第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题;每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
A
“Mr. Mandela has spent 67 years making the world a better place. We’re asking you for 67 minutes”. Nelson Mandela turns 91 on the 18th of July, and the call has gone out for people everywhere to celebrate his birthday and the global launch of Mandela Day by acting on the idea that each person has the power to change the world.
The call by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and its sister organizations for the creation of an official global Mandela Day is gaining great support. It is to be celebrated on the 18th of July every year－Mandela’s birthday.
“The celebration of Mandela Day aims to call on people to recognize their power and devote 67 minutes to making an imprint (印记) and helping change the world around them for the better”, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said at the launch of the campaign in April.
“Nelson Mandela has been making an imprint on the world for 67 years, beginning in 1942 when he first started to fight for the human rights of every South African. He has set a good example to the world. ”
Mandela said at the time of the launch that he would be honoured if such a day can serve to bring together people around the world to fight poverty and improve peace.
Former US president Bill Clinton said Mandela’s example showed that the power of public kindness does not require public office, but a well-placed heart and a determined mind .
South African President Jacob Zuma said it would give people in South Africa and all over the world the opportunity to do something good to help others. Let us wholeheartedly support Mandela Day and encourage the world to join us in this wonderful campaign.
51. The underlined word “launch” in the first paragraph can be replaced by“________”.
A．celebration B．creation C．realization D. activity
52. The aim of setting up Mandela Day is to________ .
A．celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday
B．improve the international position of South Africa
C．encourage people to fight poverty
D．call on people to make the world a much better place
53. It can be inferred from the passage that Bill Clinton and Jacob Zuma________.
A．do not support some ideas of Nelson Mandela
B．were too busy to attend Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday celebration
C．think highly of the contribution Nelson Mandela has made to the world
D．disagree with the idea of setting up a global Mandela Day
54. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Nelson Mandela began to fight for the human rights in 1942.
B．It took 67 minutes to celebrate Mandela’s birthday.
C．Presidents form all around the world will attend the celebration.
D．The Nelson Mandela Foundation made 18th July Mandela Day.
One morning when I was 11, I explored the town’s abandoned round grain barn（谷仓）. I found a chained sliding door that was wide enough for me to pass through.
Inside, there was a heavy smell of dead mice in the dark. After my eyes adjusted, I noticed a shaft (升降机井) that rose all the way to the top of the barn. On one side was a one-man elevator with a long rope and roller.
I stepped onto the platform and gave the rope a drag and the elevator began sliding up the shaft, but stopped halfway. After a brief panic attack, I noticed holes in the wall at regular intervals, forming a ladder. For reasons known only to an 11-year-old, I decided it would be better to go up than down. So, with shaking hands, I began climbing the wall.
After what seemed like forever, I reached the top of the shaft. I stood up, dusted myself off and found…absolutely nothing of interest. It was just an empty room with a ladder leading up to the roof. I climbed all the way up here for this? Then I noticed a fire extinguisher（灭火器）,which I’d always wanted to shoot off. So this was the chance of a lifetime. I tried it, and, much to my surprise, the thing worked! It shot out a thick cloud of powder that instantly filled the room. I couldn’t breathe. I was going to choke to death, and they’d probably never even find my body.
Luckily, I remembered the ladder to the roof. I climbed up, popped the straw roof and saw a bright blue sky.
I suddenly realized the dust and powder pouring out of the top could draw attention. So when the dust had settled, I climbed down and slipped out of the chained door. I’m not sure if I was more excited about being alive or about not being caught, but I ran all the way back home.When the author got inside the barn, he _______.
| A．noticed a man on the elevator |
| B．opened the chained sliding door |
| C．saw many dead mice in the dark |
| D．found a shaft leading to the top |
Which of the following is the right order of the author’s adventure?
a. The elevator stopped halfway.
b. He entered the round grain barn.
c. He climbed to the top of the shaft.
d. He found a fire extinguisher and shot it off.
| A．b-a-c-d | B．b-c-a-d |
| C．b-a-d-c | D．b-c-a-d |
After getting out of the chained door, the author might feel _______.
| A．inspired | B．relieved |
| C．surprised | D．disappointed |
From the passage, we can learn that the author was probably a boy full of _______.
| A．passions | B．dreams |
| C．curiosity | D．imagination |
A characteristic of American culture that has become almost a tradition is to respect the self-made man — the man who has risen to the top through his own efforts, usually beginning by working with his hands. While the leader in business or industry or the college professor occupies a higher social position and commands greater respect in the community than the common laborer or even the skilled factory worker, he may take pains to point out that his father started life in America as a farmer or laborer of some sort.
This attitude toward manual(体力的) labor is now still seen in many aspects of American life. One is invited to dinner at a home that is not only comfortably but even luxuriously (豪华地) furnished and in which there is every evidence of the fact that the family has been able to afford foreign travel, expensive hobbies, and college education for the children; yet the hostess probably will cook the dinner herself, will serve it herself and will wash dishes afterward, furthermore the dinner will not consist merely of something quickly and easily assembled from contents of various cans and a cake or a pie bought at the nearby bakery. On the contrary, the hostess usually takes pride in careful preparation of special dishes. A professional man may talk about washing the car, digging in his flowerbeds, painting the house. His wife may even help with these things, just as he often helps her with the dishwashing. The son who is away at college may wait on table and wash dishes for his living, or during the summer he may work with a construction gang on a highway in order to pay for his education.From paragraph 1, we can know that in America _________.
| A．people feel painful to mention their fathers as laborers |
| B．people can always rise to the top through their won efforts |
| C．college professors win great respect from common workers |
| D．people tend to have a high opinion of the self-made man |
According to the passage, the hostess cooks dinner herself mainly because _________.
| A．servants in American are hard to get |
| B．she takes pride in what she can do herself |
| C．she can hardly afford servants |
| D．It is easy to prepare a meal with canned food |
The expression “wait on table” in the second paragraph means “_________”.
| A．wait to lay the table |
| B．keep accounts for a bar |
| C．serve customers in a restaurant |
| D．work in a furniture shop |
Which of the following may serve as the best title of the passage?
| A．American Attitude toward Manual Labor |
| B．A Respectable Self-made Family |
| C．Characteristics of American Culture |
| D．The Development of Manual Labor |
For a long time the packaging industry has been attacked for using what is thought as large amounts of packaging, choosing materials which are felt to have high impacts on the environment, and for being responsible for littering and overflowing land fills. In a study performed by WRAP, one of the first to study food waste in the UK in 2012, the most frequent responses when consumers were asked about packaging were “uses too much material” and “bad for the environment”. The conclusions of these reports highlighted that the degree of the problem has been largely underestimated：at least 30% of food produced in the world is wasted. These figures are similar no matter if you are in the developed or developing world.
However, two publications from cross—industry work groups were published recently, and have managed to reset the discussion to take into account the benefits of packaging for sustainability(可持续性).The first publication, “The Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability”, describes an agreed common approach towards measuring packaging sustainability metrics(指标), so that the industry is not competing based on the definition of a metric, but rather competing based on performance. The second was, “'Packaging in the Sustainability Agenda, A Guide for Corporate Decision Makers”, which highlighted the contributions of packaging to the three aspects of sustainability: packaging protects products and prevents waste(environmental aspect); packaging enables efficient business conduct(economic aspect); and packaging provides consumers with the benefits of the products it contains(social aspect).
Packaging performs indeed a wide variety of functions throughout the value chain and contributes to reducing food waste by protecting ingredients(佐料)and products during transportation and by delivering family—sized packages. Food waste could be avoided for single households if they are provided with the choice of pack sizes meeting their consumption patterns and are not forced to buy larger packs that they may not be able to finish before the use—by date. Despite the fact that smaller sized packs use more packaging, the fact that food waste is reduced would nevertheless decrease overall environmental impacts of the packed product.It has long been thought that _______.
| A．larger quantities of food are wasted in developed countries |
| B．WRAP is the first authority to study food waste in UK |
| C．packaging does great harm to the environment |
| D．packaging offers a powerful means to reduce food waste |
According to the two publications in Paragraph 2，_______.
| A．an agreement should be reached on measuring packaging sustainability |
| B．the industry should compete based on the definition of sustainability metrics |
| C．smaller sized packs promotes less packaging and purchase among consumers |
| D．sustainable packaging is eco-friendly，economically practical and socially beneficial |
The author’s attitude towards packaging is ___________.
| A．approving | B．negative |
| C．casual | D．doubtful |
If you’re travelling in the following cities, these exciting events may drag you out of the house.
CONCERTS
Mayday Noah’s Ark World Tour
Info: Jul 13, Xiamen; Jul 19/20, Shanghai; Aug 3, Shenzhen; Aug 17, Beijing
The rock band Mayday is about to bring their attractive tour to an end — and, as usual, it's going to happen in a grand way. On Aug 17, they will rock the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest Stadium, and hold their last Noah’s(诺亚方舟) Ark concert in China, before heading to Europe in September.
Tanya Chua 2013 Concert Tour
Info: Aug 10, Shanghai; Aug 31, Beijing
In her music career of more than 15 years, the 38-year-old Singaporean singer-songwriter has never been short of popular songs that astonish the heart. Now, for the first time since 2008, when she played a small Christmas concert in Shanghai, Chua is visiting China as part of a concert tour.
THEATER
What is Success?
Director: Edward Lam
Performers: Chu Hung-chang, Ethan Wei, Shi Yi-hsiu
Info: Aug 9-10, Guangzhou; Aug 16-17, Chongqing; Aug 29-Sept 1, Beijing
In Part Three of Edward Lam’s Four Great Classics Series, which looks back at Luo Guanzhong’s novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is sure to give you a surprise. Will it be true? Find out for yourself!
To Live
Director: Meng Jinghui
Performers: Huang Bo, Yuan Quan
Info: Jul 30-Aug 4, Beijing; Aug 6-7, Tianjin; Aug 9-11, Hangzhou; Aug 13-18, Shanghai
After their world show in September, theater director Meng Jinghui and his team are back for another tour around China. While audiences can renew their memories of Yu Hua’s new realism works, film stars Huang Bo and Yuan Quan will also impress audiences with their excellent performance.
EXHIBITIONS
Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal(永恒)
Info: Apr 29-Jul 28, Shanghai
Launched in 2012 — the 25th anniversary of the pop artist Andy Warhol's death — the exhibition brings the largest ever collection of Warhol’s work to Asia. It includes more than 300 paintings, photographs, drawings and 3-D art, including his works such as Marilyn Monroe, Mao, Campbell’s Soup and Self-Portrait.You may find the above advertisements ____.
| A．in a store window | B．in a school magazine |
| C．in a newspaper | D．on a company notice-board |
The rock band Mayday is going to give concerts in ____ after they perform in Beijing.
| A．Australia | B．Japan |
| C．Europe | D．the USA |
Tanya Chua 2013 Concert Tour is her ____ concert in China.
| A．first | B．second | C．third | D．fourth |
The main purpose of the advertisements is to tell you ____ when you are in these cities.
| A．how to enjoy these activities |
| B．how to improve your artistic level |
| C．how to amuse yourselves |
| D．what to enjoy |
My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister's bureau(衣橱) and picked out a wonderful skirt. "Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion.” Well, I guess this is the occasion.
He took the skirt from me and put it on the bed. His hands touched the soft material for a moment, then he shut the drawer and turned to me, "Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion."
I'm still thinking about his words, and they've changed my attitude to life. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to enjoy, not suffer. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and treasure them.
"Someday" and "one of these days" are being lost from my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now. I' m not sure what my sister would have done if she had known she wouldn't have tomorrow.
I think she would have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend her fences for past things. I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food.
If I knew that my hours were limited, those little things left undone would make me angry. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get in touch with some day. Angry and sorry because I didn't tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them.
I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that every day, every minute; every breath truly, is... a gift from God.The best title for the passage would be______.
| A．Every day is An Important Occasion | B．My Poor Sister |
| C．Value Friendship Every Day | D．Every day is A Gift |
Jan bought the wonderful skirt but didn't wear it because______.
| A．she wanted to wear it on special occasions |
| B．she kept it as a special gift for someone else |
| C．she saved it until she grew older |
| D．she wanted to keep it as a sweet memory |
Which of the following is not the writer’s attitude to life?
| A．spending more time staying with family |
| B．enjoying life and valuing every day |
| C．attending social activities as often as possible |
| D．trying to get along well with friends |
Which of the following can best explain the expression underlined “mend her fences for past things” in Paragraph 5?
| A．break her word |
| B．try to be friendly again with someone |
| C．give up her point of view |
| D．keep her promise |