In the summer vacation of 1997, I was fixed with a job. I worked as a(n) ___21___ at Mr. Breen's fruit shop. The fruit shop did __22___ business. Most of the trade came from the housewives who lived in the neighborhood, ___23___ he also had regular customers who arrived outside the shop in cars. Mr. Breen ___24___ them all by name and they sometimes even had their order already made up, always __25__ me to carry it out to their car. They were clearly long-tanding customers, and I  ___26___ they must have stayed faithful to him  __27___ he had promised to sell good quality  __28___. He had a way with them—I had to ___29___ that. He called every woman “madam” for a start, __30___ those who clearly were not, but when he __31_ it, it did not sound like flattery(奉承). It just sounded ___32___ in an old-fashioned way. He was a great chatter ___33___. If he did not know them, he would greet them with a few ___34___ about the weather, ___35__ he did, he would ask about their families or make __36___, always cutting his cloth ___37___ his customers. Whatever their bills came to, be ___38___ gave them back the few odd pence(零钱), and I am sure they thought he was very generous(慷慨). But I thought he was the opposite. He never __39__ anything away. He was always looking for ___40___ for nothing.

21. A. operator  B. assistant  C. waiter   D. secretary

22. A. good  B. poor   C. big   D. usual

23. A. so  B. when  C. therefore  D. but

24. A. sold  B. knew   C. gave   D. sent

25. A. making  B. letting   C. getting  D. keeping

26. A. wish  B. insist   C. declare  D. suppose

27. A. when  B. if   C. because  D. though

28. A. food  B. fruit   C. vegetables  D. drink

29. A. admit  B. expect   C. announce  D. promise

30. A. yet   B. only   C. just   D. even

31. A. told  B. said   C. spoke   D. talked

32. A. serious  B. strange  C. polite   D. familiar

33. A. as well  B. as usual  C. either   D. also

34. A. sayings  B. questions  C. words   D. speeches

35. A. and then  B. and so   C. even if   D. but if

36. A. preparations  B. jokes   C. repairs  D. friends

37. A. according to  B. due to   C. instead of  D. up to

38. A. never  B. ever   C. seldom  D. always

39. A. took  B. moved   C. threw   D. turned

40. A. something  B. anything  C. somebody  D. anybody

    What is funny? The short answer is: Who knows? The joke that causes a burst of laughter from one listener might be met with a puzzled look from another.

In general, you should avoid jokes at any business or social gathering where there are more than two people in your conversational group. If there are only two people — and they consist of you and your best friend—go ahead and tell it.

    Admittedly, a few people possess a perfect sense of timing, appropriateness, and joke delivery. You are probably not one of them. You might be quite funny and have many great jokes. But there's a place for jokes—over dinner with family, hiking with friends, but business or social affairs with colleagues and acquaintances (熟人) are not it. It takes a whole other level of joke-telling ability to put a joke into the more formal conversations.

The best jokes come into the conversation so that by the time listeners realize a joke is in progress, the punchline that produces humour is being delivered — to their surprise and delight.

    Jokes don't translate well when you're in a group with mixed backgrounds: those whose first language is not English, those who might not understand a special term or an "in" expression, young people who wouldn't catch a reference to some bit of culture familiar to older people — and vice versa(反之亦然).

Never joke about another person in the group—about their name, habits, hometown, profession, appearance, or past. It's not a question of whether the joke is cheery or appropriate. No one enjoys being singled out this way. When you are the subject of the joke, the laughter doesn't feel good no matter how hard you try to tell yourself they're not laughing at you. Because that's what it feels like.

    What do you say if you realize your joke upset someone? Apologize as briefly and as sincerely as you can, and hope that someone changes the subject. Try saying: "I'm sorry. I should have known better" or "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

    What do you do if people don't get your joke or don't appear to find it as funny as you do? First, do not retell it, only louder this time, hoping the point of the joke will be seen. Second, don't try to push people to get it. People do not like people whose jokes they don't understand. They feel stupid and need to blame someone. If you want to leave with the goodwill of your listeners, say something to make them feel less foolish. You could say: "I don't know why I tell jokes when I'm so poor at it."

    The world needs laughter, and good humour is a success wherever it goes, so this caveat(告诫) about joke-telling is not meant to dampen high spirits or to advocate dull conversation. If you're a gifted story-teller and you know people love your jokes, go for it. We need your kind. The rest of us will save our jokes for family and close friends.

41. According to the passage, it might be appropriate for you to tell a joke at a business or social gathering if ______.

   A. the joke is well chosen   

   B. you have complete confidence in your listeners' sense of humor

   C. only you and your best friend are involved in the conversation

   D. the audience consists of your colleagues and acquaintances

42. Why do some jokes fail to work?

   A. Because the punchline is too long to catch.

   B. Because the joke-teller uses wrong words and expressions.

   C. Because the joke-teller and listeners don't share the same background knowledge.

   D. Because the jokes are not properly translated into the listeners' native language.

43. How will people feel when they are joked about?

   A. They will feel happy if the joke is a pleasant one.

   B. They will be upset no matter what kind of joke it is.

   C. They will enjoy the joke when realizing that people are not laughing at them.

   D. They will panic because it makes them the center of attention.

44. When people do not understand a joke they hear, they tend to ______.

   A. believe it's the joke-teller's fault

   B. get someone to retell the joke 

   C. ask for explanation

   D. say something foolish

45. Which of the following best describes the writer's opinion on joke-telling?

   A. Nobody knows what makes a joke funny.

   B. We should not tell jokes unless we are asked to do so.

   C. Joke-telling is a very complex thing.

   D. Jokes should be told only to friends and family members.

    Don't you just love ice skating every winter? I am sure, that since winter is approaching, your skates are set to come out, just waiting to be used. Impress your friends with your new trick on how to ice-skate backwards with the help of these tips. Skating backwards on ice is a bit difficult but once you master the basic, there' s nothing like it. Follow the steps given below and you will be able to skate backwards in no time.     

Stand Straight

    The first thing that you need to do is, stand straight. If you feel that you are falling backwards, then just put your chin up and slightly bend your knees. Don't worry; this happens to all.

Confidence is What You Need

    The most important step while learning how to skate backwards, is having enough confidence in yourself and in what you are doing. How can you achieve this? By practice. Just practice rolling backwards down a gentle slope every single day or just by pushing off from a wall or something of that sort. But before you do that, make sure that the place where you are practicing is free from any kind of debris（碎片）because otherwise, you could end up in the hospital due to some accident. While going backwards, just get used to the feeling of moving backwards. One of the important ice skating tips and techniques is that if you feel that you are losing your balance, then scissor (做剪式运动) your skates. Keep practicing this till you are confident about it.

Maintain Speed

    Confident now? Great! Now the next step is to maintain your speed. While rolling in a straight line with one skate, with the other try sculling (滑浆), that is, keep pushing yourself backwards with an outwards stroke (滑动). Now bring the skate which you were using to scull, and then again, repeat the same process. Make sure that you put most of your weight on the skate which is moving straight and not the one with which you are sculling. Now, try the same thing using the other foot. Again keep doing this till you are confident enough.

Increase Your Speed Now

    Once you are confident that you can scull with either foot, the next thing that you have to do is increase your speed. Try some of your own tricks now. Scull with either foot or with both at the same time.

Scull and Be Aware

    While you keep one foot straight, keep sculling with the other. You can do that simultaneously with both feet. Concentrate on what you are doing but don't get so involved that you don't see where you are going. If you are not watching your back, you might just bang against something or someone.

46. According to the text, confidence comes from ________.

   A. constant exercise B. strict coaches C. high speed D. good techniques

47. Which is the right order of ice-skating backwards?

   a. Increasing your speed.   b. Being able to scull with one foot.

   c. Being about to stand straight.  d. Trying some different tricks.

   A. c→a→d→b  B. c→b→d→a C. c→b→a→d D. a→c→b→d

48. In the last paragraph the author mainly wants to express _________.

   A. one must be brave to learn to ice-skate backwards      

   B. skating and keeping cautious are both important

   C. it's difficult to concentrate when ice-skating backwards

   D. it' s a common thing to hit someone when ice skating backwards

49. The purpose of the text is _______.

   A. to offer some advice on ice-skating backwards

   B. to introduce the culture of ice-skating backwards

   C. to explain advantages of ice-skating backwards

   D. to compare different ways of ice-skating backwards 

    The most common use of intelligence test scores is to predict degree of academic success. Such scores are used in some communities as bases for admitting able children to schools at ages younger than normal, and they are very generally used to determine admissions to schools beyond public secondary school. Another use common in elementary schools involves comparing such scores with performances in various subjects to identify children who are working below capacity.

    The greatest problem in using intelligence tests for the purpose of prediction is that no dependable criterion of their accuracy exists. The ideal criteria would be objective and reliable achievement tests following instruction in each subject, but there are few such tests, especially at the college level. Studies have shown that correlations(相关性) between intelligence tests and achievement tests in various subjects through secondary school range roughly from 0.5 to 0.8. Such correlations are fairly high, but they do not suggest anywhere near complete agreement.

    At the college level there are two major tests used as criteria of admission. By far the more important is the College Entrance Examination, constructed by the Educational Testing Service authorized by the College Entrance Examination Board. These tests are returned to the Educational Testing Service for scoring, and the results are then made available to the various colleges authorized by the students to receive them. The second test of this type is the American College Test, which operates in essentially the same fashion.

    Both tests constitute measures of certain skills, abilities, and knowledge that have been found to be related to success in college. Their correlations with academic success are limited for three outstanding reasons. First, measures of achievement in college are themselves perhaps no more reliable than those in elementary and secondary schools. Second, intellectual factors do not alone determine academic success, especially at the college level. Many students drop out of schools because they are inadequately motivated or because they dislike the instructional programme. Third, correlations are lowered because the use of such tests for denying admission to some students means that the range of scores for those admitted is restricted, and such restriction tend to reduce correlation.

50. The intelligence scores can be used in the following way EXCEPT_____.

   A. telling in advance the degree of academic success

   B. admitting intelligent children to school at the age younger than ordinary

   C. finding out children with lower ability in primary schools

   D. selecting pupils by public secondary schools

51. The ideal criteria in using intelligence tests for prediction should be _____.

   A. accurate college tests

   B. objective and reliable achievement tests

   C. objective and reliable intelligence tests

   D. a series of objective multiple choices

52. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?

   A. Ideal criteria for objective and reliable achievement tests in college courses are hard to find.

   B. Intelligence test scores can accurately predict the degree of academic success.

   C. The correlations between intelligence tests and achievement tests are lowest in college courses.

   D. The high correlations between intelligence tests and achievement tests in secondary school gain universal recognition.

53. The results of the College Entrance Examination will be _____.

   A. sent to the college that the students chose

   B. more important to the students than the American College Test

   C. decided by the College Entrance Examination Board

   D. used as criteria of the American College Test

54. The correlations between two college admission tests and academic success in college are limited for the reason that _____.

   A. many students drop out of schools

   B. students are not adequately motivated

   C. intellectual factors are more important for students than when they were in primary and middle schools

   D. measures of college achievement are unreliable like those in primary and middle schools.

    My grandson, Daniel, and I have always been very close. When Daniel's father remarried after a divorce, Daniel, who was eleven, and his little sister, Kristie, came to live with us. My husband and I were more than happy to have kids in the house again.

    Things were going along just fine until the diabetes(糖尿病) I've lived with most of my adult life started affecting my eyes, and then more seriously, my kidneys(肾). Then everything seemed to fall apart.

    Three times a week, I had to go to the hospital to be hooked up to a dialysis machine(透析机). I was living, but I couldn't really call it a life—it was an existence. I had no energy. I dragged myself through daily chores and slept as much as I could. My sense of humor seemed to disappear.

    Daniel, seventeen by then, was really affected by the change in me. He tried as hard as he could to make me laugh, to bring back the grandma who loved to clown around(开玩笑) with him. Even in my sorry state, Daniel could still bring a smile to my face.

    But things were not improving. After a year on dialysis, my condition was deteriorating(恶化) and the doctors felt that if I didn't receive a kidney transplant within six months, I would surely die. No one told Daniel this, but he knew—he said all he had to do was look after me. To top it off, as my condition worsened, there was a chance that I would become too weak to have the transplant surgery at all, and then there would be nothing they could do for me. So we started the tense and desperate wait for a kidney.

    I was adamant(坚决的) that I didn't want a kidney from anyone I knew. I would wait until an appropriate kidney became available, or I would literally die waiting. But Daniel had other plans. The time that he took me to my dialysis appointments, he did a little secret research on his own. Then he announced his intention to me.

    "Grandma, I'm giving you one of my kidneys. I'm young and I'm healthy …" He paused. He could see I wasn't at all happy with his offer. He continued, almost in whisper, "And most of all, I couldn't stand it if you weren't around." His face wore an expression of appeal mixed with determination. He can be as stubborn as a mule (驴) once he decides on something—but I've been told many times that I can out-stubborn any mule!

    We argued. I couldn't let him do it. We both knew that if he gave up his kidney, he would also give up his life's dream; to play football. It was all he ever talked about. And he was good, too. Daniel was co-captain and star defensive tackle(防守阻截队员) of his high school team; he expected to apply for a football scholarship and was looking forward to playing college football. He just loved the sport.

    "How can I let you throw away the thing that means the most to you?" I pleaded with him.

    "Grandma," he said softly, "compared to your life, football means nothing to me."

    After that, I couldn't argue anymore. So we agreed to see if he was a good donor(捐赠者) match, and then we'd discuss it further. When the tests came back, they showed Daniel was a perfect match. That was it. I knew I wasn't going to win that argument, so we scheduled the transplant.

    Both surgeries went smoothly. As soon as I came out of the anesthesia(麻醉) , I could tell things were different. I felt great! The nurses in the intensive care unit had to keep telling me to lie back and be quiet—I wasn't supposed to be that lively! I was afraid to go to sleep, for fear I would break the spell(魔法) and wake up the way I had been before. But the good feeling didn't go away, and I spent the evening joking and laughing with anyone who would listen. It was so wonderful to feel alive again.

    The next day they moved me out of ICU and onto the floor where Daniel was recuperating(复原) three doors away. His grandfather helped him walk down to see me as soon as I was moved into my room. When we saw each other, we did not know what to say. Holding hands, we just sat there and looked at each other for a long time, overwhelmed by the deep feeling of love that connected us.

    Finally, he spoke, "Was it worthwhile, grandma?"

    I laughed a little ruefully(懊悔). "It was for me! But was it for you?" I asked him.

    He nodded and smiled at me. "I've got my grandma back."

    And I have my life back. It still amazes me. Every morning, when I wake up, I thank God—and Daniel—for this miracle. A miracle born of the purest love.

55. Grandma's diabetes brought about all the following EXCEPT that _______.

   A. her eyes and her kidneys were affected B. grandma became quite a different person

   C. Daniel had to be sent back to his father D. everything was thrown into confusion

56. When grandma was at her lowest, what did Daniel do to bring her back to her usual life?

   A. He tried his best to make her laugh. 

   B. He helped her with the daily chores.

   C. He gave up his dream of going to college. 

   D. He searched desperately for a good donor match.

57. How did grandma feel when Daniel announced his intention to give her one of his kidneys?

   A. She was moved by his selfless decision.

   B. She wasn't at all happy with his offer.

   C. She felt relieved that an appropriate kidney was available.

   D. She was enthusiastic about having a kidney of someone she loved.

58. What would giving up a kidney mean to Daniel, according to the passage?

   A. He wouldn't be young and healthy thereafter.

   B. He didn't have to search for a good match any more.

   C. He could apply for a full scholarship to a college he desired.

   D. He would also give up his life's dream: to play football.

59. How was grandma when she came out of the anesthesia after the surgery?

   A. She was feeling low.  B. She was full of life.

   C. She was exhausted.   D. She was the way she had been before.

60. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

   A. Grandma got her life back thanks to Daniel's selfless donation.

   B. Grandma thought her returning to life was a miracle of pure love.

   C. Daniel agreed with grandma that the transplant was worthwhile for her, not for him.

   D. Much as he loved football, grandma's life meant the most to Daniel.