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。
Before I started school, people felt that 1 was not going to be successful．At the age of four I started speech lessons because basically I could not speak well enough for anyone to understand me．The story goes downhill from here．
The first grade was a struggle．I not only had difficulty speaking, but also felt nervous about the fact that I was expected to learn to read and I just couldn't do it．The second grade was not much better．I still struggled with the inability to read．It was in the third grade that the school district built a new school close to my home．I remember going there with my parents and helping to get the school ready so that we could move to the new one．However, things were still not much better as far as my schooling was concerned and did not get better for the next two years．
It was in the fifth grade．Mi-s．Wakefield was my teacher, and if ever there was a teacher that deserved a gold star, it was her．She did not make me feel defeated．On the contrary, she did her best to let me know that I could be whatever I wanted to be．And that is just what I did．
For the past 22 years, I have been a fifth grade teacher．Because of Mrs．Wakefield's influence on my life, I am now encouraging students who have had difficulties in their lives to believe that they can overcome any difficulty and become someone．I have won numerous awards up to now, such as Teacher of the Year．I owe it all to one fifth grade teacher who believed in me and challenged me to be all that I could be．
56．The writer ______ when he was in the third grade．
A．did better in reading B．began speech lessons
C．went to a new school D．received a high award
57．We can learn from the passage that the writer ______．
A．is a very successful teacher now
B．thinks teaching is a challenging job
C, has solved problems with his own effort
D．works in the same school with Mrs．Wakefield
58．What is the writer's purpose in writing the passage?
A．To express his devotion to his work．
B．To show his respect to a special teacher．
C．To share his leaching experience with us．
D．To tell us his story of overcoming difficulties．
Elizabeth’s Second!
In 60 years, the Queen has never put a foot wrong in public. And for the last 24 of them, it turns out she’s had a secret weapon — the nice Ella Slack. The former BBC manager has, unknown to anyone except a handful of key advisers, spent the last quarter of a century acting as the Queen’s official stand-in at rehearsals (排练) for royal events. The 69-year-old has never accepted a penny for her royal service, considering it “a pleasure and an honour” to ensure that everything runs smoothly for the Queen. “How many people in the world have had a chance to sit in a royal landau (马车) or walk onto the dais (讲台) at Windsor Castle even before the Queen has done so?” she said.
While Miss Slack may not resemble the Queen facially, she has a similar figure to the Queen, standing just 5 foot. The Queen is 5 foot 2 inch. She began her remarkable role in 1988, when she was working as manager of the BBC’s sports and events department. A producer asked her if she could stand in for the Queen to check camera angles at a rehearsal — and her second career was born.
Since then, from the State Opening of Parliament (议会) to the 50th anniversary of Victory day, wherever the Queen is on duty Miss Slack is likely to have been there first. She has perfected her own version of the Queen’s clothes, including a black patent handbag she bought in a charity shop for ￡1, and even styles her hair like the Queen.What’s the Queen’s secret weapon?
| A．She often meets people in public. |
| B．She actively attends social activities. |
| C．She has a nice lady to act as herself. |
| D．She and Miss Slack have a lot in common. |
Miss Slack’s words in Paragraph 1 indicate that ___________.
| A．she thinks the job honorable and worthy |
| B．she thinks she can do the job better |
| C．she thinks frequently of her role |
| D．she is determined to carry the job on |
How did Miss Slack get the job?
| A．The Queen invited her to do so. |
| B．The BBC appointed her to finish the job. |
| C．She was invited to have an accidental try. |
| D．The advisers offered her the chance. |
In which section of a newspaper may you find the passage?
| A．Education. | B．Entertainment. |
| C．Sports. | D．Health. |
Here I'd like to talk about how to develop your curiosity and make use of it to make discoveries. Asking questions is the first step to make discoveries and find interesting answers when you are curious about something and want to know more about it.
Firstly, write down the subject that you are interested in on a note card or piece of paper. Just put the main idea down, such as “Discover more about dinosaurs.”
Next, think for a moment about what you already know about your subject and list information like the sentences below：
1. Dinosaurs lived long before human beings appeared.
2. Dinosaurs lived on the earth for more than 150 million years.
3. Some dinosaurs fed on plants, some on meat.
Thirdly, ask yourself “What can I do with what I want to learn？” On your paper, start writing down questions about the dinosaurs as you think of them：
1. What's the best weather for dinosaurs to live in?
2. How many kinds of dinosaurs are there?
3. Have dinosaurs really disappeared?
Fourthly, armed_with_your_list_of_questions,_you can now visit the nearest library or turn to computer to begin your research. As you learn more about your subject, you'll probably discover some new questions.
For example, you might discover that dinosaurs disappeared about 65 million years ago. Why? What happened? Asking new questions can help you research your subject more deeply.
The next time you find something interesting to research, take time to organize your thinking by asking good questions. And remember—learning more always bring more questions.While doing some research, you should take the following steps________.
①list what you want to know
②choose a research subject
③list what you already know
④discover new problems
| A．①④③② | B．①②④③ |
| C．②③①④ | D．②①④③ |
What does the underlined sentence “armed with your list of questions” mean?
| A．Taking your list of questions with you to do more research. |
| B．Writing down your list of questions before turning to the computer. |
| C．Discussing your questions with your classmates for solution. |
| D．Putting your questions aside before going to the library. |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．You can find all the answers online. |
| B．Learn more, and you'll have no questions. |
| C．Asking questions is the only way for research. |
| D．During the research, more questions may arise. |
The best title for this passage is________.
| A．Discovering Dinosaurs |
| B．Asking Good Questions |
| C．Finding Suitable Subjects |
| D．Having Interesting Answers |
While astronauts in space get to do many exciting things, they miss out on ordinary things that we all take for granted—being able to walk on firm ground, hanging out with family and digging into a slice of hot steaming pizza. Though not much can be done about the first two things, there may soon be a solution to the third one, thanks to this cool 3-D pizza printer!
About a year ago, NASA offered $125 ,000 to Anjan Contractor, a 3-D technology expert, to build a device (设备) that would allow astronauts to make pizza on demand. The mechanical engineer promised that his invention would produce pies in large quantities that looked, tasted and even smelled like pizza made in common ovens.
Late last year, the engineer presented a video of his first prototype (原型) that begins by creating a single slice of dough (面团) that is cooked and printed at the same time. Then comes the tomato “sauce” — a mix of tomato powder, oil and water and finally, a protein slice that resembles cheese. While the video doesn’t show the baking process, the inventor says that once the pizza is printed, it can be ready to be consumed in 7 seconds.
While the pie in the video looks delicious enough to attract any pizza lover, Anjan Contractor is far from ready for astronauts. That’s because he still has to find a solution to make the food container in the printer last for 30 years. Though that may sound unrealistic, actually it is not.
Anjan Contractor believes that the only way that is possible is that the water is removed from all the ingredients (配料) and then they are reduced to the powder form. This, as you can imagine, will not be so easy. But, while the printer may not be ready for space, it certainly looks ready enough for people on earth. Hopefully, NASA and Contractor will consider selling it to those not fortunate enough to go to Mars!Why does the author mention the things that astronauts in space cannot do?
| A．To ask us not to take common things for granted. |
| B．To show they live a difficult life there. |
| C．To show their life is boring in space. |
| D．To introduce the topic of the text. |
NASA offered $ 125, 000 to Anjan Contractor mainly to _______.
| A．create some new type of 3-D printer |
| B．attract more companies to work for NASA |
| C．help astronauts in space enjoy fresh pizza one day |
| D．produce pizza in large quantities to earn great profits |
The biggest challenge that Anjan Contractor is faced with now is probably that _______.
| A．he has no money left to go on with his research |
| B．the pizza doesn’t seem appetizing to pizza lovers |
| C．he has no way to make pizza that can last for thirty years |
| D．he cannot make the food container last for decades |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．NASA is trying its best to help astronauts eat better |
| B．Astronauts may soon be able to enjoy steaming hot pizza |
| C．NASA is working on making pizza for common people |
| D．A 3-D pizza printer has been used to make pizza |
Military training has long been considered a ritual(仪式) that freshmen must go through in order to officially start their college lives. While some question the necessity of such training. Many students see military training as a campus tradition that should be maintained.
Early in February, the Ministry of Education issued a new regulation that colleges and universities should carry out a minimum of 14 days compulsory military training for freshmen.
In a report by Beijing Evening News, Hou Zhengfang, a Beijing-based education PhD, questioned the benefits of military training. “The training routine does little to improve students’ physical fitness over only two weeks’ time. Maybe some disaster prevention training, such as earthquake survival or escaping from fires would be of greater benefit.”
Meng Yang, a 19-year-old freshman at Guangxi University, fainted during training. She said that many students, especially girls, are willing to train under direct sunshine. “For me, military training is physically challenging and even damages my health.”
According to Li Jian from the student affairs office of Guangzhou University, feeling dizzy happens frequently during military training and the school has received a lot of complaints from both students and parents: “But I still think military training is a good thing. Students are easier to manage after the military training. They became more positive about their new environment after the training.”
Although autumn is fast approaching Beijing, the noon heat burns 3300 freshmen on Tsinghua University’s campus. Chu Jinjing, a freshman majoring in medicine, did feel some discomfort while training in sweaty clothes in the glaring heat, the 18-year-old still enjoyed being part of group going through strict exercises. “By going through this tough training, students bond faster and a sense of belonging to the school can be formed. I’ve made a lot of friends already.”
According to the Ministry of Education, the purpose of military training is to teach students discipline, the spirit of teamwork and endurance. But in reality, according to Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, the effect is not satisfying. “Such goals require long-term development. It is unrealistic to expect military training to make a difference in only 14 days.” He thus suggests that it should be up to schools to conduct military training in a way that best suits their students.
However, Wang Wenhui, an 18-year-old freshman from Xi’an Jiaotong University, sees military training as a tradition that reaches beyond character building. “From junior and senior high school to college, we join military training to start a new journey. I would feel a bit incomplete without it.”How many people expressing their opinions are mentioned in this passage?
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．7 |
According to Hou Zhengfang, it seems much more beneficial to give freshmen_____________.
| A．survival skills |
| B．military training |
| C．the spirit of teamwork and endurance |
| D．strict exercises |
What is the author’s attitude towards military training?
| A．Supportive | B．Subjective |
| C．Objective | D．Rejective |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．A Policy Made by the Ministry of Education |
| B．Military Training under Fire |
| C．A New Journey |
| D．A Best Way to Teach Students Discipline |
The dodo is among the most famous extinct creatures, and a poster child for human-caused extinction events. Despite its bad name, and the fact that the species was alive during recorded human history, little is actually known about how this animal lived, looked, and behaved. A new study of the only known complete skeleton(骨架) from a single bird takes advantage of modern 3-D laser scanning(扫描) technology to open a new window into the life of this famous extinct bird.
The study was presented at the 74th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Estrel, Berlin. Leon Claessens, Associate Professor at the College of the Holy Cross, and lead researcher on the study said that, "the 3-D laser surface scans we made of the fragile dodo skeletons enable us to reconstruct how the dodo walked, moved and lived to a level of detail that has never been possible before. There are so many outstanding questions about the dodo bird that we can answer with this new knowledge."
A complete dodo skeleton, found by an amateur collector and barber, Etienne Thirioux, on the island of Mauritius between 1899 and 1917, has remained unstudied, even though it is the only complete dodo skeleton from a single individual bird known to exist. All other skeletons are incomplete combinations, meaning that they are gathered from more than one individual. In addition, Thirioux constructed a second, partially combined skeleton, which contains many bones that also belong to a single bird. "Being able to examine the skeleton of a single, individual dodo, which is not made up from as many individual birds as there are bones, as is the case in all those other combined skeletons, truly allows us to appreciate the way the dodo looked and see how tall or fat it really was," said Juilan Hume, of the Natural History Museum UK, a co-author on the study.
The scans were performed on site in Durban, South Africa, and allow examination of the biology of this mysterious extinct bird in detail for the first time. Using the newest digital tools and techniques, the scans provide an insight into how the flightless dodo may have developed its giant size, and how it walked and lived in its forest home. According to Kenneth Rijsdijk, a biologist from University of Amsterdam, “the skull of the dodo is so large and its mouth so strong that it is easy to understand that the earliest naturalists thought it was related to sharks and other birds of prey（猛禽）, rather than the pigeon family.”The underlined phrase “a poster child” in Para. 1 is closest in meaning to “ ”.
| A．a typical example |
| B．an endangered animal |
| C．a child who puts up posters on the board |
| D．a child posted in a newspaper as an advertisement |
The researchers study the dodo skeleton to find out .
| A．ways to save the dodo |
| B．the dodo’s living habits |
| C．the bird’s natural habitat |
| D．the cause of the dodo’s extinction |
What is special about the dodo skeleton found by an amateur collector?
| A．It is gathered from more than one individual. |
| B．It reminded unstudied between 1899 and 1917. |
| C．It is the only complete dodo skeleton from a single individual bird. |
| D．It can be examined with 3-D laser scanning technology. |
What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?
| A．To call people’s attention to wildlife protection. |
| B．To criticize humans for the extinction events. |
| C．To introduce a new way of studying the dodo. |
| D．To give tips on how to study extinct creatures. |