It is ridiculous that so many people believe the world will disappear in 2050.（）it is true?

How do people think about money There is a truth that many people value money too highly. They think money is all and believe that “money is a passport to anything”. So they can do anything, even immoral and illegal things in order to have money. Robbers are ready to kill others cruelly for merely dozens of dollars. Traders are ready to cheat in commerce to appropriate more money. Officials themselves, who have much power and influence on society, trample on their honor and others’ interests.

One day when I was about twelve years old, it occurred to me to wonder about the phenomenon of laughter. At first I thought it is easy enough to see what I laugh at and why I am amused, but why at such times do I open my mouth and exhale in jerking gasps and wrinkle up my eyes and throw back my head and halloo like an animal？ Why do I not instead rap four times on the top of my head or whistle or whirl about？

That was over twenty years ago and I am still wondering, except that I now no longer even take my first assumption for granted, I no longer clearly understand why I laugh at what amuses me nor why things are amusing. I have illustrious company in my confusion, of course, Many of the great minds of history have brought their power of concentration to bear on the mystery of humour, and, to date, their conclusions are so contradictory and ephemeral that they cannot possibly be classified as scientific.

Many definitions of the comic are incomplete and many are simply rewording of things we already know. Aristotle, for example, defined the ridiculous as that which is incongruous but represents neither **er nor pain. But that seems to me to be a most inadequate sort of observation, for of at this minute I insert here the word rutabagas, I have introduced something in congruous, something not funny. Of course, it must be admitted that Aristotle did not claim that every painless in congruity is ridiculous but as soon as we have gone as far as this admission, we begin to see that we have come to grips with a ghost when we think have it pinned, it suddenly appears behind us, mocking us.

An all-embracing definition of humour has been attempted by many philosophers, but no definition, no formula had ever been devised that is entirely satisfactory. Aristotle's definition has come to be known loosely as the "disappointment" theory, or the "frustrated expectation", but he also, discussed another theory borrowed in part from Plato which states that the pleasure we derive in laughing is an enjoyment of the misfortune of others, due to a momentary feeling of superiority or gratified vanity in appreciation of the fact that we ourselves are not in the observed predicament.

第36题：Which of the following can be inferred from the first paragraph？

[A] People don't like to be considered as one with no sense of humour.

[B] People will give you a satisfactory answer to what humour is.

[C] People would like to be a liar or a coward.

[D] People can make light of other's comment on their sense of humour.

W1: Yes, Professor Baker, I speak Spanish and French.

M: And what helped you most in learning those languages？

W1: What helped me most ... well, I studied both languages in high school, and I'm still studying Spanish here at the University, but I think that travel has probably been the most help to me. You see, I've been lucky in that I've lived in Europe. Believe me, I didn't speak very well before I moved there. What do you think of this, Jill？

W2: You're right, Betty, after studying a language, practice is very useful. When you live in a country where the language is spoken, it's ideal. But, you know, sometimes it's difficult to make friends in a new place, even then the people are very friendly.

W1: Yes, I know what you mean. Especially if you don't speak the language too well. I had some problems when I first moved to Europe.

W2: And, of course, some people are shy.

W: That's true.

W2: Professor Baker, whether or not I'm in a country where the language is spoken, I always go to the movies, and whenever I can, 1 watch TV or listen to the radio in the language I'm trying to learn.

W2: Me too. And reading is another way to learn. Books are good, but I think that newspapers and magazines are even better.

M: Probably the best way to learn is to combine all of these ideas: traveling, talking with people, going to movies, watching TV, listening to the radio, and reading books, newspapers and magazines. What do you think？

W1: I agree with that, Professor Baker.

W2: So do I. But I don't believe that it's possible to take advantage of practice opportunities without some knowledge of the language first.

W1:Sure. First it's a good idea to study grammar, vocabulary...

W2: ... and listening, perhaps even reading.

W1: Then practice is very, very helpful.

(23)

A．Language laboratory.

B．Traveling.

C．Studying in high school.

D．Going to movies and watching TV.

Q: What does the man say about Chinese？

W: Hi, Leo. Why do you say English will become the world language？

M: Well, for one thing, it's so commonly used. The only language that is used by more people is Chinese.

W: Why is English spoken by so many people？

M: It's spoken in many countries of the world because of the British Empire. And now, of course, there's influence of America as well.

W: Many students find English a difficult language to learn.

M: Oh, all languages are difficult to learn. But English does have two great advantages.

W: What are they？

M: Well, first of all, it has a very international vocabulary. It has many German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian words in it. So speakers of those languages will find many familiar words in English. In fact, English has words from many other languages as well.

W: Why is that？

M: Well, partly because English speakers have travelled a lot. They bring back words with them, so English really does have an international vocabulary.

W: And what's the other advantage of English？

M: It's that English grammar is really quite easy. For example, it doesn't have dozens of different endings for its nouns, adjectives and verbs, not like Latin, Russian, and German for example.

W: Why is that？

M: Well, it's quite interesting actually. It's because of the French. When the French ruled England, French was the official language and only the common people spoke English. They try to make the language as simple as possible, so they made the grammar easier.

A.It is more difficult to learn than English.

B.It is used by more people than English.

C.It will be as commonly used as English.

D.It will eventually become a world language.

Television has certainly changed our lives and our society. 45 its good points, it has brought many problems. We must find a solution to these problems because—whether we like it or not—television is here to stay.

36. A、brought

B、took

C、did

D、made

37. A、grew up

B、are growing up

C、have grown up

D、grow up

38. A、such

B、so an

C、such an

D、so

39. A、got

B、took

C、carried

D、brought

40. A、of

B、on

C、to

D、for

41. A、experiences

B、experience

C、experiencing

D、an experience

42. A、integrate

B、make

C、initiate

D、initiate

43. A、screens

B、faces

C、surfaces

D、appearances

44. A、dead

B、deaths

C、deads

D、death

45. A、Come with

B、With along

C、Upon with

D、Along with

W： Hi Leo， why do you say English would become the world language？

M： Well。 For one thing， it’s so commonly used， the only language that is used by more people is Chinese。

W： Why is English spoken by so many people？

M： It’s spoken in many countries of the world because of the British empire。 And now of course is the influence of America as well。

W： Many students find English a difficult language to learn。

M： Oh， all languages are difficult to learn。 But English does have two greatest advantages。

W： What are they？

M： Well， first of all， it has a very international vocabulary。 It has many German， Dutch， French， Spanish and Italian words in it。 So speakers of those languages will find many familiar words in English。 In fact， English has words for many other languages as well。

W： Why is that？

M： Well， partly because English speakers have travelled a lot， they bring back words with them。 So English really does have an international vocabulary。

W： And what is the other advantage of English？

M： It that English grammar is really quite easy。 For example， it doesn’t have dozens of different endings for its nouns， adjectives and verbs， not like Latin， Russian and German for example。

W： Why is that？

M： Well， it’s quite interesting actually， it’s because of the French。 When the French ruled England， French was the official language， and only the common people spoke English。 They tried to make their language as simple as possible。 So they made the grammar easier。

Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you’ve just heard。

Q9： What does the man say about Chinese？

Q10： What made English a widely used language？

Q11： What is said to be special about English vocabulary？

Q: What made English a widely used language？

W: Hi, Leo. Why do you say English will become the world language？

M: Well, for one thing, it's so commonly used. The only language that is used by more people is Chinese.

W: Why is English spoken by so many people？

M: It's spoken in many countries of the world because of the British Empire. And now, of course, there's influence of America as well.

W: Many students find English a difficult language to learn.

M: Oh, all languages are difficult to learn. But English does have two great advantages.

W: What are they？

M: Well, first of all, it has a very international vocabulary. It has many German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian words in it. So speakers of those languages will find many familiar words in English. In fact, English has words from many other languages as well.

W: Why is that？

M: Well, partly because English speakers have travelled a lot. They bring back words with them, so English really does have an international vocabulary.

W: And what's the other advantage of English？

M: It's that English grammar is really quite easy. For example, it doesn't have dozens of different endings for its nouns, adjectives and verbs, not like Latin, Russian, and German for example.

W: Why is that？

M: Well, it's quite interesting actually. It's because of the French. When the French ruled England, French was the official language and only the common people spoke English. They try to make the language as simple as possible, so they made the grammar easier.

A.It has words from many languages.

B.Its popularity with the common people.

C.The influence of the British Empire.

D.The effect of the Industrial Revolution.

听力原文：W: What do you do for a living, Frank？

M: I am an aerospace engineer. I have been working for NASA for over fifteen years.

W: Wow, that sounds fascinating. What projects have you been involved in？

M: Well, until recently, I was heavily involved in the Cassini mission. I don't know if you're familiar with it or not. It's one of NASA's most expensive and ambitious projects. We are sending a probe to explore Saturn and its moons.

W: That sounds really interesting. Are you in any way involved in the construction of the international space station？

M: Actually, that's what I'm working on now. I'm currently a technical liaison between NASA and several European space agencies. It's an interesting job, but it can be a bit too much at times. The international space station is probably the largest international venture ever attempted, and I am constantly dealing with technical difficulties, budget problems, and delays. It's not easy coordinating the efforts of all those countries. I have been to Europe three times in the last month, and I have to go to Kazakhstan next week.

W: And I understand there's some controversy surrounding the space station. Don't some people worry that NASA is spending too much money on the project？

M: Many experts have complained that the project has grown out of control and become far too expensive. But I look at it as more than a space station; I believe it's helping to foster international scientific cooperation. It's nice to see the scientists of the world working together to create a stepping-stone to the future.

(20)

A．It plans to send a probe to explore the moon.

B．It's NASA's most expensive project so far.

C．It's an ambitious project.

D．It's involved in the construction of the American space station.

Q: What is said to be special about English vocabulary？

W: Hi, Leo. Why do you say English will become the world language？

M: Well, for one thing, it's so commonly used. The only language that is used by more people is Chinese.

W: Why is English spoken by so many people？

M: It's spoken in many countries of the world because of the British Empire. And now, of course, there's influence of America as well.

W: Many students find English a difficult language to learn.

M: Oh, all languages are difficult to learn. But English does have two great advantages.

W: What are they？

M: Well, first of all, it has a very international vocabulary. It has many German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian words in it. So speakers of those languages will find many familiar words in English. In fact, English has words from many other languages as well.

W: Why is that？

M: Well, partly because English speakers have travelled a lot. They bring back words with them, so English really does have an international vocabulary.

W: And what's the other advantage of English？

M: It's that English grammar is really quite easy. For example, it doesn't have dozens of different endings for its nouns, adjectives and verbs, not like Latin, Russian, and German for example.

W: Why is that？

M: Well, it's quite interesting actually. It's because of the French. When the French ruled England, French was the official language and only the common people spoke English. They try to make the language as simple as possible, so they made the grammar easier.

A.It includes a lot of words form. other languages.

B.It has a growing number of newly coined words.

C.It can be easily picked up by overseas travellers.

D.It is the largest among all languages in the world.

Passage Four

Students all over the world have to work for their education. A college education in the United States is

expensive. The costs are so high that most families begin to save for their children's education when their children are babies. Even so, many young people cannot afford to pay the expenses of full-time college work. They do not have enough money to pay for school costs. Tuition for attending the university, books for classes, and living expenses are high. There are other expenses such as chemistry and biology lab fees and special student activity fees for such things as parking permits and football tic, kets. The cost of college education increases every year. However, classrooms are still crowded with students. Some American students have scholarships or other support, but many do not.

Students from other countries have money problems to overcome, too. Because students in most international programs need to have a sponsor, they work hard to earn scholarships or special loans. International students understand the value of going to school in another country. They also know that it is difficult. Yet just as Americans choose to attend American universities in spite of the difficulty, however, it is usually possible for students from abroad to work on university campuses to pay for some of the costs of their education. Some people believe that students value their education more if they work for it.

48. Tuition for attending the university in the United States is ______.

A. inexpensive

B. high

C. free from charge

D. costless

(76)Apparently, many people believe that the more time a person spends at work, the more he or she accomplishes. When employers evaluate employees, they often consider the amount of time on the job in addition to job performance. Employees know this. Although many working people can do their job effectively during a regular 40-hour work week, they feel they have to spend more time on the job after normal working hours so that the people who can promote them see them.

A group of headhunters (猎头) were asked their opinion about a situation. They had a choice of two candidates for an executive position with an important company. The candidates had similar qualifications for the job．For example, they were both reliable. One could do the job well in a 40-hour work week. The other would do the Same job in an 80-hour work week just as well. According to a headhunting expert, the 80-hour-a-week candidate would get the job．The time this candidate spends on the job may encourage other employees to spend mote time at work, too. Employers believe that if the employees stay at work later, they may actually do more work.

However, the connection between time and productivity (生产率) is not always positive. (77) In fact, many studies indicate that after a certain point, anyone’s productivity and creativity begin to decrease. Some employees are not willing to spend so much extra, unproductive time at the office once they finish their work satisfactorily, they want to relax and enjoy themselves. For these people, the Solution is to find a company that encourages people to do both.

What is the main idea of this passage？

A．Many people work long hours but do not always do a lot of work.

B．Most people can get more work done by working longer hours.

C．Most Americans work 80 hours a week and some work even longer.

D．People can make more money by working longer hours.