第三部分：阅读理解（共两节，40 分）
第一节：（共15小题；每小题2分，共30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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Shopping in the United States changes a lot．About ninety years ago most people shopped in small stores that were owned by one person or a family．Women went from the bakery to the butcher's to the grocer and on to the fruit and vegetable seller in order to get their food for the week．
Then about sixty years ago, supermarkets were born．In a supermarket, people could get all the different kinds of food they needed without going to different stores．
The next big change in shopping in the United States was the shopping mall．A shopping mall is a group of stores under one roof．Because malls allowed people to shop without worrying about the weather, they soon became very popular．The mall became a place for people to socialize in addition to shopping．If you walk through a mall, you will see older people sitting, chatting and drinking coffee．Malls are places for teenagers to hang out．Many teens will often just "go to the mall" and spend time with their friends．
The recent change in American shopping was the superstore．Large chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Office Depot and Toys "R" Us have been built all across the United States．Because they are so large, they can buy goods at a great discount and sell them much cheaper than smaller stores．
Sometimes, when they are built near small towns, many of the small town stores have to close．They just cannot compete with their giant neighbors．
And now, online shopping is becoming more and more popular all over the States．People are too busy to go to the physical stores, so they go shopping over the Internet．Online shopping has lots of advantages．For instance, online stores are usually available 24 hours a day．Searching or browsing online shops can be faster than browsing the physical stores．While, online shopping also has its disadvantages．People are at higher risk of being cheated on the part of the merchant than in a physical store．And privacy of personal information may be let out．
56．Which of the following shows the right order of shopping development in the United States?
①small stores ②superstores ③shopping malls ④shopping online
⑤supermarkets
A．①②③④⑤ B．①⑤②③④
C．①⑤③②④ D．②③④①⑤
57．Which is the place for people to spend time with others according to the passage?
A．Shopping malls． B．Small stores．
C．Supermarkets． D．Superstores．
58．Why can the superstores sell products at much lower prices?
A．Because they are built near small towns．
B．Because they are across the United States．
C．Because they sell all kinds of products people need．
D．Because they can buy goods at a reduction in the price．
59．What's the disadvantage of online shopping according to the passage?
A．Wasting time． B．Leaking personal information．
C．Fixed prices． D．No chance to do physical activities
No opera smells of the sea quite like Britten’s Peter Grimes. The music makes us constantly aware of the sea’s immensity, it’s potential for threat, and the play of light on its waves. But the sea isn’t just a special background, it weighs on the lives of the characters, offering them a living, but at a price. In the first act the laboured sound of the strings evokes (引起) the complete heaviness of the sailor’s work, as they haul(用力拉) the boats up the shingle (鹅卵石). Then a storm gathers which rages(肆虐) through the scene at the Inn, and stirs up an orchestral hurricane. Even when it’s calm and favorable, the sea is inescapable.
In the comfortable enclosed world of the opera house, this can only be suggested. In the production of Peter Grimes about to open at the Aldeburgh Festival, it will be really present, because the opera is taking place on the beach, the setting for much of the narrative of Britten’s opera, and also the poem by the Suffolk poet George Crabbe that inspired it.
This won’t be the first opera production to be set in the actual landscape in which the action takes place. There’s a well-known filmed production of Tosca shot in Castel Gandolfo in Rome, and a production of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena was once mounted in the moat(护城河) surrounding the Tower of London. But those were manageable urban landscapes, with comfortingly solid buildings to act as wind shields and acoustic blocks.
On the Aldeburgh beach there’s actually nothing, apart from a few boats, some whole, some wrecked. Here anything more complicated than walking the dog is hard to solve. The wind blows away one’s words, so conversation is hard, and anything not tied down tends to blow away. The sliding shingle turns one’s steps into a drunken stagger.
The idea of performing an opera in these conditions seems quite barmy — an accusation Aldeburgh director Jonathan Reakie takes cheerfully on the chin. Why has he done it? “Well, Grimes is the opera of Britten’s that’s most associated with Aldeburgh, but it’s never been produced at the Festival which he founded. There just isn’t the space for it. In his anniversary year we wanted to focus on Britten’s connection with Suffolk, and this seemed the boldest way to do it.”
Having had the mad idea, Reakie found his colleagues were not just accepting, but enthusiastic. “We spent a long time thinking about ways to do it. One idea we had was to do all the scenes at the right time of day. There’s one scene at dawn, another at midday, and a lot of action at night, but that was too complicated. Then we thought about doing a few scenes on the beach. But in the end, we thought hell, let’s just do the whole thing.”Which of the following can best describe the sailor’s work in the first act?
| A．Pleasant. | B．Hard. |
| C．Comfortable. | D．Attractive. |
How is Paragraph 2 mainly developed?
| A．By giving descriptions. | B．By following time order. |
| C．By analyzing causes. | D．By making comparisons. |
What does Paragraph 4 mainly tell us?
| A．The benefits of the actual landscape. |
| B．The actual landscape of Aldeburgh beach. |
| C．The location of the Aldeburgh beach. |
| D．The hardship of performing opera in Aldeburgh beach. |
The underlined word “barmy” (in Paragraph 5) is closest in meaning to ____.
| A．crazy | B．impossible |
| C．wonderful | D．terrible |
Reakie’s partners’ attitude towards his opera on a beach is ____.
| A．eager | B．cautious |
| C．doubtful | D．unfavorable |
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 newspaper | B．in a school magazine |
| C．in a store window | 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．third | B．Fourth |
| C．first | D．second |
Travelling in Hangzhou on Aug 10, you can watch film star Huang Bo’s works ____.
| A．What is Success | B．To Live |
| C．Campbell’s Soup | D．Self-Portrait |
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 |
Educating Girls Is a Real Lifesaver
Clare Short knows it. Every developing economist knows it. The World Bank knows it. The education of girls is the surest way to reduce poverty.
The reason is simple. All the evidence shows that taking girls out of the fields and homes, and putting them behind desks, raises economic productivity, lowers infant and maternal(产妇) death rates, reduces birth rates, and improves environmental management.
Why, then, are 90 million primary school-age girls around the world not in school? For the same reason that when Charles Dickens was writing David Copperfield 150 years ago girls were absent from the British education system: Men in power mostly prefer it that way, or are not interested enough in changing the situation to commit energy and money to doing so.
The countries with the poorest record for having women in positions of power or influence have the worst figures for girls’ education. High-profile intervention(介入) by organizations such as the World Bank has begun successfully with several countries, and more of the same will probably be needed to bring change in conservative, male-run states.
Even if there were no development payoff from gender equality in schools, the education of girls would still be a cause worth fighting for. Education is a human right, and the denial of it to girls is a scar on the community in the twenty-first century.
To be born a girl in a rural area in Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Morocco, Togo, or Sudan — half a dozen of the most shameful performers — means being condemned to a life without school, education, or clean water, marriage and babies coming too early, too many births, children who die of preventable diseases, backbreaking work in the fields, subordination(从属) to husband and his family, and an early death.
Every year, almost 12 million children under the age of five needlessly die of infectious diseases associated with poverty. But each additional year spent by their mothers in primary school lowers the risk of premature child deaths by about 8 percent. In Pakistan, an extra year of school for 1,000 girls could prevent sixty infant deaths.
With women and girls being the main farmers in Africa and southern Asia, their education offers a chance to develop more efficient farming practices, improve output, and raise awareness of the ecological needs of the land with tree planting and farming. Therefore, the world community cannot afford to ignore this avenue of change.Which is Not the reason why educating girls reduces poverty?
| A．It improves environmental management. |
| B．It raises economic productivity. |
| C．It creates more children. |
| D．It lowers maternal death rates. |
What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．The poor economy at that time. |
| B．Girls’ absence from school. |
| C．Energy and money. |
| D．The education of girls. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The countries where women have great influence and are in power always do worse in girls’ education. |
| B．Some organizations such as the World Bank haven’t taken the lead in girls’ education. |
| C．Some girls in Sudan and Indonesia are bound to live a life without education when they are born. |
| D．Each extra year of school for girls has nothing to do with the birthrate and maternal deaths. |
How many more infants will survive when 100 girls stay in school for another year?
| A．5 | B．6 | C．8 | D．12 |
What does the author think of girls’ education?
| A．essential | B．terrible |
| C．indifferent | D．helpless |
Grown-ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as childrenbut have never practicedeversince. A manwhohas not had a chance to go swimmingfor years canstill swim as well asever whenhe gets backin the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years andstill ride away. He can play catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought aboutthe words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins "Twinkle, twinkle, little star"orremember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
One explanation is the law ofoverlearning,which can be stated as follows: Once we have learnedsomething, additional learning trials(尝试)increase the length of time we will remember it.
In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playingbaseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words suchas "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not onlylearn but overlearn.
The multiplication tables(乘法口诀表)are an exception to thegeneral rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, becausetheyare another of the things we overlearn inchildhood.
The law of overlearning explains why cramming(突击学习)for an examination,though it mayresult in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a studentmay learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likelysoon toforget almosteverything he learned.Alittle overlearning,on the other hand, is really necessary for one's futuredevelopment.What the main idea of Paragraph 1
| A．People remember well what they learned in childhood. |
| B．Children have a better memory than grown-ups. |
| C．Poem reading is a good way to learn words.“ |
| D．Stories for children are easy to remember. |
The author explains the law of overlearning by
| A．presenting research findings |
| B．setting down general rules |
| C．making a comparison |
| D．using examples |
According to the author, being able to use multiplication tables is
| A．a result of overlearning |
| B．a special case of cramming |
| C．a skill to deal with math problems |
| D．a basic step towards advanced studies |
What is the author's opinion on cramming?
| A．It leads to failure in college exams. |
| B．It's helpful only in a limited way. |
| C．It's possible to result in poor memory. |
| D．It increases students' learning interest. |
About twenty of us had been fortunate enough to receive invitations to a film-studio（影棚）to take part in a crowd-scene. Although our "act" would last only for a short time, we could see quite a number of interesting things.
We all stood at the far end of the studio as workmen prepared the scene, setting up trees at the edge of a winding path.Very soon, bright lights were turned on and the big movie-camera was
wheeled into position. The director shouted something to the camera operator and then went to speak to the two famous actors nearby. Since it was hot in the studio, it came as a surprise to us to see one of the actors put on a heavy overcoat and start walking along the path. A big fan began blowing tiny white feathers down on him, and soon the trees were covered in "snow". Two more fans were turned on, and a "strong wind" blew through the trees. The picture looked so real that it made us feel cold.
The next scene was a complete contrast(对比).The way it was filmed was quite unusual. Pictures taken on an island in the Pacific were shown on a glass screen. An actor and actress stood in front of the scene so that they looked as if they were at the water's edge on an island. By a simple trick like this, palm trees, sandy beaches, and blue, clear skies had been brought into the studio!
Since it was our turn next, we were left wondering what scene would be prepared for us. For a full three minutes in our lives we would be experiencing the excitement of being film ”Stars”!Who is the author?
| A．A cameraman. | B．A film director. |
| C．A crowd-scene actor | D．A workman for scene setting |
What made the author feel cold?
| A．The heavy snowfall. | B．The man-made scene. |
| C．The low temperature. | D．The film being shown. |
What would happen in the "three minutes" mentioned, in the last paragraph?
| A．A new scene would be filmed. |
| B．More stars would act in the film. |
| C．The author would leave the studio. |
| D．The next scene would be prepared. |