shows，ranking alongside the World Cup Final and the Olympic Games opening ceremony in terms of audience．But，in Britain，beauty competitions are unfashionable．To most people，beauty contests seem as out- dated as bowing．Nicolas Barker，a lawyer in London，said that“As much as I think it’s fine for women to do it，I don’t think it’s interesting and in fact，I think they’re irrelevant to today．”Last year，Miss World was broadcast to 142 countries，but it wasn’t even shown in this country where it started in 1951．
It wasn’t always this way in Britain．Once，beauty queens dated footballers，traveled the world and were guaranteed fame，fortune and fun．Now，they open new supermarkets，are sponsored by dry-cleaning companies and，if they’re lucky，they get free clothes from supermarkets． When Francesca Marchant was crowned Miss Sussex in 1969 it was something to be extremely proud of．“I came from a small town，and all my friends were green with envy when they found out I’d won．My boyfriends at the time thought it was terrific and boasted to everyone that be was going out with a beauty queen．”
But the good times couldn’t last．The feminist movement gathered moments on．Some women were determined to bring an end to these“cattle shows” ．Nowadays，saying that you were a beauty queen just doesn’t sound good．
Miss World orgainizers claim that contestants are judged on qualities other than just their physical appearance．But，Jacqueline Gold，England’s representative at this year’s contest，was not chose because of her academic record．The Miss World Website states that she“left school having gaining many computer qualifications，and certificates in First Aid and Life Saving”，meaning，not much of an education．
The only time the contests attraction now is because of the protesters．At the 1999 Miss World in Britain，around 60 demonstrators hurled flour bombs and fought with the police．They denounced the beauty contest as a “sexist cattle market” ．They waved banners saying“fat girls are cool”and“women’s bodies are not for sale” ． 31----40
31．Beauty contests in Britain are now____． A．bringing huge benefits for the country B．as popular as the World Cup Final C．no longer popular in the country D．widely protested in the country
32．The attitude of Nicolas Baker towards beauty contests is that____． A．women shouldn’t attend the contests
B．the contests are line but he doesn’t like them C．the contests are insults to women D．the contests are behind the times 33．In the 60s and 70s，beauty queens____ A．were sponsored by dry-cleaning companies B．were admired by most people
C．did not have a good supermarkets
34．The author used Jacqueline Gold as an example to show that____ A．her academic record was very strong
B．she had gained many qualifications and certificates C．contestants are judged on their physical appearance D．contestants are judged on their education 35．The best title for the passage might be____ A．Beauty Contests：Insults to Women B．Beauty Contests：Sexist Cattle Market
C．Beauty Contests：A Headache for British people
D．Beauty Contests：Started in Britain but Unpopular Now Passage Two
A particular area in which assumptions and values difler between culture is that of friendship．Friendships among Americans tend to be shorter and less intense than those among people from many other cultures．At least many observers from abroad have this impression．Because Americans are taught to be self-reliant，because they live in a very mobile society，and for many other reasons as well，they tend to avoid deep involvement with other peopl．Furthermore，Americans tend to“compartmentalize”their friendships，having their“friends at work”，“friends at school”，a“tennis friend”，and so on．Americans often seem very friends，even when you first meet them．This friendliness does not usually mean that the American is looking for a deeper relationship．
The result of these attitudes and behaviors is sometimes viewed by foreigner as an “inability to be friends” ．Other times it is seen as a normal way to retain personal happiness in a mobile，ever-changing society．
People normally have in their minds stereotypes about people who are different from themselves．Stereotypes are based on limited and incomplete
experience and information，but they shape people’s thoughts and expectations．Americans have many stereotypes about foreign students in general(for example，that they are very hard working，intelligent，and rich；that they do not speak English well)and about particular categories of foreign students(Chinese are polite and good at mathematics，for example，or Italians are emotional) ．And foreign students have their own stereotypes of Americans，for example，that they are arrogant，rude，and generous．
There are two stereotypes that often effect male-female relationships involving U．S．and foreign students．The first is the idea，held by some foreign males，that American females are invariably willing，if not anxious，to have sex．The second common stereotype，held by some American females，is that male foreign students have no interest in American females other than having sex with them．The existence of these and other stereotypes can give rise to considerable misunderstanding and can block the development of a mutually satisfactory relationship between particular individuals．Stereotypes seem unavoidable，given the way the human mind seeks to categorize and classify information，so it is not realistic to suppose people can“forget their stereotypes” ．But they can be aware of their stereotypes，and be ready to find exceptions to them． CDBCD BADCA
36．Concerning friendship，Americans____
A．look for a deeper relationship in a close circle B．avoid deep relationship with other people
C．are friendly at first but do not remain so later on D．do not make good friends
37．The word“compartmentalize”in the first paragraph means“_____” A．separate in categories B．treat differently C．evaluate accordingly D．judge fairly
38．The author’s attitude toward the American type of friendship seems to be____
A．approving B．critical C．biased D．objective
39．According to the author，stereotypes concerning male-female relationships involving U．S．and foreign students are____ A．helpful B．meaning less C．harmful D．useless
40．According to the author，stereotypes seem unavoidable because____ A．it is natural to have them B．it is easy to find exceptions
C．they provide better understanding D．they contribute to friendship
Passage Three
In The Birth Order Book：Why You Are the Way You Are(2004)，Dr．Kevin Leman notes that 21 of the first 23 Americans in space were first-born males or only children．More than half of United States presidents have been first-borns or first-born boys．Its a pretty significant finding historically，because families used to be bigger than they are today．
In addition to being high achievers，older children also generally have higher IQs(智商)than younger ones．Researchers have noted that the more kids a family has，the lower each child’s individual IQ tends to be．They give a few reasons for this．
Parents only have so much time，attention，and money．The more kids they have the more these things are divided．First-borns initially get the entire parental-time pie．What’s more，the ratio of grown-ups to kids decreases with each new baby．So the younger ones are surrounded bymore children’s language on average than the older kids．Some researchers think parental attention is the key to personality birth-order differences．In His book Born to Rebel，psychologist Frank Sulloway says competition for Mom and Dad’s attention is the thing that really shapes our personalities and，in fact has shaped history．He argues that we adapt our personalities as part of our strategy to seek favor from Mom and Dad．Younger siblings(兄弟姐妹) tend to become rebels．Sulloway studied political activists and found that later-born activists were more radical than their first-born peers．
The conclusion of his book is that sibling competition for parental attention can affect society as a whole in times of revolution．Thomas Jefferson，Karl Marx，and Fidel Castro were all younger siblings，for example．
As compelling as this all is，it’s also something we should probably take with caution，there are other things that happen to us in life besides the addition of siblings to our families．A parent can die；a hurricane can leave us homeless；we can catch a life-threatening disease．Any one of these things will probably have more of an effect on our personalities than the presenon of siblings．
A 2002 study bore this out．After interviewing 535 undergraduates，researchers concluded that personality differences were widely supported by research．41----50 DABCD
41．What is implied by“the younger ones are surrounded by more children’s language on average than the older kids”(Para．3)
A．Younger children need parental rather than siblings’ attention． B．Younger children need siblings’ rather than parental attention． C．Younger children feel uncomfortable with more siblings．
D．Younger children have less chance to talk with their parents． 42．Sulloway，author of Born to Rebel，suggests that younger siblings____ A．try hard to get attention from their parents B．are less likely to shape history
C．are winners in getting parental attention D．seldom adapt their personalities
43．Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a factor shaping personality?
A．Death of a parent． B．Children’s language． C．A natural disaster． D．A fatal discase．
44．What is the meaning of“folklore”in the last paragraph? A．Traditional customs and beliefs． B．Verified hypotheses．
C．Widely held unsupported notions． D．Tales of sayings preserved orally．
45．Which of the following statements is proposed by researchers? A．Later-borns do not compete for attention． B．First-borns tend to become rebels． C．Later-borns are prone to diseases．
D．First-borns achieve more than younger ones． Passage Four
Does money buy happiness? It’s sometimes said that scientists have found no relationship between money and happiness，but that’s myth，says Uiversity of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener．