第三部分:阅读理解(共15小题,每题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、D中,选出最佳答案。
The competition for Hollywood's highest honors has begun with the announcement Tuesday in Los Angeles of this year's nominations(提名)for the 82nd Academy Awards.
As expected, James Cameron's Avatar received a Best Picture nomination. And Cameron's former wife, Kathryn Bigelow, was nominated for The Hurt Locker, a war film set in Iraq. Bigelow would be the first female director to win Best Picture.
Hollywood author Tom O'Neil says the race between the former couple adds more drama to the competition. "We have a classic David-versus-Goliath battle here for Best Picture at the Oscars. The most successful movie ever made, Avatar, up against a movie that lost money, The Hurt Locker - directed by the former Mrs. Goliath, Kathryn Bigelow. This race has all kinds of dimensions(程度) to it," he said.
For the first time since 1943, 10 films are competing for the Best Picture award.
Entertainment reporter Sam Rubin says that means greater interest in the Academy Awards ceremony March 7th. "The Oscars are a television show," he explained. "So the idea is to increase ratings and interest in the television show."
District Nine represents another departure -- a tale of science fiction -- like the box office hit Avatar.
"No science-fiction movie has ever won Best Picture. Only two have been nominated in the past: Star Wars and E.T. Two are nominated for Best Picture now," O'Neil said.
Best Picture nominee Precious is a drama about the struggles of an inner-city teen, and its director, Lee Daniels, is also nominated in the Best Director category. He is first African-American director to get a Best Picture nomination.
The other Best Picture nominees are An Education, The Blind Side, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man, and Up in the Air.
Over the past 20 years, the film with the most nominations has won best picture 15 times --making Avatar and The Hurt Locker the favorites.
1. According to the passage, the director of the film __________might be the first female director to win Best Picture.
A. Avatar B. The Hurt Locker C. Star Wars D. The Blind Side
2.How many films have been nominated for the Best Picture Award of the 82nd Oscars?
A. 2 B. 6 C. 8 D.10
3. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A. The nominations for the 2009 Oscar Best Picture Films
B. The competition for Hollywood's highest honors has begun
C. The race between a couple D. Best Picture Award for the Oscars
4. Which of the following is TRUE about Avatar?
A. It is the most successful movie ever made.
B. It’s the only science-fiction movie that has ever won Best Picture.
C. It was directed by James Cameron D. It’s a war film.
Some years ago, writing in my diary used to be a usual activity. I would return from school and spend the expected half hour recording the day’s events, feelings, and impressions in my little blue diary. I did not really need to express my emotions by way of words, but I gained a certain satisfaction from seeing my experiences forever recorded on paper. After all, isn’t accumulating memories a way of preserving the past?
When I was thirteen years old, I went on a long journey on foot in a great valley, well-equipped with pens, a diary, and a camera. During the trip, I was busy recording every incident, name and place I came across. I felt proud to be spending my time productively, dutifully preserving for future generations a detailed description of my travels. On my last night there, I wandered out of my tent, diary in hand. The sky was clear and lit by the glare of the moon, and the walls of the valley looked threatening behind their screen of shadows. I automatically took out my pen…
At that point, I understood that nothing I wrote could ever match or replace the few seconds I allowed myself to experience the dramatic beauty of the valley. All I remembered of the previous few days were the dull characterizations I had set down in my diary.
Now, I only write in my diary when I need to write down a special thought or feeling. I still love to record ideas and quotations that strike me in books, or observations that are particularly meaningful. I take pictures, but not very often—only of objects I find really beautiful. I’m no longer blindly satisfied with having something to remember when I grow old. I realize that life will simply pass me by if I stay behind the camera, busy preserving the present so as to live it in the future.
I don’t want to wake up one day and have nothing but a pile of pictures and notes. Maybe I won’t have as many exact representations of people and places; maybe I’ll forget certain facts, but at least the experiences will always remain inside me. I don’t live to make memories—I just live, and the memories form themselves.Before the age of thirteen, the author regarded keeping a diary as a way of ______.
A.observing her school routine | B.expressing her satisfaction |
C.impressing her classmates | D.preserving her history |
What caused a change in the author’s understanding of keeping a diary?
A.A dull night on the journey. | B.The beauty of the great valley. |
C.A striking quotation from a book. | D.Her concerns for future generations. |
What does the author put in her diary now?
A.Notes and beautiful pictures. | B.Special thoughts and feelings. |
C.Detailed accounts of daily activities. | D.Descriptions of unforgettable events. |
The author comes to realize that to live a meaningful life is ______.
A.to experience it | B.to live the present in the future |
C.to make memories | D.to give accurate representations of it |
About 30 years ago, I left Cuba for the United States with my son. After getting settled finally in Brunswick, New Jersey, I enrolled(注册) my son in kindergarten. Several weeks later, my son’s teacher asked me to meet him at his office.
In the teacher’s office, and exchange of greetings was followed by his questions: “Is your son mentally retarded(弱智的)?Does he suffer from any kind of mental disability?”
Was he talking about my wonderful Scola? NO, no, it can’t be. What a helpless, lonely moment! I told him that Scola was a quiet, sweet little boy, instead. I asked him why he was asking me all these questions.
My son could not follow the teacher’s directions, he told me, and thus, Scola was disrupting the class, Didn’t he know my son did not speak English yet?
He was angry; “Why hasn’t your son been taught to speak English? Don’t you speak English at home?”
No, I didn’t speak English at home, I replied. I was sure my son would learn English in a couple of months, and I didn't want him to forget his native language. Well, wrong answer! What kind of person would not speak in English to her son at home and at all time? “Are you one of those people who come to this country to save dollars and send them back to their country, never wanting to be a part of this society?”
Needless to say, I tried to tell him I was not one of “those people.” Then he told me the meeting was over, and I left.
As I had expected, my son learned to speak English fluently before the school year was over. He went on to graduate from college and got a job, earning close to six figures. He travels widely and leads a well-adjusted, contented life. And he has benefited from being bilingual(双语的)。
Speaking more than one language allows people to communicate with others;it teaches people about other cultures and other places—something very basic and obviously lacking in the “educator” I met in New Jersey.The teacher asked the author to his office__________.
A.to discuss Scola’s in-class performance |
B.to get Scola enrolled in kindergarten |
C.to find a language partner for Scola |
D.to work out a study plan for Scola |
What does the underlined word “disrupting” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A.Breaking | B.Following | C.Attending | D.Disturbing |
The author’s attitude towards being bilingual may best be described as__________.
A.critical | B.casual | C.positive | D.passive |
This text is likely to be selected from a book of _________.
A.medicine | B.education | C.geography | D.history |
According to sociologists(社会学家), every modern industrial society has some form of social stratification(阶层). Class, power and status are important in deciding people’s rank in society.
Class means a person’s economic position in society. A commonly used classification is lower class, middle class and upper class. While sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined, they do describe societies like the United States quite well. One study shows that 53% of Americans belong to the lower class, 46% the middle class, and 1% the upper class. Interestingly, a surgeon earning $500,000 a year and a bus driver earning $50,000 a year both regard themselves as the middle class!
Power refers to the amount of control a person has over other people. Obviously, people in positions of great power (such as governors) exercise(行使)big power, but people who take orders from others have less power. Power and class do not always go hand in hand, however. For example, the governor of a state has great power, but he or she may not belong to a corresponding (相应的)economic class. Generally, however, there is a relationship between power and class.
To our knowledge, there aren’t too many people who aren’t millionaires in the U.S. Senate!
Status is the honor or respect attached to a person’s position in society. It can also be affected by power and class, but not necessarily so. For example, a university professor may have a high status but not belong to a high social class or have a lot of power over others.What can we learn about “the middle class” from Paragraph 2?
A.People earning $50,000 a year belong to the middle class. |
B.Nearly half Americans belong to the middle class. |
C.People generally consider bus drivers as the middle class. |
D.Sociologists have a clear definition of the middle class. |
According to the text, we know that _____.
A.power and class do not always correspond with each other |
B.status refers to a person’s economic position in society |
C.people with high status have a lot of control over others |
D.class is less important in deciding a person’s social rank |
Which of the following shows the structure of the whole text?
In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five fays off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I'd hitch a ride (搭便车).
I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn't give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured (使……放心)me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.
Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favour I'd been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, "You haven't changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same." I couldn't remember where I'd met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.
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The author had to hitch a ride one day in 1978 because.
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2. |
Which of the following did Gordon do according to Paragraph 2?.
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3. |
The reason why the author offered a lift to the elderly man was that.
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4. |
What does the author want to tell the readers through the story?.
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Joshua, Helmut, and Bethlehem |
Because of his family's Jewish background, they are sent to live in the concentration camps (集中营). Scared and alone, Joshua one day makes friends with a little mouse he calls Bethlehem who becomes his closest friend.
Encourage Me! |
in faith and to be a cure for chromic depression(长期抑郁) … cure to strengthen identity and purpose.
More Things in Heaven |
presents the highlights of his 83 years of life, including his trips to India and the study of the writings of several great spiritual leaders.
More things in Heaven will appeal to anyone who insists on finding the deepest meaning for their existence based on their own experience.
Creation or Evolution Michael Ebifegha |
How old is the Earth? The debate between science and religion continues to be heated. In Creation or Evolution, Michael Ebifegha examines these two opposed world views within the structure of empirical(实证的) science.
Seeking the Edge |
success whether in your current job, finding a new job, in education, family, or even hobbies.
1. |
Who wrote the story about a little boy and a little mouse?
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2. |
The ISBN for the book of poems is.
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3. |
What kind of readers will probably like reading More Things in Heaven?
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4. |
Which of the following books explores the origin of humans?
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