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A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
In this age of ours, I find that almost all of my friends are becoming mere voices.
Not too long ago when friends came, they would fill half the drawing room and their voices would penetrate the four walls and disturb all the neighbors. Now they have all become, step by step, into invisible and untouched beings, whose tiny voices can only be heard by one ear through the telephone, no louder than the mosquitoes(蚊子).
Since this has become a necessary part of modern life, I too have learnt to live with this “ear language”. Many friends have become more distant because they are not very good at this way of communication（交流）, others have become closer through ear language, and there are some friends I know by voice only. There is one particular voice friend I got to know through a very curious incident.
One day my telephone rang. When I lifted the receiver- a young lady’s voice informed me that she was phoning in answer to an advertisement for a night club program hostess. Obviously she had got the wrong number. The incident should have ended there and then. Actually, it was a sweet voice, only her poor imitation（模仿）of Hong Kong pronunciation and intonation got on my nerve and especially the “wa!” gave me the goose flesh. I told her that if I were the boss of the club, I wouldn’t give her a second thought because of her poor pronunciation. The young lady at the other end of the phone immediately came up with a surprising suggestion that, of course in her true local accent, she wanted to learn proper standard spoken Chinese speech from me, because she valued every chance very much. To my great surprise, we became “phone” friends. Every day, at the agreed time, she would ring me up and our “lesson” would begin. And she was tested and interviewed by a radio station in the south and got acceptd. She phoned me for the last time to thank me and to say good-bye. We had already formed a very deep “voice” friendship and have left deep unchangeable vocal(听觉的) impressions in each other’s mind. Any sudden appearance of visual images(视觉印象), good or bad, could only be destructive.
56．The underlined word penetrate in the first paragraph means _____.
A．pass quickly by B．force a way through
C．hear accidentally D．make a hole in
57．The passage suggests us that _____.
A．they would be friends forever
B．they would meet in the future
C．they hadn’t had and wouldn’t have any interview
D．the young lady was able to sing sweet songs in standard Chinese
58．We know from the passage that _____.
A．in modern times people get in touch less than before
B．young people enjoys getting together very much
C．people are more ready to help others
D．people can earn a lot of money in the night club
59．Which is wrong according to the passage?
A．The writer taught the young lady without pay.
B．The young lady can’t be a native of Beijing.
C．The writer is not fond of getting in touch with others
D．Neither of the two is ready to see each other.
— __________ do you call up your parents?
— Mostly once a week, but this week I haven’t done that, because I’ll go back this weekend.
| A．How long | B．How far |
| C．How often | D．How soon |
There are good Santas and there are bad Santas. The good Santas all realize one thing: In the mind of a child, Santa Claus is perfect. That’s difficult. And so they come from around the world to attend the Charles W. Howard School in Midland, Mich. The school offers a three-day, 40-hour course for Santas hoping to be excellent. A former Macy’s Santa named Charles Howard founded the Michigan school in 1937. “Many people will think if you have a suit and you’re a Santa,” said Tom Valent, the school’s current dean. “It’s more than that.” The school teaches everything from breathing techniques for carol singing to the beard maintenance. There are lessons in child psychology, sign language and even media training for talk-show appearances and call-in shows. Santas also need to make sure they know all the names of the reindeer(驯鹿). What’s harder to deal with, however, is children who ask for Christmas gifts like bringing daddy home or making mommy happy again. After spending time in the classroom, Weir went to the mall to test his training. However, at one point, his hat fell off, and he was unsure how to react. “You’re the real Santa,” Valent said. “Pick that hat up, slip it back on, keep smiling and do your job. You’ve got to stay on top of your game. Even the last one at night, when you’re tired, you’ve got to remember: This one’s forever, so do a good job.”According to the passage, good Santas should be the ones that ______.
| A．can offer the children some gifts |
| B．help adults look after their children |
| C．have ability to make children happy |
| D．should be perfect in the mind of children |
The Michigan school was founded by Charles Howard with the purpose to ______.
| A．train the pet reindeer for the Santas |
| B．earned money from its students |
| C．train perfect Santas for the world |
| D．show the world’s concern to the poor |
According to Weir’s performance, we can conclude that ______.
| A．Weir was short of experience |
| B．Weir was not fit for the job as a Santa |
| C．Weir did very badly in the game |
| D．Weir was not a good student in school |
When the famous dancer Fred was interviewed for a job by a Hollywood producer , the movie Expert turned him down, saying,”Can’t sing. Can’t act. Dances a little.” Here’s another stupid mistake. When the great scientist Albert Einstein was at school, his teachers considered him rather dull. And a final story, the famous Polish pianist Paderewski was told by a teacher that he’d never be a success as a performer because the middle finger on each hand was too short.
What lessons can be drawn from these three experiences? First, true genius (天才）cann’t be suppressed(压抑）．For some reason or other it works its way out. Second, early judgments of a person’s abilities may be unfair or just wrong. Third, when there is a real determination to succeed, obstacles fall by the wayside.
The famous motto “ad astra per aspera” can be translated as “ To the stars through hardships”. Astaire, Einstein and Paderewski proved their critics wrong.Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
| A．Fred Astaire was a famous dancer. |
| B．True ability will always make itself known. |
| C．Some people never get discouraged. |
| D．Albert Einstein prove his teachers wrong. |
When Paderewski’s teacher told him he’d never be a success, the teacher was .
| A．Being humorous | B．Cheerful, though concerned |
| C．Somewhat hesitant | D．Seriously mistaken |
“Ad astra per aspera” is used in the passage .
| A．As a motto for the three men’s lives |
| B．To show the value of Latin |
| C．To send the reader to the dictionary |
| D．To point out that genius is always recognized early |
The writer of the passage thinks that the reader .
| A．Knows that the three men were successful men |
| B．Dreams to become like one of the men some day |
| C．Sympathizes with (同情） the poor teachers of the three men |
| D．Knows that Fred Astaire was an actor famous for performing Shakespeare’s plays |
I suddenly heard an elephant crying as though frightened. Looking down, I immediately recognized that something was wrong, and ran down to the edge of the near bank. There I saw Ma Shwe with her three-month-old calf struggling in the fast-rising water, and it was a life-and-death struggle. Her calf was floating and screaming with fear. Ma Shwe was as near to the far bank as she could get, holding her whole body against the rushing water, and keeping the calf pressed against her huge body. Every now and then the rushing water would sweep the calf away. There was a sudden rise in the water and the calf was washed clean over the mother's body and was gone. Ma Shwe turned quickly to reach it and pressed the calf with her head and trunk(象鼻) against the rocky bank. Then with a huge effort, she picked it up in her trunk and tried until she was able to place it on a narrow shelf of rock.
Just at this moment, she felt back into the river. If she were carried down, it would be certain death. I knew, as well as she did, that there was one spot (地点) where she could get up the bank, but it was on the other side from where she had put her calf. While I was wondering what I could do next，I heard the sound of a mother’s love．Ma Shwe had crossed the river and got up the bank and was making her way back as fast as she could，roaring(吼叫)all the time，but to her calf it was music．The moment the author got down to the river bank he saw．
| A．the calf was about to fall into the river |
| B．Ma Shwe was placing the calf on the rock |
| C．the calf was washed away by the rising water |
| D．Ma Shwe was holding the calf against the rushing water |
How did Ma Shwe manage to save her calf from the fast-flowing water?
| A．By putting it on a safe spot． |
| B．By pressing it against her body． |
| C．By taking it away with her． |
| D．By carrying it on her back |
How did the calf feel about the mother elephant’s roaring?
| A．It Was a musical note． |
| B．It was a sign of danger． |
| C．It was a call for help. |
| D．It was a great comfort |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．A Mother’s Love | B．A Brave Act |
| C．A Deadly River | D．A Matter of Life and Death |
Plants are very important living things. Life could not go on if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air， water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot make food from air， water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. Therefore animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us. If you look carefully at the plants around you， you will find that there are two kinds of plants： flowering plants and non-flowering plants. Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed， some have two， three or four， and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit. Most non-flowering plants do not grow from seeds. They grow from spores（胚芽）。 Spores are very small. Some spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as seeds. When these spores are all on wet and shady places， they usually grow into new plants.The main idea of the first paragraph is that ______.
| A．plants are important for life |
| B．plants cannot grow without air |
| C．there are many plants in the world |
| D．we can not live without water |
Plants can make food from______.
| A．flower, water and air | B．water，sunlight and air |
| C．air，water and soil | D．air，sun and light |
What can we infer（推断） from the passage ？
| A．Of all living things animals are most important |
| B．Without plants，man will die out |
| C．All fruits of flowering plants have seeds |
| D．Spores are seeds |
This passage may be taken from______.
| A．a medicine book | B．a science magazine |
| C．a novel | D．an experiment report |