More than one hundred thousand international students will spend this summer working and traveling in the United States. They are joining in the Summer Work Travel program through the State Department, a US government department that deals with anything connected with foreign countries. The idea is for students to work for up to three months and earn enough money to then spend a month traveling before they return home.

The Summer Work Travel program was started years ago. This year there are some changes. The State Department recently amended the employment rules. These changes follow a strike last summer by foreign students working for Hershey's chocolates in Palmyra, Pennsylvania.

The students said they were put to work for long hours in jobs that provided little or no contact with the outside world. The students complained about having to lift heavy boxes and to work overnight. They also complained about being paid so little money because part of the money they made had to go to the people who helped them to join in the Summer Work Travel program.

Now, the State Department doesn't allow the use of Summer Work Travel students in those workplaces where students have to carry heavy boxes, such as packaging plants. Also, most of their working hours cannot fall between ten at night and six in the morning. The students are also not allowed to work in workplaces that the government believes unsafe.

Daniel Costa at the Economic Policy Institute Washington welcomed the changes. He said, "That is good because it will protect the real foreign workers from getting hurt on the job. It' also protects US workers, many of whom don't have jobs."

Jacob Horwia is lead organizer for the National Guestworker Alliance, the group that organized the strike in Palmyra. "The changes to the employment rules really recognize the demands that the students asked for," he said, "and they can protect local workers who work in industries that use guest workers and also protect those foreign students." He also believed these changes will help return the program to its purpose as a cultural exchange program.

67. What can we learn about the Summer Work Travel program from the text?

A. More than one hundred thousand international students have joined in it

B. It aims to help students make some money before they return home.

C. Students joining in the program can travel while working.

D. It is an activity organized by a government department.

68. What is Jacob Horwia’s attitude towards the new rules?

A. Angry.　　　　　 B. Positive.　　 　　 C. Doubtful.　　　　 D. Puzzled.

69. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A. Foreign students cannot work after six at night and before ten in the morning.

B. Foreign students cannot work in the places where their parents believe unsafe.

C. Daniel Costa thinks foreign students shouldn't do the same jobs as US workers.

D. Daniel Costa thinks the changes are good for both foreign student workers and US workers.

70. What would be the best title of the passage?

A. The life of foreign students in the US

B. The State Department protects foreign students

C. New rules on US summer jobs for foreign students

D. More foreign students will spend this summer in the US

You will spend hours at the gym training your body, but do you ever think about training your brain? Here are four ways to keep your brain mentally active and healthy.

Play games
　　 Your brain is a muscle just like the ones in the rest of your body. If you don’t use it, you will lose it. For example, doing a crossword puzzle once a day is a good way to give the brain the exercise it needs. This kind of puzzle is good for training different areas of the brain. But remember that when doing this puzzle, you should gradually increase the complexity (復(fù)雜度); otherwise, it will become repetitive and stop being mentally challenging.

63. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. Why you should train your brain.　　　

B. How to be a good team leader.

C. Training the brain is more important than training the body.
D. How to make your brain healthy and work actively.

64. Which word can replace the word “boost” in the third paragraph?

A. Change.　　　　 B. Promote. 　　　　 C. Decrease.　　　　 D. Lose.

65. We should gradually increase the complexity when doing crossword puzzles because ______.

A. if we don’t use our brain, we will lose it

B. we should make our brain face different challenges

C. our brain is a muscle like other parts in our bodies
D. these puzzles can work on different areas of the brain

66. Which group of people have a slower rate of cognitive decrease?

A. Those who don’t often do crossword puzzles.　 B. Those who don’t often count to 99 in threes.

C. Those who do their work very easily.　　　　 D. Those who can speak more than one language.

The future of pinnipeds（鰭足動物）looks much brighter today than it once did. At one time, about 100 years ago, it seemed certain that many pinnipeds in the world would be destroyed by human hunters. Today, it appears that most species of pinnipeds are out of danger.

Hunting was not controlled during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, because little was known about the lives of pinnipeds. Whales and pinnipeds were hunted for the oil from their body fat. This oil was used in lamps before electric lights were invented. Millions of seals and other pinnipeds were used to provide oil for the lamps of the world. As a result, the numbers of many pinniped species fell rapidly.

Several things happened that helped to save pinnipeds. First, species that were hunted to near extinction were left alone because their numbers were too low and the cost of hunting them went up greatly. At the same time, electric lights were invented and the market for seal oil became smaller. Finally, governments around the world made laws to protect pinnipeds.

As a result of all these things, the numbers of most pinniped species have grown in recent years. With some species, such as Northern fur seals, there may be as many animals alive today as there were before all the hunting began.

However, oil is still a .danger to pinnipeds and all sea animals. But this time it's not because they are hunted for their oil. The oil that puts them in danger is from oil spills（泄漏）in the sea. The oil covers their fur and reduces their body temperatures. Oil also sticks to the foods they eat. This modern danger to pinnipeds and their environment is one we must work to prevent.

60. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A. How electric lights were invented.

B. When people began to protect pinnipeds.

C. What governments around the world have done to save pinnipeds.

   D. Why the numbers of some pinnipeds have increased.

61. It can be learned from the text that __________.

A. the market for seal oil is growing

B. Northern fur seals aren't in much danger now

C. oil spills are the biggest problem for pinnipeds

D. stricter laws need to be made to protect pinnipeds

62. In which part of a magazine can we most probably read this text?

A. Wildlife            B. Lifestyle         C. Tourism         D. Environment.

No matter what, I made sure to look out my window every morning, because the view was different every day --- England, then France, Italy, Greece --- each special in its own way. In country after country, we toured around and tried to pick up little bits of the local language, but that didn't help us much. Luckily we kept finding people who knew some English. Everywhere we went, we saw the most amazing things. I love reading about places in my textbooks and then getting out of our vehicle to look right at them. I can't pick a favorite spot, because whichever one we were at seemed to be the best at the time.

After our trip ended, we moved to Florida. But it makes me happy that my family had this great year-long experience together. I’m thankful for that.

56. Compared with the seventh-grade school year, Grace's sixth grade year was_____

A. normal            B. painful          C. unusual         D. successful

57. How did Grace and her family travel in Europe?

A. By car            B. By taxi          C. By bike          D. By plane

58. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A. Grace likes Italy very much              B. Grace prefers travelling to reading

C. Grace can speak different languages well    D. Grace enjoyed the experience with her family

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

A. Getting along with my family         B. Looking out of my window

C. My new moving home               D. My life on the road

閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從各題所給的A、B、C、D四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。

Tina in my class always wore a bright smile. This may not seem that unusual ___36___ that she suffered from a disease causing trouble in speaking and walking. Many times people didn’t ___37___ her. Maybe it was because she looked ___38___. Tina usually broke the ___39___ with people she met with a big “Hi”.

       One day the assignment (作業(yè)) was to memorize three stanzas (詩節(jié)) of the poem, “Don’t quit.” I made the assignment worth only ten points since I wasn’t ___40___ much from today’s teenagers.

       The day the assignment was due ___41___, and one by one each student ___42___ to recite the poem. “Sorry, Mr. Krause,” was the reply. ___43___, in disappointment and half kidding, I said that the ___44___ person who couldn’t recite the poem perfectly had to do ten pus-ups (俯臥撐). To my ___45___, Tina was next. Tina used the walker (助行架) to ___46___ to the front of the class and began reciting the poem. She recited the end of the first stanza when she made a mistake. ___47___ I could say a word, she ___48___ her walker to the side and started doing push-ups. I was shocked and wanted to say, “Tina, I was just ___49___!” But she struggled up in her walker and ___50__ the poem. She finished the rest of the poem ___51___, one of the few students who did.

       When she finished, a student asked, “Why did you do that? It’s ___52___ worth ten points!” “Because I want to be ___53___ you --- normal,” was her reply. ___54___ fell on the whole room when another student said, “Tina, we’re not ___55___--- we’re teenagers! We get in trouble all the time.”

       Tina got her ten points. She also got the love and respect of her classmates.

36. A. so               B. rather                     C. except                    D. in

37. A. speak to     B. believe in                C. care about               D. quarrel with

38. A. proud         B. careful                    C. shy                        D. different

39. A. rule            B. ice                          C. anger                     D. situation

40. A. wanting      B. thinking                   C. learning                  D. expecting

41. A. gained        B. turned                    C. arrived                            D. balanced

42. A. tried           B. managed                 C. refused                   D. failed

43. A. Suddenly    B. Sadly                     C. Luckily                   D. Finally

44. A. first           B. next                        C. last                         D. sick

45. A. happiness  B. disappointment        C. interest                   D. surprise

46. A. move                B. run                         C. ride                       D. drive

47. A. Before       B. As                       C. After                       D. While

48. A. took           B. threw                     C. handed                   D. drew

49. A. laughing     B. saying                     C. kidding                  D. frightening

50. A. read           B. forgot                    C. continued                D. learned

51. A. terribly       B. partly                      C. perfectly                 D. painfully

52. A. almost        B. never                     C. really                      D. only

53. A. like            B. with                       C. against                    D. for

54. A. Tears                B. Rain                       C. Silence                   D. Laugh

55. A. normal       B. brave                      C. smart                     D. kind

 People have always been curious _______ how living things on the earth exactly began.

   A. in                  B. at                    C. of               D. about

I was just talking to Margaret when Jackson ________.

　 A. cut in　　　　　　　 B. cut down　　　 C. cut out　　　　　 D. cut up

Pater _______ be really difficult at times even though he’s a nice person in general.

   A. shall                B. should                C. can              D. must

We shouldn’t have set out at that time. We had _____ the fact that it was getting darker.

A. missed               B. disagreed            C. ignored           D. swapped

--- There is growing _____ about house prices.

---Don’t worry! Something has been done.

A. power　　　　　　 　 B. item　　　　　　　 C. series　　　　　 D. concern