Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap（水龙头）?
In America, people will include a case or two of bottled water when buying the week's groceries（日用杂货）．When they are going to a soccer game or activity, it's common for them to grab a cold bottle of water out of the fridge with them．In fact, Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world, about 29 billion bottles a year．
But all these plastic bottles use a lot of fossil fuels and pollute the environment．In order to make all the 29 billion bottles, producers use 17 million barrels of crude oil, which is enough to keep a million cars going for 12 months．
So why don't people drink water straight from the tap? Some people have a strong belief that bottled water is better than water out of the tap, but that's not necessarily true．In the US, the local governments make sure water from the tap is safe．There is also growing concern that chemicals in the bottles themselves may go into the water．
People love the convenience of bottled water．But maybe if they realized the problems it causes, they would try drinking from a glass at home or carrying water in a reusable steel container instead of plastic．
Some argue that plastic bottle recycling can help．Recycled bottles can be turned into items like carpeting or clothing．Unfortunately, only one in six bottles is recycled．The rest make it to landfills（垃圾填坦场） or end as trash in other places．Plastic bottles take hundreds of years for them to disintegrate．
Water is important for you, so keep drinking it．But think about how often you use water bottles, and see if you can make a change．
And yes, you can make a difference．Remember this: Recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for six hours．How many cars can be kept going for a year by the crude oil used to make 29 billion bottles?
| A．100． | B．I,000． | C．100,000． | D．I,000,000． |
Why do Americans prefer bottled water?
| A．Bottled water is better than water from the tap． |
| B．Bottled water is cheaper than water from the tap． |
| C．Bottled water contains beneficial chemicals in it． |
| D．Bottled water is more convenient than water from the tap． |
What does the underlined word "disintegrate" in the fifth paragraph probably mean^
| A．Be well recycled． | B．Become less poisonous． |
| C．Break into small pieces． | D．Go down below a surface． |
The author's intention of writing this passage is to recommend Americans
| A．drink more water from the tap |
| B．send plastic bottles to landfills. |
| C．use water bottles to power light bulbs |
| D．buy bottles filled with water from the tap |
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。
Can you believe your eyes? A recent experiment suggests that the answer to that question may depend on your age.
Martin Doherty, a psychologist at the University of Stirling in Scotland, led the team of scientists. In this experiment, Doherty and his team tested the perception(观察力) of some people, using pictures of some orange circles. The researchers showed the same pictures to two groups of people. The first group included 151 children aged 4 to 10, and the second group included 24 adults aged 18 to 25.
The first group of pictures showed two circles alone on a white background. One of the circles was larger than the other, and these people were asked to identify the larger one. Four-year-olds identified the correct circle 79 percent of the time. Adults identified the correct circle 95 percent of the time.
Next, both groups were shown a picture where the orange circles, again of different sizes, were surrounded by gray circles. Here’s where the trick lies in. In some of the pictures, the smaller orange circle was surrounded by even smaller gray circles — making the orange circle appear larger than the other orange circle, which was the real larger one. And the larger orange circle was surrounded by even bigger gray circles — so it appeared to be smaller than the real smaller orange circle.
When young children aged 4 to 6 looked at these tricky pictures, they weren’t fooled — they were still able to find the bigger circle with roughly the same accuracy as before. Older children and adults, on the other hand, did not do as well. Older children often identified the smaller circle as the larger one, and adults got it wrong most of the time.
As children get older, Doherty said, their brains may develop the ability to identify visual context. In other words, they will begin to process the whole picture at once: the tricky gray circles, as well as the orange circle in the middle. As a result, they’re more likely to fall for this kind of visual trick.
41．Doherty and his team of scientists did an experiment to evaluate .
A．children’s and adults’ eye-sight
B．people’s ability to see accurately
C．children’s and adults’ brains
D．the influence of people’s age
42．When asked to find the larger circle, .
A．children at 6 got it wrong 79 % of the time with no gray ones around
B．only adults over 18 got it right 95% of the time with gray ones around
C．children at 4 got it right about 79 % of the time with gray ones around
D．adults got it right most of the time with gray ones around
43．According to the passage, we can know that .
A．a smaller orange circle appears bigger on a white background
B．an orange circle appears bigger than a gray one of the same size
C．a circle surrounded by other circles looks bigger than its real size
D．a circle surrounded by bigger ones looks smaller than its real size
44．Visual context may work when children get older than .
A．4 B．6 C．10 D．18
45．Why are younger children not fooled?
A．Because they are smarter than older children and adults.
B．Because older people are influenced by their experience.
C．Because people’s eyes become weaker as they grow older.
D．Because their brain can hardly notice related things together.
Folklore is the branch of the study of man which deals with local customs, tales and traditions. Everybody is a storehouse of folklore, though not everybody realizes it. Often, in deed, those who have never heard the word folklore have the greatest store of it, for the people with least book education commonly cherish most firmly old ideas and superstitions (迷信) which have been passed on by word of mouth for generations. Everyone has heard stories of ghosts, witches, fairies, and giants. We all know some proverbs and have come across such ideas as, for example, that it is lucky to see black cat and unlucky to see a single magpie (喜鹊). We keep certain seasons of the year as festivals, such as Christmas, and we are familiar with the special customs connected with weddings and funerals. All such things are of interest to those who study folklore.
People who study folklore won’t criticize the old beliefs and practices they come across as silly, childish, or old-fashioned. Instead, they will try to collect accurate records of them and then see how these are connected with other ideas and customs of other places or times. By comparing with what is known of olden times or the folklore of other countries, they try to discover how certain beliefs and practices came into being, and what purpose they serve now or used to serve in the past.
Often we find that the beliefs which seem most peculiar and unreasonable, and the customs which appear least practical, are of the greatest interest and importance because they are commonly the oldest. Sometimes they were part of an ancient ritual (惯例) or served a useful purpose when people’s way of life was different from what it is now. So we not only learn about what people thought and did in the past but are better able to understand present customs. People often keep up customs when they have forgotten the original reason for them, and in the course of time a fresh reason gets attached to the custom. Thus, when some joker ties an old shoe to the back of the taxi taking the bride and bridegroom to the station for their honeymoon, he would say it was “for luck”, but actually a shoe is an old fertility (繁殖力) symbol and has a place in the wedding customs of China and Palestine.
51. According to the text, people usually pass on old ideas and superstitions by _________.
A. putting them in a large storehouse B. writing them down in books
C. celebrating them as festivals D. mouth from one generation to another
52. The underlined word “they” (in Para.2) most probably refers to _________.
A. practices and beliefs B. customs and traditions
C. records and tales D. places or times
53. It is most unlikely for people who study folklore to _________.
A. collect as many records of old beliefs and practices as possible
B. compare the present customs with those of the olden times
C. criticize the old beliefs and superstitions as silly or childish
D. find out the purpose the certain beliefs and practices serve or used to serve
54. Which of the following statements is true about customs?
A. The customs which do not appear practical mean nothing to most people.
B. The reasons for certain customs may change in the course of history.
C. People who practice customs are quite familiar with their origins.
D. The wedding customs in China and Palestine are of great similarity.
55. What would be the best title for the passage? A. What Does Folklore Really Mean?
B. How Do People Keep Up Customs?
C. Who Studies Tales And Traditions?
D. When Did Some Old Beliefs Begin?
My son and a bunch of his 13-year-old friends piled into the back seat of my car, ready for the last-day-of-school party at McDonald’s on report card day last year. “Jack got a laptop for getting straight A’s, and Laurie got a cell phone,” one boy said. “Oh, yeah, and Sarah got an iPod Nano, and she’s only in third grade,” said another. “And how about Brian? He got $ 10 for each A.”
I suddenly became concerned. These payoffs might get parents through grammar school, but what about high school and beyond? What would be left after the electric guitar, the cell phone, and the portable DVD player?
I saw the road ahead: As the homework load increased, my income would decrease. I saw my comfortable lifestyle disappear before my eyes — no more of those $5 bags of already-peeled organic carrots. No more organic anything!
I started to feel surprised and nervous. Would every goal attained by my two children fetch a reward? A high grade point average? A good class ranking? Would sports achievements be included in this reward system: soccer goals, touchdowns, runs-batted-in? What about orchestra? Would first chair pay more than second? I’d be penniless by eighth-grade graduation.
“We never paid anything for good grades,” said my neighbor across the street, whose son was recently accepted at MIT. “He just did it on his own. Maybe once in a while we went out for pizza, but that’s about it.”
Don’t you just hate that? We’re all running around looking for the MP3 player with the most updates, and she’s spending a few dollars on pizza. She gets motivation; we get negotiation.
46．Why did the writer suddenly become concerned?
A．Because many kids were getting very good grade at school.
B．Because he was worried about the current reword system.
C．Because he wasn’t making enough money to buy things for his kids’ good grades. D．Because kids were having too many parties after school.
47．The underlined sentence “As the homework load increased, my income would decrease.” (in
Paragraph 3) probably means that _________.
A．taking care of the children would influence my work
B．I would spend more money on my children’s homework
C．reducing children’s homework load would cost me a lot
D．more rewards would be needed as the children grew up
48．The example of the author’s neighbor shows that _________.
A．pizza is the best way to encourage children
B．the author’s neighbor was very poor
C．reward is not the only way to encourage children
D．the son of the author’s neighbor’s didn’t like reward
49．It can be inferred from the passage that _________.
A．children would think that you should if you pay them for good grades
B．children would work harder if you buy them pizza for good grades
C．children would not ask for rewards when they enter high school
D．children would not ask for rewards when they enter university
50．What is the author’s attitude toward paying children reward for good grades?
A．Helpful. B．Uncertain. C．Unpleasant. D．Unknowable.
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。
Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school — walking on my own!
When the Great Depression(大萧条) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel(汽车旅馆) for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world — Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $ 1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situations. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.
41. What Kemmons’ mom often told him during his childhood was _________.
A. caring B. moving C. encouraging D. interesting
42. According to the author, who played the most important role in making him walk back to
school again?
A. Doctors. B. Nurses. C. His friends. D. His mom。
43. What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?
A. His terrible experience in the hotel.
B. His previous business success of various level.
C. His mom’s strongest support.
D. His wife’s valuable suggestion.
44. Which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?
A. Modest, helpful and hard-working. B. Loving, supportive and strong-willed.
C. Careful, helpful and beautiful. D. Strict, sensitive and supportive.
45. Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?
A. Self-confidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family.
B. Clear goals, mom’s encouragement, a poor family and higher education.
C. Mom’s encouragement, clear goals, self-confidence and hard work.
D. Mom’s encouragement, a poor family, higher education and opportunities.
Throughout the history of the arts, the nature of creativity has remained constant to artists. No matter what objects they select, artists are to bring forth new forces and forms that cause change-to find poetry where no one has ever seen or experienced it before.
Landscape(风景) is another unchanging element of art. It can be found from ancient times through the 17th-century Dutch painters to the 19th-century romanticists and impressionists. In the 1970s Alfred Leslie, one of the new American realists, continued this practice. Leslie sought out the same place where Thomas Cole, a romanticist, had produced paintings of the same scene a century and a half before. Unlike Cole who insists on a feeling of loneliness and the idea of finding peace in nature, Leslie paints what he actually sees. In his paintings, there is no particular change in emotion, and he includes ordinary things like the highway in the background. He also takes advantage of the latest developments of color photography(摄影术) to help both the eye and the memory when he improves his painting back in his workroom.
Besides, all art begs the age-old question: What is real? Each generation of artists has shown their understanding of reality in one form or another. The impressionists saw reality in brief emotional effects, the realists in everyday subjects and in forest scenes, and the Cro-Magnon cave people in their naturalistic drawings of the animals in the ancient forests. To sum up, understanding reality is a necessary struggle for artists of all periods.
Over thousands of years the function of the arts has remained relatively constant. Past or present, Eastern or Western, the arts are a basic part of our immediate experience. Many and different are the faces of art, and together they express the basic need and hope of human beings.
46. The underlined word “poetry” most probably means __________.
A. an object for artistic creation B. a collection of poems
C. an unusual quality D. a natural scene
47. Leslie's paintings are extraordinary because _________.
A. they are close in style to works in ancient times
B. they look like works by 19th-century painters
C. they draw attention to common things in life
D. they depend heavily on color photography
48. What is the author's opinion of artistic reality?
A. It will not be found in future works of art.
B. It does not have a long-lasting standard.
C. It is expressed in a fixed artistic form.
D. It is lacking in modern works of art.
49. What does the author suggest about the arts in the last paragraph?
A. They express people's curiosity about the past.
B. They make people interested in everyday experience.
C. They are considered important for variety in form.
D. They are regarded as a mirror of the human situation.
50. Which of the following is the main topic of the passage?
A. History of the arts. B. Basic questions of the arts.
C. New developments in the arts. D. Use of modern technology in the arts.
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