(B)

An old English saying goes, “Laughter is the best medicine.” One person who certainly would have agreed with this is Norman Cousins.

Norman Cousins was the editor of a magazine called “Saturday Review” for a;most forty years. He also wrote and spoke about world peace and anti-nuclear (反核的) and anti-war issues (问题). And he traveled to many different countries to share his ideas.

In the 1960s, after returning to the United States from a busy and tiring trip to Europe, Mr. Cousins got sick. He discovered he had a rare disease, known as ankylosing spondylitis, which caused the joint between his bones to stiff (僵硬的).

In less than a week after he got sick, he could not stand. Every move that he made was painful. He was not able to sleep at night. The doctors told Mr. Cousins that they did not know how to cure his illness and he might never get over (摆脱) it. Mr. Cousins, however, refused to stop hope.

Mr. Cousins thought that illness could be caused by unhappy thoughts. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself. Instead, he felt that happy thoughts or laughter might cure his illness.

He began to experiment on himself while still in that hospital by watching comedy (喜剧) shows on TV. Mr. Quickly found that ten minutes of real laughter during the day gave him two hours of pain-free (无痛苦的) sleep at night.

Deciding that the doctors could not help him, Mr. Cousins left the hospital and checked into (入住) a hotel room where he could continue his experiments with laughter. For eight days, Mr. Cousins rested in the hotel room watching comedy show on TV, reading amusing books, and sleeping whenever he felt tired. Within three weeks, he felt well enough to take a holiday to Puerto Rico where he began running on the beach for exercise.

After a few months, Mr. Cousins was able to carry on his work. He had laughed himself back to good health.

(  ) 34. What is the main topic of the passage?

A funny story.  B. An interesting cure.

C. An amazing life  D. Why people laugh.

(  ) 35. What is NOT true about the underlined words “ankylosing spondylitis”?

A. It is uncommon.  B. It makes walking difficult.

C. It is easily cured.  D. It is painful.

(  ) 36. What did the doctors think about Mr. Cousins’ disease?

A. It could be cured if he slept more.

B. It might be cured.

C. It could be cured by taking medicine.

D. It would take a week to get over it.

(  ) 37. What did Mr. Cousins think cured him?

A. Laughter.   B. Running on the beach.

C. Medicine.  D. Taking a holiday.

(  ) 38. What did Mr. Cousins do after he got better?

A. He went back to the hospital. B. He continued his job.

C. He wrote amusing books.     D. He went on relaxing by taking a holiday

(C)

Idioms (习语) are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word you see or hear, you may not understand the idiom because you don't understand the culture behind it.

For example, if an American boy asks his mother what's for dinner tomorrow, she may say“I'll play it by ear”, that means she doesn't have plans for dinner and she will decide later.“Play by ear”used to mean playing music using the sheet music, but now people often use it when they're not talking about music.

There are many idioms in English. If you learn to use them, your English will be more vivid and colorful. English idioms are more common in spoken English. They can be difficult to remember sometimes. Next time when you hear somebody saying to you, “Give me a hand”, you don't necessarily stretch out your hand to him/her, but you do need to be helpful. And when the situation is out of hand, you usually can do very little to manage all that. What about a green hand? It's not about the color of your hand! You're a green hand when you are very new at your work and don't have much experience. If you and your partner always work together hand in glove, you two definitely work together very well.

Can you guess the meanings of some common English idioms to do with parts of your body?

(  ) 39. An idiom is _______.

A.a phrase or a sentence that means exactly what the words say

B.a phrase or a sentence that doesn't mean exactly what every word says

C.so difficult that nobody can understand

D.something to do with parts of your body

(  ) 40. If a mother says“I'll play it by ear”to talk about the dinner, she means _______.

A.she will cook dinner while listening to music at the same time

B.she doesn't hear what others are talking about.

C.she will play music using the sheet music instead of cooking dinner

D.She doesn't have plans for dinner and will decide later

(  ) 41. When one says“Can you give me a hand?”, he means _______.

A.he needs to hold your hand.  B. he works well with you

C.he needs your help    D. he is a new comer and can't help with the situation

(  ) 42. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A.People use English idioms more in spoken English than in written English.

B.To understand the culture behind an idiom is important in understanding the      idiom.

C.Idioms make your English more vivid and colorful so they are easy to remember.

D.You may not understand an idiom even though you know the meaning of each    word.

(  ) 43. Here are 4 common English idioms to do with parts of your body and their  meanings. Can you match (匹配) them?

1)to learn something by heart  a. to depend on oneself

2)to have sticky fingers  b. to know something very well

3)to stand on one's own feet  c. to do something secretly

4)to go behind someone's back  d. to have the habit of stealing

A. badc  B. bdac  C. cbad  D. cdba