Farming was once the chief way of life in nearly every country. People cannot live without food, and nearly all their food comes from crops and animals raised on farms. Not many people farm for a living any more, but farming remains the most important work in the world.
Before the n
ineteenth century, the typical American family lived on a small farm. They raised pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, and planted corn, fruits, garden vegetables, and wheat. Everyone worked long and hard, but the results were often poor. Families barely harvested enough food for themselves. This situation began to change during the last half of the 1800's and it changed remarkably(明显地) in the next century.
Scientific methods and labor-saving machinery(机械）have made farming increasingly productive. The development of improved plant varieties and fertilizers（肥料）has helped double and even triple the production of some major crops. More scientific animal 
care and animal raising have helped increase the amount of meat and products that animals produce. At the same time, the use of tractors and other modern farm equipment has sharply reduced the need for farm labor.
As farming has become less important as a way of life in the United States, it has bec
ome more important as a source which offers materials to industry. Today's successful farmers are experts not just in agriculture but also in accounting, marketing, and finance. Farms that are not run in a similar way have great difficulty surviving. We are told in the first paragraph about ____.
| A．the history of farming | B．the importance of farming |
| C．the development of farming | D．the changes of farming |
Which of the following describes American farming before the 19th century?
| A．Farmers didn’t work hard on their farms. | |
| B．Farmers used tractors to help them. | |
| C．Farming was the main way of living for most people | D．Farmers could supply materials to industry. |
The passage mainly talks about_____.
| A．the advantages of American farming | B．the changes in American farming |
| C．the situation of American farms | D．how rapidly farming has developed |
How should one invest a sum of money in these clays of inflation (通货膨胀)? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate. Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market. Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past. Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.
I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life. "The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound. It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands. Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control. This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves."
Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time. Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of clay according to the beating of their own hearts. They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout tire time. So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.
However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time. They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun. They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour- glasses, and invented water-clocks. Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.
Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home. After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in air antique clock and perhaps make a future profit?According to the passage, collecting antique clocks____.
| A．can hardly keep the value of your savings |
| B．will cost much of your savings |
| C．may increase your wealth |
| D．needs your bravery |
By quoting (引用) the remark of a being from another planet, the author intends to____.
| A．suggest human beings are controlled by a clock |
| B．describe why clocks can rule the planet Earth |
| C．tell readers what clocks look like |
| D．compare chicks to human beings |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to measure the time?
| A．Counting the beating of one's own heart. |
| B．Making use of candles, sand and water. |
| C．Observing shadows cast by the sun. |
| D．Keeping slaves busy day and night. |
The underlined phrase stately homes in paragraph 4 means
| A．state-owned houses |
| B．houses in very good condition |
| C．grand houses open to the public |
| D．houses where statesmen meet regularly |
The purpose of the passage is
| A．to introduce the culture of antique clocks |
| B．to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks |
| C．to compare different ways to make a future profit |
| D．to explain convenient and reliable ways of telling time |
阅读表达（共5小题;每小题3分,满分15分）
阅读下面的短文，
并根据短文后面的要求答题。（请注意问题后的字数要求）
After achieving a 9 percent GDP growth, hosting a successful Olympic Games and carrying out its first space walk the year before last, you'd think China would be happy．__________________．That, at least, is the opinion of a new book written by a group of Chinese authors．
China Is Not Happy was published in March, 2009．It is a follow-up to the 1996 work China Can Say No, a bestseller that complained about the influence of the West, and the US in particular, on China．Thirteen years later, the authors of China Is Not Happy list their dissatisfaction with how China is being treated in the world today．
They argue that China needs to use its growing power and economic resources to build its own position of preeminence （卓越）．"From looking at the history of human civilization, we are most qualified to lead this world．" the book says．
The authors, single out the US for special scorn （轻蔑）．"The economic problem has shown the Chinese people that America does have problems, that what we've been saying is right," said one of the authors．
The book has become a bestseller in many Chinese bookstores．Yet much of the response to the book has been negative．Several reviews in the Chinese media have criticized the book's radical （激进的） opinions．The book is a way to "fish money from the pockets of the angry youth and angry elderly," wrote one critic in the China Youth Daily．Meanwhile, a well-known sociologist, Li Yinhe, has said that China needs patriotism （爱国主义）, but there is a limit．In her blog she wrote, "If we are to bully （欺负） other countries, take the world's resources and try to lead it, we're going over the top．"
76.List three great achievements that China made in 2008 based on the text．（Please answer within 20 words．）
①
②
③
77.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 1 with proper words．（Please answer within 6 words．）
78.Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?
Ancient China was advanced and it was Chinese who created developed civilization, so we Chinese should be the leader of the world．
79.What is the main idea of the last Paragraph? （Please answer within 10words．）
80.Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 into Chinese．
Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook from scratch? Have you been doing internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can't you be bothered to do?
A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of adults are so lazy they'd catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs．
Just over 2000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuffield Health, Britain's largest health charity．The results were astonishing．
About one in six people surveyed said if their remote control was broken, they would continue watching the same channel rather than get up．
More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus．Worryingly, of the 654 respondents with children, 64% said they were often too tired to play with them．
This led the report to conclude that it's no wonder that one in six children in the UK are classified as obese （very fat） before they start school．
Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said: "People need to get fitter, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of their families, friends and evidently their pets too．
"If we don't start to take control of this problem, a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the most rudimentary of tasks．"
And Scotland's largest city, Glasgow, was shamed as the most inactive city in the UK, with 75% surveyed admitting they do not get enough exercise, followed closely by Birmingham and Southampton, both with 67%．
The results cause serious challenges for the National Health Service, where obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and are costing billions of pounds every year．What causes children in the UK to be obese?
| A．Eating ready meal | B．Watching TV |
| C．Doing Internet shopping | D．Being lazy |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．British people are too lazy to do anything． |
| B．Internet shopping will do harm to your health． |
| C．Many people would not run to catch a bus in Britain． |
| D．People should be more active and take regular exercise to keep fit． |
Which of the following is Not true according to the passage?
| A．One sixth of British people use remote control when watching TV． |
| B．People will benefit not only themselves but their families by getting fit． |
| C．Fatness can cause diseases such as heart disease and cancer． |
| D．More people get obesity-related illnesses now than 40 years ago． |
What does the underlined word rudimentary most probably mean?
| A．basic | B．serious | C．vital | D．hard |
All the following are among the most lazy cities in the UK except ．
| A．Glasgow | B．Birmingham | C．Nuffield | D．Southampton |
The world of the science-fiction 3-D film Avatar is so perfect that the line between fact and fiction has become somewhat blurred （模糊）．
Movie-goers have admitted being annoyed by depression at not being able to visit the planet Pandora．Set in the future when Earth's resources have been used up, director James Cameron's film tells the story of a company trying to exploit a rare miner
al on a new planet．The humans clash with the natives — a peace-loving race of 7-foot-tall, blue-skinned creatures called the Na'vi, who exist in perfect harmony with nature．
Fans have flooded the Internet with their confused feelings．On the site Avatar Forums （论坛）, the topic "Ways to deal with the depression of the dream of Pandora not being able to come true" has more than 1,000 posts．In a similar forum, Louis, one user, wrote: "When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed grey．It just seems so meaningless．I still don't really see any reason to keep doing things at all．I live in a dying world．" On the Avatar site Naviblue, a fan calling himself Jorba has even asked others to join him in starting a real Na'vi tribe．
This fantasy world, with its wonderful plants and animal life, is brought to life by using impressive special effects．Many people believe that 2010 is the breakthrough year for the technology helped by 3-D movies such as Avatar．"It has taken the best of our technology to create this virtual world and real life will never be as perfect as it seems on screen．It makes real life seem more imperfect．"What is the best title of the text?
| A．A blockbuster movie: Avatar |
B．The Avatar effect: movie-goers feel dep ressed after watching Avatar |
| C．2010: a breakthrough year for．3-D movies |
| D．Pandora: a perfect world |
We can infer that Louis after watching the film Avatar．
| A．will cherish his present life more |
B．feel s disappointed about the real world |
| C．will intend to create a real Na'vi tribe |
| D．is proud of living on the earth |
Thanks to the success of Av'atar, ．
| A．3-D technology will probably develop quickly in 2010 |
| B．most people look forward to living on another planet |
| C．many more science-fiction films will be made in the coming years |
| D．people have become more realistic about life |
The underlined word "virtual" probably means ．
| A．unreal | B．true | C．perfect | D．practical |
According to the passage the natives on the planet are ．
| A．not harmony with the nature | B．blue-haired race |
| C．peace-loving creatures | D．fond of fighting with human race |
"A survey was conducted in Shanghai where interviewees were asked if they wanted to be a factory worker．One percent of all people interviewed said “YES," Wang Hongjun, a technician, said, raising his voice for dramatic effect．"But I can tell you, only a small part of that 1 percent are telling the truth．"
I've met colorful people like Wang all over
China．They are cynical（玩世不恭的） yet warmhearted, plain spoken but smart．And many of them are confined（局限于）to work in factories．
Wang is a top technician but also represents manual fact
ory workers, who are China's most important natural resource．Their energy is powering China's economic boom, and their muscle is turning the wheel of the world's factory．
But does their unskilled labor give their life meaning? At school, did they tell their friends: "When I grow up I want to work in a factory making socks?" Did you?
Factory work has always been a stepping-stone from farm life to the city and a modern life．It's been happening for centuries, but today, with our space-age technology, it's outdated．Earning 1,200 yuan （$169） per month working in a factory is better than that on a farm, but as Wang points out, it's not a dream career．There should be better ways to earn your rice．
Many modern factories no longer have production line workers．Robots do the assembly（装配）．People just do the monitoring．In this age of technology, in which China is n
ow working smarter and not just harder, why are people still standing in production lines?
But life is cheap in China．So why not continue to exploit the low-cost labor situation and keep the economy growing fast, some entrepreneurs may ask．How many people surveyed really like to be factory workers?
| A．One percent |
B．Only a small part |
| C．Only a small part of that one percent |
| D．The writer didn’t mention it． |
Which is NOT the writer's opinion of factory workers?
| A．cynical | B．unimportant |
| C．warmhearted | D．plain spoken |
Wang Hongjun is a person who is ．
| A．difficult to get along with |
| B．humorous but serious |
| C．cynical but warmhearted, plain spoken but smart |
| D．full of energy but doesn't want to work hard |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Factory workers make contributions to China's economic boom． |
| B．Working in a factory is better than that on a farm． |
| C．Factory workers are satisfied with their living conditions． |
| D．Some entrepreneurs exploited the low-cost labor situation． |
The writer uses to begin the passage．
| A．a lot of figures | B．many examples |
| C．some dialogue | D．the result of a survey |
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