It was four o'clock when we left Micatlan,and we traveled quickly until it became almost completely dark.It was our intention to return to our general quarters in Atlacomulco that night.We had a long journey ahead of us,especially because it had been decided there was no way we would try to cross the ravines again at night,since they were considered far too dangerous.Futhermore,an eclipse of the moon was expected,and,in fact,while we were crossing an open field,the moon appeared on the horizon,half in shadow,a rare and beautiful sight.
After a few hours of riding,we suddenly realized that we had lost our way,and worse still,had no way of finding it again.Night had fallen and there was not a single hut in sight,only great plains and mountains and the lowing of distant bulls all around us.We continued on ahead,trusting in luck,though it was difficult to say where she had brought us.By good fortune,our advance riders ran into two Indians,a man and a boy,who agreed to guide us their village and no further.
After an interminable and exhausting road,which we traveled at a brisk trot,the barking of several dogs announced an Indian village.In the dying light,we could just make out cane huts,firmly situated between the banana trees,with fenced gardens in front of each one.Our convoy stopped in front of one particular hut,a kind of inn or shop for alcohol,where a naked goblin-like figure,the ideal husband for a witch,was serving cheap brandy to the Indians,most of whom were already drunk.
We dismounted and threw ourselves to the ground,too tired to even think.Someone found us,God knows how,a cup of dreadful hot chocolate.We began to realize that we were completely lost,and so it was agreed to give up our attempt to reach Atlacomulco that night.Instead,we should head for the village of “E1 Puente”,where our guides know a Spanish family,made up of several unmarried brothers,who,without any doubt,would be delighted to offer us a safe refuge for the rest of the night.We remounted and began our journey,a little restored after the pause in our journey and the dreadful hot chocolate.Where did we travel to?
| A．El Puente. | B．The cane huts. | C．Atlacomulco. | D．An Indian Village. |
When we traveled at night_________.
| A．there was a good guide leading us |
| B．there was a full moon in the sky |
| C．we could hardly see anything |
| D．we could see everything around clearly |
When we lost our way we believed that_________.
| A．we should stay where we were for rescue |
| B．we should go on to seek after our fortune |
| C．we should go back where we started |
| D．we should ask the Indians for help |
When we reached the inn-like hut_________.
| A．someone served alcohol and hot chocolate at once |
| B．we had a good sleep |
| C．we had a good drink |
| D．we were too exhausted to ask for anything |
.
There is no doubt that adults, and even highly educated adults, vary greatly in the speed and efficiency of their reading. Some proceed very lowly throughout; others dash along too quickly and then have to regress. Poor readers in particular may lack the ability to vary their manner of reading according to the type of reading matter and to their intentions in reading it. A good reader can move at great speed through the text of a novel or similar light reading matter. He may be able to skim a page, picking up a word or two here and there, and gain a general idea of what the text is about without really reading it. In reading more difficult material, with the intention of taking in the whole of it, he will proceed more slowly, but even then he will vary his pace, concentrating on the key words and passages, perhaps re-reading them several times and pass more quickly over the remainder. A less efficient reader tends to maintain the same speed whatever the material he reads. Consequently, even light reading matter gives him little pleasure because he reads so slowly. But this pace may be too fast for really difficult material which requires special concentration at difficult points.
A type of reading which necessitates(需要) careful attention to detail is proofreading, in which the reader, in order to detect misprints in a sample print, has to notice not so much the meaning of what he reads as the exact shape and order of letters and words in the text. This is extremely difficult for most people, since they are accustomed to overlooking such details. In fact, considerable practice is required to practise this task efficiently and it can be done only by reading very slowly, and by paying comparatively little attention to the general meaning of the text.
68．This article is mainly concerned with ________.
A．the ability to read fast
B．difference in the speed and efficiency of reading
C．different reading skills
D．the reading speed of highly educated adults
69．According to the article, there is a difference in reading speed ________.
A．among adult readers
B．among young educated people
C．among readers who have different experiences
D．between the poorly educated and the highly educated
70．The underlined word "regress" can be best replaced by "________".
A．regret B．stop C．move slowly D．go back
71．The author believes a good reader should ________.
A．always read at great speed
B．read carefully and catch every detail
C．always review the text he has read
D．change his speed according to the type of text
.
If US software(软件) companies don’t pay more attention to quality, they could kiss their business good-bye. Both India and Brazil are developing a world-class software industry. Their weapon is quality and one of their jobs is to attract the top US quality specialists whose voices are not listened to in their country.
Already, of the world’s 12 software houses that have earned the highest position in the world, seven are in India. That’s largely because they have used new methods American software specialists refused to use. For example, for years, quality specialists, W. Edwards Deming and J.M. Juran had tried to persuade US software companies to change their attitudes to quality. But their quality call mainly fell on deaf ears in the US--but not in Japan. By the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was taking its market share with better, cheaper products. They used Deming’s and Juran’s ideas to bring down the cost of good quality to as little as 5% of total production costs. In US factories, the cost of quality then was 10 times as high: 50%. In software, it still is.
Watts S. Humphrey spent 27 years at IBM heading up software production and then quality assurance(保证). But his advice was seldom paid attention to. He retired from IBM in 1986. In 1987, he worked out a system for assessing(评估) and improving software quality. It has proved its value time and again. For example, in 1990 the cost of quality at Raytheon Electronics Systems was almost 60 % of total software production costs. It fell to 15% in 1996 and has since further dropped to below 10 %.
Like Deming and Juran, Humphrey seems to be winning more praises overseas than at home. The Indian government and several companies have just founded the Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute at the Software Technology Park in Chennai, India. Let’s hope that US lead in software will not be eaten up by its quality problems.
64. Which country has the most first-class software companies in the world?
A. Germany. B. The USA. C. Brazil. D. India.
65. Which of the following statements about Humphrey is true?
A. He is now still an IBM employer.
B. He has worked for IBM for 37 years.
C. The US pays much attention to his quality advice.
D. India honors him highly.
66. By what means did Japan take its large market share by the 1970s and the 1980s?
A. Its products were cheaper in price and better in quality.
B. Its advertising was most successful.
C. The US hardware industry was falling behind.
D. Japan hired a lot of Indian software specialists.
67. What is the writer worrying about?
A. Many US software specialists are working for Japan.
B. The quality problem has become a worldwide problem.
C. The US will lose its lead in software in the world.
D. India and Japan are joining hands to compete with the US.
.
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题; 每小题2分,满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bicycles to work every day. In New York, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike for a Better City. They declare that if more people rode bicycles to work, there would be fewer automobiles in the downtown part of the city and so less dirty air from car engines.For several years this group has been trying to get the city government to help bicycle riders. For example, they want the city to draw special lanes（车道） for bicycles only on some of the main streets, because when bicycle riders must use the same lanes as cars, there are accidents. Bike for a Better City feels that if there were special lanes, more people would use bikes.But no bicycle lanes have been drawn. Not everyone thinks it is a good idea—they say it will slow traffic. Some store owners on the main streets don’t like the idea—they say that if there is less traffic, they will have less business.The city government has not yet decided what to do. It wants to keep everyone happy. On weekends, Central Park—the largest place of open ground in New York—is closed to cars, and the roads may be used by bicycles only.But Bike for a Better City says that this is not enough and keeps fighting to get bicycle lanes downtown.56. In New York , a group of bike riders______.A. are keeping practising for healthB. have no cars of their ownC. are complaining（埋怨） there are not enough busesD. are trying to settle the problem of air pollution57. The bike riders suggest that______.A. bicycles should be used instead of cars
B. bicycle lanes should be drawnC. fewer buses or cars should be used
D. the number of special lanes should be increased
58. The advantage of the special lanes is that______.
A. they will make cars and buses run slowly
B. they will make it easier for bike riders to go to parks
C. they will make the city more beautiful
D. the lanes will prevent accidents
59. The government has not decided whether special lanes should be drawn______.
A. so that everyone is disappointed
B. because there are different opinions
C. because most people travel by train
D. because Bike for a Better City is not strong enough
.
Koeler took special notice of the tall woman who was nicely dressed, but she was wearing ugly, thick-soled(厚底) shoes.
Now the woman was taken to a room for questioning. There it was found that the soles of the shoes were hollow(中空的). They were opened. Some diamonds fell out on the floor. Their total weight was 3377 carats(克拉).
The young woman broke down in tears. Then she told her story. For years she had dreamed of coming to live in America, she said. At last she had managed to get the papers she needed to come to the U.S. Then a strange man called on her. He said he would pay for her trip and give her one hundred dollars. All she had to do was to smuggle the diamonds past the U.S. Customs. The man gave her the shoes and also bought her a plane ticket. Just before she got on the plane, he gave her an envelope. He said that it was the hundred dollars he had promised.
The weeping woman handed the envelope to Koeler. He tore it open. There was only eighteen dollars. She was cheated. In the end the woman was trialed and sentenced to eighteen months in prison for her part in the smuggling.
60. Where did the story happen?
A. At an airport. B. At a police station.
C. At a railway station. D. In a custom office in China.
61. The underlined word “smuggling ” in this passage most probably means_____.
A. 偷税 B. 盗窃 C. 走私 D. 交换
62. The woman had agreed to smuggle the diamonds______.
A. in order to get the papers she needed B. in hope of selling them
C. in return for some money and a free trip D. so as to share them with the man
63. Which is the right order of the events(事件)given in the passage?
a. She wanted to live in the U.S.
b. She arrived in the U.S.
c. She was given an envelope.
d. She was given a plane ticket.
e. She was found out.
f. She was put into prison.
A. a, d, c, b, e, f B. a, b, c, e, f, d
C. a, c, d, b, e, f D. a, b, d, c, e, f
.
"If you're busy preparing for your job interview now, you could learn a lot by watching this show," says Joe Turner.
Mr. Turner says American Idol (美国偶像) has many lessons to teach an employee about making an impression in a job interview, especially selling your strengths and skills.
To win on American Idol, "you don't have to be the best singer, just the most memorable singer," he said. "Same for the job interview — you don't have to be the best employee with the top skills, but you do have to be the most memorable employee worth being hired."
The No.1 thing in an interview and a job search is knowing your audience. For American Idol competitors, the judges and voting (投票的) public are the audience; for job hunters, it's the hiring manager.
Just as talented American Idol competitors lack confidence when singing the wrong song, job hunters can fail to be chosen when they fail to present their skills according to the employer's needs.
"Difference" is how Mr. Turner describes the way American Idol competitors stand out among singers who may be equally good.
In the real world, the right skills, education and experience still make one's ability different or memorable. But it's important for the job hunter to present "something special" that he or she has to offer.
A recent survey suggests that managers often sense whether they'll hire someone within minutes after the first handshake. Just as an Idol competitor prepares for performances, a job hunter should prepare carefully to make the first good impression.
Job hunters also can learn from past American Idol winners who proved an ability to recover from setbacks. If they can take feedback (反馈), make improvements and make sure they're better prepared the next go-round, that will pay off eventually.
72. The purpose of the passage is _________.
A. to persuade readers to take part in American Idol
B. to praise the winners of American Idol
C. to advertise for American Idol
D. to tell job hunters what they can learn from American Idol
73. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A. if a job hunter fails to be chosen for one job, he or she will never succeed
B. job hunters should distinguish themselves from other applicants when interviewing
C. the skills, education and experience are the keys to your success
D. an American Idol competitor is never the same as a job hunter
74. The underlined word "setbacks" in the last paragraph means __________.
A. failures B. successes
C. performances D. advantages
75. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage ?
A. The reason that you are planning to change your job.
B. The best singer may not win on American Idol.
C. An employer may have the opinion on a job hunter within minutes.
D. How an American Idol competitor can stand out among singers.
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