（3）易题Herearethreenoticesonthes-优题课

第三部分阅读（共两节，满分40分）
第一节：阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30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。
In 2008, the main candidates（候选人）for President each used this expression: “You can put lipstick（口红）on a pig, but it is still a pig.” This means that it is a waste of time to change something from ugly or unpleasant–looking to beautiful.
There are other expressions about improving a pig’s appearance, like this one: “A hog in a silk waistcoat is still a hog.” Hogs are similar to pigs, only bigger. Americans use many other expressions about pigs, hogs and female hogs called sows, like this one, “You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” This means you cannot create something valuable from something that has no value. Then there is the expression “Cast pearls before swine（猪）.” That means wasting something valuable on someone who will not be thankful or care about it.
Hogs, which are very large animals, take up a lot of space but people should not take up more than their share. If one of your children is taking up too much space sitting in front of the television, other children might say: “Do not hog the couch.” And a road hog is a driver who uses more than his share of the road. Such a driver increases dangers for other drivers.
Pig terms are also used in American politics. Farmers mark their pig’s ears to identify them. In politics, earmarks are money set aside for projects in a congressman’s home state.
In many areas, pigs provide ham, bacon and other pork products to eat. All Americans want to be able to bring home the bacon because they want to earn enough money to provide the necessities of life. Experts say this term was first used in the 1920s. But it is believed to come from the much older game of catching a greased（涂了油的）pig. This was a popular event at country fairs in which the winner was awarded the pig.
41. The author writes this passage mainly to _________.
A. express his support for the Presidential Election
B. introduce some expressions used in Americans’ daily life
C. criticize the bad influence caused by expressions about pigs
D. discuss some problems caused by expressions about pigs
42. If you give a good book to a person who can’t read, which of the following is the most suitable to describe it?
A. Cast pearls before swine.
B. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.
C. A hog in a silk waistcoat is still a hog.
D. You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
43. A driver who takes up too much space on the road is often referred to as _________.
A. a greased pig B. a couch hog
C. a road hog D. a road earmark
44. How many words which refer to the same animal are mentioned in this passage?
A. Three B. Four C. Five D. Six
45. Which of the following expressions are similar to “You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”?
A. When pigs fly! B. To eat like a pig
C. To sell a pig in a pork. D. To sweat like a pig.

After blogging regularly for two months, people felt they had better social support and friendship networks than those who don’t blog. Blogging can help you feel less isolated, more connected to a community and more satisfied with your friendships, both online and face-to-face, new Australian research has found.
Researchers James Baker and Professor Susan Moore from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne have written two papers investigating the psychological benefits of blogging, regularly updating personal web pages with information that invites others to comment.
The first, published in the latest issue of the journal Cyber Psychology & Behavior, compares the mental health of people intending to blog with that of people not planning to blog. Moore says the researchers messaged 600 My Space users personally and directed them to an online survey. A total of 134 completed the questionnaire; 84 intended to blog and 50 didn’t.
“We found potential bloggers were less satisfied with their friendships and they felt less socially integrated, and they didn’t feel as much part of a community as the people who weren’t interested in blogging…” Moore says. “It was as if they were saying ‘I’m going to do this blogging and it’s going to help me.’”
And it seemed to do the trick, as the researchers’ second study shows. This study, which is yet to be published, was conducted two months later. The researchers sent out questionnaires to the same group of My Space users; this time 59 responded. Bloggers reported a greater sense of belonging to a group of like-minded people and feeling more confident for they could rely on others for help. All respondents, whether or not they blogged, reported feeling less anxious, depressed and stressed after two months of online social networking.
“So going onto My Space had lifted the mood of all participants in some way,” Moore says. “Maybe they’d just made more social connections.” Moore acknowledges this early research and hopes to follow a larger group of people for a longer period time to test some of the research findings.
46. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. The mental health of bloggers B. Blogging improves one’s social life.
C. What kind of people are likely to blog D. Blogging has become more popular.
47. It can be inferred from the fourth paragraph that ______.
A. those who were not interested in blogging didn’t have good mental health.
B. people were likely to become bloggers if they felt socially isolated
C. potential bloggers were those who had mental health problems
D. potential bloggers usually held a wrong view about blogging
48. The purpose of the second study is to find out ______.
A. what people do on My Space
B. how many people became bloggers
C. how people felt after blogging for two months
D. how many people kept blogging after two months
49. The second study shows that ______.
A. online social networking can do people good
B. only bloggers benefit from online social networking
C. not many potential bloggers became real bloggers
D. not all bloggers found the help they needed
50. The main purpose of people going on My Space is probably to ______.
A. exchange goods B. entertain themselves
C. seek help D. exchange views

My secret for staying young is simple. Put all attention to the part of you---your brain and keep it young and growing. Keep your mind awake and you’ll stay young all over. These are exciting time. Take an interest in the world around you, and stick to(坚持) learning at least one new thing every day.
No matter how old you are, it’s not too late to make your life more interesting. I know a housewife with no knowledge before who made herself into a famous industrial engineer(工业工程师).I know a retired(退休) electrical engineer who has became a highly-paid ceramin (陶器的) artist.
Get over the idea that you are ever too old to go back to school. I know a man who entered a medical college at 70.He got his degree with honor and became a doctor. Another man went to law school at 71 and now is an active lawyer(律师).Staying young is easy for those, old or young, who live in the future. You can do it if you care enough to try. Keep you mind awake and active: that’s the only elixir(万验灵丹)
41.The statement that brain to people of all ages, remains young and growing is_____.
A.impossible B.a scientific fact(科学事实)
Ｃ.supposed(或许) to be true D.a wrong conclusion( 错误结论)
42.It is wrong to______.
think oneself too old to go back to school B.keep one’s mind awake
try to stay young D.get one’s degree with honors
43.The passage tells that the man who entered college at 70 became_____.
A.an active lawyer B.an electrical engineer
C.a famous doctor D.a highly-paid ceramic artist
44.The only youth elixir is______.
to go back to school B.not to think about one’s age
to live in the future D.to keep one’s mind awake and active
45.According to the writer,you should_____learning at least one new thing every day.
A.take care of B.start C.begin D.keep on

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题2分，满分40分）
第一节：(共15小题，满分30分)
Police in the Russian city of St. Petersburg were today searching for a rare missing leopard which was stolen yesterday when thieves attacked a TV producer and drove off in his luxury Mercedes 4×4.
The amur leopard, which was in the boot, is one of the world’s most highly endangered species, with fewer than 45 left in the wild in Russia’s remote far east. About 300 others are captive in zoos around the world.
According to its owner, Mikhail Barakin, the thieves were wearing masks. They attacked him and his driver, throwing both of them out of the vehicle, shortly after they drove to St. Petersburg with leopard from Moscow.
“She’s a female leopard cub and she’s incredibly tame,” Barakin told the Guardian this morning. “She’s just over a month old. The leopard was brought up in captivity.”
He went on, “We had been driving all night with the leopard in a travel cage. The plan was to take her to the vet. My driver and I were in the process of setting the leopard in the trunk of my Mercedes…when three masked assailants attacked us. They managed to get away with the car. My suspicion is the theft was done to order.”
Barakin said the leopard, a present from a Moscow businessman, was far more valuable than the stolen Mercedes. He has offered a ￡85,400 reward for its safe return, and says he is prepared to drop all charges if the thieves bring the animal back.
The leopard was to have been housed in a purpose-built enclosure on a country estate outside St. Petersburg, he added. Barakin said he had hired a specialist to look after it, and was planning to use the cub in TV commercials.
36. We can infer from the passage that the three assailants ______.
A. probably came for the leopard B. would return the leopard safely
C. didn’t know there was a leopard in the car D. were known to Mikhail Barakin
37. The leopard was believed to be more valuable because ______.
A. it was already tamed B. it could be kept as a pet
C. it would be used in TV commercials D. it was an endangered species
38. Mikhail Barakin drove the leopard to ______.
A. put her in a bigger place B. use it in TV commercials
C. put her in better care D. keep her in the zoo
39. If the thieves brought the leopard back, Mikhail Barakin would ______.
A. send them to prison B. give them a reward
C. give them the car as a reward D. not charge them
40. The underlined word “boot” in Paragraph 2 probably refers to ______.
A. a special cage B. a type of shoe
C. the trunk of a car D. a kind of camera

Given Australia’s size and the fact that early settlements were far apart, Australian society is remarkably homogeneous (同种的). Its citizens are fundamentally prosperous（繁荣的） and the way of life in the major cities and towns is much the same however many miles divide them. It takes a sharp ear to identify regional accents.
However, there is some difference in lifestyle between city dwellers and the country people. Almost 90 per cent of the population lives in the fast-paced cities along the coast and has little more than a passing familiarity with the desert. The major cities preserve pockets of colonial heritage, but the overall impression is modern, with new buildings reflecting the country’s youth. In contrast, the rural communities tend to be slow-moving and conservative. For many years, Australia was said to have “ridden on the sheep’s back”, a reference to wool being the country’s main money-earner. However, the wool industry is no longer dominant. Much of Australia’s relatively sound economy is now achieved from natural coal and wheat, and by being the largest diamond producer in the world. Newer industries such as tourism and wine making are also increasingly important. Australians are generally friendly and relaxed, with a self-deprecating sense of humor. On the whole, Australia is a society without hierarchies (等级制度), an attitude generally held to stem from its prisoner beginnings.
Yet, contrary to widespread belief, very few Australians have true prisoner origins. Within only one generation of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, Australia had become a nation of immigrants. Originally coming almost entirely from the British Isles, today one in three Australians comes from elsewhere. Australia’s liberal postwar immigration policies led to an influx of survivors from war-torn Europe, most notably Greeks, Italians, Poles and Germans.
The emphasis has shifted in recent years and today the majority of new immigrants are from Southeast Asia. Today Australia is a ‘blend of nations’ and although some racism exists, it has generally been a successful experiment and the country is justifiably proud to have one of the most harmonious multicultural communities in the world.
51. What does the writer mean by saying “It takes a sharp ear to identify regional accents.” in the first paragraph?
A. Australians speak Standard English with no local accents whatsoever.
B. You have to practice a lot to learn to understand the different accents.
C. The Australian regional accents are very difficult to understand indeed.
D. There is not much difference between the accents in different areas of Australia.
52. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Most Australians have ancestors who were prisoners.
B. The Australian economy is dependent on sheep exports.
C. The majority of people living in Australia come from Europe.
D. The pace of life is different in the city and in the country.
53. The underlined pronoun ‘it’ in the final paragraph refers to “_______”.
A. community B. racism C. blend of Nations D. Southeast Asia
54. We can infer from the passage that _____.
A. there are no signs of Australia’s colonial past in its modern cities
B. Australia’s recent immigration policy encourages immigrants from Southeast Asia
C. immigrants from Southeast Asia have brought racial problems
D. “riding on sheep’s back” resulted in slow development in rural communities
55. This passage mainly focuses on Australia’s ______.
A. society B. economy C. racial problems D. history