第二部分：阅读理解（共20小题;每小题2.5分，满分50分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Proper arrangement of classroom space is important to encouraging interaction. Most of us have noticed how important physical setting is to efficiency and comfort in our work. College classroom space should be designed to encourage the activity of critical thinking.
We have entered the 21st century, but step into almost any college classroom and you step back in time at least a hundred years. Desks are normally in straight rows, so students can clearly see the teacher but not all their classmates. The message behind such an arrangement is obvious. Everything of importance comes from the teacher.
With a little imagination and effort, unless desks are fixed to the floor, the teacher can correct this situation and create space that encourage interchange among students. In small or standard-size classes, chairs, desks, and tables can be arranged in a variety of ways. The primary goal should be for everyone to be able to see everyone else. Large classes, particularly those held in lecture halls, unfortunately, allow much less flexibility.
Arrangement of the classroom should also make it easy to divide students into small groups for discussion or problem-solving exercises. Small classes with movable desks and tables present no problem. Even in large lecture halls, it is possible for students to turn around and form groups of four to six. Breaking a class into small groups provides more opportunities for students to interact with each other, think out loud, and see how other students’ thinking processes operate all essential elements in developing new modes of critical thinking.
In courses that regularly use a small group format, students might be asked to stay in the same small groups throughout the course. A colleague of mine, John, allows students to move around during the first two weeks, until they find a group they are comfortable with. John then asks them to stay in the same seat, with the same group, from that time on. This not only creates a comfortable setting for interaction but helps him learn students’ names and faces.
1. The primary purpose of desk rearrangement is _______.
A. for the teacher to divide students into small groups.
B. to make it possible for students to interact with each other.
C. for the teacher to find out how students think.
D. to give students more opportunities to practice speaking.
2. The expression “step back in time at least a hundred years” in Paragraph 2 is intended to convey the idea that _______.
A. there is not much change in educational idea over the past hundred years
B. critical thinking was encouraged even a century ago
C. college classrooms often remind people of their college life
D. a hundred years ago, desk arrangement in a classroom was quite different
3. The greatest advantage in allowing each student to find his own group might be that________
A. learning is made comfortable in this way
B. the teacher can easily remember students’ names and faces
C. the teacher saves the trouble in doing that
D. brighter students can help slower ones.
4. It is implied in the passage that ______.
A. students are allowed to changed groups throughout the course in John’s class
B. classroom interaction between students is essential to the teachers
C. a comfortable environment leads to higher working efficiency
D. new kinds of desks and chairs should be made
5. The author mentioned John in the last paragraph in order to ________
A. create a comfortable setting for interaction
B. introduce an approach of learning students’ names and faces easily
C. give an example that students stay in the same seat throughout the course.
D. describe a good seat-arrangement mode in courses with small group format.
C
Not enough American students want to be engineers, mathematicians, or scientists. The Obama administration wants to change that. They are spending money to do it. The government will invest three billion dollars in the education of young Americans in science, technology, engineering, and math. The four areas together are known as STEM.
Many jobs in the STEM fields will open in the coming years. The U.S. government's investment aims to increase the number of Americans who can take those jobs.
Yet girls appear far less interested in STEM subjects than boys. Only 25 percent of STEM students are girls.
Camsie McAdams is at the U.S. Education Department. She says girls simply do not feel welcomed in STEM subjects. Ms. McAdams says young women look at industries such as engineering and computer science and see most of the leaders are men.
Debbie Sterling is an engineer. She invented a construction toy for girls. The name of the toy is "Goldie Blox." Ms. Sterling hopes Goldie Blox will help girls develop spatial skills. Spatial skills help engineers and builders to think about objects in three dimensions.
To interest girls, Sterling created the character "Goldie." Goldie does not care about beauty or clothes. Goldie tells stories, solves difficult problems and creates pretend worlds.
Experts say parents should do more than just buy toys to interest their girls in STEM subjects. They should also provide a good education. At school, girls should participate in projects that require teamwork and creative thinking.
Women in scientific and technical jobs are also working to encourage young women to explore STEM. One is Anu Tewary. She studied Applied Physics and worked for technology companies. After she had a daughter, she started Technovation Challenge. The challenge is an international competition for young women from 10 to 18 years old.
Technovation offers girls the opportunity to learn how to start a company and become high-tech entrepreneurs. Since 2009, over 2,500 girls from 28 countries have developed 650 mobile phone applications. They learned to launch start-up companies through Technovation.
There's a good chance that soon, more young women using mobile phones will also be developing programs for them.
Why don’t the girls take jobs related to STEM subjects?
| A．Because they are less intelligent than boys. |
| B．Because they are forbidden to. |
| C．Because they lack interest and certain skills. |
| D．Because they are not welcomed. |
What should parents do to interest girls to enter STEM field?
| A．Just buy some toys for them. |
| B．Encourage them to take these subjects. |
| C．Explain to them the advantages of these subjects. |
| D．Attract them by giving them some rewards. |
The character "Goldie" can help _____.
| A．to improve the ability of telling stories |
| B．to develop spatial skills |
| C．to learn some knowledge of dressing up |
| D．to enlarge vocabulary |
Which statement is the writer likely to agree with?
| A．Girls are as intelligent as boys. |
| B．Jobs in the STEM fields aren’t available for girls. |
| C．The government is satisfied with the current situation in STEM. |
| D．Girls are looked down upon in jobs related to STEM. |
Which of the following is right about Technovation Challenge?
| A．It was founded by the government. |
| B．It is intended for girls of all ages. |
| C．It helps girl to overcome difficulties in their life. |
| D．It gives girls chances to learn knowledge about technology companies. |
B
It happened to me recently. I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of our President. A friend I was talking to agreed with me that it was, in his words, “a brilliantly written book”. However, he then went on to talk about Mr. Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his background at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar.
And it seems that my friend is not the only one. Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven’t. In the World Book Day’s “Report on Guilty Secrets”, Dreams From My Father is at number 9. The report lists ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading, and as I’m not one to lie too often (I’d hate to be caught out), I’ll admit here and now that I haven’t read the entire top ten. But I am pleased to say that, unlike 42 percent of people, I have read the book at number one, George Orwell’s 1984. I think it’s really brilliant.
The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it. It says that many people lie about having read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky (I haven’t read him, but haven’t lied about it either) and Herman Melville.
Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to “impress” someone they were speaking to. This could be tricky if the conversation became more in–depth!
But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, people named J. K. Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella (ah, the big sellers, in other words). Forty-two percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story (I’ll come clean: I do this and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).What is the meaning of the underlined word “liar”?
| A．A person who hates books. |
| B．A person who tells lies. |
| C．A person who loves reading. |
| D．A person who is honest with everything. |
From the second paragraph we can know _____.
| A．only 42 percent of people have read George Orwell’s 1984 |
| B．two thirds of people haven’t read a book. |
| C．“Dreams From My Father” is listed the first of the top ten books |
| D．the writer haven’t read all of the top ten books |
Why does a person lie about books?
| A．Because they want to appear learned. |
| B．Because they want to attract others’ attention. |
| C．Because they do so out of habit. |
| D．Because they want to play tricks on others. |
Which of the following statement is right?
| A．The writer often leaves a book unfinished. |
| B．The writer was once caught out for telling lies. |
| C．The writer often reads the end of a book first before finishing the story. |
| D．The writer likes Barack Obama from the very beginning. |
What do you think of the author?
| A．Thoughtful and talkative. |
| B．Smart and helpful. |
| C．knowledgeable and experienced. |
| D．Wise and honest. |
A
While reading a story on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy is ruining their life plans, I couldn't help but think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children who grow up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, I certainly share their disappointment –my husband and I probably won't be able to buy a house until we're in our forties, and we two are burdened by student loans. But why should it be different? Being young people in America, shouldn't they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?
Consider some of these views shared in the story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won't be able to have children for at least a decade because they can't afford to buy a house yet.
I read that, and I thought what planet she is living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury（奢华）, not a fertility requirement.
A 26-year-old man in the story is disappointed that he can't afford to get a Ph. D. in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.
Yes, it's sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people's expectations grow up when their wealth appears to be increasing. Their parents probably see their home values rise along with their investments. "So we have people who have grown up in an environment where people have great expectations of what living well means," says Kobliner.
This recession（经济衰退） will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems much better for our mental health to focus on being grateful—for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day—than on longing for some kind of luxurious life.In the passage, the writer mainly talked about _____.
| A．young people’s high expectations result in their disappointment |
| B．the 20-somethings' high expectations and ambitions |
| C．the poor living conditions of the 20-somethings |
| D．the necessity of receiving high education |
In the writer’s opinion, what is the reason for young people’s dissatisfaction?
| A．The declining economy. |
| B．Their high expectations. |
| C．Poor living conditions. |
| D．Their constant failure. |
What are some young people complaining about?
| A．They are complaining their aims are hard to achieve. |
| B．They are complaining their parents can’t give them a good education. |
| C．They are complaining they can’t afford to travel abroad. |
| D．They are complaining poor economic condition is ruining their life. |
How can we describe the writer?
| A．Lost and disappointed. | B．Passive and stressed. |
| C．Determined and helpful. | D．Positive and grateful. |
The passage is developed mainly by ________.
| A．facts and descriptions |
| B．comparison and persuasion |
| C．examples and explanation |
| D．figures and conclusion |
E
It was a warm April day when a big fat envelope came in the mail from the only college I had ever imagined attending. I tore open the packet. My eyes were fixed on the word “congratulations. ”I don’t remember ever smiling so wide.
Then I looked at my financial package.
The cost of Dream School’s tuition , room and board was around $ 40,000- an impossible sum! How could I afford to attend? What good reasons did I have to go there when three other fine colleges were offering me free tuition? My other choices were good, solid schools even if they weren’t as famous as my first choice.
In my mind, attending my dream university would be the only way to realize my dream of becoming a world-class writer. My parents understood how I felt. They told me that even though it would be a financial problem, I could go wherever I would be happiest. But as I was always careful with money, I wasn’t sure what to do.
One of the schools that offered me a full ride had an informational dinner one night in the spring. Considering my parents’ financial difficulties, I decided to drive the 45 minutes and attend. At first, all I had planned to do was smile politely, eat free food, listen quietly. But I surprised myself.
At dinner the president of the university talked about the wonderful activities on campus including guest lectures and social gatherings. He also made it perfectly clear that free food would be offered at all future events. He continued with explanations of professors, class sizes, activities, and sporting events on campus. As he spoke, I began to realize that this school, though not as good as my first choice, might be the best one for me. It seemed small yet with many great programs. It seemed challenging yet caring.
As the president ended his speech, we clapped politely and pushed back our chairs. As I walked out that door, a feeling of comfort washed over me. Looking at the campus that night, I realized that I would be spending the next four years right there.
In all honesty, my university is not as well-known as my “dream”university. However, it turned out to be the right choice of schools for me.What can we learn from the first paragragh?
| A．The writer only applied to one college. |
| B．The writer was admitted to his dream college. |
| C．The writer decided to attend his dream college. |
| D．The writer was uncertain which school to go to. |
We can learn from the passage that the writer was_________.
| A．honest | B．mean | C．smart | D．selfish |
The college chosen by the writer has the following advantages except that____________.
| A．it would charge me nothing for tuition |
| B．it is as famous as his first choice |
| C．there are all kinds of wonderful activities. |
| D．it would offer free meals at all events |
What message does the author want to convey?
| A．You should consider comfort in your choice of schools. |
| B．You should try your best to attend your dream school. |
| C．Your choice of schools should be based on their fame. |
| D．Your second-choice college may actually by your best fit. |
D
She almost did not run. Christine Williams admits that now. She could barely put one foot after another following the wake(守灵) for her sister, who had died in an automobile accident. But she did run. With the cheers of friends and strangers reaching her heart, Williams set a C.W. Post record in Boston. Now she will run again, in the national Division II cross-country championships in Evansville, Ind. She wanted to be sure she was doing the right thing by running. She was the middle of three sisters, between Kerry, who is 25, and Jennifer, who was 18.
Just going through any motions was hard enough, but Christine Williams wanted to know if she should put on her uniform and her shoes and run through the woods on an autumn afternoon, in the awful gaping time between her sister’s wake and her funeral. “I kind of got upset beforehand.” Williams admitted. Not a chatterbox under normal conditions, she now holds herself the best way she can, the fewer words the better. She almost walked away from the start line. But her friend Angela Toscano, who had flown up to Boston with her, directly from the wake, was standing near the line and talked her through it. “She said my sister would have wanted me to run.” Christine said. And that was enough to get her started.
The accident happened just after midnight on Nov, 4. Four young women were driving in an unfamiliar area of Long Island in Eastport, N.Y., when one of them apparently ran a yield sign, and the car was hit by another vehicle. Heather Brownrigg and Jennifer Williams died, and their friends April Brown and Kaci Moran were treated at a hospital and released.
The crash made the papers. April Brown was charged with drunken driving and driving without a license.
The wake began on Nov. 6. The next day Christine was to run with the Post cross-country team at the regional meet. Rich Degnan, the Post coach,"and Post officials offered a car service and tickets on the last flight-to Boston for Christine and Toscano. When they arrived at the hotel, the entire team was waiting up for her.
Everybody knew about it at the regional meet. Degnan had to arrange for the flexibility of an alternate, just in case Christine could not go. Several times during the race, Christine felt she could not continue. But then she heard her friends and all those other people, those strangers from other colleges, calling her name. She thought about Jennifer. And she ran. She finished fourth in 22 minutes 58 seconds, breaking the Post record for the 6-kilometer distance by 15 seconds. And although the Post team didn’t qualify for the nationals, Christine did.What does the underlined sentence in paragragh 2 “Not a chatterbox under normal conditions” mean?
| A．She is a person of few words noramlly. |
| B．She likes chatting under normal conditions. |
| C．She isn’t under normal conditions. |
| D．She doesn’t like running while chatting. |
Christine’s Post team did the following for her EXCEPT ____________.
| A．offering car service and flight tickets to Boston. |
| B．arranging for a substitute for her beforehand. |
| C．cheering for her during the race. |
| D．taking care of her food and uniforms. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Christine flew to Boston after her sister’s funeral. |
| B．Christine’s two sisters were killed in the accident. |
| C．Christine’s athletic performance stood out in the race. |
| D．Christine broke the Post record in national meet in Boston. |
【原创】Put the sentence in the right order.
a. Angela Toscano flew to Boston.
b. Christine run at the regional meet.
c. Christine broke the record.
d. Four young women were driving in an unfamiliar area of Long Island.
e. the Post team flew to Boston.
| A．d e a, b c | B．b a d c e, |
| C．e c d a, b | D．a, b c e d |
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