We’re all connected. You can send an e-mail message to a friend, and your friend can pass it on to one of his or her friends, and that friend can do the same, continuing the chain. Eventually, your message could reach just about anyone in the world, and it might take only five to seven e-mails for the message to get there.
Scientists recently tested that idea in a study involving 24,000 people. Participants had to try to get a message forwarded to one of 18 randomly(随意地，随机地) chosen people. Each participant started by sending one e-mail to someone they knew. Those who received it could then forward the e-mail once to someone they knew, and so on.
Subjects, who were randomly assigned by researchers from Columbia University in New York, lived in 13 countries. They included an Australian police officer, a Norwegian veterinarian, and a college professor.
Out of 24,000 chains, only 384 reached their goal. The rest petered out, usually because one of the recipients was either too busy to forward the message or thought it was junk mail.
The links that reached their goal made it in an average of 4.05 e-mails. Based on the lengths of the failed chains, the researchers figured out that two strangers could generally make contact in five to seven e-mails.
The most successful chains relied on casual acquaintances rather than close friends. That’s because your close friends know each other while your acquaintances tend to know people you don’t know. The phenomenon, known as the strength of weak ties, explains why people tend to get jobs through people they know casually but aren’t that close to.
So, start networking and instant messaging now. As they say in show business: It’s all about who you know. If you want to get into touch with a stranger in the world, how many e-mails might it take for the message to reach him/her?
| A．5 to 7 | B．18 | C．13 | D．384 |
Who does the word “subjects” refer to in the passage?
| A．the 384 participants who lived in Australuia |
| B．the Norwegian veterinarians and college porfessors |
| C．the 24,000 people randomly assigned by reaearchers |
| D．the 18 people randomly chosen from 13 countries |
What does the phrase “peter out” mean in the fourth paragraph？
| A．die out | B．pass away | C．disappear | D．pick out |
Why do people tend to get jobs more easily through casual acquaintances than close friends?
| A．Because close friends don’t talk with each other so much. |
| B．Because casual acquaintances can help you know more people and make more friends. |
| C．Because close friends don’t spend so much time gathering together. |
| D．Because casual acquaintances are kinder and more willing to help others. |
In which part of a newspaper will readers read this passage?
| A．Culture | B．Entertainment | C．Information and Technology | D．Health |
E
Language is a major problem for the European Union (EU) . The argument or treaty (条约) which created the organization that finally became the EU, the Treaty of Rome, stated that each country’s language must be treated equally. The original six countries had only three languages between them: French, German and Dutch/Flemish. However, there are now 15 countries in the EU, with a total of 12 languages. EU documents must be translated into all these languages, and at official meetings the speeches must be translated into all the languages by interpreters.
All this translating is very expensive and time-consuming. It is said that nearly half of all employ
ees of the EU are engaged in translating documents and speeches and nearly half of the EU’s administrative (管理方面的) costs are spent on this task. In the near future it is probable that several more countries, most of them having their own languages, will join the EU, thus making the situation even worse.
The problem is just cost; there are practical difficulties as well. With 12 languages, there are 132 possible “translation situations” that might be needed. It is often difficult to find people in the right place at the right time who can translate from, for example, Danish into Greek, or Dutch into Portuguese, at a high professional standard.
In practice the problem has been less serious by the use of English in many contacts between EU officials , since almost all of them speak some English. However, any move to reduce the number of official languages (perhaps to four or five) would be a blow to the pride of the smaller countries. Another commonly suggested solution is to make English the official language for all EU business. However, this is strongly resisted by powerful member countries like France and Germany .
77.What’s the main purpose of this passage?_____________.
A. To give a solution to a problem.
B. To find out a problem and show how serious it is.
C. To criticize (批评) the European Union for inefficiency.
D. To show that the problem cannot be solved.
78. According to the writer, the use of English in contacts among EU officials has_________.
A. angered the officials who don’t speak English
B. reduced the number of official languages.
C. lessened the effect of the problem.
D. been opposed by powerful member countries.
79. The writer mentions “Danish into Greek” as an example of ______________.
A . a situation that might be difficult to deal with. B. a situation that occurs often.
C. one of the 12 situations that requires an interpreter. D. languages easily being interpreted
80.The writer suggests that if the number of official languages was reduced, _____________.
A. the EU would not know which official languages to choose.
B. countries whose languages were not used officially would be unhappy.
C. only languages which are easy to translate would be used officially.
D. the smaller member countries would be pleased.
D
While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me.
Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.
First he kissed his three children one by one and said, “It’s nice to see you. I missed you so much!” Then he hugged his wife, “I’ve saved the best for last!” giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other’s eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds（新婚夫妇）, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t possibly be.
Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?” “Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well, then, how long have you been away?” I asked. “Two whole days!” “Two days?” I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!”
The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. “Don’t hope, friend…decide!” Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”
With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.
I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, “What are you looking at?” Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, “My future!”
74. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The man replied to the author, with his eyes still fixed on his wife’s face.
B. After being away for several weeks, the man missed his family very much.
C. It was fourteen years since the couple had got married.
D. Their three kids reminded the author of newlyweds.
75. By saying “my expression betrayed me” (in Paragraph 4), the author means that _________.
A. he failed to express his ideas to the man
B. the man sensed his real feelings from his expression
C. he didn’t believe in his expression any more
D. his expression was not faithful to him
76. From the passage, we can infer that __________.
A. the experience may be easily forgotten by the author
B. the author will live a passionate life from now on
C. the author will be away from his family and hug them passionately upon his return
D. Americans prefer to save the best for last
C
"Reduce, reuse and recycle, this familiar environmentalist slogan tells us how to reduce the amount of rubbish that ends up in landfills and waterways.
The concept is being used to deal with one possibly dangerous form of waste –--- electronic junk (电子垃圾), such as old computers, cell-phones, and televisions. But this process for managing e-waste may be used in an unscrupulous（不择手段的） way more often than not used, a recent report suggests.
“A lot of these materials are being sent to developing nations under the excuse of reuse –--- to bridge the digital divide,” said Richard Gutierrez, a policy researcher.
One of the problems is that no one proves whether these old machines work before they hit the seaways. Because of this, the report says, e-waste is a growing problem in Lagos, Nigeria, and elsewhere in the developing world. Much of the waste ends up being thrown away along rivers and roads. Often it’s picked apart by poor people, who may face dangerous exposure to poisonous chemicals in the equipment.
Businessmen also pay workers a little money to get back materials such as gold and copper. This low-tech recovery process could expose workers and the local environment to many dangerous materials used to build electronics. According to Gutierrez, this shadow economy exists because the excuse of recycling and reusing electronics gives businessmen “a green passport” to ship waste around the globe. “Developing nations must take upon some of the responsibility themselves,” Gutierrez said. But, he added, “A g
reater portion of this responsibility should fall on the exporting state.”
China, for example, has become a dumping（倾倒，堆放） place for large amounts of e-waste. The nation is beginning to take action to stop the flow of dangerous materials across its borders. The Chinese government, after many years of denial（否认）, is finally beginning to take the lead.
70．What does the fourth paragraph mainly discuss?
A. Old computers and TVs still work before they are sent abroad.
B. Poor people break up e-waste to collect some valuable materials.
C. A lot of e-waste is dumped in developing countries.
D. The problem of e-waste is growing in developing countries.
71．From what Gutierrez said we can learn that ________.
A. exporting countries should mainly be responsible for this problem.
B. neither rich nor poor countries should be blamed for this problem
C. developing countries should be responsible for this problem
D. poor countries should be blamed for this problem
72．It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _______.
A. China has hidden a large amount of e-waste in many secret places
B. China has greatly changed the idea about the problem of e-waste
C. China has prevented poisonous materials from entering China for a long time
D. China is falling behind other countries in dealing with e-waste
73．The passage mainly tells us that _______.
A. developing countries are facing serious environmental problems
B. e-waste is a growing problem in developed countries
C. e-waste is sent to developing countries under the excuse of reuse
D. developing countries are making full use of e-waste
B
British science-fiction writer Sir Arthur Charles Clarke has been buried in his adopted country of Sri Lanka.
Music from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey was played at the funeral and members of the family cried as his coffin was lowered.
"Here lies Arthur Charles Clarke. He never grew up and did not stop growing, his gravestone in Colombo is to read, in accordance with the author' s wishes.
Sir Arthur died from heart failure and breathing problems at the age of 90.
A nationwide one-minute silence was ordered by the Sri Lankan government to coincide with the ceremony.
Sir Arthur' s brother, Fred Clarke, attended the funeral along with members of the Ekanayake family, with whom the writer had lived in recent years.
Fred Clarke said his elder brother had always loved the warm climate and the friendly people of Sir Lanka.
"He said he had managed to escape 40 British winters and had no regrets," Mr. Clarke told AFP news agency.
Tamara Ekanayake, who grew up at Sir Arthur' s home in Colombo, paid tribute to him, "We feel so proud that you left your mark on us. Your footprint will never fade (褪去).”
Before the funeral, yellow roses were thrown on to Sir Arthur' s body as a final gesture of respect as it lay on a white bed beneath curved elephant tusks.
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 1917-19 March 2008) was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, most famous for the novel 2001: A Spare Odyssey, which led to the film of the same name.
Clarke served in the Royal Air Force as a radar instructor and technician from 1941-1946, proposed satellite communication systems in 1945 which won him a nomination ( 提名) in 1994 for a Nobel Prize, and 1999 for literature, and became the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1947-1950 and again in 1953.
Clarke moved to Sri Lanka in 1956 largely to pursue his interest in scuba diving, and lived there until his death.
66.What do you think the underlined phrase "paid tribute to' in paragraph 9 means?
A. Paid money to. B. Paid attention to.
C. Spoke highly of D. Expressed one' s thanks to.
67. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Charles Clarke suffered from breathing problems.
B. Charles Clarke made the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
C. Charles Clarke had served in the Royal Air Force for about 5 years.
D. Charles Clarke won a nomination for a Nobel Prize in 1994.
68.Where do you think the passage is most probably from?
A. A science fiction. B. A fashion magazine.
C. A news website. D. A students' textbook.
69. Which of the following is the main purpose of the passage?
A. To introduce Charles Clarke' s interest.
B. To inform readers about the danger of heart failure.
C. To introduce the books by Charles Clarke.
D. To inform readers of Charles Clarke' s funeral.
第三部分：阅读理解（满分40分，共20小题，每小题2分）
A
Britain almost more than any other country in the world must seriously face the problem of building upwards, that is to say, of accommodating a considerable proportion of its population in high-rise blocks of flats. It is said that an Englishman objects to this type of existence, but if this is so, he differs from most inhabitants of the world today.
In the past, blocks of flats have been associated with the lower income groups, and many of them lacked the obvious provisions, such as central heating, constant hot water supply, electrically operated lifts, and so on. Some even didn’t have facilities for disposal of dust and rubbish or storage places for baby carriages on the ground floor. Many lacked playgrounds for children on the top of their buildings, and drying grounds for washing. It is likely that the dispute regarding flats versus (对抗) individual houses will continue to rage on for a long time as far as Britain is concerned. And it is unfortunate that there should be hot feelings on both sides whenever this subject is raised. Those who oppose the building of flats base their cases primarily on the assumption (设想) that everyone prefers an individual home and garden and on the high cost per 
unit of accommodation. They, however, ignore the higher cost of providing full services to a scattered community and the cost in both money and time commuting to work for the suburban resident.
61. It can be inferred from the passage that ____.
A. unlike most people in other countries, English people dislike living in flats
B. people in most countries of the world today like living in the suburbs
C. people in Britain are eager to move into high-rise blocks of flats
D. modern flats in Britain fail to provide the necessary facilities for living
62. What can we learn about the blocks of flats built in the past from the passage?
A. They were conveniently located.
B. The people who lived there were not rich.
C. They were usually not large enough for big families to live in.
D. The children who lived in them could play on the top of the buildings.
63. Some people don’t like living in flats because ____.
A. they must pay much money
B. they prefer to live in a house with a garden
C. there is no central heating and constant hot water supply
D. the disposal of rubbish is a problem for people living in flats
64. Some people don’t like living in suburban houses because ____.
A. the houses are not large enough
B. people who live in the suburbs must pay much money for the service work
C. people who live in the suburbs have to spend a lot of money and time traveling to work every day
D. it can be difficult for them to do some shopping and to get along well with their neighbors
65. This passage is mainly about __________.
A. living in high-rise blocks of flats
B. living in the suburbs
C. the difference in living in a flat in Britain and living in a flat in other countries
D. the attitude of British people towards living in flats
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