68. The underlined sentence in Para. 2 means ______.

A. homeownership has quite a lot of bad effects

B. there might be another housing breakdown in the U.S.

C. the existing-home sales will keep decreasing in the U.S.

D. the result of homeownership is much worse than it appears

69. It can be inferred from Para. 3 that ______.

A. it is hard for Americans to get a home loan

B. it is the way to wealth to have one’s own house

C. many Americans choose to live out of urban areas

D. homeownership has made many people out of work

70. What is the author’s attitude towards homeownership?

A. Favorable. B. Ambiguous. C. Cautious. D. Optimistic.

第二节(共5小题;每小题2分，共10分)

根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项

为多余选项。

“Look it up in the dictionary” is the usual comment when people are in doubt about the meaning or spelling of a word. Dictionaries are considered the final authority on these matters as well as on pronunciations and other facts about a word.

Until a few hundred years ago, however, people could not “look it up” because there were no English dictionaries. The ancient Greeks and Romans and the scholars of the Middle Ages had made lists of Latin and Greek words. 71 The first great English dictionary listing both common and uncommon words was written by Samuel Johnson in 1755.

In America, the most famous name in dictionary writing is that of Noah Webster. He stressed American rather than British ways of speaking. His great dictionary, which first appeared in 1828, has been republished many times. 72 The latest edition is still considered “the” dictionary. It defines over 450,000 words, including radar, television and many others undreamed of by Webster.

73 The huge ones that rest on stands in libraries are called unabridged, meaning “not shortened.” They tell not only a word’s meaning and spelling but also its pronunciation, origin, history, part of speech, grammatical forms, and ways of use. The smaller ones do not provide all this information.

74 A bilingual dictionary, such as a Spanish-English dictionary, translates words from one language into another. A thesaurus lists other words that mean the same as each listed word. A gazetteer lists place names, and a glossary is a small dictionary in a book defining technical words in that book. There are also dictionaries of scientific terms and ones on many other topics. There is even a dictionary of slang. 75 The dictionary is one of our most valuable language tools.

A. Each time, it has been updated.

B. General dictionaries are not the only kind.

C. Thus there are many kinds of special dictionaries.

D. In a general dictionary, each word may have multiple meanings.

E. Dictionaries that list all kinds of words are known as general dictionaries.

F. Over the previous 150 years more than 20 dictionaries had been published.

G. But it was not until 1604 that a book of uncommon English words appeared.

第四部分：书面表达(共两节，35分)

第一节 情景作文 (20分)

假设你是某校高二(1)班学生李华。下面是你校布告栏里张贴的“征集接待家庭”的通知，请根据其内容用英语写一封申请信。词数不少于60。

注意：信的开头和结尾已经给出(不计入词数)。

HOST FAMILIES WANTED

Teachers and students from Central High School Phoenix will study in our school during the summer vacation. Host families are wanted to accommodate our friends.

REQUIREMENTS:

◇ Good English.

◇ Good communication skills.

◇ A SEPARATE room.

◇ Convenient transportation.

◇ …