Although man has known asbestos(石棉) for many hundreds of years, it was not until 160 years ago that it was mined for the first time on the North American continent. H. W. Johns, owner of a New York City Supply Shop for roofers, was responsible for(對…負(fù)責(zé)) the opening of that first mine.

    Mr. Johns was given a piece of asbestos which had been found in Italy. He experimented with the material and then showed its surprising powers to his customers. After putting on a pair of asbestos gloves, which looked much like ordinary work gloves, he took red-hot coals from the fireplace and played with them in his hands. How astonished the customers were to discover that he was not burned at all. You can well imagine that he had increasing business in asbestos roofing materials. However, because it was very expensive to transport (carry) them from Italy to the United States, Mr. Johns sent out a young scientist to seek a source nearer home. This young man found great vein(巖脈), in the province of Quebec in Canada.

    Ever since 1881 Quebec has led the world in the production of this unusual mineral, which is made up of magnesium, silicon, iron, and oxygen. When it is mined, the asbestos is heavy, just as you would expect a mineral to be. When it is separated, a strange thing happens; the rock breaks down into fine, soft, soapy fibres(纖維).

    Scientists do not know why the rock can be separated easily into threads(線), but they have found thousands of users of this fireproof material, of the so-called “cloth of stone”.

59. Which title best expresses the main idea of this passage?

A. Asbestos mined in Canada                B. Fireproof matter

C. A “wonder” mineral                     D. A new roofing material

60. Johns proved his ability as a salesman by_______.

A. going into roofing business          B. carrying asbestos from Italy

C. sending a trained scientist            D. showing the use of asbestos gloves

61. Which is the most important character of asbestos that the author wants to show us?

A. It is like thread.                    B. It feels soapy.

C. It burns easily.                     D. It is unusually heavy.

62 The author’s main purpose in writing this passage was to _______.

A. show the need for more scientists    B. compare asbestos with other minerals

C. increase the sales of asbestos          D. present facts about asbestos  

                                       “Go for it!”

The expression “Go for it!” is a way of encouraging someone to try something.“Go for it!”means you should not worry about failure or be to careful. You should take a chance, be brave, and act firmly. “Go for it!”gets name from football. Not footballs it is played in most countries such as England, Egypt or Japan,but the kind of football played in the United States and Canada. One of the most exciting times in football comes when a team has failed, after three attempts, to move the ball forward ten yards. The team must make a critical decision.

The conservative (保守) choice is to kick the ball and accept temporary defeat in order to gain a good position for your team the next time it gets the ball. The more exciting choice, however, is to try a fourth and final time to gain the remaining yards needed.

People present are certain to shout their advice. Some will shout: “Kick the ball!” But others will encourage the team to take a chance. “Go for it!” they will scream.

In the nineteen eighties, people began using this expression in many kinds of situations to encourage someone to act bravely.

There is no guarantee that the action you “go for it” will succeed.

But that is the chance you take when you decide to go for it. You put your fears behind. You choose courage over safety. You hold your breath and go for it.

56. The expression “Go for it!” comes from________________      

A. English football　                 B. Egyptian  football

C. Japanese football　　　　　 D. American football

57. According to the passage, when we decide to go for it, we only consider ________________

A. safety         B. action        C. result         D. situation

58. In which of the following situations should we use the expression nowadays?

A. We decide to avoid trouble or danger for the future.

B. We try to improve our English for better education.

C. We need to make a quick decision at the last moment.

D. We have to make a choice between success and failure.

A lady and her husband stepped off the train in Boston. They walked without an appointment into the outer _ 36_____ of Harvard’s president. But they were ___37_____by his secretary and kept waiting. For hours, the secretary took no notice of them, __38____ that the couple would finally  become __39____ and go away. But they didn’t. The secretary finally decided to disturb the president, though __40___.

A few minutes later, the president walked towards the couple with a __41___ face. The lady told them, “We had a son that __42____ Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was __43____ here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to __44____ a memorial (紀(jì)念物) to him, somewhere on campus.”

The president wasn’t __45____ .Instead, he was shocked. “Madam,” he said, “We can’t put up a statue for every person who studied at Harvard and died. If we did, this __46___ would look like a cemetery (墓地)。”“Oh, no,” the lady __47___ quickly, “We don’t want to put up a statue. We would like to give a __48____ to Harvard.” The president rolled his eyes and __49____ at the couple and then exclaimed,” A building! Do you have any __50____ how much a building costs? We have spent over $7,500,000 on the campus building at Harvard.” For a moment the lady was silent. The president was __51___, because he could get rid of them now. Then the lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it costs to start a  __52___ ? Why don’t we just start our own?” Her husband nodded. __53____ their offer was turned down, Mr. And Mrs. Stanford traveled to California where they founded the University that bears their ___54___,a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer __55____ about.

We had wanted to get home before dark, but it didn’t quite ________ as planned.

A. make out    B. turn out    C. go on    D. come out

But for the leadership of our Party and our Government, we __________ these splendid results.

  A. have achieved                                B. shouldn’t have achieved

  C. should have achieved                     D. would achieve 

Not only ______ interested in the football but _______ beginning to show an interest in it.

  A. the teacher himself is; all his students are;

  B. the teacher himself is; are all his students;

  C. is the teacher himself; are all his students;

  D. is the teacher himself; all his students are;

Which do you enjoy_______ your spare time, reading or playing chess?

  A. to spend       B. spend       C. spending      D. being spent

Books are the most important records we keep_______ man’s thoughts, ideas and feelings.

  A. for       B. up       C. on        D. of

After_______ seemed an endless wait, it was her turn to have the job interview.

  A. that      B. what      C. which      D. who

---Can I pay the bill by check?

---Sorry, sir. But it is the management rules of our hotel that payment _____be made in cash.

  A. need      B. will      C. shall       D. can