I believe that my country, Poland (波蘭), is a perfect example for a place where food is particularly important. When we were little children, we began to understand how much a loaf of bread meant to our parents—to some it might sound silly but for me the custom of kissing bread before you started cutting it was simply amazing. It's not so common nowadays to treat food that way, since you hardly ever bake your own bread. Besides, everyone would call you crazy if you tried to kiss every bread roll before you ate them! But though we no longer make our food from scratch (起點), some customs have been kept--that's why I feel so sorry every time I have to throw any food away—even though I no longer live with my parents and nobody would blame me for this anymore!

Many people of our nation are still working as farmers, eating what they grow and harvest and therefore enjoying everything more. It's widely known that you value more anything that needs your effort in the first place. In most homes in Poland, especially those of farmers, the whole family would try and have their meals together--extremely difficult now, but so rewarding (值得) ! You can share other members' troubles and successes, give your children some attention, or just sit down for a moment instead of rushing through life aimlessly. Furthermore, your body, and stomach in particular will be very grateful for such a time!

In Poland, a wedding, Christmas or even a birthday is celebrated with a great meal. Women in the house get together and cook, sometimes for a few days before the event, and the extremely good or unusual food will be remembered and widely talked about.

You cannot over-value the importance of food in the country. What's more, almost everyone in Poland will be as interested in the topic as I am.

68. When the writer was a child, he / she ________.

A. found people were crazy about bread

B. began to realize the importance of food

C. thought that cutting bread was amazing

D. learned people hardly baked their own bread

69. The writer feels very sorry when he/she has to throw away any food because _____.

A. he/she makes food from scratch　　 　　　　　

B. his/her parents would blame him/her

C. some customs still have effect on him/her　

D. many people are still working hard as farmers

70. From the text, we can learn that, in Poland, ________.

A. most meals can be interesting topics for a long time

B. the whole family often have meals together nowadays

C. it's common for women to get together to cook for a few days

D. family members can know more about each other by having meals together

Pha?thon stood impatiently at the heavy golden doors. He ordered the guards, Month and Year, to let him approach his father’s throne. As the doors opened slowly, the sun’s rays almost blinded him. Pha?thon protected his eyes and felt his way toward Apollo’s throne. “Come here, my son. Follow my voice,” Apollo’s voice echoed. “What is so urgent that you have my guards hurrying to do your bidding?”

　　　 “Father, I have a problem. All of my friends have been teasing me. They don’t believe that you’re my father or that you make the sun rise and set,” complained Pha?thon.

　　 Apollo replied, “Oh? That problem again? Well, just to prove it to your friends once and for all, I will satisfy any wish you desire.”

　　　 “Really? Then I have only one wish,” answered Pha?thon. “I’d like to drive your chariot and make the sun rise tomorrow morning!”

　　 Apollo was horrified. “No, not that! No one but me can drive the chariot. The horses are too powerful!”

　　 “You said I could have anything,” murmured Pha?thon.

　 Bound by his promise, Apollo had to agree. His heart was sick with worry as he ordered Dawn to prepare the horses, Hour and Day, to the Golden Chariot. Pha?thon could hardly wait to jump in the driver’s seat and take the reins(韁繩). He hoped all his friends were watching the sky and waiting for him through the stars.

　 “Wait, my son! There are things you need to know!” cried Apollo.

“Oh, Father! You worry too much. I’ve often seen you drive. I know what to do,” Pha?thon answered.

　　　 Apollo hurried to give directions. “You have never driven my chariot before. You must make the horses stay on the path. If you are too low, you will scorch the earth and large land on it could be thrown into a world of fire.”

　　　 “I know, Father. Now watch me take off!” shouted Pha?thon.

　　 Dawn stepped back and released the horses go. The horses were filled with excitement. The sky begged for Dawn’s light, so she ran toward the horizon to make the darkness fade. As Pha?thon was about to get on, Apollo took him by the arm and said, “Please listen to me! If you go too high, you will warm the cold depths of the heavens, and the Bear or Snake or the Scorpion (天蝎星座) will come alive!”

　　　 Pha?thon just laughed. “My friends are waiting. I’ve got to go!” he shouted.

　　　 With that, the chariot was off. It was a wild ride. Hour and Day were difficult to control. Pha?thon did not have his father’s strong arms or years of experience. The horses wove from side to side and jumped up and down through the heavens, hitting everything in their way. The sun bounced along behind the chariot like a basketball. It scratched the stars and slipped along mountaintops, leaving burnt remains behind. Pha?thon’s friends ran for cover as they watched. Just as his father had warned him, the figures in the sky began to move. Suddenly the Scorpion appeared suddenly before him, but Pha?thon dashed by in time. The Snake struck out and bit a wheel off the chariot.

　　 Apollo, seeing the destruction, rushed up toward the heavens, but he was too late! The Bear had waken up from his icy hibernation and seized Pha?thon before his father could reach him. Apollo took hold of the reins and finally regained control of Hour and Day, but it was years before the earth’s mountaintops were white with snow again. The scorched areas became deserts where very little would grow. Pha?thon became a part of the stars alongside the Bear, where his father could regretfully keep an eye on him.

67. Which word can be used to replace the underlined word “scorch”?

　　　 A. Scratch　　　　　　　　　 B. Burn　　　　　　　　 C. Hit　　　　　　　　　 D. Destroy

68. What caused Apollo to allow Pha?thon to drive the chariot?

　 A. Apollo wanted to protect Pha?thon from teasing.

　 B. Pha?thon dared to approach Apollo’s throne.

　 C. Apollo was bound by his promise to Pha?thon.

　 D. Apollo asked Pha?thon to do it as a favour.

69. It can be concluded that this passage is mainly about the conflict between ______.

　 A. Goodness and Evil 　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Man and Nature　　　　　　　

　 C. Strength and Weakness 　　　　　　　　 D. Wisdom and Inexperience

70. From what point of view is the passage told?

　A. First person, Apollo 　　　　　　　　　　 B. Third person, limited

C. Third person, unnamed　　　　　　　　　 D. Third person, Dawn

It's not a new phenomenon, but have you noticed how many nouns are being used as verbs? We all use them, often without noticing what we're doing.

I was arranging to meet someone for dinner last week, and I said “I’ll pencil it in my diary”, and my friend said “You can ink it in”, meaning that it was a firm arrangement not a tentative one!

Many of these new verbs are linked to new technology. An obvious example is the word fax, which is a shortening of facsimile originally, an exact copy of a book or document. We all got used to sending and receiving faxes, and then soon started talking about faxing something and promising we'd fax it immediately. So, nouns turn into verbs in two easy stages. Then along came email, and we were soon all emailing each other madly. How did we do without it? I can hardly imagine life without my daily emails.

Email reminds me, of course, of my computer and its software, which has produced another couple of new verbs. On my computer I can bookmark those pages from the World Wide Web that I think I'll want to look at again, thus saving all the effort of remembering their addresses and calling them up from scratch. I can do the same thing on my PC, but there I don't bookmark; I favorite—coming from “favorite pages”, so the verb is derived from an adjective not a noun. I wasn’t really sure whether people said this, but someone told me recently that they had favorited a site I was looking for and so they could easily give me its address.

In the late 1980s I noticed that lots of my friends had acquired pagers, and kept saying things like “I’ll page you as soon as I know what time we’re meeting”. They couldn't say it to me, though; I refused to have one. So my children bought me a mobile phone, now known simply as a mobile and I had to learn yet more new verbs. I can message someone, that is, I can leave a message （either spoken or written）for them on their phone．Or I can text them, write a few words suggesting when and where to meet, for example. How long will it be before I can mobile them, that is, phone them using my mobile? I haven’t heard that verb yet, but I’m sure I will soon. Perhaps I’ll start using it myself! 　

60. “I’ll pencil it in my diary” in the second paragraph probably means              .

A. it was a firm arrangement　　　　　　　    　

B. it was an uncertain arrangement

C. the arrangement should be written as a diary    

D. he prefers a pencil to a pen

61. A website address can be easily found if it has been            .

A. emailed            B. messaged          C. favorited          D. texted

62. Which of the following has not been used as a verb yet?

A. message            B. page                 C. email               D. mobile

63. The best title for this passage is           ．

A. New Verbs from Old Nouns　　　　

B. The Development of the English language

C. New Technology and New words     

D. Technology and Language

  It's not a new phenomenon, but have you noticed how many nouns are being used as verbs? We all use them, often without noticing what we're doing.

    I was arranging to meet someone for dinner last week, and I said “I’ll pencil it in my diary”, and my friend said “You can ink it in”, meaning that it was a firm arrangement not a tentative one!

Many of these new verbs are linked to new technology. An obvious example is the word fax, which is a shortening of facsimile originally, an exact copy of a book or document. We all got used to sending and receiving faxes, and then soon started talking about faxing something and promising we'd fax it immediately. So, nouns turn into verbs in two easy stages. Then along came email, and we were soon all emailing each other madly. How did we do without it? I can hardly imagine life without my daily emails.

Email reminds me, of course， of my computer and its software, which has produced another couple of new verbs. On my computer I can bookmark those pages from the World Wide Web that I think I'll want to look at again, thus saving all the effort of remembering their addresses and calling them up from scratch. I can do the same thing on my PC, but there I don't bookmark; I favorite—coming from “favorite pages”, so the verb is derived from an adjective not a noun． I wasn’t really sure whether people said this，but someone told me recently that they had favorited a site I was looking for and so they could easily give me its address.

In the late 1980s I noticed that lots of my friends had acquired pagers, and kept saying things like “I’ll page you as soon as I know what time we’re meeting”. They couldn't say it to me, though; 1 refused to have one． So my children bought me a mobile phone, now known simply as a mobile and I had to learn yet more new verbs. I can message someone, that is, I can leave a message （either spoken or written）for them on their phone．Or I can text them, write a few words suggesting when and where to meet, for example. How long will it be before I can mobile them, that is, phone them using my mobile? I haven’t heard that verb yet, but I’m sure I will soon. Perhaps I’ll start using it myself! 　

“I’ll pencil it in my diary” in the second paragraph probably means          .

    A. it was a firm arrangement　　　　　　　    　B. it was an uncertain arrangement

    C. the arrangement should be written as a diary     D. he prefers a pencil to a pen

A website address can be easily found if it has been＿____.

    A. emailed                   B. messaged                 C. favorited                D. texted

Which of the following has not been used as a verb, yet?

    A. message                   B. page                     C. email                            D. mobile

The best title for this passage is____．

A. New Verbs from Old Nouns　　　　B. The Development of the English language

    C. New Technology and New words    D. Technology and Language.