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，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Do you know who invented the slide – fastener, or rather, the zipper (拉链)? No one thought of anything like the zipper until Whitcomb Judson came along. Judson’s slide-fastener was an out-of-blue invention. No one knows what gave him the idea．No one even knows much about him, except that he was a mechanical engineer living in Chicago and that he patented other inventions to do with a street railway system and motorcars.
Judson invented the first zipper in 1891. This ingenious little device looks very simple, and the principle behind it is simple, too; yet it took a lot of years, together with another inventor to make the zipper really practical.
The zipper had to be produced cheaply, because no one would pay a lot of money for it．Judson invented a machine to mass-produce his slide-fastener．But the machine was terribly complicated and kept on breaking down. So in 1905 Judson invented a new fastener, the C-curity, which was easier to manufacture. Clothing manufacturers, however, were not the least bit interested in trying out the fasteners, so the only way Judson could get them on to the market was by letting pedlars（小贩）sell them from door to door．Moreover, the C-curity fastener was clumsy and had a bad habit of bursting open at inconvenient times.
Then a young Swedish engineer called Sundback came to work for Judson’s struggling company. He thought hard and decided that the interlocking parts needed to be much smaller to give the fastener greater flexibility and to stop it bursting open．After several attempts, Sundback invented a really practical fastener in 1913. It is in all important ways the same as the one we use today.
Clothing manufacturers still refused to use the fastener. But in 1918 an inventor showed the American army a flying suit he had invented．It happened to use the slide-fastener．The army put the suit through such tough tests that it disintegrated(分裂)---all except the fastener! A Navy officer happened to see the tests, and Judson’s unknown little company got an order for ten thousand fasteners．Later, Judson’s invention was used in the manufacture of rubber galoshes（橡胶套鞋） by a big company. They called the galoshes `Zippers´. This is how the slide-fastener got it s popular name.
56．What does the sentence “Whitcomb Judson’s slide-fastener was an out-of-blue invention” in the first paragraph mean?
A．That it was blue in color. B．That it was totally unexpected.
C．That it was excellent in quality. D．That it was not practical.
57．How many years did it take for a really practical zipper to be invented?
A．22 B．18 C．19 D．13
58．What do we know about Whitcomb Judson according to the passage?
A．It took Judson a lot of years to invent the first zippers.
B．Judson, together with Sundback invented a really practical fastener in 1913.
C．Judson invented a lot of things, not only including zippers but also a street railway system and motorcars.
D．People know little about Whitcomb Judson except a few facts.
59．What is the writer’s purpose of writing the passage?
A．To tell us how the zipper works.
B．To give a brief introduction about the inventors of the zipper.
C．To give us information about the invention of the zipper.
D．To argue who the real inventor of the zipper was.
An important factor that plays a part in susceptibility （易受影响） to colds is age．A study done by the University of Michigan School of Public Health indicated the fact that seems to hold true for the general population．Babies are the group suffering most from colds, averaging more than six colds in their first years．Boys have more colds than girls up to age three．After the age of three, girls are more susceptible than boys, and teenage girls average three colds a year to boy's two．
The general frequency of colds continues to decline into adults．Elderly people who are in good health have as few as one or two colds annually．One exception is found among people in their twenties, especially women, who show a rise in cold infections（感染）, because people to this age group are most likely to have young children．Adults who delay having children until their thirties and forties experience the same sudden increase in cold infections．
The study also found that economics （经济状况） plays an important role．As income increases, the frequency at which colds are reported in the family decreases．Families with the lowest income suffer about a third more colds than families at the upper end．Lower income generally forces people to live in closer quarters than those typically occupied by wealthier people, and crowding increases the opportunities for the cold virus to travel from person to person．Low income may also influence diet．The degree to which poor nutrition affects susceptibility to colds is not yet clearly proved, but an inadequate diet is suspected of lowering resistance generally．
68. What factors cause people to catch colds easily?
A. Age and pregnancy． B. Health and pregnancy．
C. Health and economics． D. Age and economics．
69. Why does the lowest income lead to the rapid spread of colds?
A. Because poor people can't afford to go to see a doctor．
B. Because balanced diet has definitely affected poor people．
C. Because people with the lowest income have limited living space．
D. Because cold virus don't have opportunities to travel in poor families．
70. How does the study prove that age plays a part in susceptibility to colds?
A. Using comparison． B. Using graphs．
C. Using description． D. Using argument．
71. What can you learn from the passage?
A. Families with the lowest income suffer less colds than rich families．
B. The general frequency of colds are likely to increase among the poor．
C. Women in their twenties are most likely to avoid cold infections．
D. The general frequency of colds continue to rise into the adults．
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Being the head of a high school for many years, I grew tired of budget meeting, 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 break fast 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!
60.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 do some voluntary work D. To plan for his future.
61.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 not satisfied with his retired life. D. He was concerned about the people there.
62.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
63.What does the writer think of his retired life now?
A. Disappointing B. Meaningful C. Promising D. Troublesome
CARDIFF, Wales Poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered in Wales to celebrate the tradition(传统) of storytelling.
“It might seem strange that people still want to listen in age of watching television, but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again,” said David Ambrose, director of Beyond the Border, an international storytelling festival(节) in Wales.
“Some of the tales, like those the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old. So our storytellers have come from distant lands to connect us with the distance of time,” he said early this month.
Two Inuit women, both in their mid 60s, are among the few remaining who can do Kntadjait, or throat singing, which has few words and much sound. Their art is governed by the cold of their surroundings, forcing them to say little but listen attentively.
Ambrose started the festival in 1993, after several years of working with those reviving (coming back into use or existence) storytelling in Wales.
“It came out of a group of people who wanted to reconnect with traditions. and as all the Welsh are storytellers, it was in good hands here.” Ambrose said.
56. Ambrose believes that the art of storytelling _______.
A. will be more popular than TV B. will be popular again
C. started in Wales D. are in the hands of some old people
57. From the tales told by the Inuit, people can learn _______.
A. about their life as early as thousands of years ago
B. why they tell the stories in a throat-singing way
C. how cold it has been where the Inuit live
D. how difficult it is to understand the Inuit
58. According to the writer, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Storytelling once stopped in Wales.
B. Storytelling has a long history in Wales.
C. Storytelling is always well received in Wales.
D. Storytelling did not come back until 1993 in Wales.
59. The underlined phrase in good hands means _______.
A. controlled by rich people B. grasped by good storytellers
C. taken good care of D. protected by kind people
When an ant dies, other ants move the dead insect out. Sometimes, the dead ant get moved away very soon—within an hour of dying. This behavior is interesting to scientists, who wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist. Choe found that Argentine ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead—take me away.”
But there’s a twist to Choe’s discovery. Choe says that the living ants—not just the dead ones —have this death chemical. In other words, while an ant crawls around, perhaps in a picnic or home, it’s telling other ants that it’s dead.
What keeps ants from dragging away the living ants? Choe found that Argentine ants have two additional chemicals on their bodies, and these tell nearby ants something like, “Wait—I’m not dead yet.” So Choe’s research turned up two sets of chemical signals in ants: one says, “I’m dead,” and the other set says, “I’m not dead yet.”
Other scientists have tried to figure out how ants know when another ant is dead. If an ant is knocked unconscious, for example, other ants leave it alone until it wakes up. That means ants know that unmoving ants can still be alive.
Choe suspects that when an Argentine ant dies, the chemical that says “Wait- I’m not dead yet” quickly goes away. Once that chemical is gone, only the one that says “I’m dead” is left. “It’s because the dead ant no longer smells like a living ant that it gets carried to the graveyard, not because its body releases new unique chemicals after death,” said Choe. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they drag away the body.
Understanding this behavior may help scientists figure out how to stop Argentine ants from invading new places and causing problems. Choe would like to find a way to use the newly discovered chemicals to spread ant killer to Argentine ant nests.
The ants’ removal behavior is important to the overall health of the nest. “Being able to quickly remove dead individuals and other possible sources of disease is extremely important to all animals living in societies, including us,” says Choe. “Think about all the effort and money that we invest daily in waste management.”
51. The underlined word “twist” in Paragraph 3 means _____.
A. an unexpected change B. a clear mistake
C. an important key D. a shocking conclusion
52. Ants judge whether another one is dead or not depending on ______.
A. the sense of taste B. the sense of smell
C. the sense of touch D. the sense of sight
53. The result of the research can be used to ______.
A. kill troublesome pests
B. solve the problem of endangered species
C. prevent further expansion of the ants’ territory
D. keep the balance of nature
54. Why is it important to remove dead individuals?
A. Because it is easier to manage the living.
B. Because it can save money to deal with the waste.
C. Because it can provide more space for the living.
D. Because it can keep the living from suffering disease.
55. What might be the best title of the text?
A. Dead or living? It is easy to judge
B. Pulling away the dead ants is a difficult task
C. Ant nests have great undertaking capacity
D. Leaving it alone or taking it away? Ants feel puzzled