President Coolidge's statement, “The business of America is business,” still points to an important truth today that business institutions（機構） have more prestige （威望） in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government．Why do business institutions possess this great prestige?

One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the ideal of competition than other institutions in society．Since competition is seen as the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans, competitive business institutions are respected．Competition is not only good in itself, it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected．

Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly（壟斷） of power．In contrast to one, all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for profits．Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to competing business which treats its customers more fairly．Where many businesses compete for the customers' dollar, they cannot afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves．

A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly．Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it is more supportive of freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people and business leaders are not．Many Americans believe, that competition is as important, or even more important, than democracy（民主） in protecting freedom．

Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity．Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his or her social class background．Competitive success is commonly seen as the American alternative to social rank based on family background．Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity rather than the aristocratic（貴族的） idea of inherited privilege（待遇）．

71．The statement “The business of America is business” probably means “  _________ ”．

       A．Business is of primary concern to Americans

       B．America is a great power in world business

       C．The business institutions in America are concerned with commerce

    D．Business problems are of great importance to the American government

72．Americans believe that they can realize their personal values only  _________．

       A．through doing business                         

    B．by protecting their individual freedom

       C．by way of competition                 

    D．when given equality of opportunity

73．Who can benefit from business competition?

       A．Both business institutions and government    

    B．Both businessmen and their customers

       C．People with ideas of equality and freedom．

    D．Honest businessmen．

74. Government is believed to differ greatly from business in that government is characterized by________．

       A．its absolute control of power               

    B．its function in preserving personal freedom

       C．its role in protecting basic American values 

    D．its democratic way of exercising leadership

75．It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes ________．

       A．businesses in other countries are not as competitive as those in America

    B．American businesses are more democratic than those in other countries

    C．Americans are more ambitious than people in other countries

       D．in many countries success often depends on one's social status

One man tells of driving on a long and lonely road, the last 65 miles of it unpaved, in order to watch Indian dances in the state of Arizona．After the dances, he returned to his car only to find that it had a flat tire．He put on the spare and drove to the only service station in that town．

“Do you fix flats?” he inquired of the attendant．

“Yes,” came the answer．

“How much do you charge?” he asked．

With a twinkle in his eye, the man replied, “What difference does it make?”

This is what has been called a “Hobson’s choice”．A Hobson’s choice is a situation that forces a person to accept whatever is offered or go without．

According to Barbara Berliner, the phrase was inspired by sixteenth-century entrepreneur (企業(yè)家) Thomas Hobson．There was no choice by the customer — it was strictly Hobson’s choice．

But often we really have a choice, and the choice does make a difference．We may not always believe it．We may feel as if we have no choice, but almost always there is a choice in the matter．And when we realize that we do most things by choice, then we are taking control of our own lives．

Someone challenged me to try an experiment that completely changed my perspective(看法，觀點)．“For the next seven days,” he said, “remove the words ‘I have to’ from your vocabulary and say ‘I choose to’．Don’t say, ‘I have to work late tonight’．Instead, say, ‘I choose to work late’．When you choose to do it, you take control of your life．Instead of saying ‘I have to stay home’, try ‘I choose to stay home’．The way you spend your time is your choice．You are responsible．You have control．”

In just seven days I was no longer saying “I have to” and I felt better about my decisions．I learned that there is very little in my life I actually have to do．You and I decide to do certain things because we believe that it will be for the best．When we remove “I have to” from our vocabularies, we take control．

Try it for a week and you see what happens．I think you’ll see it’s a change for the better．

66．What did the attendant mean by saying “What difference does it make”?

       A．The man shouldn’t come to the service station．

       B．The man didn’t need to pay for the work．

      C．There was no need f to fix the tire ．

       D．It was unnecessary for the man to ask about the price．

67．What is the situation where we have a “Hobson’s choice”?

      A．We should make preparations before a journey．

      B．We should often change our choice．

      C．We have no choice but to follow．

      D．We should think twice before taking action．

68．The author learnt from the experiment that he  _________．

      A．a(chǎn)ctually changed his attitudes towards life     B．could spend more time relaxing himself

      C．should take pleasure in helping others         D．could become more challenging

69．The purpose of writing this text is to _________．

      A．tell an interesting story about the author    B．explain what Hobson’s choice is

      C．a(chǎn)ccept others’ advice modestly              D．a(chǎn)dvise us to become active in life

70．What's the best title of this passage?

   A．I Have To            B．I Choose To          C．Hobson’s Story       D．Fix a Flat Tire

The booking notes of the play “the Age of Innocence”:

Price: ＄10

BOOKING

There are four easy ways to book seats for performance:

------ in person

The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m． -8 p.m．

------ by telephone

Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card（Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted）

------ by post

Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office．

------ on line

Complete the on-line booking form at www．Satanfiedtheatre．com

DISCOUNTS:

Saver: ＄2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday． Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students．

Supersaver: half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion． It is advisable to book in advance． There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show．

Standby: best available seats are on sale for ＄6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible（suitable）for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers．

Group Bookings: there is a ten percent discount for parties of twelve or more．

School: school parties often or more can book ＄6 standby tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free．

Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances．

61．If you want to book a ticket, you CANNOT  _________．

       A．use the Internet                    

    B．go to the Box Office on Sundays

       C．complete a booking form and post it to the Box Office

       D．ring the booking number and pay for the tickets by credit card

62．According to the notes, who can get ＄2 off?

    A．A full-time college student．                      B．The people who book the tickets on Fridays．

    C．A woman who is 55 years old．           D．A teenager who is 18 years old．

63．If you make a group booking for a group of 14 adults, how much should you pay?

       A．＄120                  B．＄126                  C．＄140                   D．＄150

64．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

       A．There are only 8 wheelchair spaces in the theatre．

       B．A group of 12 persons can get 10 per cent discount． 

       C．A school party of 15 students should pay 90 for the standby tickets．

       D．The audience can’t refund money if the performance is on show．

65．What kind of tickets are the cheapest?

       A．The standby tickets．

       B．The tickets for group booking．

       C．The tickets for Saver discount．

       D．The standby tickets for school parties of ten or more． 

 You're in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation:

   "I can't believe it--a Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn't it beautiful? And it's a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome."

   They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It's nice and the price is right. You've never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. They must know. So, you buy it. You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes.

   Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too. This is the secret of undercover marketing. Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.

   Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation----consumers between the age of 18 and 34. It is a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads.

   So advertising agencies hire young actors to "perform" in bars and other places where young adults go. Some people might call this practice deceptive, but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative. "Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing."

   However, one might ask what exactly is "real" about of young women pretending to be enthusiastic about a sweater? Adverting executives would say it's no less real than an ad. The difference is that you know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. You don' t know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance.

56. The two attractive young women were talking so that they could ________.

    A. get the sweater at a lower price        B. be heard by people around

    C. be admired by other shoppers         D. decide on buying the sweater

57. Lorenzo Bertolla is __________.

    A. a very popular male singer              B. an advertising agency

    C. a clothing company in Rome            D. the brand name of a sweater

58. The underlined word "real" in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to _________.

    A. honest          B. true            C. false             D. artificial

59. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? 

    A. The two girls are in fact employed by the Lorenzo Bertolla Company.

    B. The MTV generation tend to be more easily influenced by ads.

    C. Traditional advertising is becoming less effective because it's too direct.

    D. Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government.

60. Which of the following would be the best rifle for the text?

    A. Two Attractive Shoppers              B. Lorenzo Bertolla Sweaters

    C. Ways of Advertising                  D. Undercover Marketing

One Sunday, a picture in the newspaper touched me. A young woman stood in front of a totally destroyed home．A little boy stood beside her with his head   36  .  Holding her skirt tightly was a tiny girl, eyes wide with   37  and fear.

   With growing  38   I noticed that their sizes of each family member closely   39  ours. This would be a good opportunity to   40  my children, so I explained their difficult   41   to my seven-year-old twins and three-year-old Meghan.

   “We have so much, but these people now have nothing,” I said, “we’ll   42  what we have with them.”

   I brought three large boxes and placed them on the living room floor.  Meghan watched seriously,  43  the boys and I filled one box with canned food.

While I   44   through our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and   45   some of their less favourite things. Meghan watched  46   as the boys piled up useless toys in the box.

“I’ll help you find something for the little girl,” I said to her.

The boys placed the toys they had   47  to donate into one of the boxes while I filled the third box with clothes. Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, faded,  much-loved toll   48     tightly to her chest. She  49  in front of the box, pressed her little face into Lucy’s face,  gave her a  50   kiss, then , laid her gently on the top of the other toys.

   “Oh , honey,” I said , “You   51   to give away Lucy．You love her so much.”

   Meghan nodded ,eyes shining with tears. “Lucy makes me happy, Mommy.   52   she’ll make that little girl happy too.”

I stared at Meghan for a long moment,   53   how I could teach the boys the lesson she had just taught me.

It’s easy to give what we don’t want any more, but   54  to let go of things we cherish, isn’t it?  55 , the true spirit of giving is to give with your heart.

36．A．off                 B．up                  C．round               D．down

37．A．smile               B．confusion            C．joy                 D．a(chǎn)nger

38．A．puzzle               B．interest              C．happiness            D．friendship

39．A．matched             B．suited               C．compared            D．equalled

40．A．teach               B．change              C．help                D．complain

41．A．problem             B．life                 C．suffering            D．situation

42．A．give                B．spare               C．share               D．send

43．A．a(chǎn)s                  B．because             C．since               D．though

44．A．got                 B．looked              C．sorted               D．came

45．A．keep                B．donate              C．leave                D．sell

46．A．hopefully      B．quietly              C．depressingly          D．a(chǎn)nxiously

47．A．separated            B．chosen              C．supposed            D．bought

48．A．hugged              B．caught              C．held                D．grasped

49．A．regretted            B．stood               C．paused              D．cried

50．A．precious             B．lovely               C．hearty               D．final

51．A．oughtn’t             B．wouldn’t like  C．don’t have             D．had better not

52．A．Though             B．Also          C．Yet                    D．Maybe

53．A．realizing             B．wondering             C．expecting              D．knowing

54．A．hard                B．necessary            C．a(chǎn)vailable               D．important

55．A．Therefore            B．Moreover            C．Otherwise             D．However 

 He went to Beijing at the end of September, _________ there was a grand celebration for new China’s 60^th birthday on National Day.

A. when                        B. which                      C. where                      D. that

--- Do you regret paying 60 pounds for the painting?

    --- No, I would willingly pay _________ for it.

    A．much as twice                                       B．twice as much

C．twice as much as                                   D．a(chǎn)s much twice

I can’t see the        in trying to persuade him．He never listens to reason,you know．

       A．result               B．use                   C． possibility       D．point

--- I’m terribly sorry, Lucy．I’ve left your notebook at home.

    ---  _________ ? I reminded you last night.

    A．So what               B．Why not              C．How come           D．What for

Do you like _______when someone speaks to you without looking at you?

  A．it                       B．him                       C．that                      D．those