Farmer Ed Rawlings smiles as he looks at his orange trees. The young oranges are growing well in Florida's weather. Warm sunshine and gentle rains, along with Ed Rawlings' expert care, will produce a good crop of oranges this year.
But Ed has to fight against Florida's changeable winter weather. In January and February, temperatures can destroy Ed's entire orange, crop. Having farmed in Florida for the past 35 years, Ed Rawlings is prepared for the frosts(霜). When temperatures drop below freezing, Ed tries to save his crop by watering his orange trees. The water freezes and forms a thin layer (层)of ice on the trees. Strange as it may sound, this thin layer of ice actually keeps the fruit warm.
What happens is simple. When the trees are watered, the water loses heat and becomes ice. The warmth of the heat it loses is sucked in by the fruit and keeps its temperature at a safe level. Ed Rawlings has effectively used this method(方法)to save many orange crops.
But Ed still faces some difficulties. The trees should be watered at the exact moment the temperature drops to the freezing point. Also, just the right quantity of water must be used. Too much water can form a thick layer of ice that will break the trees' branches. Another difficulty is that wind blows away the heat. So Ed has to worry about not only when but also how often his trees should be watered, and how much water should be used.
Computer technology may help Ed Rawlings with some of these worries. With equipment, air and soil temperatures and wind speed can be measured. The information is fed into a computer which can tell when temperatures drop to freezing. The computer can correctly decide the quantity of water to be used and how frequently the trees should be watered. Ed Rawlings will find looking after his orange trees a lot easier with the help of a computer, and we'll all have the benefits(or advantages)of computer-age oranges.
1. The passage is mainly about _____ .
A.a farmer's expert care for his orange trees
B. the different uses of computers
C. growing oranges in Florida's changeable weather
D. different ways of frost protection
2. Ed tried to protect his crop by _____ .
A. using a wind machine to drive away the cold air
B. equipping his orange trees with a computer
C. watering it at the proper time
D. picking his fruit at the first sign of frost
3. In the writer's eyes, computers _____ .
A.are too expensive for small farmers
B. can be a valuable tool for the farmer
C. can be used to help oranges grow bigger
D. cannot take the place of the farmer's experience and judgement
4. Which of the following is NOT NECESSARY for Ed Rawlings to do?
A. He should water the orange trees as soon as the temperature drops to the
freezing point.
B. He should decide the quantity of water for the orange trees.
C. He has to water the orange trees more often in January and February.
D. He has to judge how often he should water the orange trees.
5. According to the passage, the computer technology can _____ .
A.get rid of the need for frost protection
B. help the farmer get a better harvest
C. tell the farmer why outdoor temperature changes
D. prevent the temperature from dropping to the freezing point
You never see him, but they're with you every time you fly. They record where you are going, how fast you're traveling and whether everything on your airplane is functioning normally. Their ability to withstand almost any disaster makes them seem like something out of a comic book. They're known as the black box.
When planes fall from the sky, as a Yemeni airliner did on its way to Comoros Islands in the India ocean June 30, 2009, the black box is the best bet for identifying what went wrong. So when a French submarine (潜水艇) detected the device's homing signal five days later, the discovery marked a huge step toward determining the cause of a tragedy in which 152 passengers were killed.
In 1958, Australian scientist David Warren developed a flight-memory recorder that would track basic information like altitude and direction. That was the first mode for a black box, which became a requirement on all U.S. commercial flights by 1960. Early models often failed to withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the device was completely redesigned and moved to the back of the plane – the area least subject to impact – from its original position in the landing wells (起落架舱). The same year, the Federal Aviation Authority required that the boxes, which were never actually black, be painted orange or yellow to aid visibility.
Modern airplanes have two black boxes: a voice recorder, which tracks pilots' conversations, and a flight-data recorder, which monitors fuel levels, engine noises and other operating functions that help investigators reconstruct the aircraft's final moments. Placed in an insulated (隔绝的) case and surrounded by a quarter-inch-thick panels of stainless steel, the boxes can resist massive force and temperatures up to 2,000℉. When submerged, they're also able to emit signals from depths of 20,000 ft. Experts believe the boxes from Air France Flight 447, which crashed near Brazil on June 1,2009, are in water nearly that deep, but statistics say they're still likely to turn up. In the approximately 20 deep-sea crashes over the past 30 years, only one plane's black boxes were never recovered.
What does the author say about the black box?
A.It ensures the normal functioning of an airplane. |
B.The idea for its design comes from a comic book. |
C.Its ability to resist disasters is incredible. |
D.It is an indispensable device on an airplane. |
What information could be found from the black box on the Yemeni airliner?
A.Data for analyzing the cause of the crash. |
B.The total number of passengers on board. |
C.The scene of the crash and extent of the damage. |
D.Homing signals sent by the pilot before the crash. |
Why was the black box redesigned in 1965?
A.New materials became available by that time. |
B.Too much space was needed for its installation. |
C.The early models often got damaged in the crash. |
D.The early models didn't provide the needed data. |
Why did the Federal Aviation Authority require the black boxes be painted orange or yellow?
A.To distinguish them from the colour of the plane. |
B.To caution people to handle them with care. |
C.To make them easily identifiable. |
D.To conform to international standards. |
What do we know about the black boxes from Air France Flight 447?
A.There is still a good chance of their being recovered. |
B.There is an urgent need for them to be reconstructed. |
C.They have stopped sending homing signals. |
D.They were destroyed somewhere near Brazil. |
Ⅳ.阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
A
At one time or another most farmers have problems with mice.This is especially true for grain farmers.Mice eat a lot of grain.They also carry diseases(疾病), which people can get from eating or touching grain the mice have made dirty.Farmers can use special grain storage building or they can kill the mice.However, both methods can be costly.Farmers must buy materials to build the special grain storage buildings or chemical poisons to kill the mice.
Here is a way to kill mice without spending a lot of money.It is a simple but effective king of mouse trap.The method is first used by some farmers in the west African country of Mali.An agricultural expert in Mali reported about the Mali mouse trap in a magazine.The expert reported that his gardener caught 150 mice in just one night.The gardener used four traps.The trap is easy to make.First, remove the top from a 20 liter metal or plastic container(容器).Put it n a hole in the ground.The top edge of the container should be the level with the surface of the ground.Fill the container with water to within eight centimeters of the top.Add tiny pieces of grain wastes.They should float on the water.Also put some wastes on the ground near the trap.During the night, mice will come out to eat the grain wastes.They will fall into the container and drown.Replace the food in the trap every night.
56.According to the passage, used the mouse trap first.
A.an agricultural expert in the west Africa
B.farmers in the United States
C.an American gardener
D.farmers in Mali
57.What does the passage mainly tell us?
A.A simple and effective method used by farmers to kill mice.
B.Methods used by farmers to kill mice.
C.Farmers have problems with mice.
D.How to kill mice.
58.is not needed in making the mouse trap.
A.Water B.A container C.chemical poison D.Food
59.Which of the following can’t protect grain from being eaten by mice?
A.A special grain storage building. B.Chemical poisons.
C.A mouse trap. D.A hole in the ground.
Snow falls in the Earth’s extreme North and South throughout the year. However, the heaviest snowfalls have been reported in the mountains of other areas during winter. Snow is even known to fall near the Equator (赤道),but only on the highest mountains.
Snow contains much less water than rain, but much of the water the world uses comes from snow. Melting snow provides water for rivers, electric power stations and agricultural crops. In the western United States, mountain snow provides up to seventy-five percent of all surface water supplies.
Snowfall helps to protect plants and some wild animals from winter weather. Fresh snow is made largely of air trapped among the snow crystals (晶体). Because the air has trouble moving, the movement of heat is limited. Snow also influences the movement of sound waves. The surface of the snow takes in, or absorbs, sound waves. As snow grows older or if there have been strong winds, it can become hard and flat. Then, the snow,s surface will help to send back sound waves.
Snow may be beautiful, but it can be deadly. It is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. Many people die in traffic accidents on roads covered with snow and ice or from being seriously stuck in the winter storm. Others die from heart attacks caused by too much physical activity out in the cold.
People may not be able to avoid living in areas where it snows often. However, they can avoid becoming victims of snowstorms. People should stop driving and stay at home until the storm has passed. People living in these areas should carry emergency supplies in their vehicle. These include food,emergency medical supplies,and extra clothing to stay warm and dry.
Mountain snowfall _____.
A.is heavier than that in the South and the North Poles |
B.has never occurred near the Equator of the earth |
C.brings less of the water the world uses than rain does |
D.provides up to seventy—five percent of water supplies worldwide |
Snow protects plants and wild animals from cold weather by _____.
A.supplying much more air | B.limiting heat movement |
C.absorbing strong winds | D.sending back sound waves |
Snow can be deadly mainly because it can _____.
A.cause road accidents |
B.make people stuck in winter storms |
C.lead to heart attacks |
D.make people victims of snowstorms |
What will the text probably tell us following the last paragraph? _.
A.How to drive during snowstorms |
B.Where we can get emergency supplies |
C.How to prevent heart attacks out in cold |
D.Why we should stay warm and dry in winter |
D
Everyone has got two personalities—one is shown to the world and the other is secret and real. You don’t show your secret personality when you are awake because you can control your behavior, but when you are asleep, sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their position. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.
If you go to sleep on your back, your are a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or your new ideas. You don’t like to upset people, so you never express your real feelings. You are quite shy and you aren’t very confident.
If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive person. You worry a lot and always easily get upset, you are very stubborn, but you aren’t very ambitious (有野心的). You usually live for today not tomorrow. This means you enjoy having a good time.
If you sleep curled up , you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so you are often very defensive. You are shy and you don’t normally like meeting people. You prefer to be on your own. You are easily hurt.
If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality. You know your strengths and weaknesses. You are usually careful. You have a confident personality. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don’t often get depressed. You always say what you think even if it annoys people.
73. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A. Your Sleeping Position and Your Personality
B. Sleeping and Your Health
C. The Secrets of Your Sleeping
D. Pay Attention to Your Sleeping Positions
74. If one goes to sleep on his stomach, he might ________.
A. never express his real feelings B. keep himself secret from others
C. be a very nervous person D. be usually careful
75. A person who sleeps curled up might ________.
A. like to stay alone B. love having a good time
C. be very ambitious D. always feel confident
76. Which of the important sleeping position that might let out your secrets?
A. The sleeping position when you fall asleep
B. The sleeping position when you wake up.
C. The sleeping position when you feel comfortable.
D. The sleeping position at midnight.
Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it?
Many people are afraid to assert(维护,坚持) themselves. Dr. Robert Albert, author of STAND UP, SPEAK OUT and TALK BACK, thinks it is because their self-respect is low. “There’s always a superior around------ a parent, a teacher, a boss who knows better.” But Albert and other scientists are doing something to help people assert themselves.
They offer assertiveness training courses, A. T. for short. In the A. T. course people learn that they have a right to be themselves. They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so. They learn to be aggressive without hurting other people.
In one way, learning to speak out is to get rid of fear. A group taking an A. T. course will help the timid person to lose his fear. But A. T. uses an even stronger motive to share the need. The timid person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels.
Whether or not you speak up for yourself depends on your self-respect. If your face is more important than you, you may feel less of a person. You start to doubt your answers to problems. However, once you get to feel good about yourself, you can learn to speak out.
The problem the writer talks about is that ________________.
A.some people buy things they don’t want |
B.some people are afraid to speak up for their rights |
C.there are too many superiors |
D.some people don’t think enough of themselves |
The cause of the problem talked about in the text is that _________.
A.some people have a low self-respect |
B.there is always someone around who knows better |
C.salesmen talk people into buying things they don’t want |
D.people don’t share enough |
The underlined word “timid” probably means “___________” in Chinese
A.胆小的 | B.优秀的 |
C.勇敢的 | D.无知的 |
One thing the A.T. course doesn’t do is to _____________.
A. share the need of people B. show people they have a right to be themselves
C. help people overcome fear D. help people to assert themselves even if others suffer
The film stars out as a normal day at a typical American high school. Friends chat in the dining room and boys play football. But there's big surprise when the movie ends with two students going crazy in the school-shooting and killing people.
This is Elephant. It stars real school kids. American director Gus Van Sant had no ready-made lines. The student actors made up their own dialogue, with Van Sant asking them to base their characters on their own lives.
Although it may not sound very high quality, the film won the Palme d'Or (金棕奖) for Best Film and the award for Best Director at the Cannes film festival.
The film is based on the shootings at a high school in the US, where two boys killed 13 people and then themselves in 1999.
The title of the movie refers to the old expression about a problem that's as hard to ignore as an elephant in the house.
The film takes a close look at a few hours in the lives of the victims and the killers. It shows how high school is a different experience for everyone---fun and friendly, or hard and lonely.
In many ways, the two boys, who carry out the shooting, act like ordinary kids. They joke around with one boy's mother as she serves them cakes and play the piano.
But there're hints of the anger they feel inside. One of the boys is bullied (欺负) at school. The other plays violent video games. But Van Sant isn't blaming their killings on either bullying or violent games. In fact, the film doesn't offer any reason for why school violence happens.
"I didn't want to explain anything. It's up to the audience to draw its own conclusions," said the 51-year-old director.
The lines of the film were ________.
A.given by the director |
B.created by student actors |
C.thought out by the director during the acting |
D.carefully designed by professional people |
The film doesn't tell why school shootings happen________.
A.so as to leave room for the audience to think and judge |
B.because life itself is the problem maker |
C.because the mental problems of students are hard to explain |
D.but there are some hints of the reasons |
The film is named Elephant because ________.
A.an elephant is always gentle and never causes trouble |
B.an elephant is a symbol of big problems in American schools |
C.elephant is used to suggest that the school crime is a big problem |
D.the two boys liked elephants when alive |
What’s the passage mainly about?
A.It shows American school life. |
B.It introduces the film Elephant. |
C.It tells people to be careful while in peace. |
D.It reports a school killing in a US school. |
As you grow older,you’ll be faced with some challenging decisions--like whether to cut class or try cigarettes.Making decisions on your own is hard enough,but when other people get involved and try to pressure you one way or another it can be even harder.People who are your age,like your classmates,are called peers.When they try to influence how you act,to get you to do something,it’s called peer pressure.
Peers can have a positive influence on each other.Maybe another student in your science class taught you an easy way to remember the planets in the solar system.Maybe you got others excited about your new favorite book,and now everyone’s reading it.These are examples of how peers positively influence each other.
Sometimes peers influence each other in negative ways.For example,a few kids in school might try to get you to cut class with them; your soccer friend might try to convince you to be mean to another player and never pass him the ball.
It is tough to be the only one who says “no” to peer pressure,but you can do it.Paying attention to your own feelings and beliefs about what is right and wrong can help you know the right thing to do.
You’ve probably had a parent or teacher advising you to “choose your friends wisely.” Peer pressure is a big reason why they say this.If you choose friends who don’t cut class,smoke cigarettes,or lie to their parents,then you probably won’t do these things either,even if other kids do.
If you continue to face peer pressure and you’re finding it difficult to handle,talk to someone you trust.Don’t feel guilty if you’ve made a mistake or two.
For whom is the passage most probably written?
A.Students |
B.Parents |
C.Teachers |
D.Doctors |
In the last three paragraphs,the author mainly_____.
A.explains why friendship is so important |
B.gives advice on how to deal with peer pressure |
C.discusses how peers influence us |
D.shows how to make more good friends |
Which of following may help handle peer pressure?
A.Spending more time with classmates. |
B.Taking up more relaxing hobbies. |
C.Choosing friends with no bad habits. |
D.Helping others who are in trouble. |
What is the topic of the passage?
A.Friendship |
B.Making decisions |
C.Self-confidence |
D.Peer pressure |
阅读下列短文,选出最佳选项。 Three-year-old Teddy Lasry was sleeping in his cowboy outfit (套装) yesterday at his family’s Fifth Ave.apartment when he shot up in bed screaming.A 3-foot-long black-and-white snake twisted around his left arm and had just bitten his little finger.
“The babysitter (a person taking care of children while their parents are away for a short time) was frightened to death,” said Teddy’s father, David Lasry, who, along with his wife, Evelyn, was at work when the snake appeared about 4:00 pm.
The horrified babysitter called 911 and the building’s doorman.The doorman and two cable TV workers helped take the snake off the boy’s arm and put it in a garbage bag.Police rushed Teddy to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he spent two hours attached to a heart monitor as a precaution in case the snake was poisonous.It wasn’t.Experts at the snakebite treatment center at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, where policemen took the snake, found out it was a non-poisonous California king snake.
But how did it end up in Teddy’s bed?
A little detective work determined that the snake had escaped two weeks ago from its cage in the apartment of a doctor whose family lives four floors below the Lasrys.The apologetic owner said his son’s pet snake likely traveled up the water pipes and into his neighbor’s apartment.“It’s a very gentle, very harmless snake,” he said.“It’s handled by our family all the time.”
David Lasry believed the pet was simply hungry after two weeks of wandering.Evelyn said her son seems to have overcome his fright by thinking of himself as a hero cowboy as he rode in the back of the police car to the hospital.
“I told Teddy he’s a pretty snake, a nice pet snake who got out of his cage,” Evelyn said.“But he asked, ‘Why did he bite my finger, Mamma?’ And I said, ‘Because he saw that you are a big boy, Teddy, in your cowboy outfit and he got scared.’”
What did the babysitter do after Teddy was bitten by a snake?
A.She ran out of the apartment. |
B.She called the TV company. |
C.She made an emergency call. |
D.She took the snake off Teddy’s arm. |
We can learn from the passage that the snake _______.
A.was poisonous |
B.was kept in a cage by its owner |
C.was deserted by its owner |
D.escaped to the apartment |
From the passage, we know _______.
A.Teddy needed a heart machine to stay alive for two hours |
B.Teddy was awake when the snake arrived |
C.Teddy’s mother was at home when the snake turned up |
D.the snake was used to being touched |
Teddy probably believed he was attacked because _______.
A.his parents weren’t at home |
B.he was asleep the snake |
C.was scared of him |
D.the snake was hungry |
B
Populations and Land (1987) |
||||
|
Area in |
Percent |
Population |
Percent |
|
Square miles |
Cultivated |
In millions |
forested |
United States |
3615104 |
20 |
243.8 |
28 |
Canada |
3851792 |
5 |
25.9 |
33 |
United Kingdom |
94525 |
29 |
56.8 |
9 |
Australia |
2967896 |
6 |
16.2 |
14 |
India |
1269340 |
51 |
800.3 |
21 |
China |
3705390 |
11 |
1062.0 |
14 |
Which two countries are the closest to each other in area?
A.The US and Canada | B.The US and China |
C.China and Canada | D.India and China |
_____ has the highest population density(密度), and _____ has the second highest.
A.China, India | B.India, China |
C.India, the US | D.China, the US |
Which two countries have the closest percentage of cultivated land?
A.The US and the United Kingdom. |
B.The US and China |
C.Australia and Canada. |
D.Australia and China |
There are _____ countries whose cultivated land percentage is larger than the forest percentage.
A.2 | B.3 | C.4 | D.5 |
For those who make journeys across the world, the speed of travel today has turned the countries into a series of villages. Distances between them appear no greater to a modern traveler than those which once faced men as they walked from village to village. Jet plane fly people from one end of the earth to the other, allowing them a freedom of movement undreamt of a hundred years ago.
Yet some people wonder if the revolution in travel has gone too far. A price has been paid, they say, for the conquest (征服) of time and distance. Travel is something to be enjoyed, not endured . The boat offers leisure and time enough to appreciate the ever-changing sights and sounds of a journey. A journey by train also has a special charm about it. Lakes and forests and wild, open plains sweeping past your carriage window create a grand view in which time and distance mean nothing. On board a plane, however, there is just the blank blue of the sky filling the narrow window of the airplane. The soft lighting, in-flight films and gentle music make up the only world you know, and the hours progress slowly.
Then there is the time spent being “processed” at a modern airport. People are conveyed like robots along walkways; baggage is weighed, tickets produced, examined and produced yet again before the passengers move again to another waiting area. Journeys by rail and sea take longer, yes, but the hours devoted to being “processed” at departure and arrival in airports are luckily absent. No wonder, then, that the modern high-speed trains are winning back passengers from the airlines.
Man, however, is now a world traveler and can not turn his back on the airplane. The working lives of too many people depend upon it; whole new industries have been built around its design and operation. The holiday maker, too, with limited time to spend, patiently endures the busy airports and limited space of the flight to gain those extra hours and even days, relaxing in the sun. Speed controls people’s lives; time saved, in work or play, is the important thing—or so we are told. Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.
What does the writer try to express in Paragraph1?
A.Travel by plane has speeded up the growth of villages. |
B.The speed of modern travel has made distances relatively short. |
C.The freedom of movement has helped people realize their dreams. |
D.Man has been fond of travelling rather than staying in one place. |
How does the writer support the underlined statement in Paragraph2?
A.By giving instructions. |
B.By analyzing cause and effect. |
C.By following the order of time. |
D.By giving examples. |
According to Paragraph 3, passengers are turning back to modern high-speed trains because______.
A.they pay less for the tickets |
B.they feel safer during the travel |
C.they can enjoy higher speed of travel |
D.they don’t have to be “processed” |
What is the main idea of the passage?
A.Air travel benefits people and industries. |
B.Train Travel has some advantages over air travel. |
C.Great changes have taken place in modern travel. |
D.The high speed of air travel is gained at a cost. |
When I was a child, I often dreamed of the time when I could leave home and escape to the city. We lived on a farm and, in the winter especially, we were quite cut off from the outside world. As soon as I left school, I packed my bags and moved to the capital. However, I soon discovered that city life has its problems too.
One big disadvantage is money---it costs so much to go out, not to mention basics like food and housing. Another disadvantage is pollution. I suffer from asthma(哮喘), and at times the air is so bad that I am afraid to go outside. Then there is the problem of travelling round. Although I have a car, I seldom use it because of the traffic jams. One choice is to go by bicycle, but that can be quite dangerous.
Of course there are advantages. First, there is so much to do in the city, whatever your tastes in culture or entertainment. Besides, there are wonderful jobs and greater chances of moving to a more important job or position. Finally, if you like shopping, the variety of goods is very surprising---and, what is more, shops are often only a short walk away.
Is life better then, in the city? Perhaps it is, when you are in your teens(十几岁) or twenties. However, as you get older, and especially if you have small children, the peace of the countryside may seem preferable. I certainly hope to move back there soon.
What was the writer always thinking about when he was a child?
A.Staying on the farm |
B.Moving to the countryside |
C.Leaving home for the city |
D.Running away from the school |
Which of the following is true about the writer?
A.He is very old now. |
B.He is in good health. |
C.He prefers driving a car. |
D.He lives in the city now. |
In the passage, the writer tries to _______.
A.express his opinions about way of life |
B.describe his life in the countryside |
C.show an interest in the outside world |
D.persuade the reader to live in the city |
How is the passage mainly developed?
A.By inferring | B.By comparing |
C.By listing examples | D.By giving explanations |
根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项. 选项中有两项为多余选项. 请将答案涂在答题卡上.
71 Because, from what I could see, it seemed that grown-ups often forgot. I never wanted to forget --- I wanted to be able to remind other adults and myself when the time came. I began consciously(有意识地) thinking this at quite an early age.
As soon as I was fully aware (意识到) of myself, I regarded me as a little person and liked adults who thought of and treated me the same way. I didn’t have a doll and I didn’t want one. I wanted animal toys, even a single animal. Why wouldn’t my parents give me the one thing I wanted? 72
Instead, my dad somehow managed to buy me a full set of encyclopedia(百科全书) and books with maps and color pictures long before I could read. Well, guess what? I learned to read without realizing it! Later, I found out when I started school and it all came so easy especially geography. 73 Because of all the books my father bought me, I knew a lot of words that other children didn’t know at my age.
I love words. They opened up new worlds for me. 74 Parents, please make sure your kids have a computer. Let them explore — as safely as possible— let them do their own things and discover the world.
Now, most kids lead a happy life. They can get what they want from their parents. But children should learn to be independent. 75 Be independent to do your own things.
A.Because of them, I read and thought, and today, I write. |
B.When I was a child, I promised myself to try to remember as much as I could. |
C.I listened and heard everything, even if I didn’t understand everything. |
D.I nearly knew every place on the map like the teacher. |
E. But more than anything, it made me feel uncomfortable and I knew it wasn’t nice.
F. Later, I knew we didn’t have much money, but how expensive could a toy be?
G. Be independent to learn some useful knowledge.
Why does night fall but never break and day break but never fall?
Why are people who ride motorcycles called bikers and people who ride bikes called cyclists?
In what other language do people drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?
In what other language do they call the third hand on the clock the second hand?
Let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in an eggplant, neither pine nor apple in a pineapple and no ham in a hamburger. Sweet-meats are candy, while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But when we explore its paradoxes (探讨它的矛盾), we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, public bathrooms have no baths in them.
And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be beeth? One goose, two geese — so one moose, two meese?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of human beings. That’s why, when stars are out, they are visible; but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it; but when I wind up this essay, I end it.
According to the passage ______.
A.sweet-meats and sweetbreads are different things |
B.there should be egg in an eggplant |
C.pineapples are the apples on the pine tree |
D.boxing rings should be round |
Which of the following includes two items which have the similar meaning?
A.A wise man and a wise guy. |
B.Overlook and oversee. |
C.Quite a lot and quite a few. |
D.Hot as hell and cold as hell. |
The underlined words “wind up” in the last paragraph probably mean “______”.
A.blow | B.roll up | C.get hurt | D.finish |
Through the many paradoxes in the English language, the writer wants to show that human beings are ______.
A.clever | B.crazy | C.lazy | D.dull |
第二部分:阅读理解(共25小题。第一节每小题2分,第二节每小题1分;满分45分)
第一节阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Young people and older people do not always agree. They sometimes have different ideas about living, working and playing. But in one special program in New York State, adults and teenagers live together in a friendly way.
Each summer 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group. Everyone works several hours each day. They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and fun in work. Some teenagers work in the forests or on the farms near the village. Some learn to make things like tables and chairs and to build houses. The adults teach them these skills.
There are several free hours each day. Weekends are free, too. During the free hours some of the teenagers learn photo-taking or drawing. Others sit around and talk or sing. Each teenager chooses his own way to pass his free time.
When people live together, they should have rules. In this program the teenagers and the adults make the rules together. If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group. They talk about it and ask, “Why did it happen? What should we do about it?”
One of the teenagers has said something about it, “You have to stop thinking only about yourself. You learn how to think about the group.”
41. In one special program in New York State, young and older people_______.
A. don’t work well together B. are friendly to each other
C. teach each other new ways of building houses
D. spend eight weeks together, working as farmers
42. All the members work some time every day mainly to________.
A. lead a busy life B. learn new skills of farming
C. get used to the life on the farms D. find useful things and pleasure in work
43. Living together, ________.
A. the teenagers don’t have to obey the rules
B. the members have to obey the rules the adults make
C. the members have no free time but on weekends
D. the members should not break the rules they make together
44.The best title for the passage is________.
A. The Rules of Living Together B. Life in New York State
C. Teenagers and Adults Together D. Free Hours in the Special Work Group