第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)K_S_5_U
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。
When I was a boy every holiday that I had seemed perfect. My parents took me by train or by car to a hotel by the sea. All day, I seem to remember, I played on the sands with strange exciting children. We make sandcastles with huge yellow walls, and watched the incoming tide destroy them; we splashed each other in the water and shrieked with excitement. When the tide went out, we climbed over the slippery rocks and stared down at the fish and the seaweed in the rock-pools.
In those far-off days the sun seemed to shine constantly and the water was always warm. Sometimes we left the beach and walked in the country, exploring ruined houses and dark woods and climbing trees that overhung streams. There were always sweets in one’s pockets or convenient places where one could buy ice-creams. Each day seemed a life-time.
Although I am now an adult, my idea of a good holiday is much the same as it was. I still like the sun and the warm sand and the sound of waves breaking on the beach. I no longer wish to build sandcastles and I dislike sweets instantly, but I look forward to sitting down to a good meal and a bottle of wine in the evening.
I think, too, that I prefer spending my holiday abroad. I want to smell different smells; I want to see different kinds of trees, flowers and birds; and I also want to see people with different colored skins, wearing different kinds of clothes. Above all, I want to hear a different language spoken and listen to different musical rhythms from those I am used to.
But I still need my companions----not, of course, to play on the sands and eat ices with, but to drink with and talk to on warm moonlit nights.
Sometimes I wonder what my perfect holiday will be when I am old. All I shall want to do then, I expect, will be to lie in bed, reading books about children who make sandcastles with huge yellow walls, who watch the incoming tide, who make themselves sick on too many ices…
56. Where did the author mostly spend his holidays when he was young?
A. In the countryside. B. On the beach. C. In the mountains. D. On the sea.
57. What does the underlined word “shrieked” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. shouted B. swam C. struggled D. surfed
58. What now interests the author as an adult is ____.
A. to enjoy a nice dinner B. to spend his holiday sunbathing
C. to chat with someone D. to experience a foreign culture
59. When the author grows old, he expects that ____.
A. he will read more books about children
B. he will lie in bed without worrying about anything
C. he will bring back wonderful childhood memories from a book
D. he will make sandcastles with his children
(三)
A traveler was passing through a desert on a hot day. He was tired, feeling thirsty and hungry. At least, he needed a shady spot to rest for a while. A big leafy tree came into view at some distance away. He felt glad and said to himself, “Had I water to drink, now.” Yes, he found a glass full of cold water on the ground right in front of him. Then, he wished, “Had I something to eat right here.” Immediately, a variety of dishes appeared before him. He was under the shade of Kalpa-Vriksha — a magical tree. Whoever was under it would have whatever he wished for!
The traveler enjoyed the delicious food. He felt drowsy. He wished for a nice bed. It was granted. He stretched himself comfortably on the soft mattress. He hoped that someone would massage (按摩) his feet. Yes, a young lady appeared. She started massaging his feet and legs.
He now started thinking differently. “How can things happen like this? Is it some kind of a trick played by a magical demon (魔鬼)?” he doubted. Oh, a true demon appeared in place of the nice lady! Within no time the demon started leaping at him, with his mouth wide open. The frightened traveler took to his heels and ran away.
7. What will happen if you sit under the magical tree?
A. You will get what you want.
B. You will marry a young girl.
C. You will meet a demon.
D. You will get rid of all your trouble.
8. The underlined word “drowsy” in the second paragraph means “_______”.
A. hungry
B. sleepy
C. thirsty
D. cold
9. How many wishes did the traveler make?
A. 3
B. 4
C. 5
D. 6
(二)
One event that helps educate young people about things they can do for others is National Youth Service Day (NYSD). Every year on this day, organizations all over the country celebrate young volunteers, educate young people about how they can help their country, and invite them to participate in service projects. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said, “National Youth Service Day honors young volunteers and is an invitation to others to join hands and do our part as Americans.”
Founded in 1988, NYSD originally took place on a Tuesday. Now the event lasts from Friday until Sunday so that more people can participate in it. More than 200 organizations work together to create thousands of projects each year. Millions of young people across the United States take part in these service projects.
Long before the event, people, community groups, schools, and nonprofit organizations think of ways to meet their communities’ needs. Then, they plan projects for young volunteers. Projects include bringing food to hungry people, tutoring younger children and helping senior citizens. During the event, young people from the community do things like planting neighborhood gardens and cleaning up local parks.
The organizations that contribute to NYSD believe that volunteering and community service are important activities for people of all ages, but especially for young people. Young people who volunteer are more likely to do well in school, vote, and contribute to charities. More important, they help other people and make the world a better place for everyone.
4. The aim of National Youth Service Day is to _______.
A. educate young people on responsibility
B. invite young people to meet each other
C. encourage young people to serve others
D. celebrate the growth of young people
5. On National Youth Service Day, young volunteers will _______.
A. do some cleaning in public places
B. prepare food for hungry people
C. plant vegetables and fruit
D. help old people to learn
6. The purpose of writing this passage is to _______.
A. warn young people not to affect their schooling during volunteering
B. keep a record of how young people celebrate their festival
C. introduce an event — National Youth Service Day
D. advise young people to be cooperative when volunteering
(一)
Health experts have long worried about the increasing rate of obesity in kids. It’s an important concern: Being weight or obese during childhood can lead to serious problems normally seen in adults, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Poor diets and a lack of exercise are usually the causes. But would you ever have imagined there might be a connection between the bacteria that lived in your guts (内脏)when you were a baby and the chance that you would become overweight?
Scientists in Finland recently found just such a link. In a recent study, they showed that overweight kids had different species of bacteria living in their guts.
You probably think of bacteria only as germs that can make you sick. While it’s true that some bacteria can make people ill, your body actually depends on some types of bacteria to help you digest food and extract nutrients from it. These “good” bacteria live in your guts, where they process the food you eat.
Human babies get these bacterial helpers from their moms. When a baby is born, some of the bacteria in the mother move into the baby’s body. Growing babies get additional “good” bacteria from the milk their mothers produce. And it turns out the bacteria might play an important role in regulating weight just six years later.
So how could these bacteria affect weight? The researchers still haven’t tested that question, but future tests might lead to an answer.
1. The “link” in Paragraph 2 refers to the relationship between _______.
A. bacteria and the chance of being overweight
B. obesity and diabetes
C. diets and the chance of being overweight
D. bacteria and exercise
2. Which of the following is NOT the function of “good” bacteria?
A. Helping to digest food.
B. Helping to take nutrients from food.
C. Helping to regulate weight.
D. Making a person ill.
3. The purpose of writing this passage is to _______.
A. introduce the role of bacteria in children’s weight
B. analyze the influence of obesity on kids
C. give advice on how to lose weight quickly
D. explain the function of bacteria in foods
(十五)
Buckminster Fuller once said, “The minute you choose to do what you really want to do, it’s a different kind of life.” If you want to live abundantly, decide what you really want and figure out a way to do it. Be clear and live with intent (意向).
You may have heard of Fred Lebow. He complained to his doctor that he lacked energy. His doctor advised him to take up running. He fell in love with it! He was 39 years old when he entered his first race.
Fred joined the New York Road Runners Club and organized New York City’s first marathon race. But what Fred truly wanted to do was to bring people together. He believes that anybody should be able to run — people of all ages and of any country.
Not everyone in New York was excited about people running through their neighborhood. A youth gang warned him that nobody had better run through their turf. “That’s great,” Fred said. “I need someone to protect the runners in your area, and you look like just the fellows to do it.” He
gave them each a hat, shirt and jacket and that year, when the marathon went through their neighborhood, these young men proudly guarded the runners along their way.
Fred decided what was truly important to him and he found a way to do it. He lived with intent. That single decision made his life remarkably different.
As one sports writer said, “Fate handed him a short race. With his goal, with his love of life, Fred turned it into a marathon.”
Fred would say that it’s not about how long you live, but how you run the race of life.
6. The purpose that Fred Lebow organized New York City’s first marathon race was _____.
A. to be popular with people
B. to display his true love for sports development
C. to drive away his loneliness in the running
D. to get more people together
7. Which word in the passage is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “turf”?
A. Neighborhood. B. Way. C. Decision. D. Race.
8. What’s the best title for this passage?
A. Determination guarantees you a success.
B. The race of life with intent.
C. Nothing is impossible in one’s life race.
D. The benefits of taking up running.
(十)
The first breath-taking pictures of the Earth taken from space showed it as a solid ball covered by brown land masses and blue-green oceans. We had never seen the Earth from that distance before. To us, it appeared as though the Earth had always looked that way and always would. Scientists now know, however, that the surface of the Earth is not as permanent as we had thought.
Scientists explain that the surface of our planet is always moving. Continents moves about the Earth like huge ships at sea. They float on pieces of the Earth’s outer skin. New outer skin is created as melted rock pushed up from below the ocean floor. Old outer skin is destroyed as it rolls down into the hot area and melts again.
Only since the 1960s have scientists really began to understand that the planet Earth is a great living machine. Some experts have said this new understanding is one of the most important revolutions in scientific thought. The revolution is based on the work of scientists who study the movement of the continents—a science called plate tectonics.
The modern story of plate tectonics begins with the German scientist Alfred Wegener. Before World War One, Wegener argued that the continents had moved and were still moving. He said the idea first occurred to him when he observed that the coastlines of South America and Africa could fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. He proposed that the two continents might have been one and then split apart.
Wegener was not the first person to wonder about the shape of the continents. About 500 years ago, explorers thought about it when they made the first maps of Americas. The explorers noted the east coast of North America and South America would fit almost exactly into the west coast of Europe and South Africa. What the explorers did not do, but Wegener did, was to investigate the idea that the continents move.
1. What does the writer mainly tell us in the passage?
A. The first breath-taking pictures of the Earth taken from space.
B. Human’s recognition of the earth’s surface.
C. The German scientist Alfred Wegener.
D. The early explorers’ discovery.
2. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. We didn’t see the Earth from far away until we saw the picture taken in the space.
B. Our ancient thought that the surface of the earth is still.
C. Alfred Wegener was not the first person to investigate the idea that the continents move.
D. The coastline of India and Africa fit together.
3. The last word of the third paragraph “tectonics” mean “________”.
A. study of construction
B. study of architecture
C. earth surface
D. structural geology
4. What did the explorers find?
A. The coastlines of South America and Africa could fit together.
B. The coastlines of North America and Africa could fit together.
C. The east coastlines of North America and the west coast of Europe could fit together.
D.The coastlines of North America and India could fit together.