第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
You're in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation:
“I can't believe it--a Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn't it beautiful? And it's a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome.”
They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It's nice and the price is right. You've never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. They must know. So, you buy it. You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes.
Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too. This is the secret of undercover marketing. Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.
Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation----consumers between the age of 18 and 34. It is a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads.
So advertising agencies hire young actors to “perform” in bars and other places where young adults go. Some people might call this practice deceptive(骗人的), but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative. “Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing.”
However, one might ask what exactly is “real” about of young women pretending to be enthusiastic about a sweater? Advertising executives would say it's no less real than an ad. The difference is that you know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. You don' t know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance.
56. The two attractive young women were talking so that they could ________.
A. get the sweater at a lower price B. be heard by people around
C. be admired by other shoppers D. decide on buying the sweater
57. Lorenzo Bertolla is __________.
A. a very popular male singer B. an advertising agency
C. a clothing company in Rome D. the brand name of a sweater
58. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A. The two girls are in fact employed by the Lorenzo Bertolla Company.
B. The MTV generation tend to be more easily influenced by ads.
C. Traditional advertising is becoming less effective because it's too direct.
D. Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government.
59. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Two Attractive Shoppers B. Lorenzo Bertolla Sweaters
C. Ways of Advertising D. Undercover Marketing
As the pace（步速） of life continues to increase , we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through lift, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is completely necessary for a healthy mind and body.
Stress is an natural part of everyday lift and there is no way to avoid it. In fact , it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.
The amount of stress a person can withstand(忍受) depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities. Others lose heart at the first signs of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make choice between "fight" or "flight" and in more primitive days the choice made the difference between life or death. The crises（危机）we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same response. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Such serious conditions as high blood pressure and heart disease have established（确定的）links with stress. Since we cannot remove stress from our lives (it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it.Which of the following statements is true, according to the passage?
| A．We can find some ways to avoid stress |
| B．Stress is always harmful to people’s health. |
| C．It is easy to change the habit of keeping oneself busy with work. |
| D．Different people can withstand different amounts of stress |
In the last sentence of the passage, “do so” refers to .
| A．“expose ourselves to stress” |
| B．“find ways to deal with stress” |
| C．“remove stress from our lives” |
| D．“establish links between diseases and stress” |
According to the author, the right attitude toward stress is .
| A．to avoid it |
| B．to try to deal with it |
| C．to regard it as a vital motivation |
| D．to find some relaxation |
The Sahara Festival is a three-day African celebration of the very recent past, which takes place every year either in November or December. It is part military display and part competition. The military display comes first. It is very popular with tourists and local people and especially with government leaders.
During the opening ceremonies, the government leaders first make speeches. They welcome everybody to the display and hope that everyone will enjoy themselves. Then there is a display of soldiers who march very smartly in front of the place where the government leaders sit. Then horsemen from several different countries show off their beautiful clothes and their good riding skills. One after another they come and dancers from all over the Sahara take their turns to show off their wonderful traditional clothes and dances. They are accompanied by men playing drums and beating strong rhythms for the dancers.
The highlight of the opening ceremony are the races which take place in the evening. It is the grand finale of the day. Men ride their horses very fast. Some ride with their legs in the air, others ride in pairs on different horses. It is so fast and so wonderful!The Sahara Festival is a festival which .
| A．has a very long history in North Africa |
| B．is not celebrated on the same dates each year |
| C．is attended mainly by the people in the Sahara |
| D．is celebrated only by travelers from different countries |
Before the races begin, take part in the activities during the opening ceremonies.
| A．horsemen, dancers, horses and soldiers |
| B．horsemen, horses, government leaders and dancers |
| C．government leaders, horsemen, dancers and soldiers |
| D．musicians, soldiers, government leaders and soldiers |
The underlined word “finale” in the third paragraph most probably means the of the opening day.
| A．first part | B．middle |
| C．last part | D．whole |
This passage mainly tells readers .
| A．what happens on the opening day of the Sahara Festival |
| B．how people celebrate during the three-day Sahara Festival |
| C．what takes place at the closing ceremonies of the Sahara Festival |
| D．how animals race on the first and the last days of the Sahara Festival |
Gift No. I
Offer to be your mother's health friend. Promise to be there for any and all doctor's visits whether a disease or a regular medical check-up. Most mothers always say "no need," but another set of eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor's visit. The best part? This one is free.
Gift No. 2
Help your mother organize all of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what times she takes them. "Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother's life," Dr. Marie Savard said.
Gift No. 3
Enough sleep is connected to general health conditions. "Buy your mother cotton sheets and comfortable pillows to encourage better sleep," Savard said. "We know that good sleep is very important to our health."
Gift No. 4
Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother's Day by picking gifts in which 10 percent of the price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构). Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful but inexpensive things ---many of which are "green" --- and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift, she will be told that she has helped the chosen charity.What are you advised to do for your mother at doctor's visits? ______
| A．Take notes. | B．Buy medicine. |
| C．Be with her | D．Give her gifts. |
What can be a gift of organization for your mother? ______
| A．Keeping her medical information together. |
| B．Buying all gifts for her from one company. |
| C．Making a list of her medical check-ups. |
| D．Storing her medicines in a safe place. |
Where can you find a gift idea to improve your mother’s sleep? ______
| A．In Gift No. 1. | B．In Gift No. 2. |
| C．In Gift No. 3. | D．In Gift No. 4. |
Buying gifts from Presents for Purpose allows mothers to ______
| A．enjoy good sleep | B．be well-organized |
| C．get extra support | D．give others help |
Some people do not like anything to be out of place; they are never late for work; they return their books to the library on time; they remember people's birthdays; and they pay their bills as soon as they arrive. Mr. Dodds is such a person .
Mr. Dodds works in a bank, and lives on his own. The only family he has is in the next town :his sister lives there with her husband, and her son, Mark, Mr. Dodds does not see his sister, or her family, from one year to the next, but he sends them Christmas cards, and he has not forgotten one of Mark’s seventeen birthdays.
Last week Mr. Dodds had quite a surprise. He drove home from the bank at the usual time, driving neither too slowly nor too fast. He parked his car where he always parked it, out of the way of other cars, and he went inside to make his evening meal. Straight away, there was a knock at the door. Mr Dodds opened the door to find a policeman standing on the door-step .
“What have I done wrong ?” Mr. Dodds asked himself . “Have I driven on the wrong side of the road? Has there been some trouble at the bank? Have I forgotten to pay an important bill?”
“Hello, Uncle ,” said the policeman,” My name is Mark.”From the passage we know that his sister ______.
| A．lives in the next town with her husband and son |
| B．is the only member of the family that he knows |
| C．never writes back to him |
| D．has a small family: a son and Mark, her husband |
“He has not forgotten one of Mark’s seventeen birthdays” means ____.
| A．he has not forgotten Mark’s seventeenth birthday. |
| B．he sent Mark something on his seventeenth birthday |
| C．he always sent a Christmas card on Mark’s birthday |
| D．he always sent Mark something on his birthday |
There was a knock at the door when Mr. Dodds was ______.
| A．driving home from the bank |
| B．parking his car |
| C．ready to make his evening meal |
| D．just about to shut the front door |
The policeman was there _______.
| A．to ask Mr. Dodds to go to see his uncle |
| B．to ask Mr. Dodds to park his car not too near to other cars |
| C．to meet Mr. Dodds, his uncle |
| D．to see Mr. Dodds about some trouble at the bank |
Many people take it for granted(认为…理所当然) that black is a color of bad things while white should always mean something good．This may be because, in their opinion, black is related to darkness and white to purity．
However, that is not always the case．Did you know that the same one colour may mean differently in different places of the world?
In the English-speaking world, black is the colour of mourning．People wear black clothes at the funeral．Red is concerned with danger or bloodshed (流血)．Yellow is the word for fear．If you are afraid, you are yellow．Yet none of these sayings is true outside the English-speaking world．In China and Korea white is the colour of mourning．In Russia, China and some other countries, red stands for beauty, life and excellence．In Italy and Germany, you are yellow with anger, not with fear．
Even within the English-speaking area it is not difficult to find colour contradictions (矛盾)．A redcap in the United States is a porter in a railway station．In Britain, however, a redcap is a military policeman．Both names are logical because both men wear red caps．Similarly, the British term for an American white collar worker is sometimes called a black-coated worker．
One does not have to cross an area to find color differences．Would you rather be red-blooded? If we go back to the origin, we find that both terms are logical as both names suggest．The expression "blueblood" comes from Spain, where some noble families proudly said that they had "blue blood"．But then why “blue” blood? Because they were fair-skinned, and it is only natural that their blood vessels (血管) stood out appearing blue．Yellow is concerned with anger in ______.
| A．Russia | B．Britain |
| C．China | D．Germany |
Both Britain and America would probably agree that ______.
| A．a redcap is a porter in a station |
| B．black is the color of mourning |
| C．a black-coated worker is employed in an office |
| D．red stands for beauty and excellence |
The best title for this passage is ______.
| A．The Development of the Symbolic（象征性的）Use of Colors |
| B．The Meaning Concerned With Certain Colors |
| C．Colors that Carry Bad Meanings |
| D．The Origin(起源) of Blue Blood |
When some Spanish called themselves “blueblood”, they actually meant ______.
| A．they had heart trouble and their faces looked blue |
| B．they had blue blood in their vessels |
| C．they were fair-skinned |
| D．they came from a noble family |