On Saturday, millions of people around the world will celebrate Stunt Patrick’s Day, which honors Patron Saint (or main religious figure) of Ireland. Communities across the United States will host parades, parties, and other festivities to mark the occasion.
This year, cities like Boston, New York, and Chicago have organized massive events celebrating Saint Patrick's Day. In New York City, hundreds of thousands of people will gather to watch the Saint Patrick’s Day parade -- the nation's largest. It is one of the most watched parades in the world. Last year, almost 2 million spectators and more than 150,000 participants filled the streets. The parade, first held in 1776, is also one of the oldest.
Chicago also throws a big celebration. Every year, the Chicago River, which crosses the city, glows green 40 pounds of fluorescence, a powerful dye, into the water.
Boston keeps its parade rolling for three hours or more. It is the nation's second-largest parade. The city will also salute one of its most famous former residents, President John Kennedy, by opening the exhibit "A journey Home: John F. Kennedy and Ireland" at his official library.
Patron Saint lived in Britain in the early Fifteenth century, when it was still part of the Roman Empire. He was captured and sold into slavery, in Ireland when he was only 16. He eventually escaped slavery and turned to a life of religious devotion. He trained to become a minister and set out to spread Christianity throughout Ireland. After 30 years as a religious leader, Patrick died on March 17, 1461. Saint Patrick's Day is always celebrated on March 17. In Ireland, it is an official holiday.
71. What's the best title of the passage?
A. History of Saint Patrick's Day B. An Official Holiday in the US
C. The Largest Parade in the World D. Celebrations across the Country
72. What do you think is the official color of Saint Patrick's Day?
A. Green. B. Red. C. Black. D. Yellow.
73. The last paragraph is mainly about ________.
A. the cruel slave trade B. Saint Patrick's contribution
C. activities during Saint Patrick's Day D. Ireland's Patron Saint
74. Patron Saint became a religious leader ________.
A. at the age of 16 B. in 1430s
C. in the early fifteenth century D. in his birthplace
75. Which of the following is not correct according to the passage?
A. Parade is a most important event to observe Saint Patrick's Day.
B. Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday.
C. Saluting the former president has become a main event on the occasion.
D. The Saint Patrick's Day parade has a history, of over two centuries.
第三部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
Will it matter if you don't have your breakfast ? A short time ago , a test was given in the United States. People of different ages, from 12 to 83, were asked to have a test . During the test , these people were given all kinds of breakfasts , and sometimes they got no breakfast at all. Scientists wanted to see how well their bodies worked when they had different kinds of breakfasts.
The rules show that if a person eats a right breakfast , he or she will work better than if he or she has no breakfast. If a student has fruit , eggs, bread and milk before going to school ,he or she will learn more quickly and listen more carefully in class.
The result is opposite to what some people think . Having no breakfast will not help them lose weight . This is because they are so hungry at noon that eat too much for lunch . They will gain weight instead of losing it . You will lose weight if you reduce your other meals.
56. During the test , the people were given _________.
A. no breakfast at all B. different breakfast or sometimes none
C. very rich breakfast D. little food for breakfast
57. Scientists wanted to know whether __________.
A. breakfast had any effect on work and studies. B. people were interested in breakfast
C. breakfast did harm to people 's health D. people would work better without breakfast
58. According to the passage , some people think without breakfast they will ____
A. lose weight B. get a good result in their work
C. gain weight D. not be hungry at all.
59. Which of the following sciences is not right?
A. It is bad for your health to have no breakfast.
B. No breakfast and more lunch may make you fatter.
C. The more breakfast you have, the more quickly you will learn in class.
D. If you don't eat much for lunch and supper , you may lose weight.
Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.
“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?’” says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”
Music was not the only gulf (分歧). From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.
Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent-child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.
No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”
But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents.
“There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”
Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving(演化的) roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.
“My parents were on the ‘before’ side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side,” explains Mr. Ballmer. “It’s not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”
72. Which of the following shows that the generation gap is disappearing?
A. Parents help their children develop interests in more activities.
B. Parents put more trust in their children’s abilities.
C. Parents and children talk more about sex and drugs.
D. Parents share more interests with their children.
73. The change in today’s parent-child relationship is ______.
A. more confusion among parents
B. new equality between parents and children
C. less respect for parents from children
D. more strictness and authority on the part of parents
74. By saying “today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side,” the author means that today’s parents ______.
A. follow the trend (趋势)of the change
B. can set a limit to the change
C. fail to take the change seriously
D. have little difficult adjusting (调整)to the change
75. The purpose of the passage is to ______.
A. describe the difficulties today’s parents have met with
B. discuss the development of the parent-child relationship
C. suggest the ways to handle the parent-child relationship
D. compare today’s parent-child relationship with that in the past
“It hurts me more than you,” and “This is for your own good.” These are the statements my mother used to make years ago when I had to learn Latin, clean my room, stay home and do homework.
That was before we entered the permissive(自由的) period in education in which we decided it was all right not to push our children to achieve their best in school. The schools and the educators made it easy on us. They taught that it was all right to be parents who take a let-alone policy. We stopped making our children do homework. We gave them calculators, turned on the television, left the teaching to the teachers and went on vacation.
Now teachers, faced with children who have been developing at their own pace for the past 15 years, are realizing we’ve made a terrible mistake. One such teacher is Sharon Klompus who says of her students—“so passive”—and wonders what happened. Nothing was demanded of them, she believes. Television, says Klompus, contributes to children’s passivity. “We’re not training kids to work any more.” says Klompus. “We’re talking about a generation of kids who’ve never been hurt or hungry. They have learned somebody will always do it for them, Instead of saying ‘go and look it up’, you tell them the answer. It takes greater energy to say no to a kid.”
Yes, it does. It takes energy and it takes work. It’s time for parents to end their vacation and come back to work. It’s time to take the car away, to turn TV off, to tell them it hurts you more than them but it’s for their own good. It’s time to start telling them no again.
67.To such children as described in the passage __________.
A. neither is easy to say yes or say no
B. it is easier to say no than to say yes
C. it is easier to say yes than no
D. neither is difficult to say yes or say no
68.We learn from the passage that the author’s mother used to lay emphasis on(强调;重视) ________.
A. natural development B. education at school C. learning Latin D. discipline
69.By “permissive period in education” the author means a time ________.
A. when everything can be taught at school
B. when children are permitted to receive education
C. when children are allowed to do what they wish to
D. when every child can be educated
70.The main idea of the passage is that _______.
A. It’s time to be more strict with our kids
B. parents should always set a good example to their kids
C. parents should leave their children alone
D. kids should have more activities at school
Ellis Island is located in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is open daily year round from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours during summer. It is closed on December 25.There is no admission charge to Ellis Island; but donations are gratefully accepted.
At Your Fingertips：
Park information (212)363－7620 Emergencies (212)363－3260
Ferryboat information (212)269－5755 Lost and found (212)363－7620
Dining, gifts & audio tour 344－0996
Transportation：
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Ferry：Boats leave from Battery Park, Manhattan, and from Liberty State Park, New Jersey. They run about every 30 to 45 minutes beginning at 9:15 a.m.
(The time for ferry is changeable)
Hours: May vary; call the number above Closed: December 25
Ferry fees (includes Liberty and Islands) adults,$7;
senior citizens,$6;
Children (age 3～17),$5.
(Group rates are available for 25 or more adults.)
64. In summer, visitors will have ________ to visit Ellis Island.
A. a limited time B. a longer time
C. a shorter time D. a wonderful time
65. Which number would you call if our friend were suddenly ill?
A. (212)344－0996 B. (212)363－7620
C. (212)363－3260 D. (212)269－5755
66. We may infer from the passage that________.
A. visitors prefer to go to Ellis Island by boat
B. there are more visitors in winter
C. Ellis Island is open every day
D. Boat is the only transportation to Ellis Island
Some people are lucky enough to be born with a good sense of direction and even if they have only visited a place once, they will be able to find it again years later.
I am one of those unfortunate people who have poor sense of direction and I may have visited a place time after time but I still get lost on my way there. When I was young I was so shy that I never dared ask complete strangers the way and so I used to wander round in circles and hope that by some chance I would get to the spot I was heading for.
I am no longer too shy to ask people for direction, but I often receive replies that puzzle me. Often people do not like to admit that they didn’t know their hometown and will insist on telling you the way, even if they do not know it; others, who are anxious to prove that they know their hometown very well, will give you a long list of directions which you can not possibly hope to remember, and still others do not seem to be able to tell between their left and their right and you find in the end that you are going in the opposite direction to that in which you should be going.
If anyone ever asks me the way to somewhere, I always tell them I am a stranger to the town in order to avoid giving them wrong direction but even this can have embarrassing results.
Once I was on my way to work when I was stopped by a man who asked me if I would direct him the way to the Sunlight Building. I gave my usual reply, but I had not walked on a few steps when I realized that he had asked for directions to my office building. However, at this point, I decide it was too late to turn back and search for him out of the crowd behind me as I was going to meet with someone at the office and I did not want to keep him waiting.
Imagine my embarrassment when my secretary showed in the very man who had asked for directions of my office and his astonishment when he recognized me as the person he had asked.
60. What is the writer going to do when someone asks him for direction?
A. He will direct the right way to the person willingly.
B. He will reply to it by the means of being a stranger to the town.
C. He will give the very person long list of direction.
D. He is going to show the man an opposite direction.
61. Why did the writer consider himself to be an unlucky dog?
A. Because of his poor sense of direction.
B. Because he always forget the way to home.
C. Because he did not have any friend.
D. Because he used to be shy and dared not ask others the way.
62. How did the visitor feel when he was showed into the very room?
A. He felt strange. B. He felt embarrassed.
C. He felt very sad. D. He felt astonished.
63. Who showed the right way to the interviewee according to the passage?
A. Someone we don’t know. B. The writer did it for himself.
C. The secretary did so. D. A warm-hearted old lady did it.