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、D）中选出最佳选项。
A
Knowing how much her own children loved presents at Christmas, Ann Sutton always tried to seek help for one or two poor families．With a social worker mother, the Sutton children had inherited her commitment to service, and knew never to take their good fortune at Christmas for granted．This year, Kinzie, her seven-year-old daughter was thrilled that Santa Claus would make a special visit to a 22-year-old mother named Ashley who worked in a factory raising her 12-month-old son by herself．
The phone rang on Sunday．A representative from a local organization was calling to say that the aid Ann had requested for Ashley had fallen through．No Santa Claus, no presents, nothing．
Ann saw the cheer vanish from her children’s faces at the news．Without a word, Kinzie ran into her bedroom．She returned, her face set with determination．Opening up her piggy bank, she put all the coins onto the table: $3.30．Everything she had.
“Mom,” she told Ann, “I know it’s not much．But maybe this will buy a present for the baby.”
At a breakfast meeting the next day, Ann told her coworkers about her daughter’s story．To her surprise, staff members began to open their purses and empty their pockets to help Kinzie．By day’s end, the story of Kinzie’s gift had spread beyond Ann’s office．She received a call from an unknown donor．If a seven-year-old could give everything she had, he said, he should at least match her gift 100 to 1．He contributed $300．
On Christmas Eve, Ann drove through the pouring rain to the small trailer where the Ashleys lived．Then she began to unload the gifts from the car, handing them to Ashley one by one．
Ashley was very moved．Reflecting on a little girl’s generosity, Ashley says she’ll one day be able to do something similar for someone else in need．“Kinzie could have used that money for herself, but she gave it away,” Ashley says．“She’s the type of kid I’d like my son to grow up to be.”
56．According to the text, Ann Sutton ______________.
A．is making lots of money B．is ready to help others
C．is only caring about herself D．is a hard-working mother
57．Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?
A．Ashley lived a hard life with her little son.
B．The Sutton children took Anne as an example to follow．
C．The coworkers of Ann helped Kinzie to realize her wish.
D．Ann Sutton tried to ask for help for her own children.
58．What can we learn about Kinzie?
A．She was afraid that Santa Claus would visit the Ashleys.
B．She should get some presents from her mother at Christmas．
C．She devoted all her coins to buying a present for the baby.
D．She was cheerful when hearing the aid had fallen through.
59．Which of the following can be inferred from the text?
A．It rained heavily on Christmas Eve.
B．Ann handed gifts to Ashley one by one.
C．Ashley hoped she would help someone else in need.
D．A good deed can influence many people’s behavior.
60．What would be the best title for the text?
A．A Young Girl’s Gift B．A Mother’s Love
C．A Story of Young Girl D．An Unknown Donor
Stanley Yelnats was given a choice. The judge said，“You may go to prison，or you may go to Camp Green Lake.”Stanley was from a poor family. He had never been to camp before. So， Stanley Yelnats seems set to serve an easy sentence，which is only fair because he is as innocent as you or me. But Stanley is not going where he thinks he is.
Camp Green Lake is like no other camp anywhere. It is a place that has no lake and nothing green. Nor is it a camp，at least not the kind of camp kids look forward to in the summertime. It is only a desert wasteland，dotted with countless holes dug by the boys who live at the camp.
At Camp Green Lake，the warden(看守)makes the boys“ build character” by spending all day, every day, digging holes：five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn’t take long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is searching for something，and before long Stanley begins his own search—for the truth. Fate is to find a solution to it all—the family curse，the mystery of the holes. The great wheel of justice has ground slowly for generations，but now it is about to reveal its verdict(裁决).Stanley Yelnats went to Camp Green Lake to_________.
| A．enjoy the summertime | B．show his innocence |
| C．Serve his sentence | D．make a choice |
We can learn from the passage that Stanley_________.
| A．stole the shoes for his relative | B．got the shoes by accident |
| C．donated the shoes to an auction | D．blamed the judge for the sentence |
In fact，the warden made the boys dig holes to__________.
| A．kill the time |
| B．build character |
| C．break the family curse |
| D．look for something |
In which section of a newspaper does this passage probably appear?
| A．Law. | B．Geography. | C．News. | D．Literature. |
Nowadays, girls are so mean to each other. Many girls are becoming the victims of the harmful behaviors of the female bully.
Emma Tracey was a popular 17-year-old and a well-liked athlete who had already won a soccer scholarship to college. But none of that stopped Emma from becoming the target of online girl on girl bullying (欺凌). Emma began to receive hundreds of online unpleasant comments via the latest social networking site called www.formspring.com.
In March 2011, Emma committed suicide and although all agreed that the online bother was not the single factor that led to Emma’ death, everyone did agree that it was a contributory factor.
Unfortunately, Emma’ story is not unique. A 2010 study conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center states: “Cyberbullying victims were almost twice as likely to have attempted suicide compared to youth who had not experienced cyberbullying. Girls are 57% more likely to be victims of aggressive cyberbullying and 92% more likely to be the criminals.”
Suicide is obviously the extreme and no one can minimize the tragedy of it. However, there are other damages that occur as a result of aggressive bullying. It can damage self-confidence and lead to feelings of worthlessness, and also increase social isolation and make victims become withdrawn, depressed, anxious, and unsafe. So what causes girls to be so unkind towards each other?
A term known as relational aggression may best describe the cause of girl on girl bullying. It starts with a clique (派系) usually led by a girl with a high level of social status and popularity. In order not to lose her position, she will control girls within the clique and take action if she feels threatened. At the leader’s directive the girls within the clique will spread rumors and lies and annoy other girls continuously.
The bullying starts at school but will quickly go to cyberbullying due to anonymity (匿名) and lack of punishment. Girls will easily do so in the anonymity of the Internet. Finally the cause will be summarized as the unsafety and jealousy of one girl and the twisted loyalty of members within her clique. Underneath the confident exterior (外表) of a female bully lie desperate unsafety.The example of Emma Tracey is given to show.
| A．popular youth are not easy to become the target of bullying |
| B．today’s youth don’t like to study any more |
| C．suicide is a serious problem among youth |
| D．cyberbullying is quite common among teenagers |
The bullying will quickly go to cyberbullying mainly because .
| A．it’s free to post comments online |
| B．the bullies don’t have to give their names online |
| C．it will not attract much attention |
| D．it will not affect their real life |
Which of the following is NOT the cause of bullying?
| A．Lack of safety. |
| B．The twisted loyalty of members within a clique. |
| C．Jealousy of others. |
| D．Trying to be friendly. |
We can infer from the last paragraph that a female bully_______ .
| A．has strong self-confidence |
| B．has strong leadership skills |
| C．is actually weak inside |
| D．is usually good at study |
The forces that make Japan one of the world's most earthquake-prone (有…倾向的) countries could become part of its long-term energy solution．
Water from deep below the ground at Japan's tens of thousands of hot springs could be used to produce electricity.
Although Japanese high-tech companies are leaders in geothermal (地热的) technology and export it, its use is limited in the nation.
"Japan should no doubt make use of its resources of geothermal energy," said Yoshiyasu Takefuji, a leading researcher of thermal-electric power production．
The disastrous earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 caused a reaction against atomic power, which previously made up 30 percent of Japan's energy needs, and increased interest in alternative energies, which account for only 8 percent.
Artist Yoko Ono has called on Japan to explore its natural energy, following the example of Iceland which uses renewable energy for more than 80 percent of its needs.
For now, geothermal energy makes up less than 1 percent of the energy needs in Japan, which has for decades relied heavily on fossil fuels and atomic power.
The biggest problem to geothermal energy is the high initial cost of the exploration and constructing the factories. Another problem is that Japan's potentially best sites are already being developed for tourism or are located within national parks where construction is forbidden．
"We can't even dig 10 cm inside national parks.” said Shigeto Yamada of Fuji Electric, adding that regulations protecting nature would need to be relaxed for geothermal energy to grow. Researcher Hideaki Matsui said, “Producing electricity using hot springs is a decades-long project. We also have to think about what to do for now as energy supplies will decrease in the short term.”
The Earth Policy Institute in Washington, US, believed Japan could produce 80,000 megawatts（兆瓦）and meet more than half its electricity needs with geothermal technology.
Japanese giants such as Toshiba are already global leaders in geothermal technology, with a 70 percent market share. In 2010, Fuji Electric built the world's largest geothermal factory in New Zealand．What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Alternative energies in Japan |
| B．Japan thinks of geothermal energy |
| C．Japan takes the lead in geothermal technology |
| D．World's largest geothermal plant |
What percentage of Japan's energy needs is geothermal energy?
| A．About 8%． | B．Around 30%． |
| C．Below 1%． | D．Over 80%． |
According to Shigeto Yamada, the growth of geothermal power in Japan needs ____．
| A．high technology | B．financial support |
| C．local people's help | D．a change of rules |
Geothermal energy is considered as a long-term program by _____．
| A．Hideaki Matsui | B．Yoshiyasu Takefuji． |
| C．Shigeto Yamada | D．Yoko Ono |
It can be learned from the last two paragraphs that _____．
| A．the world's biggest geothermal plant was built by America |
| B．Japan will not export its geothermal technology |
| C．it is hard to find geothermal energy in Japan |
| D．the potential of Japan's geothermal energy is great |
There are many ways of defining success. It is accurate to say that each of us has our own ideas of success to the extent that each of us is responsible for setting our own goals and determining whether we have met these goals satisfactorily. Because each of us possesses unique differences in genetic ability and favorable environments in which to express these abilities, it is necessarily true that we must define success broadly.
For some people，simply being able to live their life with the least misery and sufferings is considered a success. Think of the peace of mind of the poor shepherd who tends his sheep, enjoys his simple life with his family in the beauty of nature, and who is respected because he does a good job of achieving the goals expected of him and accepted by his family and his society. On the other hand, it seems that even though some people appear to be rich in material possessions, many of them seem to be miserable and consider themselves unsuccessful when judged by their own standards of success. Because not all ventures can be successful, one should not set unrealistic goals for achieving success, but if one has self-confidence it would be unfortunate to set one's goals at too low a level of achievement.
A wise man once said to a young man who was experiencing frustration(挫折）with his own professional success, “You do not have to set your goal to reach the moon in order to have success in traveling. Sometimes one can be very successful merely by taking a walk in the park or riding the subway downtown,” The man added, "You have not really failed and spoiled your chances for success until you have been unsuccessful at something you really like，and to which you have given your best effort. ”According to the first paragraph, what is implied as basic in achieving success?
| A．Ability and goals. | B．Goals and determination. |
| C．Ability and environment. | D．Goals and environment. |
Some rich people consider themselves unsuccessful because______.
| A．their life is busy and miserable |
| B．they haven't reached their own standards |
| C．they set their goals at too low a level |
| D．they are not rich in material possessions |
From the last paragraph we can tell that______.
| A．success means achieving great goals |
| B．success comes from great goal setting |
| C．success means efforts and favorites pay off |
| D．success has nothing to do with the distance of your travel |
The purpose of the passage is______.
| A．to give us a clear definition of what success is |
| B．to talk about how to achieve success |
| C．to state what our life goal is |
| D．to discuss the importance of goals |
Low-Cost Gifts for Mother's Day
Gift No. 1
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. 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．Be with her. |
| C．Buy medicine. | 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. |
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 |