He wishes the holiday season would end already . His back aches , his red suit feels like a spacesuit , his cheeks have gone tight from smiling for 12 hours ―and still the kids keep coming and coming , like ants at a picnic . As Christmas becomes more commercialized (商業(yè)化) across the U. S. and Canada , so must Santas . As the holiday begins earlier each year , so must its spokesmen  .

The questions from children these days are harder than ever . Now, with thousands of children expecting a father or mother serving in Iraq or Afghanistan , the questions are as heart-breaking as they are unanswerable . For example , “Can you please bring Daddy home from the war in time for Christmas morning ?”

Santas also have a pretty good chance of getting sued (指控). A professional Santa Claus in Canada told a story : A Santa had a girl on his knee , and he commented , “You have nice eyes and nice hair .” The girl later said it was sexual harassment (騷擾) . When a Santa feels anxious , he often shows it in the same ways ordinary people do : The Santas were always seen to hang around at the dinner table when the show ended . Many of them just sleep in bed for several days and don’t see other children again .

56．In the first paragraph , “spokesmen” refers to        .

      A．businessmen                                        B．political leaders

      C．organizers of the activities                     D．Santa Clauses

57．The passage implies that the job of Santa Claus is        .

      A．well-paid             B．very hard            C．worth doing        D．dangerous

58．According to the third paragraph, Santas may sometimes be blamed for        .

      A．doing something against the law            B．hanging around the dinner table

      C．being lazy and sleeping in bed for days   D．not playing their roles as expected

59．What would be the best title for the passage ?

      A．Christmas : Not a Good Festival for Santas

      B．Is Santa Claus Really Alive ?

      C．A Christmas Story

      D．What Does Santa Claus Do for Children ?

In the summer vacation of 1997, I was fixed with a job. I worked as a (n)     36    at Mr. Breen’s fruit shop .The fruit shop did     37     business. Most of the trade came from the housewives who lived in the neighborhood,    38     he also had regular customers who arrived outside the shop in cars. Mr. Breen     39     them all by name and they sometimes even had their order already made up , always      40    me to carry it out to their car . They were clearly long-standing customers , and I     41     they must have stayed faithful to him    42      he had promised to sell good quality      43    . He had a way with them ―I had to    44      that . He called every woman “madam” for a start ,    45     those who clearly were not, but when he      46    it , it did not sound like flattery (奉承). It just sounded      47    in an old-fashioned way . He was a great chatter      48    . If he did not know them , he would greet them with a few     49     about the weather ,     50    he did , he would ask about their families or make     51     , always cutting his cloth     52     his customers . Whatever their bills came to , be      53    gave them back the few odd pence (零錢), and I am sure they thought he was very generous (慷慨). But I thought he was the opposite . He never     54     anything away . He was always looking for      55    for nothing .

―Hurry up ! Alice and Sue are waiting for you at the school gate.

 ―Oh! I thought they          without me .

      A．went                   B．a(chǎn)re going            C．have gone           D．had gone

―Must I turn off the gas after cooking ?

  ―Of course. You can never be          careful with that.

      A．enough                B．too                     C．so                      D．very

The way he did it was different          we were used to .

      A．in which               B．in what               C．from what          D．from which

Your uncle seems to be a good driver ;         ,I wouldn’t dare to travel in his Car .

      A．even so               B．even though        C．therefore            D．so

The manager, _______ it clear to us that he didn’t agree with us, left the meeting room.

      A．who has made      B．having made        C．made                  D．making

I think you’ll grow ________ him when you know him better.

      A．liking                   B．to be like             C．to like                 D．to be liking

________ and no way to reduce her pain and suffering from the terrible disease, the patient sought her doctor’s help to end her life.

      A．Having given up hope of cure                 B．With no hope for cure

      C．There being hope for cure                     D．In the hope of cure

Please tell me how the accident _______. I am still in the dark.

      A．came by               B．came upon           C．came to               D．came about