Driving while talking on a hand-held mobile phone has long been considered a danger. But even drivers who use hands free devices are a nuisance – because they are slowing everyone else down, according to a study.
David Strayer, a psychology professor in Utah University’s traffic lab, conducted a study involving 36 university students driving on motorways. Each used a hands free phone for half the trip but not for the other half. The students were told to obey posted speed limits and use turn signals but the rest of the driving decisions were up to them . What Strayer found is that when the drivers were distracted（使分心）by a phone conversation , they made fewer lane（車道） changes, drove slower and took longer to get where they were going. Fellow researcher Professor Peter Martin, who teaches civil and environmental engineering at Utat University, said,“Ordinarily a slower driver should be safer ， but that’s not the case when people are talking on a cell phone.”
In general , drivers who used mobile phones while driving took three percent longer to drive along the same high-density route than drivers who didn’t. When stuck behind a dawdling(磨蹭的) driver , it took them between 25 and 50 seconds longer to switch to an open lane to overtake. Those delays can add up when you consider studies that suggest as many as 10 percent of US drivers are using a cell phone at any one time. And delays in traffic streams of very small amounts can grow into massively when drivers are crossing a  highway.” Our next step is to use computer models to determine just how much those delays are costing drivers in time and in extra fuel costs,” Martrin said.
63. What does the underlined word in the first paragraph mean?
A. A person who is a volunteer.         B. A person who breaks the traffic law
C. A person who is annoyed by others.   D. A person who causes trouble
64. Which of the following is TRUE , according to Martin?
A. The more slowly a person drove, the safer he was.
B. Measures should be taken to stop using mobile phones.
C. Drivers using hand-held phones had less effect on traffic than those using hands free phones
D. Driving while using mobile phones could cost drivers time and money.
65. The passage is mainly about      .
A. traffic conditions in rush hours 
B. the use of mobile phones in the USA
C. using hands free devices behind the wheel
D. a comparison between hand-held phones and hands free ones

Here’s an idyllic(田園風(fēng)光的) scene: a small 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 lending folks a helping 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 chemist from London. “Right now I’m growing wheat and poinsettia, I’ve got a small orchard, and I’m keeping some chickens and some cows. I like having the animals. It’s comfortable.”

Curran’s young animals, however, are nothing more than a collection of computer-controlled 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 more players than Twiter’s entire user base — or more than the population of the UK. The players are largely women over the age of 35.

Jenny Glyn, 33, a London housewife, started playing in September. “I had a look at a friend’s farm and was hooked,” she says. “My first motivation was to overtake her, but I did that pretty quickly. Now there’s something satisfying about growing crops.”

FarmVille intellectually unites the worlds of social networking and gaming. Players are given a patch of 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 free 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.

“It’s very moreish,” says Curran. She hasn’t yet paid real-world money to advance in the game, but her friends do. One buys extra virtual currency at the exchange rate of $240 (??145) in FarmVille for $40 (??24) in the real world.

“I’d expanded on FarmVille as much as I could, but I just wanted a pond and some bushes and trees around it,” says the woman, who is too embarrassed to be named. “I didn’t tell my husband I’d paid real money because he’d think I’m mad. But then he did keep me waiting in the car outside our house while he harvested his raspberries.”

Brian Dudley, chief executive at Broadway Lodge, an addiction treatment centre, warns that this sort of obsessive(令人著魔的) play can lead to an addiction as severe as gambling.

59. What does Curran do in the passage?

   A. She is a player.                                                      B. She is a farmer who grows wheat and poinsettia.

   C. She is a chemist.                                                  D. She is a housewife who raises chickens and cows.

60. By FarmVille, the writer means ______.

   A. an addictive farm on which live 69 million farmers

   B. a London housewife’s farm

   C. an online computer game built into the social networking site

   D. a farm on which people grow real crops and play as well

61. In the last but one paragraph, the husband kept the woman waiting outside ______.

   A. because he was angry at his wife’s being mad about the farm

   B. because he himself was busy with his farm

   C. in order to punish his wife for her having paid real money

   D. so that his wife would wake up from her addiction to the farm

62. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

   A. The population of the UK is less than 69 million.

   B. This sort of obsessive play can cause very severe addiction.

   C. Once hooked, one has to make greater efforts to reach a higher level.

   D. Up till now, nobody has yet paid real-world money to advance in the play.

We spent a day in the country, picking wild flowers. With the car full of flowers we were going home. On our way back my wife noticed a cupboard (柜廚) outside a furniture shop. It was tall and narrow. “Buy it, ” my wife said at once. “We’ll carry it home on the roof rack. I’ve always wanted one like that.”

What could I do? Ten minutes later I was ￡20 poorer; and the cupboard was tied on the roof rack. It was six feet long and eighteen inches square, quite heavy too.

In the gathering darkness I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed unusually polite that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea.

After a time my wife said, “There’s a long line of cars behind. Why don’t they overtake, I wonder?” In fact a police car did overtake. The two officers inside looked at us seriously as they passed. But then, with great kindness, they led us through the rush-hour traffic. The police car stopped at our village church. One of the officers came to me.

“Right, sir, ” he said. “Do you need any more help?”

I was a bit puzzled. “Thanks, officer, ” I said. “You have been very kind. I live just on the road.”

He was staring at our car, first at the flowers, then at the cupboard. “Well, well, ” he said, laughing. “It’s a cupboard you’ve got there! We thought it was something else.”

My wife began to laugh. The truth hit me like a stone between the eyes. I smiled at the officer. “Yes, it’s a cupboard, but thanks again.” I drove home as fast as I could.

1. In fact the husband _______ the cupboard.

A. would like very much to buy           B. badly wanted 

C. was glad to have bought                  D. would rather not buy

2. Other drivers thought they were _______.

A. carrying a cupboard to the church

B. sending flowers to the church

C. carrying nothing but a piece of furniture

D. going to attend a funeral(葬禮) at the church

3. The police will be more polite to those who are _______.

A. driving in gathering darkness                 B. in great sorrow (悲痛)

C. driving with wild glowers in the car        D. carrying furniture

4. What did the husband think of this matter?

A. It was very strange.                               B. He felt ashamed of it.

C. He took great pride in it.                        D. He was puzzled at it.

The National Outline for Medium and Long Term Education Reform and Development (2010 - 20) was released over the weekend. Here are some of the highlights:

Four – percent effort

The government says spending on education will be 4 percent of GDP by 2012. globally, average spending on education is about 4.5% of GDP. China spend 3,33% in 2008. according to Hu Angang, of Tsinghua University’s Center for China Studies, even if China reaches that goal, it will only rank about 100 th out of 188 countries.

Administrative rank

Administrative rankings for school leaders are to be phased out to tackle the bureaucracy (官僚機(jī)構(gòu)) problem that limits educational development, according to Cheng Fangping, of the national Institute for Educational Research. Areas like teaching programs, scientific research, and technological development will be more independent.

Vocational Education

The system will be free of charge. According to Wu Yan, of Beijing Institute of Educational Sciences, this will be key to developing China’s production capacity and will improve poor people’s lives dramatically.

Entering college

    Universities could eventually have the freedom to choose some of their own high school applicants. Normally, students are accepted based on the uniform national exam scores. Also, students who agree to go to a remote area could be admitted to university under special circumstances. The most likely change could come on the college entrance English test, which might be modeled on the IELTS or TOEFL. Students will be able to take it several times and pick their best score.

56．Which of the following is true in the future according to the passage?

      A．Applicants could take the IELTS or TOEFL instead of the college entrance English test.

       B．Colleges will be given the right to choose all of their own applicants.

       C．Vocational education will be party free to make people’s lives better.

       D．Applicants could sit for the college entrance English test more than once.

57．Which of the following words is closest in meaning to “uniform” in the last paragraph?

       A．formal      B．official     C．same D．united

58．We can learn from the passage even though our country spends 4% of GDP on education in 2012,          .

       A．there will still be 188 countries ahead of China in this aspect

       B．China will certainly overtake the global average spending on education

       C．there might be nearly 100 countries ahead of China in this aspect

       D．China will be the 100 th country to spend over the global average on education

59．From the third paragraph, we can infer that         .

      A．school leaders will have more freedom to manage the school

       B．schools will have more limits from the government

       C．School administrative rankings are to be strengthened to solve the bureaucracy problem

       D．schools and research centers will be fully independent from the government

GUANGZHOU: The successful Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival has become a perfect stage to showcase the popularity of Guangdong and Pan Pearl River Delta (PPRD) region as a tourism destination, said Tang Bingquan, vice-governor of Guangdong Province.

According to the provincial tourism administration of Guangdong, more than 40,000 people attended the opening ceremony of the festival. More than 1, 000 high-ranking officials from the central government and Guangdong provincial government, World Tourism Organization, consulates (領(lǐng)事館) of various countries in Guangzhou, and other provinces of China, also showed up in the ceremony. The activities in the past few days attracted a large number of visitors from home and abroad.

In the past 30 years, Guangdong Province has been one of the leaders in the nation in terms of economic development. Its average annual economic growth maintained a rate of 13.8 percent, according to Tang.

Last year, Guangdong’s gross domestic product (GDP) hit 330 billion, accounting for one-eighth of the total of the country. The province’s import and export volume hit 527.2 billion, accounting for one-third of the country’s total foreign trade volume.

Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua earlier predicted that the province’s GDP will surpass that of Taiwan by the end of this year.

“Guangdong is also leading the development of the whole country’s tourism industry,” Tang said.

Last year, Guangdong’s tourism revenue (年收入) hit 212.5 billion, occupying one-fourth of the country’s total tourism income. The net profit of the province’s tourism industry was 7.5 billion, which was one fifth of the nation’s total.

Tang noted that the tourism festival will give a further boost (促進(jìn)) to the tourism development of Guangdong and the entire PPRD region.

The closing ceremony of the festival will take place tonight in Foshan, a city in Guangdong Province.                                           （China Daily Nov. 30, 2007）

What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Event to boost Guangdong’s tourism industry.

B. Guangdong -- China’s leading city in economy.

C. The increase in Guangdong’s tourism revenue.

D. The development of Guangdong’s tourism industry.

Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The past 30 years have seen Guangdong’s fast development in economy.

B. Guangdong is one of the leading provinces in national tourism industry.

C. Guangdong’s GDP makes up almost 13% of the total country last year.

D. Guangzhou will be the host city for the closing ceremony of the festival.

Which of the following word is the closest to the underlined word in the text?

A. replace       B. survive       C. overtake     D. succeed

What is the writer’s attitude towards the event?

A. indifferent  B. neutral            C. opposed          D. supportive