第二部分:阅读理解(共两节,满分30分)
第一节:(共15 小题,每小题1.5分,满分22.5分)
阅读下面三篇短文,从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
Do you love American country music? If you do, come to Nashville. It’s the home of American country music.
Nashville is the capital of the state Tennessee. Here you don’t have to go to the big auditoriums (音乐厅) to enjoy the country music. In the open air restaurants or on the streets, you can always hear the beautiful and sweet sounding folk music. All the singers are young and they play their guitars while they sang. The songs they sing are so touching that, if you listen attentively, you can feel they are singing with their souls rather than with their voices.
Shops selling music records and tapes can be found everywhere in Nashville. Many records are made by famous singers and they are sent to many countries all over the world.
The folk songs most of the singers sing come from the rural areas in the southern United States. The songs often describe the situations of those days and the feeling of the country people. They often sing in praises of heroism and true love.
41. The passage is mainly about ______.
A. Nashville B. the country music
C. pop singers D. American young people
42. From the passage we know that Nashville is ______.
A. a village B. a small town C. a capital city D. a big city
43. To enjoy the country music, you can go to ______.
A. the big auditoriums B. the open air restaurants
C the streets D. all of the above
44. What is the meaning of the underlined word “heroism” in the last paragraph?
A. 乐观主义 B. 英雄主义 C. 爱国主义 D.社会主义
45. According to the passage which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. The folk songs can impress you deeply.
B. Not all records are made by famous singers.
C. The folk songs are sung only in praises of true love.
D. Shops that sell music recorders and tapes can be found everywhere in
Nashville.
There are tow types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although it fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.
63. People who are unhappy .
A. always consider things differently form others
B. usually are affected by the results of certain things
C. usually misunderstand what others think or say
D. always discover the unpleasant side of certain things
64. The underlined phrase “sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means “ ”.
A. have a good taste with social life B. make others unhappy
C. tend to scold others openly D. enjoy the pleasure of life
65. We can conclude from the passage that .
A. we should pity all such unhappy people
B. such unhappy people are dangerous to social life
C. people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness
D. unhappy people can not understand happy persons
66. If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should .
A. prevent and communication with them
B. show no respect and politeness to them
C. persuade them to recognize the bad effects
D. quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes
67. In this passage, the writer mainly .
A. describes two types of people B. laughs at the unhappy people
C. suggests ways to help the unhappy D. tells people how to be happy in life
Koalas are pictured everywhere in Australia-on cleaning products, on “boxes of chocolate, on sports team shirts. Yet the animals live only in pockets along the east coast.
They once inhabited the entire coastline. The koala population dropped after farmers cut down many of the forests where koalas lived, and hunters killed the animals for their fur.
By the early 1900s, “koalas were basically shot out of south Australia,” says ecologist Bill Ellis, who studies the relationships among living things and their environments.
I recently joined Ellis and his team in a forest on St Bees Is land, 19 miles off the northeastern coast of Australia, with eight other volunteers. The island is a natural laboratory, yielding findings that may help protect koalas elsewhere on the continent.
The volunteers searched the island for koalas in the blue gum trees. When we found a koala, we gathered information about the trees in the area.
Blue gum is a species of the eucalyptus tree in which the funny leaf eaters spend most of their time. Eucalyptus trees are native to Australia, and their leaves are the main food source for koalas. Although koalas can walk on the ground, they are better suited for life in the canopy, the high cover of branches and leaves in a forest.
What has Ellis’s research told him so far? The population of St Bees seems to be healthy. Yet Ellis wonders whether the koalas might be heading for hard times. The island is overrun with wild goats, and Ellis thinks the goats are eating the small blue gum trees.
Without those trees, the koalas will run out of food in the future. Ellis hopes more research will help him understand how to protect the blue gum trees-and the koalas that depend on them. “I think that’s what everyone is trying to do-to make a difference.” Ellis says.
59. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that .
A. koalas’ pictures can be found everywhere in the world
B. koalas in Australia like to eat chocolate
C. only in the east coast of Australia can you find koalas
D. you can buy the pictures of koalas only in the east coast of Australia
60. Which of the following is TRUE about koalas?
A. They usually hide in a cave. B. They feed on the leaves of blue gum trees.
C. They prefer to walk on the ground. D. They don’t adapt to the high cover of branches.
61. What will Ellis most probably start to do next?
A. To keep the population of St Bees healthy.
B. To kill all the goats on the island.
C. To find some new foods for goats.
D. To protect blue gum trees for koalas.
62. The purpose of writing this passage is to .
A. expect people to concern about the life of koalas
B. record trip to Australia for watching koalas
C. present some basic knowledge of koalas’ life
D. introduce the ecosystem of wildlife in Australia
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D和E)中选出最佳选项。
Sitting too much is now listed with smoking and junk food as a bad habit that increases your risk of heart disease.
New Australian research shows that half-an-hour in the gym will not make up for the waist-expanding damage caused by spending the rest of the day sitting.
But the good news is that doing chores in the house or gently walking around the office while on the phone might be enough to keep you fit.
The study joins the growing body of evidence suggesting too much sitting might undo the benefits of exercise.
The study measured the intensity of physical activities in 168 subjects over seven days. It found that, regardless of how much exercise they did or their total sitting time, those who took more breaks from sitting had lower risk of thick waists and lower levels of blood lipids(脂肪).
“Higher levels of blood lipids have been linked to a heightened risk of heart disease,” principal researcher Genevieve Healy of the University of Queensland said. “What the study shows is that there are benefits in just getting up regularly and interrupting your sitting time.”
Researchers behind the Stand Up Australia project have written to the Rudd Government requesting $3.5 million for a two-year study into the impact of long sitting time on health and productivity of workers. The study would also develop and test strategies for reducing sitting time on the job.
The latest study builds on work that is shifting the health promotion focus from purposeful exercise, such as running, to lower intensity activities throughout the day.
The Australian research has been hacked up by US studies.
“To hold a body that weighs 77 kilograms upright takes a fair amount of energy from muscles,” said Professor Marc Hamilton from the University of Missouri. “There is a large amount of energy associated with standing every day that cannot easily be replaced by 30 to 60 minutes in the gym.”
56. What’s the aim of the Stand Up Australia project?
A. To study the factors influencing productivity of workers.
B. To study the reasons for the longer sitting time at work.
C. To develop and test strategies for reducing sitting time in the office.
D. To develop and test strategies for reducing working time.
57. The purpose of the last paragraph is to .
A. provide a scientific basis for the benefits of standing up
B. Compare the effect of standing with exercising in the gym
C. report the new research findings of professor Marc Hamilton
D. figure out the amount of energy associated with daily standing
58. What’s the best title for the text?
A. Exercise in the Gym Is Out.
B. Your Office Chair Is Killing You.
C. A Cause of Heart Disease.
D. Good News for Workers.
Sustainable development is applied to just about everything from energy to clean water and economic growth, and as a result it has become difficult to question either the basic assumptions behind it or the way the concept is put to use.This is especially true in agriculture, where sustainable development is often taken as the sole measure of progress without a proper appreciation of historical and cultural perspectives.
To start with, it is important to remember that the nature of agriculture has changed markedly throughout history, and will continue to do so .Medieval agriculture in northern Europe fed, clothed and sheltered a predominantly rural society with a much lower population density than it is today.It had minimal effect on biodiversity, and any pollution it brought about was typically localized.In terms of energy use and the nutrients captured in the product it was relatively inefficient.
Contrast this with farming since the start of the industrial revolution.Competition from overseas led farmers to specialize and increase yields.Throughout this period food became cheaper, safe and more reliable.However, these changes have also led to habitat loss and to diminishing biodiversity.
What’s more, demand for animal products in developing countries is growing so fast that meeting it will require an extra 300 million tons of grain a year by 2050,yet the growth of cities and industry is reducing the amount of water available for agriculture in many regions.
All this means that agriculture in the 21st century will have to be very different from how it was in the 20th.This will require radical(激进的)thinking.For example, we need to move away from the idea that traditional practices are inevitably more sustainable than new ones.We also need to abandon the notion that agriculture can be “zero impact”.The key will be to abandon the rather simple and static measures of sustainability, which centre on the need to maintain production without increasing damage.Instead we need a more dynamic interpretation, one that looks at the pros and cons of all the various way land is used.There are many different ways to measure agricultural performance besides food yield: energy use, environmental costs, water purity, carbon footprint and biodiversity.It is clear, for example, that the carbon of transporting tomatoes from Spain to the UK is less than that of producing them in the UK with additional heating and lighting, but we do not know whether lower carbon footprints will always be better for biodiversity.
What is crucial is recognizing that sustainable agriculture is not just about sustainable food production.
72.How do people often measure progress in agriculture?
A.By its productivity B. By its impact on the environment
C.By its sustainability D.By its contribution to economic growth
73.What does the author think of traditional farming practices?
A.They have remained the same over the centuries
B.They have not kept pace with population growth
C.They are not necessarily sustainable
D.They are environmentally friendly
74.What will agriculture be like in the 21st century?
A.It will go through radical changes
B.It will supply more animal products
C.It will abandon traditional farming practices
D.It will cause zero damage to the environment
75.What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
A.To remind people of the need of sustainable development
B.To suggest ways of ensuring sustainable food production
C.To advance new criteria for measuring farming progress
D.To urge people to rethink what sustainable agriculture is.
Twenty years ago, most experts believed that differences in how boys and girls behaved were mainly due to differences in how they were treated by their parents, teachers, and friends. It’s hard to cling to that belief today. Recent research has shown that there are biological differences between boys and girls. Understanding these differences is important in raising and educating children.
For example, girls are born with more sensitive hearing than boys, and the difference increases as kids grow up. So when a grown man speaks to a girl in what he thinks is a normal voice, she may hear it as yelling. Conversely (反过来), boys who appear to be inattentive in class may just be sitting too far away to hear the teacher.
Likewise, girls are better in their expression of feelings. Studies reveal that negative emotions are seated in an area of the brain called the amygdala. Girls develop all early connection between this area and the cerebral cortex (大脑皮层), enabling them to talk about their feelings. In boys these links develop later. So if you ask a troubled adolescent boy to tell you what his feelings are, he often cannot say much.
Dr. Sax, an advocate of single-sex education, points out that keeping boys and girls separate in the classroom has yielded(产生) striking educational, social, and interpersonal benefits. Therefore, parents and teachers should try to recognize, understand, and make use of the biological differences that make a girl a girl, and a boy a boy.
68.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Boys tend to pay less attention in class than girls.
B. Girls are better than boys in their ability to detect sounds.
C. Boys and girls behave differently because of biological differences.
D. Single-sex schools are not good because they keep boys and girls separate.
69.Why do girls express negative feelings better than boys?
A. Girls are more emotional than boys.
B. Girls have more brain cells than boys.
C. The amygdala is located in different areas of the brain for boys and girls.
D. The links between certain parts of the brain develop earlier in girls than in boys.
70.Which of the following does the author believe?
A. Girls need more training in communication.
B. Boys and girls should be educated in different ways.
C. Parents should pay more attention to boys.
D. Sex differences should be ignored in education。
71.What does the underlined phrase “cling to” in the first paragraph mean?
A. maintain B. abandon C. evaluate D. challenge