第三部分：阅读理解 (共20小题；每小题2分, 满分40分)
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。
The host poured the tea into the cup and placed it on the small table in front of his guests, who were a father and daughter, and put the cover on the cup. Apparently thinking of something, he hurried into the inner room, leaving the thermos (热水瓶) on the table. His two guests heard a cupboard opening.
They remained sitting in the sitting room, the ten-year-old daughter looking at the flowers outside the window, the father just about to take his cup, when the crash came, right there in the sitting room. Something was hopelessly broken.
It was the thermos, which had fallen to the floor. The girl looked over her shoulder, shocked, staring. It was mysterious. Neither of them had touched it, not even a bit. True, it hadn't stood steadily when their host placed it on the table, but it hadn't fallen then.
The explosion caused the host to rush back. Gawking at the steaming floor, the host said "It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter!"
The father started to say something. Then he said softly, "Sorry, I touched it and it fell."
"It doesn't matter," the host said.
When they left the house, the daughter said, "Daddy, did you touch it?"
"No. But it stood so close to me. "
"But you didn't touch it. I saw your reflection in the window glass. "
The father laughed. "What then would you give as the cause of its fall?"
"The thermos fell by itself. The floor is not smooth. Daddy, why did you say that you …"
"That won't do, girl. It sounds more acceptable when I say I knocked it down. There are things which people accept less the more you defend them. The truer the story you tell, the less true it sounds. "
The daughter was lost in silence for a while. Then she said, "Can you explain it only in this way?"
"Only in this way," her father said.
56. Which statement is a possible theme of this story?
A. People rarely tell the truth.
B. You can't always make people believe the truth.
C. If you defend yourself, people will believe you.
D. People should take the blame for what they didn't do.
57. It can be inferred from the story that the father _______.
A. didn't know the host well B. felt satisfied that he didn't tell the truth
C. was sorry that he told the truth D. didn't think the host would believe the truth
58. From the story we know that the daughter ________.
A. thought her father should tell the truth B. didn't know why the thermos fell
C. knocked over the thermos D. strongly objected to her father's explanation
59. The underlined "gawking at" probably means _______.
A. staring at with anger B. looking at curiously
C. glancing at hopelessly D. looking at in a dull way
New York Times---( DINITIA SMITH )Tomorrow is the 433d anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth. A recent survey shows that more people are watching him, reading him and studying him than ever before.
Consider the recent yearly conference of the Shakespeare Association of America in Washington, where more than 600 people who study or admire Shakespeare from 18 countries took in topics like ‘‘Whither Attribution Studies,’’ ‘‘Unpopular Shakespeare’’ and ‘‘Sex Me Here,’’ a talk on breast-feeding and Lady Macbeth.
‘‘The national media is saying that fewer students’ taking Shakespeare,’’ Barbara Mowat, the editor of The Shakespeare Quarterly, observed in a speech at the conference. ‘‘But Shakespeare is thriving.’’ The association’s membership has increased by a third since 1990.
The Shakespeare business is so good these days that W. W. Norton is introducing a huge new collections of the plays into the already crowded field just in time for tomorrow’s birthday anniversary. Priced at $44.95, ‘‘The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition’’ runs for 3,420 pages, offering introductions, illustrations and notes and three versions(版本) of ‘‘King Lear.’’
Today, movies and videos have made the plays even more accessible. Last year, ‘‘William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet’’ was No. 1 at the box office when it opened, and it grossed nearly $50 million. In New York in January, crowds lined up in the freezing cold to see Kenneth Branagh’s four-hour ‘‘Hamlet.’’ The students select a scene and then have a violent discussion about it.’’ Influenced by films, professors are increasingly teaching students by having them perform the plays. Why people from 18 countries came to Washington this year?
| A．To celebrate Shakespeare’s 433d birth day only. |
| B．To watch some plays by Shakespeare as planned. |
| C．To celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday and study his works. |
| D．To discuss how to teach students using Shakespeare’s plays. |
What does the underlined word “ field” in the fourth paragraph refer to?
A. Washington D.C. B. Shakespeare Association.
C. The birthday anniversary. D. The Shakespeare business.Which of the many plays by Shakespeare was most popular the year before?
| A．King Lear. | B．Hamlet. |
| C．Macbeth. | D．Romeo and Juliet. |
What does the author want to prove by using so many examples about Shakespeare?
A. More and more people are becoming interested in Shakespeare.
B. Shakespeare business is being run well in America nowadays.
C. Plays by Shakespeare can be used at school for more studies.
D. Shakespeare belongs not only to Britain but also to the USA.
Did you ever wonder how some of your favorite foods, products or toys came about? Believe it or not, they may have been an accident, or a failure of some other intention. Below, we found three mistakes we’re thankful for turned out to be what they are.
1. Most historians hold that the Chinese invented fireworks in the 9th century when they
discovered how to make gunpowder. Story has it that a Chinese cook accidentally mixed together what were then considered common kitchen items and noticed they burnt. When put tightly in a bamboo tube and lit, it blew up.
2. In May of 1886, a law led John Pemberton, a pharmacist（药剂师）, to rewrite the formula(配方) for "Pemberton’s French Wine Coca,” his popular headache treatment. Containing sugar instead of wine as a sweetener, the outcome became something for Coke, which was later mixed with carbonated water. His bookkeeper suggested the name Coca-Cola because he thought the two C’s would look good together, which is how what we call Coca-Cola, a world –wide drink came into being.
3. During World War II, scientists at the University of Birmingham invented the magnetron—an important heat-producing part of the microwave oven(微波炉). While working for Raytheon Corporation after the war, the American engineer Percy Spencer was testing the magnetron when a chocolate bar in his pocket melted. He went on to test other foods including popcorn kernels, and found it to be a much more efficient way to cook. In 1947 Raytheon came out with the first restaurant microwave oven, which was six feet tall and weighed 750 lbs.The right time order of the three inventions, according to the passage, should be_________.
| A．fireworks, the microwave and Coca-Cola |
| B．fireworks ,Coca-Cola and the microwave |
| C．Coca-Cola , fireworks and the microwave |
| D．the microwave, Coca-Cola and fireworks |
Percy Spencer found the microwave efficient in cooking when he was _______.
| A．looking for a way to melt his chocolate |
| B．trying to know how a magnetron could cook |
| C．working to know how the magnetron works |
| D．asked to invent a restaurant microwave oven |
What can we learn from the above invention stories?
| A．Experiments make great inventors of our time. |
| B．Nothing is impossible if one tries each day. |
| C．Inventors come out of hard work at any time. |
| D．A small incident may lead to a great invention. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．What great inventions they are! | B．Inventions from Three Countries. |
| C．Stories of Accidental Inventions. | D．The Human Inventions of time. |
Writer and power chair adventurer Mary Laver has not walked for twenty years. Yet the cheerful and positive 60 year old is not only refusing to let her disability get her down ---- she is also planning to cross the length of Britain in a power wheelchair.
Getting ready for the trip is not easy. She has already run into many problems - not least officials and organizations who view her as a health and safety risk. One police officer wrote to Mary requesting:
1. The proposed route through our area with road numbers.
2. The dates and times each day that this will be taking place.
3. The location details of the proposed overnight stops.
4. The names and mobile phone contact details of the Support Crew.
Another police officer asked her to travel off road! As Mary told me, this was unacceptable - as a power wheelchair user with limited movement she needs to be"gettable".
There are other problems in her way though - she is, after all, in her 60’s and has severe rheumatoid arthritis(风湿性关节炎). However, unlike many other people with arthritis, she is no longer in pain.
"When you are in a power chair and it is going at eight miles an hour, believe me it feels fast … to me it is the Formula One(一级方程式赛车) chair of electric wheelchairs."
At the end of the interview, I asked Mary if she had a message for any other power chair users who wanted to do a challenge, and her reply was simple："Just do it!"What is Mary Laver planning to do？
| A．Travel to write a power wheelchair adventure. |
| B．Travel across Britain in a power wheelchair. |
| C．Prove she can do what a man can in driving. |
| D．Try a fast Formula One power chair sport. |
Why did a police officer write to Mary requesting the four points?
| A．He tried to stop her. | B．Mary’s adventure is valueless. |
| C．The power chair is too fast. | D．He wanted to ensure her safety. |
The underlined word “She needs to be gettable” in the passage probably means “_______”
| A．She’ll have a try whatever difficulties she may have. |
| B．A road for a power wheelchair user is a must for her. |
| C．Mary has to jump off her wheelchair once on the road. |
| D．With rheumatoid arthritis, she need some field help. |
When Mary said “Just do it !” at the end of the interview, she meant “_______”
| A．Be brave though disabled. | B．Fear no challenges at all. |
| C．Take action right away. | D．Make it whoever you are. |
（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）
先阅读短文，然后根据短文的内容判断正误，并将结果转涂到答题卡上。正确的涂A，错误的涂B。
As high school students, Sang Tian and Huang Yunru dreamed of attending one of the world’s top universities. They slaved over their studies and were in the end admitted to famous schools – only one turned out to be far more famous than the other, according to new ranking (排名)of Asia’s top schools.
Huang Yunru, 19, went to the University of Hong Kong, the No 1 school in Asia. Sang, also 19, went to Tsinghua University, which was ranked a disappointing 16th in Asia. When Sang heard the news, he couldn’t believe his ears. “What? How can it be?” he said, greatly surprised.
The new list of Asia’s top 200 universities was published last month by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a UK-based career and education company. The ranking have started heated discussions among Chinese people, since the mainland’s top two schools – Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University – were not in the top 10.
Actually, this isn’t the first time that the schools have gone on poorly in regional or global ranking. The 2010 world university list released by the magazine US News & World Report ranked Peking University at 50th and Tsinghua University at 56th. They were the only two mainland schools in the top 100. Meanwhile, 37 US universities made the top 100 list. And three of 10 Hong Kong universities made the top 50.Chinese universities’ poor performance has saddened many students. “I can’t understand their standards,” said Sang. “At least we are a university with a long, proud history.”
According to the QS list, Chinese universities are doing OK in academic peer review, with both Tsinghua and Peking University scoring a full 100. But when it comes to student-to-faculty ratio（师生比）, their ranking drops, with Tsinghua at 22th and Peking at 23rd.John Hennessy, president of Stanford University, said at the Fourth Chinese-Foreign University Presidents Forum in early May that a lack of small-group discussions has seriously affected the teaching quality at Chinese universities. This has also resulted in students being afraid to question or challenge teachers.Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University were in the top 10 in the ranking of Asia’s top schools.
There were no top 100 universities in the
mainland according to the ranking.Hong Kong universities are doing much better than the Chinese mainland ones in the ranking.
Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University are so famous that they are not worried about the result at all.
One of the reasons for the mainland’s universities’ disappointing ranking is that there are simply not enough teachers for the large number of students.
Good afternoon, and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today, I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.
The first one is about drinking. Now, you may not buy alcohol in this country if you are under 18 years of age, nor may your friends buy it for you.
Secondly, noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means, but please don’t make unnecessary noise, particularly at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.
Thirdly crossing the road. Be careful. The traffic moves on the left side of he road in this country. Use pedestrian crossings (人行道) and do not take any chances when crossing the road.
My next point is about litter (throwing away waste material in a public place). It is an offence to drop litter in the street. When you have something to throw away, please put it in your pocket and take it home, or put it in a litter bin.
Finally, as regards smoking, it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco, if you are under 16 years of age.
I’d like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance, you should contact your local police station, who will be pleased to help you.
Now, are there any questions?
73. The main purpose of this speech would be to ____ .
A. prepare people for international travel
B. declare the laws of different kinds
C. give advice to travellers to the country
D. inform people of the punishment for breaking laws
74. From the speech we learn that ____
A. In this country, if you are under 18 years of age, you may not buy alcohol, but your friend can buy it for you.
B. You may not buy cigarettes or tobacco unless you are above 16 years of age.
C. Because the traffic moves on the left side of he road ,you must use pedestrian crossings when crossing the road.
D. You can’t make noise except at night.
75. Who do you think is most likely to make the speech?
A. A policeman B. A lawmaker C. A teacher D. A lawyer