The blue tits(山雀) have been inspecting the nest-box again this year. The male is the house-hunter but the female will make the final choice. He lands at the hole and turns his head to expose his white cheeks as a signal to attract the female from where she has been feeding.
Among many birds that nest in holes, the male has a light-coloured patch on its plumage(鸟羽) which acts as signal for drawing the female’s attention to a suitable nesting-place. Unlike the blue tit, the redstart(红尾鸲) may be only the male that strikingly coloured and the female is not beautiful.
A few years ago I was lucky enough to spot a pair of redstarts in action in a Walsh wood. The male was leading an interested female to holes that he had previously(先前) checked out. He sat at the entrance of each hole and put his head on to show off his white forehead, or his head in to reveal(显露) his tail.
If the female failed to react to his visual signals, the male sometimes sang for extra effect, while gliding towards her on spread wings and tail. Once the female accepts by following the male through the hole the displays stop, you must be at the right place at the right time to watch them. How do the blue tits choose their nest?
A.They choose their nest together. |
B.The male chooses their nest. |
C.The house-hunter chooses their nest. |
D.The female chooses their nest. |
The writer was lucky to see ________.
A.how the male made his tricks |
B.how an interested female played with the male happily |
C.what the male displayed and won the female |
D.that the male tried his best but failed to attract the female |
You can spot a pair of redstarts in a Walsh wood ________.
A.at any time | B.regularly | C.in April | D.occasionally |
The writer is probably ________.
A.a bird expert | B.a bird-hunter |
C.a bird raiser | D.a scientist |
D
Will it matter if you don’t take your breakfast? Recently a test was given in the United States. Those tested included people of different ages, from 12 to 83. During the experiment, these people were given all kinds of breakfasts, and sometimes they got no breakfast at all. Special tests were set up to see how well their bodies worked when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast. The results show that if a person eats a proper breakfast, he or she will work with better effect than if he or she has no breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person works with his brains, if a student eats fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, he will learn more quickly and listen with more attention in class. Contrary to what many people believe, if you don’t eat breakfast, you will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry at noon that they eat too much for lunch, and end up gaining weight instead of losing. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce your other meals.
77. The results of the test show that ______
A. breakfast has great effect on work and studies.
B. breakfast has much to do with people’s health.
C. a person will work better if he has simple breakfast
D. breakfast only affects those who work with their brains.
78. The passage mentions that many people believe that if you don’t eat breakfast, you will____.
A. not lose weight B. be healthier
C. gain weight D. lose weight
79. We can infer from the passage that _____
A. one can work better without breakfast.
B. morning diet will do good to your health.
C. reducing lunch and supper will help lose weight.
D. breakfast is more important than lunch and supper.
80. What is the best title for this passage?
A. Good Breakfast B. Why Eating Breakfast?
C. No eating, No gaining D. What is breakfast
C Are you worried by the rising crime rate? If you are, you probably know that your house, possessions and person are increasingly in danger of suffering from great rise in the cases of burglary (夜盗) and attack.
Figures show an ever-increasing crime rate, but it is only too easy to imagine "It will never happen to me". Unfortunately, statistics show that it really can happen to you and, if you live in a large city, you run twice the risk of being a victim(受害者).
Fortunately, there is something definite which you can do. Protect Alarms can help to protect your house with a burglar alarm system which is effective, simple to operate and easily affordable.
You must remember that owning a burglar alarm is no indication that your house is packed with valuable possessions. It quite simply indicates to unwelcome visitors that yours is one house they will not break into easily, so they carry on to an unprotected house where their job is made a lot easier.
Send now for our free leaflet telling you how we can Protect Alarm your house quickly, easily and cheaply. Complete and tear off the slip below and post it to us. Postage is free. Also, telephone us on 327 6721 where we have a round-the-clock answering service. It costs nothing to find out about Protect Alarm. 73. Anyone who takes an interest in the crime rate will, according to the text, be aware that_______.
A. more burglars are being caught than ever before
B. people have more possessions to worry about nowadays
C. burglars are more at risk than they used to be
D. homes are more likely to be broken into nowadays
74. It seems that people who live in cities are _______
A. more often victims than those living in other areas
B. of the opinion that statistics are wrong
C. twice as well as people living in other areas
D. of the opinion that burglars only rob unprotected homes
75. The article claims that possessing an alarm system will _________.
A. show burglars that you have something worth stealing
B. persuade burglars not to break into your house
C. make the burglars’ job less complicated
D. persuade burglars to try again another time
76. In order to find out more information about this alarm system one can _______.
A. buy a leaflet
B. write enclosing a stamped, addressed envelope
C. phone at any time of day or night
D. sign a contract
B
Advertising gives useful information about which products to buy. But modern advertising does more than gives news about products and services. Today’s advertisements, or ads, try to get consumers to buy certain brands. Writers of advertising are so skillful that they can. sometimes persuade a consumer to wear a certain kind of clothing, eat a special kind of cereal (麦片) , or see a movie. Consumers might never even want a product if they did not see or hear advertisements for it.
For example, you probab1y do not need the newest cereal in the supermarket. There are probably many cereal brands on your kitchen shelves. You may not have space on a shelf for another. But if you see ads about a new cereal that is your extra-tasty and has a free prize in the box, you may want it.
Advertising must get attention. To be effective, it must be exciting, entertaining, or provide some pleasure. The secret of writing good advertising copy is to offer a good idea as well as a product. The idea is what the ad is really selling. One example is an ad that says eating a certain cereal will make a person do well in sports. That cereal brand may sell better if consumers think it offers strength and energy.
69. What is discussed in this passage?
A. The content of modern advertising. B. The skills of modern advertising.
C. The results of modern advertising. D. The writing of modern advertising.
70. According to the passage, a good advertisement should________.
A. be both persuasive and effective B. give people useful information
C. show people a product D. show people a new idea of a product
71. From the passage, we know that_______.
A. modern advertising has less effect on customers
B. once customers see ads about a new cerea1, they are sure to buy it
C. cereal can make people strong
D. cereal is a kind of food which is popular among people
72. What can we infer from the passage?
A. It’s impossible for customers to buy a product without advertisements.
B. Customers should be persuaded by advertisements.
C. Customers can easily be persuaded by advertisements.
D. Customers buy products according to their demands rather than the advertisements.
PART THREE READING COMPREHENSION
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A,B,C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage. (15%)
A
The Olympic flame:
The Olympic flame is a symbol carried over from the ancient Olympics, where a sacred (神圣的) flame burned at the altar(神坛)of Zeus throughout competition. It was finally reintroduced at the 1924 Amsterdam Games, and again burned in 1932.
Carl Diem, chairman of the organising committee for the 1936 Berlin Games, proposed that the flame be lit in Greece and transported to Berlin via a torch relay. The idea was adopted, and continued at every Olympic Games since 1952.
The flame is lit at the ancient site of Olympia by the natural rays of the sun reflected off a curved mirror. It is lit at a ceremony by women dressed in robes resembling those worn in ancient times, who then pass it to the first relay runner.
Olympic motto:
“Citius, altius, fortius” is a Latin phrase meaning “swifter, higher, stronger”, which Baron de Coubertin borrowed from Father Henri Martin Dideon of Paris. Dideon was headmaster of Arcueil College, and used the phrase to describe the athletic achievements of students at the school. He had previously been at the Albert Le Grand school, where the Latin words were carved in stone above the main entrance.
Olympic oath(宣誓)
“In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams.”
Written by Baron de Coubertin, the oath is taken by an athlete from the host nation while holding a corner of the Olympic flag. The athletes’ oath was first taken by Belgian fencer Victor Boin at the 1920 Antwerp Games. A judge from the host country also speaks the oath, with slightly different wording.
66. The Olympic flame was first burned at _______ in modern times.
A. the 1920 Games B. the 1924 Games
C. the 1932 Games D. the 1936 Games
67. From the passage we can learn ________.
A. before 1936, no flames burned at the Olympic Games
B. the first torch relay was held at the 1936 Berlin Games
C. Carl Diem proposed that flames should burn at the Olympic Games
D. The Olympic torch has burned since 1924
68. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. There was no athlete’s oath in the 1896 Olympic Games.
B. The 1920 Olympic games was held in Amsterdam.
C. The judge from the host country takes the same oath as the athletes does.
D. Dideon wrote Citius, Altius, Fortius for the Olympic Games.
第二卷(两部分,共35分)
第四部分任务型阅读(共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)
请认真阅读下面短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最适当的单词。
注意:每空一词。
Boys do worse in English when there are girls in their class, a research student said. This finding disagrees with the widely held belief that girls always have a good influence on boys in school.
Boys do best with as few girls as possible in English lessons at primary and secondary schools, Steven Proud, a research student at Bristol University, told the Royal Economic Society’s conference.
But when it comes to math and science, both boys and girls at primary schools achieve up to a tenth of a grade higher when there is a greater percentage of girls in the class, Proud found.
Proud kept a record of boys’ and girls’ test results at the ages of 7, 11, and 16 in 16,000 schools in England. He studied the test scores to see whether the percentage of girls made a difference to the results of both boys and girls in math, science and English.
Boys always perform worse when the number of girls they study English with increases, which is especially the case at primary schools. Proud also found that girls are unaffected by the number of boys in their English class.
Proud said boys may do worse in English when there is high proportion of girls in their class because they think that the girls are better than them. It could also be that teachers use teaching styles more appropriate to girls when there more girls than boys in the class.
Proud argues that his results show boys should be taught English in single—sex classes.
However, Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said, “Boys may be discouraged by how well girls are doing in English, but you can’t say that it means boys and girls should be separated. It has very little practical importance to schools.”
Theme |
Boys may do ___71____ in English in a class with a higher percentage of girls. |
|
Widely held _____72_____ |
Girls always have a good influence on boys in school. |
|
Proud’s _____73_______ |
when there are more girls |
both boys and girls at primary schools perform better in math and _____74_____. |
when the number of girls ____75_______. |
boys perform worse in English |
|
When the number of boys changes |
Girls are ___76____ in an English class. |
|
Possible ____77____. |
Boys think that the girls are better than them. Teachers use ____78____ styles more appropriate to girls. |
|
Proud’s suggestion |
Boys and girls should be taught English in ___79_____ classes. |
|
Alan’s opinion |
Don’t ________ the boys and girls. |