第三部分阅读理解 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Picking a Christmas tree takes most people a few minutes, a couple of hours if they head to the woods. Dave Murbach needs 11 months.
Almost every day of every year, Murbach’s thoughts turn to vision of a perfectly shaped evergreen tree that will take everyone’s breath away.
“The tree,” he says wearily. “Always the tree.”
Murbach is the man responsible for finding the towering tree that graces Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center each Christmas season.
“I’m always looking for a tree,” the center’s chief gardener says. “I look for it even when I go to the beach in the summer. It’s like a homework assignment hanging over your head.”
And if he gets it wrong, there’s nothing hiding it.
“Every day it’s up, 400,000 people go by, and 2.5 million people watch the lighting celebration on television,” he says.
This year’s tree, a 74-foot Norway spruce (云杉) from Richfield, Ohio, flown to New York on the world’s largest cargo plane, was lighted on December 2.
The arrival of the tree leads in the Christmas season in New York - a tradition dating to 1931, when the workers building Rockefeller Centre put up a small tree with decorations.
The search for the next year’s tree starts soon after the old tree is chopped up for wood chips and horse-jumping logs.
That’s not as simple as it sounds. Though forests are full of evergreens, few get enough sunlight or space to fill out. And branches in snowy regions often break under the weight, making flees uneven.
Back at the office, he sorts through hundreds of letters from people offering their trees, many addressed simply to “Mr. Christmas Tree Man.”
Despite the occasional anxiety attack and sleepless night, Murbach knows the together people you love. That’s what I hope it sets off.”
But Murbach says he’s always too worn out to celebrate Christmas.
“No card, no lights, nothing,” he says.
“No tree?”
“No tree.”
1. Murbach takes his job seriously because he most likely wants _____________.
A. everyone to be happy with his work
B. to make everyone surprised at his choice
C. everyone to know his care for their happiness
D. to attract people’s attention to his special ability
2. Which is the correct order of the events in the passage?
a. Murbach’s thoughts turn to a perfectly shaped tree.
b. 2.5 million people watch the Christmas tree.
c. The tree is flown to New York.
d. it was lighted on December 2.
e. The tree is chopped up.
f. Murbach searches for the tree.
A. a, b, c, d, e, f B. a, f, c, d, b, e C. c, d, e, b, a, f D. c, d, b, f, e, a
3. According to Murbach’s standard of trees, the best tree must _________.
A. be evergreen B. have no space between branches
C. be thick enough D. be equally balanced in shape
4. Which is tree about Murbach?
A. He is most devoted to his work. B. He is now quite tired of his work.
C. He has no loved family members. D. He never wants to celebrate Christmas.
One of the latest trends（趋势） in American Childcare is Chinese au pairs. Au Pair in Stamford, Conn, for example, has got increasing numbers of request for Chinese au pairs from aero to around 4, 000 since 2004. And that’s true all across the country.
“I thought it would be useful for him to learn Chinese at an early age” Joseph Stocke, the managing director of a company, says of his 2-year old son. “I would at least like to give him the chance to use the language in the future, ” After only six months of being cared by 25-year-old woman from China, the boy can already understand basic Chinese daily expressions, his dad says.
Li Drake, a Chinese native raising two children in Minnesota with an American husband, had another reason for looking for an au pair from China. She didn’t want her children to miss out on their roots. ” Because I am Chinese, my husband and I wanted the children to keep exposed to(接触) the language and culture. ” she says.
“Staying with a native speaker is better for children than simply sitting in a classroom, ” says Suzanne Flynn, a professor in language education of Children. ”But parents must understand that just one year with au pair is unlikely to produce wonders. Complete mastery demands continued learning until the age of 10 or 12. ”
The popularity if au pairs from China has been strengthened by the increasing numbers of American parents who want their children who want their children to learn Chinese. It is expected that American demand for au pairs will continue to rise in the next few years.What does the term” au pair” in the text mean?
| A．A mother raising her children on her own |
| B．A child learning a foreign language at home |
| C．A professor in language education of children |
| D．A young foreign woman taking care of children. |
Li Drake has her children study Chinese because she wants them ______.
| A．to live in China some day | B．to speak the language at home |
| C．to catch up with other children | D．to learn about the Chinese culture |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Learning Chinese is becoming popular In America |
| B．Educated woman do better in looking after children |
| C．Chinese au pairs need to improve their English Skills. |
| D．Children can learn a foreign language well in six months. |
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．The grass –roots level | B．The business circle |
| C．Government officials | D．University professors |
What have Americans achieved in environmental protection ?
| A．They have cut car emissions to the lowest |
| B．They have settled their environmental problems |
| C．They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities. |
| D．They have reduced pollution through effective measures . |
What is especially important for environmental protection according to the last paragraph ?
| A．Education | B．Planning |
| C．Green living | D．CO reduction |
Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband , Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.
During the first week of his stay, he went out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone. He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his passport.
He reported the case to the police and then sat there，lost and lonely in strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one.
Late in the evening, the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to pronounce my husband’s name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can（垃圾桶）that had been left out on the footpath.
My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of unfamiliar papers. Her parents had carefully sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend.
That family not only restored the important documents to us that day but also restored our faith and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send a warm wish their way.What did Rashid plan to do after his arrival in Sydney?
| A．Go shopping | B．Find a house |
| C．Join his family | D．Take a vacation |
The girl’s parents got Rashid’s phone number from_______.
| A．a friend of his family | B．a Sydney policeman |
| C．a letter in his papers | D．a stranger in Sydney |
What does the underlined word “restored” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Showed | B．Sent out |
| C．Delivered | D．Gave back |
Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
| A．From India to Australia. | B．Living in a a New Country. |
| C．Turning Trash to Treasure. | D．In Search of New Friends. |
I teach geography at UNLV three times per week. Last Monday, at the beginning of class, I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been so good. He had his wisdom teeth removed. The young man then asked me why I always seemed to be so cheerful. “I choose to be cheerful.” I said. Then I told them a story.
In addition to teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at thecommunity collegein Henderson, 17 miles down thefreewayfrom where I live. One day I drove those 17 miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive another quarter mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died and wouldn’t start again. So I left my car there and marched down the road to the college.
As soon as I got there I called AAA (美国汽车协会)and arranged for a tow truck (拖车) to meet me at my car after class. The secretary in the office asked me what had happened. “This is my lucky day.” I replied, smiling.
“Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?” She was puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway but it didn’t.” I replied, “Instead, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance from here. I’m still able to teach my class, and I’ve been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class.” The secretary’s eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class. So ended my story.
I scanned the sixty faces in my class at UNLV. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasn’t the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a student’s observation that I was cheerful. An Indian wise man once said, “Who you are speaks louder to me than anything you can say.” I suppose it must be so.Why did the author tell his students the story?
| A．To share his lucky experience. |
| B．To make his class more lively. |
| C．To draw all students’ attention. |
| D．To encourage his students to be positive. |
What happened to the author on his way to the community college?
| A．He parked his car in a perfect place. |
| B．He called AAA for a tow truck to meet him. |
| C．He covered the last quarter mile on foot. |
| D．He drove off the freeway at a wrong exit. |
By saying “it wasn’t the story at all”, the author means that_______.
| A．His story is not convincing |
| B．He shouldn’t have told the story |
| C．His attitude to life has inspired the students |
| D．His story is not as interesting as expected |
What can be concluded from the passage?
| A．Easier said than done. |
| B．You are what you choose. |
| C．Behind bad luck comes good luck. |
| D．A good beginning makes a good ending. |
Next time you hear a funny joke you’d better not laugh too hard. According to a paper published by the British Medical Journal, laughter isn’t always the bestmedicine. Sometimes it can even be harmful. Professor Robin Ferner from the University of Birmingham, one of the authors of the study, found that bad things could happen to people who laughed too much. He says: “We found people with heartbeat problems which had stopped their heart, we found people who had fainted(昏倒), and we found people who’ddislocated theirjawsor burst their lungs.”
It seems that laughing can beno laughing matter. Butit’s not alldoom and gloom. Professor Ferner says there are benefits to laughing when you want tolose weight, for example. Yes, that’s right: laugh and be slimmer! Professor Ferner explains that: “You use energy when you laugh, you move yourdiaphragm(横膈膜), you expand your lungs, and both those things can be helpful.”
According to the research, laughing for a quarter of an hour can burn up to 40 calories, and if you laughed all day you’d use up about 2,000 calories, which is what most people consume in a day. But don’t do that or you might end up with apainfuljaw.Ouch! Or you might find people looking at you in afunnyway.
But I don’t want to finish this article leaving you feelingdesperate. Laughter comes naturally for most of us. Babies begin to laugh at around 3-6 months. So give in to yoursense of humourand keep smiling. Life is short anyway.
Laughing too much may cause the following harmful results EXCEPT_________.
| A．heart stop | B．diaphragm movement |
| C．lung burst | D．jaw dislocation |
The underlined phrase “doom and gloom” in Paragraph 2 probably means_______.
| A．hopeless | B．funny |
| C．painful | D．nervous |
How many calories can you use if you laugh for half a day?
| A．About 40. | B．About 1,000. |
| C．About 2,000. | D．About 2,040. |
What is the author’s attitude towards laughing in the last paragraph?
| A．Uninterested. | B．Disapproving. |
| C．Worried. | D．Favorable. |