credit card cancelled. Life is getting for him!

    This sounds like a(n) 47 of compulsive(強迫性的) shopping,and hundreds,maybe thousands of people have the same 48. 1’m afraid there's no easy 49 ,although there are a number of methods we can suggest.

     One thing you could do is to try making a 50   before you go out. You won' t buy so many things if you think first about what you really 51 .

    Another good  52 would be to check your budget. How much can you 53 to spend? If you can't control your 54 ,don't take your credit card with you!For example,take £50 and say: UI can buy what I want,as long as it doesn’ t cost more

than £50.? 55,you can do this 56 once a week,or once a month!

     57,if you still can't control things,maybe you should just 58 going to the shops. There's a lot more to life than just shopping. Try not to spend your family's moirey,59 , spend time with them. Be sociable!60 a hobby,such as cycling or swimming,or going out with your friends. But let someone else dq the shopping.

41. A. working   B. learning   C. shopping   D. travelling

42. A. great   B. strong   C. strange   D. big

43. A. loses   B. buys   C. makes   D. returns

44. A. continue   B. try  C. remember   D. stop

45. A. so   B. but   C. and   D. or

46. A. fair   B. hard   C. normal   D. good

47. A. lesson   B. experience   C. way   D. example

48. A. problem   B. opinion   C. accident   D. approach

49. A. life   B. solution   C. promise   D. task

50. A. conversation   B. suggestion   C. start   D. list

51. A. need   B. agree   C. forget   D. expect ’

52. A. question   B. goal   C. reply   D. idea

53. A. afford   B. find   C. choose   D. borrow

54. A. time   B. money   C. power. D. patience

55. A. Luckily   B. Naturally   C. Frequently   D. Clearly

56. A: only   B. even   C. ever   D. also

57. A. Shortly   B. First   C. Lastly   D. Later

58. A. hate   B. avoid   C. keep   D. enjoy

59. A. instead   B. however    C. besides   D. then

60. A. Share   B. Show   C. Change   D. Develop

    When I was little,my mother began selling food at Camden Market. She couldn't leave me at home on my own,so I had to go to the market with her.

      36 I just sat there. When I got older,I gave my mum a hand,and I really enjoyed it.

    Then,one year,my uncle gave me a,book for Christmas. 37 I was fourteen,and I didn't have to go to the market anymore. I spent my free time making candles of all different shapes and sizes.

     One day,my mother was ill so I had to go to the market on my own. 38 They were sold out in twenty minutes!The next week,my mum gave me some money to buy wax (蠟) to make more candles. Again,they sold out really quickly.

     Six months later,we decided to stop doing the food. 39 Luckily,some of my school friends started to help us. I paid them one pound for every eandle,and we used to sell them for four or five times that.

      When I left school,my uncle lent us some money and I opened my first shop. 40 In the first store,we only sold candles,but now we sell everything from designer furniture to silver jewellery.

   A. Since then,T ve never looked back.

   B. I often talk about how the business began.

   C. To begin with,I didn't have to do anything.

   D. It was all about making candles and I loved it.

   E. With the opening of this new store,I now have 25 stores.

   F. My mum and I couldn’t make enough candles during the week.

   G. I decided to take some candles with me and see if!could sell them.

    The famous website known as Facebook began as a Harvard University dropout's hobby. It was once limited to university students,but it has now become the largest social networking website in the world. It is a good way for old friends to find each other and for new friends to meet.

    Facebook was started in 2004 and was then a site that only students with an email address ending in “edu” could join. It was like being part of a huge but exclusive club. College students throughout the USA joined the,website to create large networks. As Facebook's popularity grew,its founder,Mark Zuckerberg,realized even more people would love to sign up for- the service. In 2006,Facebook opened Its membership to anyone with an email address. Facebook experienced another increase in its popularity.

    In just minutes,anyone can sign up for the service and start enjoying photos or videos. Most new members also enjoy searching for friends they lost touch with years ago. Whether they knew each other from elementary,middle,high school or college,people around the world reconnect using Facebook's simple tools.

     Facebook also includes many specialized features. Members write on a friend's “wall”，a special part of each person's page. Friends post short public messages on each other's “walls”，or they can send  private(私密的) “messages”.

Facebook members also “poke(戳) ” each other Sending a “poke” to a friend is like saying “I'm thinking of you”. Like a real-life poke,a “poke” on Facebook shows you want someone's attention. Members also send “gifts”. “Gifts” are little icons(圖標) of things you might really give. Members can buy these icons at a low price and send them,showing their appreciation.

32. What does the underlined word aexclusive,? in Paragraph 2 mean?

   A. Available only to some people.

   B. Teaching you something modem.

   C. Strange and difficult to understand.

   D. Supporting new ideas and methods. 

33. How did Mark Zuckerberg increase Facebook's popularity?

   A. By advertising it online.

   B. By working with schools.

   C. By making it open to any email user.

   D. By sharing students' photos and videos.

34. Paragraph 3 mainly talks about .

   A. some ways of using Facebook’s  tools

   B. what people can learn from Facebook

   C. how people make friends on Facebook

   D. some features that make Facebook popular 

35. If a Facebook member wants to get noticed by

a friend,he can.

   A. send a “gift”

   B. send a “poke” .

   C. write on the “wall”

   D. send long “messages”

     When people communicate,they use more than words. People's body language shows important information just like speech does. When someone lies with their words,their body language often tells the truth. The next time you wonder if someone is telling you the truth,try watching their hands.

    A person who is being honest will usually turn one or both of their palms(手掌) towards the other person. If a person is beginning to “open up” or share important information,you may notice them turn their palms towards you. Like most body language,this unconscious(無意識的) gesture usually gives the other person the feeling that the speaker is speaking honestly.

     When people lie,they tend to hide their palms by putting their hands behind their back or holding them. Others will keep their hands in their pockets if they are lying or trying to hide information. Salespeople are sometimes trained to watch out for this specific example of body language when a person is saying that they can't afford a product or service. Sometimes professional liars try to use open-palm gestures to fool others. But a careful listener may tell it is a lie through their body language such as lack of eye contact and touching the nose.

   Research has also suggested that if people normally turn their palms to face theii* listeners,they tend to be more honest themselves. If you want people’ lionesty,talk to them and ask them questions while keeping your palms turned out. This will put pressure . the people you are talking to.

       Human body language,emotion,and communication are directly connected. By showing that you kre honest,with your palms towards people,your body language pushes others to tell you the truth.

29. Turning one's palms towards others is a symbol of .

   A. confidence           B. politeness

   C. patience            D. honesty

30. How is Paragraph 3 mainly developed?

   A. By telling stories.

   B. By giving examples.

   C. By making comparisons.

   D. By providing explanations.

31. Talking with your palms open will encourage others to .

   A. behave actively

   B. gesture carefully

   C. be honest with you

   D. forget their pressure

                              B

     You probably laugh at something you find funny,but how much do you really know about jokes and humour? Reader's Digest (RD) questioned several experts to give us some facts about them.

RD: What's the oldest joke in the world?

     “We can't know the oldest joke in the world because it would have existed earlier than writing ,” says Christie Davies,professor of sociology at the University of Reading in the UK. The oldest joke book that" been found so far is the Greek Philogelos. It dates from the 4th century A D. although the jokes date from an earlier time. According to psychologist Steve Wilson,director of National Humor Month (April in the US) it contains 265 jokes.

RD: Do some people fail to develop a sense of humour?

     Rod Martin,professor of psychology at the Western University in Canada,believes that while everyone is bom without a sense of humour,as we develop,humour and laughter begin to appear. “Of course,some children are more serious,quiet,and less likely to laugh frequently,but this doesn't mean they don't have a sense of humour.w And according to Steve Wilson,there are no adults who don't have a sense of humour. "Almost everyone is able to develop a sense of humour,and I teach people how,” he says.

RD: Do people share a sense of humour unique to their own nation?

     Sense of humour does differ a lot by country,according to an author named Scott Weems. British humour is thought to be absurd in nature,while American humour has an aggressive quality. According to a study,Germans are found to find everything funny.

25. What do we know about the oldest joke book?

   A. It remains unknown.

   B. It was written in Greek.

   C. It was found in the UK.

   D. It contains the oldest joke.

26. What does Rod Martin agree with about people's sense of humour?

   A. Nobody is bora with a sense of humour.

   B. Some adults lose it when they grow up.

   C. Childhood is the best time to develop such ability.

   D. Children have a poorer sense of humour

27. What kind of humour has an aggressive feature?

   A. British humour.

   B. German humour.

   C. Canadian humour.

   D. American humour.

28. Where can you probably find the text?

   A. In a popular magazine.

   B. In a research paper.

   C. In a personal diary.

   D. In a textbook.

                              A

      I learnt to fly in a balloon in a race across the Atlantic Ocean in 1992 and became extremely interested in the sport. In the same way that a mountain climber dreams of climbing the world's highest mountain,I dreamed about flying non-stop around the world.

       I spent six years planning the flight and failed twice before I and my team managed to succeed. For some reason,we had to go first to North Africa to catch the right winds. That added 10 ,000 kilometres,and another week,to our journey. But because of this,our flight broke all the records for distance and time spent in the air.

      The most memorable part of the trip for me is that we lived in the air for 20 days and that the rising sun was the most amazing thing we saw. We had to go out of the balloon’s capsule (艙) , in which we were transported,three times while in the air to repair the fuel(燃料) system. We didn’ t have any safety equipment but when you are in a situation like that,you just do what you have to do without thinking about feeling afraid.

      Landing was a fantastic moment. I remember that when I got out of the capsule,I looked at my footprint in the sand. I remembered the astronaut Neil Armstrong,who was so happy to put his footprint on the moon,so far away from Earth. At that moment,I was so happy to have my foot back on Earth! 

21. The author became interested in ballooning because of .

   A. a cross-ocean race

   B. a mountain climb

   C. a childhood dream

   D. a long sea journey

22. What can be inferred from Paragraph 2 about the author and his team's flight?

   A. They set a new record.

   B. They shortened their flight.

   C. Their flight went very smoothly.

   D. Their flight covered 10,000 kilometres.

23. Why did the balloonists get out of the capsule during the flight?

   A. To fight their fear.

   B. To do some repair work.

   C. To admire the rising sun.

   D. To check safety equipment.

24. The author mentioned Neil Armstrong to show his .

   A. regret         B. surprise

   C. respect        D. pleasure

5. To our surprise,he didn't respond to the suggestion.

To our surprise,he didn’ t   the suggestion.

4. “I feel very afraid,” she said in a low voice.

“ I feel very afraid, ” she

3. My uncle lives in an area where there are a lot of mountains. 

My uncle lives in a(n) area.