III. 阅读（共两节，满分40分）
第一节：阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Alzheimer's disease affects millions of people around the world. American researchers say the disease will affect more than one hundred million people worldwide by the year twenty fifty. That would be four times the current number. Researchers and doctors have been studying Alzheimer's patients for a century. Yet the cause and cure for the mental sickness are still unknown. However, some researchers have made important steps towards understanding it.
Several early signs of the disease involve memory and thought processes. At first, patients have trouble remembering little things. Later, they have trouble remembering more important things, such as the names of their children.
There are also some physical tests that might show who is at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The tests look for proteins in brain and spinal cord fluid. The proteins appear to be found only in people with the disease. The protein tests correctly identify the presence of the disease in about ninety percent of patients.
Now, a much simpler physical test to predict Alzheimer's risk has been developed. Researchers found that trouble with the sense of smell can be one of the first signs of Alzheimer's. Using this information, they developed a test in which people were asked to identify twelve familiar smells. These smells included cinnamon, black pepper, chocolate, paint thinner, and smoke.
The study continued for five years. During this period, the same people were asked to take several tests measuring their memory and thought abilities. Fifty percent of those who could not identify at least four of the smells in the first test had trouble with their memory and thinking in the next five years.
Another study has shown a possible way to reduce a person's chances of developing Alzheimer's disease in old age. Researchers in Chicago found that people who use their brains more often are less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. Those who read a newspaper, or play chess or word games are about three times less likely to develop the condition.
Researchers say they still do not know what causes Alzheimer's disease. But they say these findings might help prevent the disease in the future.
41. What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Some early signs of the Alzheimer's disease.
B. Some physical tests about Alzheimer's disease.
C. The research about Alzheimer's disease.
D. The patients of Alzheimer's disease.
42. What’s the current number of Alzheimer’s patients?
A. 100 million B. 25 million C. 400 million D. 2050 million
43. What is not the early signs of the Alzheimer's disease according to the passage?
A. Poor memory B. Proteins exist in the brain.
C. Trouble with the sense of smell. D. Less use of the brain.
44. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A. Alzheimer's disease. B. Alzheimer's patients.
C. The cause and cure. D. The research.
45. According to the passage, we can learn that _______.
A. there are no proteins in the brains of the people with no Alzheimer's disease
B. the people who often use their brains will not get Alzheimer's disease
C. researchers and doctors have found ways to cure Alzheimer's disease
D. the people who have the trouble with the sense of smell will certainly suffer from Alzheimer's disease
My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $ 1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.
It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More important, I earned my pay; it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.
I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $ 18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem(自尊心), one of the most important things a person can have.
When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dreamt of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.
The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb(番石榴树枝) and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity. I learned working in the field — except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a broomstick.The writer’s first job was _______.
| A．to stand down the fairway at a golf course |
| B．to watch over the sugar-cane plantation |
| C．to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields |
| D．to spot the balls as they landed so the golfers could find them |
The word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means _______.
| A．difficult | B．boring |
| C．interesting | D．unusual |
_______ gave the writer serf-esteem.
| A．Having a family of eight people |
| B．Owning his own golf course |
| C．Bringing money back home to help the family |
| D．Helping his father with the work on the plantation |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．He wanted to be a successful golfer. |
| B．He wanted to run a golf course near his house. |
| C．He was satisfied with the job he got on a plantation. |
| D．He wanted to make money by guiding oxen with a broomstick. |
We spent a day in the country, picking wild flowers. With the car full of flowers we were going home. On our way back my wife noticed a cupboard (柜厨) outside a furniture shop. It was tall and narrow. “Buy it, ” my wife said at once. “We’ll carry it home on the roof rack. I’ve always wanted one like that.”
What could I do? Ten minutes later I was ￡20 poorer; and the cupboard was tied on the roof rack. It was six feet long and eighteen inches square, quite heavy too.
In the gathering darkness I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed unusually polite that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea.
After a time my wife said, “There’s a long line of cars behind. Why don’t they overtake, I wonder?” In fact a police car did overtake. The two officers inside looked at us seriously as they passed. But then, with great kindness, they led us through the rush-hour traffic. The police car stopped at our village church. One of the officers came to me.
“Right, sir, ” he said. “Do you need any more help?”
I was a bit puzzled. “Thanks, officer, ” I said. “You have been very kind. I live just on the road.”
He was staring at our car, first at the flowers, then at the cupboard. “Well, well, ” he said, laughing. “It’s a cupboard you’ve got there! We thought it was something else.”
My wife began to laugh. The truth hit me like a stone between the eyes. I smiled at the officer. “Yes, it’s a cupboard, but thanks again.” I drove home as fast as I could.In fact the husband _______ the cupboard.
| A．would like very much to buy | B．badly wanted |
| C．was glad to have bought | D．would rather not buy |
Other drivers thought they were _______.
| A．carrying a cupboard to the church |
| B．sending flowers to the church |
| C．carrying nothing but a piece of furniture |
| D．going to attend a funeral(葬礼) at the church |
The police will be more polite to those who are _______.
| A．driving in gathering darkness |
| B．in great sorrow (悲痛) |
| C．driving with wild glowers in the car |
| D．carrying furniture |
What did the husband think of this matter?
| A．It was very strange. | B．He felt ashamed of it. |
| C．He took great pride in it. | D．He was puzzled at it. |
Did you see American figure skater, Jeremy Abbott, crash to the ice during the short program at the Sochi Olympics, rolling into the wall, clutching his side in pain. Ten seconds later, he got up and continued his skate—despite the pain, embarrassment and fear. All I could think was: this kid’s got courage. In business we have a word for it—resilience, the ability to gain strengths and confidence from overcoming unpleasant events.
However, opposite examples appeared in Sochi Olympics as well. For them, failure is someone else’s fault, because they do not accept personal responsibility. Therefore, they have to pay a high price for this attitude. After years of studying failure, I have learned one thing: modesty and open-mindedness in the face of mistakes is the single best thing you can do to improve results. Everyone fails, but not everyone recovers from failure. The key is to learn from it rather than get beaten by it.
The good news is that each of us has the potential to live a resilient life on and off the job. It may be difficult, but that just makes it all the more powerful and important. If you believe the above paragraph to be true, then you’re probably more resilient than you think you are. It takes confidence to be resilient but that too much confidence is a killer is so true of leadership. For example, Ron Johnson, the ill-fated CEO of JC Penney, was so stubborn that he completely missed all sorts of signals from employees and customers and instead listened to all those who agreed with him, which failed his strategy. Bouncing back from failure requires that you recognize something has gone wrong, and you were the one who made it happen.
The challenge of resilience is not just about our work. When parents help their kids deal with every challenging situation, they are doing an unhelpful action to their children. Parents want to protect their kids from failure, but doing so takes away the opportunity from them to practice not
just a life skill but an essential work skill. When self-esteem becomes more important than results, we are accidentallytraining young people to become less adaptable, not more.
Resilience is not just about getting up off the floor, but also being ready for whatever comes next, even when you don’t know what it is. Failures and setbacks are no longer unusual events, but regular features of a dynamic, competitive and highly demanding work environment. Getting up to finish your skate is no longer optional. The example of Jeremy Abbott shows that one should ______.
| A．recover from failure |
| B．stick to his own viewpoint |
| C．take others’ opinions to heart |
| D．challenge difficulties bravely |
According to the author, what can best build up resilience?
| A．Being positive and powerful. |
| B．Being competitive and helpful. |
| C．Being modest and open-minded. |
| D．Being confident and responsible. |
Which of the following examples shows us resilience?
| A．A teacher offers students timely help and care. |
| B．A determined athlete practices skating hard every day. |
| C．A confident leader persuades his staff to follow his plan. |
| D．A student has got a low grade but continues to work hard. |
Which might be the best title for the passage?
| A．An Example of Resilience: Ron Johnson |
| B．Resilience: A Lesson from Sochi |
| C．Optional Challenges of Resilience |
| D．Resilience in Family Education |
Sixteen-year-old Karlos Dearman’s future is looking much brighter than he might previously have imagined. “I love bikes, but I’ve never thought I’d end up with working with them,” he says. “This program has changed my life.”
Karlos is learning to refurbish (翻新) old bicycles in the workshop (车间) of ReCycle Bikes, an independent non-profit bike project in Sheffield. It provides training chances for young people aged 14 to 16 with the help of the local government, particularly those struggling in mainstream education or rejected from school.
“It’s about engaging young people with education and youth training by teaching them work and life skills,” explains Des Pearce, workshop training manager. “These young people have so much potential, but often don’t realize it.”
Founded in 2001, ReCycle Bikes repairs bicycles donated by the public, which are sold for ￡20 after refurbished. Abandoned bikes supplied by the government make sure a steady flow of bikes, but a recently formed partnership with Sheffield University should improve the further development.
“The student population presents a large and ready market,” says Pearce. “So we approached the university last year and offered to host bike sales on the campus (校园) . They thought it was a great idea, and agreed to provide us with more support. This means we can train young people to repair extra 500 bikes over three years.”
Having set up ReCycle Bikes on his own, Pearce now has the staff and resources to track the profession development of those who have passed through his workshop. “But we are planning exit interviews with the young people to make sure what they plan to do, and these will allow us to check on their progress,” says Pearce.
That most of the teenagers enjoy the work is, according to Pearce, easily explained. “Most kids have ridden a bike and know how to oil a chain or mend a flat tyre. As low-cost transport, cycling gives the young and old a sense of freedom and independence, and the effect on their well-being is big. Add to that a growing concern for the environment, and it’s no surprise that bike sales are on the increase.” From the passage, we know ReCycle Bikes ______.
| A. is a popular brand of bikes |
| B. provides training chances for young people |
| C. is a training project offered by the government |
| D. aims at making money by selling refurbished bicycles |
How did ReCycle Bikes run at the beginning?
| A. By working together with Sheffield University. |
| B. By selling bicycles supplied by the government. |
| C. By getting money from teenagers aged between 14 and 16. |
| D. By repairing bicycles donated by the public and selling them. |
ReCycle Bikes has formed a partnership with Sheffield University because _____.
| A. students at Sheffield University can be their potential customers |
| B. Sheffield University donates a lot of money to ReCycle Bikes |
| C. teenagers at ReCycle Bikes can study at Sheffield University |
| D. Sheffield University offers to host bike sales on the campus |
According to Pearce, why do most of the teenagers enjoy the work?
| A. They’d like to change their lives. |
| B. They want to learn how to repair bikes. |
| C. They don’t have enough money to buy cars. |
| D. They are familiar with bikes and interested in them. |
Throughout my 41 years at General Electric, I've experienced a lot．In the media, I've gone from prince to pig and back again．And I've been called many things．
In the early days, some called me a crazy, wild man．When I became CEO two decades ago, Wall Street asked, "Jack who?"
When I tried to make GE more competitive by cutting back our workforce in the early 1980s, the media called me "Neutron Jack．" When they learned we were focused on values and culture at GE, people asked if "Jack has gone soft．" I've been No．1 or No．2 Jack, Services Jack, Global Jack, and, in more recent years．Six Sigma Jack and e-Business Jack．
When we made an effort to acquire Honeywell in October 2000, and I agreed to stay on through the transition （ 过渡期 ） , some thought of me as the Long-in-the-Tooth Jack hanging on by his fingertips to his CEO job．
Those characterizations said less about me and a lot more about the stage our company went through．Truth is, down deep, I've never really changed much from the boy my mother raised in Salem, Massachusetts．
When I started on this journey in 1981 , standing before Wall Street analysts for the first time at New York's Pierre Hotel, I said I wanted GE to become " the most competitive enterprise on earth．" My objective was to put a small-company spirit in a big-company body, to build an organization out of an old-line industrial company that would be more high-spirited, more adaptable, and more flexible than companies that are one-fiftieth our size．I said then that I wanted to create a company " where people dare to try new things ?where people know that only the limits of their creativity and drive, their own standards of personal excellence, will be the ceiling on how far and how fast they move．"
I've put my mind, my heart, and my courage into that journey every day of the 40-plus years I've been lucky enough to be a part of GE．According to the first two paragraphs, the author ______．
| A．had many ups and downs |
| B．had a poor image in public |
| C．became CEO of GE 41 years ago |
| D．suffered from some mental illnesses |
As the author sees it, the many nicknames of him indicate ______．
| A．the change of his character with the time |
| B．the various opinions of different journalists |
| C．his company's different stages of development |
| D．his popularity among his friends and relatives |
According to the author, GE in 1981 ______．
| A．should seek broader space for development |
| B．was the most competitive company in the world |
| C．differed from many old-line industrial companies |
| D．was a big company with a small-company's spirit |
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