People turn to magic(魔力)chiefly as a form of insurance--that is, they use it along with actions that actually bring results. For example, hunters may use a hunting charm(咒语). But they also use their hunting skills and knowledge of animals. The charm may give hunters the extra confidence they need to hunt even more successfully than they would without it. If they shoot a lot of game(猎物), they credit the charm for their success. Many events happen naturally without magic. Crops grow without it, and sick people get well without it. But if people use magic to bring a good harvest or to cure a patient, they may believe the magic was responsible.
People also tend to forget magic's failures and to be impressed by its surface successes. They may consider magic successful if it appears to work only 10 per cent of the time. Even when magic fails, people often explain the failure without doubting the power of the magic. They may say that the magician made a mistake in reciting the spell or that another magician cast a more powerful spell against the magician.
Many anthropologists(人类学家) believe that people have faith in magic because they feel a need to believe in it. People may turn to magic to reduce their fear and uncertainty if they feel they have no control over the outcome of a situation. For example, farmers use knowledge and skill when they plant their fields. But they know that weather, insects, or diseases might ruin the crops. So farmers in some societies may also plant a charm or perform a magic rite to ensure a good harvest.
16.From the passage, we can learn that the writer of the passage may be _______.
A. a hunter B. a farmer C. a magician D. an anthropologist
17.Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
A. Magic and Hunting. B. Magic and Farming.
C. Why Magic Works? D. Why People Believe in Magic?
18. The underlined word “spell”(Paragraph 2) most likely means______.
A. magic words. B. magic events. C. words or expressions D. magicians.
19. People believe in magic because________.
A. magic powers are greater than natural powers
B. magic can turn dreams into reality
C. they are not sure of themselves
D. magic can bring good results
20. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Even though magic fails, believers in magic will explain the reason.
B. Believers in magic usually overstate the power of magic.
C. People use magic to reduce their uncertainty and give them extra confidence
D. Magic can solve problems people can’t deal with in a natural way.
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每题2分,满分40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。
French people pride themselves on their delicious foods, such as cheese, baguettes and croissants (two kinds of food). In fact, food is an important part of French culture. Families and friends spend hours over the dinner table each night. It is the opposite of the fast – food habit common in other parts of the West.
It’s the reason why the French are very angry that a McDonald’s is opening beneath Paris’s most famous museum: the Louvre (卢浮宫). The mew restaurant will be the 1,142 nd McDonald’s in France, and will open in the underground approach to the museum. But many French people can’t understand why this American chain is opening in the heart of French culture.
However, McDonald’s is paying no notice to the complaint. McDonald’s now has 31,000 chains worldwide. Tourists are hungry, and opening chains in tourist spots pays well.
There is another chain threatening France’s heritage. This time it is coffee rather than burgers. As more and more Starbucks open in Paris, traditional French cafes are forced to close.
The trouble with American companies opening chains throughout the world is the destructive effect they can have on a country’s culture. How can a small, independent coffee shop compete with the multi – billion dollar chain? You can go to a Starbucks in any city in the world, but you can only go to a Parisian café in France.
Responsibility is with the tourists. A McDonald’s wouldn’t open so near the Louvre if it weren’t not going to make money. Similarly, a Pizza Hut wouldn’t overlook (俯瞰) Egypt’s Great Pyramid if no one wants to sit in it. Maybe next time you visit the Great Wall, you should think twice before ordering a Cappuccino in the Starbucks.
51.Why are the French very angry when a McDonald’s is opening beneath the Louvre?
A.Because they will spend many hours in McDonald’s.
B.Because French food culture is very impressive.
C.Because they also have the fast – food habit.
D.Because they are proud of their own food.
52.The McDonald’s will be located in the underground approach to the museum because_______.
A.the complaints of the French are useless
B.opening a chain in tourist spot is rewarding
C.McDonald’s tends to be in the heart of culture
D.it will help to attract more tourists for the museum
53.What is the trouble with American companies opening chains all over the world?
A.The traditional stores of a country are forced to fight back.
B.The traditional stores of a country become dependant.
C.They have negative effect on a country’s culture.
D.The multi – billion dollar chain can’t be matched.
54.The author suggests that the tourists can_______.
A.decide whether the multiple stores of America are successful or not
B.order a Cappuccino in the Starbucks when they visit the Great Wall
C.sit in a Pizza Hut when they visit Egypt’s Great Pyramid
D.enter the McDonald’s when they visit the Louvre
Not all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences. Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they relive (重新体验) these experiences in nightmares.
Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce, or possibly erase (抹去), the effect of painful memories.
In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain. So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.
The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it. Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers’ troubling memories after war.
They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories.“Some memories can ruin people’s lives. They come back to you when you don’t want to have them in a daydream or nightmare. They usually come with very painful emotions,”said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry (精神病学) at Harvard Medical School.“This could relieve a lot of that suffering.”
But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous because memories give us our identity (特质). They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past. “All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are. I'm not sure we'd want to wipe those memories out,” said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist (伦理学家).
Some people fear that although the drug would first be used in only very serious cases, it would become more and more common. “People always have the ability to misuse science,”said Joseph LeDoux, a New York University memory researcher. “All we want to do is help people have better control of memories.”
57. What’s the main idea of the text?
A. People often suffer from bad memories.
B. American researchers are trying to develop a pill.
C. Forget bad memories, and be happy.
D. The research has caused a heated argument.
58. The underlined word “it” in paragraph 4 refers to “_____”.
A. the new drug B. the research into the drug
C. the memoryD. the chemical in the drug
59. Which of the following is not the opinion of the supporters?
A. The pill can erase all the memories in the past.
B. Some memories can ruin people’s life. The pill can relieve emotional suffering.
C. The pill can also help many people who suffer from terrible memories.
D. The pill can prevent or treat troubling memories in soldiers after war.
60. Which of the following is not the opinion of the opponents (反对者)?
A. Our memories give us our identity.
B. The memories help humanity avoid mistakes of the past.
C. The drug should be used in only very serious cases.
D. People may not be sure whether they want to wipe the memories out.
The coyote (丛林狼) , that clever animal of wide-open spaces, has come to the nation’s capital. In fact, coyotes have spread to every corner of the United States, changing their behaviors to fit new environments and causing researchers to deal with a troublesome new kind of creature:the city coyote.
The coyote originally lived in the middle of the continent. One of its most obvious characters is its smartness, which has made the animal a notorious (臭名昭著的) pest. Hunters trapped, shot and poisoned more than a million coyotes in the 1900s. It’s still one of America’s most-hunted animals. Yet the coyote has survived. How has the coyote shown this extraordinary ability? “I guess if you wanted to use one word, it’d be ‘plasticity’ , ” says Erie Gese, an expert at Utah State University. Coyotes can live alone, in pairs, or in large packs like wolves, hunt at night or during the day, occupy a small region or an area up to 40 square miles, and live on all sorts of food, from lizards (蜥蜴) and shoes, to ants and melons.
Unbelievably people helped coyotes increase when they killed most of the wolves in the United States. The spreading of coyotes into city areas, though, is recent. They travel at night, crossing sidewalks and bridges, running along roads and ducking into culverts (钻入洞) and underpasses. No one knows why coyotes are moving into cities, but experts explain that cleverer, more human-tolerant (不怕人的) coyotes are teaching urban survival skills to new generations.
Occasionally, coyotes might attack human beings. There have been about 160 attacks on people in recent years. Therefore, people have been consistently told not to feed coyotes or leave pet food unsecured. That, plus a large trapping program in the neighborhood, has cut down on the coyote population.
53. The underlined word “plasticity” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.
A. the ability to fit the environment B. notorious smartness
C. hunting ability D. being human - tolerant
54. The aim of the passage is to ________.
A. tell people how to fight against coyotes
B. tell us why the coyote is the most hunted animal
C. supply the reason why the coyote is a kind of notorious pest
D. explain how the coyote has spread to and survived in cities
55. According to the passage, coyotes ________.
A. originally lived in the west of the continent
B. sleep during the day but look for food at night
C. are teaching survival skills to their younger generations
D. suffered a population decrease because people killed wolves
56. According to the passage, to cut down on the coyote population, people are advised to ________.
A. leave pet food secured B. keep coyotes in small regions
C. force coyotes to live alone D. avoid using trapping programs
Play is the basic business of childhood, and in recent years research has shown the great importance of play in the development of a human being. From earliest infancy (婴儿), every child needs opportunity and right materials for play, and the main tools of play are toys. The main function of toys is to suggest, encourage and play. To succeed in this, they must be good toys, which children will play with often, and will come back again and again. Therefore, it is important to choose suitable toys for different stages of a child’s development.
In recent years research on infant development has shown that the standard a child is likely to reach, within the range of his inherited abilities, is largely determined in the first three years of his life. So a baby’s ability to benefit from the right play materials should not be underestimated. A baby who is encouraged, talked to and shown things and played with, has the best chance of growing up successfully.
In the next stage, from three to five years old, curiosity knows no bounds. Every type of suitable toys should be made available to the child, for trying out, experimenting and learning, for discovering his own particular ability: Bricks and jigsaws and construction toys; painting, scribbling and making things; sand and water play; toys for imaginative and pretending play—the first social games for learning to play and get on with others.
But at the third stage of play development—from five to seven or eight years old— the child is at school. But for a few more years play is still the best way of learning, at home or at school. It is easier to see which type of toys the child most enjoys.
Until the age of seven or eight, play and work mean much the same to a child. But once reading has been mastered, then books become the main source of learning. Toys are still interesting and valuable, which lead up to new hobbies, but their significance has changed — to a child of nine or ten years old, toys and games mean, as to adults, relaxation and fun.
49. According to the first passage we know that as a child grows up, ______.
A. he should be allowed to choose his own toys
B. he should be given the same toys
C. he should be given fewer and fewer toys
D. he should be given different toys
50. According to the passage, the abilities a child has inherited from his parents ______.
A. determine his character
B. will not change after the age of three
C. partly determined the standard he is likely to reach
D. to a large extent determine the choice of toys
51. We learn from the passage that a child has boundless curiosity ______.
A. when he is twoB. when he is around four
C. when he is six D. when he is eight
52. The passage is mainly about _______.
A. the role of play in a child’s development
B. the importance of schooling
C. the importance of pre-school education
D. the choice of toys for youngster
TYPING
This course is for those who want to learn to type, as well as those who want to improve their typing. The course is not common. You are tested in the first class and begin practicing at one of eight different skill levels. This allows you to learn at your own speed. Each program lasts 20 hours. Bring your own paper.
Course fee: $ 125 Materials: $25
Two hours each evening for two weeks. New classes begin every two weeks.
This course is taught by a number of qualified business education teachers who have successfully taught typing courses before.
UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS
This twelve-hour course is for people who do not know very much about computers, but who need to learn about them. You will learn what computers are, what they can and can’t do and how to use them.
Course fee: $75 Equipment fee: $ 10
Jan. 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, Wed. & Sat. 9—11:30 a.m.
Joseph Saunders is Professor of Computer Science at New Urban University. He has over twenty years of experience in the computer field.
STOP SMOKING
Do you want to stop smoking? Have you already tried to stop and failed? Now is the time to stop smoking using the latest methods. You can stop smoking, and this twelve-hour course will help you do it.
Course fee: $30
Jan. 2, 9, 16, 23 Mon. 2—5 p. m.
Dr John Good is a practicing psychologist who had helped hundreds of people stop smoking.
45. If you choose the UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS course, you will have classes _______.
A. from Monday to Sunday B. from Monday to Friday
C. on Wednesday and Saturday D. on Saturday and Sunday
46. Mr. Black works every morning and evening, but he wants to take part in one of the three courses. The most probable course he will attend is ______.
A. typing B. understanding computers
C. stop smoking D. any of the courses
47. If you want to learn computer and at the same time you want to improve your typing, you will pay _______.
A. $ 75 B. $ 15 C. $ 115 D. $ 235
48. The typical difference of “Typing” from the other two is that ______.
A. people with different skill levels may learn at different speeds
B. you will take a test after the course
C. you will pay the fee before practicing
D. you will pay less money