共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
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。
How can we all get more laughter into our lives? Here is what the experts suggest:
51 . Nancy Alguire, a teacher in Clifton Park, N. Y., was once painfully shy and had a hard time laughing. Then she married a circus clown (小丑). “I became interested in the clowns,” she recalls “One day I put on a costume and paint my face. That afternoon my whole life changed. I learned to laugh and enjoy life in a way I had never done before.” 52 To this day, she still makes it a rule to be with people who enjoy life and laughing.
53 It doesn’t take you too much time and can be easy. Collect favorite cartoons and jokes. Also, keep a paper for writing down humor you find in everyday life. “Good ideas come and go fast, you have to capture them quickly or they are gone,” says Virginia Tooper.
Laugh when you need it most. “ 54 ” says comedian Bill Cosby. “And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might by, you can survive it,” he insists.
Gray Alan, a sociology professor at the University of Minnesota, claims that laughter is a skill we can all gain – because it comes naturally. 55 . Just remember: we are just here for a period, so get a few laughs.
| A．You can soften the worst blows through humor. |
| B．Mix with people who laugh. |
| C．Practise the art of laughing. |
| D．Keep a laughter file. |
E．He who laughs last laughs best.
F．But it’s also something that has to be developed.
G．People’s joy can affect those around them.
There was once a professor of medicine, who was very strict with the students. Whenever he took the chair on the exam committee(担任考试委员会主席), the students would be in fear, because he was seldom pleased with the answers they gave. A student would be lucky enough if he or she could receive a good mark from him. At the end of the term, the students of medicine would take their exam again. Now a student entered the exam room and got seated before the committee. This student was a little nervous as he knew it would not be so easy to get through the exam at all.
The professor began to ask. The student was required to describe a certain illness, his description of which turned out to be OK.
Then the professor asked about the cure (药剂) for illness, and the student, too, answered just as right.
“Good,” said the professor, “and how much will you give the patient?”
“A full spoon”, answered the student.
“Now you may go out and wait for what you can get.” said the professor. At the same time, the committee discussed carefully the answers the student had given. Suddenly the student noticed that there was something wrong with his last answer. “A full spoon is too much,” he thought to himself. Anxiously he opened the door of the room and cried, “Mr Professor, I’ve made a mistake! A full spoon is too much for a patient. He can take only five drops.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” said the professor coldly, “But it’s too late. Your patient has died.”【改编】Why were the students afraid of the professor ?_________.
| A．Because they often angered and disappointed him |
| B．Because he often misunderstood them and give them bad markers |
| C．Because their answers often astonished him |
| D．Because their answers seldom satisfied him |
Before he left the room the student was almost sure that ______.
| A．his last answer was satisfying |
| B．he had passed the exam, and the only thing was to wait for the mark |
| C．he had made a mistake |
| D．he had not done well in the exam |
Which of the following is Not true?
| A．The patient will be in danger if he’s taken as much as a full spoon. |
| B．The doctor will be in trouble if he’s given the patient a full spoon. |
| C．Since one spoon is less than five drops, the patient will be all right soon if he takes only one full spoon at a time. |
| D．If the patient wants to remain safe, he should take no more than five drops at a time. |
In her new book, “The Smartest Kids in the World,” Amanda Ripley, an investigative journalist, tells the story of Tom, a high-school student from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, who decides to spend his senior year in Warsaw, Poland. Poland is a surprising educational success story: in the past decade, the country raised students’ test scores from significantly below average to well above it. Polish kids have now outscored(超过……分数) American kids in math and science, even though Poland spends, on average, less than half as much per student as the United States does. One of the most striking differences between the high school Tom attended in Gettysburg and the one he ends up at in Warsaw is that the latter has no football team, or, for that matter, teams of any kind.
That American high schools waste more time and money on sports than on math is an old complaint. This is not a matter of how any given student who plays sports does in school, but of the culture and its priorities. This December, when the latest Program for International Student Assessment(PISA) results are announced, it’s safe to predict that American high-school students will once again display their limited skills in math and reading, outscored not just by students in Poland but also by students in places like South Korea, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, and Japan. Meanwhile, they will have played some very exciting football games, which will have been breathlessly written up in their hometown papers.
Why does this situation continue? Well, for one thing, kids like it. And for another, according to Ripley, parents seem to like the arrangement, too. She describes a tour she took of a school in Washington D.C., which costs thirty thousand dollars a year. The tour leader—a mother with three children in the school—was asked about the school’s flaws(暇疵). When she said that the math program was weak, none of the parents taking the tour reacted. When she said that the football program was weak, the parents suddenly became concerned. “Really?” one of them asked worriedly, “What do you mean?”
One of the ironies(讽刺) of the situation is that sports reveal what is possible. American kids’ performance on the field shows just how well they can do when expection are high. It’s too bad that their test scores show the same thing.【改编】The reason why Tom decides to spend his senior year in Poland is that _______.
| A．there are evident differences between the two countries |
| B．Polish kids are better at learning |
| C．he plans to improve his scores |
| D．sports are not supported at schools in Gettysburg |
According to Paragraph 2, we know that _______.
| A．little time is spent on sports in Japanese schools |
| B．too much importance is placed on sports in America |
| C．American high schools complain about sports time |
| D．PISA plays a very important role in America |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means _______.
| A．American students’ academic performance worries their parents a lot |
| B．high expectations push up American students’ academic performance |
| C．lacking practice contributes to American students’ average performance |
| D．low expectations result in American students’ poor PISA performance |
【改编】What is the main purpose of this article ?_______.
| A．push public attention to a weakness in American school tradition |
| B．Appeal to American schools to learn from the Polish model |
| C．compare Polish schools with those in America |
| D．explain what is the matter with American schools and provide solutions |
Would you like to discover all the corners of the UK, or travel abroad? Maybe you have never tried the motorhome (旅宿车) lifestyle before. Well, read this article and you will know why a motorhome is a good choice.
Nothing is better than a motorhome. It has so many uses that it is considered the most versatile vehicle(交通工具)and it is also very comfortable. If you are thinking about hiring a motorhome this summer, then the best advice is to book it early, especially if you are considering the school holidays. The motorhome hire service is very seasonal and motorhome hire companies will never have extra vehicles available in the summer months.
There are a lot of companies throughout the UK, and some of the big ones have motorhomes spread all over the country. At present, the largest network for motorhome hire is provided by Motorhome which is based in Cambridge. If you are in the UK , you may phone 0800-612-8719 for details of its motorhome hire information. Motorhome has a network of over 500 vehicles all over England, Scotland and Wales.
Most people wishing to hire a motorhome are families that are looking for an alternative(替代品)to a European package holiday, especially as flying now has become more expensive, and is considered to be environmentally unfriendly. There is no doubt that the idea of no-fly holidays is going to become more popular as fewer people think it is safe to fly. This explains why more and more people are choosing to hire a motorhome for their holidays.This passage is written to explain why it is a good idea to_______
| A．take an adventure | B．travel to England |
| C．try a new lifestyle | D．hire a motorhome |
What does the underlined word“versatile”in paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．Large and comfortable. | B．Fast and exciting |
| C．Having a lot of uses. | D．Having a lot of fun. |
【改编】Why should you book a motohome early if you want to book one for this summer?
| A．Because booking early is much cheaper than before |
| B．Because summer is usually a very busy season. |
| C．Because you can arrange your time better. |
| D．Because students usually book them to earn much money. |
You should book a motohome early if you want to book one for this summer.Because___
| A．booking early is much cheaper. |
| B．summer is usually a very busy season. |
| C．you can arrange your time better. |
| D． students usually book them to earn money. |
The last paragraph tells us the advantages of hiring a motorhome by_______.
| A．telling us a story |
| B．giving detailed data |
| C．comparing it with flying |
| D．showing the results of a study |
Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers. But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son: suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. “The door to his room is always shut,” Joanna noted.
Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter. “She used to cuddle up（蜷伏）with me on the sofa and talk,” said Mark. “Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is figuring out which time is which.”
Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their minds. “In fact, parents are first on the list,” said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. “This completely changes during the teen years,” Riera explained. “They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last.”
Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.“The door to his room is always shut” in the first paragraph suggests that the son ______.
| A．is always busy with his studies |
| B．doesn’t want to be disturbed |
| C．keeps himself away from his parents |
| D．begins to dislike his parents |
【改编】What makes Tina and Mark worried most is that ______________.
| A．their daughter isn’t as lovely as before |
| B．they can’t read their daughter’s mind exactly |
| C．they don’t know what they will say to their daughter |
| D．their daughter talks with them only when she is in need of help |
What’s the meaning of “the wall of silence” in the last paragraph?
| A．Teenagers talk a lot with their friends. |
| B．Teenagers do not talk much with their parents. |
| C．Teenagers talk little about their own lives. |
| D．Teenagers do not want to understand their parents. |
【改编】From the passage ,we can conclude that______.
| A．Parents are not satisfied with their growing children. |
| B．Parents have appropriate ways to talk with their teenagers. |
| C．Parents should be patient with their silent teenagers. |
| D．Parents should try to understand their teenagers from their perspective |
Anna Riviere was one of the most admired of 19th-century English sopranos(女高音). She was also one of the most adventuresome.
She was born in London on January 9th, 1810. She entered the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 14. Seven years later, just after her first show, Anna married Sir Henry Bishop, who was 24 years her senior. Her reputation as a singer grew rapidly, based largely on her tours with Sir Henry and harpist Nicholas Bochsa. After a tour of Dublin, Edinburgh, and London, Anna Bishop deserted her husband and three children and ran away with Bochsa.
From then on, Madame Bishop—as she continued to be known—traveled and sang as if her life depended on it. Between 1839 and 1843 she traveled to every major town in Europe, where she sang in 260 concerts. In the course of two years in Naples, she performed in 20 operas. In 1855 she and Bochsa sailed for Sydney, Australia. He died there the following year, and Anna went on to tour South America before returning to New York, where she married a diamond merchant.
Then she began what proved her most dangerous adventure. After another American tour in 1866, she and her husband set sail across the Pacific. They were shipwrecked on a small coral reef, and for more than a month they drifted in a small boat before they finally reaching Guam. She had lost her music, her wardrobe, and her jewelry, but Madame Bishop was not to be stopped. She went on to Manila and began a concert tour that led to Hong Kong, Singapore, and India before she went back to England. After another two-year world tour she returned eventually to New York, where she gave her last public performance in 1883—at age 73.
Meanwhile the husband she left behind, Sir Henry, had become famous for writing the music to lyrics that might eventually have been meaningful to Anna Bishop—“Home, Sweet Home.”【改编】Which of the following information in the passage about Madama Bishop is true?
| A．She became famous after her first show. |
| B．After her tour in Europe, she returned to New York. |
| C．She got married more than once. |
| D．The song “Home, Sweet Home” was meaningful to her. |
Which is the right order of the event？
a. Bochsa died in Australia.
b. Madama Bishop deserted her husband and three children.
c. Madama Bishop toured South America.
d. Madama Bishop and her husband, a diamond merchant, set sail across the Pacific.
| A．abcd | B．bacd | C．bcda | D．dcba |
What is the best title for this passage ?_____.
| A．The English soprano |
| B．The soprano traveled around the world |
| C．A soprano and her husband |
| D．The adventuresome soprano |