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,从每题所给的四个选项(A,B,C,和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项目涂黒。
A
Every people have its own way of saying things, its own special expressions.Many everyday American expressions are based on colors.
Red is a hot color.Americans often use it to express heat.They may say they are red hot about something unfair.When they are red hot they are very angry about something.The small hot tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hots for their color and their fiery taste.Fast loud music is popular with many people.They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixieland jazz.
Pink is a lighter kind of red.People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health.The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the twentieth century.It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born with a nice pink color that shows that they are in good health.
Blue is a cool color.The traditional blues music in the United States is the opposite of red hot music.Blues is slow, sad and soulful.Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded a famous song - Mood Indigo -about the deep blue color, indigo.In the words of the song: "You ain’t been blue till you’ve had that Mood Indigo." Someone who is blue is very sad.
The color green is natural for trees and grass.But it is an unnatural color for humans.A person who has a sick feeling stomach may say she feels a little green. A passenger on a boat is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green.
Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as a friend has, like a fast new car.That person may say he is green with envy.Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks.Dollars are called greenbacks because that is the color of the back side of the paper money.
The color black is used often in expressions.People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a black day.The date of a major tragedy is remembered as a black day.A blacklist is illegal now.But at one time, some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations.
56.If you had your wallet stolen while doing some shopping, you may call it __________.
A.a white day B.a black day
C.a red day D.a green day
57.Suppose a Mr.Brown says he is very happy because his three children are all in the pink, this means all his children are ________________.
A.lucky and wealthy B.gentle and modest
C.fit and healthy D.creative and energetic
58.When she got home and found nothing had been done by her husband, Jane was really____________.
A.red hot B.green C.blue D.black
59.In the following paragraph, the writer might tell the reader something about __________.
A.unpopular organizations in the world
B.people's response towards a black day
C.the influence of the traditional blues
D.more words about color, such as brown
The $11 billion self-help industry is built on the idea that you should turn negative thoughts like “I never do anything right” into positive ones
like “I can succeed.” But was positive thinking advocate Norman Vincent Peale right? Is there power in positive thinking?
Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect: it can simply highlight how unhappy they are.
The study’s authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by citing older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is very positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you tell your stupid friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, you’re just underlining his faults. In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write essays opposing funding for the disabled. When the essayists were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written.
In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students’ self-esteem. The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes. Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell. When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, “I am lovable.”
Those with low self-esteem didn’t feel better after the forced self-affirmation. In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who weren’t urged to think positive thoughts.
The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy (心理治疗) that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than fight them. In the fighting, we not only often fail but can make things worse. Meditation techniques, in contrast, can teach people to put their shortcomings into a larger, more realistic perspective. Call it the power of negative thinking.What do we learn from the first paragraph about the self-help industry?
| A.It has produced positive results. |
| B.It is a highly profitable industry. |
| C.It is based on the concept of positive thinking. |
| D.It was established by Norman Vincent Peale. |
What does the word “underline” mean (Line 4, Para. 3)?
| A.point out | B.lay emphasis on | C.pay no attention to | D.take for granted |
Which of the following is TRUE about the Canadian researchers’ study?
| A.Encouraging positive thinking many do more good than harm. |
| B.Self-affirmation can bring a positive change to one’s mood. |
| C.There can be no simple therapy for psychological problems. |
| D.Forcing a person to think positive thoughts may lower their self-esteem. |
What do we learn from the last paragraph?
| A.Meditation may prove to be a good form of psychotherapy. |
| B.People can avoid making mistakes through meditation. |
| C.Different people tend to have different ways of thinking. |
| D.The effects of positive thinking vary from person to person. |
With the development of society and economy, animals and their habitats are getting pushed aside as households decrease in size and increase in number.
Small numbers of people per household on average use more energy and goods per person. Greater numbers of households require more natural resources for construction. The possible result of this problem may be insufficient natural resourc
es to meet consumer demand without endangering habitats important to biodiversity.
Personal freedom and social choice ma
y come at huge environmental cost. Direct costs include visible damage to animal habitats and plant life. Indirect costs include the release of more greenhouse gases.
The effects of such “personal freedom and social choice” have already surfaced in south-west China’s Wolong Nature Reserve. In Wolong, they found that a reduced average household size was directly tied to an increase in homes, and thus an increase in the amount of firewood consumed for cooking and heating. The rise in wood fuel use has contributed to disappearance of forests and to the loss of habitats for giant pandas.
Curious about whether other parts of the world were experiencing similar phenomena, they got the support of a team of researchers including Stanford’s Paul Ehrlich, well-known for his population studies, to find out the household dynamics in 141 countries between 1985 and 2000. Their study proved that the difficult choice of Wolong is part of a global trend.
In the 76 countries considered biodiversity “hotspots”, such as the United States, Brazil, Australia, and Kenya, the number of households grew by 3.1% every year, while the population increased just 1.8%. Meanwhile, the number of people per home dropped from 4.7 to 4.0. The decline in household size has resulted in 155 million additional households in hotspot countries, almost always limiting biodiversity.
In the 10 non-hotspot countries — those without high-density areas of animal and plant species — similar results were found, though on a lesser scale. Even in countries experiencing population decline, such as New Zealand, the number of households still increased because of a reduction in household size.What does the underlined word “insufficient” mean?
| A.Plenty of. | B.Not enough. | C.Abundant. | D.Little. |
It can be learned from the passage that China’s Wolong Nature Reserve__________.
| A.is facing the same threat as many other parts of the world |
| B.sets a good example in protecting animals |
| C.is a place where giant pandas and their habitats are not affected |
| D.is a place where animals and their habitats are seriously damaged |
Which of the following is best supported by the last two paragraphs?
| A.Biodiversity is better kept in countries with smaller populations. |
B.Biodiversity is bet ter kept in hotspot countries. |
C. The threat to nature from reduction in household size is a worldwide problem. |
| D.Both hotspot countries and non-hotspot countries face the threat of the same scale. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A.Reduced household size leads to an increase in household number. |
| B.Modern homes consume more natural resources. |
| C.How to meet consumer demand without endangering animals and their habitats. |
| D.Reduction in household size as well as increase in household number threatens nature. |
Recently, online high schools in America have sparked (激发) a debate about whether or not taxpayers’ money should be used to support online education. Online schools receive the same amount of funding as all other public schools, even though they don’t have to pay for rent or school equipment. States should use their educational funds to improve education at real schools, not to support online programs.
Some students only use online classes to supplement their school work. They benefit from the social experience of a traditional high school, while still taking online courses.
However, about 90 thousand students in America receive their education only from online schools. 50 thousand of these students take courses at Florida Virtual School, the largest online school in the country. While this method of schooling helps students who live in remote regions, most school systems are upset that they are losing more students each year to these online programs.
Although online learning allows children to work at their own pace, these online schools have only one teacher per several hundred students. Often, teachers can’t give struggling students the help they need as they are unable to talk face-to-face with them, to find exactly what they’re having difficulty with.
Additionally, even though online schooling accommodates (顾及) students who live in more remote states, students in online programs may suffer in social situations because they will not learn valuable communication skills from their schooling. Similar to students who are home schooled, those who take only online classes won’t learn social etiquette (礼节), and will be treated differently by their peers.
Online schooling might be useful for places where there are not enough students for a real school, such as agricultural regions, but states should only spend taxpayers’ money on online schools in extreme cases.What is the passage mainly about?
| A.Whether students should study at online schools. |
| B.Whether online schools should be allowed to exist. |
| C.Whether taxpayers should pay for online schools. |
| D.Whether traditional schools should be replaced. |
According to the passage, online schooling _____.
| A.is helpful to students living in remote regions |
| B.allows students to work together |
| C.makes it possible for students to get immediate help |
| D.develops students’ critical thinking |
According to Paragraph 5, the author worries that students at online schools _____.
| A.might lose interest in learning |
| B.would play online games |
| C.could not receive teachers’ help |
| D.could not become fully developed |
What is the author’s attitude?
| A.Taxpayers should not pay for online schools at all. |
| B.Taxpayers should pay more for online schools than real schools. |
| C.Taxpayers’ money should be spent on online schools conditionally. |
| D.Taxpayers should support online schools in different ways. |
Ibrahim became disabled after contracting polio (小儿麻痹症) when he was three years old. At first his parents, like many other parents of disabled children in Niger, did not want to send him to school. They were worried he would be laughed at by his classmates.
Despite his disability, and his parents’ doubts, Ibrahim was determined to go to school. “When I was eight,” Ibrahim says, “other kids of my age were going to school while I stayed at home. I did not like that. So, I pestered (缠着) my parents until they finally let me go to school.”
Ibrahim’s parents sent him to a private school nearby. Although the journey to and from school was a short one, it still wasn’t easy for Ibrahim. He had to use his hands to help him move along, protecting them with plastic slippers. But at least he was getting an education.
However, after only a year in school, Ibrahim’s education was interrupted when his parents separated. His mother did not have the means to continue paying for his tuition.
In 2007, Ibrahim received some money to be fitted with a leg brace (支架), corrective shoes and his first pair of crutches (拐杖). Now that he was more mobile than before, the most important thing for him was to find a way to go back to school.
“I wanted to start school again last October,” Ibrahim says. “After my mother told me she could not afford it, I went to visit some of my relatives for support. And I collected 5,000 francs CFA (US $8) to pay my tuition for half a year. I will find the rest of the money somehow.”
Ibrahim attends a school in which he is the only disabled student. According to his teacher, he is among the top five students in a class of 55. Why did Ibrahim’s parents prefer Ibrahim to stay at home?
| A.There was a lot of housework for him to do. |
| B.They had no money to pay for his tuition. |
C.There were not enough schools in the country. |
| D.They were afraid the students would make fun of him. |
How did Ibrahim go to school before his parents separated?
| A.He went to school on his wheelchair. |
| B.He went to school on his parents’ bicycle. |
| C.He walked to school with the support of his hands. |
| D.He walked to school using a pair of crutches. |
Ibrahim’s education was interrupted because of his _____.
| A.parents’ doubts | B.lack of tuition | C. physical disability |
D.terrible mood |
The best title for the passage might be _____.
| A.A long way to go | B.Determined to learn |
| C.The only disabled student | D.I did not like that |
The days of Europeans relaxing in the cafe with a newspaper and a seemingly endless cup of coffee appear to be numbered.A new English expression is popular in Europe these days:“coffee to go.”
“Five or ten years ago it was much more normal to sit in a cafe for several hours than it is nowadays,”says Joann,who works in a central Berlin coffee bar owned by the Canadian coffee and bakery chain Tim’s.
“There is a trend towards a more fast-paced life.But people still act surprised when you ask if the coffee is‘to go’.You mean I can take it with me? they ask..”
“Europe is often five or eight years behind trends in America,”says Joann.“In the States.‘coffee to go’is part of everyday life.”
Owing in part to Starbucks,it appears to be very much part of everyday life in many other countries too.
The Seattle-based group compete with a growing number of global chains in attempting to reshape coffee drinking cultures in regions including Asia and the Middle East.
The US is the model for continental Europe’s new“coffee to go”culture:Each of the new cafe bars offers bagels,muffins,brownies and cookies to go with the coffee.
But then,“coffee to go’’might sound a little odd to English ears used to the words “takeaway”or take one.
It does sum up the brisker pace of life since the city resumed its status as the German capital following the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989.
As one more sign of the changing times,one of Berlin’s most venerable(古老而庄重的)coffee houses,cafe Einstein,has followed the trend by opening a small chain of coffee shops across the city.
Taking coffee,slowly and in decorous(端正的)surroundings,has been a feature of European coffee houses,particularly in German speaking countries,for decades.
For the elderly citzens of Vienna it amounts to a ritual(仪式)when they gather in coffee houses around the city for a cup of their favovrite drink and a piece of rich,creamy cake.From the passage,we can see that .
| A.“coffee to go” springs in Europe these days |
| B.Europe is often a few years before trends in America |
| C.America often follows Europe’s “coffee to go”culture |
| D.it’s easy to reshape coffee drinking cultures in the Middle East |
Every new cafe bar offers some to go with the coffee
| A.food | B.newspaper | C.drink | D.music |
More and more Europeans have takeaway coffee because .
| A.Europeans live a more fast-paced life now |
| B.The coffee is much cheaper |
| C.Europeans are used to taking away the coffee |
| D.the coffee is easy to take away |
The characteristic of European coffee houses is .
| A.“coffee to go ”as part of daily life |
| B.sitting in a cafe bar for several hours |
| C.having coffee slowly in a pleasant atmosphere |
| D.taking away coffee in a hurry |