One of my neighbors used to have a beautiful tree in her front yard. Her dad had planted it for her when it was nothing more than a twig(树枝) and several years later it started to shoot towards the sky with amazing speed. Soon it blessed her with cooling shade in the summer and glorious, golden leaves in the fall.

When the two-day snowstorm struck our town, heavy snow fell on the tree’s branches that were still full of leaves. The weight split that lovely tree down the middle. It was so sad seeing half of it laying on the ground after the storm. When I talked to my neighbor later, she said that the damage had been too much and that the entire tree would have to be cut down. Thankfully she had saved a few saplings(树苗) from it that she hoped to replant in the future.

Still, it was a shock to drive by her house the other day and see nothing but a stump in her front yard. I missed that tree. I missed its beauty, its leaves shinning in the afternoon sun. I missed seeing its limbs reach towards the heavens. I thought that the stump would be a sad reminder of its loss for a long time to come. My wonderful neighbor, though, had another plan. When I drove by her home today I saw a tiny bird feeder sitting on that stump and a colorful songbird having its dinner. It was such an affirmation of life. It was such a joy to see. I could feel my heart smile.

Life by its very nature is a mixed bag. It hands us beauty and tragedy, love and loss, pleasure and pain. What we do with it, however, is up to us. We can let it split us in two, or we can use even its hardest times to make our souls stronger and our hearts more loving. We can spend it complaining or we can use it to help others.

21．We know from the first paragraph that _____．

A. the tree grew very slowly.               B. the tree was so strong that it could bear any weight.

C. the tree showed its beauty and benefits.    D. the author’s neighbor was good at planting trees.

22．The author’s neighbor left a stump in her front yard to use it as_____.

23．What does the author mainly want to show in the passage?

A. Life is determined by our attitude towards it.     B. Life consists of pain and suffering.

C. Life has beauty and tragedy.                  D. Life should be pleasant rather than painful.

It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, such moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don’t worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened. 

　　Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn’t really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King’s famous speech—"I Have a Dream", you may notice that he stumbles (结巴)over his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don’t remember. Why? Because you were fixing your attention on his message rather than on his way of speech-making.

　　People care a lot about making a mistake in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performance. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker’s ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker’s attractiveness by making him more human.

　　As you work on your speech, don’t worry about being perfect. Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.

24．The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will 　　　　. 

25．You don’t remember obvious mistakes in a speech because 　　　　. 

A. you find the way of speech-making more important

B. you don’t fully understand the speech

C. you don’t know what the speaker plans to say

D. your attention is on the content

26．From the last two paragraphs, the author means that 　　　　. 

A. giving a speech is like giving a performance

B. the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made

C. one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad

D. the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be

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

You hear the same complaint all the time: “My memory is terrible．” Is it all in the mind, or do real changes take place in the brain with the passing of time? The answer is that the brain’s cells, the neurons, decline and die with age. However, according to Professor Arthur Shimamura of the University of California, people vary greatly in how they change mentally with age, as well as how much their mental ability declines．

There are three main ways in which mental function changes．The first concerns speed, such as how quickly you can react to fast-moving incidents on the road. Drivers in their late teen react quickly but often drive too fast, while the over-60’s are more careful but react more slowly．This type of mental slowing results from a reduction in the efficiency with which the brain’s neurons work．

The fact that adults find it harder to learn musical instrument than children points to a second type of mental decline, the loss of learning ability with age．The part of the brain which is known to control new learning is particularly sensitive to the effects of aging．The means we have to depend more on diaries and other mental aids as we get older, take longer to learn a new language and are slower to master new things at work．

“Working memory” is the third brain function that is sensitive to the effects of aging. Absent-mindedness occurs at all ages because of imperfections in the working memory system．For example, you may continually lose your glasses, or find yourself walking into a room of your house only to find that you cannot remember what you came for．Such absent-mindedness also occurs more often as we get older．

However, evidence also shows that the principle “use it or lose it” applies to the aging brain．Professor Shimamura studied a group of university professors who were still mentally active, and compared their performance on neuropsychological tests with that of others of their age group, as well as with younger people. He found that on several tests of memory, the mentally active professors in their 60’s and early 70’s performed better than those of the same age, and as well as the younger group．

28．Memory gets worse as people grow older because _________．

A. the brain starts to produce too many neurons      B. cells in the brain stop the neurons from working

C. when people get old, they complain too much     D. the brain’s neurons don’t work as well as before

29．Which of the following well-known sayings best expresses the idea of the third paragraph?

30．We can conclude from Shimamura’s test on the professors that _________．

A. the principle “use it or lose it” is obviously wrong    B. active minds might keep their memory better

C. memory can improve with the time passing on       D. all of the old people will suffer memory loss

31．This passage is mainly about _________．

Tayka Hotel de Sal

Place: Tahua, Bolivia

Price: About $95 a night

Features: You’ve stayed at hotels made of brick or wood, but salt?That’s something few can claim. Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally of salt — including the beds, though you’ll sleep on regular blankets. The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric dried-up lake which is the world’s biggest salt flat(盐滩). Builders use the salt from a 4, 633-square-mile flat to make the bricks, and glue them together with a paste of wet salt that hardens when it dries. When the rain starts to dissolve the hotel, the owner just mixes up more salt paste to strengthen the bricks.

Green Magic Nature Resort

Place: Vythiri, India

Price: About $240 a night

Features: Taking a pulley(滑轮)operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is just the start of your adventure. As you look out of your open window — there is no glass!— you watch monkeys and birds in the rain forest canopy. Later you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to the main part of the hotel, or just sit on your bamboo bed and read. You don’t even have to come down for breakfast — the hotel will send it up on the pulley-drawn "elevator".

Dog Bark Park Inn B&B

Place: Cottonwood, Idaho

Price: $92 a night

Features: This doghouse isn’t just for the family pet. Sweet Willy is a 30-foot-tall dog with guest rooms in his belly. Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side. You can relax in the main bedroom, go up a few steps of the loft in Willy’s head, or hang out inside his nose. Although you have a full private bathroom in your room, there is also a toilet in the 12-foot-tall fire hydrant(消防栓) outside.

Gamirasu Cave Hotel

Place: Ayvali, Turkey

Price: Between $130 and $475 a night

Features: Experience what it was like 5, 000 years ago, when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash. But your stay will be much more modern. Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect from a modern hotel, and the white volcanic ash called tufa, keeps the rooms cool, about 65℉in summer. (Don’t worry — there is heat in winter.)

32. What do we know about Tayka Hotel de Sal?

A. It is the cheapest among the four mentioned.    B. Everything in the hotel is made of salt.

C. It is located on a prehistoric lake.             D. You have to cross a rope bridge to the hotel.

33. Which of the hotels makes you have a feeling of living in the far past?

A. Tayka Hotel de Sal.                      B. Gamirasu Cave Hotel.

C. Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.                   D. Green Magic Nature Resort.

34. What is the similarity of the four hotels?

A. Being expensive.    B. Being comfortable.   C. Being unique.     D. Being natural.

35. In which part of a newspaper can we most probably read the passage?

A. History.         B. Fashion.          C. Science.            D. Tourism.

Money Matters

Parents should help their children understand money.    　36　   So you may start talking about money when your child shows an interest in buying things, candy or toys, for example.

1. The basic function of money

Being explaining the basic function of money by showing how people trade money for goods or services. It is important to show your child how money is traded for the thing he wants to have. If he wants to have a toy, give him the money and let him hand the money to the cashier(收银员).   　37　    When your child grows a bit older and understands the basic function of money, you can start explaining more complex ways of using money.

2. Money lessons

Approach money lessons with openness and honesty.    　38　   If you must say no to a child’s request to spend money, explain,” You have enough toy trucks for now. ” Or, if the request is for many different things, say, “You have to make a choice between this toy and that toy. ”

3.    　39　   

Begin at the grocery store. Pick out similar brands of a product—a name-brand butter and a generic(无商标产品), for example. You can show your child how to make choices between different brands of a product so that you can save money. 　40　  If he chooses the cheaper brand, allow him to make another purchase with the money saved. Later, you may explain how the more expensive choice leaves less money for other purchases.

A. The value of money.

B. Wise decision.

C. Tell your child why he can — or cannot — have certain things.

D. Permit the child to choose between them

E. The best time to teach a child anything about money is when he shows an interest.    

F. Ask yourself what things that cost money are most important to you.

G. Talk about how the money bought the thing after you leave the toy store.