My parents were in a huge argument, and 1 was really upset about it. I didn't know who I should talk with about how I was feeling. So I asked Mom to allow me to stay the night at my best friend's house. Though I knew I wouldn't tell her about my parents’ situation, I was looking forward to gelling out of the house. I was in the middle of packing up my things when suddenly the power went out in the neighborhood. Mom came to tell me that I should stay with my grandpa until the power came back on.
I was really disappointed because I felt that we did not have much to talk about. But I knew he would be frightened alone in the dark. I went to his room and told him that I'd stay with him until the power was restored. He was quite happy and said, "Great opportunity."
"What is?" I asked.
"To talk, you and I" he said. "To hold a private little meeting about what we’re going to do with your mom and dad, and what we're going to do with ourselves now that we're in the situation we are in."
"But we can't do anything about it. Grandpa," I said, surprised that here was someone with whom I could share my feelings and someone who was in the same "boat" as I was.
And that's how the most unbelievable friendship between my grandfather and me started. Sitting Acre in the dark, we talked about our feelings and fears of life — from how fast things change, to how they sometimes don't change fast enough. That night, because the power went out, I found a new friend, with whom I could safely talk about all my fears and pains, whatever they may be — suddenly, the lights all came hack on. "Well," he said, "I guess that means you'll want to go now. I really like our talk. I hope the power will go out every few nights!"
56.1 wished to get out of the house because ____
A. I was angry about my parents’ quarrel B. I found nobody to share my feelings with
C. I wanted to escape from the dark house D. I planned to tell my friend about my trouble
57. Grandpa was happy to see me because _____.
A. he could discuss the problem with me B. he had not seen me for a long lime
C. he was afraid of darkness D. he felt quite lonely
58. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The grandchild was eager to leave. B. They would have more chats.
C. The lights would go out again. D. It would no longer be dark.
第三部分阅读技能 (共三节,满分35分)
第一节阅读理解(共12小题;每小题2分,满分24分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
How to have fun in Chicago without spending a lot of money?
Sightseeing
★The Art Institute of Chicago has a fine collection of photos and paintings. The ticket is $10.00. But on Tuesdays you’ll get in free.
★The Sears Tower is the world’s third tallest building. By going to the 103rd floor, you can get a great view of the whole city! All for only $8.50.
Free show
★There are free concerts in Grant Park in summer. They are held from Wednesday to Saturday at 7:00 pm.
★Attend the taping of a TV show for free. The Oprah Winfrey Show and the Jenny Jones Show both offer tourists free tickets. For the Oprah Winfrey Show you’ll have to book tickets at least a month before.
Places to stay
★You can get a hotel for $100 to $300 a day. However, you can get a room in the dormitory
at Roosevelt University for $215 for a whole week! But you have to stay for 30 days to get this great rate(价格).
( ) 41. This passage tells us _________.
A. Chicago is a big and beautiful city
B. where we can see fine photos and paintings
C. how to make a cheap trip in Chicago
D. there are many free concerts in Chicago
( ) 42. It will cost you ________ if you visit the Art Institute instead of the Sears Tower on Sundays.
A. more B. less C. a little D. nothing
( ) 43. You may go to _________ if you like to get a great view of the whole city.
A. the Art Institute B. the Sears Tower
C. Roosevelt University D. Grant Park
( ) 44. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. It is free to go to the Art Institute on Tuesdays.
B. Free Grant Park concerts are held four nights a week in summer.
C. The Sears Tower is the world’s third tallest building.
D. You can get tickets to the Oprah Winfrey Show as soon as you arrive.
D
Dear Economist,
My newly-wedded wife and I are deeply in love.There is, however, one issue that threatens the happiness of our marriage.I absolutely insist on shopping at Walmart.My wife, meanwhile, would rather avoid Walmart at all costs.
I have recently tried to convince her that not only does Walmart offer the lowest prices known to man, but that the chain is also a force for good―lower prices mean better standards of living for all consumers, increased global trade means a tighter-knit(紧密团结的) international community, and efficient operations translate into higher productivity growth for the economy.My wife complains about poor labour policies, the “fact” that Walmart squeezes suppliers, and that it puts local shops out of business.
Who is right? Will our marriage survive?
Brian Gee
Dear Brian,
I have to agree with you about Walmart.Jason Furman, then an economist at New York University, now an adviser to President Obama, famously argued in 2005 that Walmart was unwittingly (不知不觉地) a progressive success story.The chain’s prices don’t much affect me (I prefer Whole Foods) but Furman estimated that they benefited low-and-middle-income Americans to the sum of around $250 billion a year.
Walmart does not pay much, so it may depress wages.Then again, it may increase wages by offering jobs to the otherwise-unemployed.Either way, the benefits of low prices to Walmart shoppers far outweigh any seemingly reasonable costs to Walmart employees.And while it is true that Walmart employees tend to be poor, the same is true of Walmart shoppers.
Armed with this information you can face your wife with confidence.You are sure to win the conversation.The divorce is likely to be more argued.
Economist
68.What concerns Brian Gee so much that he wrote the letter?
A.His wife refuses to shop at Walmart.
B.They are faced with a divorce.
C.They can’t afford the costs of shopping at Walmart.
D.They are in conflict about shopping at Walmart.
69.Brian Gee’s wife tends to hold the opinion that _________.
A.it is wrong for Walmart to depress its employees’ wages
B.consumers’ lives have improved thanks to Walmart
C.Walmart’s business operation increases productivity in economy
D.Walmart’s business increases global trade
70.What can be inferred from the reply letter?
A.Some employees accept the low pay to keep the job.
B.Walmart appeals to only poor consumers and poor employees.
C.Employees suffer from Walmart’s low prices more than consumers.
D.Jason Furman, a New York University economist, spoke highly of Walmart.
C
To be able to motivate oneself, or self-motivate, occurs when a person has the willingness to do something and is internally(内在地) motivated to do it.
Sometimes it’s very difficult to get ourselves moving.The natural tendency is to postpone.Life just seems to get in the way! There is a job to go to, groceries to do, television to watch—whoops! I guess we get pretty good at finding excuses to escape getting started on goals like an exercise routine or reading a new book.The fact is that we are creatures of routine and habit.So what can we do to motivate ourselves to accomplish our goals?
Here are some tips on how to get moving:
Decide what you want.It’s hard to motivate an aimless mind.Set a goal and decide how you are going to go about it.Then break it down into smaller sections so it’s easier to handle and less overwhelming.(势不可挡)
Keep track of your progress.Keep a log or journal where you can measure how much you have accomplished.Looking at it can also motivate you to keep pushing ahead.
Post motivating pictures or slogans within your sight.It is always inspiring to see pictures of people who have accomplished what you’re going for.It makes it attainable and realistic.Likewise, little slogans like “go for it” or “just do it” can give you the little support you need.
Sometimes we forget what we set out to do and a little reminder is all we need to be revitalized (激活) and focus on the end result.If you remind yourself to go for the desired promotion, it will re-establish why you are doing what you’re doing.
Make it a habit.Once you have accomplished your objective, e.g.becoming an early riser, keep it up so that it’s second nature to you and you don’t have to think about it anymore.
64.According to the author, some people fail to achieve their goals because ________.
A.they don’t have enough desire
B.their life is filled with routine work
C.they benefit from the force of habit
D.they naturally put off forming new habits
65.It can be inferred from the underlined sentence that ________.
A.self-motivation needs repeated self-reminding of one’s goal
B.in modern society people tend to become forgetful
C.when we forget our goal, our life becomes meaningless
D.we can achieve our goal only by focusing on the end result
66.To get moving on your goal, you can do the following EXCEPT ________.
A.keep a diary to clearly judge your distance to your goal
B.make self-improvement your second nature
C.forget your aim and revitalize yourself with slogans
D.support yourself by hanging inspiring pictures in your house
67.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A.Set Goals in Your Life B.Get Yourself Motivated
C.Get into Good Habits D.Do Not Postpone
B
Oprah Winfrey, the queen of American daytime talk TV, is considered one of the most powerful women in the world.Now, after 25 years’ hosting The Oprah Winfrey Show, the star has announced she is calling it quits.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the move “signals the beginning of the decline for the daytime talk show.” More women are working full-time jobs, and people are turning to cable (有线电视) and pre-recorded shows for their entertainment.
It may be that Oprah isn’t quitting so much as moving on.She has created the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), and will most likely move her show to the network.If audiences around the world need Oprah, they well know where to look.
Oprah Winfrey was born to a single teenage mother in a small town in rural Mississippi, US.As a child, she lived with poverty and abuse.But she got a job at a local radio station, where her honesty, emotional style won her many fans.She quickly rose through the ranks of radio and television before launching her own production company and starting her own show.
Oprah’s talk show was not the first of its kind, but it quickly became the best and most popular.It made talk shows popular, and others jumped in to start similar shows.But while other talk shows turned ugly, featuring guests who argued and attacked each other with chairs, Oprah rose above the mess.
“Part of her power lies in the fact that her life story resonates (产生共鸣) with her audience, as a kind of version of the American dream,” writes Kevin Connolly, a reporter with the BBC.
She became a star because of the way she opened up about her problems to her audience.She shared her own struggles with relationships and weight.She focused on self-help.Connolly believes “something in her honesty and her sometimes painfully emotional directness struck home with a certain type of American”.
60.Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.The stop of Oprah’s show reflects the decrease of audience.
B.Oprah hosted her show for about 25 years.
C.American talk show was pioneered by Oprah.
D.Oprah used to be a radio presenter.
61.What does the underlined sentence mean?
A.Oprah could deal with the guests fighting very well.
B.Oprah’s show stood out with her unique style.
C.Oprah turned a deaf ear to other people’s quarrel.
D.Oprah’s fame rose because lots of people watch her show.
62.From Kevin Connolly, we know people like Oprah’s show for all the reasons EXCEPT ________.
A.Oprah always shares people’s life stories in her show
B.the audiences are touched by Oprah’s honesty and frankness
C.Oprah’s life story reflects the truth of American dream
D.some audiences are inspired by Oprah’s show
63.According to the text, Oprah ________.
A.always volunteers to help those who need help
B.has practiced presentational skills since she was young
C.believes that one should rely on himself to solve problems
D.calls on women to work full-time jobs
第三部分阅读理解 (共两节,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。
A
Recently, one of my best friends, whom I’ve shared just about everything with since the first day of kindergarten, spent the weekend with me.Since I moved to a new town several years ago, we’ve both always looked forward to the few times a year when we can see each other.
Over the weekend, we spent hours and hours, staying up late into the night, talking about the people she was hanging around with.She started telling me stories about her new boyfriend, about how he experimented with drugs and was into other self-destructive behavior.I was blown away! She told me how she had been lying to her parents about where she was going and even stealing out to see this guy because they didn’t want her around him.No matter how hard I tried to tell her that she deserved better, she didn’t believe me.Her self-respect seemed to have disappeared.
I tried to convince her that she was ruining her future and heading for big trouble.I felt like I was getting nowhere.I just couldn’t believe that she really thought it was acceptable to hang with a bunch of losers, especially her boyfriend.
By the time she left, I was really worried about her and exhausted by the experience.It had been so frustrating, I had come close to telling her several times during the weekend that maybe we had just grown too far apart to continue our friendship,but I didn’t.I put the power of friendship to the final test.We’d been friends for far too long.I had to hope that she valued me enough to know that I was trying to save her from hurting herself.I wanted to believe that our friendship could conquer anything.
A few days later, she called to say that she had thought long and hard about our conversation, and then she told me that she had broken up with her boyfriend.I just listened on the other end of the phone with tears of joy running down my face.It was one of the truly rewarding moments in my life.Never had I been so proud of a friend.
56.In the writer’s opinion, her friend ________.
A.was a girl with no self-respect
B.could find a better boyfriend
C.was brave enough to stick to her own choice
D.didn’t value the writer’s suggestion
57.What did the writer worry about?
A.She would lose the friendship with her.
B.Her friend’s parents would be worried about their daughter.
C.Her friend would get into great trouble with the boy.
D.Her friend’s boyfriend would be in great trouble.
58.We may leam from Paragraph 3 that the writer ________.
A.didn’t want to go anywhere else
B.hated her friend’s hanging with her boyfriend
C.couldn’t believe that her friend’s choice was acceptable
D.doubted that she could in any way help her friend
59.What can be concluded from the passage?
A.Friendship starting from childhood is not reliable.
B.Friendship is a cure for any injury in life.
C.Friendship should be everlasting once begun.
D.Friendship can have magical power in life.