As the summer time approaches, more and more commercials and advertisements can be seen on the mass media encouraging students to join English study tours abroad. The purpose of these tours is to provide students with an opportunity to learn English in a native speaking environment and use English in real situations. Parents always believe that their children will automatically speak good English after attending these study tours. However, for me, as an English major and former participant of many English study tours, I find these summer tours ineffective.

Parents who send their children abroad for a summer to study English usually believe that the native speaking environment, including the courses, teachers, and host families, can help their children to learn English better. This might be true if the students really study hard and they really get an all-English environment. But the fact is that, most of the time, the tour part is more important than the study part. Although these tours take place in foreign countries, students are rarely exposed in an all-English environment. You will find that, in the morning classes, Taiwanese students would like to stick together and speak Chinese with each other, even though there are some students from other countries. In the afternoon, the students go on a sightseeing excursion(觀光游覽) with their companions from Taiwan; they speak Chinese of course. In the evening, when students return to the host families, they would stay in their room and share the day with their roommate, another Taiwanese student. People who speak the same language with you is like a log in the ocean when living in a foreign country where you can not express yourself well, so that you would naturally stick with them. This is especially true with children. Another unrealistic expectation parents have for these tours is that the experience of living abroad can make their children more independent and mature. However, maturity does not come overnight. It takes time and practice. The most important of all is that they need a good mentor. None of these exist in the study tours.

66. What’s the author’s attitude towards the English study tours abroad?

　 A. Doubtful.　　　　 B. Positive.　　　　　　 C. Negative.　　　 D. Neutral.

67. Which of the following is the most important thing for children who study in an English　 environment according to the writer?

　 A. Host families.　　 B. Hard work.　　　　　　 C. Courses.　　　　 D. Teachers.

68. Why are students rarely exposed in an all-English environment?

　 A. The study tour itself makes it less important for students to expose themselves.

　 B. Staying with the students from the same country makes study easy abroad.

　 C. They only want to stay with their English teachers.

　 D. They are not sure about their spoken English.

69. Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the underlined word“ mentor” ？

A. companion　 adult, grown-up, mature B. boss　　　　 C. doctor　　　　　 D. adviser

70. What makes the parents send their children to join English study tours abroad according to the text?

　 A. Parents’ misunderstanding to the ads.　　　　　　　 B. Parents’ lack of information.

　 C. Parents’ unrealistic expectation.　　　　　　　　　　 D. Parents’ social experience.

The Board Meeting had come to an end. Bob started to stand up and knocked into the table, spilling his coffee over his notes. “How embarrassing! I am getting so clumsy in my old age.”

Everyone had a good laugh, and soon we were all telling stories of our most embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank who sat quietly listening to the others. Someone said, “Come on, Frank. Tell us your most embarrassing moment.”

Frank laughed and began to tell us of his childhood. “I grew up in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed the family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still at home.”

He looked at us and said, “I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled like the ocean. He would wear his old canvas, foul-weather coat and his bibbed overalls. His rain hat would be pulled down over his brow. No matter how much my mother washed them, they would still smell of the sea and of fish.”

Frank’s voice dropped a bit. “When the weather was bad he would drive me to school. He had this old truck that he used in his fishing business. That truck was older than he was. It would wheeze and rattle down the road. You could hear it coming for blocks. As he would drive toward the school, I would shrink (畏縮) down into the seat hoping to disappear. Half the time, he would slam to a stop and the old truck would belch (噴出) a cloud of smoke. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here, I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me goodbye!”

He paused and then went on, “I remember the day I decided I was too old for a goodbye kiss. When we got to the school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, “No, Dad.” It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this surprised look on his face. I said, “Dad, I’m too old for a goodbye kiss. I’m too old for any kind of kiss.” My Dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear up. Then he turned and looked out the windshield. “ You’re right,” he said. “ You are a big boy....a man. I won’t kiss you anymore.”

Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his eyes, as he spoke. “It wasn’t long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back. It was a day when most of the fleet (船隊) stayed in, but not Dad. He had a big family to feed. They found his boat adrift with its nets half in and half out. He must have gotten into a strong wind and was trying to save the nets and the floats.”

I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again. “Guys, you don’t know what I would give to have my Dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek…to feel his rough old face… to smell the ocean on him… to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man, I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a goodbye kiss.”

61. When his father drove him to the school, Frank would shrink down into the seat hoping to disappear because ________.

      A. he was ashamed of his father’s old truck

      B. he thought he was old enough to go to school alone

      C. he didn’t want his schoolmates to see his father

      D. he hated the way his schoolmates stared at his father

62. In Frank’s eyes, when saying “You are a big boy… a man.”, his father probably felt ______.

      A. disappointed          B. hurt      C. excited     D. proud

63. According to the story we can conclude that Frank’s father ________.

      A. was quite confident in his skills in fishing

      B. loved his children but hardly expressed it

      C. seldom gave up faced with challenges

      D. was full of devotion to his family

64. By saying the sentence “I wish I had been a man then”, Frank meant ________.

      A. he was fed up with his father kissing him goodbye

      B. he deeply regretted what he had done to his father

      C. he was then too young to refuse a goodbye kiss

      D. he hoped that his father would forgive him

65. Which of the following may be the best title for this passage?

      A. The Smell of the Ocean                     B. We All Need Love

      C. A Goodbye Kiss                           D. Father’s Embarrassment

I am a single mom and have a child. Knowing that I could not 　41　 to get him anything at all for his birthday, I felt broken-hearted. 42　 I decided to post a(n) 43　 on “Wish Upon A Hero” website for people to 　44　 my son birthday cards. I knew he loved to 　45　 the mailbox and always asked if there was anything for him. I 　46　 that if he could get a few cards, it would make him smile and maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't be so 　47　 that I wasn't able to get him anything.

The cards just started 　48　 in and my little sweetie was 　49 excited! Every day more and more cards came and this went 50　 for about three weeks. The smile on his face and the sparkle in his eyes brought me to 　51　 .

At the end of November, he started thinking about Christmas and he 　52　 knew that there would not be much under the tree for him due to my 　53　 ，but it didn't seem to 　54　 to him. All he talked about was how much he wanted to make other children 　55　 . He decided that what he wanted to do was earn money to buy Christmas cards and send them to other children from 　56　 families. My son went out daily to make money. Not only did he make the money to buy the cards, but he also made enough money to buy all the stamps and lollipops (棒棒糖) to put in the 　57　 . He sent out about 100 cards. Doing this 　58　 him the same smile and sparkle in his eyes as the birthday cards that he had received did. I was and am so 　59　 of him.

My son and “Wish Upon A Hero” have given me renewed 　60　 that there are still people in this world that care about others.

 Scientists have created the world’s smallest “snowman”, _____about a fifth of the width of a human hair.  

A. measuring         B. measures      C. measured        D. to measure

 I don’t think George is the right person to __________ the plan.

  A. turn out         B. put out        C. carry out         D. bring out

—Can you shoot that bird at the top of the tree?

—No. It’s out of ________.

A. range　　　　　 B. reach　　　　 C. control　 　　　D. distance

 Not until I was a senior student________ the importance of English.

  A．I have realized   B．did I realize    C．have I realized    D．I realized

 Free medical treatment in this country covers sickness of mind as well as ________ sickness. 

A. normal      B. average        C. regular         D. ordinary

 In the near future, China will increase supply of smaller houses, ________to help low-income families to buy houses of their own.

A. aims           B. being aimed       C. aiming            D. having aimed

 Looking at her excited expression, I just wonder _________ that makes her so excited.

  A. what is it           B. how it is          C. why is it          D. what it is