第二部分：阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）第一节（共15小题；-优题课

The case for college has been accepted without question for more than a generation．
All high school graduates ought to go, says conventional wisdom and statistical evidence, because college will help them earn more money, become “better” people, and learn to be more responsible citizens than those who don’t go．
But college has never been able to work its magic for everyone．And now that close to half our high school graduates are attending, those who don’t fit the pattern are becoming more numerous, and more obvious．College graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis; college students interfere with each other’s experiments and write false letters of recommendation in the intense competition for admission to graduate school．Others find no stimulation in their studies, and drop out ------ often encouraged by college administrators．
Some observers say the fault is with the young people themselves ----- they are spoiled and they are expecting too much．But that is a condemnation of the students as a whole, and does not explain all campus unhappiness．Others blame the state of the world, and they are partly right．We’ve been told that young people have to go to college because our economy cannot absorb an army of untrained 18-year-olds．But disappointed graduates are learning that it can no longer absorb an army of trained 22-year-olds, either．
Some adventuresome educators and campus watchers have openly begun to suggest that college may not be the best, the proper, the only place for every young person after the completion of high school．
We_may_have_been_looking_at_all_those_surveysand_statistics_upside_down,_it_seems,_and_through_the_rosy_glow_of_our_own_remembered_college_experiences．Perhaps college does not make people intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal, or quick to learn things ----- maybe it is just the other way round, and intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal, quick-learning people are only the ones who have been attracted to college in the first place．And perhaps all those successful college graduates would have been successful whether they had gone to college or not．This is heresy （异端邪说） to those of us who have been brought up to believe that if little schooling is good, more has to be much better．But contrary evidence is beginning to mount up．
64．According to the passage all of the following statements are true EXCEPT______．
A．about half of the high school graduates continue their studies at school
B．college graduates are believed to be able to earn more money
C．administrators often encourage college students to drop out
D．more and more young people are found unfit for college
65．Which of the following is one of some observers’ opinions?
A．The students expect so much that they are not satisfied with the hard college life．
B．The economic situation is so discouraging that the youth have to attend college．
C．College should improve because of so much campus unhappiness．
D．Colleges provide more chances of good jobs than anywhere else．
66．What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 mean?
A．Our college experience proves that those surveys are incorrect．
B．The surveys may remind us of our beautiful college experiences．
C．The surveys should all be re-examined according to our college experiences．
D．Our college experiences may make us misunderstand the results of the surveys．
67．What is the main purpose of this passage?
A．To argue against the idea that college is the best place for all young people．
B．To put forward an idea that college should not be the first choice．
C．To value young people’s further education in colleges．
D．To persuade young people into working after the completion of high school．

Does a drink a day keep heart attacks away? Over the past 20 years, numerous studies have found that moderate alcohol consumption, say, one or two beers, glasses of wine or cocktails daily helps to prevent coronary heart disease．Last week a report in the New England Journal of Medicine added strong new evidence in support of that theory．More important, the work provided the first solid indication of how alcohol works to protect the heart．
In the study, researchers from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvad Medical School compared the drinking habits of 340 men and women who had suffered recent heart attack with those of healthy people of the same age and sex．The scientists found that people who sip one to three drinks a day are about half as likely to suffer heart attacks as nondrinkers are．The apparent source of the protection: those who drank alcohol had higher blood levels of high density lipoproteins （脂蛋白）, the so called good cholesterol （胆固醇）, which is known to prevent heart disease．
As evidence has mounted （增长）, some doctors have begun recommending a daily drink for patients of heart diseases．But most physicians are not ready to recommend a regular happy hour for everyone．The risks of teetotal ling （绝对戒酒） are nothing compared with the dangers of too much alcohol, including high blood pressure, strokes and liver troubles---not to mention violent behavior and traffic accident．Moreover, some studies suggest that even moderate drinking may increase the incidence of breast and colon cancer．Until there is evidence that the benefits of a daily dose（吸收剂量） of alcohol outweigh the risks, most people won’t be able to take a doctor’s prescription to the neighborhood bar or liquor store．
60．The report mentioned in the first paragraph indicates________．
A．the way in which alcohol can help the heart．
B．that a couple of cocktails daily can help stop heart problems
C．why alcoholic drinks are dangerous to one’s health
D．that reports on the advantages of alcohol were misled
61．Experiments showed that nondrinkers had___________．
A．larger amounts of good cholesterol B．smaller amounts of good cholesterol
C．higher blood pressure D．lower blood pressure
62．According to the passage, moderate drinking_______．
A．is recommended by most doctors for heart patients
B．should be allowed on prescription
C．is still not medically advisable
D．is not related to liver problems
63．The main theme of this passage is___________．
A．the change in recent drinking habits
B．the connection between cancer and alcohol
C．whether moderate drinkers outlive nondrinkers
D．whether alcohol may be good for one’s health

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，共40分）
第一节（共15题, 每小题2分，满分30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。
Most people know that a wedding ring is symbolic of the bond of love and commitment between two people．But not everyone knows about the history behind this small yet powerful symbol．The history of the wedding ring goes back not just hundreds but thousands of years．No other currently practiced wedding tradition has been around as long．
The Egyptians were the first recorded civilization to use the wedding ring．In Egyptian hieroglyphics（象形文字） a circle represented eternity．Once a woman accepted the ring she became the “property” of the person who gave it to her and she was in a sense “his．” The first wedding ring could have been made of braided grass or hay （which would have been changed often）, ivory, bone, or leather．Eventually, metal was used, but the first wedding bands were crude（未加工的） and rough．However, the sentiment remained the same-eternal commitment and love．
The Egyptians wore the wedding ring on the left hand because it was believed that a vein in the left hand went straight to the heart．This tradition is still commonly practiced today in most parts of the world largely for practical purposes （most people are right handed．） It is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand．But there are some countries and groups which do not follow this tradition．In the Jewish faith, the wedding ring is put on the index finger．Roman Catholics traditionally wore their wedding band on the right hand, and in many countries and regions in Europe some people still follow this tradition．
It is interesting to note that in the long history of the wedding ring that it is only in the last century that men have begun to wear them．However, now both men and women show their love and commitment by exchanging rings on their wedding day．
Once you begin shopping for rings you may be amazed by the choices that await you．There are several different types of metals: traditional gold, white gold, platinum, and titanium．You can have an inscription put on the inside of the band if you like．Some people are even choosing a tattoo band．The styles vary from a simple, yet elegant band to an elaborate ring covered with jewels．If you do not buy the wedding and engagement rings as a set you will want to be sure the styles are compatible．Choose carefully because this choice will need to stand the test of eternity．
56．What’s the best title for this passage?
A．History of rings B．Interesting facts about rings
C．Different beliefs about ringsD．The meaning of the rings．
57．What may the word “eternity” in paragraph 2 probably mean?
A．Elegance B．Marriage C．Wedding D．Foreverness
58．Which is NOT true according to the passage?
A．The meaning of the rings remained unchanged．
B．One should be careful of choosing a ring in a shop from different kinds．
C．Jewish are so faithful to their beliefs to wear rings on the fourth finger．
D．Now most people in the world still follow Roman Catholics traditionally．
59．What can we infer from the passage?
A．Men were looked upon by women for thousands years．
B．Only women have the right to make themselves beautiful．
C．women wore rings thousands of years earlier than men．
D．You can have an inscription put on the inside the band．

Here's a scene：a village where the sun always shines，crops always grow and your friends drop by to sweep your yard to the sound of guitar music．Animals do what they are told，there is no disease，and lendin’ folks a helpin’hand makes you richer and wiser．Welcome to FarmVille—
Current population 69m and rising fast．
“It reminds me of my childhood，”says one player, Lia Curran，37，a nurse from London．“Right now I'm growing wheat and flowers. I've got a small garden, and I'm raising some chickens and some cows. I like having the animals. It's relaxing.” Curran's animals, however, is nothing more than a collection of cartoons. FarmVille is an online computer game built into the social networking site Facebook and is described by its players as “addictive”. Launched last June by Zynga Game Network, FarmVille now has many players—more than the population of the UK. The players are largely women over the age of 35.
FarmVille unites the worlds of social networking and gaming．Players are given a ground with six fields，“cash”，a few seeds and a plough and have to build up wealth，skills and neighbors to create bigger，better，richer farms．Inviting your online friends to play means you earn more and get flee gifts；you rise rapidly through the first levels but，once hooked，have to work harder and harder with no final level or goal in sight．
“Games like this draw people into a fantasy world that's separate from real life where there are no issues，and where things are simple and controllable，” Brian Dudley says．In November，he opened the UK's first computer games addiction clinic，treating online gamers who stayed at the keyboard for up to eight hours a day—“the tip of the iceberg”，he says．Two weeks ago，a group of US players launched a class action against Zynga and Facebook．“Most，if not all，of the online advertisements presented through Zynga are scams(骗局)，”the lawsuit states．“The advertisements are highly misleading and often result in users ordering goods or services that they do not want or need．”
According to Nick O'neill from the social media site All Facebook，Zynga is making $500，000(￡304，000)a day，from its Facebook games，in turn spending some $50m(￡30m)a year on Facebook ads．
If all that weren't enough，FarmVille doesn't even function like a proper farm：in FarmVille，wheat grows in two days—in real life，it takes months．But play continues nevertheless．
68．If you want to create a better and richer farm，you should do the following EXCEPT that ____．
A．you have to work harder and harder
B．you should pay real—world money to advance in the game
C．you should invite your online friends and neighbors to play
D．you should develop your skills and befriend FarmVille neighbors
69．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Most young girls are fascinated by the farming game．
B．Money Zynga has made is mostly spent on advertising campaign．
C．There is potential threat to the players and some players are misled by the advertisements．
D．The UK's first computer games addiction clinic was opened to help treat online players．
70．The purpose of the class action against Zynga and Facebook was to_____．
A．show that Zynga has an extremely tight relationship with Facebook
B．try to stop Zynga and Facebook from putting advertisements
C．attract more people to FarmVille game to plant crops
D．appeal to the public to order more goods or services

The announcements by the NASA，in the form of several Web site postings and a video posted on YouTube，were in response to worries that the world will end on Dec．21，2012．
The doomsday(末日) rumour reached a high point with the release of the new movie “2012”，directed by Roland Emmerich．In the movie，Yellowstone blows up, showering the continent with black ash．Tidal waves wash over the Himalayas，where the governments of the planet have secretly built a ship which a select 400，000 people can ride out the storm．There are hundreds of hooks devoted to 2012，and millions of Web sites，depending on what combination of“2012”and“doomsday”you type into Google．All of it，astronomers say, is nonsense．“Most of what's claimed for 2012 relies on wishful thinking and ignorance of astronomy．”Ed Krupp， an expert on ancient astronomy，wrote in an article in the November issue of Sky＆Telescope．
“I get angry at the way people are being influenced and frightened to make money,” Morrison said．“There is no right to frighten children to make a buck．”suggested David Morrison，an astronomer at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field，Calif．He said he had been getting about 20 letters and e—mail messages a day from people as far away as India scared out of their wits．Morrison said he did not blame the movie for all this，as much as many other supporters of the Mayan prediction．But then，he said，“my doctorate is in astronomy，not psychology．”
In an e—mail exchange, Krupp said：“We are always uncertain about the future，and we always consume representations of it．We are always attracted by the romance of the ancient past．”A NASA spokesman，Dwayne Brown，said the agency did not comment on movies，leaving that to movie critics．But when it comes to science, Brown said, “we felt it was careful to provide a resource．”
If you want to worry，most scientists say，you should think about global climate change or nuclear war．But if ancient prophecies(预言)get you going，here are some things Morrison and the others think you should know．
64．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Dr．Morrison blamed the Movie“2011”for the panic it aroused in the public around the world．
B．People who watched the movie were seared and firmly believed that the end of the world was coming．
C．In terms of science it was better to provide evidence and theory at the same time．
D．Dr．Morrison thought it was not right to make money by frightening people．
65．It can be inferred from the text that．
A．astronomers think that doomsday is likely to happen in the near future
B．the reason why the NASA posted web site postings was to make people interested in astronomy
C．scientists think we shouldn't worry about doomsday but show concern about environment protection
D．most astronomers agree that the world is not ending—at least anytime soon
66．Which of the following would be the best title?
A．A New Movie“2012”B．Is Doomsday Coming?
C．End-of-the-World Stories D．Astronomers Comment on Movies
67．What would the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
A．Evidence that the Mayans thought something special would happen in 2012．
B．What will really happen in 2012．
C．The reason why there is no need to worry about doomsday．
D．Ancient stories about the end of the world．