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，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中选出最佳选项。
The most frightening words in the English language are,“ Our computer is down.” You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said,” I’m sorry, I can’t sell you a ticket .Our computer is down.”
“If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”
“I can’t write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”
I looked down the counter(柜台)and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the blank screen. Then I asked her,” What do you do?”
“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly or not.”
“So when it goes down, you go down with it.”
“That ‘s right, sir.”
“How long will the computer be down?” I wanted to know.
“I have no idea .Sometimes it’s down for 10 minutes , sometimes for two hours. There is no way we can find out without asking the computer , and since it’s down, it won’t answer us.”
After the girl told me they had no spare computer ,I said, “ Let’s forget the computer. What about your planes? They’re still flying aren’t they?”
“I couldn’t tell without asking the computer.”
“Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he’s flying to Washington.” I suggested.
“I wouldn’t know what gate to send you to .Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn’t take you if you didn’t have a ticket.”
“Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said, pointing at the dark screen.” Only ‘IT’ knows . ’IT’ can’t tell me.”
By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines .The words soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down Some people went, some people started to cry and still others kicked(踢) their luggage.
56.The best title for the passage is ______.
A. Asking the computer B. The computer of the airport
C. The most useful words D. When the computer is down
57.What could the girl in the ticket office do for the passengers without asking the computer?
A. She could answer the passengers’ questions B. She could do nothing
C. She could sell tickets D. She could write out tickets
58.The last paragraph suggests that _____.
A. modern computers won’t be down
B. computers can take the place of humans
C. computers may bring trouble to people
D .there will be great changes in computers
It is often necessary to release a fish, that is, set it free after catching, because it is too small, or you just don’t want to take it home to eat. In some cases, releasing fish is a good measure that will help keep fish variety and build their population size. The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) encourages fishermen who practice catch-and-release fishing to use a few simple skills when doing so. The advice provided below will help make sure that the fish you release will survive to bite again another day.
—When catching a fish, play it quickly and keep the fish in the water as much as possible.
Don’t use a net in landing the fish and
release it quickly to prevent it from dying.
—Hold the fish gently. Do not put your fingers in its eyes. Don’t wipe the scales (鱼鳞) off the fish because it might cause it to develop a disease and reduce its chance of survival.
—Remove your hook (鱼钩) quickly. If the hook is too deep or hooked in the stomach, cut the line and leave the hook in. The hook left inside will cause no serious problem to the fish.
—Take good care of the fish by moving it gently in water. Release the fish when it begins to struggle and is able to swim.
—Do not hold fish in a bucket or some other containers and later decide to release it. If you are going to release a fish, do so right away.
With a little care and by following the suggestions given above, you can give the released fish a better chance of survival. People sometimes set a fish free after catching it because they _________.
| A．don’t want it to die | B．hope it will grow quickly |
| C．don’t want to have it as food | D．want to practice their fishing skills |
Which of the following will probably make a fish ill?
| A．Taking the hook off it. | B．Removing its scales. |
| C．Touching its eyes | D．Holding it in your hand. |
A proper way to release a fish is to _________.
| A．move it in water till it can swim |
B． take the hook out of its stomach |
| C．keep it in a bucket for some time |
| D．let it struggle a little in your hand |
What is the purpose of the test?
| A．To show how to enjoy fishing. |
| B．To persuade people to fish less often. |
| C．To encourage people to set fish free. |
| D．To give advice on how to release fish. |
Domestic (驯养的) horses now pull ploughs, race in the Kentucky Derby, and carry police. But early horses weren’t tame (驯服的) enough to perform these kinds of tasks. Scientists think the first interactions humans had with horses were far different from those today.
Thousands of years ago, people killed the wild horses that lived around them for food. Over time, people began to catch the animals and raise them. This was the first step in domestication.
As people began to tame and ride horses, they chose to keep those animals that had more desirable characteristics. For example, people may have chosen to keep horses that had a gentle personality so they could be ridden more easily. People who used horses to pull heavy loads would have chosen to keep stronger animals. Characteristics like strength are partly controlled by the animals’ genes. So as the domesticated horses reproduced, they passed the characteristics on to their young. Each new generation of houses would show more of these chosen characteristics.
Modern day horse breeds come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This variety didn’t exist in the horse population before domestication. The Shetland horse is one of the smallest breeds—typically reaching only one meter tall. With short, strong legs, the animals were bred to pull coal out of mine shafts (矿井) with low ceilings. Huge horses like the Clydesdale came on the scene around 1700. People bred these heavy, tall horses to pull
large vehicles used for carrying heavy loads.
The domestication of horses has had great effects on societies. For example, horse were important tools in the advancement of modern agriculture. Using them to pull ploughs and carry 
heavy loads allowed people to farm more efficiently. Before they were able to ride horses, humans had to cross land on foot. Riding horses allowed people to travel far greater distance in much less time. That encouraged populations living in different areas to interact with one another. The new from of rapid transportation helped cultures spread around the world. Before domestication horses were ______.
| A．caught for sports |
| B．hunted for food |
| C．made to pull ploughs |
| D．used to carry people |
The author uses the Shetland horse as an example to show ______.
| A．it is smaller than the Clydesdale horse |
| B．horse used to have gentle personalities |
| C．some horses have better shaped than others |
| D．horses were of less variety before domestication |
Horses contributed to the spread of culture by ______.
| A．carrying heavy loads |
| B．changing farming methods |
| C．serving as a means of transport |
| D．advancing agriculture in different areas |
The passage is mainly about _______.
| A．why humans domesticated horses |
| B．how humans and horses needed each other |
| C．why horses came in different shapes and sizes |
| D．how human societies and horses influenced each other |
There was a story many years ago of a school teacher--- Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn’t play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.
Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother’s perfume(香水).
Teddy said, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to.” After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. The boy’s mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. He went to college. Mrs. Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, M. D. (医学博士).
The story doesn’t end there. On his wedding day, Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference.”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”What did Mrs. Thompson do on the first day of school?
| A．She made Teddy feel ashamed. |
| B．She asked the children to play with Teddy. |
| C．She changed Teddy’s seat to the front row. |
| D．She told the class something untrue about herself. |
What did Mrs. Thompson find out about Teddy?
| A．He often told lies. |
| B．He was good at math. |
| C．He needed motherly care. |
| D．He enjoyed playing with others. |
In what way did Mrs. Thompson change?
| A．She taught fewer school subjects. |
| B．She became stricter with her students. |
| C．She no longer liked her job as a teacher. |
| D．She cared more about educating students. |
Why did Teddy thank Mrs. Thompson at his wedding?
| A．She had kept in touch with him. |
| B．She had given him encouragement. |
| C．She had sent him Christmas presents. |
| D．She had taught him how to judge people. |
“In real life, the daily struggles between parents and children are around these narrow problems of an extra hour, extra TV show, and so on” said Avi Sadeh, psychology professor at Tel Aviv University. “Too little sleep and more accidents,” he said.Sadeh and his colleagues found an extra hour of sleep can make a big difference. The children who slept longer, although they woke up more frequently during the night, scored higher on tests, Sadeh reported in the March/April issue of journal Child Development. “When the children slept longer, their sleep quality was somewhat weak, but in spite of this their performance for study improved because the extra sleep was more important than the reduction in sleep quality. ”Sadeh said. “Some studies suggested that lack of sleep as a child affects development into adulthood and it’s more likely to develop their attention disorder when they grow older. ”
In earlier studies, Sadeh’s team found that fourth graders slept an average of 8.2 hours and sixth graders slept an average of 7. 7 hours. “Previous research has shown children in elementary school need at least nine hours of sleep a night on a regular basis, said Carl Hunt, director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research in Bethesda, and high-school-age children need somewhat less, he said, adding that the results of lack of sleep could be serious.
“A tired child is an accident waiting to happen,” Hunt said. “And as kids get older, toy get bigger and the risks higher. ” Hunt also said too little sleep could result in learning and memory problems and long-term effects on school performance. “This is an important extension of what we already know, ” Hunt said of Sadeh’s research, adding sleep is as important as nutrition(营养) and exercise to good health. “To put it into reality,” Hunt said, “parents should make sure they know when their children actually are going to sleep and their rooms are helpful to sleep instead of playing. ” What is Child Development?
| A．A new story | B．An organization |
| C．A periodical magazine | D．A TV programme |
How many persons are exactly mentioned in the text?
A OneB TwoC ThreeD FourWhich of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．There are some daily struggles between parents and children because of having nothing in common with extra rest time. |
| B．The children who sleep longer are weak in their study. |
| C．Lack of sleep as a child has great effect on their development into adulthood. |
| D．In general, children in elementary school need at least nine hours of sleep a night. |
Everyone would like to be a millionaire but can you imagine having over $30 million and only being 20 years old? Britney Spears from Kentwood, a small town in Louisiana, is only 20 years old; she is an international pop superstar with not only $30 million but also a $2 million house in LA. At her young age, she can look after her family financially all her life.
This year is a big year for Britney. She is currently on a 31 day tour of the US and every concert is a sell-out. That means she plays in front of a crowd of around 18,000 every time. It’s tiring schedule but brings great rewards. When touring, she goes to bed around l a.m. and then has a lie-in until l p.m. or 2 p.m. the next day. Her philosophy（人生观）is to take care of the body and relax but always make sure you work hard and have fun.
Spears is not satisfied with only touring and selling nearly 40 million records， so she decided to branch out into the movie business and try a bit of acting. She made an appearance in “ Austin Powers 3” this year and she is filming a teenage comedy that will be released in March 2003. In this movie, she has a starring role. The movie was her own concept and she picked the writer.
For Britney, acting is another way to express herself and she is enthusiastic about it all. If her movies are successful, her bank account is sure to grow by another few million dollars but she has been quoted as saying she does it for the love, not the money.We can infer from the text that most millionaires are .
| A．in their 30s | B．around 20 | C．older than 20 | D．in their 40s |
The underlined word “you” in the second paragraph refers to .
| A．a person in general | B．a particular person |
| C．Britney Spears herself only | D．the reader |
Which of the following is not true according to the text ?
| A．Though young, Britney can support her family now. |
| B．While touring, Britney sleeps about 12 hours a day. |
| C．Britney will be even richer with her movies successful. |
| D．The teenage comedy movie was based on Britney’s own story. |
According to Britney Spears, she works .
| A．to be a great actress | B．for the enjoyment |
| C．for money | D．to be more famous |