People in the United States honor their parents with two special days: Mother’s Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, on the third Sunday in June. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two days offer a chance to think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with child-care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother’s Day people wear carnations. A red one stands for a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit their graves. On these days, families get together at home and in restaurants. They often have outdoor BBQs for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.
Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are valued more than the ones bought in stores. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is “the thought that counts”. Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephones companies and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays.
60. Which is NOT a reason for children to show love and respect for parents?
A. Parents bring up children.
B. Parents give love and care to children.
C. Parents pass away before children grow up.
D. Parents educate children to be good persons.
61. What do you know from the passage?
A. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are both in May.
B. Not all the children respect their parents.
C. Fewer women worked outside the home in the past.
D. Fathers are not as important as mothers at home.
62. Which do you think is right about “carnation”?
A. It only has two kinds of color.
B. It is a special kind of clothes people wear on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
C. People can wear c
arnations only on the second Sunday in June.
D. It’s a kind
of flower showing love and best wishes.
63. What do you think “florists” do?
A. They sell flowers.
B. They made bread.
C. They offer enough room for having family parties.
D. They sell special clothes 
for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.
57. In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York. b. Worked in a bank. c. Traveled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison. e. Had a newspaper Job. f. Learned to write stories.
A. e. c. f. b. d. a B. c. e. b. d. f. a C. e. b. d. c. a. f. D. c. b. e. d. a f.
58. People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because -
A. they had surprise endings B. they were easy to understand
C. they showed his love for the poor D. they were about New York City
59 O. Henry went to prison because .
A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper
B. he broke the law by not using his own name
C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners
D. people thought he had taken money that was not his
60. What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?
A. He was well-educated. B. He was not serious about his work.
C. He was devoted to the poor. D. He was very good at learning.
Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But a long time ago, it wasn't easy at all. Before 1750, the idea of skating didn't exist. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin's work was making musical instruments. In his spare time he liked to play the violin. Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams. People called him a dreamer.
One day Merlin received an invitation to attend a fancy dress ball. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party. He had an idea. He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates. Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of arriving at the party on wheels while playing the violin.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone was astonished to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on. Suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. Down fell the mirror, breaking to pieces. Nobody forgot Merlin's grand entrance for a long time!
45 The text is mainly about_________.
A. a strange man B. an unusual party
C. how roller skating began D. how people enjoyed themselves in the 18th century
46. People thought Merlin was a dreamer because he________.
A. often gave others surprises B. was a gifted musician
C. invented the roller skates D. was full of imagination
47 Merlin put wheels under his shoes in order to_______.
A. impress the party guests B. arrive at the party sooner
C. test his invention D. show his skill in walking on wheels
48. What is the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph?
A. The roller skates needed further improvement.
B. The party guests took Merlin for a fool.
C. Merlin succeeded beyond expectation.
D. Merlin got himself into trouble
第三部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）：
For thousands of years, man has enjoyed the taste of apples. Apples, which are about 85 percent water, grow almost everywhere in the world but the hottest and coldest areas (地区). Among the leading countries in apple production are China, France and the United States.
There are various kinds of apples, but a very few make up the majority of those grown for sale. The three most common kinds grown in the United States are Delicious, golden Delicious, and McIntosh.
Apples are different in colour, size, and taste. The colour of the skin may be red, green, or yellow. They have various sizes, with Delicious apples being among the largest. The taste may be sweet or tart (酸的). Generally, sweet apples are eaten fresh while tart apples are used to make applesauce (苹果酱).
Apple trees may grow as tall as twelve metres. They do best in areas that have very cold winters. Although no fruit is yielded during the winter, this cold period is good for the tree.
41. It can be learned from the text that Delicious apples are _______________
A. grown in France. B. sold everywhere. C. very big. D. quite sweet.
42. Cold winter weather is good for _______________
A.the growth of apple trees. B. producing large apples.
C. improving the taste of apples. D. the increase of water in apples.
43. China, France and the United States are considered to _______________
A. be large producers of apples.
B. be large producers of applesauce.
C. have the longest history in apple production.
D. have the coldest winter among apple producing countries.
44. The word yielded in the last sentence means _______________
A. improved. B. increased. C. produced. D. sold.
On October 12, 1989, some British scientists were working at the computers to look for the information they needed. Suddenly they saw a lot of very bright points crossing the computers’ screens. At the same time the computers were working much slower. To find out what was happening they stopped their work to check some parts of the computers. To their horror (恐怖), they found out that most of their stored information was got rid of by computer viruses (病毒) ! Clearly all these computers had been infected (感染) by computer viruses.
It is said that the computer viruses were made by a group of young men fond of playing tricks. They all had excellent education. They created the viruses just to show their intelligence (才能) . These kinds of computer viruses are named Jerusalem Viruses. These viruses can stay in computers for a long time. When the time comes they will attack the computers by lowering the functions , damaging their normal programs or even getting rid of all the information.
We now come to know that Jerusalem Viruses often attack computers on Friday and that they are spreading (传播) to a lot of computers. Among the countries that were attacked by computer viruses last year are Britain, Australia, Switzerland and the U.S. But till now, how to get rid of the terrible viruses remains a problem.
根据文章内容，选择正确答案：
77. When the viruses attack the computers, the computers will work____ .
A. normally B. slowly C. faster D. well
78. The group of young men created the viruses to ____ .
A. damage the computers
B. test their ability
C. tell people that they were intelligent
D. play a trick on users of the computers
79. According to the passage, computer viruses seem to ____.
A. have been in nature for years
B. stay in any computers
C. be difficult to get rid of at present
D. be able to be got rid of in the near future
80. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A. Last year four countries found their computer were infected by viruses.
B. The viruses will come to a new computer after staying in the old one for some time.
C. Scientists are trying to find a way to get rid of the viruses.
D. The Jerusalem Viruses are dangerous to human health.
What do you think of British people and American people? You might think that there are no differences between the people in the two countries. After all they speak the same language, don't they? But if you ask a British or an American person, the differences are quite great.
What do British people think Americans are like? The British think Americans are very strange. They make a lot of noise and they laugh too loudly. They are rich, and they only think about money. But the British do say that Americans are kind, friendly people. They are happy to help you if you are in trouble.
What do Americans think of the British? Well, they think the British are cold and very unfriendly. They are not interested in success or in making lots of money. They think Britain is the best country in the world. They look down upon other countries. But Americans say that the British are quite good workers. They are brave and honest. And in time of trouble they face difficulties happily.
You can see that these ideas can cause misunderstanding between the British and Americans. But when American and British people become friends, they usually find things are not as bad as they expected.
根据文章内容，选择正确答案：
74. What do you think of the differences between British and American people?
A. Their differences are very small.
B. The differences are very great.
C. There are no differences between them.
D. Some people think there are, but some people don’t think so.
75. What do the British think Americans are like?
A. They are strange but friendly.
B. They are poor.
C. They are rich but unfriendly.
D. They are happy in trouble.
76. The American and British people usually get along quite well ____.
A. when misunderstanding is caused between them
B. once they become friends
C. after they fight
D. when they help each other