Would you BET on the future of this man？He is 53 years old. Most of his adult life has been a losing struggle against debt and misfortune. A war injury has made his left hand stop functioning, and he has often been in prison. Driven by heaven-knows-what motives, he determines to write a book.
The book turns out to be one that has appealed to the world for more than 350 years. That former prisoner was Cervantes, and the book was Don Quixote（《堂吉诃德》）. And the story poses an interesting question: why do some people discover new vitality and creativity to the end of their days, while others go to seed long before？
We've all known people who run out of steambefore they reach life's halfway mark. I'm not talking about those who fail to get to the top. We can't all get there. I'm talking about people who have stopped learning on growing because they have adopted the fixed attitudes and opinions that all too often come with passing years.
Most of us, in fact, progressively narrow the variety of our lives. We succeed in our field of specialization and then become trapped in it. Nothing surprises us. We lose our sense of wonder. But, if we are willing to learn, the opportunities are everywhere.
The things we learn in maturity seldom involve information and skills. We learn to bear with the things we can't change. We learn to avoid self-pity. We learn that however much we try to please, some people are never going to love us-an idea that troubles at first but is eventually relaxing.
With high motivation and enthusiasm, we can keep on learning. Then we will know how important it is to have meaning in our life. However, we can achieve meaning only if we have made a commitment to something larger than our own little egos（自我）, whether to loved ones, to fellow humans, to work, or to some moral concept.
Many of us equate（视……等同于）"commitment" with such "caring" occupations as teaching and nursing. But doing any ordinary job as well as one can is in itself an admirable commitment. People who work toward such excellence whether they are driving a truck, or running a store-make the world better just by being the kind of people they are. They've learned life's most valuable lesson.
（1）The passage starts with the story of Cervantes to show that_________.
| A． |
loss of freedom stimulates one's creativity |
| B． |
age is not a barrier to achieving one's goal |
| C． |
misery inspires a man to fight against his fate |
| D． |
disability cannot stop a man's pursuit of success |
（2）What does the underlined part in Paragraph 3 probably mean？
| A． |
End one's struggle for liberty. |
| B． |
Waste one's energy taking risks. |
| C． |
Miss the opportunity to succeed. |
| D． |
Lose the interest to continue learning. |
（3）What could be inferred from Paragraph 4?
| A． |
Those who dare to try often get themselves trapped. |
| B． |
Those who tend to think back can hardly go ahead. |
| C． |
Opportunity favors those with a curious mind. |
| D． |
Opportunity awaits those with a cautious mind. |
（4）What does the author intend to tell us in Paragraph 5?
| A． |
A tough man can tolerate suffering. |
| B． |
A wise man can live without self-pity. |
| C． |
A man should try to satisfy people around him. |
| D． |
A man should learn suitable ways to deal with life. |
（5）What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?
| A． |
To provide guidance on leading a meaningful adult life. |
| B． |
To stress the need of shouldering responsibilities at work. |
| C． |
To state the importance of generating motivation for learning. |
| D． |
To suggest a way of pursuing excellence in our lifelong career. |
Scientists from the Max Plank Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tubingen, Germany, have presented the first experimental evidence that people do end up walking in circles if lost in unfamiliar areas．The study, published in the journal Current Biology, examined the tracks of people who walked for several hours in the Sahara desert in Tunisia and in the Bienwald forest in Germany．Researchers Jan Souman and Marc Ernst said the scientists used the global positioning system （GPS） to record these paths．The results showed that the walkers were only able to keep a straight line when the sun or moon was visible．As soon as the sun disappeared behind some clouds, people started to walk in circles without even noticing it．
Souman said one explanation offered in the past for people walking in circles was that most people have one leg longer or stronger than the other, which would produce a systematic bias（偏差） in one direction．To test this．the researchers asked people to walk straight while blindfolded which removed the effects of vision．They found that these circles were rarely in a systematic direction, with the same person sometimes switching to the left and sometimes to the right．
"Most of the participants in the study walked in circles, sometimes in extremely small ones．Walking in circles is therefore not caused by differences in leg length or strength, but more likely the result of increasing uncertainty about where straight ahead is," said Souman, "Small random errors （随机性误差） in the various sensory signals that provide information about walking direction add up over time, making what a person perceives to be straight ahead drift away from the true straight ahead direction．"
72．The underlined word "this" in Paragraph 2 refers to _____．
A．the effects of vision B．a systematic bias
C．the leg length differences D．one explanation offered in the past
73．What is the probable reason for people's walking in circles?
A．The invisible sun or moon．
B．The increasing uncertainty about directions．
C．Differences in leg length or strength．
D．Wrong signals providing information about areas．
74．Why are the subjects required to be blindfolded?
A．To encourage them to walk straight． B．To stop them from seeing each other．
C．To dismiss the effects of vision． D．To keep the test a top secret．
75．Which of the following statements is true?
A．People walk straight in the day．
B．The farther people walk, the greater the direction bias grows．
C．People walk only in large circles．
D．Researchers use the global positioning system to record their tracks．
The findings of a new survey have American professors talking about the good old days—when A's were a lot tougher to earn．
Sites like RateMyProfessors．com make it easy for students to find a class taught by a professor who is known as an "easy grader"．A recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep found that 46 percent of the more than 1,200 students polled admitted to using the site for just such a purpose．
"Our research shows that many of today's college students are looking at multiple factors when picking out courses: overall teacher quality that will result in a good learning experience, but also instructors who don't like to award a lot of C's and D's," said Jeff Olson, vice president of research at Kaplan Test Prep．
"While it makes sense that students would choose kinder graders, it also helps explain the recent popularity of grade inflation（膨胀）．"
Grade inflation is seen by many professors as poisoning the learning environment．Some, like former Duke University professor Stuart Rojstaczer, are righting it head-on．
On his website, Gradelnflation．com, he releases an annual list of schools where grade inflation is the worst．
This year, he decided to name the schools where grades were inflated the least．He praised, for example, Princeton University, as well as Purdue University, where the average GPA has remained around 2．8 for over 30 years．
"Purdue doesn't even seem to know that grade inflation exists in the US," Rojstaczer says．"Ignorance is bliss（极大的幸福）．"
68．From the passage we may know that Kaplan Test Prep is most probably _____
A．an institute B．a professor
C．a vice president D．a course
69．Grade inflation is spreading because _____．
A．it's poisoning the learning environment
B．instructors intend to improve their overall teaching quality
C．many instructors adapt to the students' expectations
D．students get easy access to sites like RateMyProfessors．com
70．The passage suggests that _____．
A．universities will employ hard graders
B．if we want to be happy, we should be ignorant
C．A's are becoming easy to earn at most US universities
D．professors and instructors should give students higher grades
71．The writer tends to _____．
A．favor easy graders B．see grade inflation as unavoidable
C．oppose Kaplan Test Prep D．miss the days when A's were hard to earn
Monarch butterflies（黑脉金斑蝶）are a common summer sight in the northern United States and Canada. These large orange
and black insects brighten parks and gardens as they fly lightly among the flowers. What makes monarchs particularly interesting is that they migrate（迁飞）— all the way to California or Mexico and back. They are thought to be the only insect that does this.
Every year in the late summer monarchs begin their journey to the south. Those heading for Mexico go first for the 
Louisiana-Mississippi area, and then fly across the Gulf of Mexico into Texas. Once in Mexico, they settle themselves in one of about fifteen places in a mountain forest filled with fir trees. Each place provides a winter home for millions of monarchs. There are so many butterflies that they often cover entire trees. When spring comes, they begin their long journey north.
The question is often asked whether every butterfly makes the round-trip journey every year. And the answer is no. The average monarch lives about nine months. So one flying north might lay eggs in Louisiana and then die. The eggs of that generation may be found in Kentucky; the eggs of the next generation may end up in Wisconsin or Michigan. The last generation of the season, about the fourth, will make their way back to Mexico and restart the journey.
Scientists learn about monarchs’ migration by catching and making marks on the insects. By recatching a monarch with such a mark and noticing where it came from, the next scientist can get to know things like the butterfly's age and its routing（路线）.
68. One of the places where monarchs spend the winter is _____.
A. the Gulf of Mexico B. an area in Mississippi
C. a forest in Mexico D. a plain in Texas
69. The routing of monarchs’ migration can be learned _____.
A. by examining the marks made on them B. by collecting their eggs in the mountains
C. by comparing their different ages D. by counting the dead ones in the forests
70. Which is the best title for this passage?
A. Migration of monarchs. B. Scientists’ interest in monarchs.
C. Winter home of monarchs. D. Life and death of monarchs.
There’s a man in the habit of hitting me on the head with an umbrella. At first I couldn’t 
stand it; now I’m used to it.I don’t know his name. I know he’s ordinary in appearance, wears a gray suit and has a common face. One hot morning, when 1 was sitting on a tree-shaded bench in Palermo Park, reading the paper, suddenly I felt something touch my head. It was the very same man who now, as I’m writing, keeps striking me with an umbrella.So I turned around filled with anger. He just kept on hitting me. I asked him if he was crazy. He didn’t even seem to hear me. Then I threatened (威胁) to call a policeman. Calmly cool as a cucumber, he went on hitting me. After a few moments of hesitation (犹豫), and seeing that he was not about to change his attitude, I stood up and hit him on the nose. The man fell down. But he immediately got back on his feet, obviously with great effort, and without a word again began hitting me on the head with the umbrella. His nose was bleeding and, at that moment. I felt sorry for him I regretted having hit him so hard. After all, the man wasn’t exactly hitting me；he was only tapping me lightly with his umbrella, not causing any pain at all. Of course, those taps were extremely upsetting. As we all know, when a fly lands on your forehead, you don’t feel any pain；what you feel is annoyance (烦恼). Well then, that umbrella was one huge fly that kept landing on my head time after time.Believing that I was dealing with a madman, I tried to escape. But the man followed me, wordlessly continuing to hit me. So I began to run (I should point out that not many people run as fast as I do). He ran after me, trying to hit me. The man was out of breath so that I thought, if I continued to force him to run at that speed, he would drop dead right then and there.64. When the man began to strike the author with an umbrella, the author_________ A. became angry B. called the police C. turned around and escaped D. turned around and fought back65. The author would most probably agree that the man was________. A. deaf B. blind C. dead D. mad66. The author felt sorry for the man because _______. A. there was a fly on the man’s head B. he hit the man so h
ard that his nose bled C. the man couldn’t catch up with him D. the man formed a bad habit of beating others 67. It can be learned from t
he passage that the man__________. A. shouted loudly while hitting the author B. wanted to tell the author something C. ran after the author breathlessly D. acted as if he were a fly
Last week’s topic: What’s your opinion about cheating in exams?
Wilson 822 (Fujian): An oath isn’t enough to keep anyone from cheating. Who can tell that they won’t promise something that goes against their will? So I think the punishment is important. Punishments should be serious enough to stop people breaking the oath!
Wang Changling (Anhui): The oath itself makes all test-takers think that others may consider them would-be cheaters, which can hurt their feelings. In my opinion, prevention is better than a punishment. Educators should set good examples for students to follow and be role models for them. Even if only a few educators continue to copy other people’s work and their research papers, surely, students will follow.
Anonymous(匿名的): I support the school’s action against cheating. Although the oath
isn’t a duty, it can warn the would-be cheater.
Cathy Cheng: I find it is hard to refuse a friend who wants help in exams. And I think the rule of Maryland University gives the students like me a good excuse to refuse.
Zzq8301: I think it is a promising step toward what we’re talking about when we say “fair play” these days. Cheaters should be stopped because they make it difficult for the honest to succeed.
Freda (Tianjin): I was told by my foreign teacher to write down the oath on the back of my test paper in the same way that was described in the article. It is a rule everyone should obey in a fair game. Whether this method succeeds or fails is up to you. What I want to say is to be true to yourself.
60. The underlined word “oath” in Paragraph 2 may have the same mea
ning as “_________”.
A. idea B. promise C. plan D. opinion
61. It is clear that people mentioned in the text are talking about the rule made by _________.
A. Maryland University B. some colleges
C. the Education Department D. the government
62. How many people are in fact in favor of the rule?
A. 3 B. 2 C. 4 D. 5
63. 
Who think teachers should set a good example?
A. Wilson 822 B. Freda C. Cathy Cheng D. Wang Changling
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