Mariah Evans at the University of Nevada, Reno, led a 20-year study which asked adults in 27 countries to tell the number of books that were in their home while they were growing up. Their answers showed that children raised around books spend more years in school, even if their parents are poor and illiterate (没文化的).
Mariah Evans said, “What we found was that there is a very big effect of growing up in a bookish home on children’s success in school. Children who grow up in homes where there are more books go further in education. And additional(额外的) books are especially important for children who come from families where the parents aren’t terribly highly educated. The books can be stories, sports, travels and anything. But there, we’re seeing that the books that have the most effect are history and science.”
“It says that there really is a contribution that parents can make to their children’s education. And it doesn’t mean that you have to turn into somebody like me whose walls are lined with books. “But it really does mean that if you spend a few minutes most days a week reading to your children, and if they see you reading from time to time, and if you talk about books with them from time to time, and when somebody asks a question, say ‘let’s look it up’ instead of discussing it as a matter of opinion—that all those things can actually make quite a great difference to children in their education.”
56. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
A. it is more difficult for children raised around books to finish school
B. highly educated parents prevent a child going further in education
C. more books are needed by children from poor and illiterate families
D. children with poor parents don’t spend as many years in school
57. According to the author, the books most important for the children are _______.
A. history and science B. sports and education
C. stories and travels D. all kinds of subjects
58. Wise parents can make quite a great difference to children in their education by_______.
A. turning themselves into somebody whose walls are lined with books
B. spending some minutes most days a week playing with their children
C. discussing them rather than looking up questions with their children
D. talking about books with their children from time to time
59. This passage mainly talks about_______.
A. the effect of bookish home on children B. the importance of parents
C. the necessity of reading more books D. the interest of children in books
(C)
A weather map is an important tool for geographers. A succession of three or four maps presents a continuous picture of weather changes. Weather forecasters are able to determine the speed of air masses and fronts（冷暖空气团接触的锋）to determine whether an individual pressure area is deepening or becoming shallow and whether a front is increasing or decreasing in intensity. They are also able to determine whether an air mass is retaining its original characteristics or taking on those of the surface over which it is moving. Thus, a most significant function of the map is to reveal a synoptic picture of conditions in the atmosphere at a given time.
All students of geography should be able to interpret a weather map accurately. Weather maps contain an enormous amount of information about weather conditions existing at the time of observation over a large geographical area. They reveal in a few minutes what otherwise would take hours to describe. The United States Weather Bureau issues information about approaching storms, floods, frosts, droughts, and all climatic conditions in general. Twice a month it issues a 30-day “outlook” which is a rough guide to weather conditions likely to occur over broad areas of the United States. These 30-day outlooks are based upon an analysis of the upper air levels which often set the stage for the development of air masses, fronts, and storms.
Considerable effort is being exerted today to achieve more accurate weather predictions. With the use of electronic instruments and earth satellites, enormous gains have taken place recently in identifying and tracking storms over regions which have but few meteorological stations (气象站). Extensive experiments are also in progress for weather modification（改变）studies. But the limitations of modification have prevented meteorological results except in the seeding of super-cooled, upslope mountainous winds which have produced additional orographic (山岳形态的) precipitation on the windward side of mountain ranges. Nevertheless, they have provided a clearer understanding of the fundamentals of weather elements.
72. By reading weather maps, students majoring in geography can .
A. design a project of weather modification
B. interpret the weather condition before the time of observation
C. obtain data on atmospheric conditions over a wide area
D. survey ever-changing fronts in local meteorological stations
73. A thirty-day forecast is determined by examining .
A. daily weather maps B. upper air levels
C. satellite reports D. changing fronts
74. The observation of weather conditions by satellites is advantageous because ______.
A. electronic instruments are used
B. it enables man to alter the weather
C. it makes weather prediction more time-consuming
D. information not obtained readily otherwise can be gained
75. At the present time, experiments are being conducted in .
A. controlling and influencing weather
B. determining density of pressure groups
C. 30-day “outlooks”
D. predicting storms
(B)
Martin Luther King, Jr., is well known for his work in civil rights and for his many famous speeches, among them his moving “I Have a Dream” speech. But few people know much about King’s childhood, Martin Luther as he was called was born in 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, at the home of his maternal grandfather. Martin Luther’s grandfather, the Reverend A.D. Williams, purchased their home on Auburn Avenue in 1909, 28 years before Martin Luther was born. The Reverend A.D. Williams, an eloquent speaker, played an important role in the community because so many people’s lives centered around the church. He allowed his church and his home to be used as a meeting place for a number of organizations dedicated to the education and social advancement of blacks. Martin Luther grew up in this atmosphere, with his home being used as community gathering place, and was no doubt influenced by it.
Martin Luther’s childhood was not especially memorable. His father was a minister and his mother was a musician. He was the second of three children, and he attended all-black schools in a black neighbourhood. The neighbourhood was not poor, however, Auburn Avenue was the main artery through a prosperous neighbourhood that he had come to symbolize achievement for Atlanta’s black people. It was area of banks, insurance companies, builders, jewelers, tailors, doctors, lawyers and other black-owned or black-operated businesses and services. Even in the face of Atlanta’s segregation (种族隔离), district thrived. Dr. King never forgot the community spirit he had known as a child, nor did he forget the racial prejudice（歧视） that was a seemingly insurmountable barrier that kept black Atlantans from mingling with whites.
68. This passage mainly gives an account of ______.
A. the prejudice that existed in Atlanta B. Martin Luther’s grandfather
C. Martin Luther King’s childhood D. the neighbourhood where King grew up
69. According to the author, King was influenced by ______.
A. community spirit B. black lawyer
C. his mother D. his grandfather’s speeches
70. The word “mingling” in paragraph 2 is the closest in meaning to ______.
A. interfering B. consuming C. associating D. meeting
71. This passage tells us that Martin Luther King, Jr. ______.
A. had a difficult childhood
B. was a good musician when he was a boy
C. loved to listen to his grandfather speak
D. grew up in a relatively rich area of Atlanta
Section B
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
(A)
From snow-clogged mountain roads to desert highways, freeways to crowded city streets, Californians face a variety of tough driving conditions. But thanks to savvy driving, they consume proportionately less gasoline the rest of the nation. Here, some tips from the Golden State that will help drivers all over the country to get up to 25% more miles per gallon! By SUSAN NESTOR
FREEWAY FRENZY
● Try to maintain a steady speed — especially on freeways and expressways. Never exceed a steady 55 mph. Varying speed by as little as 5mph can reduce mileage by 1.5 miles per gallon. Avoid constant lane changes to “get ahead.”
● Buy radial tyres. If you do a lot of expressway driving, they can increase mileage by as much as 10%. Your fuel savings will pay for the higher tyre price.
ON CITY STREETS
● Plan your route. City driving consumes about 50% more fuel than highway driving (100% more in crowed traffic). Always choose a route with synchronized traffic signals to get the best run for your money.
● Avoid unnecessary braking. Anticipate（预期）traffic light changes; it takes a lot of extra gas to get the car up to speed again.
COLD
● In winter, keep the car in a garage. It will start up easier, and start-up time is when you use the most gasoline. No garage? Cover the engine compartment with an old blanket or rug to shield it from cold winds; remove before starting up.
● Remove all ice and snow. Driving in snow consumes more gas anyway; no sense hauling around extra weight.
65. All these above are ______ for drivers.
A. notices B. tips C. lessons D. advertisements
66. Highway driving can use about ______ fuel than city driving.
A. 20% more B. 20% less C. 50% more D. 50% less
67. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. In winter, you will have difficulty starting up a car if it is kept in a garage.
B. Drivers should avoid necessary breaking and constant lane changes.
C. A steady 65 mph is the ideal speed to save gasoline.
D. Radial tyres can help increase mileage in expressway driving.
D
A wallet that looks like a piece of newspaper, an atlas, or an express parcel receipt? Or a business card that looks like a notepad? No kidding．
Bai Minghui, a Beijing-based designer, creates his artwork using Tyvek, a synthetic paper material which is difficult to tear, waterproof and, more importantly, totally recyclable．
Born to a worker family in 1983 in Tangshan, Hebei Province, Bai worked as a graphic designer at a financial magazine in Beijing after graduating from Minzu University of China．
In the spring of 2008, Bai visited an exhibition about Tyvek in Beijing's 798 art zone, and then worked with the material, trying to bring his designs to life．The first thing that came into his mind was the paper wallet, a must-try handicraft assignment（手工作业）that most Chinese students do in elementary school．
"A paper wallet is definitely more useful than a paper crane or frog," Bai told Beijing Review, smiling．"At first, many people have no idea what it is, because it looks like a piece of newspaper or an express parcel receipt, and feels like real paper．But it's hard to tear．
"The completed, folded wallet is seamless, which creates so much fun for a designer．To be honest, I didn't think about profits at all," he said．
After months of research and development on printing and designing, the first generation of his paper wallet made a stunning debut（上市） in May 2008．The second generation, which offers a greater range of pattern options, was put on the market at the beginning of 2009．
"You can have graffiti（涂鸦） or write down phone numbers on it, or paint whatever you like．I would like people to be able to use it easily," he said．"I don't want to do things without creative ideas．Now my focus is on how to create better design rather than the wallet itself．"
51．In which order did Bai do the following things?
a．create the paper wallet
b．study in Minzu University
c．work as a graphic designer
d．visit an exhibition about Tyvek in Beijing
A．cbad B．bcda C．cbda D．bcad
52．Which of the following words can best describe the designer?
A．diligent B．creative C．friendly D．honest
53．Tyvek, a synthetic paper material, has the following characters EXCEPT ____．
A．recyclable B．waterproof C．foldable D．profitable
54．What can people do with this kind of wallet?
A．They can use it as a handkerchief．
B．They can make it into a dictionary．
C．They can write their friend’s phone number on it．
D．They can buy a paper frog or paper crane with it．
55．What can be inferred from the passage?
A．Most of the Chinese students have tried to make some kind of paper work．
B．Many Chinese are fond of painting different things on their wallets．
C．Most of the wallets that people use nowadays can be recycled．
D．Most of the designers based in Beijing have tried Tyvek to create their own work of art．
C
If you were to come up with a list of organizations whose failures had done the most damage to the American economy in recent years, you would probably have to start with the Wall Street firms that brought us the financial crisis．From there, you might move on to the automakers in Detroit．
But I would suggest that the list should also include a less obvious nominee: public education．
At its top level, the American system of higher education may be the best in the world．Yet in terms of its core mission---turning teenagers into educated college graduates--- much of the system is failing．
The United States does a good job enrolling （招生） teenagers in college, but only half of the students who enroll end up with a bachelor’s degree．
So identifying the causes of the college dropout crisis in the world’s largest economy matters enormously, and a new book called “Crossing the Finish Line” tries to do precisely that．Its authors are economists William Bowen and Michael McPherson, and a doctoral candidate Matthew Chingos．The first problem they diagnose is something they call under-matching．It refers to students who choose not to attend the best college they can get into．They instead go to a less selective one, perhaps one that is closer to home or less expensive．About half of the low-income students with a grade-point average of at least 3．5 in high school and an SAT score of at least 1,200 do not attend the best college they could have．“I was really astonished by the degree to which well-qualified students from poor families under-matched,” said Mr．Bowen．
In fact, well-off students attend the colleges that do the best job of producing graduates．Meanwhile, lower-income students -–even when they are better qualified—often go to colleges that excel（擅长）in producing drop-outs．“It’s really a waste,” Mr．Bowen said, “and a big problem for the country．” As the authors point out, the only way to lift the college graduation rate significantly is to lift it among poor and working-class students．Instead, it appears to have fallen．
What can be done? Money is clearly part of the answer．
46. Which of the following would people first think of as a factor responsible for the American financial crisis according to this passage?
A．The government． B．Public education
C．The Detroit automakers． D．The Wall Street firms．
47．What is a big problem with American higher education?
A．It is hard to enroll enough students into college．
B．Many colleges are experiencing low rate of graduation．
C．Many college students stay away from classes．
D．It is hard for many colleges to get financial aid from the government．
48．The title of the book Crossing the Finish Line probably means______．
A．running to the end of the line B．going to college
C．finishing college education D．working hard in college
49．Why do some students under--match ?
A．Because they have financial difficulty． B．Because they face ambition crisis．
C．Because they lack confidence． D．Because they can’t get guidance．
50．The passage is mainly about _______．
A．problems with secondary American education and possible solutions
B．America’s financial crisis, its cause and influence
C．low rate of American college graduation, its cause and its influence
D．relationship between American education and its economy