第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题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。
The Pillow
At the age of sixteen, I joined a volunteer group with my dad. I went on my first volunteer project in West Virginia. On the night we arrived, we discovered that “our family” was living in a trailer(拖车) that was in poor condition. A crew had been working on it for two weeks, but every time they finished one problem, another surfaced.
We decided the only reasonable solution was to build a new house – something unusual but necessary under these circumstances. The family was overjoyed with their new house that was twenty by thirty feet with three bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen.
On Tuesday of that week, while we ate lunch together, I asked the family’s three boys, Josh, Eric and Ryan, "What do you want for your new room?" Expecting toys and other gadgets that children usually ask for, we were surprised when Josh responded, "I just want a bed."
The boys had never slept in a bed! They were accustomed to plastic mats. That night we had a meeting and decided that beds would be the perfect gift. On Thursday night, a few adults in our group drove to the nearest city and bought beds and new bedding.
When we saw the delivery truck coming, we told the family about the surprise. We could hardly contain ourselves. It was like watching excited children on Christmas morning.
That afternoon, as we fitted the 
frames of the beds tog tether, Eric ran into the house to watch us. Too dirty to enter his room, he observed with wide-eyed enthusiasm from the doorway.
As my father slipped a pillowcase onto one of the pillows, Eric asked, "What is that?"
"A pillow," she replied.
"What do you do with it?" Eric continued to ask.
"When you go to sleep, you put your head on it,” I answered softly. Tears came to our eyes as she handed Eric the pillow.
"Oh . . . that's soft," he said, hugging it tightly.
Now, when my sister or I start to ask for something that seems urgent, my Dad gently asks, "Do you have a pillow?"
We know exactly what he means.
1．The writer’s first volunteer project was .
A．working on a poor trailer B．helping a poor family
C．donating beds and bedding D．dealing with a housing problem
2．On bearing Josh’s answer, the writer was shocked because .
A．the family lived in a trailer B．he expected to get some toys
C．he didn’t know what a bed was D．the boys had no bed to sleep in
3．From the passage, we can learn that Eric had never seen before.
A．a trailer B．a truck C．a pillow D．a house
4．By saying “Do you have a pillow?”, the writer’s father means that .
A．what they want to get may be unnecessary
B．they should not waste money on small things
C．they should do more volunteer work for the poor
D．what he will buy is not what they want but a pillow
Disease, poverty, hate, love—Charles Dickens’ stories opened his readers eyes to the most important themes of his age. Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy(遗产) was far greater than just “great literature”
February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer’s birthday. To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world. Let’s take a look at two of them.
A white Christmas
Dickens is described as “the man who invented Christmas”—not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive season today. In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt. The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day – unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off.
Many people believe that Dickens’ popular descriptions of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come. In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth –“ home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote: “ Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”
“Dickensian” poverty
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian (the period during British Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837 to 1901) London.
He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy（官僚作风） in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.
“Dickensian” has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty. In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about deprivation in some areas of Britain, she did not use words like “terrible” or “horrific”, but rather described it as “life mirroring the times of Dickens”.What is the main idea of the article?
| A．An introduction to Charles Dickens’ classic novels. |
| B．Charles dickens’ impact on the world. |
| C．Charles Dickens’ amazing characters. |
| D．Why Charles Dickens is popular across the world. |
Why is Dickens called “the man who invented Christmas”?
| A．Because he created the religious festival. |
| B．Because many of his novels have something to do with Christmas. |
| C．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations. |
| D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas. |
According to the article, the phrase “red tape” refers to _______.
| A．rules or procedures that are required to accomplish a task |
| B．a situation in which poor members of society are hurt. |
| C．conflict between people in power and weaker people |
| D．pointlessly time-consuming official procedures |
Without any hesitation, he said, “I’d be better off dead.” Hearing those words come out of my best friend’s mouth tore my heart apart. He has repeated that phrase more than once, and my mind continually plays it over like a voice recording.
I met him about three years ago. After knowing me for six months, he told me about his struggles with depression. Sadness was not the only emotion that came over me; I was shocked. He seemed so outgoing and happy all the time. I soon learned that he was physically and emotionally abused as a young child, causing him to have suicidal thoughts.
He refuses to talk to others about his depression because he now distrusts adults, especially those in his family. Nevertheless, he feels as if I understand him and that I know the right words to speak. Therefore, when it comes to helping him, convenience is not in my vocabulary. It does not matter where I am or what I am doing, for he always comes first.
Many students at his school laugh at him when they notice scars on his arms from cutting. As he sees it, other kids have every right to make fun of him. But no one holds such a right, so I encourage him to ignore the heartless kids who treat him badly. When he feels the weight of judging eyes or hateful voices, I always remind him that I care about him unconditionally. Just hearing me say I will always be his best friend seems to give him the security he needs to keep on going.
My best friend once told me that if he had not had me, he would not be alive. He said that my encouraging words convinced him not to take his life. Our friendship has taught me that a single kind word can influence someone’s life. With the fragility of life as it is, I believe in the necessity of encouragement.According to the first paragraph, what the author’s friend said made the author feel ______.
| A．puzzled | B．heartbroken. | C．frightened | D．hopeless |
By saying “convenience is not in my vocabulary”, the author means ______.
| A．he is always ready to help his friend. |
| B．he hardly spares time to help his friend. |
| C．he has no good excuse for refusing his friend. |
| D．he is not good at communicating with his friend. |
From the passage we learn that the author’s friend ________.
| A．had a happy childhood but everything changed later |
| B．wanted to share his story but no one listened. |
| C．took it for granted that he was made fun of |
| D．was always of sad appearance |
What does the author learn from his experiences?
| A．How to make a big difference to others. |
| B．The importance of encouragement. |
| C．How to get rid of depression |
| D．The necessity of security |
If women are mercilessly exploited(剥削) year after year, they have only themselves to blame. Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion.
Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste. Many women spend large sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time changing their old-fashioned dresses. Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck-lines are lowered or raised, and so on.
No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with necessary things like warmth, comfort and durability (耐用). They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or picking her way through deep snow in high heeled shoes.
When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious. Do the constantly changing fashions of women's clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers. Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability(稳定耐用)? That is for you to decide.Designers and big stores always make money_________.
| A．by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry |
| B．because they are capable of predicting new fashions |
| C．because they attach great importance to quality in women's clothing |
| D．by constantly changing the fashions in women's clothing |
To the writer, the fact that women change their old-fashioned dresses is seen as ___________.
| A．a waste of time | B．a waste of money |
| C．an expression of taste | D．an expression of love beauty |
New fashions in clothing are created for ___________.
| A．an important contribution to society |
| B．the women's strength of character |
| C．basic qualities of inconstancy and instability |
| D．the commercial exploitation of women |
By saying "the conclusions to be drawn are obvious" (Line One to Line Two, Paragraph Four),
the writer means that ___________.
| A．men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion |
| B．women are better able to put up with discomfort |
| C．men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers |
| D．women's inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at |
A new study done by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario （HEQCO） shows that it doesn't make much of a difference that parents reward their children with cash for their better marks.
Many parents have offered cash to their children in the hope that it would improve marks and possibly raise their children's interest in achieving higher marks．
The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Toronto （UT） and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT） to learn more about the potential for financial encouragement as motivation for improved marks, involved first and second year students receiving financial aid in 2008-2009 at the University of Toronto Scarborough．
The top students participating in the study who said they were "very concerned" about having enough money to complete their degrees were to receive $100 for getting a grade of 70 per cent for each one-semester course, plus $20 for every percentage point beyond that．It was imaginable that a student could earn as much as $700 for achieving 100 percent in a course．
Harvey Weingarten, president and CEO of HEQCO said, "In its efforts to help disadvantaged students by exploring the idea of paying them to attend school, the Toronto District School Board （TDSB） is asking the same question many other districts are asking about how to improve student participation and performance．Our study and others to date indicate that this practice has little effect if any in those situations where it has been tested．"
The authors of the study suggest that ineffective study habits may be a barrier to academic achievement and that the real problem may be more a lack of academic preparation than a lack of effort or motivation．They note that the availability of peer （同伴） advising does not appear to have helped greatly．They conclude that other potential avenues to improving performance, or other approaches of teaching, are needed at the high school and postsecondary levels．If a student gets a grade of 85% in a course, he will get _____．
| A．$100 | B．$300 | C．$400 | D．$700 |
The underlined words "this practice" in Paragraph 5 refer to _____．
| A．improving student participation |
| B．seeking help from different districts |
| C．paying disadvantaged students to attend school |
| D．testing student performance in the same district |
The real problem with student participation and performance is most probably a lack of____．
| A．academic preparation | B．effort or motivation |
| C．teaching methods | D．peer advising |
What is mainly discussed in the passage?
| A．Many parents have offered cash to their children． |
| B．Many first and second year students receive financial aid． |
| C．Ineffective study habits lead to poor academic achievement． |
| D．Rewarding students with cash for good grades has little effect |
With eco-tourism on the rise, eco-hotels are fast becoming the darling of the travel industry. These days, however, staying at an eco-hotel doesn’t necessarily mean vacationing in a tree house in the Costa Rican jungle, although that is certainly a choice.
The majority of eco-hotels fall into one of several categories: hotels and resorts that conserve ecologically important habitats; “green” hotels that reduce, recycle, minimize waste, and protect water; sustainable hotels that harvest food from gardens on the hotel property or get part of all their power from renewable energy; hotels that encourage community involvement such as guests taking part in trail clearing; and hotels that offer some form of environmental education to their guests.
As such, eco-hotels are a various group. Stylish urban hotels like the Willard Inter-Continental Washington focus on energy conservation whereas the Rosario Resort＆Spa on Orcas Island in Washington State offers a wildly popular “green” vacation package where guests can “take a hike, clear a trail”.
No matter what you call them, eco-hotel, eco-lodge, eco-resort, or green hotel, they’re part of the “greening” of the tourism industry.
Part of what drives this greening of the hotel industry is no doubt competition. Going green is yet another way to distinguish a hotel from the mass of other excellent hotels that consumers have to choose from. But for many hotels, it’s also part of their philosophy. With the concept of “going green” firmly rooted in consumers’ minds, eco-hotels have taken it to the next level, and whether or not money is the driving factor behind the greening of the hotel industry doesn’t matter so much as it’s good for the planet.The underlined part in the first paragraph means _______.
| A．lovers like staying at an eco-hotel when traveling |
| B．eco-hotels are very much loved by the travel industry |
| C．people choose to stay in a tree house while vacationing |
| D．romantic love stories often happen in eco-hotels |
According to the passage, which of the following can be part of the idea of eco-hotel?
| A．It has wall of glass. |
| B．It is comfortable and fashionable. |
| C．It uses renewable energy. |
| D．It’s home to endangered species. |
From the passage, we know the Rosario Resort＆Spa is a kind of hotel that____
| A．conserves ecologically important habitats. |
| B．encourages its guests to participate in its greening activities. |
| C．harvests food from its own garden on its property |
| D．has courses on the environment for its guests. |
People who choose to stay at eco-hotels ______.
| A．love to take a hike |
| B．enjoy the green atmosphere |
| C．have environmental awareness. |
| D．want to live comfortably |