第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题2分，满分40分）阅读下-优题课

There are some kinds of detectives who do not wear a uniform, like Hausman, solve endless mysteries every year. There is, for example, the dust detective. Tiny bits of dust stick to your clothes, your fingernails, your hair, or your shoes. They catch in your nose and in your ears. They tell where you have been and what you have done lately. The dust detective often helps catch a criminal by proving that he has been on the scene of the crime（罪案）.
Then there is the wood detective. By studying a piece of wood he can tell what kind of tree the piece of wood came from. He can tell where it was grown, and how old it is. He can even tell you what the weather was like at a certain place the year Columbus landed in America. The growth rings on a tree tell him.
64．According to the selection, by studying a piece of wood, a wood detective can tell you________.
A．what the weather was like the year Columbus landed in America.
B．what the weather was like last year in the mountain
C．what the weather was like last month in your hometown
D．what kind of tree the piece of wood came from
65．What does the underlined word “they”(para. 1) mean?
A．Your clothes B．Your finger-nail
C．Tiny bits of dust D．Your shoes

“Some day, there will be no Americans left in the NBA.” Said 12-year-old Xing Tao, who joined his school’s team two years ago, after watching Yao in a televised NBA game. “The players will all be Chinese, like Yao!”
To China Yao is a home-grown superstar who helped make the world’s first basketball league closer to Chinese players. To the NBA, the 2.23-metre centre offers an opening of a different sort into the world’s largest new market.
Yao’s NBA first appearance against the Indiana Pacers in October reached 287 million households in China. By contrast （对照）, there are only about 105 million households in the US. That game might have been a bit of a let down to Yao’s fans. He played just 11 of the 48 minutes, had two rebounds and got no points.
Compare that with his performance on December 19, and also against Indiana, Yao won 29 points and 10 rebounds. “This was one of the most exciting games I’ve had,” Yao said after Houston’s 95-83 victory.
“Yao Ming has brought the NBA closer to the Chinese,” said NBA spokeswoman Cheong Sau Ching, who is based in Hong Kong. “That makes the dream seem achievable for other people in China.”
The 22-year-old Yao is not the country’s first player in the NBA; Wang Zhizhi broke down that wall as a player with the Dallas Mavericks（小牛队）in April 2001. But Yao’s combination of modesty and his skills make him a favourite back home.
60．What’s the direct reason for Xing Tao to join the school’s basketball team?
A．He watched an NBA game
B．He liked basketball
C．He hoped to play for Houston Rockets
D．He had a dream that he would become a basketball star.
61．What’s the main idea of this passage?
A．Middle school students want to play basketball
B．Yao Ming makes NBA closer to China
C．There’ll be no Americans left in the NBA
D．There are many new stars from China in the NBA
62．What does “letdown” in paragraph six mean?
A．failure B．surprise C．disappointment D．sadness
63．Why does Yao Ming win more popularity than Wang Zhizhi at home?
A．He has performed excellently B．He is modest
C．His height D．A ＆ B

第三部分：阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项。
Thirty years ago I worked in a company. My job was to sell the cars. I was young and strong and I had been to most parts of the world and I spent one fifth of my time in the trains or planes. I liked such a life and sometimes I called myself “traveler”.
But one day I got into trouble. It was a cold morning. It blew heavily and the ground was covered with thick snow outside. I was still in bed though it was nine. I finished a long journey the day before and decided to have a good rest. Suddenly the telephone rang and my manager told me to fly to New York to take part in an important meeting. I had to get up and after a quick breakfast I hurried to the airport. The taxi went slowly and I missed the first flight. I had to take the next one. It meant I would wait for nearly five hours in the waiting-room. But five hours later a passenger said the information showed there was a bomb in our plane and the policemen were looking for it. And another five hours passed and most passengers lost their patience before we were allowed to get on the plane. At the entrance each passenger and their baggage had to be examined. A young man who seemed a soldier shouted at the policemen at the entrance, “If I had a gun in my baggage, I would shoot you two hours ago!”
56．The writer called himself “traveler” because he________
A．sold cars for his company B．often took trains and cars
C．traveled all over the world D．liked traveling in many places
57．He didn’t get up until the phone rang because he________
A．felt very cold outside B．wanted to have a rest that day
C．was going to have a meeting D．was waiting for the manager’s call
58．The taxi went slowly because________
A．there was much snow on the road
B．it was very cold that morning
C．the driver didn’t know he would fly to New York
D．the manager told him not to hurry
59．The young man became angry because he________.
A．wouldn’t be examined
B．had a gun in his baggage
C．waited for a long time at the airport
D．hated the policemen at the entrance

“Image is everything.” An entire industry has been built upon the precondition that image is everything, but when it comes down to it, an appealing image is not enough. If there is no substance(物质) behind the image, the product, service or person will fail at length.
First of all, one should consider how important image is in the selling of products and services. Advertising agencies have raised the art of creating an image to a state of near perfection. Public concept of that product or service is certainly managed by the images created by the advertising agencies. But if the product or service does not live up to the image that was created, the customer will be very dissatisfied and possibly ask for their money back. For example, the Arthur Andersen accounting firm had spent decades building up an image of trustworthiness. But the recent scandal (丑闻) showed that behind that image, it had dishonest business practices. Despite the previous positive image, the firm is being accused of criminal actions and it will probably not survive as a business unit. Although the image had been nearly perfect, the reality behind the image has led to the downfall of the world famous accounting firm.
Similarly, personal consultants can build up a public image for politicians and movie stars. Putting out positive news releases, making sure that only the best photographs are published, and ensuring that the person is seen in all the right places can build up a very positive image in the view of the general commons. But once again, history is filled with examples of both politicians and movie stars that fell from grace(体面) like the story of the Hollywood actor giving in to the pressures of fame and fortune. With people, just as with products and services, image is certainly important, but without positive substance behind the image, failure is close.
To summarize, it is clear that an appealing image is extremely important to success, whether that image is related to selling a product or service or to the “selling” of a person. But image is only half of the equation. What lies behind that image is every bit as important as the image itself —— the person or product must deliver on that image or there is little chance for long-term success.
72.The downfall of the Arthour Andersen accounting firm is due to ________.
A. its dishonesty in business B. its previous images
C. its bad management D. its poor service
73.Why did some famous people fall from grace?
A. Their images were not well built up
B. They failed to live up to their images.
C. They felt much pressure from the public
D. They paid little attention to fame and fortune.
74.The structure of the passage is ________.
A: Argument B: Point C: Conclusion
75.The author tries to argue that _________.
A. image creates everything
B. image is the key to success
C. truth is unlikely ever to be equalled
D. truth and image are equally important

Alone in the wilderness. Nothing but jungle. A world of shadow with the rays of light falling like blonde hair from the crowns of the giant trees. Jungle in the midday sun. Every- thing motionless. Not a sound from sky or earth. Complete silence. Only some coconuts falling, at long intervals, very far away. The world reduced to the soft touch of cool grass along my naked back, and a sweet smell of rich soil and vegetation. Stretched out with closed eyes beside my heavy burden of fruit and firewood, I enjoyed the feeling of fresh blood streaming through every part of my body and fresh jungle air filling every corner of my lungs.
Resting motionless, I could see the sun through my closed eyelids, alone in the sky, as lonely as I, and as motionless and silent as everything else. The earth had surely stopped turning and somewhere on this planet there was supposed to be roaring traffic in busy streets. What a crazy, unbelievable thought!
Another coconut fell, to make the world come to a complete standstill. I had to roll over onto my stomach to feel that at least I could move and make noises. Then I found company. A little brown ant was struggling to find its way with a bit of dry straw through the jungle of leaves and grass below my nose. I wondered if I could give the little fellow a lift with its burden, but it showed not the slightest sign of tiredness and struggled on with all six legs, head first or head last, waving its feelers energetically as if the trip had just started. Who ever saw a tired ant? Tiredness, disagreeable tiredness, is restricted to hunted animals, slaves and modern man. It is as great an effort for an office clerk to walk five blocks with a loaded briefcase as it is for a jungle-dweller to cross a valley with a goat on his back. It is as hard to get up and climb or run when you have been seated for years as it is to get up and walk when you have been in bed for months. The body is strange. Spare it, and you get really tired for almost nothing; use it, and almost nothing makes you really tired.
I rose to my feet. I had heard a horse neighing down in the valley. Above me, on the open highland plains, there were wild horses. But down in the valley there was never a horse unless there was a man on it. Somebody was making his way up the valley and my wife was alone.
68.The author mentions “coconuts falling” in the first paragraph to ________.
A. show his loneliness B. add beauty to the jungle
C. express his love of nature D. stress the absolute silence
69.How does the author feel about the ant?
A. He admired its attitude toward work.
B. He was shocked at its tireless efforts.
C. He showed sympathy for the little ant.
D. He was content to have it as a companion.
70.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the author would probably _______.
A. work harder than before B. talk to the man on the horse
C. make his way home D. stay in the valley
71.We can learn from the passage that the author ________.
A. enjoyed being alone B. had an unforgettable adventure
C. missed his busy life in the city D. experienced a world of quietness