第三部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分50分）
第一节：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涂黑（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
Canada is a very large country. It is the second largest country in the world. By contrast it has a very small population. There are slightly over 30 million people there. Most Canadians are of British or French origin, and French is an official language of Canada as well as English. About 45% of the people are of British origin, that is, they or their parents or grandparents, etc., come from Britain. Nearly 30% are of French origin. Most of the French-Canadians live in the province of Quebec.
Over the years, people have come to live in Canada from many countries in the world. They are from most European countries and also from China, besides other Asian countries.
However, Canada was not an empty country when the Europeans began to arrive. Canadian Indians lived along the coast, by the rivers and lakes and in forests. Today there are only about 350 000 Indians in the whole country, with their own languages. In the far north live the Inuit. There are only 27 000 Canadian-Inuit. Their life is hard in such a difficult climate.
56. About_______________live in Quebec.
A. 30% of the French-Canadians B. 45% of the Canadians
C. 29 000 000 people D. 9 000 000 French-Canadians
57. The underlined word “origin” in Paragraph One means____________.
A. 血统 B. 后裔 C. 先驱 D. 猿人
58. About 23% of people came from____________
A. China B. England C. France
D. some other countries except France and Britain
59. Which of the following is true according to this passage?
A. There are 27 000 Canadian-Indians in Canada.
B. More than 13 million people have come from Britain and France in recent years.
C. There are nearly 30% of the populations whose parents or grandparents come from France.
D. There are no people when the Europeans began to arrive in Canada.
Scientists know of more than 1,000 volcanoes on the surface of Venus, Earth’s “sister” planet. A big question has been: Are they still active? The scientists say yes.
Their evidence for recent volcanic activity on Venus comes from a lava(熔岩) flow in the planet’s northern hemisphere. The flow is hotter than the rocks around, which means the lava might still be cooling off. “The flow we studied seems to be very young---it is still warm inside,” Nataliya Bondarenko said.
Venus is a difficult planet to study from Earth because it is surrounded by thick clouds. Telescopes on Earth can’t see through these clouds, so the best information about Venus comes from spacecraft orbiting it.
Bondarenko and her colleagues studied the lava flow using data from NASA’s Magellan mission. That spacecraft spent four years in orbit around Venus and used radar to make a map of 98 percent of the planet’s surface. On October 11th, 1994, the mission ended, and the spacecraft plunged (跌落) through Venus’ heavy cloud cover and crashed onto the planet below.
While in orbit, the Magellan craft sent microwaves, which can go through Venus’ clouds, to the surface. Microwaves are invisible and can be as long as three feet. These waves are a kind of energy, like light. And like light, they bounce off surfaces. The way the waves bounced off the Venus’ surface and back to the craft supplied information that the scientists used to estimate the temperature of various parts of the planet’s surface. Bondarenko’s team found that the lava flow was hotter than its surroundings---which may mean the lava flow is in the process of cooling.
The scientists say the lava flow can’t be very old because if it were, it would have cooled off enough that Magellan wouldn’t have noticed the difference in microwaves. She adds that the flow appears in a 1978 view of the surface that a craft called the Pioneer Venus Orbiter captured.What happened to Magellan in the end?
| A．It was floating in space forever. |
| B．It flew into heavy clouds. |
| C．It returned to the Earth. |
| D．It fell onto Venus. |
How could Bondarenko judge the temperature of the Venus?
| A．By looking at it with a powerful telescope. |
| B．By measuring the thickness of clouds over Venus. |
| C．By calculating the microwave bouncing off Venus’s surface. |
| D．By orbiting Venus for 4 years in a spacecraft. |
The best title for the passage may be “______ ”.
| A．Warm lava on Venus |
| B．More volcanic eruptions on Venus |
| C．Venus is just like a big active volcano |
| D．Lava flows are first found on Venus |
A South African farmer is receiving phone calls from his sheep after equipping them with cell phones to keep tabs on the flockamidrecentlivestockthefts, according to local press Wednesday.
When the sheep call, it is always bad news for farmer Erard Louw of the Cape Town suburbs, as the phones around their necks are only set to switch on when the sheep start running, a sign that thieves have cut through the fences.
"As they run it gives me a phone call and says 'Sheep One' or 'Sheep Two' and so on, so at least I know where to start looking because the farm is 750 hectares (1,850 acres)," Louw told the Cape Times daily.
Louw attached the phone-like security device to the collars of four sheep in separate flocks after thieves sneaked in and stole 27 sheep and 13lambs a couple of weeks ago, driving Louw to rack his brains for ways to protect his animals.
He said there was no use calling nearby police, as they were stationed too far away and in his experience they either lacked an available car or the vehicle was out of fuel or missing tyres -- also the work of thieves.
According to Louw, the cell phones have already proved their worth, with one sheep-snatchercaught thanks to the device.
Still, with theft attempts currently at their peak, given long winter nights and early nightfall, a few sheep-robbers managed to get away in spite of the device.
"The phone did start ringing that night and I went out," he said, but added that he was too late.Why did Erard Louw attach the phone-like device to the sheep he raises?
| A．Because he thought it was fun to do. |
| B．Because the police there didn’t care about animals. |
| C．Because he liked hi-tech very much. |
| D．Because he wanted to protect them against thieves. |
What does the underlined expression in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
| A．Try very hard to remember or think of something. |
| B．Have a headache. |
| C．Make the brain bigger. |
| D．Shake the brain from side to side. |
You can most probably read this passage______.
| A．in a book |
| B．in a dictionary |
| C．in a newspaper |
| D．in a novel |
Man, a land animal. But he is also closely tied to the sea. Throughout history the sea has served the needs of man. The sea has provided man with food and a convenient way to travel to many parts of the world. Today, nearly two-thirds of the world’s population live within 80 kilometers of the sea coast.
In the modern technological world, the sea offers many resources to help mankind survive. Resources on land are beginning to be used up. The sea, however, still can be hoped to supply many of man’s needs.
The list of riches of the sea yet to be developed by man’s technology is big. Oil and gas explorations have been carried out for nearly 30 years. Valuable amounts of minerals exist on the ocean floor ready to be mined.
Fish farming promises to be a good way to produce large quantities of food. The culture of fish and shellfish (贝类动物) is an ancient skill practised in the past mainly by Oriental people, including people in China.
Besides oil and gas, the sea may offer new sources of energy. Experts believe that the warm temperature of the ocean can be used in a way similar to the steam in a steamship. Ocean currents and waves offer possible use as a source of energy.
Technology is enabling man to explore ever more deeply under the sea. The development of strong, new materials has made this possible.
The technology to harvest the sea continues to improve. Experts believe that by the year 2020 the problems that prevent us from exploiting（开发） fully the food, minerals, and energy sources of the sea will be largely solved.Valuable amounts of minerals are ______.
| A．in the ocean water | B．in the warm ocean water |
| C．on the sea coast | D．on the ocean floor |
We can conclude from this passage that ______.
| A．the sea resources have largely been used up |
| B．the sea, in the broad sense, has not yet been developed |
| C．the problems that prevent us from using the food, minerals, and energy sources of the sea have already been solved. |
| D．by the year 2020 , the technology will be good enough to exploit all the sea resources |
The underlined words “Oriental people” in the fourth paragraph probably mean ______.
| A．the people in Asia | B．African people |
| C．European people | D．American people |
The best title for this passage is ______.
| A．Sea Harvest | B．Sea Food |
| C．Technology for Exploiting the Sea | D．Man and the Sea |
"He who can have patience can have what he wants," said Benjamin Franklin. They say patience is a virtue (美德) seldom found in women and never in men. This may or may not be true, but it's fair to say that there is nobody on the earth who couldn't benefit from more patience.
Patience is necessary for success.
It is said that "all good things come to those who wait". Many of the great scientists have remarked that their scientific discoveries came only through patient perseverance (坚持). Edison said, "Genius was 99% perspiration and only 1% inspiration." Patience teaches us to value the effort and not just the success. It is a mistake to think that happiness can only be obtained through achievements.
Patience brings peace of mind.
When we desire certain outcomes (结果), we'll have no peace of mind. Even if one desire is filled, the nature of desire is that more will appear in its place. There is no end to human desires. Patience means we will work with an attitude of detachment (超然).
Patience can transform suffering into joy.
Throughout life we suffer injustice; the best healer is patience. Through being patient and accepting our situation, it's quite possible for our suffering to be transformed.
Sri Chinmoy said, "If failure has the strength to turn your life into bitterness itself, then patience has the strength to turn your life into the sweetest joy."Whose saying supports the idea that patience makes a person joyful?
| A．Franklin's | B．Edison's | C．Chinmoy's | D．Einstein's |
In the writer's opinion, _____ .
| A．human desires will easily be filled |
| B．patience is a virtue seldom found in a person |
| C．happiness can only be obtained through success |
| D．patience is the best medicine of suffering |
How is the whole passage organized?
| A．General-detail-general. | B．General-detail. |
| C．Detail-general-detail. | D．Detail-general. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．We All Need Patience | B．Patience Means Success |
| C．Benefits of Patience | D．We Should Not Be patient |
If you don’t use a dictionary. What should you do instead? The first thing you can do is trying to guess what the word means. Often the surrounding context gives a very clear idea of the meaning of the word. Even if you can’t work out the meaning exactly, you may be able to get a vague idea, enough to enable you to continue reading.
Sometimes It is impossible to guess the meaning of a word from the context and then you will have to decide whether the word is important enough to make it worthwhile stopping and looking it up in a dictionary or whether you can just pass it by.
Many times in your reading, you will come across words which you don’t know, but which do not prevent you from understanding all the main points of the text. You can made your dictionary use much more efficient if you only look up the words which are necessary to understand the text. and this means that you must develop the skill to decide whether the words are worth looking up.The passage mainly tells us in our reading what we would do.
| A．without knowledge of English |
| B．when we look up words in a dictionary |
| C．when we are guessing new words |
| D．without using a dictionary |
What does the underlined word “vague” mean?
| A．Mysterious. | B．Not clear. | C．Exact. | D．Important. |
In our reading some words we don’t know.
| A．help us to understand the text well |
| B．don’t prevent us from understanding the main points of the text |
| C．will be remembered forever |
| D．are borrowed from other languages |
In this passage the writer.
| A．advised us to use the dictionary as much as possible |
| B．told us not to be discouraged by the sight of a dictionary |
| C．gave us some advice on how to deal with these unknown words |
| D．introduced some ways to take notes in the course of reading |