more than once.
Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.
（1）
Once the world embraced the automobile, the days of depending on horses, bicycles, ferries, and trains quickly slipped into the past. People were __47__ with the speed of the automobile but they were also enjoying the personal freedom that the automobile gave them. Owning a car gave people the freedom to go anyplace a road __48__. This allowed people to and at their own __49__. This independence gave the car a popular edge over buses and trains. The popularity of the automobile made it the __50__ of the transportation system. The automobile changed our lives when it created a giant industry that offered more and more jobs. The automobile made it possible for people to live in areas __51__ from their work place. This caused cities to grow and made suburban living more convenient. Of course, with more places to go, more __52__ roads had to be built. The automobile caused a __53__ effect. Jobs
increased, industries grew, new industries developed, and cities appeared. Today the automobile industry continues to offer many __54__. Jobs are plentiful in this industry and improvements continue to be made to the automobile with new technologies.
We have come a long way from that first __55__ carriage because of the cooperative efforts of many people in the last century. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the automobile. We have already seen signs of the use of solar energy in this area. As long as man has a brain, the future of the automobile is __56__. A) backbone F) enjoyed K) definite B) infinite G) horseless L) developed C) further H) developing M) farther D) background I) opportunities N) impressed E) led J) snowball O) pace
（2）
A college education is an investment in the future. But it can be a 47 one. The College Board 48 that the costs at a four-year public college in the United States increased 10% this past school year. That was less than the 13% increase the year before, but still much higher than the inflation 49 Public colleges and universities still cost a lot less than private ones.
Financial aid often helps. But financial experts 50 parents to start college savings plans when their child is Still very young.
All fifty states and the District of Columbia 51 what are called 5-29 plans. These plans are named after the part of the federal tax law that created them in 1996. States use private investment companies to operate the 52 of the programs.
Every state has its own rules 53 5-29 plans. Some of the plans are 54 of state taxes. And all are not required to pay federal taxes. However, the government could start to tax withdrawals in 2011 if Congress does not change the law.
5-29 plans include investment accounts that increase or decrease in value with the investments they contain. Families must decide
how 55 they want to put money into stocks, or other investments.
Another kind of 5-29 plan lets parents begin to pay for their child’s education in 56 and long before their child starts college. This kind of savings program is called a prepaid tuition plan. The money goes into an account to pay for an education at a public college or university in the family's home state. A) aggressively F) consumes K) free B) estimates G) costly L) majority C) offer H) decline M) advance D) automatically I) advise N) governing E) rate J) capable O) general （3）
There is progress toward a possible treatment for lung diseases such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Researchers have learned more about how the SARS virus works: it 47 with a system in the body that uses enzymes (酶) to control blood pressure and fluid balance. Scientists say the virus 48 to an enzyme known as ACE-two. The virus blocks the enzyme, permitting fluid to enter the lungs.
A team from Europe and Asia reported the 49 in Nature Medicine. Doctor Josef Penninger of the Institute of Molecular
Biotechnology in the Austrian Academy of Sciences was the 50 writer of the report. The discovery could lead to a new 51 of treating not just SARS but also other diseases that can cause lung failure. These include avian flu (禽流感) and influenza in humans.
The first 52 of SARS were discovered in Guangdong province, in southern China, in November of 2002. SARS was not 53 as a worldwide threat until March of 2003. The disease spread to 26 countries, most of them in the Asia-Pacific area. An estimated 8, 000 people had SARS. More than 770 of them died, or about 10% , a 54 high rate.
The World Health Organization warned people not to travel
to 55 areas. The 56 hurt international travel and business. The WHO says the disease stopped spreading by July of 2003. As a result of SARS, the health agency got new powers to act before a government officially announces a crisis.
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