Ⅱ. Reading Comprehension (50分)

　　Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D .You should decide on the best choice and write the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

　　Questions 41 to 45 are based on the following passage:

　　Passage One

　　What do we talk about when we talk about money? We often think about what we can buy with the money we have, what we can’t buy because we don’t have enough and what we’re planning to buy when we have more. We discuss the careers that bring us money and the expenses that take it away. We talk about our favourite shops and restaurants, the causes we support, the places we’ve been and seen. We share dreams that only money can make real.

　　In short, we talk about everything but money itself. In daily life, money is still a major conversational taboo. This is a shame, because money is as interesting as the things it does and buys, and the more you know about it, the more interesting it is.

　　(81) As a financial advisor, I’ve seen hundreds of people learn to control their money instead of letting it control them and watched as they increased as they increased their freedom, power and security by handling money consciously. Wouldn’t you like to know that you’ll always have enough money to live exactly as you want to?

　　You will never be powerful in life until you’re powerful over your own money. Talking openly about it is the first step.

　　41. Which of the following is NOT discussed when we talk about money?

　　A. The careers that bring us money

　　B. The causes we support

　　C. The dreams that only money can make real

　　D. Money itself

　　42. What can we know from the second paragraph?

　　A. We should know more about money itself rather than avoid talking about it.

　　B. Money itself can interest us and bring us happiness.

　　C. The more money we earn, the more we should know about it.

　　D. It is a shame that people talk too much about money.

　　43. What does the writer want to say in the third paragraph?

　　A. People should learn how to make money.

　　B. People should know the value of money.

　　C. People should learn to control their money.

　　D. People should know how to use money to increase their power.

　　44. The writer’s advice that _____.

　　A. the more you talk about money, the more you can control it.

　　B. we should learn to be a good master of our money if we want to be powerful in life

　　C. we should not be so worried about money if we want to have a free life

　　D. the more money you have, the more powerful you are

　　45. What will the writer probably talk about after the last paragraph?

　　A. The importance of money

　　B. Money, power and security

　　C. The other steps for people to control money

　　D. The steps for people to make money

　　Questions 46 to 50 based on the following passage:

　　Passage Two

　　A question often put to the specialist on fishes is “How long do fishes live?” This puts the specialists in an embarrassing position because he is often unable to give a direct answer to this simple question.

　　But actually this question is not as simple as it seems. There are thousands of different kinds of fishes, and they vary a great deal in size and life span. Moreover, it is not easy to find out just how long a fish lives in its natural state.

　　We can find out how old a fish is by studying its scales, but we cannot say how much more time it would live if we had not caught it.

　　We may rear fishes and record their life span but we cannot be sure that this is the length of time they would have lived, had they been left alone.

　　We may make marking to show how fast the fishes grow so that we can calculate the age of the largest on record, but unless this large fish dies of old age we are still not in a position to know its natural life span.

　　(82) unlike human beings, fishes do not stop growing when they reach maturity. They continue to grow as long as they live, although the rate of growth slows down in mature fishes.

　　46. People often ask the specialist on fishes regarding its _______.

　　A. size B. life span C. age D. variety

　　47. The specialist is embarrassed by the question because _______.

　　A. he does not know the answer

　　B. there is no answer to the question

　　C. it is a silly and simple question for him

　　D. there is no definite answer to this question

　　48. We can know a fish’s age from its ______.

　　A. weight B. size C. scales D. length

　　49. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

　　A. Different kinds of fishes have different life spans.