I’ll never forget our first meeting because it was quite romantic. I had two tickets for a concert in London, but at the last moment the girl who was going to go with me couldn’t come. So I went to the concert hall early to get my money back for one of the tickets. Paulina was standing in the queue. We started talking, and I found out that she was there for the same reason. My tickets were better than hers so I suggested that we sat in my seats and we gave her tickets back. After the concert we went for a drink and we’ve been friends ever since then.

We’ve known each other for two years. After that first meeting we started going out together and we fell in love. Everything went really well at first but after six months we started to argue a lot and finally we broke up, but we stayed close friends, which isn’t always easy.

I think we get on very well mainly because we’ve got the same sense of humor. Because, we’ve got a lot in common---- like and dislike the same people and things, and we’ve got the same tastes in music. Our personalities are quite similar too. Paulina seems quite shy when you first meet her but when you get to know her she’s really outgoing and funny.

I think I call her my “best friend” because she’s a person I can talk to about anything and I know I can trust her. Our friendship is very important to me.

Nowadays, we only see each other about once a month because she’s studying at university and I’m working in London, but we keep in touch by e-mail all the time. Some people are surprised when I say that my best friend is a woman, especially an ex-girl-friend. But I think it’s perfectly possible for us to be “just good friends”, although maybe when one of us finds a new partner it’ll be more difficult. I hope not.

21.  What can we know about the author and Paulina from Paragraph 1?

A.     Both of them were waiting for each other.

B.     They met each other in a romantic way.

C.     Neither of them liked to go to the concert.

D.     They sold all of the tickets they had.

22.  The reason why they broke up was that they__________.

A.       quarreled a lot          

B.       hated each other

C.       disliked each other

D.       were tired of each other

23.  What is the author afraid of?

A  He and Paulina are still close friends.

B.     He and Paulina both find a new partner.

C.     It might be difficult for him and Paulina to be close friends after they find new partners.

D.     They can be close friends after finding their own new partner.

Norway is the happiest place on Earth, according to a United Nations agency report - making neighbour Denmark lose its place from the number one position.

The World Happiness Report measures "subjective well-being" - how happy the people are, and why.

Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and Finland round out the top five, while the Central African Republic came last.

Western Europe and North America controlled the top of table, with the US and UK at 14th and 19^th.

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa and those hit by conflict have predictably low scores. Syria placed 152 of 155 countries - Yemen and South Sudan, which are facing coming famine（饥荒）, came in at 146 and 147.

The World Happiness Report was published to take place at the same time with the United

Nations’ International Day of Happiness on 20 March.

It mainly relies on asking a simple, subjective question of more than 1,000 people every year in more than 150 countries.

"Imagine a ladder, with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top," the question asks.

"The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?"

The average result is the country's score - ranging from Norway's 7.54 to the Central African Republic's 2.69. But the report also tries to analyze data to explain why one country is happier than another. It looks at factors including economic strength (measured in GDP per capita), social support, life expectancy（寿命）, freedom of choice, generosity, and noticed corruption.

24. We can learn ______ from the passage.

A. people in Syria live a happier life than people in Yemen.

B. the report was done by doing a complete research

C. Europe does better than Africa in making people happy

D. people in Western Europe can say they stand at the bottom of the ladder

25. According to the passage, ____________.

A. Norway has always been at the top

B. Denmark has never been at the top

C. the Finland’s score must be higher than 7.54

D. South Sudan’s score must be higher than 2.69

26. The report was published  ____________.

A. to remind people that the US is the strongest

B. to warn people of a famine coming soon

C. to show how exact the research is

D. to deliver the concern about people’s well-being

27. We can say________ after we read the passage

A. the reason why one country is happier than another is considered

B. freedom choice is more important than generosity

C. Denmark should work harder

D. people in Yemen have a longer life expectancy than people in Syria

A new drug can prevent heart attacks and strokes by cutting bad cholesterol（胆固醇） to levels never known before, say doctors.

The results of the large international trial on 27,000 patients mean the drug could soon be used by millions. The British Heart Foundation said the findings were a significant advance in fighting the

biggest killer in the world.

Around 15 million people die each year from heart attacks or stroke. Bad cholesterol is the bad character in the heart world - it leads to blood vessels furring up, becoming easy to block which fatally starves the heart or brain of oxygen.

It is why millions of people take drugs called statins to reduce the amount of bad cholesterol.

The new drug - evolocumab - changes the way the liver works to also cut bad cholesterol.

"It is much more effective than statins," said Prof Peter Sever, from Imperial College London.

He organized the bit of the trial taking place in the UK with funding from the drug company Amgen.

Prof Sever told the BBC News website: "The end result was cholesterol levels came down and down and down and we've seen cholesterol levels lower than we have ever seen before in the practice of medicine."

The patients in the trial were already taking statins and yet their risk was cut further by the new treatment.

Prof Sever added: "They would have another 20% reduction in risk and that is a big effect. It is probably the most important trial result of a cholesterol lowering drug in over 20 years."

The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and also reported at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology.

The study showed that one heart attack or stroke was prevented for every 74 patients taking the drug in the two-year trial. It is too soon to know if the drug is saving lives.

28. According to the British Heart Foundation, ____________.

A. millions of people take drugs called statins to change the way the liver works

B. the new drug is no better than statins

C. the trial has been done and it has shown the new drug is better

D. bad cholesterol can be got rid of completely by the new drug

29. What Prof Sever told the BBC News website means _________.

A. he is satisfied with the result

B. we have to deal with many new problems

C. a new development will appear in the practice of medicine

D. we will continue to do the trial to the end

30. What does the underlined word “fatally” in the third paragraph mean?

A. ending in surprise   B. ending in fear     C. ending in delight  D. ending in death

31. Which of the following is true about the passage?

A. The new drug has been used by millions.

B. We can’t tell whether the new drug can save lives now.

C. The higher cholesterol levels are, the stronger the heart is.

D. The new drug can starve the heart or brain of oxygen.

Three passions（激情）, simple but very strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me in many different directions, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of pain, reaching to the very verge（边缘） of despair（绝望）. 
    I have sought love, first, because it brings happiness---happiness so great that I would often have sacrificed（牺牲） all the rest of my life for a few hours for this joy. I have sought it, next, because it removes loneliness---that terrible loneliness in which one shaking consciousness（意识） looks over the edge of the world into the cold unknown lifeless hole. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, the picture of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what---at last---I have found. 
   With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to understand the Pythagorean power by which number controls the continuous change. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved. 
   Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always it brought me back to earth. Reflecting of sound of cries of pain is repeated in my heart. Children in famine, victims hurt badly by oppressors（压迫者）, helpless old people a hated load to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain laugh at what human life should be. I long to reduce the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer. 
   This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me. 
32.  According the passage, it is very clear that ____________.

A. the author sacrificed all the rest of his life for a few hours of joy

B. the author was offered the chance to live his life again

C. the author thought the world was full of nothing but happiness

D. the author felt pity for the people who were suffering

33.  When the author talks of knowledge, which isn’t included?___.

A. Understanding people

B. Understanding how the world works

C. Knowing math

D. Imagining the picture of the heaven

34. What does the author want to express in the last paragraph ? He is full of ____

A. hope   B. disappointment       C. anxiety       D. disbelief

35. Which is the best title of the passage?_________

A. How I have sought for love

B. What I have lived for

C. This world is full of pains

D. I will live again

One of my most memorable vacations took place on a farm.

   When I was a boy, my parents and I traveled to a farm for a weeklong    41  of the life in the country. We got up early to see the cows as they were milked. I   42   tried my hand at milking one, and then joined the farmer as he   43   the cows into the field afterward. Later, while my parents   44   themselves with farm chores（杂事）, I helped feed the other animals.    45   later, I still have    46    memories of that trip and of experiencing a lifestyle different from my own. It made me    47    the value of a vacation of sharing memorable experiences with family members.

   To this day I still consider that family trip when I plan my    48    to taking time off with my wife and kids. In our busy lives, family is    49    we should be saving our money and time for. For my family, our   50   start when we begin planning the trips. We talk about destinations and our   51   ahead of time. Among the things we discuss: Can we save money by renting a house   52   spending six nights in a hotel?

53   the kids in planning the vacation makes sure they have a great vacation too.   54   I prefer to visit historical sites, they love to fish and swim.   55  , I build in some relaxation time so that the vacation    56   for everyone. Each year,   57   vacation time to spend together is   58   important to us. A relaxing environment opens the doors to all kinds of conversations—deep, silly, meaningful. Consequently, there’s no   59   from the usual everyday tasks.

This is the one week a year when I don’t care whether my kids cleaned their room. What really   60   that week is that everyone is having fun.

41.  A. survey        B. reflection        C. taste         D. adventure

42.  A. again         B. even            C. still          D. ever

43.  A. released       B. gathered         C. distributed     D. delivered

44.  A. devoted       B. busied           C. impressed     D. adjusted

45.  A. Hours        B. Months          C. Decades      D. Fortnights

46.  A. awful        B. temporary        C. unclear       D. vivid

47.  A. expect       B. imagine          C. consider      D. realize

48.  A. approach     B. method          C. way          D. means

49.  A. which       B. where            C. what         D. why

50.  A. vacations     B. celebrations       C. reactions      D. traditions

51.  A. food         B. budget           C. transportation   D. security

52.  A. in spite of    B. in place of        C. in need of     D. in favor of

53.  A. Arranging     B. Disturbing       C. Focusing      D. Involving

54.  A. Since        B. If               C. While        D. Until

55.  A. Therefore     B. Otherwise        C. Besides       D. However

56.  A. calls         B. prepares          C. cares         D. works

57.  A. putting away  B. cutting out        C. setting aside   D. turning down

58.  A. roughly      B. particularly       C. eventually     D. purely

59.  A. escape       B. satisfaction       C. pressure       D. doubt

60.  A. benefits      B. faces            C. arises         D. counts