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，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
A very important world problem---- in fact, I tend to say it is the most important of all the great world problems which face us at present time----is the rapidly increasing pressure of population on land and on land resources.
It is not so much the actual population of the world but its rate of increase, which is the most important. It works out to be about 1.6 percent net annual increase. In terms of numbers this means something like 40 to 55 million additional people very year. Canada has a population of 20 million, rather less 6 months’ climb in world population. And there are 10 million people in Australia. So, it takes the world less than three moths to add to itself a population, a population of that vast country. Let us come to our own crowded country---- England and Wales; 45--50 million people---- just about a year’s supply. By this time tomorrow, and every day, there will be added to the earth about 120, 000 extra people---- just about the population of the city of York.
I am not talking about birthrate. This is net increase. To give you some idea of birthrate, look at the second hand of your watch. Every second three babies are born somewhere in the world. Another baby! Another baby! Another baby! You cannot speak quickly enough to keep pace with the birthrate.
This enormous increase of population will create immense problems. By 2010 A. D., unless something desperate happens, there will be as many as 7,000, 000, 000 people on the surface of this earth! So this is a problem which you are going to see in your lifetime.
1．The topic for the passage is _________.
A．The Lack of Land Resources B．Population Explosion
C．Your Lifetime D．The Birthrate
2．According to the author, _________ is the most important for population pressure.
A．the net increase rate B．the birthrate
C．the enormous amount of world population D．the population explosion in Australia
3．It can be learned from Paragraph 2 that ________.
A．in more than 6 months, to the world population 20 million will be added
B．three months later, to the population in the world 10 million will be added
C．in less than three months, to the world population 10 million will be added
D．one year later, the population of England and Wales will be doubled
4．Which of the following is TRUE?
A．After 24 hours, 120 thousand babies were born
B．The birthrate is 180 babies every minute.
C．During a year, about 45 million people are born.
D．After a day, York will have 120, 000 extra people.
5．“…something desperate happens” in the last paragraph can be best replaced by _________.
A．the world wars break out B．people are in despair
C．birth control policy is adopted
D．people realize the seriousness of the population problem
Down-to-earth means being honest, open, and easy to deal with. It is a pleasure to find someone who is down-to-earth. A person who is down-to-earth is easy to talk to. He or she accepts others as equals. A down-to-earth person may be an important member of society, of course, but they do not let their importance go to their heads, and they do not consider themselves to be better than others who are less important. Someone who is filled with self-importance and pride, often without cause, is said to have his nose in the air. There is no way a person with his nose in the air can be down-to-earth.
Americans use another expression that is similar in some way to down-to-earth. The expression is both feet on the ground. Someone with both feet on the ground is a person with a good understanding of reality. He has what is called common sense. He may have dreams but he does not allow them to block his knowledge of what is real. The opposite kind of person is one who has his head in the clouds. A man with his head in the clouds is a dreamer whose mind is not in the world. Sometimes such a dreamer can be brought back to reality; sharp words from the teacher, for example, can usually get a daydreaming student to put both feet back on the ground.
The person who is down-to-earth usually has both feet on the ground. But the opposite is not always true. Someone with both feet on the ground may not be as open and easy to deal with as someone who is down-to-earth. When we have both our feet firmly on the ground, we are realistic and we act honestly and openly toward others, and our lives are like the ground below us, solid and strong.If a person has his nose in the air, he ____.
| A．is down to the earth |
| B．is easy to deal with |
| C．always thinks he is more important than others |
| D．is confident |
If a person has both feet on the ground, he ____.
| A．is in touch with reality, and doesn’t have any dreams |
| B．has some dreams but he is realistic |
| C．is honest, open and easy to deal with |
| D．is honest, open but hard to deal with |
The underlined sentence “But the opposite is not always true.” most probably means that ______.
| A．the person who has his nose in the air is not true |
| B．a man with his head in the clouds is often not intelligent |
| C．the opposite direction is always wrong |
| D．a person who has both feet on the ground may not be down-to-earth |
While many modern forms of communication like phone calls, e-mail, and letters, are extremely convenient. In my opinion, nothing beats speaking to another person face to face.
The first and most obvious advantage that a face communication has over a letter and e-mail is that there is the ability to interactively(相互作用地)converse. If the sender of a letter or an email does not write clearly, then much time must be spent to clear up the misunderstanding. In a face-to-face conversation, misunderstandings are easily dealt with because of the interactive nature of it.
I would still argue that the face-to-face conversation is better because you can see the other person. Not all communication is verbal(口头的); the meaning of much of what we say depends on our body language and the tone of voice. Joking and irony are particularly difficult to express and enjoy without seeing the expression on someone’s face, or watching the movements of their body.
Finally, if the goal of communication is to maintain or deepen the relationship(关系)with someone, the face-to-face communication offers the choice of communication by touch even if we could communicate by the video. Trust and respect between business partners can be established with a firm handshake. No amount of body language can convey the excitement of a high five between friends, and no number of words can communicate the comforting embrace of a loved one. Touch is the first basic method of our human relationships, before spoken language, and it is only available when people communicate face to face.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．How to communicate more effectively(有效率地) |
| B．The importance of using body language in communication |
| C．Face-to-face communication, the best way of communicating |
| D．Comparison(比较)of different communication forms |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．A letter or e-mail is always written unclearly. |
| B．Business partners can show trust through a firm handshake. |
| C．During a conversation, body language is also important. |
| D．The face-to-face conversation is a way of communication. |
Which of the following can communicate the feeling a loved one perfectly?
| A．letter | B．e-mail | C．phone | D．face to face communication |
The author’s attitude towards forms of communication is .
| A．Modern forms of communication like phone calls and e-mail are extremely convenient. |
| B．Traditional ways of communication are out of date and should fall into disuse. |
| C．Face-to-face communication can only be used among strangers. |
| D．Face-to-face communication has advantages over the other ways of communication. |
Nothing can destroy a vacation quicker than losing your money or credit cards. A few simple steps before you head out of the door can help protect your cash, card and personal information while you’re traveling.
Paul Stephens, a policy analyst San Diego, notes that people spend a lot of time planning their trips, from buying guidebooks to finding just the right beach outfits（装备）.“But their eyes glaze（呆滞） over when the subject of keeping money safe comes up,” he said.
“Why not take a few minutes to do something that could probably save your vacation?” Stephens asked．“In most cases, they can go on your to-do list with‘ buy travel bags’ and everything else,” he added.
The top recommendation is to clean your wallet. Remove unnecessary credit cards and any other unneeded documents that could compromise（危及...的安全）your identity(身份) if lost or stolen while you’re on vocation.
Then make a photocopy of the cards you’ve decided to take along and keep it in a secure location with you（not in your wallet）or leave it with a trusted relative or friend back home. Then you will know who you need to contact and how to reach it if your wallet is missing.
“Travelers should never leave their wallets or any identifying documents in their hotel room when they’re not there,” he said.” Choose a hotel with a safe to keep your valuable things in. Or keep your wallet and documents with you at all times. ”According to passage, _______can destroy one’s vacation the most quickly.
| A．being lost on vacation | B．losing money or credit cards |
| C．living in a bad hotel. | D．losing contact with family |
What does the underlined word stand for?
| A．The people who are going traveling. |
| B．The outfits that are prepare4d for traveling. |
| C．The suggestions on what to buy when traveling. |
| D．The steps to avoid losing money or credit cards. |
What should people do with their wallet before they go on vacation?
| A．Take it with them all the time. | B．Put it in a safe place at the hotel |
| C．Remove unnecessary cards and documents. | D．Leave it with family or friend. |
What is the topic of the passage?
| A．How to prepare for travel. |
| B．How to be happy during your vacation. |
| C．How to keep cash and cards safe on vacation. |
| D．How to protect your luggage on vacation |
According to the passage, we know ______.
| A．people don’t always know how to protect their money or credit cards |
| B．people should take a lot of money with them while traveling |
| C． people can leave their identifying documents in rooms, if the hotel is expensive |
| D．people can spend a few minutes preparing the luggage for travelling |
To what degree can a computer achieve intelligence？The answer to this question may lie in a newly-developed US computer program called Smarter Child and the Internet.
If you ran into Smarter Child online, you would be surprised at this kid’s huge memory. It can recite many facts. For example, Smarter Child knows every baseball player in every team this season.
He knows every word in the dictionary and the weather in every major city areas across the US. However, if you ask Smarter Child other questions, you get strange answers. A question about Smarter Child’s age returns, “One year, 11 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes, and 47 seconds!” Asking where he lives gets, “In a clean room in a high-tech building in California.”
Smarter Child uses the vast information on the World Wide Web as his memory bank. To answer questions about spelling, for instance, Smarter Child goes to American Heritage Dictionary online. For the weather, he visits www.intellicast.com.
Some scientists believe that by joining the many systems of the Internet, an artificial(人工的) being with the combined knowledge of, say, Albert Einstein, Richard Nixon and Britney Spears could be born. However, if Smarter Child wants to think and learn on his own like the boy-computer David in the movie A. I. Artificial Intelligence, he must solve two problems.
The first is that computers find it difficult to read web pages because the files（文件） are sorted in different ways. That’s why programmers need to tell Smarter Child where to look for the weather. It would be a much more difficult task to let him find it himself.
Another problem is that while Smarter Child can process（处理）information more exactly and faster than any human, he lacks common sense—a basic grounding of knowledge that is obvious to any young child.From the text we can infer that www.intellicast.com is a website .
| A．which is specially designed to help Smarter Child |
| B．where we people can find Smarter Child |
| C．where weather forecasts are made |
| D．which is about artificial intelligence |
It is probably most difficult for Smarter Child to .
| A．tell us how to spell a difficult word |
| B．tell us how the American government is run |
| C．provide us with a famous poem by Shakespeare |
| D．learn the ability to tell right behaviors from wrong ones. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
A. Smart Child has his own memory bank big enough for all kinds of information.
B. A.I. Artificial Intelligence is probably the name of a film about a boy-computer.
C. Smart Child can recognize different files and find information needed on his own.
D. We have similar product now which has the knowledge of Einstein, Nixon and Spears.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．A New Web Child | B．Smarter Child |
| C．The Future of Internet | D．Intelligence Development |
Nearly everyone is shy in some ways. If shyness is making you uncomfortable, it may be time for a few lessons in self-confidence. You can build your confidence by
following some suggestions from doctors and psychologists.
Make a decision not to hold back in conversations. What you have to say is just as important as what other people say. And don’t turn down party invitations just because of your shyness.
Prepare for yourself for being with others in groups. Make a list of the good qualities you have. Then make a list of ideas, experiences, and skills you would like to share with other people . I think about what you would like to say in advance. Then say it.
If you start feeling self-conscious in a group, take a deep breath and focus your attention on other people, Remember, you are not alone. Other people are concerned about the impression they are making, too.
No one ever gets over being shy completely, but most people do learn to live with their shyness. Even entertainers admit that they often feel shy. They work at fighting their shy feelings so that they can face the cameras and the public. Just making the effort to control shyness can have many rewards. But perhaps the best reason to fight shyness is to give other people a chance to know about you.Where would this article probably appear?
| A．In a popular magazine | B．On the top-line position of a newspaper |
| C．In a science textbook | D．In an encyclopedia (百科全书) |
The main purpose of the article is to _____.
| A．explain how shyness developed | B．recommend ways of dealing with shyness |
| C．persuade readers that shyness is natural | D．prove that shyness can be overcome |
Which of these can you conclude from reading the article?
| A．Shy people never have any fun |
| B．Entertainers choose their work to fight shyness |
| C．The attempt to overcome shyness is always frustrating |
| D．The attempt to overcome shyness is always rewarding |
Who probably gives the suggestion for fighting shyness?
| A．The author of the article | B．Shy men and women |
| C．Doctors and psychologists | D．Popular entertainers |
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