I had been looking forward to my sister Patti’s visit for weeks. I had the whole thing planned. It would be one of our usual short-but-sweet get-togethers: a nice meal, some shopping, an outing with our kids.
When Patti arrived, lunch was cooking on the stove. Everything was perfect. Then, a few minutes later, a terrific clap of thunder rattled the window. A storm had sped in out of nowhere. The lights went out — for the next 12hours.
It seemed like a disaster. Our long-awaited plans! My homemade lunch! Seeing the unfinished pork, we had to eat cold food. We didn’t know what we can do next. The children asked, “Can we watch TV?” “The TV isn’t working.” I explained. So they begged, “Well, how about a video, then?” “How about computer games?” “Can’t you just microwave some popcorn?” I quickly realized just how much we all took electricity for granted.
But as the evening wore on, I also realized I had been taking something else for granted: the power of relationships. The point of my sister’s visit was not that we could go shopping. It didn’t matter whether we took our kids to the zoo. What counted were the people, not the plans.
We all sang old camp songs and put on shadow plays. After the kids eagerly went to bed with their own flashlights, Patti and I brought chairs onto my small front porch (门廊). At first we talked about our ruined plans. Then we sat back silently, listening to the rain dropping through the trees. I hadn’t sat out there in ages, and night air felt cool. We began to talk about our friends. We planned our parents’ upcoming anniversary party. Our conversation went to places it hadn’t gone in years.
I realized that what Patti and I had been looking forward to most was each other — something that often seemed vague on past short visits. Those get-togethers have always been enjoyable, but I must admit that they tend to melt together in my memory. That night the lights went out, on the other hand, they will burn brightly for a long time.
The author planned to do something for her sister’s visit except __________.
| A．seeing a film | B．doing some shopping |
| C．cooking a nice meal | D．going out with their kids |
Why did the lights go out?
| A．Because thunder rattled the window. |
| B．Because a storm came. |
| C．Because someone played a trick on them. |
| D．Because they planned so. |
It can be inferred from the passage that__________.
| A．their get-togethers were usually long |
| B．the author prepared a party for Patti’s visit |
| C．the author and Patti talked a lot this time |
| D．the lunch was ready when Patti arrived |
On the night without power, the author was at last.
| A．mad | B．grateful | C．sad | D．awful |
What did the author try to convey through this passage?
| A．A lot of things can be done when the electricity is cut off. |
| B．The plan should be more careful. |
| C．We should always turn off the lights. |
| D．What counts are the people, not the plans. |
第三部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
第一节：（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。
As Christmas approaches, towns and cities around the UK are preparing for a very British celebration．
The switching on of a town' s Christmas lights has become an increasingly competitive event over the years, with some councils （会议） spending lots of money to attract A-list famous persons to do the honors．
The American singer Mariah Carey flew to London in November to switch on the lights at one of the city's biggest shopping centers, while Jim Carrey lighted Oxford Street and promoted his new film at the same time．
Traffic in the historic English city of Bath was brought to a halt as thousands of fans crowded to see the Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage conducted the switching-on ceremony．
Some celebrations do not go according to the plan, as was seen in Birmingham when dozens of people were injured as the famous British boy band JLS took the stage．
Not all towns can afford to bring in an internationally-known star, so many switchon ceremonies are handled by ex-TV talent show competitors．
Pantomime （圣诞童话剧） stars are also much in demand at this time of year, as they aim to promote their Christmas shows．
But if your council hasn't got the budget to bring in a famous face, what are the cheaper alternatives?
A town in the west of England chose to let the public decide by giving their suggestions online．The result: a 21-year-old DIY store worker was given the honor．
"I was amazed and delighted to be asked," said Scott Parker, "it's just a special gift and not something I'd, ever thought about before．"
1．According to the passage, what kind of special celebration can you see at Christmas in UK?
A．People meeting their favorite stars and getting special gifts．
B．Well-known persons invited to make a performance in public．
C．A-list persons lighting Oxford Street and promoting their films．
D．Switching-on ceremonies that are conducted by honored persons．
2．The underlined word "halt" in Paragraph 4 probably means "______" ．
A．start B．stop C．ban D．run
3．Which of the followings can be learned from the passage?
A．Mariah Carey is invited to Bath to switch on the lights．
B．Pantomime stars rarely appear at events like this．
C．Not all those who switch on the Christmas lights can make lots of money．
D．Average persons can not get a chance to switch on the Christmas lights．
4．The following are famous persons EXCEPT _____．
A．Scott Parker B．Mariah Carey
C．Nicolas Cage D．Jim Carrey
Someone asked me, “ what do you think of youth?” I showed him
a can of COKE. See this?
“C” means “courage”. There’s a seed in everyone’s heart. As long as you really keep watering it, it will grow and harvest. Courage gives us the power to follow our dreams. Believe in yourself and be prepared for anything in the future.
“O” stands for “optimism(乐观)”. When in trouble, some
people
feel disappointed but some people still keep their dreams. Be sure to choose the latter. Life is very much like a mirror. If you smile on it, it smiles back on you. If you frown, you will get a similar look in return. Throw away the sadness in your hear while filling it with brightness and hope.
“K” can be understood as “knowledge”. In order to keep up with the times, we should use knowledge to enrich ou
rs
elves. Knowledge is the food of thought and, as long as it is put in our brain, we
will grow wiser.
“E” is short for “enthusiasm(热情)”. Enthusiasm is the sign of youth. We use colorful and paint-brushes in our hands to create the pictures of youth on our own. Let the sky and sea know we’re young. Let our enthusiasm wherever we go.
Drink a can of COKE. You will find your youth as refreshing (有活力的) as a can of coke. Enjoy and value your youth.
1. In the passage, the word “COKE” refers to _______
A. a kind of drink young people enjoy
B. what young people should have
C. basic abilities young people need
D. young people’s confidence and pride
2. The seed in everyone’s heat in fact is __________
A. hope B. knowledge C. courage D. imagination
3. According to the last paragraph, young people are _________
A. confident B. optimistic C. learned D. enthusiastic
In the United States, 30%of the grown-up population has a “weight problem”. To many people, the cause is clear: we eat too much. 
But scientific experiments do little to support this idea. Going back to the America of 1910, we find that people were thinner than today, yet they ate more food. In those days people worked harder physically, walked more, used machines much less, and didn’t watch TV.
Several modern studies, besides, have shown that fatter p
eople do not eat more on average than thinner people. In fact, some research work, such as the 1979 study of 3,545 London office workers, reports that fat people eat less than thinner people on average. Studies show that thin people are more active than fat people. A study by the research group at Standford University School of Medicine found the following fa
ct: the more the ma
n ran, the greater body fat he lost. The more he ran, the greater was his need for food. Thus, those who ran the most ate the most, yet lost the greatest amount of body fat.
1. What kind of physical problem do many grown-up Americans have?
A. They are too thin. B. They work too hard.
C. They are too fat. D. They lose too much body fat.
2. Based on the information given this article, suppose there are 500 gro
wn-up Americans, about how many of them have a weight problem?
A. 30 B. 50 
C. 100 D. 150
3. Are there scientific facts to support that eating too much is the cause of the “weight problem”?
A. Yes, there are plenty of them.
B. Of course, there are facts to show this is true.
C. There are hardly any scientific facts to support this.
D. We don’t know because the inform
ation is not given.
4. Compared with the grown-up Americans today, the Americans of 1910______.
A. ate more food and had more physical activities
B. ate less food but had more activities
C. ate less food and had less physical activities
D. had more weight problems
What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence
the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental (done with the mind) exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about . The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent .
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.”
1. According to the context we can guess that a genius is ________ while an idiot is ________ .
A. a normal person; a funny person
B. a strong person; a weak person
C. a highly intelligent person; a foolish or weak-minded person
D. a famous person; an ordinary person
2. It is better for parents ________.
A. to praise and encourage their children more often
B. to be hard on their children
C. to leave the
ir children alone with nothing to do
D. to give their children as much help as possible
3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
A. Parents play an important part in their children’s growth.
B. The less y
ou use your mind the duller you may become.
C. Intelligence is obviously the result of where and how you live.
D. What makes a person bright or stupid is still under discussion.
4. According to the passage,which is the best sentence parents should say?
A. You
are quite wrong .
B. You are such a smart child
C.How many times have you made such a mistake ?
D. I can't agree with you, because you are a fool.
三. 阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，共30分）阅读下列短文，
从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳答案.
Trees 
are useful to man in three important ways: they give him wood and other useful things, they give him cool places, and they help to stop drought and flood.Unluckily, in many parts of the world, man has not found that the third of these points is the most important. Man wants to make money from trees, so he
has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had. And also, he is usually too careless to plant and look after new trees. So the forests slowly disappear. This does not only mean that
man will have fewer trees.
The results are even worse: for where there are trees, their roots break up soil-make the rain in-and also bind the soil, thus stopping it from being washed away easily; but where there are no trees, the rain falls on hard ground and flows away, causing floods and carrying away the rich top-soil. When all the top-soil is gone, nothing is left but useless desert.
1.The most important points of trees to man is ________.
A. they help him to make money
B. they give him cool
C. they help him to stop drought and flo
od
D. they give him wood and other things
2.In many places forests slowly disappear because ________ .
A. many trees have been cut down by man
B. new trees are not well looked after
C. man has not paid enough attention to planting trees
D. all the above
3.Land becomes desert after all trees are cut down because ________ .
A. roots of trees break up the soil
B. there are too many rainfalls
C. strong winds bring a lot of sand
D. there are no longer trees to keep the rain and protect the top-soil.
4.Which title best fits the passage?
A. Trees and Man
B. The Function of Tree Wood
C. How do People do with Trees?
D. The Usage of Tree Roots
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