第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下面短文，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 A
You're in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation:
“I can't believe it--a Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn't it beautiful? And it's a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome. ”
They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It's nice and the price is right. You've never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. They must know. So, you buy it. You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes.
Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too. This is the secret of undercover marketing. Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.
Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation----consumers between the age of 18 and 34. It is a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads.
So advertising agencies hire young actors to “perform” in bars and other places where young adults go. Some people might call this practice deceptive(骗人的), but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative. “Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing. ”
However, one might ask what exactly is “real” about of young women pretending to be enthusiastic about a sweater? Advertising executives would say it's no less real than an ad. The difference is that you know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. You don' t know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance.
1. The two attractive young women were talking so that they could ________.
A. get the sweater at a lower price B. be heard by people around
C. be admired by other shoppers D. decide on buying the sweater
2. Lorenzo Bertolla is __________.
A. a very popular male singer B. an advertising agency
C. a clothing company in Rome D. the brand name of a sweater
3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A. The two girls are in fact employed by the Lorenzo Bertolla Company.
B. The MTV generation tend to be more easily influenced by ads.
C. Traditional advertising is becoming less effective because it's too direct.
D. Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government.
4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Two Attractive Shoppers B. Lorenzo Bertolla Sweaters
C. Ways of Advertising D. Undercover Marketing
Societies all over the world name places in similar ways. Quite often there is no official naming ceremony but places tend to be called names as points of reference by people. Then an organized body steps in and gives the place a name. Often it happens that a place has two names: One is named by the people and the other by the government. As in many areas, old habits died hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost.
Many roads and places in Singapore are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generations. Thus we have names such as Stamford Road and Raffles Place. This is in keeping with traditions in many countries ---- in both the West and the East.
Another way of naming places is naming them after other places. Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after. The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases. If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus ---- obviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel.
Some places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places. Bras Basah Road is an interesting example, “Base Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay. Now why would anyone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road”? The reason is simple. During the pioneering days, wet rice was laid out to dry along this road.
A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes. There is “Circular Road” for one. Other roads may have parts of their names to describe their shapes, like “ Paya Lebar Crescent”. This road is called a crescent (月牙) because it begins on the main road, makes a crescent and comes back to join the main road again. We learn from Paragraph 1 that _____.
| A．the government is usually the first to name a place |
| B．a ceremony will be held when a place is named |
| C．people prefer the place names given by the government |
| D．many places tend to have more than one name |
Which of the following places is named after a person?
| A．Selector Airbase. | B．Raffles Place. |
| C．Piccadilly Circus. | D．Paya Lebar Crescent. |
What does the underlined phrase “die hard” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
| A．Change suddenly. | B．Change greatly. |
| C．Disappear very slowly. | D．Disappear quickly. |
Bras Basah Road is named _______.
| A．after a place | B．after an activity |
| C．after a person | D．by its shape |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The way Singaporeans name their places is unique. |
| B．Some places in Singapore are named for military（军事） purposes. |
| C．Young Singaporeans have forgotten the pioneers. |
| D．Some place names in Singapore are the same as in Britain. |
A young boy was sitting in the back seat of the car eating an apple. Hw asked his father, “Why does my apple turn brown?” His father answered,”“When the skin is removed, air reaches the flesh of the apple causes oxidarion. This changes the apple’s molecular structure and results in a brownish color.”The boy asked,“Dad，what are you
talking about?”
I know how that boy feels. Sometimes I want answers to some of those confusing questions that we all meet with, such as how to get through difficult times or what to do in a tough situation. I just want to get it right.
The problem is that I don’t always have the answer I need. Nobody else seems to have them, either. So I go on making mistakes and think that I’ll never get it right.
Often I didn’t know what to do. I often made poor choices, but I gradually improved. Then I realized that I don’t HAVE TO always get it right. I don’t have to always know what to do all the time. All I really need to do is try my best, learn from my mistakes and go on.
Dr. Leo Buscaglia once said, “ No one gets out of this world alive, so the time to live, learn, care, share, celebrate and love is now. That would be pretty hard to do when you’re waiting for all the answers first.”
So you got it wrong. You made a mistake. So what should you do next? Forgive yourself and try again. You may not get out of this world alive, but you can get plenty of life out of this world if you are not too worried about always getting it right.In the beginning, the author tells the story of a boy and his father to ____.
| A．show that the father is very knowledgeable |
| B．say something interesting about apples |
| C．show that children nowadays ask more questions |
| D．introduce the topic of the passage |
How did the boy feel when he heard his father’s explanation?
| A．He admired his father very much. |
| B．He knew what his father meant. |
| C．He felt it was difficult to understand. |
| D．He thought that he had learned a lot from his father. |
What do Dr. Leo Buscaglia’s words mean?
| A．We can search the answers when enjoying life itself. |
| B．We must make right choices as often as possible. |
| C．People have many desires when they enter the world. |
| D．It is hard to lead a happy and satisfying life. |
What can be concluded from the passage?
| A．We should try to learn and understand the answers to questions. |
| B．We should learn from our mistakes and try again. |
| C．It is very important to try to avoid(避免) mistakes. |
| D．It is our duty to make the world a better place. |
What is the style of the passage?
| A．novel | B．news | C．poem | D．essay |
As I was leaving to meet Lynne，my roommate told me that I’d better take some money，but I didn’t listen to him. I thought that Lynne would pay because she had invited me.
I arrived at the restaurant exactly on time. I’d been told that Americans expect you to be on time. Lynne and I sat at a table in the corner of the restaurant and a waitress came and took our order. The dinner was a great success. I talked a lot about Saudi Arabia and Lynne told me all about herself. After two hours the waitress finally came and asked if we wanted one check or two. Lynne said two. We went to the cashier and Lynne paid her check. I was embarrassed (尴尬) when the cashier gave me my bill. I had no money to pay for my meal. Then I had an idea. I pretended to look for something in my pockets and said，“Oh！I forgot my money! Can I call my roommate，please？” The cashier showed me where the phone was and I quickly called my roommate.
In a few minutes he arrived with some money，but he couldn’t hide how he felt. He laughed all the way home.
Now，I think it’s funny too. But at the time I was terribly embarrassed. I thought that an invitation to have dinner meant the same thing in the United States as in my country. I guess you have to understand that your customs（习俗） are only your customs. When you visit a foreign country，you have to learn about their customs，too.Customs can be ________in different countries according to this passage.
| A．entirely different | B．close to each other |
| C．quite the same | D．very similar |
The writer’s roommate advised the writer to take some money with him to________.
| A．invite Lynne to dinner | B．pay for the table |
| C．pay for the restaurant | D．share the cost of the meal |
The writer and Lynne________.
| A．had a talk for three hours |
| B．shared a successful dinner |
| C．traveled to Saudi Arabia together |
| D．enjoyed their meal without talking |
Why didn’t Lynne pay the check for the writer?
| A．Because she didn’t have the meal. |
| B．Because she thought it was natural for people to pay their own check. |
| C．Because she wanted to embarrass the writer. |
| D．Because she didn’t have enough money with her. |
The roommate laughed all the way home because the writer________.
| A．would not listen to him when he left the house |
| B．was embarrassed when he couldn’t pay his breakfast |
| C．telephoned him to bring some books to him |
| D．hadn’t told Lynne the truth |
Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York, in 1852. His family were very poor farmers, and there was never enough to eat. Frank decided he did not want to be a farmer. He took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.
Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for showing goods to attract people’s interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends (小商品) for as much as he could get. Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said FIVE CENTS EACH. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.
Soon afterwards, Woolworth opened his own store, selling goods at five and ten cents. But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is, if you want to make money by selling low-price goods, you have to buy them in large quantities directly from the factories. Once, for example, Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way, the price of the knives was cut down by half.
By 1919, Woolworth had over 1000 stores in the US and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made many millions and his name became famous throughout the world. He always run his business according to strict rules, of which the most important was: “ THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”Frank took a short business course in order to _________.
| A．learn something from a salesman | B．get away from the farm |
| C．earn more money for his family | D．get enough to eat. |
Frank sold the odds and ends quickly because _________.
| A．he had put the goods on a table in a very nice way |
| B．he cut down the price by half |
| C．the sign he put on the table was well designed |
| D．he knew how to get people to buy his goods. |
The price of the knives was cut down by half because ________.
| A．knives were ordered in large quantities directly from the factory. |
| B．the factory workers worked 24 hours a day |
| C．the knives were made in Germany, where labour was cheap. |
| D．the knives were produced in one factory. |
________ make Woolworth a world-famous man.
| A．The low price of the goods he sold |
| B．His business skills and his wealth |
| C．His trip to Germany and his huge order of knives |
| D．His natural skill for showing things |
The belief that “ The customer is always right” suggests that ________.
A.whenever there is a quarrel between the customer and shop assistant, the customers are always right.
B If you want to succeed, the rule is the only way.
C.stores should do their best to meet the customer’s needs if they want to be successful.
D.stores must always follow the customer’s orders if they want to make more money.
One of the world's richest men has taken a close interest in one of man's most basic functions: visiting the toilet．Bill Gates's charitable organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is looking for inventors to design the loo of the future, which, they hope, would improve sanitation for millions of people around the world.
So, what's wrong with the traditional flush toilet? Firstly, it wastes a huge amount, of potential drinking water．Secondly, they are more likely to cause pollution．This is a real problem in many areas of the developing world, where, according to United Nations estimates, unsafe sanitation causes half of all hospitalizations．Younger people are particularly at risk．Illnesses which cause diarrhea are responsible for the deaths of about 1．5 million children a year．Finally, standard lavatories simply aren't practical in remote areas．
The challenge set by Bill Gates was to come up with a latrine which works without running water, electricity or aseptic tank．It also needed to operate for less than 5 cents．28 designs were displayed at the recent Reinvent the Toilet Fair．in Seattle, USA．Among them was one which turned human waste into electricity using microwaves, another which converted human waste into charcoal, and yet another which used urine for flushing．
But the winner was a solar-powered design which generated hydrogen gas and electricity．The team from the California Institute of Technology（CIT）picked up a prize of $ 100,000.
But clearly Bill Gates doesn't feel he's flushing money down the toilet．After the Seattle event he said, "We, couldn't be happier with the response we've gotten," Gates has even pledged $370 million more to the future toilet project．They hope to field test more, prototypes over the next three years．Why is Bill Gates paying people to invent new toilets?
| A．Because he wants to test people's sense of creativity． |
| B．Because he thinks the traditional ones are out of fashion |
| C．Because he wants to improve sanitation for many people． |
| D．Because he can't design this kind of things himself． |
Which of the following is NOT a problem with the traditional flush toilet?
| A．They are too complicated to use. | B．They waste too much water |
| C．They might cause diseases． | D．They are not always practical. |
The underlined word "latrine" in the third paragraph might have similar meanings to the word "__" in the text．
| A．sanitation | B．loo | C．diarrhea | D．prototype |
The team from CIT won the prize because their design.
| A．can change human waste into electricity |
| B．can turn human waste into charcoal |
| C．can use urine for flushing |
| D．can produce power with solar energy |
If someone "flush money down the toilet", they are.
| A．wasting money for nothing |
| B．being angry with their work conditions |
| C．showing—off their wealth |
| D．expressing their great determination |