IV. Reading Comprehension (40 points)
Directions: Read the following four passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A,B,C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
(A)
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.
She said, “Hi, girl! My name is Rose. I’m 87 years old. Can I give you a hug?”
I laughed and enthusiastically（热情地）responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.
“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel!”
“No seriously,” I said. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.
Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us.
“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only two secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor everyday. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die!” she said.
“There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn 20 years older. If I am 87 years old, and stay in bed for a year, and never do anything, I will turn 88. Anybody can grow older. But every minute counts for young men,” she added.
“The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”
She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Song of Rose”. She challenged each of us to study the lyrics（歌词）and live them out in our daily lives.
At the year’s end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.
51. Rose made herself known to the author in a ______ manner.
A. serious B. cold C. humorous D. crazy
52. From the information provided in the passage, we know ______.
A. Rose finished the college degree within a year
B. Rose did realize her dream of meeting a rich husband and getting married through college
education
C. Rose enjoyed her campus life very much
D. Rose grew so old that she stopped playing
53. Rose delivered the speech ______.
A. at the graduation B. ended with “The Song of Rose”
C. which she prepared carefully D. to challenge all the other speakers
54. According to her speech, ______.
A. whenever you have a dream, you succeed
B. all people don’t grow up while growing older
C. Rose usually regretted having done something
D. a nine-year-old is as old as a 87-year-old if he doesn’t do anything
As I was reading a recent story in Slate on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy was ruining their life plans, I couldn’t help but think the 20-somethings sounded like a bunch of spoiled children who grew up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, I certainly share their disappointment: my husband and I probably won’t be able to buy a house until we’re in our 40s, and we too are burdened by student loans(贷款). But why should it be any different? Being young persons in America, shouldn’t they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?
Consider some of these views shared in the Slate story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won’t be able to have children for at least a decade because they can’t afford to buy a house yet.
I read that, and I thought, what planet is she living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury(奢华), not a fertility requirement.
A 26-year-old in the story despairs(绝望) that he can’t afford to get a Ph.D. in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.
Yes, it’s sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people’s expectations are slowly adjusting, but today’s 20-somethings grew up at a time when everyone’s wealth appeared to be expanding. Their parents probably saw their home values rise along with their investments. “So you have people who have grown up in an environment where people had great expectations of what living well means,” says Kobliner.
This recession(衰退) will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems a lot better for our mental health to focus on being grateful－for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day－than on longing for some kind of luxury life.
67．What makes the author think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children?
A．They expect everything to be easy for them.
B．They complain that the economy is spoiling their life plans.
C．They are reluctant to face all of the challenges.
D．They are burdened by student loans.
68．The underlined word “fertility” in Paragraph 3 probably means.
A．baby production B．pleasant
C．baby comfort D．essential
69．Which of the following is not one of the complaints of the 20-somethings?
A．They can’t have children for at least a decade to buy a house.
B．They have only one-bedroom apartment to live in.
C．They can’t buy a house until 40 because of student loans.
D．They despair at not being able to afford a Ph.D. in literature.
70．What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
A．To tell us what the author’s attitude towards the 20 – somethings.
B．To explain why young people can’t afford to buy a house.
C．To suggest what we should do when young people’s high hopes create despair.
D．To explain what the 20 – something’s high expectations are.
The questions of what children learn, and how they should learn it, is continually being debated and reheated. Nobody dares any longer to defend the old system, the parrot – fashion (way of learning by repeating what others say) of learning lessons, the grammar with a whip system，which was good enough for our grandparents．The theories of modern psychology have stepped into argue that we must understand the needs of children．Children are not just small adults；they are children who must be respected as such．
Well，you may say，this is as it should be，and a good idea．But think further．What happens?
‘Education’ becomes the responsibility not of teachers, but of psychologists．What happens then? Teachers worry too much about the psychological implications of their lessons，and forget about the subjects themselves．If a child dislikes a lesson，the teacher feels that it is his fault，not the child’s. So teachers worry whether history is ‘relevant’ to modem young children．And do they dare to recount stories about violent battles? Or will this make the children themselves violent? Can they tell their classes about children of different races，or will this encourage racial hatred? Why teach children to write grammatical sentences? Verbal expression is better．Sums? Arithmetic? No：real—life mathematical situations are more understandable．
You see．you can go too far．Influenced by educational theorists，who have nothing better to do than write books about their ideas，teachers leave their teacher—training colleges filled with grand，psychological ideas about children and their needs. They make complicated preparations and try out their ‘modern methods’ on the long – suffering children. Since one ‘modern method’ rapidly replaces another, the poor kids will have well been fed up by the time they leave school. frequently the modern methods are so complicated that they fail to be understood by the teachers, let alone the children; even more often, the relaxed discipline so necessary for the ‘informal’ feeling the class must have, prevents all but a handful of children from learning anything.
63．Under the old system, children were .
A．made to learn passively B．good enough to their grandparents
C．made to learn actively D．understood and respected by teachers
64．What happens when teachers pay too much attention to the psychological implications during a lesson?
A．They find that children dislike the lessons.
B．They worry too much about history, stories, racial hatred, grammar and arithmetic.
C．They don’t pay enough attention to what students are learning.
D．They tend to blame students for their failure in teaching.
65．How do you understand the underlined sentence at the end of the passage?
A．Children will learn well in a relaxed classroom atmosphere.
B．Few children will actually learn when there is no discipline.
C．Relaxed discipline is necessary for children to develop.
D．No children will learn anything without strict discipline.
66．What is the author’s attitude toward the theories of modern psychology?
A．Indifferent (不关心的). B．Tolerant (容忍的).
C．Supportive (支持的). D．Critical (批评的).
D
As I was reading a recent story in Slate on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy was ruining their life plans, I couldn’t help but think the 20-somethings sounded like a bunch of spoiled children who grew up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, I certainly share their disappointment: my husband and I probably won’t be able to buy a house until we’re in our 40s, and we too are burdened by student loans(贷款). But why should it be any different? Being young persons in America, shouldn’t they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?
Consider some of these views shared in the Slate story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won’t be able to have children for at least a decade because they can’t afford to buy a house yet.
I read that, and I thought, what planet is she living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury(奢华), not a fertility requirement.
A 26-year-old in the story despairs(绝望) that he can’t afford to get a Ph.D. in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.
Yes, it’s sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people’s expectations are slowly adjusting, but today’s 20-somethings grew up at a time when 
everyone’s wealth appeared to be expanding. Their parents probably saw their home values rise along with their investments. “So you have people who have grown up in an environment where people had great expectations of what living well means,” says Kobliner.
This recession(衰退) will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems a lot better for our mental health to focus on being grateful－for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day－than on longing for some kind of luxury life.
67．What makes the author think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children?
A．They expect everything to be easy for them.
B．They complain that the econo
my is spoiling their life plans.
C．They are reluctant to face all of the challenges.
D．They are burdened by student loans.
68．The underlined word “fertility” in Paragraph 3 probably means.
A．baby production B．pleasant
C．baby comfort D．essential
69．Which of the following is not one of the complaints of the 20-somethings?
A．They can’t have children for at least a decade to buy a house.
B．They have only one-bedroom apartment to live in.
C．They can’t buy a house until 40 because of student loans.
D．They despair at not being able to afford a Ph.D. in literature.
70．What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
A．To tell us what the author’s attitude towards the 20 – somethings.
B．To explain why young people can’t afford to buy a house.
C．To suggest what we should do when young people’s high hopes create despair.
D．To explain what the 20 – something’s high expectations are.
C
The questions of what children learn, and how they should
learn it, is continually being debated and reheated. Nobody dares any longer to defend the old system, the parrot – fashion (way of learning by repeating what others say) of learning lessons, the grammar with a whip system，which was good enough for our grandparents．The theories of modern psychology have stepped into argue that we must understand the needs of children．Children are not just small adults；they are children who must be respected as such．
Well，you may say，this is as it should be，and a good idea．But think further．What happens?
‘Education’ becomes the responsibil
ity not of teachers, but of psychologists．What happens then? Teachers worry too much about the psychological implications of their lessons，and forget about the subjects themselves．If a child dislikes a lesson，the teacher feels that it is his fault，not the child’s. So teachers worry whether history is ‘relevant’ to modem young children．And do they dare to recount stories about violent battles? Or will this make the children themselves violent? Can they tell their classes about children of different races，or will this encourage racial hatred? Why teach children to write grammatical sentences? Verbal expression is better．Sums? Arithmetic? No：real—life mathematical situations are more understandable．
You see．you can go too far．Influenced by educational theorists，who have nothing better to do than write books about their ideas，teachers leave their teacher—training colleges filled with grand，psychological ideas about children and their needs. They make complicated preparations and try out their ‘modern methods’ on the long – suffering children. Since one ‘modern method’ rapidly replaces another, the poor kids will have well been fed up by the time they leave school. frequently the modern methods are so complicated that they fail to be understood by the teachers, le
t alone the children; even more often, the relaxed discipline so necessary for the ‘informal’ feeling the class must have, prevents all but a handful of children from learning anything.
63．Under the old system, children were .
A．made to learn passively B．go
od enough to their grandparents
C．made to learn actively D．understood and respected by teachers
64．What happens when teachers pay too much attention to the psychological implications during a lesson?
A．They find that children dislike the lessons.
B．They worry too much about history, stories, racial hatred, grammar and arithmetic.
C．They don’t pay enough attention to what students are learning
.
D．They tend to blame students for their failure in teaching.
65．How do you understand the underlined sentence at the end of the passage?
A．Children will learn well in a relaxed classroom atmosphere.
B．Few children will actually learn when there is no discipline.
C．Relaxed discipline is necessary for children to develop.
D．No children will learn anything without strict discipline.
66．What is the author’s attitude toward the theories of modern psychology?
A．Indifferent (不关心的). B．Tolerant (容忍的).
C．Supportive (支持的). D．Critical (批评的).
B
Just 7 km east of Sydney’s city center lies Australia’s most famous beach – Bondi, with its glorious strip of golden sand and blue water. Other delightful surf beaches and small bays stretch south to Maroubra , while the harbour suburbs to the north offer sandy bays and the bushland of Sydney Harbour National Park . The life saving movement was founded in Australia in the early 1900s , and now Bondi and Bronte each claim to be the world’s first surf club .
1.Beaches
Surf and sand from Bondi to Maroubra , plus calm harbour beaches .
●With its rolling surf and long are of sand , Bondi is the region’s best-known beach and the liveliest of all the ocean suburbs .
●Four more surf beaches lie south of Bondi—Tamarama , Bronte , Coogee and Maroubra —as well as calmer Clovelly and Cordons Bay .
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2.
Bondi , Bronte or Coogee , go diving at Gordons Bay (where there is an underwater trail ), or watch a summer surf carnival .
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59．Which of the following best shows the location of each city?
the article?
