第三节 阅读理解（共25小题，第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分）
第一节 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
In 1955, Susan Boyle went to Glasgow to audition（试演）for My King of People, a televised talent show popular in the UK. She was immediately rejected.
She was nervous during the audition, and felt she didn’t perform well, but her brother said that she was rejected because of plain looks. Boyle was not discouraged and continued to sing at church and at the karaoke nights in a local pub.
Boyle suffered a personal loss in 1997, when her father passed away. After his death, Boyle put her big dreams on hold to care for her sick mother Bridget Boyle. The mother and daughter often talked of Susan’s possible fame. Bridget Boyle encouraged her daughter to take part in singing competitions. “She was the one who said I should enter Britain’s Got Talent. We used to watch it together”, Susan later told reporters. “She thought I would win.”
In 1999, Boyle used all of her saving to pay for a professional demo（样本唱片）tape, which she went to record companies. In 2002, Bolye began taking singing lessons from voice coach Fred O’ Neil.
In 2007, Boyle’s mother passed away at the age of 91. A neighbour reported that when Bridget Boyle died, her daughter “wouldn’t come out for three or four days or answer the door or phone.” She lived alone with her cat, Pebbles. For over a year, she refused to sing. But in August of 2008, O’Neil urged her to try out for Britain’s Got Talent. Convinced that the performance would be an honour to her mother, Boyle auditioned in Glasgow, Scotland. She sang I Dreamed A Dream in the first round of the show, which was aired on 11 April 2009.
The 47-year-old Scottish woman’s plain looks provided a sharp contrast to her powerfully beautiful voice. The performance astonished the audience and the judges. Online videos of her performance totaled over 40 million views within a week. Although she failed to win the final of Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle became globally popular. Her first album I Dreamed A Dream has sold over five million copies.
1．Bridget Boyle’s attitude towards her daughter’s musical talent can be described as _________.
A．critical B．doubtful C．indifferent D．optimistic
2．From Para. 4 we learn that Boyle______.
A．was slightly discouraged by her voice coach
B．entered Britain’s Got Talent to prove her ability
C．decided to give up her singing career.
D．was deeply affected by her mother’s death.
3．Which of the following is TRUE about Susan Boyle?
A．Her international fame grew rapidly in 2008.
B．Her audition for My Kind of People failed.
C．She has never stopped singing since 1995.
D．She was the winner of Britain’s Got Talent
4．In writing this passage, the author mainly intends to______.
A．tell us how Bolye’s dream came true
B．let us know more about Boyle’s personal life.
C．show how Boyle was influenced by her family.
D．explain how to enter and win a talent show.
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was one of the most popular of modern artists. The Pompidou Centre in Paris is showing its respect and admiration for the artist and his powerful personality with an exhibition bringing together over 200 paintings, sculptures, drawings and more. Among the works and masterworks on exhibition the visitor will find the best pieces, most importantly The Persistence of Memory. There is also L’Enigme sans Fin from 1938, works on paper, objects, and projects for stage and screen and selected parts from television programmes reflecting the artist’s showman qualities.
The visitor will enter the World of Dali through an egg and is met with the beginning, the world of birth. The exhibition follows a path of time and subject with the visitor exiting through the brain.
The exhibition shows how Dali draws the viewer between two infinities (无限). “From the infinity small to the infinity large, contraction and expansion coming in and out of focus: amazing Flemish accuracy and the showy Baroque of old painting that he used in his museum-theatre in Figueras,” explains the Pompidou Centre.
The fine selection of the major works was done in close collaboration (合作)with the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain, and with contributions from other institutions like the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. Which of the following best describe Dali according to Paragraph 1?
| A．Optimistic. | B．Productive |
| C．Generous. | D．Traditional. |
What is Dali’s The Persistence of Memory considered to be?
| A．One of the beat TV programmes |
| B．A successful screen adaptation. |
| C．An artistic creation for the stage. |
| D．One of his masterworks. |
How are the exhibits arranged at the World of Dali?
| A．By popularity. | B．By time and subject. |
| C．By size and shape. | D．By importance. |
What does the word “contributions” in the last paragraph refer to?
| A．Documents. | B．Projects. |
| C．Donations. | D．Artworks. |
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment . “We didn’t know at that time that there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it, ”says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.
But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement . Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many, many times, ”says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first Earth Day.
According to US government reports , emissions (排放) from cars and trucks have dropped from 10. 3 million tons a year to 5. 5 tons . The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9 . Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with , the world is a safer and healthier place . A kind of “Green thinking ” has become part of practices .
Great improvement has been achieved . In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs , today in 1995 there are about 6, 600 . Advanced lights , motors , and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution .
Twenty –five years ago , there were hardly any education programs for environment . Today , it’s hard to find a public school , university , or law school that does not have such a kind of program . ” Until we do that , nothing else will change! ” say Bruce Anderson .According to Anderson , before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___
| A．the social movement |
| B．recycling techniques |
| C．environmental problems |
| D．the importance of Earth Day |
Where does the support for environmental protection mainly come from?
| A．University professors |
| B．The business circle |
| C．Government officials |
| D．The grass –roots level |
What have Americans achieved in environmental protection ?
| A．They have reduced pollution through effective measures . |
| B．They have settled their environmental problems |
| C．They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities. |
| D．They have cut car emissions to the lowest |
What is especially important for environmental protection according to the last paragraph ?
| A．Planning | B．Education |
| C．Green living | D．CO reduction |
Tour A-Bath & Stonehenge including entrance fees to the ancient Roman bathrooms and Stonehenge-￡until 26 March and ￡39 thereafter.
Visit the city with over 2,000 years of history and Bath Abbey,the Royal Crescent and the Costute Mtsan.Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments dating back over 5,000 years.
Tour B-Oxford & Stratdford including entrance fees to the University St Mary’s Church Tower and Anne Hathaway's house一32 until 12 March and 36 thereafter.
Oxford: Includes a guided of England’s oldest university city and colleges. Look over the “city of dreaming spires(尖顶)”form St Mary’s Church Tower. Stratford: Includes a guided tour exploring much of the Shakespeare wonder.
Tour C—Windsor Castle & Hampton Court including entrance fees to Hampton Court Palace--£34 until March and £37 thereafter.
Includes a guided tour of Windsor and Hampton Court, Henry Mill’s favourite palace. Free time to visit Windsor Castle（entrance fees not included）. With 500 years of history, Hampton Court was once the home of four Kings and one Queen. Now this former royal palace ia open to the public as a major tourist attraction. Visit the palace and its various historic gardens, which include the famous maze(迷宫)where it is easy to get lost!
Tour D-Cambridge including entrance fees to the Tower of Saint Mary the Great-£33 .until 18 March and £37 thereafter.
Includes a guided tour of Cambridge, the famous university town, and the gardens of the 18th century.Which tour will you choose if you want to see England’s oldest university city?
| A．Tour A | B．Tour B | C．Tour C | D．Tour D |
Which of the following tours charges the lowest fee on 17 March?
| A．Windsor Castle & Hampton Court. |
| B．Cambridge. |
| C．Bath &Stonehenge. |
| D．Oxford & Stratford |
Why is Hampton Court a major tourist attraction?
| A．It used to be the home of royal families. |
| B．It used to be a well-known maze |
| C．It is the oldest palace in Britain |
| D．It is a world-famous castle. |
The power of humor and laughter is numerous. They entertain us and make us feel good. But, above all, we have discovered that humor and laughter are the best medicine. They relieve pain, reduce stress and anxiety, and are anti-aging and longevity facilitators.
They are extremely necessary for helping us to find and maintain a balance between life and work. However, they are slipping away from us. We have become far too serious. The only ones who still enjoy humor, laughter, fun and play to the fullest are young children. Children tend to laugh an average of 200 times a day. For adults, however, it is a totally different story.
In the 1950s people laughed on average 18 times a day. Today, we are lucky if we average between 4-6 times a day.
As a matter of fact, a recent study found that people laugh 6 more times in the presence of one person but 30 more times in a group of people. You can get a chuckle(咯咯笑) from jokes you get on the Internet, but it is not the same as belly jiggling laughter (a deep laugh) you get when you interact with others.
Socializing with friends and relatives was much looked forward to. However, this is no longer the case. In fact, the majority of people can hardly find time, nor do they have the inclination towards socializing outside home. They turn to electronic media such as television, computers, the Internet, videos, CDs, and audio equipment, which can provide them with instant self-entertainment at the push of a button.
The workplace does not fare(进展) much better. Due to the pressures to produce more in the same or fewer hours available and to compete, for example, in a manufacturing field with cheaper labor elsewhere in the world, humor and laughter in the workplace have gradually eroded（逐渐毁坏） away.
I have developed a real appreciation, perhaps closer to a strong desire for the power of humor and laughter. This encouraged me to write my first book titled “The Power of Humor” and subsequently my second book titled “Kids Say the Goggonest Things” based on the natural humor, laughter, play and fun that kids experience and they freely share with parents, grandparents and teachers.
From writing about humor and laughter, people start to ask me to speak up for them. To date, I have developed a number of humor-laughter topics that I use in my keynote presentations. You are invited to subscribe to my free monthly e-magazine “The Humormeister’s Forum” by clicking on the Free Humor E-zine navigation button on the website. According to the author, laughter is leaving us partly because ________.
| A．we treat everything in a serious way |
| B．it relieves pain, reduces stress and anxiety |
| C．we fail to maintain balance between life and work |
| D．the pace of change in our lives is becoming faster |
The fourth paragraph mainly tells us that ________.
| A．getting a deep laugh nowadays is difficult |
| B．we can entertain ourselves with the help of the Internet |
| C．people laugh more heartily when spending time with others |
| D．researchers have made a new discovery about the effect of laughter |
The underlined word “inclination” in Paragraph 5 most probably means “________”.
| A．destination | B．tendency |
| C．attitude | D．approach |
Which of the following articles can we most probably find in “The Humormeister’s Forum”?
| A．The power of honesty. |
| B．Don’t be your own worst enemy. |
| C．Live life purposefully: The relationship within. |
| D．Funny Christmas stories to share with your loved ones. |
Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when MR. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.
‘‘I would never have said to my mom, Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?”says Ballmer. There was just a complete gap in taste. Music was not the only distance. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectation: earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.
Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families: Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent-child activities, from shopping to sports, involve feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.
No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, "To my mother, my best friend."
But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parent. “ There's still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening," says Kerne, a psychology professor, at Lebanon Valley College. "In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents."
Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic（民主） process that encourages everyone to have a say,
“My parents were on the 'before' side of that change, but today's parents. the 40-year-old were on the 'after' side," explains Mr. Ballmer. "It's not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now."Which of the following shows that the generation gap is disappearing?
| A．Parents help their children develop interests in more activities. |
| B．Parents put more trust in their children's abilities. |
| C．Parents and children talk more about sex and drugs. |
| D．Parents share more interests with their children. |
The change in today's parent-child relationship is ________.
| A．more confusion among parents |
| B．new equality between parents and children |
| C．less respect for parents from children . |
| D．more strictness and authority on the part of parents . |
By saying "today's parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the “after' side." the author means that today's parents _________.
| A．follow the trend o f the change |
| B．can set a limit to the change |
| C．fail to take the-change seriously |
| D．have little difficulty adjusting to the change |
The purpose of the passage is to ________.
| A．describe the difficulties today's parents have met with |
| B．discuss the development of the parent-child relationship |
| C．suggest the ways to handle the parent-child relationship |
| D．compare today's parent-child relationship with that in the past |