For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. Some may hide. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of each day alone. They are called latchkey children. They’re children who look after themselves while their parents work. And their bad condition has become a subject of concern.
Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school. She said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached. I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts. There were so many keys, it never came to my mind what they meant.” Slowly, she learned they were house keys.
She and her husband began talking to the children who had them. They learned of the impact(影响) working couples and single parents were having on their children. Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone. One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.
The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet. The second is TV. They’ll often play it at high volume. It’s hard to get statistics(情况, 材料)on latchkey children, the Longs learned. Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone.
1. The main idea about “latchkey children” is that they _______.
A. are growing in numbers
B. are also found in middle-class neighborhoods
C. watch too much television during the day
D. suffer problems from being left alone
2. Which sentence in the second paragraph is the topic sentence?
A. We had a school rule against wearing jewelry.
B. A lot of kids had chains around their necks.
C. I was constantly telling them to put inside their shirts.
D. They were house keys.
3. The main feeling these children have when they are at home by themselves is _______.
A. tiredness B. freedom C. loneliness D. fear
4. We may draw a conclusion that _______.
A. latchkey children enjoy having such a large amount of time alone
B. latchkey children try to hide their feeling
C. latchkey children often watch TV with their parents
D. it’s difficult to find out how many latchkey children there are
第三部分：阅读理解 (共20小题；每小题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。
There is nothing else but economy that occupies the minds of Americans at present times of economic stress and recession. The negative statistics on unemployment, housing costs and consumer confidence keep coming and coming, leaving people not just scared to spend money, but also very stressed and emotionally exhausted. This stress has an impact on everything, starting with our sleep, mood, physical health, relationships, and eating habits.
"Times of economic stress lead to increased rates of depression," says Dr. Christopher Palmer, director of continuing education at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. "It worsens illness in people who have been constantly depressed. But it also causes new cases of depression. Just the fear of losing one's job can put people over the edge. "
And, without any doubt, just depression alone can create a variety of negative health effects.
1. SLEEP
33 per cent of Americans reported that they have lost sleep due to the economic crisis.
26 per cent say they are sleeping less than 6 hours per night, which is considered to be at least one hour less than the most favorable 7 to 8 hours recommended by sleep experts.
2. MENTAL HEALTH, STRESS AND HEART
80 per cent of Americans reported last year that the economy is a significant source of stress; 49 per cent said the situation makes them feel nervous or anxious; 48 per cent reported that they felt very sad and have developed depression.
Nearly twice the risk of heart attack or death was found in coronary-artery-disease patients with the highest levels of depression or anxiety. Among those individuals, a 10 per cent higher risk of heart attack or death was found in those whose anxiety rose over time.
3. RELATIONSHIPS
The chances of violent behavior are nearly 6 times higher for individuals who are left without a job.
Workplace stress can lead to domestic violence.
Money is the number one source of disagreement in the early years of marriage.
56. Which of the following is true according to the text?
A. Now Americans don't dare to spend money.
B. Now most Americans have problem in sleeping.
C. Economy is the most troubling problem for Americans.
D. Economic crisis has destroyed many American families.
57. How does the economic crisis affect Americans according to the passage?
A. They sleep fewer than six hours.
B. They sleep less than the proper amount.
C. Diseases caused by economy make them sleepless.
D. They lose sleep at night.
58. If a person is out of work, he might _________.
A. become more violent B. get divorced C. get rid of workplace stressD. go mad
59. The best title of this passage probably is _________.
A. The World Economic Crisis Are Getting worse
B. Economic Crisis Affects Our Health
C. Economic Crisis Causes Trouble to Sleep
D. Ordinary People Suffer Greatly in Economic Crisis
Each cell in the human body contains about 25,000 to 35,000 genes, which carry information that determines your traits. Traits are characteristics you inherit from your parents; this means your parents pass some of their characteristics on to you through genes. For example, if both of your parents have green eyes, you might inherit the trait of green eyes from them. Or if your mom has freckles, you might inherit that trait and wind up with a freckled face. And genes aren’t just in humans — all animals and plants have genes, too.
Genes hang out all lined up on thread-like things called chromosomes. Chromosomes come in pairs, and there are hundreds, sometimes thousands of genes in one chromosome. The chromosomes and genes are made of DNA, which is short for deoxyribonucleic acid.
Chromosomes are found inside cells, the very small units that make up all living things. A cell is so tiny that you can only see it through the lens of a strong microscope, and there are billions of cells in your body. Most cells have one nucleus. The nucleus, which is sort of egg-shaped, is like the brain of the cell. It tells every part of the cell what to do. How does the nucleus know so much? It contains our chromosomes and genes. Tiny as it is, the nucleus has more information in it than the biggest dictionary you’ve ever seen.
71. What is the best title of this passage?
A. What Is a Gene? B. How Do Genes Work?
C. What Does A Gene Consist of? D. How Do Nucleus Command Cells?
72. What does the underlined word “inherit” probably mean in the first paragraph?
A. carryB. sendC. obtain D. pass
73. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The parents pass some characteristics on to their children.
B. All living things receive traits from the old generations.
C. One’s green eyes might be passed on from the parents.
D.A mother’s freckled face might affect her young’s face.
74. From the passage we can know that______________.
A. genes can decide all your characteristics from parents.
B. genes exist inside cells that make up all living things.
C. genes tells every part of the cell what to do .
D. Chromosomes come in pairs containing genes.
75. From the passage we can conclude that ___________.
A. not all cells have one nucleus inside .
B. not all living things are made up of cells.
C. genes aren’t in humans but in animals and plants.
D. DNA is made of chromosomes and genes.
After blogging regularly for two months, people felt they had better social support and friendship networks than those who didn’t blog. Blogging can help you feel less isolated, more connected to a community and more satisfied with your friendships. Both online and face-to-face, a new Australian research has found
Researchers James Baker and Professor Susan Moore from Swinburne have written two papers investigating the psychological benefits of blogging-regularly updating personal web pages with information that invites others to comment.
The first, published in the latest issue of the journal CyberPsychology and Behaviour. compares the mental health of people intending to blog with that of people not planning to blog. Moore says the researchers messaged 600 MySpace users personally and directed them to an online survey. A total of 134 completed the questionnaire. 84 intended to blog and 50 didn’t.
“We found potential bloggers were less satisfied with their friendships and they felt less socially integrated; they didn’t feet as much part of a community as the people who weren’t interested in blogging …”Moore says. “It was as if they were saying ‘I’m going to do this blogging and it’s going to help me’.”
And it seemed to do the trick, as the researchers’ second study shows. This study which is yet to be published, was conducted two months later. The researchers sent out questionnaires(调查问卷)to the same group of MySpace users, this time 59 responded Bloggers reported a greater sense of belonging to a group of like-minded people and feeling more confident because they could rely on others for help. All respondents, whether or not they blogged, reported feeling less anxious, depressed and stressed after two months of online social networking.
“So going onto MySpace had lifted the mood of all participants in some way,” Moore says. “Maybe they’d just made more social connections.”
Moore acknowledges this is early research and hopes to follow a larger group of people for a longer period time to test some of the research findings.
66. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. The mental health of bloggers.
B. Blogging improves one’s social life.
C. What kind of people are likely to blog.
D. Blogging has become more and more popular.
67. It can be inferred from the fourth paragraph that _________.
A. those who were not interested in blogging didn’t have good mental health
B. people were likely to become bloggers if they felt socially isolated
C. potential bloggers were those who had mental health problems
D. potential bloggers usually held a wrong view about blogging
68.The purpose of the second study is to find out _________.
A. what people do on MySpace
B. how many people became bloggers
C. how people felt after blogging for two months
D. how many people kept blogging after two months
69. The second study shows that________.
A. online social networking can do people good
B. only bloggers benefit from online social networking
C. not many potential bloggers became real bloggers
D. not all bloggers found the help they needed
70. The main purpose of people going onto MySpace is probably to _______.
A. exchange goods B. entertain themselves
C. seek help D. exchange views
One of the founding fathers of the internet has predicted the end of traditional television. Vint Serf, who helped to build the internet while working as a researcher in America, said that television was approaching its “iPod moment.”
In the same way that people now download their favorite music onto their iPods, he said that viewers would soon be downloading most of their favorite programmers onto their computers. “85 percent of all video we watch is pre-recorded, so you can set your system to download it at any time,”said Mr. Cerf, who is now the vice-president of Goggle.
“You’re still going to need live television for certain things--like news, sporting events and emergencies--but increasingly it will be almost like iPod, where you download content to look at later.”
Although television-on-demand has not yet become a main activity in the UK, the BBC, 1TV and Channel 4 have all invested a lot of money in technology which Mr. Cerf think will enable viewers to watch their favorite shows on their computers.
However, some critics(批评家)have warned that the Internet will collapse(崩溃)if millions of people try to download programmers at the same time.
Over the next four years, scientists think the number of videos watched over the Internet will double, with people moving from short chips to hour-long programmes.
Broadband companies claim that the service will cause“traffic jams”,which will cost millions of pounds to solve. Mr. Cerf dismissed these warnings, saying that critics had predicted 20 years ago that the net would collapse when people all around the world started to use it at the same time, “We’re far from exhausting (用尽)the capacity,” he said.“I want every one of the six billion people in the planet to be able to connect to the Internet.”
61.Vint Cerf is all the following EXCEPT that ___________.
A. a researcher in the United States
B. the vice-president of Goggle
C. one of the founders of the Internet
D. a manager of a broadband company
62. Which of the following is NOT something Vint Cerf has predicted?
A. Traditional television will soon have its iPod moment.
B. The number of videos watched over the Internet will double.
C. Viewers will be able to download TV programmers onto their iPods.
D. Viewers will be able to watch their favorite TV shows on the Internet.
63. According to the passage, people can always do all the following EXCEPT ____________.
A. watch short clips over the Internet
B. download live TV over the Internet
C. download per-recorded videos over the Internet
D. listen to their favorite music on their computers
64. Some critics are now predicting __________.
A. the Internet will collapse if millions of people use it at the same time
B. people all over the world will be able to connect to the Internet
C. the Internet will crash if too many people download TV programmes at the same time
D. the videos people watch over the Internet
65. This passage mainly tells us __________.
A. a Goggle expert is predicting the end of traditional television
B. the Internet will never be used to download people's favourite shows
C. the Internet will become more popular
D. something about Vint Cerf
第三部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题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。
On some level, I always knew that I wanted to be a doctor--at least from the age of eight or ten years old, anyway.
Although my father wasn’t a doctor, he made his own brand of “house calls. I followed him as he brought a plate of my mother’s home cooking to an elderly man named Frank on all major holidays and when Frank was sick. As far as I know, their only connection was that Frank was an occasional customer at Dad’s small gas station. Frank’s home was a two-room house on the rough side of town with an old front porch(门廊) where you could fall if you weren’t careful. Frank had no relatives and as far as I could tell, no other visitors either. Through his attitude of caring, my father was teaching me to be a doctor, although neither of us knew it at the time.
When I was 13, my father developed lung cancer. He brought home a diagram the doctor had drawn showing where his cancer was and told me that he was going to die. He asked me to take care of my mother when he was gone. I was an only child. He said he loved me on the night when he died.
When you’re 13 and your father dies, you have some choices to make. You can use the situation as an excuse for letting your actions and grades go down, or you can honor his memory and try to do something positive with yourself. I focused my energy on my schoolwork and my goal of becoming a doctor.
56. What was the father’s“own brand of ‘house calls’”?
A. His treatment for Frank’s serious illness. B. Being kind to Frank.
C. His attitude towards the author. D. His wish that his son would be a doctor.
57. The author did something to realize his dream to be a doctor when ________.
A. Father helped Frank regularly
B. Father developed lung cancer
C. Father asked him / her to take care of Mother
D. Father died
58. What influence did his father’s death have on the author?
A. The author began to think seriously about his career.
B. The author was too sorrowful to go on studying.
C. The author used the situation as an excuse to quit school.
D. The author worked harder to achieve his goal of becoming a doctor.
59. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Father taught the author how to be a doctor by making house calls on Frank.
B. In return for Father's help, Frank usually came up at his gas station.
C. The author had no sisters or brothers.
D. The author was deeply influenced by Father's doctor who treated his cancer.
60. What's the best title for the passage?
A. What Made Father Respectable B. What Led Me to Be a Doctor
C. How to Help Strangers D. How to Deal with Death