第三部分：阅读理解(共两节，满分50分)
第一节：(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和D中选出最佳选项。
Have you ever dreamed of having a fashionable watch of great value?
A small watchmaker in Switzerland in 1922 designed the first automatic watch to show the day，month，and date．Only seven of these splendid watches were ever made and these watches were almost lost to history．Today，it is so hard to get an original watch that some watch historians are even willing to offer $ 200，000 for one．
These watches attracted a lot of people for their splendid color，fashionable style，and new uses in the 1920s．The owners of the watches were admired and set apart from the crowd．Because the number of the original watches is very limited，owning such a watch will make you feel very special．
Today，you are offered the same kind of watch with improvement．The watch has a 24-jewel mechanical(机械的)movement，the kind desired by watch collectors．The watchmaker has made the movement of the watch much more modern with an automatic rotor(上弦装置)so that the watch never needs to be wound by hand．The watch comes in a very beautiful case with a crocodile design on it．To get a watch in such a perfect design means to get a chance to know a piece of watch making history and to wear such a watch will show your personal taste and social position．
You can get the watch either in person or by mail at an affordable price．You will also receive good service from the watch seller．If you are not satisfied with the watch after you get it，you may simply return it within 30 days．Don’t miss the chance to realize your dream．
41．The original automatic watches are valuable because .
A．the watches were made many years ago
B．the watches were made by a Swiss watchmaker
C．only rich people can afford the watches
D．only a few watches of the kind were made
42．Watch collectors want to get the improved watch，especially for its ．
A．mechanical movement B．splendid color
C．fashionable style D．new uses
43．The purpose of the passage is to encourage the readers to .
A．buy the watch B．return the watch
C．wear the watch D．receive the service
44．The passage is probably taken from a ．
A．novel B．magazine C．text book D．science book
Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium (水族馆)
The all-new Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, located in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, is one of Victoria’s leading visitor attractions and an unforgettable outing for the whole family. Having 12 amazing zones of discovery, Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is the very place that you cannot miss when you visit the city.
* Opening Times
Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is open from 9:30 am until 6:00 pm every day of the year, including public holidays. Last admission is at 5:00 pm, one hour before closing.
* Location.
Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is located on the corner of Flinders Street and King Street, Melbourne. It is located on the Yarra River, opposite Crown Entertainment Complex.
* Getting to Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium
Train
The Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium train stop is located on the free City Circle Tram route (公交线路) and also routes 70 and 75. City Circle trams run every 10 minutes in both directions.
Shuttle Bus
The Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is a free bus service, stopping at key tourist attractions in and around the City. Running daily, every 15 minutes from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Car Parking
While there is no public car parking at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, there are several public car parking lots available only a short walk away.
* Wheelchair Access
Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium provides people in wheelchairs with full access to all 12 zones. Each floor also has wheelchair accessible toilets.
* Terms
Tickets will be emailed to you immediately after buying or you can download and print your ticket once payment has been accepted. Please print out all tickets bought and present at the front entrance of Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium. No ticket, no entry!Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium _________ .
| A．is located at the center of the CBD in the city |
| B．has 12 most attractive places in Melbourne |
| C．admits visitors from 9:30 am until 6:00 pm |
| D．is beside Crown Entertainment Complex |
Getting to Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, visitors can take ________.
| A．trains from southern Cross train station |
| B．shuttle buses around the train station |
| C．boats across the Yarra River |
| D．either tram route 70 or 75 |
Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium offers visitors ________.
| A．free car parking | B．wheelchair access |
| C．Internet connection | D．transportation service |
Tickets to Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium ________ .
| A．are free to all visitors |
| B．can be bought by email |
| C．are checked at the entrance |
| D．can be printed at the ticket office |
Food labels are such a mess that the government is redesigning them, as the ingredient(营养成分) lists are usually too confusing. As a result, a shopper could spend hours in a grocery store watching, calculating, and comparing, and still could not get it right. ShopWell is trying to help by allowing consumers to scan food labels and receive understandable and personalized information.
Here’s how it works. Register for ShopWell, and enter your age and gender. Add your goals (General health? Or are you trying to lose weight?). Then, note what you want in your diet, such as protein or iron, and what you want to avoid(added sugar, say). Add your allergies(过敏的物质) and things you cannot accept, and start scanning.
Then ShopWell will come up with a clearly personal result: green for a food that is good for you; yellow for foods you can enjoy a little; and red for foods you should avoid.
The results are easily understandable and is clean because it’s not mixed with ads. Instead, ShopWell makes money by selling data to supermarkets. Its database contains 350,000 products, the app has been downloaded 1.3 million times, and the company claims a scan every two seconds “in stores such as Walmart, Whole Foods and 7-Eleven,” in the words of marketing manager James Allgood.
One of the first items I scanned was So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer, which I buy because I’m lactose(乳糖) intolerant. It turns out it’s only a little suitable for me — because of its 1 gram per serving of added sugar. I’m not sure I’ll give it up. But I did ask the app to watch for added sugar, and it’s doing its job.
One drawback to ShopWell is that the scanner often doesn’t work for items from Costco or Trader Joe’s. Meanwhile, Some user reviews say that it doesn’t cover enough allergies. Why do consumers hesitate long when deciding which food to purchase in a shop?
| A．Because there are usually an extremely wide variety of food in the shop. |
| B．Because food labels in the shop are in such a mess that they need redesigning. |
| C．Because consumers desire to scan food labels for understandable information. |
| D．Because consumers can hardly make sense of the information on the food labels. |
What does the author intend to tell the readers in Paragraph 2?
| A．The proper use of ShopWell. | B．The function of ShopWell. |
| C．The development of ShopWell. | D．The advantage of ShopWell. |
How can ShopWell make some profits?
| A．By providing its collected data to supermarkets. |
| B．By selling 350,000 products of its own. |
| C．By downloading the app 1.3 million times. |
| D．By following the words of marketing manager James Allgood. |
What does the underlined “drawback” in the last paragraph probably mean?
| A．Scanner | B．Disadvantage |
| C．Benefit | D．Item |
Headington Oxford Summer School welcomes all students throughout the world and provides a fantastic summer school experience. It is close enough to visit London, which is a beautiful city in its own right and also has a number of attractions nearby.
London:
A trip to the UK would not be complete without a visit to the capital city of London. During the ‘London Day’ all students will have a chance to see famous tourist attractions such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square. The students will also enjoy a boat trip on River Thames and a ride to the top of the Shard, an 87-storey building in London for a breathtaking view of the city. There will also be dinner in a London restaurant before heading back to the school.
Thorpe Park:
With over thirty extreme rides and attractions, and one of the world’s most terrifying roller coasters, enjoy an exciting day out at one of the nation’s most popular theme park
Bath:
Spend the day exploring this beautiful historic city with impressive architecture, including a visit to the famous Roman baths. Students also have the opportunity of a fantastic shopping experience in this famous market towns!
Thinktank Science Museum & Birmingham:
Spend the morning in the interactive state of the art science centre followed by an afternoon exploring Birmingham with time for shopping in the Bullring Shopping Centre.
Warwick & Stratford:
Visit one of medieval England’s most beautiful castles full of history, tales and adventure. Afterwards, enjoy exploring the picturesque streets of Stratford Upon Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare.
Brighton:
This beautiful seaside town provides a fun-filled day out for all students. The day includes a visit to the Royal Pavilion and its museum as well as Brighton Pier and beach. There is also time for shopping in the famous Brighton Lanes before heading back to school.Where can you overlook the whole city when touring London?
| A．On top of the Shard | B．On River Thames |
| C．In a London restaurant | D．At the Houses of Parliament |
What can you do in both Bath and Thinktank Science Museum & Birmingham?
| A．Visiting art science centre |
| B．Doing some shopping |
| C．Experiencing roller coasters |
| D．Exploring historic architectures |
Where can you enjoy a lovely beach?
| A．London | B．Bath |
| C．Thorpe Park | D．Brighton |
A recent study on parents who beat their children indicated that physical punishment still occurs far more frequently than previously thought but that physical punishment was ineffective. Given that 73 percent of the children who were hit waited less than 10 minutes before acting out again.
So, what is?
Many parents deal with their children’s mistakes by taking away toys and separating them from their playmates. But for strong-willed kids like I was, none of these methods were effective.
Like many kids, I wasn’t bad; I was bored. Fortunately, my father realized this fairly early on and developed a new form of “discipline” that produced immediate results and long-term positive effects.
Looking back as an adult, my father’s method of making me read the encyclopedia (百科全书)whenever I did something wrong was the best thing he could have done.
He would tell me a topic and say, “Learn about the aardvark and I’m going to quiz you shortly after.” It was punishment in the sense that I was forced to stop whatever I was doing, but it also had a purpose in that it kept my mind occupied and presented the type of mental challenge I clearly lacked.
Although unwillingly, I went to learn absolutely everything there was to know about aardvarks because I was going to figure out every question he could throw at me. If it weren’t for my driving need to prove him wrong, it may not have worked as well as it did.
So that’s just it: It was effective. It helped me change my behavior in that moment and it conditioned me to seek out books when I was bored. Obviously, that happened frequently and apparently and it worked. I grew up to become a successful lawyer and a famous writer as well.
To this day, Dad’s the only one who can beat me.What is the probable main idea of Paragraph 1?
| A．It reports the result of a recent study about the encyclopedia. |
| B．Physical punishment is useless to deal with children. |
| C．Physical punishment only occurred previously. |
| D．73 percent of the children love physical punishment. |
Why do many kids frequently do what they’re not allowed to do according to
the author?
| A．Because they produce immediate results and long-term positive effects. |
| B．Because they prefer to break the “discipline” set by their parents. |
| C．Because they are always regarded as bad kids both at home. |
| D．Because they often find it’s dull in their everyday life. |
What was the author’s father method of punishing him for his mistakes?
| A．His father angrily took away his favourite toys. |
| B．His father separated him from his playmates. |
| C．His father forced him to do some reading and tested him later. |
| D．His father ordered him to learn about the aardvark and quizzed him shortly after. |
What can be inferred from this passage?
| A．Children who are mentally challenged are more likely to be successful. |
| B．Parents ought to develop a new form of discipline to educate their kids. |
| C．It’s absolutely necessary to punish strong-willed kids physically. |
| D．The stricter parents are, the few mistakes children will make. |
I went to a nearby car factory today with my uncle, who works there. One thing I noticed was that most of the work was done by robots. Welding (焊接), painting, testing and many other jobs are performed by robots. The whole dashboard (仪表板) is put into a car by a robot. It would have taken two men to do so in the past, and it would have hurt their backs quite a bit.
It got me thinking: Is it a good thing that robots are replacing factory workers? On the one hand, robots generally do a more accurate job than people. They are not likely to make many mistakes. If something goes wrong with one car, an alarm goes off. They do exactly the same thing every time, but a human worker is unable to do so. On the other hand, robots reduce costs for companies. Companies don’t have to pay robots wages or injury compensation (补偿) if they’re broken. If something in a robot does go wrong, it won’t have to take time off work for a year, or even forever, as could happen to a real person if he breaks his back or burns himself while welding.
The obvious downside is that robots increase unemployment rate, which in turn increases taxes. We don’t want to pay for those who are out of work just because a company has replaced them with robots.We can learn from the first paragraph that _______.
| A．all the workers have been replaced by robots |
| B．robots do most of the work in the car factory |
| C．there are no workers with back strain now |
| D．the author’s uncle designs robots in the factory |
The second paragraph is mainly about ________.
| A．the author’s experience in a car factory |
| B．the advantages of robots over human workers |
| C．the advantages of human workers over robots |
| D．the management of factory workers |
The underlined word “downside” in the last paragraph means _______.
| A．weakness | B．favor |
| C．assistance | D．Advantage |
It can be inferred from the passage that________.
| A．companies refuse to pay for workers. |
| B．robots have completely replaced workers. |
| C．robots can help solve the problem of unemployment. |
| D．people have to pay more taxes for unemployment. |