Whether we find a joke funny or not largely depends on where we have been brought up．The sense of humour is mysteriously(神秘地)connected with national characteristics．A Frenchman ,for instance, might find it hard to laugh at Russian joke．In the same way, a Russian might fail to see anything amusing in a joke which would make an Englishman laugh to tears．

       Most funny stories are based on comic situations．In spite of national differences, certain funny situations have a worldwide request．No matter where you live, you would find it difficult not to laugh at, say ,Charlie Chaplin’s early films．However, a new type of humour, which stems largely from America, has recently come into fashion．It is called “sick humour”．Comedians base their jokes on tragic situations like violent (cause by force)death or serious accidents．Many people find this sort of joke distasteful．The following example of “sick humour” will enable you to judge for yourself．

A man who had broken his right leg was taken to hospital a few weeks before Christmas．From the moment he arrived there, he kept on pestering(糾纏) his doctor tell him when he would be able to go home．He was afraid of having to spend Christmas in hospital ．Though the doctor did his best, the patient’s recovery was slow．On Christmas day, however, the doctor consoled(安慰)him by telling him that his chances of being able to leave hospital in time for New Year celebrations were good．The man took heart and, sure enough , on New Year’s Eve he was able to hobble(跛行) along to a party．To compensate(補(bǔ)償)for his unpleasant experiences in hospital , the man drank a little more than what was good for him．In the process, he enjoyed himself and kept telling everybody how much he hated hospitals．He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg．

Whether you find “sick humour” funny or not will depend on ________．

       A．your having been brought up in America                           

B．the joke being related to a really comic situation

       C．your ability to see the funny side of an unpleasant event  

D．your ability to laugh until you cry

The man spent Christmas day feeling miserable because ________．

       A．the doctor had failed to cure him                 

B．he was not able to be with his friends

       C．being unable to walk, he did not enjoy the celebrations at the hospital

       D．he thought he might also miss the New Year’s Eve celebration

The point of the joke taken to explain “sick humour” is that ________．

       A．no sooner was the out of hospital than he had to go back in again．

       B．the man should not have said how much he hated hospitals

       C．the man would be unable to walk for the rest of his life  

D．the man had not got a leg to stand on

What can you learn from this story ?

       A．On New Year’s Eve, the man was able to walk properly to the party．

       B．At the party , he enjoyed himself but only drank a little．

       C．He had to go to hospital again though he hated it．

       D．The man got well soon because the doctor took good care of him．

One morning a few years ago, Harvard President Neil Rudenstine overslept．For this busy man, it was a sort of alarm: after years of non-stop hard work, he might wear himself out and die an early death．

Only after a week’s leave — during which he read novels, listened to music and walked with his wife on a beach — was Rudenstine able to return to work．

In our modern life, we have lost the rhythm between action and rest．Amazingly, within this world there is a universal but silly saying: “I am so busy．”

We say this to one another as if our tireless efforts were a talent by nature and an ability to successfully deal with stress．The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others．To be unavailable to our friends and family, and to be unable to find time to relax — this has become the model of a successful life．

Because we do not rest, we lose our way． We miss the guide telling us where to go, the food providing us with strength, the quiet giving us wisdom．

How have we allowed this to happen? I believe it is this: we have forgotten the Sabbath, the day of the week — for followers of some religions — for rest and praying．It is a day when we are not supposed to work, a time when we devote ourselves to enjoying and celebrating what is beautiful．It is a good time to bless our children and loved ones, give thanks, share meals, walk and sleep．It is a time for us to take a rest, to put our work aside, trusting that there are larger forces at work taking care of the world．

Rest is a spiritual and biological need; however, in our strong ambition to be successful and care for our many responsibilities, we may feel terribly guilty when we take time to rest．The Sabbath gives us permission to stop work．In fact, “Remember the Sabbath” is more than simply permission to rest; it is a rule to obey and a principle to follow．

1．The “alarm” in the first paragraph refers to “_______”．

    A．a(chǎn) signal of stress                   B．a(chǎn) warning of danger

C．a(chǎn) sign of age                       D．a(chǎn) spread of disease

2． According to Paragraph 4, a successful person is one who is believed to _______．

A．be able to work without stress    

B．be more talented than other people

C．be more important than anyone else         

D．be busy working without time to rest

3．Some people feel guilty when taking time to rest because they _______．

A．think that taking a rest means lacking ambitions

B．fail to realize that rest is an essential part of life

C．fail to realize that religions force them to rest

D．think that taking a rest means being lazy

4．What is the main idea of this passage?

    A．We should balance work with rest．

B．The Sabbath gives us permission to rest．

C．It is silly for anyone to say “I am busy．”

D．We should be available to our family and friends．

閱讀理解

　　George’s case is not rare. In the last fifteen years, quite a number of men and women have chosen to drop out of the working world to try a different kind of life. Most of them are in their thirties and forties, often well educated, although all ages and backgrounds can be found among then. A variety of reasons have led them to give up their work and the security if provided.

　　Some people, like George, have quit a job that was demanding too much from them. Others couldn't stand the pressure and the competition. A thirty-five-year-old woman, who had a high position in her company, decided to leave when she found herself suffering from allergies (過敏) that made her life miserable. She had two children and no savings, but her worries about her future couldn't spoil her feeling of relief and her new peace of mind. Her health improved. She may never work again; if she does, she says that she will take small temporary jobs.

　　Some people, on the contrary, have given up a career that was boring or meaningless to them. An office employee who has been doing paperwork for many years may start wondering whether those papers are achieving anything. An engineer in large company, knowing that he could be replaced by any man with the same training, may come to feel unimportant as an individual. Such people leave their work in the hope of finding stronger interests and a sense of personal worth.

1．What has happened to George?

[　　]

A．He has been fired by his boss.

B．He has found his job meaningless to him.

C．He has suffered from allergies.

D．he has given up his job because he doesn’t enjoy working too hard.

2．After leaving her position the thirty-five-year-old woman felt ________ .

[　　]

A．relieved and peaceful though worried about her security

B．bored without friends and companions

C．that she needed another job

D．the pressures and burdens of life

3．According to the text, people would probably not drop out of the work force if they ________ .

[　　]

A．often worry about their work

B．work without any complaints

C．find it very easy to do their jobs

D．they don’t mind being controlled by others

4．The passage mainly wants to tell us ________ .

[　　]

A．many people enjoy different kinds of jobs

B．people don’t like the pressure and competition

C．people hope to find a sense of personal worth

D．the reasons why some people want to give up their jobs

Last month the first baby--boomers turned 60．The enormous generation born between 1946 and 1964 is heading towards retirement．The coming “demographic cliff”（人口調(diào)查）will see vast numbers of skilled workers disappear from the labor force．

The workforce is ageing across the rich world．Within the EU the number of workers aged between 50 and 64 will increase by 25% over the next two decades，while those aged 20-29will decrease by 20%．

Given that most societies have a tendency to retirement at around 65，companies have a problem of knowledge management，of making sure that the boomers do not leave before they have handed over their expertise along with the office keys and their e-mail address．

If you look hard enough，you can find companies that have begun to adapt the workplace to older workers．The tools they use to achieve arc flexible working，telecommuting，and so forth．Some companies spend “a lot of time” on the ergonomics（人類工程學(xué)）of its factories，making jobs there less tiring．

Likewise，for more than a decade，Toyota，has been unusually keen to employ older workers．IBM uses its alumni network to recruit retired people for particular projects．But such examples are unusual．A survey in America last month by Ernst ＆Young found that “although America foresees a significant workforce shortage as boomers retire，it is not dealing with the issue（議題）．”

Why are firms not working harder to keep old employees? Mostly they are not hanging on to older workers the only way to cope with a failing supply of labor．The participation of developing countries in the world economy has increased the overall supply--whatever the local effect of demographics（人口統(tǒng)計(jì)）in the rich countries．

1．According to the passage，the most serious consequence of baby--boomers approaching retirement would be ________．

A．a(chǎn) decrease in the number of 20 to29 year-olds

B．a(chǎn) loss of knowledge and experience to many companies

C．a(chǎn) continuous increase in the number of 50 to 64 year-olds

D．its influence on the developed world whose workforce is ageing

2．The following are all the measures that companies have adopted to cope with the ageing workforce EXCEPT ________．

A．encouraging former employees to work overseas

B．using alumni networks to hire retired former employees

C．offering more convenience in working hours to older workers

D．making places of work accommodate the needs of older workers

3．In the author's opinion American firms are not doing anything to deal with the issue of the ageing workforce mainly because ________．

A．they have other options to consider

B．they are unwilling to hire older workers

C．they are not sure of what they should do

D．they have not been aware of the problem

4．We can infer from the passage that ________．

A．people in most societies will retire at 65

B．Toyota has been the most active in taking on older workers

C．some companies are trying to make work less tiring for older workers

D．people's joining from the developing world has an effect on the rich world

5．What's the best title of the passage?

A．Old workers in the US are ageing

B．The first baby-boomers are retiring

C．A worldwide shortage of skilled labor

D．The problems with the companies in the EU

The English policeman has several nicknames but the most frequently used are “copper” and “bobby”. The first name comes from the verb to “cop”, meaning to “take” or “capture”, and the second comes from the first name of Sir Robert Peel, the nineteenth-century politician, who was the founder of the police force as we know it today. An early nickname for the policeman was “peeler”, but this one has died out.

Whatever we may call them, the general opinion about the police seems to be a good one except, of course, among the criminal part of the community where the police are given more bad nicknames which came from America, such as “fuzz” or “pig”. Visitors to England seem, nearly always, to be very impressed by the English police. It has, in fact, become a standing joke that the visitor to Britain, when asked for his views of the country, will always say, “I think your policemen are wonderful.”

Well, the British bobby may not always be wonderful but he is usually a very friendly and helpful sort of character. A music-hall song of some years ago was called, “If You Want To Know The Time, Ask A Policeman”. Nowadays, most people own watches but they still seem to find plenty of other questions to ask the policemen. In London, the policemen spend so much of their time directing visitors about the city that one wonders how they ever find time to do anything else!

Two things are noticeable to the stranger, when he sees an English policeman for the first time. The first is that he does not carry a gun and the second is that he wears a very special type of helmet(頭盔). His helmet, together with his height, enables an English policeman to be seen from a long distance, a fact that is not without its usefulness. From time to time it is suggested that the policeman should be given a gun and that his helmet should be taken from him, but both these suggestions are not accepted by the majority of the public and the police themselves.

51．The nickname that is not used now is ___________.

      A．pig                     B．peeler                 C．fuzz                    D．bobby

52．Which of the following statements is true?

      A．There are fewer criminals in America than in Britain.

      B．The English police usually leave a deep impression on visitors.

      C．The British bobby is friendly but not helpful.

      D．The English police enjoy having guns.

53．If you see an English policeman for the first time, you will probably notice at once that ___________.

       A．he often tells people time                                                              

B．he is usually trying to tell others the time

       C．he has a helmet on his head                                                     

D．he wears special clothes

54．In London, what do the policemen often do during their work-time nowadays?

      A．Direct anyone in the city                       B．Tell others the time

      C．Nothing                                              D．Show visitors the right way in the city

55．Visitors praise the English police because ___________.

       A．they are armed with modern equipment

B．they wear special helmets

       C．they are often given thanks by people   

D．they are polite and helpful