British women are happy nowadays to wear mini-skirts up until the age of 40, according to research by Debenhams.

    Just 20 years ago, few women would dare to wear a mini-skirt after the age of 33, the store said. “It shows that women now have an increasing confidence in their bodies and are happy to dress accordingly,” it added in a statement. “If this trend continues, there’s no doubt that, within the next decade, women in their mid 40s and early 50s will rightly regard a mini-skirt as an essential pan of their everyday wardrobe.”

    The figures emerged when the store examined the latest age profile of women buying short, 36-cm skirts over the past six months. Their results show that it has jumped from an average age of 36-years-old at the start of millennium ¹ to 40 today. Figures from 1980 showed that on average women stopped buying minis when they reached 33 years old -- a figure unchanged from the mid-1960s.
    The store noted that experts believe that the popularity of intensive gym culture ², providing women with well toned bodies ³ for longer may be the reason The increasing number of British women living on their own may also be a fac tor.

    The Debenhams’ study showed that a modern woman’s love affair with a mini-skin begins at the age of 14 but that she doesn’t buy her first one until the age of 16 Instead, she flouts school roles by rolling up the waistband of the school uniform to give the impression of wearing a mini skirt.

    Skirts get shorter between the ages of 16 and 19, reducing in size from 46 to 36 cm before reaching their shortest, a mere 32 cm, at the age of 23. Skirt .length increases slightly between the ages of 23 and 27, rising to 37 cm, possibly due to girls being in their first stable relationship, with no desire to attract attention, the store said.

    However, it found short skirt suddenly zoom in popularity between the ages of 27 and 34, as those early relationships break down, and new relationships are formed. The move into longer skins begins irreversibly at 40 years old, when 46-cm skins, still slightly above the knee are the norm. From then on, skirt length increases dramatically, falling below the knee for the very first time since school days at the age of 42.

词汇：

millennium [mɪ"lenɪəm] n. 千禧年

gym [dʒɪm] n. 健身房

注释：

1.这里指公元2000年。

2.gym culture:指英国现在流行的去健身房健身的趋势。

3.well toned bodies:指结实而线条良好的体形。

Which of the following statements about the length of the mini-skirts is true?

A:At the age of 14,girls often wear mini-skirts which are about 46cm in size B:Girls at the age of 19 wear the shortest mini-skirts C:At the age of 23,most girls wear mini-skirts which are 37cm long D:From the age of 23,skirt length increases because girls are in their first stable relationship

VLSM的含义是（）

A:VariableLength Subnet Masking B:VariableLength Shortest Masking C:VeryLong/ Shortest Masking D:VariableLong Subnet Masking

Passage Three
The American idea of customer service is to make each customer the center of attention. People going shopping in America can expect to be treated with respect from the very beginning. When customers get to the store, they are treated as honored guests. Customers don’t usually find store clerks sitting around watching TV or playing cards. Instead, the clerks greet them warmly and offer to help them find what they want. In most stores, the signs that label each department make shopping a breeze (容易的事情). Customers usually don’t have to ask how much items cost, since prices are clearly marked.
When customers are ready to check out, they find the nearest and shortest checkout lane. But as Murphy’s Law would have it, whichever lane they get in, all the other lanes will move faster. Good stores open new checkout lanes when the lanes get too long. Some even Offer express lanes for customers with 10 items or less. After they pay for their purchases, customers receive a smile and a warm "thank you" from the clerk. Many stores even allow customers to take their shopping carts out to the parking lot. In that way, they don’t have to carry heavy bags out to the car.
In America, customer service continues long after the sale. Many products come with a money-back guarantee, ff there is a problem with the product, customers can take it back. The customer service representative will often allow them to exchange the item or return it for a full refund.

A:the lane they get in is faster than other lanes B:the lane they get in is slower than other lanes C:it's better to stand in a newly-opened lane D:it's better to find the nearest and shortest checkout lane

A:At the age of 14, girls often wear mini-skirts which are about 46cm in size. B:Girls at the age of 19 wear the shortest mini-skirts. C:At the age of 23, most girls wear mini-skirts which are 37cm long. D:From the age of 23, skirt length increases because girls are in their first stable relationship.

London Cabbies(出租车司机) Every city in the world has taxis to take tourists to interesting places.London is the only city in the world where taking a taxi is an （51）experience for tourists.This is partly because of the special black cabs,which are found in no other country.But it is also because of the drivers themselves.（52）British people are famous for being polite and reserved,London cabbies are well-known（53）their willingness to talk. Some customers say that once the door shuts and the cab（54）off they are a captive(监禁了的)audience.It is impossible to get the taxi driver to stop （55）.“They’re self-confident and free thinking,”said Malcolm Linskey,the author of a history of taxi drivers in London. They are also expensive.London has the most expensive taxis of any city in the world except Tokyo.That’s why Ken Livingstone,the Mayor of London,is planning to make taxi drivers negotiate their fares with（56）before they take a ride. Drivers agree that their fares are expensive.That’s because their black taxis（57）more than other cars,they say.And the customer is also paying for more driving expertise(专门知识)than anywhere else in the world. Before someone can qualify as a London taxi driver,that person has to pass a test （58）simply as “The Knowledge”.This involves（59）the name and location of every street within six miles of a point in the exact centre of London.The trainee(受训者)must also learn the exact location of every important building within these streets.Finally he or she must be able to use this knowledge to work out the （60）distance between any two destinations within this area. It can（61）up to three years to pass“The Knowledge”.Every day it is possible to see trainee taxi drivers on the streets of London,taking careful notes of popular destinations before tracing the route to their next stop.Cab driving is a job often（62）down in families.Many taxi drivers take their children out in their spare time to memorize（63）they need to know when it is their turn to do “The Knowledge”. London cabbies also have bigger brains.Recent research found that the part of the brain that remembers things was larger and more（64）in cab drivers.They have to fit the whole of London into their heads,so their brains grow bigger.So perhaps it is not（65）that taxi drivers have lots to say.

A:shortest B:shortish C:shortened D:short

The weight-( )is attributed to breakage of the gunny bags.

A:short B:shortage C:shortest D:long

The weight-( )is attributed to breakage of the gunny bags．

A:short B:shortage C:shortest D:long

There are several periods in a computer, the shortest period is( ).

A:instruction period B:machine period C:beat period D:CPU period