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第三部分：阅读理解(共两节，16小题；每小题2分，满分32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。
People enjoy talking about “firsts”. They like to remember their first love or their first car. But not all firsts are happy ones.
One of history’s bad but important firsts was the first car accident. Cars were still young when it happened. The accident took place in New York City in May 1896. A man from Massachusetts was visiting the city in his new car. At that time, bicycle riders were still trying to get used to the new set of wheels on the road. No one was sure who was to blame for it. Anyway, the bike and the car hit each other hard. The man on the bike was injured. The driver of the car had to stay in jail and wait for the hospital report on the bicycle rider. Luckily, the rider was not killed.
Three years later, another car accident took place. It was again in New York City. A man named Henry Bliss stepped off a streetcar(无轨电车). He was hit by a passing car. Once again, no one was sure just how it happened or whose fault it was. The driver of the car was put in prison. Poor Mr. Bliss became the first person to die in a car accident.
46. Which of the following is true?
A. The first driver came from New York City.
B. Both of the two car accidents killed a person.
C. The second car accident didn’t happen in the same city as the first one.
D. No one knew how the two accidents had happened.
47. In both accidents the drivers of the cars_______.
A. could not drive their cars very well
B. had to stay in prison for a while
C. tried to run away after the accidents took place
D. knew it was their fault
48. The word “jail” in this passage means ________.
A. police station B. prison C. school D. office
49. The main idea of the passage is ________.
A. not all firsts are happy ones B. two of the first car accidents
C. two unhappy “firsts” D. bicycle riders get used to cars
Three years ago, five parrots were set free in a wild place of Arizona, thousands of miles from the Channel Islands in Jersey where they had been looked after by zookeepers. No evolutionary strategies informed them how to behave in this new landscape of mountainous pine forest unoccupied by their kind for 50 years. To the researchers’ surprise, they failed to make contact with a group of wild parrots imported from Mexico and set free at the same time. Within 24 hours the reintroducing ended in failure, and the poor birds were back in cages, on their way to the safety of the Arizona reintroduction programme.
Ever since then, the programme has enjoyed great success, mainly because the birds now being set free are Mexican birds illegally caught in the wild, confiscated （没收） on arrival north of the border, and raised by their parents in the safety of the programme. The experience shows how little we know about the behaviour and psychology （心理） of parrots, as Peter Bennett, a bird researcher, points out: “Reintroducing species of high intelligence like parrots is a lot more difficult. People like parrots, always treating them as nothing more than pets or valuable ‘collectables’.”
Now that many species of parrot are in immediate danger of dying out, biologists are working together to study the natural history and the behaviour of this family of birds. Last year was an important turning point: conservationists founded the World Parrot Trust, based at Hayle in Cornwall, to support research into both wild and caged birds.
Research on parrots is vital for two reasons. First, as the Arizona programme showed, when reintroducing parrots to the wild, we need to be aware of what the birds must know if they are to survive in their natural home. We also need to learn more about the needs of parrots kept as pets, particularly as the Trust’s campaign does not attempt to discourage the practice, but rather urges people who buy parrots as pets to choose birds raised by humans. What do we know about the area where the five parrots were reintroduced?
| A．Its landscape is new to parrots of their kind. |
| B．It used to be home to parrots of their kind. |
| C．It is close to where they had been kept. |
| D．Pine trees were planted to attract birds. |
The reintroducing experience three years ago shows that man-raised parrots
| A．can find their way back home in Jersey |
| B．are unable to recognize their parents |
| C．are unable to adapt to the wild |
| D．can produce a new species |
Why are researches on parrots important according to the passage?
| A．The Trust shows great concern for the programme. |
| B．We need to know more about how to preserve parrots. |
| C．Many people are interested in collecting parrots. |
| D．Parrots’ intelligence may some day benefit people. |
According to the passage, people are advised ______.
| A．to treat wild and caged parrots equally |
| B．to set up comfortable homes for parrots |
| C．not to keep wild parrots as pets |
| D．not to let more parrots go to the wild |
My grandfather came from Hungary and was the only one in his family who settled down in the United States. The rest of his family remained in Europe. When World War I broke out, he seemed to have become another man, downhearted. Such obvious change was not born out of concern for his welfare, but out of fear: if his only son, my uncle, had to go to war, it would be cousin fighting against cousin.
One day in 1918, my Uncle Milton received his draft notice. My grandparents were very upset. But my mother, at the age of 10, felt on top of the world about her soldier brother going off to war. Realizing how he was regarded by his little sister and all of her friends, my uncle bought them all service pins, which meant that they had a loved one in the service. All the little girls were delighted.
The moment came when my uncle and the other soldiers, without any training but all in uniforms, boarded the train. The band played and the crowd cheered. Although no one noticed. I'm sure my grandmother had a tear in her eye for the only son. The train slowly pulled out, but not about a thousand yards when it suddenly paused. Everyone stared in wonder as the train slowly returned to the station. There was a dead silence before the doors opened and the men started to step out. Someone shouted, "The war is over!" For a moment, nobody moved, but then the people heard someone bark orders at the soldiers. The men lined up in two lines, walked down the steps, and with the band playing, marched down the street, as returning heroes, to be welcomed home. My mother said it was a great day, but she was just a little disappointed that it didn't last a tiny bit longer.
| 1． |
What the grandfather was most worried about was.
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| 2． |
The underlined phrase "draft notice" means "".
|
| 3． |
What did the "service pins"（in Para. 2） stand for in the eyes of the little girls?
|
| 4． |
Which of the following words can best describe the ending of the story?
|
Demands for stronger protection for wildlife in Britain sometimes hide the fact that similar needs are felt in the rest of Europe. Studies by the Council of Europe, of which 21 countries are members, have shown that 45 per cent of reptile (爬行动物) species and 24 per cent of butterflies are in danger or dying out.
European concern for wildlife was outlined by Dr Peter Baum, an expert in the environment and natural resources division of the council, when he spoke at a conference arranged by the administrators of a British national park. The park is one of the few areas in Europe to hold the council’s diploma for nature reserves of the highest quality, and Dr Baum had come to present it to the park once again. He was afraid that public opinion was turning against national parks, and that those set up in the 1960s and 1970s could not be set up today. But Dr Baum clearly remained a strong supporter of the view that natural environments needed to be allowed to survive in peace in their own right.
“No area could be expected to survive both as a true nature reserve and as a tourist attraction,” he went on. The shortsighted view that reserves had to serve immediate human demands for outdoor recreation should be replaced by full acceptance of their importance as places to preserve nature for the future.
“We forget that they are the guarantee (保证) of life systems, on which any built-up area depends,” Dr Baum went on. “We could manage without most industrial products, but we could not manage without nature. However, our natural environment areas, which are the original parts of our countryside, have become mere islands in a spoiled and highly polluted land.”
59. Recent studies by the Council of Europe have declared that ____ .
A. wildlife needs more protection only in Britain
B. all species of wildlife in Europe are in danger of dying out
C. there are fewer species of reptiles and butterflies in Europe than elsewhere
D. many species of reptiles and butterflies in Europe need protecting
60. Why did Dr Baum come to a British national park?
A. Because he needed to present it with a council's diploma.
B. Because he was concerned about its management.
C. Because it was the only national park of its kind in Europe.
D. Because it was the only park that had ever received a diploma from the council.
61. The last sentence in the second paragraph implies that ____ .
A. people should make every effort to create more environment areas
B. people would go on protecting national parks
C. certain areas of the countryside should be left intact (完整的)
D. people would defend the right to develop the areas around national parks
62.Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. We have developed industry at the expense of countryside.
B. We have forgotten what our original countryside looked like.
C. People living on islands should protect natural resources for their survival.
D. We should destroy all the built-up areas.
Trees are useful to man in three very important ways: they provide him with wood and other products, they give him shade, and they help to prevent drought and floods.
Unfortunately, in many parts of the world man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important. In his eagerness to draw quick profit from the trees, he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had.
Two thousand years ago a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships, with which to gain itself an empire. It gained the empire but, without its trees, its soil became hard and poor. When the empire fell to pieces, the country found itself faced by floods and starvation.
Even though a government realizes the importance of a plentiful supply of trees, it is difficult for it to persuade the villager to see this. The villager wants wood to cook his food with, and he can earn money by making charcoal or selling wood to the townsman. He is usually too lazy or too careless to plant and look after trees. So unless the government has a good system of control, or can educate the people, the forests will slowly disappear.
This does not only mean that the villagers sons and grandsons have fewer trees. The results are even more serious. For where there are trees their roots break the soil up—allowing the rain to sink in and also hold the soil, thus preventing it being washed away easily, but where there are no trees, the soil becomes hard and poor. The rain falls on hard ground and flows away on the surface, causing floods and carrying away with it the rich topsoil, in which crops grow so well. When all the topsoil is gone, nothing remains but a worthless desert.
63. The purpose that the writer wrote this article for is ____ .
A. to tell people that trees are very useful to man
B. to warn people not to cut down trees any more
C. to warn that man mustn't destroy forests any more
D. to explain how trees help to prevent drought and floods
64. In the writer's opinion, ____ , or the forests slowly disappear.
A. measure must be taken B. people shouldn't draw benefit from the tree
C. government must realize the serious results D. unless trees never be cut down
65. According to the article we know it is ____ to prevent the forests from slowly disappearing.
A. necessary but impossible B. necessary but difficult
C. impossible and unimportant D. difficult and impossible
66. In the last two paragraphs the writer wanted to make it clear that ____ .
A. where there are no trees, the soil becomes hard and poor
B. where there are many trees, there are fewer floods
C. where there are no trees, the land might become desert slowly
D. floods will make the land become desert
Trees are useful to man in three very important ways: they provide him with wood and other products, they give him shade, and they help to prevent drought and floods.
Unfortunately, in many parts of the world man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important. In his eagerness to draw quick profit from the trees, he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had.
Two thousand years ago a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships, with which to gain itself an empire. It gained the empire but, without its trees, its soil became hard and poor. When the empire fell to pieces, the country found itself faced by floods and starvation.
Even though a government realizes the importance of a plentiful supply of trees, it is difficult for it to persuade the villager to see this. The villager wants wood to cook his food with, and he can earn money by making charcoal or selling wood to the townsman. He is usually too lazy or too careless to plant and look after trees. So unless the government has a good system of control, or can educate the people, the forests will slowly disappear.
This does not only mean that the villagers sons and grandsons have fewer trees. The results are even more serious. For where there are trees their roots break the soil up—allowing the rain to sink in and also hold the soil, thus preventing it being washed away easily, but where there are no trees, the soil becomes hard and poor. The rain falls on hard ground and flows away on the surface, causing floods and carrying away with it the rich topsoil, in which crops grow so well. When all the topsoil is gone, nothing remains but a worthless desert.
63. The purpose that the writer wrote this article for is ____ .
A. to tell people that trees are very useful to man
B. to warn people not to cut down trees any more
C. to warn that man mustn't destroy forests any more
D. to explain how trees help to prevent drought and floods
64. In the writer's opinion, ____ , or the forests slowly disappear.
A. measure must be taken B. people shouldn't draw benefit from the tree
C. government must realize the serious results D. unless trees never be cut down
65. According to the article we know it is ____ to prevent the forests from slowly disappearing.
A. necessary but impossible B. necessary but difficult
C. impossible and unimportant D. difficult and impossible
66. In the last two paragraphs the writer wanted to make it clear that ____ .
A. where there are no trees, the soil becomes hard and poor
B. where there are many trees, there are fewer floods
C. where there are no trees, the land might become desert slowly
D. floods will make the land become desert