第二部分：阅读理解(第一节20小题，第二节5小题;每小题2分，满分50分)
第一节：阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的四个选项 (A、B、C和D) 中, 选出最佳选项。
Being the head of a high school for many years, I grew tired of budget meetings, funding cuts, and many other administrative chores (杂务). I started to dream of retirement. Sitting in traffic on a weekday morning, I would find my mind wandering. I would imagine spending time with my grandchildren, quiet evenings with my wife, traveling, or rediscovering some great books. I told myself that I wouldn’t sign myself up for any committees, any classes, or anything requiring a schedule.
My first day of retirement came at last! I cooked a great breakfast for my wife and me, leisurely read the paper, cleaned a bit of the house, and wrote a few letters to friends. On the second day, I cooked breakfast, read the paper … On the third day, … This is retirement? I tried to tell myself that it was just the transition (过渡), that those golden moments were right round the corner, and that I would enjoy them soon enough. But something was missing.
A former colleague asked a favor. A group of students was going to Jamaica to work with children in the poorest neighborhoods. Would I interrupt my newfound “happiness” and return to the students, just this once? One trip. That’s all. My bags were packed and by the door.
The trip was very inspiring. I was moved not only by the poverty I saw but also by the sense of responsibility of the young people on the trip. When I returned home, I offered to work one day a week with a local youth organization. The experience was so positive that I was soon volunteering nearly full-time, working with students across North America to assist them in their voluntary work.
Now, it seems, the tables have turned。Some days I am the teacher, other days I am the student. These young people have reawakened my commitment (责任感) to social justice issues by challenging me to learn more about the situation in the world today, where people are still poor and suffer because of greed, corruption and war. Most important, they have given me the opportunity to continue to participate in helping to find solutions. In return, I help them do their charitable projects overseas. I’ve gone from running one school to helping oversee the construction of schools in twenty-one countries!
41. What did the writer expect to do after he retired?
A. To stay away from busy schedules.
B. To write some great books.
C. To teach his grandchildren.
D. To plan for his future.
42. Why did the writer decide to go to Jamaica?
A. He missed his students in that country.
B. He couldn’t refuse his colleague’s favor.
C. He was concerned about the people there.
D. He was not satisfied with his retired life.
43. The underlined part “the tables have turned” (Paragraph 5) means that the writer _________.
A. improved the situation in his school
B. felt happy to work with students again
C. became a learner rather than a teacher
D. changed his attitude toward his retired life
44. What does the writer think of his retired life now?
A. Disappointing. B. Troublesome. C. Relaxing. D. Meaningful.
On the morning of November 18, 1755, an earthquake shock Boston． John Winthrop, a professor at Harvard College, felt the quake and awoke. “I rose”, Winthrop wrote, “and lighted a candle, looked at my watch, and found it to be 15minutes after four.” John Winthrop hurried downstairs to the grandfather clock．It had stopped three minutes before, at 4:12．Except for stopping the clock, the quake had only thrown a key from the mantel（壁炉台）to the floor．
The clock had stopped because Winthrop had put some long glass tubes he was using for an experiment into the case for safekeeping． The quake had knocked the tubes over and blocked the pendulum（钟摆）．Winthrop, therefore, had the key on the floor． The quake had thrown it forward in the direction of the quake’s motion by a shock coming from the northwest, perhaps in Canada．What does “it” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．the floor | B．the key | C．the clock | D．the case |
The text suggests that．
| A．earthquakes are common in Boston |
| B．John Winthrop was a scientist |
| C．John Winthrop often had difficulty in sleeping |
| D．Harvard College was a center for earthquake researching |
Which of the following is true? .
| A．Some tubes were broken into pieces and stopped the old clock |
| B．The professor lit a candle because of power failure |
| C．Boston is in the southeast of Canada |
| D．The shocks were slight in one way |
John Winthrop put some tubes into this clock case because ．
| A．he wanted to do an experiment |
| B．he thought an earthquake was probably to happen soon |
| C．he thought it safe for them to be put there |
| D．he wanted to record the exam time of the earthquake． |
Oh, boy! Time for a game now． oldest brother is the seeker so k have to hide extra good because he’s smart and will find me quickly．But where? Behind the garage won’t work. The barn is too easy. Wait, I know. The door leading under the porch is perfect. No one would look for me under there.
It smells unpleasant under this porch． Wish I had picked another place to hide． Smelly cats! Too late now, I can hear brother seeking everyone out. I’ll just sit here quiet as a mouse. Hah hah hah! I can hear you out by the barn! You’ll never find me over t
here!
It’s been a while and he hasn’t found me yet. What’s that I hear? Now all my brothers are looking for me. They’ve all been caught, but not me. They’ll never trick me into coming out to catch me. Wait, is that Dad I hear calling my name? Oh no, now I hear someone going to call Grandpa to help look for me. I’m not coming out now because I’m in really big trouble.
What to do? If I come out and say I heard them calling me, I’ll be in big trouble. Think, think! How do I get out of trouble? I know what to do! I’ll tell them I fell asleep while waiting. Is that Grandpa’s voice? Heh heh heh! Now’s my chance. I’ll crawl out slowly and rub my eyes. Now that I see Grandpa go towards me quickly, I say. “I feel asleep.”
“Oh! You had us all worried!” says Grandpa. “You little devil, I’m just glad you’re all right, but next time try not to fall asleep and scare us like that, okay?” says Dad. Whew! I pulled it off (成功). Now to keep my mo
uth shut. And I did, for over 42 years. Once in a while, a kid pulls the wool over people’s eyes. So that’s one of my little secrets I’ve never revealed before. Don’t tell anyone now!The place where the boy was hiding smelt terrible because it .
| A．was too wet there | B．was used as a barn |
| C．was dirtied by animals | D．was just under the garage |
Which of the following correctly shows the boy’s emotional changes when he was under the porch?
| A．Happy – excited – nervous. | B．Regretted – happy – anxious. |
| C．Excited – nervous – disappointed. | D．Happy – nervous – regretted. |
By saying “a kid pulls the wool over people’s eyes”, what does the writer mean?
| A．Children can win others’ trust more easily than adults. |
| B．Children can tell a lie that others believe to be true. |
| C．Children can be easily fooled by adults. |
| D．Children are good at telling lies. |
The story is most probably written by .
| A．a teenager | B．a naughty boy child |
| C．a young adult | D．a middle – aged man |
Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask．But, as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history, I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history．Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history．
The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past．I am convinced that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the things that made these successes and failures．However, as the unfortunately true statement goes "the one thing we seem to learn from history is that we don't seem to learn from history". Perhaps at least in teaching history, to my children I can do a small part in changing this．
A second major reason for studying history is th
at it is hard to understand the current political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context．We can’t even understand why we are and where we are without history, much less （更不必说） try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be．
I teach my children history, for one more reason．I purchased a set of historical audio （录音机） tapes for our children．My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over．It was my hope that he would become inspired by the accomplishments of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himsel
f．I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr．if, in doing so, young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he accomplished．I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler, people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for．What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 ?
| A．Many people aren't clever enough to learn well from the past． |
| B．Many people fail to make good use of history and make the same mistakes． |
| C．Many people feel it hard to understand history． |
| D．Many people have no interest in studying history． |
In Paragraph 3, the author shows that history is useful because _______________．
| A．It makes the current political situation go smoothly |
| B．It helps us realize the importance of historical events |
| C．It helps us understand why things are the way they are |
| D．It helps people accept the present situation where they live |
Some historical figures are mentioned in the last paragraph to show ______________．
| A．People can be inspired to do good, while also learning to fight against evil |
| B．People may also learn from bad historical figures |
| C．More celebrations should be held to honor their achievements |
| D．Today’s people can also achieve what they achieved |
What would be talked about in the following paragraph?
| A．How to teach history effectively． |
| B．Some negative reasons for studying history． |
C．Ho w to get more people to study history． |
| D．Some bad historical figures． |
The main purpose of this passage is to ____________．
| A．inspire the parents to teach their children history |
| B．show the importance of history in politics |
| C．explain the reasons why children study history |
| D．introduce the writer' s own way of teaching history |
THIS was the year the Earth struck back.
Earthquakes, heat waves, 
floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, snow storms, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter of a million people in 2010 – the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.
"It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who heads the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.
And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say.
Even though many catastrophes have the ring of random chance, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and weird（古怪的） year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.
Poor construction and development practices conspire to make earthquakes more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable（脆弱的） buildings in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes, the river breaches, or the tropical cyclone hits, more people die.
Disasters from the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanoes "are pretty much constant," said Andreas Schraft, vice president of catastrophic perils for the Geneva-based insurance giant Swiss Re. "All the change that's made is man-made."
The January earthquake that killed well more than 220,000 people in Haiti is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people - many of them living in poverty - and more poorly built shanties than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010, total deaths would have probably been in the 80,000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University.
In February, an earthquake that was more than 500 times stronger than the one that struck Haiti hit an area of Chile that was less populated, better constructed, and not as poor. Chile's bigger quake caused fewer than 1,000 deaths.
Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.
In the summer, one weather system caused oppressive heat in Russia, while farther south it caused flooding in Pakistan that inundated 161,200 square kilometers, about the size of Wisconsin. That single heat-and-storm system killed almost 17,000 people, more people than all the worldwide airplane crashes in the past 15 years.
Scientists have calculated that the killer Russian heat wave—setting a national record of 43.9℃—would happen once every 100,000 years without global warming.What is responsible for the most human deaths in 2010?
| A．Natrual disasters. | B．Terrorist attacks. |
| C．Poor buildings. | D．Too rapid developrnent. |
According to Andreas Schraft, .
| A．earthquakes are happening more often because of human beings |
| B．earthquakes are causing more damage because of human beings |
| C．stronger houses should be built to limit storm damage |
| D．Port—au—Prince is now overpopulated |
The main point of the article is to.
| A．list the natural disasters that occurred in 2010 |
| B．give the details of some natural disasters of 2010 |
| C．warn that more natural disasters are to strike |
| D．blame humanity for not helping those affected by the disasters |
Apparently，we are safe neither at home nor in the business office．We use water in both places，but the research shows that chemicals added to our local water supply to kill harmful bacteria can have unwanted side effects．These chemicals can cause potential harm through drinking and in seemingly harmless activities as cleaning one’s house．They are released from water by daily actions like water running out of tap，spraying from garden pipes，or splashing in dishwashers and washing machines．As the water is moving．these chemicals are released into the air and then breathed in. Once inside our bodies, they start to affect our health.
Does this mean we should stop bathing? No, say the scientists, but we should put all pollution into perspective. Activities at home such as the burning of coal, cooking oil, or even candles release carbon monoxide and particulates such as cigarette ashes which have been proven as harmful to health as working or living near heavy traffic. New tugs, bedding, and even clothing give off that“new smell, ”which is a sure sign of chemicals. In the office, newly applied paint, newly purchased telephones and other telecommunications equipment, and computers release polluting chemicals, too. As offices and homes often have inadequate ventilation (通风), these chemicals can build up to become health problems. Their poisonous effects are only now being slowly recognized.
These facts suggest that, at a minimum, proper airing of newly purchased goods with an obvious chemical smell is a wise warning. Home and office windows should be opened during good weather. Even one’s car needs to be ventilated as well while 
in the garage.
We need further research to understand better other potential health dangers, too. For example, the effects of overcrowding of schools (carbon dioxide build-up ), the factory work environment ( an endless list of potentially dangerous substances ), and even home heating and cooling (the air conditioner may be our enemies, not our friends) have only recently started to come to light. Until we understand the effects of our new technological environment better, we can only hope that“there is no place like home.”What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
| A．The air we breathe in is harmful. |
| B．The water in everyday use is unsafe. |
| C．Chemicals are added to the drinking water. |
| D．Chemicals are released in the running water. |
In Paragraph 2, the underlined sentence means that.
| A．bathing should be done with caution |
| B．homes and offices should be aired often |
| C．any pollution should be taken into consideration |
| D．we should prevent any pollution from doing harm to us |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To call on us to guard our water. |
| B．To show us that no place is like home. |
| C．To make us aware of the pollution around us. |
| D．To argue that neither homes nor offices are safe. |