At first, the earth’s surface（表面） layer (层) was made up of huge blocks of hard, solid rocks. Then slowly, the rocks broke up into smaller and smaller pieces. Finally stones, pebbles (卵石) and grains of sand were formed. Many sorts of plants and animals lived and died on the surface of the earth. Their remains mixed up with the stones, pebbles and formed soil. The outmost layer of the earth is soil.
There are many ways in which large pieces of rock break into smaller ones. Wind, water. heat and cold help to break up rocks. When winds blow grains of sand against a large rock for a long time, the softer layers of the rock are slowly worn away. These leave holes and cracks (裂缝) in the rock, which become bigger and finally the rock breaks up into smaller pieces.
The moving water of streams and rivers also helps to break up rocks. As the water moves along, it carries with it small pieces of rock. These rub the larger ones. Thus, the larger rocks are worn down to smaller pieces.
The heat of the sun is also helpful to breaking up rocks. When the sun shines, the rocks become very hot. If these rocks are suddenly cooled, they may crack. Ice also plays a part in making soil. Water in the carcks can turn into ice in cold weather. As this happens, it becomes bigger and the cracks become wider, and finally break into smaller pieces. According to the passage, soil ______ .
| A．forms very slowly |
| B．is a mixture of stones, pebbles and sand |
| C．makes up the layers of the earth |
| D．is becoming smaller and smaller |
How many factors are mentioned in helping break up rocks?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．More than five. |
Which of the follwing speeds up（加速） the breaks of rocks most?
| A．Hot weather. | B．Cold water. |
| C．Sharp changes in temperature. | D．More dead plants in the cracks. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The remains of many plants and animals formed soil. |
| B．If a large rock never moves, it will never break up. |
| C．Even if a large rock never moves, it will break up. |
| D．Ice in the cracks helps to break up rocks. |
The best title for this passage should be ____ ?
| A．Soil From Rocks |
| B．Ways to Break up Rocks |
| C．Soil on the Earth |
| D．Soil, Outmost Layer of the Earth |
Marriages improve after children grow up and move out，according to an academic study，
which suggests an“empty nest”is not always a bad thing．
Popular wisdom has it that parents’relationships may suffer once their young fly the coop，
because they feel they have lost their purpose in life．However,a new study by researchers at the
University of California,Berkeley，has found that many couples actually feel happier when their
children leave home because they are able to enjoy spending time together．
In total，123 American mothers born in the 1930s were tracked for 18 years and asked to rate
their satisfaction levels shortly after marrying,when they were bringing up babies，once their
children reached their teenage years and finally at age 61，when almost all had“empty nests”．
Although not all said they were happier in general，most claimed their marriages had improved since their children had left home．Researchers believe this is not just because the spouses were spending more time together,but because they were able to enjoy each other’s company more．
One of the participants in the study,which is published in the jourmal Psychological Science，
said：“Once the kids grow up…there’s some of that stress removed…that responsibility removed，so things are a little more relaxed．’’
Psychologist Sara Gorchoff,who carried out the investigation，said：“The take-home message
for couples with young children is‘hang in there’．”Her co-author Oliver John added：“Don’t wait until your kids leave home to schedule quality time with your partner．”
However,Dr Dorothy Rowe，from the British Psychological Society，said the effects of living
in an“empty nest'”will depend on the parents’relationship with their children．“If yod’re just
waiting for them to leave home so you Can get on with your life，then of course you’11 be pleased to see them go，”she said，‘‘But if you’ve built your life around your children you’11 be terribly lonely．”For some parents，their world falls apart when their Children leave．’’
72．It is commonly believed that
A．marriages improve after children leave home
B．an“empty nest'’is always a happy thing
C．parents’relationships may suffer once their young grow up and move out
D．parents will be pleased after their children leave home
73．When did many couples feel happier according to the study?
A．At age 61．when almost all had“empty nests”．
B．Shortly after marrying．
C．Once their children reached their teenage years．
D．When they were bringing up babies．
74．Marriages improve after children fly the coop not because
A．many couples are able to spend time together
B．many couples arc able to enjoy each other’s company
C．things are a little more relaxed
D．many couples needn’t work at all
75．The author ofthe passage tends to agree that ．
A．parents should build their life around their kids
B．parents should schedule quality time with each other before kids leave home
C．parents’relationship with their kids has no effect on marriages at all
D．parents should be pleased to see their kids leave home
Science。And technology students in China and the US have a1ong way to go before they call develop a deep understanding of scientific reasoning,researchers have found．
As part of a research to compare science education in China and the US，LeiBao,a professor
from the Departmenr of Physics of the Ohio S
tate University, gave 5,760；freshmen in three US and four Chin
ese univeristies two tests to evaluate content knowledge and another to assess scientific reasoning
Though Chinese students did be
tter than their US counterparts in the first two tests that
Emphasized on learning facts,both groups “scored relatively poorly”on the third test,designed to
Assess their ability ot systmatically explore a problem , the results showed.
Lei Bao said that the finding challenges conventional wisdom，which holds that teaching
science facts will improve students’reasoning ability．“Our study shows that ,contrary to what many people would expect，even when students are thoroughly taught the facts，they don’t necessarily develop the reasoning skills they need io succeed．’’IBao said：‘“Because students need both knowledge and reasoning,we need to explore teaching methods that target both．”
‘The current education systems and asessment of China and the US do not emphasize on deep understanding of scientific reasoning in the disciplines of science；technology,engineering and mathematics(STEM)，the study concluded．
Bao explained that reasoning is good skill for everyone topossess-not just scientists and
engineers：The general public also need good reasoning skills in order to correctly interpret
scientific findings and think rationally．STEM students need to excael at scientific reasoning in order to handle open-ended real-world tasks in their future careers in science and engineering．
How to boost scientific reasoning?The study suggests that educators must go beyond teaching science facts if they hope to boost students’reasoning ability．Bao points to inquiry-based leaming.where students work in groups，question teachers and design their owu investigations．This teaching technique is growing in popularity worldwide．
67．According to the research，we know that
A．Chinese students and their US counterparts did poorly in the first two tests
B．Chinese students did beaer than their US counterparts in alI the three tests
C．Chinese students did beaer than their US counterparts in the first two tests ‘
D．US students did beaer than their Chinese counterparts in the third test
68．The conventional wisdom holds that ．
A．the more facts~tudents are taught，the more reasoning skills they will acquire
B．the general public also need reasoning skills to interpret scientific findings
C．to boost students’reasoning ability,educators must explore teaching methods
D．the current education Systems are harmful to improve students’reasoning ability
69．Based on the study,what will be done to improve students’reasoning ability?
A．To improve teaching techniques． B．To better students’learning conditions．
C．To teach students more science facts． D．To offer students more tests．
70．The underlined phrase“excel at”in Paragraph 6 probably means ．
A．be worse at B．be beaer at C．be enthusiastic about D．be inferior to
71．Which of the following is correct according to the passage?
A．Little needs to be done to develop students’reasoning ability in the US．
B．Only scientists and engineers need reasoning abilities．
C．Two tests were carried out to evaluate students’scientific reasoning．
D．Inquiry-based learning is a good way to boost students’reasoning ability．
1n 2007．five young people in the American state of Massachusetts developed an idea.The team knew that the world is filled with mobile phones．About eighty percent of all people are said to live within reach ofa wireless telephone signal．
The idea was to use mobile phones and the Internet to connect job seekers with employers．The young people wrote a business plan and formed a company called Assured Labor．
Assured Labor won a development competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT)．Three of the founders were graduate students there．
Assured Labo ris an electronic market place．It has two parts．One is for；the Unied States．That operation was launched in January in Boston．It links pe'ople with employeis offering temporary jobs．
The other arm of the business is for developing markets．That operation is
meant to help people get mbfe permanent jobs．A representative is currently building partnerships with universities，and international compaines in Central America.
Assured Labor’s presidenL David Reich，says the companies now place job advertisements on radio or in newspapers．Some even drive around in cars with loudspeakers announcing that jobs are available．He says the companies are interested．in having more modem hiring practices．
Through Assured Labpr,companies will list open positions on the Internet．People who think
they could do the job could reply by text messags or on their cellphones．
This is how the system works in Boston.
The jobs available include house cleaning．dog walking and home repai.People who want their house cleaned，for example，can look online at a list of twenty housekeepers．The list tells what services．they offer，and how much they want to be paid．People need two letters praising their work to get on the list of service providers．
The employer chooses workers they would like jto hire ,The company then sends the workers a text or e-mail message so they can respond quickly to an offer．
After a job is completed，the employer and employee rate each other, The rating is kept for future use．Assured Labor is not charging anyone，right now,but the plan is to have employers pay for the service．
61．Assured Labour is founded by
A．David Reich B．five young people in Massachusetts
C an uknown expert D．three graduate students fromMIT
62．what kinds ofjobs does Assured Labor offer?
A．Temporary jobs． B．Permanent jobs．
C.Free jobs D, BothA and B·
63
．Which is NOT one of the means for Assured。Labor to advertise jobsavailable?'
A．Radio B．Newspapers C．TV programmes D．Cars with loudspeakers
64．Which of the following is the proper procedure to seek a job through Assured Labor?
a. People can look online at a list of jobs
b．Companies will list open positions on the Internet．
c．The company sends the workers a text or e-mail message．
d．The workers can respond to an offer．
e．The employer'chooses workers they would like to hire．
A．acdbe B．baecd C．bedae D．abdea
65．What can be inferred from the passage?
A．The present hiring practices need to be improved．
B．Employers don’t need to pay Assured Labour．
C．Universities also join Assured Labor for financial help
D. Assured Labor only offers household jobs．
66．Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A．An Electronic MarketPlace
B. Mobile Phones and Markets
C. Getting Into Job Market by Mobile Phone
D .Job Seekers and Markets
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，并在答题卡
上将该项涂黑。 ，
On an—airplane，a spacecraft or a man-made satellite，there is usually an installad device called the“biack box ”Made of a special kind of material．it would remain unbroken，even if the entire craft were blown to pieces．The box records some important data,which provide clues as to what changes had occurred before the real thing came along and help to discover the causes of the
disaster．
The black box．Therefore, becomes the last piece of evidence left.More often,it reveal a Schocking fact that many aircrafts met their disasters only beeanse of a simple but fatal mistake
Some hadn’t been supplied with sufficient fuel；others crashed due to a bird flying in their paths.In many cases。the pilot had been tired．In 1986，the famous US space siadttle Challenger exploded
soon after launch, because a screw on it was a bit loose!
An idea thus occurs to me：if a human being was equipped with a similar device,tracking all
the subtle inner Changes that had taken place over time，the results could astonish the world
Newspapers carry no few sueh stories from day to day－cases of graft or bribe-taking(行贿或受贿)，how—innocent maIl was robbed and killed,and so on．A fatal error,committed by a criminal at a particuiar point in his life，may have arisen from a small quarrei or
out of envy．The number of those who were bom evil and deliberately sent themselvas to the“gallows(绞架)”is in fact extremely small．The disappointment towards the last moment of their life is no different from a struggl against an aircraft crash！
Behave properl in small matters and take best care of the soul---this，I’insist,is the message
from that mysterious box planted deep inside human souls
56．The underlianed phrese”a similar device” in Paragraph 3 refers to
A ；the mysterious box inside human souls． B．the causes of the disasters；
C. The fatal mistake of space shuttles． D．the function of the black box.
57．The underlined phrase“a similar device”in Paragraph 3refers to
A：a useful device B.a black box
C. an installed device D．an important instrument
58．According to the text,which ofthe following is NOT true?
A Most ofus were bom kind，but those evil by nature are not in small numbers．
B．Many crashes should have been avoided ifpilots had been careful.
C．Some small errors can even cause a long-lasting regret．
D．~’Even ifthe plane blows up，the black box can still function·.
59．The best title for the text is
A．The Black Box B．The Black Box and Disasters
C． The Black Box ofthe Soul D．The Black Box and Humans
60．The purpose of the author is to
A． warn us of our safety B．tell us to treat others kindly
C． how us his concerns D．remind us of taking good care of our soul
Do you know about a series of books that say they are“for dummies”?These American self-help books have been translated into more than thirty-nine languages including Chinese，Arabic，Russian，French，German，Greek and Spanish．
“Dummy”is a word for a stupid person．The dummies books are not really for stupid people．
They are designed to show people how to do something they may never have tried before，like painting a house or learning a language．The books all say in a funny way that they are for dummies，such as World History for Dummies，Rabbits for Dummies，Chinese Cooking for Dummies，and Wedding Planning for Dummies．The first such book，DOS for Dummies，was published in 1991．It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system for computers．Since then，more than one hundred fifty million dummies books have been sold．
The dummies．com website explains the idea behind the books．It says that they show that people can be taught to do anything．First they can make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand．Then they show how the information can be interesting and easy．The publishers（出版商）say that the books do not provide more information than necessary．They give readers just enough information to do what they want．They say that the dummies books give the best and easiest way to do something．And the books use simple and easy language．
There are more than one thousand different dnmmies books．A report in New York Times says that the top-selling dummies books are those that explain technology and personal finance（财经）．
The publishers say that the best-selling dummies books are those providing information many people need—like information about diseases，education and cooking．People interested in opera，car repair and wine can also find dummies books to help them．And there are even more dummies books to come．The publishers say that they publish about two hundred new dummies books every year．
71．Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A．Self-Help Books B．The Easiest，the Best
C．Books for Dummies D．New Ideas Behind the Books
72．According to the dnmmies．com website，with the help of dummies books people can_____．
A．simplify some personal things B．do anything they want
C．become expert in any field D．learn any foreign language
73．The dummies books have been popular because__________．
A．they provide just what is needed and are easy to understand
B．they provide much information on the related subject
C．people can learn to do anything with just one copy
D．people can save lots of money through self-teaching
74．According to New York Time，we know the books selling best are the ones on________．
A．cooking and world history B．opera and car repairing
C．diseases and education D．technology and personal finance
75．What can we learn from the passage?
A．The first dummies book was on Chinese cooking．
B．The dummies books will continll6 to be popular．
C．Fifty million different dummies books have been published．
D．The simple language was intended for child readers．
粤公网安备 44130202000953号