I have opened an a       the Bank of China, where I will keep my money.        

A：  61 

B：I wish I could say the same! Only joking! How have you been?

A：As well as usual. The kids have all grown up and moved out, so it’s just the two of us now   62  .

B：That would be great.  63 

A：Any day next week. Just drop around when you feel like it.

B：  64 

A：It sure will. Anyway, I have to leave. Remember to come around for dinner.

B：  65 

A．When is a good time for you?

B．I’m glad to see you.

C．It’s nice to see you again.

D．I will, and it’ll be good to catch up again.

E．I am looking forward to it. See you next week.

F．While you’re around, why don’t you drop by for dinner one night?

G．Shall we meet on Wednesday?

61．           62．           63．           64．            65．            

SAN FRANCISCO―The “Reading Wizard”, an 11 year old boy, whose offer to read to children without being paid at a local library was refused by libraries, will get to read to younger kids after all.

Mayor Willie Brown last Wednesday ordered San Francisco Public Library officials to allow John O’Connor to read to preschool children to get them interested in books and stop them from watching television and video games.

“I didn’t expect this kind of attention. ” John said, “It’s just shocking.”

John has chosen his first book, “The King’s Giraffe”, and made up fliers inviting neighborhood children, aged from three to six, to the Presidio Branch every Wednesday afternoon. He planned to call himself the “Reading Wizard” and wear a special hat, fake glasses and a black coat.

But his idea was refused on the phone, in person and finally with a letter from Toni Bernardi, the chief of the library’s children and youth services. Using terms like “age appropriate material”（適齡讀物）,she wrote that only library workers are allowed to read to children.

John then went to a member of the city board of supervisors（督導(dǎo)董事會）, who advised him to write letters to the library officials.

“Our libraries are supposed to turn kids on, not to turn them off.” Brown said he enjoyed “the creative idea, the sense of civic duty and the caring for others that John clearly showed us.”

57．Who is the “Reading Wizard”?

       A．Presidio Branch.                                            B．The King’s Giraffe.

       C．John O’Connor.                                          D．Toni Bernardi.

58．The 11 year old boy asked librarians at the local library for permission to        .

       A．play video games                                        B．wear something strange

       C．design fliers for new books                          D．read stories to young children

59．By dressing up as a wizard, the boy probably hoped to        .

      A．put up a performance

       B．frighten the three year old boys

       C．get the officials shocked

       D．a(chǎn)ttract the children’s attention

60．We can infer that Mayor Willie Brown        .

       A．praised the boy for his new idea

       B．received a call from the library for children

       C．informed the boy to stop reading to children

       D．held a party for John and his friends at the library

A serious threat to farmers in many parts of the world is erosion. Erosion occurs if a large area of land is cleared of trees and is then badly treated by the farmers. The rain and winds may gradually wash away, or blow away, much of the topsoil. When this happens, crops of wheat or corn become weaker and weaker until nothing grows well. If erosion continues, it will turn good land into a desert.

In the past, when erosion appeared, farmers sometimes moved to a new place to farm. Sometimes they could not move, but continued to try to grow food in the unhealthy soil. This caused them to sink into poverty. Soon some people realized that there was little rich, fertile soil in the world, government began to try to stop erosion.

One of the first experiments to stop erosion began in the United States in 1933. The experiment was carried out in the area of the Tennessee River. Floods and had farming in this area had ruined（毀壞）land that had once been rich. As a result, most of the people living around the Tennessee River were very poor.

The government built big dams across the river and stored the water for use during the dry season when there was no rain. The government workers also helped farmers to fertilize their soil and to learn new farming methods which could stop erosion.

At the beginning, the farmers were not interested. But soon,  good healthy crops began to appear on the land where new methods where used. Ten years after the extremely prosperous, the great success of this experiment had led similar projects in the other parts of the world.

53．The word “erosion” in the first paragraph means        .

       A．the clearing of trees                                    B．excessive（極度）use of the land

       C．the destruction of crops                              D．gradual loss of topsoil

54．The passage tells us that erosion is a problem which        .

       A．first began in the United States in 1933

       B．occurs mainly in river areas

       C．a(chǎn)ffects many parts of the world

       D．is becoming more and more serious

55．In the second paragraph, “to sink into poverty” means        .

       A．to lose topsoil in erosion

       B．to become weaker and weaker until nothing grows well

       C．to become very poor

       D．to turn into a desert

56．The main purpose of this passage is to tell people        .

      A．how erosion occurs

       B．the importance of using new farming methods

       C．something can be done to prevent erosion

       D．the serious outcomes（后果）of erosion