第二部分：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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
More and more often we heard of people talking about Karaoke (卡拉OK). But what on earth it is about still remains a question for many people. Karaoke is a sort of acoustic (听觉的) equipment which was invented in Japan around the middle of the 1970's. It means "a band without people" in Japanese. In fact, it is just a music tape without words. This equipment first appeared in some public houses and snack bars, and mainly for the customers to enjoy themselves. Most of the music in Karaoke was popular music. Therefore, at times, when anyone felt like it, he might sing songs to the accompaniment (陪伴) of the music that came from the equipment. Shortly after its invention, Karaoke was spread to the whole world. It was introduced to China and was welcomed by many people. Although you are not a good singer, or even sometimes you may sing out of tune, you can always enjoy yourself by singing Karaoke.
56. In this passage "band" means "group of persons ________."
A. who play games on the sports ground
B. who play music together
C. living in the same neighborhood
D. doing things together under a leader and with a common purpose
57. Karaoke is just a ______.
A. cassette tape with only music B. cassette tape recorder
C. band from Japan D. voice recording equipment
58. People went to public houses and snack bars ______when Karaoke appeared.
A. to have a good time B. to have something to drink
C. to get something to eat D. to buy the equipment
59. Karaoke was spread to the whole world ________.
A. as soon as it was invented B. long before
C. not long after it was invented D. before long
60. The main idea of this passage is ______.
A. all persons like to play Karaoke
B. to introduce Karaoke to the people
C. Karaoke is a wonderful equipment
D. Karaoke is used everywhere including snack bars
She was born to wealth and power in a time when money and politics were left to the men． Later, as The Washington Post's publisher, Katharine Graham became one of America's most powerful women．
Despite a privileged（有特权的） background, Katharine had to deal, while growing up, with the high demands her mother placed on her children．Katharine's love of journalism, which she shared with her father, led to her career after college at The Washington Post, the newspaper her father bought in 1933．At the Post, Katharine met Phil Graham, a young, charming lawyer who became her husband．When, in 1945, Katharine's father chose Phil over her to take over his struggling paper, Katharine didn't object and stayed at home as a wife and mother of four．
While Phil's successful efforts to restore the Post to fame made the Grahams popular members of the Washington social scene, Katharine privately suffered great pain from her husband's increasingly harmful behavior caused by severe depression．When Phil committed suicide（自杀）, the 46-year-old Katharine found herself thrown into a new job, that of newspaper publisher．But determined to save the family paper for her children, Katharine rose to the challenge of running the Post, attending meetings in every department, working endlessly to prove herself to her critics, and becoming the toast of Washington．
In 1971, Katharine ordered the Post to print a copy of the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret documents telling the truth about the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War．What's more, her courageous decision and support for her journalists prepared the Post to break the most important political story in modem history: Watergate （水门事件） , one of the greatest scandals （丑闻） in American political history．Katharine managed to keep control over the most disorganized situation when it was reported, all the time insisting the news stories be accurate and fair．Watergate made the Washington Post an internationally known paper and Katharine was considered as the most powerful woman in America．．Katharine Graham was born in a time when ______．
| A．women were not given the chance to receive education |
| B．women were not considered as intelligent as men |
| C．women were not permitted to achieve their goals |
| D．women were not allowed to enter every field |
When her husband was chosen to take charge of the newspaper, Katharine Graham ___．
| A．was strongly against the idea |
| B．was not happy to be refused |
| C．was willing to take her share of responsibility |
| D．didn't believe her husband would do a good job |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．It was Katharine Graham's husband who made the greatest contributions to the Post． |
| B．When Katharine Graham first took over the Post, her critics doubted her ability． |
| C．Katharine Graham was successful in her career but suffered severe depression． |
| D．Katharine Graham was free to do whatever she liked in her early life． |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Ups and Downs of The Washington Post |
| B．Katharine Graham and Her Husband |
| C．Katharine Graham: From Housewife to Successful Publisher |
| D．Katharine Graham: A Woman Who Shaped American Journalism |
Christopher Thomas, 27, was a writer by night and a teacher by day when he noticed he was always tired and was losing weight fast. Diagnosed with diabetes(糖尿病), Thomas would need to inject himself with insulin(胰岛素) three times a day for the rest of his life or risk nerve damage, blindness, and even death. And if that weren't bad enough, he had no health insurance.
After a month of feeling upset, Thomas decided he'd better find a way to fight back. He left Canton, Michigan for New York, got a job waiting tables, nicknamed himself the Diabetic Rockstar , and created diabeticrockstar.com, a free online community for diabetics and their loved ones—a place where over 1,100 people share personal stories, information, and resources.
Jason Swencki’s son, Kody, was diagnosed with type diabetes at six. Father and son visit the online children's forums(论坛) together most evenings. "Kody gets so excited, writing to kids from all over," says Swencki, one of the site's volunteers. "They know what he's going through, so he doesn't feel alone."
Kody is anything but alone: Diabetes is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, with 24 million diagnosed cases. And more people are being diagnosed at younger ages.
These days, Thomas's main focus is his charity（慈善机构）, Fight It, which provides medicines and supplies to people—225 to date—who can't afford a diabetic's huge expenses. Fight-it.org has raised about $23,000—in products and in cash. In May, Thomas will hold the first annual Diabetic Rockstar Festival in the Caribbean.
Even with a staff of 22 volunteers, Thomas often devotes up to 50 hours a week to his cause, while still doing his full-time job waiting tables. "Of the diabetes charities out there, most are putting money into finding a cure," says Bentley Gubar, one of Rockstar's original members. "But Christopher is the only person I know saying people need help now."Which of the following is true of Christopher Thomas?
| A． He needs to go to the doctor every day. |
| B． He studies the leading cause of diabetes |
| C． He has a positive attitude to this disease. |
| D． He encourages diabetics by writing articles. |
Diabeitcrockstar.com was created for _________.
| A．diabetics to communicate | B．volunteers to find jobs |
| C．children to amuse themselves | D．rock stars to share resources. |
The last paragraph suggests that Thomas ______.
| A．works full-time in a diabetes charity |
| B．employs 22 people for his website |
| C．helps diabetics in his own way |
| D．ties to find a cure for diabetes |
It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers （生产商）follow certain uniform standards for various features（特征）of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s from the left. Considering most of the world’s population-men and women-are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women. So why do women’s clothes button from the left?
History really seems to matter here. Button first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men’s shirts button from the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.
Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning from the left is still the standard for them. Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change. At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacture to offer women’s shirts that buttoned the right. After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch. Besides from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts.What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?
| A．It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years. |
| B．It is different for men’s clothing and women’s. |
| C．It woks better with men than with women. |
| D．It fails to consider right-handed people. |
What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?
| A．They tended to wear clothes without buttons. |
| B．They were interested in the historical matters. |
| C．They were mostly dressed by servants. |
| D．They drew their swords from the left. |
Women’s clothes still button from the left today because .
| A．adopting men’s style is improper for women |
| B．manufacturers should follow standards |
| C．modern women dress themselves |
| D．customs are hard to change |
The passage is mainly developed by .
| A．analyzing cause |
| B．making comparisons |
| C．examining differences |
| D．following the time order |
Some years ago, I was hired by an American bank. I received a letter from the head of the Personnel Department that started, "Dear John, I am quite pleased that you have decided to join us." That "quite" saddened me. I thought he was saying "we're kind of pleased you decided to join us although I wish we had hired someone else." Then I discovered that in American English "quite" sometimes means "very", while in British English it means "fairly".
So the first lesson about working in other countries is to learn the language and by that I don't just mean the words people speak. It is body language, dress, manners, ideas and so on. The way people do things highlights many of the differences we see between cultures（文化）．
Some of these differences may be only on the surface-dress, food and hours of work-while others may be deeper and take longer to deal with. Mostly, it is just a question of getting used to the differences and accepting them, like the climate（气候），while getting on with business.
Some of the differences may be an improvement. People are more polite; the service is better; you ask for something to be done and it happens without having to ask again. However, other differences can be troubling, like punctuality（准时）．If you invite people to a party at 7 o'clock your guests will consider it polite to turn up exactly on time in Germany, five minutes early in the American Midwest, an hour early in Japan, 15 minutes afterwards in the UK, up to an hour afterwards in Italy and some time in the evening in Greece. I prefer not to use the word "late" because there is nothing wrong with the times people arrive. It is simply the accepted thing to do in their own country.The author was unhappy as mentioned in Paragraph 1 because he thought______．
| A．the American bank didn't think much of him |
| B．the American bank might hire another person |
| C．it's difficult to get used to American culture |
| D．it's easy to misunderstand Americans |
The word "highlights" in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.
| A．encourages | B．helps to narrow |
| C．increases | D．draws attention to |
According to the author, what should we do with most cultural differences?
| A．Ask the native people for help. |
| B．Understand and accept them. |
| C．Do things in our own way. |
| D．Do in-depth research. |
When invited to a party the people who are usually punctual are______.
| A．Italians | B．Germans | C．Greeks | D．the British |
While small may be beautiful, tall is just plain uncomfortable it seems, particularly when it comes to staying in hotels and eating in restaurants.
The Tall Persons Club Great Britain (TPCGB), which was formed six months ago to campaign for the needs of the tall, has turned its attention to hotels and restaurants. Beds that are too small, shower heads that are too low, and restaurant tables with hardly any leg-room all make life difficult for those of above average height, it says.
But it is not just the extra-tall whose needs are not being met. The average height of the population has been increasing yet the standard size of beds, doorways, and chairs has remained unchanged.
“The bedding industry says a bed should be six inches larger than the person using it, so even a king-size bed at 6′6″ (6 feet and 6 inches) is falling short for 25% of men, while the standard 6′3″ bed caters for less than half of the male population.” Said TPCGB president Phil Heinricy, “seven-foot beds would work fine.”
Similarly, restaurant tables can cause no end of problems. Small tables, which mean the long-legged have to sit a foot or so away from them, are enough to make tall customers go elsewhere.
Some have already taken note, however. At Queens Moat Houses′ Caledoman Hotel in Edinburgh, 6′6″beds are now put in as standard after requests for longer beds from taller visitors, particularly Americans.What is the purpose of the TPCGB campaign?
| A．To provide better services. |
| B．To rebuild hotels and restaurants. |
| C．To draw public attention to the needs of the tall. |
| D．To attract more people to become its members. |
Which of the following might be a bed of proper length according to Phil Heinricy?
| A．7′2″. | B．7′ | C．6′6″ | D．6′3″ |
What may happen to restaurants with small tables?
| A．They may lose some customers. |
| B．They may start businesses elsewhere. |
| C．They have to find easy chairs to match the tables. |
| D．They have to provide enough space for the long-legged. |
What change has already been made in a hotel in Edinburgh?
| A．Tall people pay more for larger beds. |
| B．6′6″beds have taken the place of 6′3″beds. |
| C．Special rooms are kept for Americans. |
| D．Guest rooms are standardized. |
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