The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone. Enter the Red Hat Society －a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun.

    “My grandmothers didn’t do anything but keep house and serve everybody. They were programmed to do that,” said Emils Comette, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society.

     While men have long spent their time fishing and playing golf, women have sometimes seemed to become unnoticed as they age. But the generation now turning 50 is the baby boomers (生育高峰期出生的人), and the same people who refused their parents’ way of being young are now trying a new way of growing old.

     If you take into consideration feminism (女权主义), a bit of spare money, and better health for most elderly, the Red Hat Society looks almost inevitable(必然的). In this society, women over 50 wear red hats and purple (紫色的) clothes, while the women under 50 wear pink hats and light purple clothing.

    “The organization took the idea from a poem by Jenny Joseph that begins: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple. With a red hat which doesn’t go,” said Ellen Cooper, who founded the Red Hat Society in 1998. When the ladies started to wear the red hats, they attracted lots of attention.

   “The point of this is that we need a rest from always doing something for someone else,” Cooper said. “Women feel so ashamed and sorry when they do something for themselves.” This is why chapters are discouraged from raising money or doing anything useful. “We’re a ladies’ play group. It couldn’t be more simple,” added Cooper’s assistant Joe Heywood.

The underlined word “chapter” in paragraph 2 means __________.

 A．one branch of an organization     B．a written agreement of a club

C．one part of a collection of poems   D．a period in a society’s history

From the text, we know that the “baby boomers” are a group of people who

 A．have gradually become more noticeable

 B．are worried about getting old too quickly

 C．are enjoying a good life with plenty of money to spend

 D．tried living a different life from their parents when they were young

DIt could be inferred from the text that members of the Red Hat Society are         .

A．interested in raising money for social work

 B．programmers who can plan well for their future

 C．believers in equality between men and women

 D．good at cooking big meals and taking care of others

Who set up the Red Hat Society ?

 A．Emily Cornette .       B．Ellen Cooper .

C．Jenny Joseph .         D．Joe Heywood .

Women join the Red Hat Society because          .

 A．they want to stay young  

B．they would like to appear more attractive

 C．they would like to have fun and live for themselves

 D．they want to be more like their parents[来

An Australian man who has been donating his extremely rare kind of blood for 56 years has saved the lives of more than two million babies.

James Harrison has an antibody in his plasma that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia. He has enabled countless mothers to give birth to healthy babies, including his own daughter, Tracey, who had a healthy son thanks to her father's blood.

Mr. Harrison has been giving blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old and has now racked up a total of 984 donations. When he started donating, his blood was deemed so special that his life was insured for one million Australian dollars.

He was also nicknamed the “man with the golden arm” or the “man in two million”. He said: “I've never thought about stopping. Never.” He made a pledge to be a donor aged 14 after undergoing major chest surgery in which he needed 13 litres of blood. “I was in hospital for three months,” he said. “The blood I received saved my life so I made a pledge to give blood when I was 18.”

Just after he started donating he was found to have the rare and life-saving antibody in his blood. At the time, thousands of babies in Australia were dying each year of Rhesus disease. Other newborns suffered permanent brain damage because of the condition. The disease creates an incompatibility between the mother's blood and her unborn baby's blood. It stems from one having Rh-positive blood and the other Rh-negative.

His blood has since led to the development of a vaccine called Anti-D. After his blood type was discovered, Mr. Harrison volunteered to undergo a series of tests to help develop the Anti-D vaccine. “They insured me for a million dollars so I knew my wife Barbara would be taken care of,” he said. “I wasn't scared. I was glad to help. I had to sign every form going and basically sign my life away.”

Mr. Harrison is Rh-negative and was given injections of Rh-positive blood. It was found his plasma could treat the condition and since then it has been given to hundreds of thousands of women. It has also been given to babies after they are born to stop them developing the disease.

It is estimated he has helped save 2.2 million babies so far. Mr. Harrison is still donating every few weeks now.

How old is James Harrison？

A. 56           B. 70           C. 74           D. 78

What does the underlined phrase “two million” refer to?

A. babies           B. mothers      C. dollars          D. all of the above

   Why did James decide to donate his blood? Because _____.

    A. his daughter asked him to help her son

    B. he has a golden arm worth a million dollars

    C. a vaccine called Anti-D is to be developed

    D. someone else’s blood saved his life

The sentence “The disease creates an incompatibility between the mother's blood and her unborn baby's blood” (underlined in Paragraph 5) suggests that _____.

    A. babies suffer permanent brain damage before born

    B. the mother and the baby have different types of blood

    C. Rhesus disease contributes to permanent brain damage

    D. all the patients have a rare antibody in their blood

   What can we infer from the sixth paragraph?

    A. Some of the tests to develop the vaccine are dangerous.

    B. His wife Barbara needed to be taken care of badly then.

    C. Mr. Harrison was glad to help develop a new vaccine.

    D. His blood type was accidentally discovered after tests.

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项.

Football is, I suppose, the most popular games in England. One had only to go to one of the important   31   to see this. One can see kinds of people there, shouting and   32   for one side or the other.

One of the most   33   thing about football in England to a stranger is the __34__ knowledge of the game which even the   35   seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in   36   of the important teams. He   37   photos of them and knows the result of large numbers of matches. He will tell you   38   he expects will win such and such a match,

  39  his opinion is usually as   40   as that of men three or four times his   41  .

Most schools in England take   42   seriously—much more seriously than nearly all the schools in other countries,   43  lessons are all important and games are left for one’s own arrangements（安排）. In England, it is believed that   44   is not only a matter of filling a boy’s mind with facts in the   45  ; it also means character training; and one of the   46  ways of training character is by means of games,   47  team games, where the boy has to learn to   48   with others for his team, instead of working just for himself alone. The school therefore arranges games and matches for its   49  . Football is a good team game and it is good exercise for   50  .

A. games         B. matches      C. sports        D. sports meet

A. fighting        B. jumping      C. laughing     D. cheering

A. exciting        B. pleasant      C. surprising    D. disappointing

A. great          B. interesting    C. limited       D. useless

A. smallest boy    B. oldest man    C. shortest child  D. most stupid child

A. none          B. each         C. few          D. most

A. has           B. takes         C. accepts       D. gains

A. why          B. which        C. who          D. whom

A. but           B. and          C. however       D. because

A. same         B. useless       C. many         D. valuable

A. experience     B. height        C. age           D. size

A. matches       B. football       C. education      D. pupils

A. where         B. there         C. their          D. because

A. learning       B. education      C. a textbook     D. physical education

A. school        B. lab           C. library        D. classroom

A. quickest       B. cheapest       C. best          D. modernest

A. especially      B. usually        C. seldom       D. hardly

A. fight          B. struggle       C. work          D. study

A. teachers       B. pupils         C. players        D. team

A. eyesight       B. head          C. foot           D. body

Passage four(preface)

  Science is a dominant theme in our culture. Since it touches almost every facet of our life, educated people need at least some acquaintance with its structure and operation. They should also have an understanding of the subculture in which scientists live and the kinds of people they are. An understanding of general characteristics of science as well as specific scientific concepts is easier to attain if one knows something about the things that excite and frustrate the scientist.

  This book is written for the intelligent student or lay person whose acquaintance with science is superficial; for the person who has been presented with science as a musty storehouse of dried facts; for the person who sees the chief objective of science as the production of gadgets; and for the person who views the scientists as some sort of magician. The book can be used to supplement a course in any science, to accompany any course that attempts to give an understanding of the modern world, or – independently of any course – simply to provide a better understanding of science. We hope this book will lead readers to a broader perspective on scientific attitudes and a more realistic view of what science is, who scientists are, and what they do. It will give them an awareness and understanding of the relationship between science and our culture and an appreciation of the roles science may play in our culture. In addition, readers may learn to appreciate the relationship between scientific views and some of the values and philosophies that are pervasive in our culture.

  We have tried to present in this book an accurate and up-to-date picture of the scientific community and the people who populate it. That population has in recent years come to comprise more and more women. This increasing role of women in the scientific subculture is not an unique incident but, rather, part of the trend evident in all segments of society as more women enter traditionally male-dominated fields and make significant contributions. In discussing these changes and contribution, however, we are faced with a language that is implicitly sexist, one that uses male nouns or pronouns in referring to unspecified individuals. To offset this built-in bias, we have adopted the policy of using plural nouns and pronouns whenever possible and, when absolutely necessary, alternating he and she. This policy is far form being ideal, but it is at least an acknowledgment of the inadequacy of our language in treating half of the human race equally.

  We have also tried to make the book entertaining as well as informative. Our approach is usually informal. We feel, as do many other scientists, that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously. As the reader may observe, we see science as a delightful pastime rather than as a grim and dreary way to earn a living.

1.According to the passage, ‘scientific subculture’ means

A.cultural groups that are formed by scientists.

B.people whose knowledge of science is very limited.

C.the scientific community.

D.people who make good contribution to science.

2.We need to know something about the structure and operation of science because

A.it is not easy to understand the things that excite and frustrate scientists.

B.Science affects almost every aspect of our life.

C.Scientists live in a specific subculture.

D.It is easier to understand general characteristics of science.

3.The book mentioned in this passage is written for readers who

A.are intelligent college students and lay person who do not know much about science.

B.are good at producing various gadgets.

C.work in a storehouse of dried facts.

D.want to have a superficial understanding of science.

4.According to this passage,

A.English is a sexist language.

B.only in the scientific world is the role of women increasing rapidly.

C.women are making significant contributions to eliminating the inadequacy of our language.

D.male nouns or pronouns should not be used to refer to scientists.

5.This passage most probably is

A.a book review.

B.the preface of a book.

C.the postscript of a book.

D.the concluding part of a book.

  Art is for everyone. Parents can help kids appreciate art by making it available for them. Unfortunately, many adults do not enjoy art simply because they do not understand the stories or context (背景). Actually, children can appreciate art as well as any adult. Here are some simple ways to encourage children to appreciate art.

  Find art that will allow children to easily make a connection with their lives. Choose the material according to their ages. Pictures and sculptures of children, for example, or dogs and cats are easily understood, and it is easy to start a conversation about how the themes in the art are connected with familiar people and animals in kids’ lives. Music and dance are very important to children and should also be used.

  Explore the stories behind famous, and not so famous, art. Encourage children to make up their own stories about paintings and then research the real story behind the paintings.

  Create art with children. Teach them that art is not something that they must only observe but something that they can create. Discuss art with children. Encourage them to express their views on art. Let them know that it is okay to dislike something, and listen to their preferences when planning events.

  Visit museums and performances. Explore the artwork in local museums that will interest them. Most cities have children’s theaters and music groups, and often free performances are offered. Many art museums have special tours for children.

  Through a variety of artistic experiences, kids will learn how to appreciate art and will enjoy it.

64. When choosing art for children, parents should________.      

   A. take their children’s ages and experiences into consideration

   B. pay close attention to their children’s ability to understand

   C. ask professional artists for some useful advice

   D. try to find some art beyond their imagination

65. Which of the following should not be down in creating art with children?

   A. Allowing children to speak out their own opinions on art. 

B. Allowing children to have their own likes and dislikes.

   C. Making children interested in everything about art.

   D. Talking with children about something on art.

66. We can learn from the text that helping children appreciate art_________.

   A. is highly necessary for their growth 

B. will improve their school performance

C. can help them make more friends at school 

D. needs parents’ encouragement and instruction