You can mail a letter or package under 16 oz. (unit of weight, 454g) in a mailbox, a blue box found on many street corners in U.S. cities and towns. Each mail box should have pick-up times clearly posted on top.
!Packages over 16 oz. placed in a mailbox will not be sent. Bring the package to the post office or retail (零售的) mailing shop instead. The clerk will process if for you.
The Post Office
In the larger cities, when you go to the post office you must take a number and wait in line. Post offices tend to be extremely crowded around Christmas. Try to go as early in the morning as possible. Post office branches open at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. while main branches close at 6 p.m.
Buying Stamps
! The cost of a first-class postage stamp to mail a letter is currently 39 cents, although rates tend to change often.
Stamps are sold individually or in booklets (小册子) of 10 (US$3.90) or 20(US$7.80) or in rolls of 100(US$9.00). You can buy stamps at the following locations:
·online, if you have a computer.
Link to the U.S. Postal Service website (http://www. usps.com) and click on “stamps online”.
·at your local post office
·at some ATMs (automated teller machine)
·at some supermarkets
·by mail
·retail mailing stores(you may have to pay extra for stamps and to mail packages through the U.S. Postal Service)
Postal Rates and Fees
The U.S. Postal Service’s online postage calculator(计算器) tells you the cost to mail a letter or package anywhere in the world. But you should know the weight of the package and the post code of the package’s origin and destination. If you don’t know the weight of the letter or package to be mailed, you can go to your local post office and the postal clerk will weigh it for you.When do the post office main branches close?
| A．At 9 p.m. | B．At 6 p.m. | C．At 5 p.m. | D．At 5:30 p.m. |
If you have only 39 cents, you can NOT buy a stamp at_____.
| A．a local post office | B．a supermarket |
| C．an ATM | D．a retail mailing store |
The cost to mail a letter can be calculated when you know _____.
①its weight ②its origin ③its destination
④its origin’s post code ⑤its destination’s post code
| A．①③④ |
| B．①④⑤ |
| C．①②③ |
| D．①②⑤ |
You can deposit money in a building society and obtain yearly interest at a certain rate．You can also borrow money from a building society．What, then, is difference between a bank and a building society? In fact, a building society does not seem to be very different from a savings bank．Many people regularly save money by depositing small amounts monthly in a building society, just as other people regularly save money by depositing small amounts monthly in a savings bank．Some people deposit large amounts in a building society as an investment．They receive higher interest than they would receive from a savings bank; their money can be invested either in building society shares or in loans to the society．
These societies are controlled by law, but they are not government organizations．They were originally started to enable people to buy houses．One of their main purposes is to provide loans for buying or building houses．Many people prefer buying a house to paying rent, but some of them cannot afford to buy a house．To cover the cost they borrow the money from a building society．The loan plus the interest is paid back in monthly amounts over an agreed number of years．Probably the payments made in this way are no more than the rent of a rented house．But at the end of the stated period, when the debt is paid, the borrower becomes the owner of the house．To protect the building society from “bad debts” he must sign a statement to say that the house belongs to the society until the debt is paid．
A building society invests the savings of its shareholders in houses and property．Unlike a bank, it does not serve as a general clearing house （清算所） for every kind of exchange or business operation．Its activities are limited compared with those of a bank．
68．A building society is different from a bank in that ____．
A．the former is limited in its activities
B．the latter is limited in function compared with the former
C．a bank doesn’t serve as a general clearing house
D．a building society can protect itself from “bad debt”
69．Some people put large amounts of money in the building society because _______．
A．they can get more profit than they do in a bank．
B．they may choose between the form of building society shares and that of loans for their investment
C．they may enjoy shares and loans at the same time
D．they like the society
70．If you borrow money from the society to buy a house, ____．
A．you have to return the money to the building society the moment it is needed．
B．you have to sign an agreement to repay the loan after a number of years
C．what you pay back monthly for the loan would be less than the rent
D．the house doesn’t belong to you unless you have repaid all the debt
The case for college has been accepted without question for more than a generation．
All high school graduates ought to go, says conventional wisdom and statistical evidence, because college will help them earn more money, become “better” people, and 
learn to be more responsible citizens than those who don’t go．
But college has never been able to work its magic for everyone．And now that close to half our high school graduates are attending, those who don’t fit the pattern are becoming more numerous, and more obvious．College graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis; college students interfere with each other’s experiments and write false letters of recommendation in the intense competition for admission to graduate school．Others find no stimulation in their studies, and drop out ------ often encouraged by college administrators．
Some observers say the fault is with the young people themselves ----- they are spoiled and they are expecting too much．But that is a condem
nation of the students as a whole, and does not explain all campus unhappiness．Others blame the state of the world, and they are partly right．We’ve been told that young people have to go to college because our economy cannot absorb an army of untrained 18-year-olds．But disappointed graduates are learning that it can no longer absorb an army of trained 22-year-olds, either．
Some adventuresome educators and campus watchers have openly begun to suggest that college may not be the best, the proper, the only place for every young person after the completion of high school．
We_may_have_been_looking_at_all_those_surveysand_statistics_upside_down,_it_seems,_and_through_the_rosy_glow_of_our_own_remembered_college_experiences．Perhaps college does not make people intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal, or quick to learn things ----- maybe it is just the other way round, and intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal, quick-learning people are only the ones who have been attracted to college in the first place．And perhaps all those successful college graduates would have been successful w
hether they had gone to college or not．This is heresy （异端邪说） to those of us who have been brought up to believe that if little schooling is good, more has to be much better．But contrary evidence is beginning to mount up．
64．According to the passage all of the following statements are true EXCEPT______．
A．about half of the high school graduates continue their studies at school
B．college graduates are believed to be able to earn more money
C．administrators often encourage college students to drop out
D．more and more young people are found unfit for college
65．Which of the following is one of some observers’ opinions?
A．The students expect so much that they are not satisfied with the hard college life．
B．The economic situation is so discouraging that the youth have to attend college．
C．College should improve because of so much campus unhappiness．
D．Colleges provide more chances of good jobs than anywhere else．
66．What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 mean?
A．Our college experience proves that those surveys are incorrect．
B．The surveys may remind us of our beautiful college experiences．
C．The surveys should all be re-examined according to our college experiences．
D．Our college experiences may make us misunderstand the results of the surveys．
67．What is the main purpose of this passage?
A．To argue against the idea that college is the best place for all young people．
B．To put forward an idea that college should not be the first choice．
C．To value young people’s further education in colleges．
D．To persuade young people into working after the completion of high school．
Does a drink a day keep heart attacks away? Over the past 20 years, numerous studies have found that moderate alcohol consumption, say, one or two beers, glasses of wine or cocktails daily helps to prevent coronary heart disease．Last week a report in the New England Journal of Medicine added strong new evidence in support of that theory．More important, the work provided the first solid indication of how alcohol works to protect the heart．
In the study, researchers from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvad Medical
School compared the drinking habits of 340 men and women who had suffered recent heart attack with those of healthy people of the same age and sex．T
he scientists found that people who sip one to three drinks a day are about half as likely to suffer heart attacks as nondrinkers are．The apparent source of the protection: those who drank alcohol had higher blood levels of high density lipoproteins （脂蛋白）, the so called good cholesterol （胆固醇）, which is known to prevent heart disease．
As evidence has mounted （增长）, some doctors have begun recommending a daily drink for patients of heart diseases．But most physicians are not ready to recommend a regular happy hour for everyone．The risks of teetotal ling （绝对戒酒） are nothing compared with the dangers of too much alcohol, including high blood pressure, strokes and liver troubles---not to mention violent behavior and traffic accident．Moreover, some studies suggest that even moderate drinking may increase the incidence of breast and colon cancer．Until there is evidence that the benefits of a daily dose（吸收剂量） of alcohol outweigh the risks, most people won’t be able to take a doctor’s prescription to the neighborhood bar or liquor store．
60．The report mentioned in the first paragraph indicates________．
A．the way in which alcohol can help the heart．
B．that a couple of cocktails daily can help stop heart problems
C．why alcoholic drinks are dangerous to one’s health
D．that reports on the advantages of alcohol were misled
61．Experiments showed that nondrinkers had___________．
A．larger amounts of good cholesterol B．smaller amounts of good cholesterol
C．higher blood pressure D．lower blood pressure
62．According to the passage, moderate drinking_______．
A．is recommended by most doctors for heart patients
B．should be allowed on prescription
C．is still not medically advisable
D．is not related to liver problems
63．The main theme of this passage is___________．
A．the change in recent drinking habits
B．the connection between cancer and alcohol
C．whether moderate drinkers outlive nondrinkers
D．whether alcohol may be good for one’s health
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，共40分）
第一节（共15题, 每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A,B,C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Most people know that a wedding ring is symbolic of the bond of love and commitment between two people．But not everyone knows about the history behind this small yet powerful symbol．The history of the wedding ring goes back not just hundreds but thousands of years．No other currently practiced wedding tradition has been around as long．
The Egyptians were the first recorded civilization to use the wedding ring．In Egyptian hieroglyphics（象形文字） a circle represented eternity．Once a woman accepted the ring she became the “property” of the person who gave it to her and she was in a sense “his．” The first wedding ring could have been made of braided grass or hay （which would have been changed often）, ivory, bone, or leather．Eventually, metal was used, but the first wedding bands were crude（未加工的） and rough．However, the sentiment remained the same-eternal commitment and love．
The Egyptians wore the wedding ring on the left hand because it was believed that a vein in the left hand went straight to the heart．This tradition is still commonly practiced today in most parts of the world largely for practical purposes （most people are right handed．） It is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand．But there are some countries and groups which do not follow this tradition．In the Jewish faith, the wedding ring is put on the index finger．Roman Catholics traditionally wore their wedding band on the 
right hand, and in many countries and regions in Europe some people still follow this tradition．
It is interesting to note that in the long history of the wedding ring that it is only in the last century that men have begun to wear them．However, now both men and women show their love and commitment by exchanging rings on their wedding day．
Once you begin shopping for rings you may be amazed by the choices that await you．There are several different types of metals: traditional gold, white gold, platinum, and titanium．You can have an inscription put on the inside of the band if you like．Some people are even choosing a tattoo band．The styles vary from a simple, yet elegant band to an elaborate ring covered with jewels．If you do not buy the wedding and engagement rings as a set you will want to be sure the styles are compatible．Choose carefully because this choice will need to stand the test of eternity．
56．What’s the best title for this passage?
A．History of rings B．Interesting facts about rings
C．Different beliefs about rings D．The meaning of the rings．
57．What may the word “eternity” in paragraph 2 probably mean?
A．Elegance B．Marriage C．Wedding D．Foreverness
58．Which is NOT true according to the passage?
A．The meaning of the rings remained unchanged．
B．One should be careful of choosing a ring in a shop from different kinds．
C．Jewish are so faithful to their beliefs to wear rings on the fourth finger．
D．Now most people in the world still follow Roman Catholics traditionally．
59．What can we infer from the passage?
A．Men were looked upon by women for thousands years．
B．Only women have the right to make themselves beautiful．
C．women wore rings thousands of years earlier than men．
D
．You can have an inscription put on the inside the band．
Here's a scene：a village where the sun always shines，crops always grow and your friends drop by to sweep your yard to the sound of guitar music．Animals do what they are told，there is no disease，and lendin’ folks a helpin’hand makes you richer and wiser．Welcome to FarmVille—
Current population 69m and rising fast．
“It reminds me of my childhood，”says one player, Lia Curran，37，a nurse from London．“Right now I'm growing wheat and flowers. I've got a small garden, and I'm raising some chickens and some cows. I like having the animals. It's relaxing.” Curran's animals, however, is nothing more than a collection of cartoons. FarmVille is an online computer game built into the social networking site Facebook and is described by its players as “addictive”. Launched last June by Zynga Game Network, FarmVille now has many players—more than the population of the UK. The players are largely women over the age of 35.
FarmVille unites the worlds of social networking and gaming．Players are given a ground with six fields，“cash”，a few seeds and a plough and have to build up wealth，skills and neighbors to create bigger，better，richer farms．Inviting your online friends to play means you earn more and get flee gifts；you rise rapidly through the first levels but，once hooked，have to work harder and harder with no final level or goal in sight．
“Games like this draw people into a fantasy world that's separate from real life where there are no issues，and where things are simple and controllable，” Brian Dudley says．In November，he opened the UK's first computer games addiction clinic，treating online gamers who stayed at the keyboard for up to eight hours a day—“the tip of the iceberg”，he says．Two weeks ago，a group of US players launched a class action against Zynga and Facebook．“Most，if not all，of the online advertisements presented through Zynga are scams(骗局)，”the lawsuit states．“The advertisements are highly misleading and often result in users ordering goods or services that they do not want or need．”
According to Nick O'neill from the social media site All Facebook，Zynga is making $500，000(￡304，000)a day，from its Facebook games，in turn spending some $50m(￡30m)a year on Facebook ads．
If all that weren't enough，FarmVille doesn't even function like a proper farm：in FarmVille，wheat grows in two days—in real life，it takes months．But play continues nevertheless．
68．If you want to create a better and richer farm，you should do the following EXCEPT that ____．
A．you have to work harder and harder
B．you should pay real—world money to advance in the game
C．you should invite your online friends and neighbors to play
D．you should develop your skills and befriend FarmVille neighbors
69．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Most young girls are fascinated by the farming game．
B．Money Zynga has made is mostly spent on advertising campaign．
C．There is potential threat to the players and some players are misled by the advertisements．
D．The UK's first computer games addiction clinic was opened to help treat online players．
70．The purpose of the class action against Zynga and Facebook was to_____．
A．show that Zynga has an extremely tight relationship with Facebook
B．try to stop Zynga and Facebook from putting advertisements
C．attract more people to FarmVille game to plant crops
D．appeal to the public to order more goods or services
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