阅读理解(共20小题,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题纸上将该项涂黑
In the past, people who graduated from college felt proud of their academic(学业的)achievements and confident that their degree would help them to find a good job.
However, in the past four years the job market has changed greatly. This year’s college graduates are facing one of the worst job markets. For example, Ryan Stewart, a graduate of San Jose State University, got a degree in religious studies, but he has not gotten any job offers. He points out that many people already working are getting laid off and don’t have jobs, so it’s even harder for new college graduates to find jobs.
Four years ago, the future looked bright for his class of 2006. There were many high-tech(“dot com”) job opportunities, graduates received many job offers, and they were able to get jobs with high salaries and benefits such as health insurance and paid vacations. However, “Times have changed. It’s a new market,” according to an officer of the university.
The officer says students who do find jobs started preparing two years ago. They worked during summer vacations, they have had several short-time jobs, and they majored in fields that are still paying well, such as accounting or nursing.
Even teaching is not a secure profession now. Ryan Stewart wanted to be a teacher. But instead he will probably go back to school in order to become a college teacher. He thinks college teaching could be a good career even in a bad economy.
In conclusion, these days a college degree does not automatically lead to a good job with a high salary. Some students can only hope that the value of their degree will increase in the future.
1. What did a college degree mean to people in the past?
A. It was a proof of their professional skills.
B. It would guarantee their quick promotion(升职).
C. It built up their confidence in the job market.
D. It would help them to start an academic career.
2. Why does Ryan Stewart want to be a college teacher?
A. Teaching jobs are well-paid. B. He majored in teaching in the university.
C. College teaching is less challenging than high-tech jobs.
D. College teaching career won’t be influenced by economy.
3.It can be concluded from the passage that _____.
A. the value of a college degree has decreased now
B. new college graduates today can’t find any job
C. a college degree can still lead to a good job
D. graduates must prepare early to find jobs
I once had my Chinese MBA students brainstorming on “two-hour business plans”. I separated them into six groups and gave them an example: a restaurant chain. The more original their idea, the better, I said. Finally, five of the six groups presented plans for restaurant chains. The sixth proposed a catering(餐饮) service. Though I admitted the time limit had been difficult, I expressed my disappointment.
My students were middle managers, financial analysts and financiers from state-owned enterprises and global companies. They were not without talent or opinions, but they had been shaped by an educational system that rarely stressed or rewarded critical thinking or inventiveness. The scene I just described came in different forms during my two years’ teaching at the school. Papers were often copied from the Web and the Harvard Business Review. Case study debates were written up and just memorized. Students frequently said that copying is a superior business strategy, better than inventing and creating.
In China, every product you can imagine has been made and sold. But so few well-developed marketing and management minds have been raised that it will be a long time before most people in the world can name a Chinese brand.
With this problem in mind, partnerships with institutions like Yale and MIT have been established. And then there’s the “thousand-talent scheme”: this new government program is intended to improve technological modernization by attracting top foreign-trained scientists to the mainland with big money. But there are worries about China’s research environment. It's hardly known for producing independent thinking and openness, and even big salary offers may not be attractive enough to overcome this.
At last, for China, becoming a major world creator is not just about setting up partnerships with top Western universities. Nor is it about gathering a group of well-educated people and telling them to think creatively. It’s about establishing a rich learning environment for young minds. It’s not that simple.
46.Why does the author feel disappointed at his students?
A.Because there is one group presenting a catering service.
B.Because the six groups made projects for restaurant chains.
C.Because all the students copied a case for the difficult topic.
D.Because the students’ ideas were lacking in creativeness.
47.Which of the following scenes is NOT considered as lack of creation?
A.Papers were often downloaded from the Internet.
B.Students often said that copying is a preferable business strategy.
C.Students combine knowledge and critical thoughts to solve a problem.
D.Case study debates were written up as well as recited.
48.The underlined word “scheme” in the forth paragraph means__________.
A.timetable B.theme C.project D.policy
49.We can infer from the passage that ___________.
A.China can make and sell any product all over the world
B.high pay may not solve the problem of China’s research environment
C.cooperation with institutions has been set up to make a Chinese brand
D.the new government program are aimed at encouraging imagination
50.Which is the best title of the passage?
A.Look for a New Way of Learning B.Reward Creative Thinking
C.How to Become a Creator D.Establish a technical Environment
Ⅲ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A、B、C和D项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Can you believe your eyes? A recent experiment suggests that the answer to that question may depend on your age.
Martin Doherty, a psychologist at the University of Stirling in Scotland, led the team of scientists. In this experiment, Doherty and his team tested the perception(观察力) of some people, using pictures of some orange circles. The researchers showed the same pictures to two groups of people. The first group included 151 children aged 4 to 10, and the second group included 24 adults aged 18 to 25.
The first group of pictures showed two circles alone on a white background. One of the circles was larger than the other, and these people were asked to identify the larger one. Four-year-olds identified the correct circle 79 percent of the time. Adults identified the correct circle 95 percent of the time.
Next, both groups were shown a picture where the orange circles, again of different sizes, were surrounded by gray circles. Here’s where the trick lies in. In some of the pictures, the smaller orange circle was surrounded by even smaller gray circles — making the orange circle appear larger than the other orange circle, which was the real larger one. And the larger orange circle was surrounded by even bigger gray circles — so it appeared to be smaller than the real smaller orange circle.
When young children aged 4 to 6 looked at these tricky pictures, they weren’t fooled — they were still able to find the bigger circle with roughly the same accuracy as before. Older children and adults, on the other hand, did not do as well. Older children often identified the smaller circle as the larger one, and adults got it wrong most of the time.
As children get older, Doherty said, their brains may develop the ability to identify visual context. In other words, they will begin to process the whole picture at once: the tricky gray circles, as well as the orange circle in the middle. As a result, they’re more likely to fall for this kind of visual trick.
41.Doherty and his team of scientists did an experiment to evaluate .
A.children’s and adults’ eye-sight
B.people’s ability to see accurately
C.children’s and adults’ brains
D.the influence of people’s age
42.When asked to find the larger circle, .
A.children at 6 got it wrong 79 % of the time with no gray ones around
B.only adults over 18 got it right 95% of the time with gray ones around
C.children at 4 got it right about 79 % of the time with gray ones around
D.adults got it right most of the time with gray ones around
43.According to the passage, we can know that .
A.a smaller orange circle appears bigger on a white background
B.an orange circle appears bigger than a gray one of the same size
C.a circle surrounded by other circles looks bigger than its real size
D.a circle surrounded by bigger ones looks smaller than its real size
44.Visual context may work when children get older than .
A.4 B.6 C.10 D.18
45.Why are younger children not fooled?
A.Because they are smarter than older children and adults.
B.Because older people are influenced by their experience.
C.Because people’s eyes become weaker as they grow older.
D.Because their brain can hardly notice related things together.
Folklore is the branch of the study of man which deals with local customs, tales and traditions. Everybody is a storehouse of folklore, though not everybody realizes it. Often, in deed, those who have never heard the word folklore have the greatest store of it, for the people with least book education commonly cherish most firmly old ideas and superstitions (迷信) which have been passed on by word of mouth for generations. Everyone has heard stories of ghosts, witches, fairies, and giants. We all know some proverbs and have come across such ideas as, for example, that it is lucky to see black cat and unlucky to see a single magpie (喜鹊). We keep certain seasons of the year as festivals, such as Christmas, and we are familiar with the special customs connected with weddings and funerals. All such things are of interest to those who study folklore.
People who study folklore won’t criticize the old beliefs and practices they come across as silly, childish, or old-fashioned. Instead, they will try to collect accurate records of them and then see how these are connected with other ideas and customs of other places or times. By comparing with what is known of olden times or the folklore of other countries, they try to discover how certain beliefs and practices came into being, and what purpose they serve now or used to serve in the past.
Often we find that the beliefs which seem most peculiar and unreasonable, and the customs which appear least practical, are of the greatest interest and importance because they are commonly the oldest. Sometimes they were part of an ancient ritual (惯例) or served a useful purpose when people’s way of life was different from what it is now. So we not only learn about what people thought and did in the past but are better able to understand present customs. People often keep up customs when they have forgotten the original reason for them, and in the course of time a fresh reason gets attached to the custom. Thus, when some joker ties an old shoe to the back of the taxi taking the bride and bridegroom to the station for their honeymoon, he would say it was “for luck”, but actually a shoe is an old fertility (繁殖力) symbol and has a place in the wedding customs of China and Palestine.
51. According to the text, people usually pass on old ideas and superstitions by _________.
A. putting them in a large storehouse B. writing them down in books
C. celebrating them as festivals D. mouth from one generation to another
52. The underlined word “they” (in Para.2) most probably refers to _________.
A. practices and beliefs B. customs and traditions
C. records and tales D. places or times
53. It is most unlikely for people who study folklore to _________.
A. collect as many records of old beliefs and practices as possible
B. compare the present customs with those of the olden times
C. criticize the old beliefs and superstitions as silly or childish
D. find out the purpose the certain beliefs and practices serve or used to serve
54. Which of the following statements is true about customs?
A. The customs which do not appear practical mean nothing to most people.
B. The reasons for certain customs may change in the course of history.
C. People who practice customs are quite familiar with their origins.
D. The wedding customs in China and Palestine are of great similarity.
55. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. What Does Folklore Really Mean?
B. How Do People Keep Up Customs?
C. Who Studies Tales And Traditions?
D. When Did Some Old Beliefs Begin?
My son and a bunch of his 13-year-old friends piled into the back seat of my car, ready for the last-day-of-school party at McDonald’s on report card day last year. “Jack got a laptop for getting straight A’s, and Laurie got a cell phone,” one boy said. “Oh, yeah, and Sarah got an iPod Nano, and she’s only in third grade,” said another. “And how about Brian? He got $ 10 for each A.”
I suddenly became concerned. These payoffs might get parents through grammar school, but what about high school and beyond? What would be left after the electric guitar, the cell phone, and the portable DVD player?
I saw the road ahead: As the homework load increased, my income would decrease. I saw my comfortable lifestyle disappear before my eyes — no more of those $5 bags of already-peeled organic carrots. No more organic anything!
I started to feel surprised and nervous. Would every goal attained by my two children fetch a reward? A high grade point average? A good class ranking? Would sports achievements be included in this reward system: soccer goals, touchdowns, runs-batted-in? What about orchestra? Would first chair pay more than second? I’d be penniless by eighth-grade graduation.
“We never paid anything for good grades,” said my neighbor across the street, whose son was recently accepted at MIT. “He just did it on his own. Maybe once in a while we went out for pizza, but that’s about it.”
Don’t you just hate that? We’re all running around looking for the MP3 player with the most updates, and she’s spending a few dollars on pizza. She gets motivation; we get negotiation.
46.Why did the writer suddenly become concerned?
A.Because many kids were getting very good grade at school.
B.Because he was worried about the current reword system.
C.Because he wasn’t making enough money to buy things for his kids’ good grades. D.Because kids were having too many parties after school.
47.The underlined sentence “As the homework load increased, my income would decrease.” (in
Paragraph 3) probably means that _________.
A.taking care of the children would influence my work
B.I would spend more money on my children’s homework
C.reducing children’s homework load would cost me a lot
D.more rewards would be needed as the children grew up
48.The example of the author’s neighbor shows that _________.
A.pizza is the best way to encourage children
B.the author’s neighbor was very poor
C.reward is not the only way to encourage children
D.the son of the author’s neighbor’s didn’t like reward
49.It can be inferred from the passage that _________.
A.children would think that you should if you pay them for good grades
B.children would work harder if you buy them pizza for good grades
C.children would not ask for rewards when they enter high school
D.children would not ask for rewards when they enter university
50.What is the author’s attitude toward paying children reward for good grades?
A.Helpful. B.Uncertain. C.Unpleasant. D.Unknowable.
III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A、B、C和D项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school — walking on my own!
When the Great Depression(大萧条) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel(汽车旅馆) for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world — Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $ 1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situations. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.
41. What Kemmons’ mom often told him during his childhood was _________.
A. caring B. moving C. encouraging D. interesting
42. According to the author, who played the most important role in making him walk back to
school again?
A. Doctors. B. Nurses. C. His friends. D. His mom。
43. What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?
A. His terrible experience in the hotel.
B. His previous business success of various level.
C. His mom’s strongest support.
D. His wife’s valuable suggestion.
44. Which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?
A. Modest, helpful and hard-working. B. Loving, supportive and strong-willed.
C. Careful, helpful and beautiful. D. Strict, sensitive and supportive.
45. Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?
A. Self-confidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family.
B. Clear goals, mom’s encouragement, a poor family and higher education.
C. Mom’s encouragement, clear goals, self-confidence and hard work.
D. Mom’s encouragement, a poor family, higher education and opportunities.