B
Snow can be very beautiful. When snow covers everything around you , the world looks like a “Winter Wonderland”. That is the name of a very popular song about winter. Richard Smith and Felix Bernard wrote the song in 1934.
But winter is not always such a beautiful and happy time. It is cold outside.The wind blows and makes it even colder. The days are shorter and darker. The sun rarely shines. The leaves on the trees are brown or have fallen to the ground. The flowers are mostly gone. It is not surprising that some people are sad in winter. And some people dream about being somewhere else where it is warm and pretty——like the state of California. The Mamas and the Papas recorded their famous song, “California Dreaming” in 1965.
During the 1960s, many other famous rock groups sang songs about winter. Here is a song by Simon and Garfunkel called “A Hazy Shade of Winter”. They sing about life and hope.
In 1968, the group Blood, Sweat and Tears recorded this gentle, sad song about winter. They sing about a lost love and forgotten memories in “Sometimes in Winter”.
Gordon Lightfoot wrote and recorded another sad and lovely song about winter in 1975.Sarah McLachlan recorded “Song for a Winter’s Night” for an album in 2006.She sings about reading a love letter and wishing the writer were with her.
Finally, on a lovely note, we leave you this sad song by Wayne.
40. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. “Winter Wonderland” is a song written by two brothers.
B. Most people feel very sad in winter.
C. “California Dreaming” is the most famous song about winter.
D. Winter is not always a happy time.
41. What do we learn about the song “Sometimes in Winter” from the passage?
A. It was written for Sarah McLachlan .
B. Gordon Lightfoot made some changes to it.
C. It is a gentle and sad song about winter.
D. It first came out in the 1970s.
42. What can we infer from the passage?
A. It is usually warm in California in winter.
B. “Song for a Winter’s Night” is a very happy song.
C. Blood, Sweat and Tears are the names of three singers.
D. Simon and Garfunkel often felt sad.
43. Where is this passage most probably taken from?
A. Newspaper B. TV news C. Radio program D. Magazine
根据短文内容，从从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项是多余选项。(共5小题,每小题2分,满分10分)
We’re raising children!
A famous research scientist was being interviewed why he was so much more creative.He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his balance and it fell, spilling its contents all the kitchen floor—a veritable sea of milk!
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, she said , “Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk.Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?”
Indeed, he did. After several minutes, his mother said,“You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. We could use a sponge, a towel or a mop. Which do you prefer?” He chose the sponge and they cleaned up the spilled milk.
His mother then said, “You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle. Let’s fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it.” The boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it.
This scientist remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be afraid to make mistakes.
Wouldn’t it be great if all parents would respond the way Robert’s mother responded to him?
| A．Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new. |
| B．Well, the damage has already been done. |
| C．What set him so far apart from others? |
| D．What a wonderful lesson! |
E.So, how would you like to do that?
F.Such an opportunity of experiencing was delightful to him.
G. He responded that it all came from an experience when he was about two years old.
A research shows that humans switch from selfish to unselfish behaviour when they are watched. Do you? A picture of a set of eyes on a computer screen can cause a change in the way people act. Even images of eyes on a charity donation collection box encourage people to be unselfish, because people put more money in a collection box that has a picture of eyes on it than they do when a flower symbol is on the box.
Manfred Milinski from the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany and Bettina Rockenbach of the University of Berlin, the authors of a new study, found that people act better when they are being watched because they feel they will be rewarded for good behaviour. Their report also referred to other researches showing that this response of behaving well when watched is somehow coded into humans, and people respond this way unconsciously, or without realising it.
It is not just humans that act unselfishly when they are being watched. A fish called the grooming fish cleans other fish. When other fish are around, it is gentler. When no other fish are around, however, the grooming fish bites chunks from the fish it is supposed to be cleaning.
The researchers suggest that the best way to get people to behave in the correct way is to make them feel watched. This could be the reason for the success of a famous American army poster. On it was a picture of an elderly man staring fiercely and pointing, it appeared, to the person who was looking at the poster. Under the picture was the caption “I Want You”. It encouraged hundreds of thousands of young American men to join the army during the Second World War to fight the Germans and Japanese.The underlined word “coded” (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to.
| A．hidden | B．programmed | C．forgotten | D．learned |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．It describes changed behaviour when observed. |
| B．It details ways to control people's behaviour. |
| C．It tells how to make people work harder. |
| D．It discusses different advertising methods. |
According to the text, which of the following statements is true?
| A．People pretend to behave better when they are watched. |
| B．Fish bite other fish in a fish tank when they are alone. |
| C．People donate more money when they feel they are watched. |
| D．Soldiers fought better during World War II because of a poster. |
Where would the study described in the text most likely be found?
| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a scientific journal. |
| C．In an advertising magazine. | D．In a science textbook. |
Michael Fish may soon be replaced as a weather forecaster by something truly fishier---the shark(鲨鱼).
Research by a British biology student suggests that sharks could be used to predict storms.
Lauren Smith, 24, is close to completing her study on shark’s ability to sense pressure. If her studies prove the theory, scientists may be able to monitor the behavior of sharks to predict bad weather.
Miss Smith had previously studied the behaviour of lemon sharks in the Bahamas.
She then used their close relatives, lesser spotted dogfish, for further research at Aberdeen University. Her work---thought to be the first of its kind to test the pressure theory ---- resulted from the observation that juvenile blacktip sharks off Florida moved into deeper water ahead of a violent storm in 2001.
Miss Smith said: “I’ve always been crazy about traveling and diving and this led me to an interest in sharks.”
“I was delighted to have been able to research in the area for my degree. I know there’s so much more we need to understand ---- but it certainly opens the way to more research.”
It has been discovered that a shark senses pressure using hair cells in its balance system.
At the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas, Miss Smith fixed hi-tech sensors to sharks to record pressure and temperature, while also tracking them using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.
In Aberdeen, she was able to study the effects of tidal(潮汐的) and temperature changes on dogfish----none of which were harmed. She also used a special lab which can mimic(模拟) oceanic pressure changes caused by weather fronts.
She is due to complete her study and graduate later this year. She says she will be looking for a job which will give her the chance to enrich her experience of shark research.The passage is most probably taken from _____.
| A．a short-story collection | B．a popular science magazine |
| C．a research paper | D．a personal diary |
What do we learn from the first four paragraph of the passage?
| A．Sharks may be used to predict bad weather . |
| B．Sharks’ behaviour can be controlled. |
| C．Michael Fish is not qualified for his job. |
| D．Lauren Smith will become a weather forecaster. |
Lauren Smith conducted her research by _______.
| A．removing hair cells from a shark’s balance system |
| B．measuring the air pressure of weather fronts |
| C．recording sharks’ body temperature |
| D．monitoring sharks’ reaction to weather changes |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A popular way of forecasting weather. |
| B．A new research effort in predicting storms. |
| C．Biologists’ interest in the secrets of sharks. |
| D．Lauren Smith’s devotion to scientific research. |
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had “seven fathers,” because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated(躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.
In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university’s Writers’ Workshop, however, she felt lonely----a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her “Creative voice.”
“It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That’s when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn’t write about.”
Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book tells about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children’s book, and a short-story collection.Which of the following is TRUE about Cisneros in her childhood?
| A．She had seven brothers. | B．She felt herself a nobody. |
| C．She was too shy to go to school. | D．She did not have any good teachers. |
The graduate program gave Cisneros a chance to _____.
| A．work for a school magazine | B．run away from her family |
| C．make a lot of friends | D．develop her writing style |
According to Cisneros, what played the decisive role in her success?
| A．Her early years in college. | B．Her training in the Workshop. |
| C．Her feeling of being different. | D．Her childhood experience. |
What do we learn about The House on Mango Street?
| A．It is quite popular among students. |
| B．It is the only book ever written by Cisneros. |
| C．It wasn’t success as it was written in Spanish. |
| D．It won an award when Cisneros was twenty-nine. |
Mrs. Keller had a big family .Her husband had a factory in the town .One of her sons was a lawyer and the other two were drivers .And her two daughters worked in the post office .The old woman stayed at home and could do all housework and wouldn’t employ anybody .
One evening ,the telephone rang while the old woman was preparing supper .She went to answer it .She was told that one of her sons died in a traffic accident .She heard this and fell in a faint .When she came back to life ,she was in hospital .And she needed to be helped after that .
Several months later she was told on the telephone her daughter died while she was being operated on .The old woman was so sad that she had to be in hospital again .From then on she was afraid to answer any telephones and sometimes she was afraid to hear the bell .Of course it brought them some trouble and some important business was held up .So her husband advised her to see a psychiatrist .The man examined her carefully and then asked her some questions.
“You will soon be all right if you follow my advice ,Mrs. Keller” said the psychiatrist.
The old woman took the medicine the doctor gave on time and tried to forget her dead son and daughter .And two months later she went to see the psychiatrist again .
“You have saved me, Doctor ,”the old woman said ,as soon as she saw him .
“Are you afraid to answer the telephone now?”
“No,” answered Keller .
“I dare answer it whether it rings or not ”Mrs Keller could do all housework because ______.
| A．she had no money to employ a helper. | B．she was strong enough to do all at home |
| C．she didn’t believe anybody | D．only she was free at home |
The old woman fell in a faint because _____
| A．she went to answer the telephone. | B．she was very ill that evening |
| C．she walked in the room carelessly | D．she heard the news about her son’s death. |
After she came out of hospital , Mrs Keller wasn’t ___as before .
| A．strong | B．able | C．clever | D．sad |