The Parthenon is an ancient Greek temple built in Athens about 438 B. C. Many people think that the Parthenon is one of the world' s most beautiful buildings. It has a grace and balance that have pleased the eyes of man for centuries.
Architects who have studied the Parthenon know that the Parthenon is a giant optical illusion. An optical illusion is a trick our eyes play on us. All the seemingly straight lines of the Parthenon are actually curves(rounded bends). These curves did not happen by accident. The ancient Greeks,who were fine engineers as well as excellent artists, knew that straight lines can sometimes appear to be curved ! So they designed their columns (stone poles) to look straight.
Try drawing two long parallel(平行)lines on paper. Do they seem to look closer together in the middle than at the ends? A tall column is likely to look narrow halfway up, too. The columns of the Parthenon look as if they stand perfectly straight. Actually, they are slightly bigger in size in the middle and go inward a little at the top. If lines were drawn up along opposite sides of the columns, these lines would meet about one mile above the building.
A platform of three steps forms the base on which the Parthenon rests.These steps have strong horizontal(水平)lines that balance the vertical(竖直)lines of the columns.But the steps are not really level and flat!They curve up in the middle because if they were absolutely straight,,they would appear to curve down.The line of the top step,if continued at both ends,would form a circle with a radius of 3. 5 miles.
When is a curved line not a curved line? When our eyes tell us it is straight!
73.The passage mainly tells us_______.
A. what two parallel lines look like on paper
B. why a curved line can appear to be straight
C. where the secret of the Parthenon Temple lies
D. when the columns of the Parthenon look curved
74.Which of the following is close in shape with the steps of the platform?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
75.What can we infer from the passage?
A. The Parthenon is a famous historic building.
B. The Greeks knew a lot about optical illusions.
C. The ancient Greeks were people of intelligence.
D. Curved lines can meet somewhere above a building.
Women are on their way to holding more than half of all American jobs. The latest government report shows that their share of non-farm jobs nearly reached fifty percent in September, 2009.
The job market continues to suffer the effects of last year’s financial crash. On the one hand more women have entered the labor market over the years, and on the other hand the economic recession (衰退) has hit men harder than women. In October the unemployment rate for men was almost 11% compared to 8% for women.
Industries that traditionally use lots of men have suffered deep cuts. For example, manufacturing (制造业) and building lost more jobs last month. But health care and temporary employment services have had job growth. Both of those industries employ high percentages of women.
Thirty years ago, women earned sixty-two cents for every dollar that men earned. Now, for those who usually work full time, women earn about eighty percent of what men earn. And a recent study from the University of California, Davis, reveals that women hold fifty-one percent of well-paid management and professional jobs. Yet the study also shows that men still hold about nine out of every ten top positions at most companies. The results have remained largely unchanged for five years.
Also, a new research paper in the journal Sex Roles looks at the experiences of women who are the main earners in their families. Rebecca Meisenbach at the University of Missouri in Columbia interviewed fifteen women. She found that they all value their independence and many enjoy having the power of control, though not all want it. But they even feel more pressure and worry. That is partly because of cultural expectations that working women should still take care of the children. Also, men who are not the main earners may feel threatened.
64.Which of the following is a reason why women have a larger share of jobs?
A.Women workers are paid less than men.
B.More women now have higher education than men.
C.The economic recession has affected men more than women.
D.Industries that traditionally use lots of men now need more women.
65.There have been an increasing number of jobs for women in .
A.manufacturing B.building C.health care D.farming
66.In the late 1970s, if a man earned 500 dollars a month, a woman probably ea
rned .
A.＄260 B.＄310 C.＄400 D.＄500
67.If a woman is the main earner in her family, she probably .
A.hopes to be less independent B.has the power of control
C.feels a bit threatened D.is less worried
TOKYO— At first glance, Japanese cellphones are young people’s favorites, with elegant design and quick access to the Internet. However, despite years of competition in overseas markets, Japan’s cellphone makers have little presence beyond the country’s shores.
The only Japanese cellphone maker with any meaningful global share is Sony Ericsson, and that company is a London-based joint venture(合资企业)between a Japanese electronics maker and a Swedish telecommunications firm.
And Sony Ericsson has been hit by big losses. Its market share was just 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009, behind Nokia of Finland, Samsung Electronics and LG of South Korea, and Motorola of Illinois.
This year, Mr Natsuno, who developed a popular wireless Internet service called i-Mode, invited some of the best minds in the field to debate how Japanese cellphones could go global.
“The most amazing thing about Japan is that even the average person out there will have a very advanced phone, 
”said Mr Natsuno. Japan has 100 million users of advanced third-generation smart phones, twice the number of the United States, a much larger market. Many Japanese rely on their phones, not a PC, for Internet access.
Indeed, Japanese cellphone makers thought they had positioned themselves to dominate（支配）the age of digital data. But they were a little too clever. In the 1990s, they set a standard for the second-generation network that was refused everywhere else. Then Japan quickly adopted a third-generation standard in 2001. However, it made Japanese phones too advanced for most markets.
Several Japanese companies are now considering a push into overseas markets, including NEC. Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and Fujitsu are s
aid to be planning similar moves.
“Japanese cellphone makers need to either look overseas, or exit the business”, said Kenshi Tazaki, a managing vice president at the consulting firm Gartner Japan.
60.Through the first paragraph, the author intends to tell us that___________.
A.Japanese cellphones are popular with young people
B.Japanese cellphones don’t sell well abroad
C.Japanese cellphones are very advanced
D.Japanese cellphones are specially designed for young people
61.The cellphone company with the largest global market share is located in______.
A.Japan B.America C.South Korea D.Finland
62.Why are Japanese cellphone makers a little too clever?
A.Because their technical standards are too advanced to be accepted overseas.
B.Because they only produce advanced cellphones.
C.Because they used the second-generation network earlier than others.
D.Because their phones are more advanced than PCs.
63.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A.Japanese cellphone companies are unsuccessful.
B.Japan has more cellphone users than the US.
C.Japanese cellphone industry intends to expand overseas markets.
D.Going global—a difficult task for Japanese companies.
On the day of a big event, many people came to Big Bend Mountain to watch. John Henry and the salesman stood side by side. Even early in the day, the sun was burning hot.
The competition began. John Henry kissed his hammer and started working. At first, the steam-powered drill worked two times faster than he did. Then, he started working with a hammer in each hand. He worked faster and faster. In the mountain, the heat and dust were so thick that most men would have had trouble breathing. The crowd shouted as clouds of dust came from inside the mountain.
The salesman was afraid when he heard what sounded like the mountain breaking. However, it was only the sound of John Henry at work. Polly Ann and her son cheered when the machine was pulled from the tunnel of the mountain. It had broken down. Polly Ann urged John Henry to come out. But he kept working, faster and faster. He dug deep into the darkness, hitting the steel so hard that his body began to fail him. He became weak, and his heart burst.
John Henry fell to the ground. There was a terrible silence. Polly Ann did not move because she knew what had happened. John Henry’s blood spilled over the ground. But he still held one of the hammers. “I beat them,” he said. His wife cried out, “Don’t go, John Henry.”“Bring me a cool drink of water,”he said. Then he took his last breath.
His friends carried his body from the mountain. They buried him near the house where he was born. Crowds went there after they heard about John Henry’s death.
Soon, the steam drill and other machines replaced the steel-drivers. Many laborers left their families to look for work. They took the only jobs they could find. As they worked, some sang about John Henry.
55.What does the big event mentioned in Paragraph 1 refer to?
A.John Henry’s work on a machine.
B.A competition between John Henry and a salesman.
C.John Henry’s work with his hammer and the steel.
D.A competition between John Henry and a drill.
56.The underlined word “tunnel ”in Paragraph 3 probably means “ ”.
A.flat ground B.big rock C.underground passage D.hard metal
57. What happened to John Henry when he fell to the ground?
A.He was tired and had to have a rest.
B.He had heart trouble and was dying.
C.He was thirsty and wanted to drink some water.
D.He was injured slightly and was bleeding.
58.What do we know about John Henry?
A.He won the competition finally. B.He was buried under the mountain.
C.He loved his work very much. D.He said nothing before his death.
59.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Humans can never beat machines. B.John Henry was regarded as a hero.
C.Laborers hated machines very much. D.It was easy for laborers to find work.
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，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The TV shows a baby’s pram (婴儿车) rolling off a train platform as the mother makes a mad rush to save her son, but she is too late and it falls onto the rails in front of an incoming train. This heart-stopping scene
happened yesterday at Ashburton station in Melbourne, Australia. But the story has a happy ending: the six-month-old baby survived with just a cut on his forehead, although the pram was dragged about 35 metres by the braking train. The nurse Jon Wright said the boy just “needed a feed and a sleep” and didn’t need to stay in hospital.
“Luckily, he was strapped (绑) into his pram at the time, which probably saved his life. I think the child is extremely lucky, ” Wright told the Herald Sun newspaper after the baby was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Fortunately the train was already slo
wing down to stop at the station so it stopped quickly when the driver put on the brakes as soon as he saw the pram fall in front of him. Rail firm Connex is to look into how the pram rolled off the platform. The accident came one day after Connex started a child safety awareness activity warning parents to keep babies strapped into their prams at all times while on platforms.
The accident happened at the same time as the “balloon boy ”story in the US, in which a six-year-old Colorado boy was reported to be trapped in a flyaway balloon. However, he was later found hiding in the family’s garage. Many people believe that it had all been a publicity stunt by the parents. No such doubts surround the baby on the train platform.
51.In the accident, the baby .
A.almost fell onto t
he rails
B.needed to stay in hospital
C.was badly injured by the train
D.was pulled a long distance in the pram by the train
52.The child was not killed most probably because .
A.the mother strapped him into his pram
B.the platform is not very high
C.he was well fed and asleep
D.the mother rushed to save him
53.Why could the train stop quickly?
A.Because it had just begun to move.
B.Because it was moving slowly at that time.
C.Because the mother took measures quickly.
D.Because the driver saw the pram fall.
54.The underlined word “stunt” in the last paragrap
h probably means .
A.something silly B.something funny
C.something done to attract attention D.something done to avoid bad luck
After years of study, I have known there are only two types of people in this world: those who get to the airport early and those who arrive when the plane is about to take off.
If there were any justice（公正）in this world, early-airport people would be rewarded for doing the right thing. And late-airport people would be punished. But early-airport people get ulcers（溃疡）, heart attacks and bite their fingernails to the bone. Late-airport people almost don’t realize they are flying.
A guy of that kind once said, “Don’t hurry. If you miss your flight, it’s because God doesn’t want you to go.” This is clearly a guy who is never going to get an ulcer.
Early-airport people suffer another “name”. They are called exactly what they are -wimps（窝囊废）. I know. I was an early-airport person for years. “My baggage will get on the plane first,” I told myself. Indeed it would, which made it the last baggage they took off the plane after landing.
Another strange thing: No matter how ear
ly I showed up, I was always told that someone had called two or three years ahead of me and asked for the best seat. I thought it was a trick. I thought there was someone in America who called every airline every day and said: “Is that wimp Simon flying somewhere today? If he is , give me his seat.”
After a lifetime arguing with my wife over whether I really have to pack 24 hours in advance and set the alarm clock four hours ahead, I have learned another fact about early-airport people and late –airport people:
They always marry each other.
67. We can learn from the passage that .
A. late-airport persons are often nervous
B. early-airport persons are always at ease during the flight
C. early-airport persons get their baggage first after the landing
D. late-airport persons always take things easy
68. Paragraph 5 mainly wants to tell us that .
A. someone always plays tricks on the writer
B. the airlines usually fool passengers
C. early-airport persons always can’t get good seats
D. the service of airlines is very bad
69. This passage is written in order to .
A. give readers tips about taking a plane
B. offer suggestions abo
ut having a good plane trip
C. express the writer’s anxiety about taking a plane
D. show people’s different attitudes toward catching planes
70. It could be inferred that the writer’s wife is .
A. an early-airport woman B. a late-airport woman
C. a hot-tempered woman D. a sensitive woman
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