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。
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK - US President Bush said on Monday that he wanted Osama bin Laden “dead or alive” for last week’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the pentagon, but many of Washington’s allies are cool on strikes against Afghanistan．Bush has named Saudi - born militant Osama bin Laden as a prime suspect, though he has provided no evidence for his claim． Still, he had been building public support for military action and has warned Afghanistan’s Taliban to give up Bin Laden．
But the Taliban, which has warned of “holy war” in response to any US attack, by Tuesday afternoon had given no indication of whether the man they call their“ guest” would be handed over．
On an unprecedented“ Day of terror”, two planes smashed into New York’s World Trade Center twin towers on September 11, putting them into ruins while explosions rocked the Pentagon in Washington, and the White House and State Department were evacuated． The attacks have left more than 5, 000 people dead or missing．
China has said it is ready to join international efforts in fighting “terrorism ”but insisted that peace, not war, is the best option．
In London, Blair declared it a“ war between the civilized world and fanaticism ”and determined to stand by an ally which aided Britain in two world wars． France, Germany and others, including Russia, are also supportive． “The evil must be punished, ” Russian President Vladimir Putin said． “But we should not liken ( 把…比着 )ourselves to bandit．” His defense chiefs have ruled out hosting NATO forces in former Soviet Central Asia or joining US military action, although Moscow says it will help with intelligence．
36．What building（s）was/were totally damaged?
A． The World Trade Center and the Pentagon
B． The World Trade Center．
C． The Pentagon．
D． The White House
37．In this passage, what country does the underlined part refer to?
A． Russia B． France C． Germany D． America
38．According to the passage, which of the following is right?
A． It was bin Laden that made the terrorist attacks, which have left more than 5, 000 people dead or missing．
B． Russian forces will join US military action．
C． There is no sign to show that the Taliban will hand over bin Laden．
D． Few countries support America after the attacks．
39．From the passage, what problem is the world facing?
A． Wars B． Terrorism C． Population D． Explosions
WASHINGTON---At least four more U.S. air-traffic controllers are caught nodding off on the job at three separate airports across the nation, the government said Wednesday.
The controller working alone in the tower fell asleep and was out of communication for 16 minutes while a medical flight carrying a patient was trying to land at about 2 A.M. Wednesday at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.
The FAA announced that it is also investigating a controller who fell asleep Monday at Boeing King County International Airport in Seattle and two controllers who were unresponsive at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee on Feb.19.
“I am sick of this,” Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said in a statement. “We can’t have a system where some of the people responsible for safety are asleep at the switch.”
As the incidents pile up, sleep experts say it demonstrates that the agency faces a systemic issue with the thousands of people expected to work through the night in safety-critical jobs. Scientific research shows that workers on midnight shifts make more errors because it is so difficult for the body to adapt to sleeping during the day, they say.
The agency will add an extra controller at the 27 towers staffed with one worker on the midnight shift, the FAA statement said.
Representative John Mica, the Florida Republican who chairs the House transportation committee, criticized the decision to add controllers. “Only in the federal government would you double up on workers, averaging $161,000 per year in salary and benefits, that aren’t doing their job,” Mica said in a statement. Mica has pushed legislation that would allow as many as 90 smaller airports to switch from federal to private controllers.
“People have known these problems with fatigue（疲劳）have existed for years,” said John Goglia, a Boston-based aviation safety consultant. “They’re now showing up. The FAA is admitting they exist. Now the FAA needs to work on it.”
The four controllers in Nevada, Seattle and Texas have been suspended(暂时停职) during the investigations, the FAA said.The underlined part “double up on workers” means “______”.
| A．add two more workers | B．staff two workers at a post |
| C．settle two workers in a double room | D．give the workers double pay |
According to John Goglia, fatigue problem ______.
| A．is a known potential danger | B．has never appeared before |
| C．is common for day-time shift workers | D．seldom shows up at night |
Which statement is true?
| A．A controller fell asleep without communication for 16 minutes in Knoxville, Tennessee. |
| B．A medical flight carrying a patient failed to land with the controller asleep. |
| C．Jay Rockefeller pays little attention to sleeping at the switch. |
| D．Mica refused to support the decision to staff more controllers on the midnight shift. |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．All the controllers in the US were working alone while they were on duty |
| B．The incidents are rooted in fatigue problems and those on midnight shifts need an extra nap |
| C．In the U.S. , thousands of people expect to work through the night in safety-critical jobs |
| D．The agency has added an extra controller at the 27 towers |
Jeffrey Bezos, founder, president and chairman of the board of Amazon.com, was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother’s ancestors were early settlers in Texas, and over the generations had acquired a 25,000 acre farm at Cotulla. Jeffrey spent most summers of his youth working with his grandfather on their farm.
Jeffrey showed intense and varied scientific interests at an early age. He set up an electric alarm to keep his younger sisters and brothers out of his room and changed his parents’ garage into a laboratory for his science projects.
After he graduated from Princeton University with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering, Jeffrey Bezos found employment on Wall Street, where computer science was increasingly in demand to study market trends. He rose quickly, becoming a senior vice president, and looked forward to a bright career in finance, when he made a discovery that changed his life, and the course of business history.
In 1994, there was still no internet commerce to speak of. One day that spring, Jeffrey Bezos observed that Internet usage was increasing by 2300 percent a year. He saw an opportunity for a new circle of commerce, and immediately began considering the possibilities.
Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994, setting up the original company in his garage. The company was called Amazon for the seemingly endless South American river with its numberless branches. It started as an online bookstore but soon diversified to all kinds of products. His work with Amazon eventually led him to become one of the most excellent dot-com entrepreneurs. He was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999. In 2008, he was selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders. Bezos’ Amazon has become “the Earth’s biggest anything store”. Amazon.com is now called “one of the smartest strategies in business history”.
Today, Jeffrey Bezos lives north of Seattle and is increasingly concerned with charity activities. “Giving away money takes as much attention as building a successful company,” he said. In his childhood, Bezos ______.
| A．had to work with his grandfather on their farm all day long |
| B．showed great interest in science |
| C．didn’t get along well with his brothers and sisters |
| D．wanted to become a businessman |
Jeffrey changed the course of business history because he ______.
| A．looked forward to a bright career in finance on Wall Street |
| B．considered the possibility of setting up an original company |
| C．founded a new form of commerce that developed fast later |
| D．was the first to speak of Internet commerce |
Which of the following isn’t mentioned in the passage?
| A．How hard Bezos studied in Princeton University. |
| B．“Amazon.com” only sold books in the beginning. |
| C．Bezos not only devoted his life to Internet commerce but also to charity. |
| D．The reason why Jeffrey Bezos decided to found Amazon.com. |
It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
| A．it was Bezos’s grandfather on the farm who helped him a lot |
| B．Bezos invented e-commerce to win the world fame overnight |
| C．Bezos has a sharp business mind and a kind heart |
| D．Bezos aimed at setting up “the Earth’s biggest bookstore” |
Warm water freezes（结冰） more quickly than cold water. Sir Francis Bacon said that almost four hundred years ago. But few people believed him until 1970. In that year a Canadian scientist George Kill proved the English professor was right. Dr Kill filled an open oil pail(桶) with cold water. He filled another with warm water. He put both in the same low temperature. The warm water froze first. The lack of covers on the pails is the secret. Some of the warm water changed into vapor. This meant that less of the warm water was left to be frozen. And so the warm water froze faster than the cold water even though it had a greater temperature drop to make.Hundreds of years ago, Sir Francis Bacon found _______.
| A．the temperature of warm water drops faster than that of cold water |
| B．warm water is heavier than cold water |
| C．warm water has the same temperature as cold water |
| D．warm water is not as useful as cold water |
What Sir Francis Bacon said was right, but people didn't believe him until _______.
| A．late in the 19th century | B．early in the 20th century |
| C．three years ago | D．late in the 20th century |
Leave a pail with warm water and another pail with cold water in the same low temperature, you’ll find that _______.
| A．cold water freezes first |
| B．warm water turns into ice before cold water |
| C．warm water and cold water freeze at the same time |
| D．much of cold water is changed into air. |
Why does warm water freeze first in the same freezing weather?
| A．Because some of the warm water turns to vapor, the amount(数量) becomes less than that of cold water. |
| B．Because warm water is lighter than cold water. |
| C．Because the temperature of warm water is lower than that of cold water. |
| D．Because cold water freezes with more difficulty than warm water. |
It doesn’t matter if you have one friend or 20, because there are only a few people in this world that can make you truly happy. For me, my family and my three best girlfriends mean everything to me.
Some days I didn’t want to go to school because I felt so disappointed in myself but I don’t regret a thing. It makes you stronger as a person, and if you are able to mend your friendships like I have done, then you can do anything.
My mom always told me, “Stephanie, remember that a friend is a gift that you give to yourself. A friend will always be there for the good and the bad. A true friend will never make fun of you. If a friend is a piece of work, then he or she has never been a friend at all. A friend is the biggest gift to you.”
Everyone is going to make mistakes but please don’t push them away, especially if it’s someone you really care about. I know when I make mistake I beat myself up about it. I just wish someone would have reached out a hand to help me back up on my feet like my best friend did. If someone is new or doesn’t have a friend, please reach out and befriend them because that small action could mean the world to them. Now that I’m older, I understand what my mom has been trying to tell me, and now I know that the friends that I choose will also be the kinds of friends that I would want to be surrounded by forever.The writer was unwilling to go to school because ______.
| A．she was disappointed in herself |
| B．she regretted something he had done |
| C．she was busy trying to fix a friendship |
| D．she went to by a gift for her mother |
According to passage, a true friend should be a person that ______.
| A．often gives you gifts |
| B．makes you happy |
| C．does both good and bad things to you |
| D．never makes fun of you |
It can be inferred(推测) from the passage that the writer ______.
| A．doesn’t have many friends |
| B．doesn’t think that friends will make her truly happy |
| C．understands what a friend means to her |
| D．has nothing except her family and three girlfriends |
According to the passage, which is WRONG?
| A．Making friends with some lonely people will bring them warmth |
| B．Your friend should not make mistakes in face of you. |
| C．Mother told me what friend is. |
| D．You should care about your friend. |
When I was at university, I studied very hard. But a lot of my friends did very little work. Some did just enough to pass exams. Others didn’t do quite enough. Fred Baines was one of them. He spent more time drinking in the Students’ Union than working in the library. Once, at the end of the term, we had to take an important test in chemistry. The test had a hundred questions. Beside each question we had to write “True” or “False”. While I was studying in my room the night before the test, Fred was watching television. Fred usually worried a lot the night before a test. But that night he looked perfectly calm. Then he told me of his plan. “It’s very simple. There are a hundred questions and I have to get fifty correct to pass the test. I’ll take a coin into the examination room. I haven’t studied a chemistry book for months, so I’ll just toss the coin. In that way, I’m sure I’ll get half the questions right.” The next day, Fred came cheerfully into the examination room. As he sat tossing a coin for half an hour he marked down his answers. Then he left half an hour before the rest of us. The next day, he saw the chemistry professor in the corridor.
“Oh good,” he said, “Have you got the results of the test?”
The professor looked at him and smiled.
“Ah, it’s you, Baines, just a minute.”
Then he reached into his pocket and took out a coin. He threw it into the air, caught it in his hand and looked at it.
“I’m terribly sorry, Baines,” he said, “You failed!” Fred often went to the Students’ Union where he ________ .
| A．worked extra hours | B．enjoyed himself in the bar |
| C．borrowed books | D．attended a few lectures |
This time Fred expected to get ________ .
| A．an excellent mark | B．a low mark | C．his usual mark | D．the pass mark |
The chemistry professor ________ .
| A．didn’t mark the test papers correctly |
| B．tossed a coin when he marked test papers |
| C．knew about Fred’s method |
| D．thought Fred’s method was good |
According to the text, we can know working hard is ________ .
| A．unnecessary | B．valuable | C．useless | D．a waste |