请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

Sweet potato makes a comeback as a popular food (it's healthier, too!)

Once considered a fringe(非主流的) food by the US. dinner table mainstream，sweet potatoes are fast becoming popular everywhere from fast food chains to expensive restaurants and the White House table.

Three years ago, the “Wall Street Journal” wrote in a front page article that except for their use in a Thanksgiving dish, sweet potatoes were a wholly uninteresting food. Yet over the past two years, the number of restaurants offering a sweet potato­based side dish has increased 40 percent. Food giant ConAgra just spent $155 million to open the world's first plant devoted entirely to frozen sweet potato products, and US. farmers are planning to harvest a record­setting 2 billion pound crop.

“It's not something we believe is a fashion, ” said Andy Johnston of ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston.

According to research conducted by ConAgra, 30 percent of sweet potato eaters report consuming the vegetable several times per month. Only 12 percent eat them only during the Thanksgiving and winter holiday season.

Analysts believe the sweet potato's growing popularity in large part is due to sweet potato fries, which account for the majority of the vegetable's presence in U.S. restaurants. In fact, Google searches for “sweet potato fries” increased 40 percent over the past year.

Sweet potatoes have also become popular among more conscious eaters，however, in part because they are high in vitamins and have a low glycemic(血糖的)index in spite of their sweetness. Both Weight Watchers and the South Beach Diet have recommended sweet potatoes, roasted in a little oil rather than fried, and doctors are recommending them for diabetics.

“Within the diabetic community, it's become pretty common knowledge that sweet potatoes are good for you, so there's a great appeal because so many people have diabetes now，” said Chef Michel Nischan，who helps host a TV show for people with diabetes.

56.This passage mainly wants to tell us that ________.

A.American high officials have started to eat sweet potatoes

B.Expensive restaurants have begun to serve costumers with sweet potatoes

C.Sweet potatoes are becoming a popular food in the United States

D.The habit of eating sweet potatoes was formed a long time ago

57.From this reading passage we infer that ConAgra ________.

A.is one of the biggest food­making companies in the US

B.is one of the richest food­selling companies in the US

C.has asked American farmers to produce more sweet potatoes this year

D.has produced large quantities of sweet potato­based side dishes

58.Which of the following may NOT encourage the sweet potato's popularity?

A.US restaurants recommend sweet potatoes to their customers as a vegetable.

B.Google searches show more and more people are becoming interested in sweet potatoes.

C.Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins and low in glycermic index.

D.Sweet potatoes taste very sweet.

B

They say a cat has nine lives, and I think that possible since I am now living my third life and I'm not even a cat. My father died when I was 15, and we had a hard struggle to make a living. And my mother, who was seriously ill in her last years，died while still in her 60s.My sister married soon after, and I_followed_her_example_within_the_year.

This was when I began to enjoy my first life. I was very happy, in excellent health. I had a good job in San Jose and a beautiful home up the peninsula(半岛) in San Carlos. Life was a pleasant dream. Then the dream ended. I became afflicted(使苦恼) with a slowly progressive disease of the motor nerves, affecting first my right arm and leg, and then my other side. Thus began my second life...In spite of my disease I still drove to and from work each day, with the aid of special equipment installed in my car. And I managed to keep my health and optimism, to a degree，because of 14 steps. Crazy? Not at all. Our home was an affair with 14 steps leading up from the garage to the kitchen door. Those steps were a standard measure of life. They were my yardstick, my challenge to continue living. I felt that if the day arrived when I was unable to lift one foot up one step and then drag the other painfully after it—repeating the process 14 times, I would be through—I could then admit defeat and lie down and die.

Then on a dark night in August, 1971, I began my third life. It was raining when I started home that night;strong winds and slashing rain beat down on the car as I drove slowly down one of the less traveled roads. Suddenly the steering wheel jerked(猝然一动).In the same instant I heard the bang of a blowout. It was impossible for me to change that tire! Utterly impossible!

I started the engine and thumped slowly along until I came to the dirt road，where I turned in and where I found lighted windows welcomed me to a house and pulled into the driveway and honked the horn.

The door opened and a little girl stood there. When she knew what happened to me, she went into the house and a moment later came out, followed by a man who called a cheerful greeting. I sat there comfortable and dry, and felt a bit sorry for the man and the little girl working so hard in the storm.

About an hour later, the man's voice was heard, “This is a bad night for car trouble, but you're all set now.” Thanks.” I said，“How much do I owe you?” He shook his head, “Nothing. Cynthia told me you were a cripple. Glad to be of help. I know you'd do the same for me.There's no charge, friend.” I held out a five­dollar bill，“No! I like to pay my way.” He made no effort to take it and the little girl stepped closer to the window and said quietly，“Grandpa can't see it.”

59.“A cat has nine lives” here means ________.

A.a cat can live nine times longer than any other animal

B.a cat can die ninth

C.a lucky man can not die easily

D.the writer will live nine times

60.What do you think of the man who helped change the tire?

A.Old, warm­hearted but pitiable.

B.Blind, but warm­hearted and happy.

C.A blind old man that has nothing to do every day.

D.A poor old man that is always ready to help others.

61.How do you understand the underlined sentence “I followed her example within the year”?

A.He listened to his sister carefully.

B.Mother told him that he must get the agreement from his sister for whatever he would do.

C.His sister got married. He, too.

D.His sister was a great woman. He must learn from her.

C

The slow death of the American dream for middle class families has continued in the last couple of years in the wake of the financial crisis.

A study shows a shocking decline in the average net worth of US households from 2007 to 2010.The average American family saw their net worth drop 40%in that three years，from $126,400 to$77,300.

The loss，not surprisingly，is due in large part to falling home prices. The average homeowner saw their net worth fall more than $ 70,000 from roughly $ 250,000 in 2007 to $ 175，000 in 2010

In three years,18 years of savings have been wiped away for the majority of the country and at the same time wages have fallen. The average income fell from about $ 50,000 in 2007 to $ 46,000 in 2010.

But this negative trend does not stop there. As average families become poorer，rich Americans are growing richer. The Fed survey showed the wealthiest 10%of families actually saw their net worth rise from 2007 to 2010.Over that time period，their net worth increased from $ 1.17 million to $ 1.19 million.

The continued decline of the American middle class has resulted in income inequality at levels not seen since the Great Depression. Many economists agree.

While the major consumer spending has historically come from the middle class，if the majority of Americans continue to suffer from falling wages and income，eventually something has got to give. There is no possible way for the super­rich to buy enough stuff to float the entire US economy.

It is growing increasingly clear that we live in drastic times(非常时期)and drastic measures must be taken to save the country's middle class. One drastic measure is that more Americans are putting off retirement because they simply can't afford it.

62.Which of the following could be the title of the passage?

A.The current situation of the Americans

B.The economic crisis’ impact on the USA

C.The fading of the American middle class families' dream

D.Bad economies in the USA

63.According to the passage，which of the following is NOT affected by the financial crisis?

A.Household. B.House prices.

C.Average income. D.Population.

64.What is the measure taken to save the country's major consumers?

A.Putting off retirement.

B.Making the super­rich buy more.

C.Reducing the working hours.

D.Providing more job opportunities.

65.What can we infer from the passage?

A.Retirement can save America from financial crisis.

B.The middle class are the only victims of the financial crisis.

C.The American economy is floating.

D.The middle class are vital to the US economy.