Students are being forced to take additional exams to get into leading universities because good A-levels do not always indicate the brightest candidate.
Sixth-formers applying to courses such as medicine and law are being asked to sit American-style aptitude tests, which are designed to assess thinking skills, among fears that too many A-level candidates are getting top grades. Last year, almost one in six students applying to universities such as Oxford and Cambridge from independent schools had to sit additional tests to secure a place.
Head teachers criticized the move, which they said would pile more pressure on schools and students. But universities insisted that the reforms were unavoidable, because A-level exams were no longer an accurate barometer of ability.
In 1986, 40 percent of students starting at Oxford achieved straight as at A-level. Mike Nicholson, its admissions director, said that this year almost every candidate offered a place would get perfect grades. It meant the university had to stage additional tests to identify the most able candidates. “The ability to achieve three A grades is no longer the endpoint the admission process,” he said. “The potential to achieve three A grades will allow them to enter the race for a place.”
Oxford is not the only university turning to aptitude tests. At Cambridge, the number of students taking the university’s Thinking Skills Assessment shot up 26 percent to more than 3000. A survey of 16830 sixth formers applying to higher education from private school last year showed that 2860 had to sit at least one exam.
Earlier this year, the National Foundation for Educational Research recommended that most sixth formers should sit SAT tests—a standard reasoning exam widely used in American colleges—to make it easier to pick out the best candidates.What is the attitude of head teachers to the reform?
| A．Approving |
| B．Doubtful |
| C．Opposed |
| D．Neutral |
Which British university first started to use aptitude tests to pick out the best candidates?
A. Harvard
B. Oxford
C. Cambridge
D. Washington D.CWhat can we know about the A-level system?
| A．It can indicate the brightest candidates. |
| B．It was designed to assess students’ thinking skills. |
| C．It is no longer an accurate way to assess students’ abilities. |
| D．It was recommended by the National Foundation for Education Research. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The reform is more popular in America colleges than the British ones. |
| B．The reform will be applied by all universities in the future. |
| C．Universities used to depend on the A-level system to choose the best students. |
| D．Passing additional tests will allow the student to enter Oxford, regardless of whether he or she gets as. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．How to get into leading universities. |
| B．The disadvantages of the A-level system. |
| C．Different ways to identify students’ abilities. |
| D．Universities using extra exams to choose students. |
I love secondhand books far more than new ones! I especially like books that someone else has gone through first. It’s a kind of connection — and an experience of wondering exactly who has been there before…I don’t mind god-eared （折角的）corners；I don’t mind the coffee stain—who cares? Indeed, I don’t even mind the comments at the edge.
If it were an orginal classic, then the book would be of some importance. But the fact that its pages have been read and probably loved by dozens of people since it was produced is incredible, fascinating and wonderful. Just think — you can find old books that were touched by people in the nineteen fifties. That is interesting, as those people would probably have just come through World War Ⅱ.
But books from the 20s and 30s are even more wonderful to touch. Was it an old lady who poured over my aging Dodi Smith paperback that I found in a secondhand bookshop?
I once sat in the British Library reading books published in the 17th century, touching them, and the excitement was considerable. Imagine — these are books that people read, touched , and wrote comments about hundreds of years ago. 
Who have touched these books? What were they wearing? What was their work? How did the books make them think?
Now you see— I am just a woman who likes to explore the past. I like anything except the new. Who wants new things? The smell of the chemicals, the sense of being mass-produced…
No! No!
46. We can know that when the writer reads a second-hand book, she usually__________.
A. cleans the coffee stain B. writes comments at the edge
C. wonders who has read it before D. only reads the comments written by others
47. According to Paragraph 2, what does the writer find fascinating?
A. The economic value of an original classic.
B. The fact that many old books are about World War Ⅱ.
C. The fact that many people like reading what she likes reading.
D. The fact that a book has been read and loved by many people.
48. The underlined part “Dodi Smith paperback” in Paragraph 3 refers to “ ______”.
A. an old lady B. a book by Dodi Smith
C. a famous writer D. a secondhand bookshop
49. After reading the passage, we know that the writer __________.
A. only buys books with dog-eared corners
B. seldom looks back on her past
C. likes the smell of new books
D. doesn’t like things mass-produced today
50. What is this passage mainly about?
A. The advantages of reading old books.
B. Some of the writer’s strange hobbies.
C. The writer’s love for secondhand books.
D. What the writer does in her spare time.
第三部分阅读理解（共25小题；每小题2分，满分50分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Brazil sports are out of control! Brazil may be one of the most s
port-crazy countries in the world. Whether you are into watching or playing, Brazil sports have a lot to offer everyone.
Football in Brazil is more than a sport. It’s a way of life. Football is popular in Brazil for several reasons. One reason is that it is fast paced and fun to watch. This is the reason why the World Cup Soccer is the most watched sports event in the world aside from the Summer Olympics. Also, you don't need anything to play soccer except for something to kick, and a big area in which to play. Few will argue if you say that Brazil leads the world in football. No nation has won as many world cups as Brazil.
Volleyball is a close second in Brazil sports. In the world of international volleyball, Brazil wins many championships of all kinds, including indoor and beach volleyball. Brazil has nearly 5,000 miles coastline. If you go to a beach in Brazil, there will always be a volleyball game going on somewhere, and usually two or three.
Footvolley was created in Brazil in the 1960s. It is a mix of football and volleyball, where the players must use their feet and head to get the ball over the net and into the opponents’ courts, and is also played in sand. It is one of the most popular beach sports in Brazil.
Swimming, tennis, rugby, boxing, judo, sail
ing, golf, surfing, and handball are all greatly popular in Brazil.
41. We can infer that this passage was written to _______________.
A. explain why football is so popular in Brazil
B. encourage us to do sports as people in Brazil do
C. tell us the history of several sports in Brazil
D. introduce several very popular sports in Brazil
42. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 suggest?
A. Sports are extremely popular in Brazil.
B. All kinds of sports are played in Brazil.
C. Brazil athletes are out of control.
D. Brazil athlets are not well educated.
43. From Paragraph 2, we learn most people believe that______________.
A. football is the most ppopular sport in every country
B. people don’t need anything to play soccer
C. Brazil has won every World Cup Soccer
D. Brazil leads the world in football
44. According to the writer, what is the second most popular sport in Brazil?
A.Football. B.Volleyball C. Footvolley D. Tennis
45. Which of the following statements about footvolley in Brazil is WRONG?
A. It has a history of more than 100 years.
B. It is a mix of football and volleyball.
C. It is a very popular beach sport in Brazil.
D. Players can touch the ball with their feet.
Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.
The shoes — named Square Eyes — contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter(传话器) passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.
The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University to London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”
Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.
Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.
Existing pedometers （计步器） normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”
51.According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to ________.
A.keep a record of the steps of the wearer
B.deal with overweight among teenagers
C.enable children to resist the temptation of TV
D.prevent children from being tricked by TV programs
52.Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?
A.They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time.
B.They determine a child’s daily pocket money.
C.They have raised the hot issue of overweight.
D.They contain information of the receiver.
53.What is stressed（强调）by health experts in their suggestion?
A.The exact number of steps to be taken.
B.The precise number of hours spent on TV.
C.The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time.
D.The way of changing steps into TV watching time.
54.Compared with other similar products, the new design ________.
A.makes it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat
B.counts the wearer’s steps through shaking
C.records the sudden movement of the wearer
D.sends teenagers’ health data to the receiver
55.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A.Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time B.Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise
C.Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise D.Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight
If you look for a book as a present for a child. You will be spoiled for choice even in a year when there is no new Harry Patten J.K Rowling’s wizard is not alone: the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books ,which has set off a large quantity of films and in turn led to increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.
Yet despite that ,reading is increasingly unpopular among children .According to statistics, in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading at all . In 2003, 35% did . And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.
Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability of computer games. Maybe the books boom has affected only the top of the educational pile . Either way , Chancellor Cordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class .In his pre-budget report , he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.
Reading Recovery is aimed at six-year-olds ,who receive four months of individual daily half-hour classes with a specially trained teacher . An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress ,and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.
International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well ,but read less often for fun than those elsewhere .Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success . According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.
46.Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?
A.Many children’s books have been adapted from films.
B.Many high-quality children’s books have been published .
C.The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films.
D.The sales of presents for children have increased.
47.Statistics suggested that _______.
A.the number of top students increased with the use of computers
B.a decreasing number of children showed interest in reading
C.a minority of primacy school children read properly
D.a large percentage of children read regularly
48.What do we know about Reading Recovery?
A.An evaluation of it will be made sometime this year.
B.Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking.
C.It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading.
D.Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading.
49.Reading for fun is important because book-loving children _________.
A.take greater advantage of the project B.show the potential to enjoy a long life
C.are likely to succeed in their education. D.would make excellent future researchers
50.The aim of this text would probably be _________.
A.to overcome primary school pupils reading difficulty.
B.to encourage the publication of more children’s books
C.to remind children of the importance of reading for fun
D.to introduce a way to improve early childhood reading
Ⅲ 阅读（共两节。满分40分）
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。
The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image （形象）of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.
An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,” said one member of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious（叛逆的）and selfish .but actually they have other things on their minds: they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There’s more negotiation（商议）and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don’t want to rock the boat.”
So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me," says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall. “I always tell them when I’m going out clubbing. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”
Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, “Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over.”
41. What is the popular image of teenagers today?
A. They worry about school. B. They dislike living with their parents.
C, They have to be locked in to avoid troubles. D. They quarrel a lot with other family members.
42. The study shows that teenagers don’t want to__________ .
A. share family responsibility B. cause trouble in their families
C. go boating with their family D. make family decisions
43. Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today’s parents__________ .
A. go to clubs more often with their children B. are much stricter with their children
C. care less about their children’s life D. give their children more freedom
44. According to the author, teenage rebellion__________ .
A. may be a false belief B. is common nowadays
C. existed only in the 1960s D. resulted from changes in families
45. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Negotiation in family. B. Education in family.
C. Harmony in family. D.Teenage trouble in family.
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