四、阅读理解（共40分）
A
Linda Evans was my best friend －like the sister I never had. We did everything together: piano lessons, movies, swimming, and horseback riding.
When I was 13, my family moved away. Linda and I kept in touch through letters, and we saw each other on special time －like my wedding and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with children and moving to new homes, and we wrote less often. One day a card that I sent came back, stamped “Address Unknown”. I had no idea how to find Linda.
Over the years, I missed Linda very much, I wanted to share stories of my children and then grandchildren. And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died. There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill.
One day I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked a lot like Linda and whose last name was Wagman－ Linda’s married name. “There must be thousands of Wagmans,” I thought, but I still wrote to her.
She called as soon as she got my letter. “Mrs. Tobin!” she said excitedly, “Linda Evans Wagman is my mother.”
Minutes later I heard a voice that I knew very much, even after 40 years, laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives. Now the empty place in my heart is filled, and there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure: we won’t lose each other again!
56. The writer went to piano lessons with Linda Evans_______.
A. at the age of 13 B. before she got married
C. after they moved to new homes D. before the writer’s family moved away
57. They didn’t often write to each other because they_______.
A. got married B. had little time to do so
C. didn’t like writing letters D. could see each other on special time
58. There was an empty place in the writer’s heart because she______.
A. was in trouble
B. didn’t know Linda’s address
C. received the card that she sent
D. didn’t have a friend like Linda to share her happiness or sadness
59. The writer was happy when she_________.
A. read the newspaper
B. heard Linda’s voice on the phone
C. met a young woman who looked a lot like Linda
D. wrote to the woman whose last name was Wagman
One moment it was quiet and calm in the forest, the next, the air was charged with tension. The elephant had heard the distant alarm calls of animals and her mood suddenly changed. I urged the elephant deeper into the forest. We sounded like a forest fire --- cracking, snapping, trailblazing. But through all the noise came a sharp warning cry. The elephant stopped and we heard it again --- the tell-tale call of a spotted deer.
I looked quickly around the shadows of the forest. Rays of sunlight shone through tree branches, beneath which the patchwork（交错）of green plants and shadows-within-shadows would make tiger stripes（条纹）look more attractive. Apart from an occasional noise from the elephant’s stomach, the forest was silent.
Gradually, the tension slipped from our bodies. The elephant seized a nearby branch and put it into its mouth. I reached forward and gently moved my hand over the elephant’s neck; there was a soft part, free of wrinkles and hairs, behind her ear.
This was my fourth time to sense the aura of the forest in Corbett, although I saw no tigers in the end. Located at the foot of the Himalayan mountains, Corbett is home to about 135 Bengal tigers, but the forest seemed to be guarding their whereabouts（出没处）, a silent reminder of their secrecy and rarity. Still, I was happy enough touching the elephant behind the ear. If I had so desperately wanted to see a tiger, I could have gone to a zoo. After all, spotting tigers merely confirms their beauty; tracking them can make you aware of something more.Which of the following was a clear signal of alarm?
| A．The elephant stopped. |
| B．A spotted deer called. |
| C．The elephant seized a branch. |
| D．The forest was silent for a while. |
The author begins his account of the tour in the forest mainly by _______.
| A．describing various sounds |
| B．comparing different animals |
| C．listing different activities |
| D．introducing various plants |
What does the underlined part “to sense the aura” most probably mean?
| A．To see the diversity. |
| B．To enjoy the scenery. |
| C．To feel the atmosphere. |
| D．To experience the freedom. |
How does the author feel after several visits to Corbett?
| A．Seeing a Bengal tiger is quite thrilling. |
| B．It is very time-consuming to travel in Corbett. |
| C．It is really worthwhile to study the animals in Corbett. |
| D．The process of finding Bengal tigers is most appealing. |
The idea of being able to walk on water has long interested humans greatly. Sadly, biological facts prevent us ever accomplishing such a thing without artificial aid --- we simply weigh too much, and all our mass pushes down through our relatively small feet, resulting in a lot of pressure that makes us sink.
However, several types of animals can walk on water. One of the most interesting is the common basilisk Basilicus basilicus, a lizard（蜥蜴）native to Central and South America. It can run across water for a distance of several meters, avoiding getting wet by rapidly hitting the water's surface with its feet. The lizard will take as many as 20 steps per second to keep moving forward. For humans to do this, we'll need huge feet that we could bring up to our ears in order to create adequate "hitting."
But fortunately there is an alternative: cornflour. By adding enough of this common thickening agent to water (and it does take a lot), you can create a "non-Newtonian" liquid that doesn't behave like normal water. Now if the surface of the water is hit hard enough, particles（粒子）in the water group together for a moment to make the surface hard. Move quickly enough and put enough force into each step, and you really can walk across the surface of an adequately thick liquid of cornflour.
Fun though all this may sound, it's still rather messy and better read about in theory than carried out in practice. If you must do it, then keep the water wings handy in case you start to sink --- and take a shower afterward!
| 1． |
Walking on water hasn't become a reality mainly because humans.
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| 2． |
What do we know about Basilicus basilicas from the passage?
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| 3． |
What is the function of the cornflour according to the passage?
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| 4． |
What is the author's attitude toward the idea of human's walking on water?
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There have always been a lot of commonly believed but false ideas about being fat and doing exercise. Some people believe that they can’t help putting on weight as they get older, while others hold that if they stop exercising, their muscles will turn into fat. Here are some more myths:
I’ll never lose weight --- I come from a fat family
Wrong! While we can’t change the body type we are born with, we can’t blame our genes for making us fat. There’s plenty of evidence that fatness runs in families, and the main reason is that they share the same habits of eating too much and exercise too little.
I am fat because I burn calories slowly
Wrong! Fatness is not caused by a slow metabolism（新陈代谢）. If fact, although fat people consume more energy that slim people, they also fail to realize how much they eat! Keeping a diary can help you work out your daily food intake more accurately.
Exercise is boring
Wrong! Anything will become boring if you do it repetitively. The key is to develop a balanced and varied program that’s fun as well as progressive. If you enjoy a Sunday walk, take a different route. If you do Yoga, try a tai chi class. If you like swimming, set yourself a distance or time challenge.
No pain, no gain
Wrong! Exercise is not meant to hurt. Indeed, pain is your body telling you something’s wrong, and continuing to exercise could lead to serious injury. You may experience mild discomfort as you begin to exercise regularly, but this your body adapting to the positive changes in your lifestyle and the aches should disappear relatively quickly. If you don’t, rest and seek medical advice.What does the author think about being fat?
| A．It is the family genes that make people fat. |
| B．People are fat because they consume too little energy. |
| C．A diary of exercise can prevent people from becoming fat. |
| D．It is the consequence of people’s unbalanced lifestyle. |
According to the author, how can we make exercise more interesting?
| A．By taking varied exercise. |
| B．By choosing simple exercise. |
| C．By doing regular exercise. |
| D．By sticking to outdoor exercise. |
What is the author’s opinion about “No pain, no gain” in exercising?
| A．Keeping fit is essentially a painful experience. |
| B．Exercise should be stopped if continuous pain is felt. |
| C．Pain in exercise is a precondition for reaching your goal. |
| D．Getting used to pain leads to positive changes in your body. |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To declare the importance of keeping fit. |
| B．To clarify some misconceptions about fatness and exercise. |
| C．To confirm what has long been believed about keeping fit. |
| D．To explain some medical facts about being fat and doing exercise. |
I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled（贴标签）everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.
War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming. "Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!" Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.
The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled（爬）under her covers, sobbing.
Obviously, that was not something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart.
Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn't notice Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me, "Thanks."
Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn't always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.
| 1． |
What made Kate so angry one evening?（）
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| 2． |
The author tidied up the room most probably because（）.
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| 3． |
How is Paragraph 1 mainly developed?（）
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| 4． |
What might be the best title for the story?（）
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A city child’s summer is spent in the street in front of his home, and all through the long summer vacations I sat on the edge of the street and watched enviously the other boys on the block play baseball. I was never asked to take part even when one team had a member missing—not out of special cruelty, but because they took it for granted I would be no good at it. They were right, of course.
I would never forget the wonderful evening when something changed. The baseball ended about eight or eight thirty when it grew dark. Then it was the custom of the boys to retire to a little stoop(门廊) that stuck out from the candy store on the corner and that somehow had become theirs. No grownup ever sat there or attempted to. There the boys would sit, mostly talking about the games played during the day and of the game to be played tomorrow. Then long silences would fall and the boys would wander off one by one. It was just after one of those long silences that my life as an outsider changed. I can no longer remember which boy it was that summer evening who broke the silence with a question: but whoever he was, I nod to him gratefully now. “What’s in those books you’re always reading?” he asked casually. “Stories,” I answered. “What kind?” asked somebody else without much interest.
Nor do I know what drove me to behave as I did,for usually I just sat there in silence, glad enough to be allowed to reain among them; but instead of answering his question, I told them for two hours the story I was reading at the moment. The book wasSister Carrie.They listened bug-eyed and breathless. I must have told it well, but I think there was another and deeper reason that made them to keep an audience. Listening to a tale being told in the dark is one of the most ancient of man’s entertainments, but I was offering them as well, without being aware of doing it, a new and exciting experience.
The books they themselves read werethe Rover BoysorTom Swiftor G.A.Henty. I had read them too, but at thirteen I had long since left them behind. Since I was much alone I had become an enthusiastic reader and I had gone through the books-for-boys series. In those days there was no reading material between children’s and grownups’books or I could find none. I had gone right fromTome Swift and His Flying Machineto Theodore Dreiser andSister Carrie. Dreiser had hit my young mind, and they listened to me tell the story with some of the wonder that I had had in reading it.
The next night and many nights thereafter, a kind of unspoken ritual (仪式) took place. As it grew dark, I would take my place in the center of the stoop and begin the evening’s tale. Some nights, in order to taste my victory more completely, I cheated. I would stop at the most exciting part of a story by Jack London or Bret Harte, and without warning tell them that that was as far as I had gone in the book and it would have to be continued the following evening. It was not true, of course; but I had to make certain of my new-found power and position. I enjoyed the long summer evenings until school began in the fall. Other words of mine have been listened to by larger and more fashionable audiences, but for that tough and athletic one that sat close on the stoop outside the candy store, I have an unreasoning love that will last forever.Watching the boys playing baseball, the writer must have felt ________.
| A．bitter and lonely | B．special and different |
| C．pleased and excited | D．disturbed and annoyed |
The writer feels grateful even now to the boy who asked the question because the boy ________.
| A．invited him to join in their game |
| B．liked the book that he was reading |
| C．broke the long silence of that summer evening |
| D．offered him an opportunity that changed his life |
According to Paragraph 3, story-telling was popular among the boys basically because ________.
| A．the story was from a children’s book |
| B．listening to tales was an age-old practice |
| C．the boys had few entertainments after dark |
| D．the boys didn’t read books by themselves |
The boys were attracted toSister Carriebecause ________.
| A．it was written by Theodore Dreiser |
| B．it was specifically targeted at boys |
| C．it gave them a deeper feeling of pleasure |
| D．it talked about the wonders of the world |
Sometimes the writer stopped at the most exciting part of a story to _______.
| A．play a mean trick on the boys |
| B．experience more joy of achievement |
| C．add his own imagination to the story |
| D．help the boys understand the story better |
What is the message conveyed in the story?
| A．One can find his position in life in his own way. |
| B．Friendship is built upon respect for each other. |
| C．Reading is more important than playing games. |
| D．Adult habits are developed from childhood. |