In general, people in Britain and the US dress fairly (1) __________. Many wear casual clothes most of (2) _________ time, not just when they are at home or on holiday. Men and women wear jeans (3)__________ a shirt or T-shirt and a sweater to go (4)_________, meet friends, go to a pub or bar, or take their children out. Leggings, which are women’s trousers that stretch to fit tightly, or jogging pants are also (5)_________. Older people are more (6)____________ to dress more smartly, with women wearing a dress or skirt and blouse, and men a shirt, jacket and trousers, when they go out. In summer younger people may wear shorts, but some people think they are only (7)_________ on the beach. When the weather is hot, some men take off their shirts, (8)___________some people do not like this. Most people in Britain dress up, which means putting on smart clothes, to go to party or restaurant. Some restaurants will not (9)________people who are wearing jeans or men (10)__________a tie.

Hello! My name is David. I work for a construction company. I started working for this company in 2004. We build roads, dams, bridges and things like that. At the moment my company is producing a plan for a new motorway. I usually work in the road department, but this month I am working in the department that builds bridges. So my whole working day is different just now. I normally spend a lot of time outdoors because I have to go to the construction sites. But with this new project I spend a lot of time in the workshop. Now I am testing a model of one of the new bridges. I enjoy it a lot because I have learned a lot of new things.

1. When did David begin working for his construction company?
................................................................................................

2. What is his company doing at the moment?
...............................................................................................

3. Where does he usually work?
..............................................................................................

4. Is he working in the road department this month?
...............................................................................................

In Britain, the climate is not very good. There are very few hot days and it rains a lot. Because of this, people spend a lot of time at home. Generally, British homes have a lot of furniture in them, carpets on the floors and heavy curtains. Many houses in Britain are old. Many of them are over one hundred years old. Often, they do not have enough insulation and the heat goes out through the windows, the doors and up the chimney. Because of the climate, people in Britain have to spend a lot of money on heating. Many houses have a special system called "central heating". This heats all the rooms and, at the same time, heats the hot water. Houses without central heating often have gas, electric or coal fires. The rooms in most British houses are quite small. New houses are much better. They have two layers of glass in the windows to stop the heat going out.

1. What’s the weather like in Britain ?
2. Are there a few hot days in Britain ?
3. How old are many houses ?
4. What do many houses have ?
5. Why do pepple spend a lot of time at home ?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A,B,C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 45 to 54

In comparison with most other places in the world, family identity is rather weak in Britain, especially in England. Of course, the family unit is still the basic living arrangement for most people. But in Britain this definitely means the nuclear family. There is little sense of extended family identity, except among some racial minorities. This is reflected in the size and composition of households.

It is unusual for adults of different generations within the family to live together. The average number of people living in each household in Britain is lower than in most other European countries. The proportion of elderly people living alone is similarly high.

Significant family events such as weddings, births and funerals are not automatically accompanied by large gatherings of people. It is still common to appoint people to certain roles on such
occasions, such as „best man‟ at a wedding, or godmother and godfather when a child is born. But for most people these appointments are of sentimental significance only. They do not imply lifelong responsibility. In fact, family gatherings of any kind beyond the household unit are rare. For most people, they are confined to the Christmas period.

Even the stereotyped nuclear family of father, mother and children is becoming less common. Britain has a higher rate of divorce than anywhere else in Europe except Denmark and the proportion of children born outside marriage has risen dramatically and is also one of the highest (about a third of all births). However, these trends do not necessarily mean that the nuclear family is disappearing. Divorces have increased, but the majority of marriages in Britain (about 55%) do not break down. In addition, it is notable that about three-quarters of all births outside marriage are officially registered by both parents and more than half of the children concerned are born to parents who are living together at the time.

Today, in Britain, many couples, mostly in their twenties or thirties, live together without getting married. Only about 60% of those couples will eventually get married. 40% of children in Britain are born to these cohabiting parents. In 2000, around a quarter of unmarried people between the ages of 16 and 59 were cohabiting in Great Britain. Unmarried couples are also starting families without first being married. Before 1960, this was very unusual, but in 2001, around 23% of births in the UK were to cohabiting couples.

The leading factor contributing to the increase in the number of single-parent family is __

A. women working 

B. the choice to be lone parents

C. high divorce rate 

D. old age marriage

Read the following passage on transport, and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to

indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 43 to 50.

(1) Footracing is a popular activity in the United States. It is seen not only as a competitive sport but also as a way to exercise, to enjoy the camaraderie of like–minded people, and to donate money to a good cause. Though serious runners may spend months training to compete, other runners and walkers might not train at all. Those not competing to win might run in an effort to beat their own time or simply to enjoy the fun an exercise. People of all ages. From those of less than one year (who may be pushed in strollers) to those in their eighties, enter into this sport. The races are held on city streets, on college campuses, through parks, and in suburban areas, and they are commonly 5 to 10 kilometers in length.

 (2) The largest footrace in the world is the 12 kilometer Bay to Breakers race that is held in San Francisco every spring. This race begins on the east side of the city near San Francisco Bay and ends on the west side at the Pacific Ocean. There may be 80,000 or more people running in this race through the streets and hills of San Francisco. In the front of are the serious runners who compete to win and who might finish in a little as 34 minutes. Behind them are the thousands who take several hours to finish. In the back of the race are those who dress in costumes and come just for fun. One year there was a group of men who dresses like Elvis Presley, and another group consisted of the firefighters who were tired together in a long line and who were carrying a firehose. There was even a bridal party, in which the bride was dressed in a long white gown and the groom wore a tuxedo. The bride and groom threw flowers to bystanders, and they were actually married at some point along the route.

The main purpose of this passage is to _____.

A. encourage people to exercise

B. describe a popular activity 

C. make fun of runners in costume

D. give reasons for the popularity of footraces

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!

Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning. In our classroom, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups; this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with the personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teachers. Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes the work on individual tasks and assignments, they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this is appropriate. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this effectively. An advanced pupil can do advanced works; it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.

Which of the following statements can best summarize the main idea of the passage?

A. Various ways of teaching should be encouraged in class

B. The aim of education is to find out how to teach the bright and not-so-bright pupils

C. Bright children do benefit from mixed-class teaching

D. Children, in general, develop at different rates

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-sobright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!

Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability.

We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.

In our classroom, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups; this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with the personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teachers. Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes the work on individual tasks and assignments, they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this is appropriate. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this effectively. An advanced pupil can do advanced works; it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.

Which of the following statements can best summarize the main idea of the passage?

A. Various ways of teaching should be encouraged in class

B. The aim of education is to find out how to teach the bright and not-so-bright pupils

C. Bright children do benefit from mixed-class teaching

D. Children, in general, develop at different rates