Mr. Briggs got a job with an insurance company(保险公司) after he left school and went around visiting people in their homes to sell them life insurance. One day, after he had been working for the company for about a year, the insurance manager sent for him and said, “Mr. Briggs, I have been looking at your record as a salesman with our company, and there is one thing that surprises me about it. Why have you been selling insurance only to people over 95 years old, and why have you been giving them such generous(宽厚的)conditions? You’ll ruin our company if you go on like that.”
“Oh, no, sir,” answered Mr. Briggs at once, “Before I started work, I looked at the figures(数字) for deaths in this country during the past ten years, and I can tell you that few people die at the age of 95.” Before he worked in an insurance company, what was Mr. Briggs?______.
A.He was a worker. | B.He was an official. |
C.He was a student. | D.He was a businessman. |
The word “ruin” in the second paragraph means .
A.lose | B.break | C.leave | D.destroy |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A.Mr. Briggs had studied the figures for deaths for several years. |
B.Mr. Briggs began to look at the figures after he started work. |
C.A great number of very old people die every year. |
D.The number of the very old people who died every year is small. |
C
The World Trade Organization came into existence in the 1990s. It operates a system of trade rules. It serves as a place for nations to settle disagreements and negotiate agreements to reduce trade barriers. The newest of its 150 members, Vietnam, joined in January.
But the roots of the W.T.O. date back to World War Two and the years that followed. In 1944, the International Monetary(货币的) Conference agreed to create the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But they could not agree on an organization to deal with international trade.
Three years later, in 1947, twenty-three nations approved the General Agreement on Tariffs (关税)and Trade, or GATT. It was meant to be temporary. Trade negotiations under GATT were carried out in a series of talks called rounds. The first round lowered import taxes on one-fifth of world trade. Later rounds produced additional cuts, and negotiators added more issues.
The sixth round began in 1963. It was called the Kennedy Round after the murder of President John F. Kennedy. The results included an agreement against trade dumping. This is when one country sells a product in another country at an unfairly low price.
The eighth round of talks began in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 1986. The Uruguay Round lasted almost twice as long as planned. In all, 123 nations took part in seven-and-a-half years of work. They set time limits for future negotiations. They also agreed to create a permanent system to settle trade disagreements.
In April of 1994, most of those123 nations signed an agreement. It replaced GATT with the World Trade Organization.
The W.T.O. launched a new round on development issues in Doha, Qatar, in November of 2001. These talks were supposed to end by January of 2005. But negotiators could not agree on issues involving agricultural protections. The current round has been suspended since last July.
66. The WTO got this name in the year _____.
A. 1947 B. 1963 C. 1986 D. 1994
67. Which of the following statements about GATT is NOT true?
A. It was set up after World War II.
B. It was first approved by less than 30 countries.
C. It was a branch of the World Bank.
D. It was meant to improve international trade.
68. What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph mean?
A. The founders wanted GATT to bring in money.
B. The founders didn’t expect GATT to last long.
C. GATT was ready to change its name at the very beginning.
D. GATT was open for more member countries.
69. What is one of the results of the Uruguay Round?
A. A permanent system was agreed on.
B. It lasted almost eight years.
C. More countries took part in it.
D. More disagreements than expected were settled.
70. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A. Why the WTO was Called GATT?
B. WTO Talk Rounds Last Longer
C. A Brief Introduction to the WTO
D. GATT or WTO? A Real Question
B
The year was 1985. Ronald Reagan was president. Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the USSR. Back to the Future was boffo at the box office. “Born in the USA” was climbing the charts. Philanthropy(慈善业) and pop culture combined with LiveAid and “We Are the World.” And “.com”, which few people outside of the military or universities knew, came into this world.
Looking back, few could have predicted “.com” would become one of the biggest cultural touchstones of the century. In March 1985, the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California assigned the first .com domain address to symbolics.com. That seemingly nominal(象征性的) event set into motion forces that would change our world forever.
.com wasn’t the birth of the Internet, but it was the budding computer network’s coming-out party. It made it pretty and inviting. It did away with the need to have complex “maps” that were the equivalent of writing a phone number on your hand, and opened it up for a mainstream audience.
After 1985, all it takes is a simple .com name to get into business. “.com” became part of our daily lexicon and drove its own economic boom and depression. It helped create a whole new family of industries, facilitated global commerce and connected people around the world in ways never before possible.
It’s now 2010. Barack Obama is president, thanks in part to his smart use of the Internet. There is no USSR. A computer-generated Avatar has set new box office records. “TiK ToK” tops the charts. We’re sending robots to find water on Mars. And that once-obscure computer communications system is one of our civilization’s most prominent features.
61. This passage was written to mark _____.
A. the change of American presidency
B. the development of entertainment
C. the 25thanniversary of .com
D. the anniversary of the internet
62. What does the underlined word “boffo” probably mean?
A. Successful. B. Changeable. C. Tough. D. Novel.
63. Which of the following can be the main contribution of “.com”?
A. It gave birth to the Internet.
B. It combined politics, entertainment and space science.
C. It made the Internet accessible to ordinary people.
D. It helped produce more domain addresses.
64. We can infer that before 1985, getting on-line was _____.
A. impossible B. complex C. expensive D. popular
65. The first and last paragraphs were intended to _______.
A. make comparison B. provide details
C. list arguments D. stimulate readers’ interest
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和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
A university math tutor has discovered the science behind “singledom”, finding that our chances of finding the perfect partner are just 1 in 285,000. Peter Backus, a tutor at the University of Warwick, published his “Why I Don’t Have a Girlfriend” paper after a three-year love drought.
His unconventional study uses a famous math formula called The Drake Equation(德雷克等式), which was first used to estimate the existence of extra-terrestrial(地球以外) life.
The results don't look promising for British singles. 30-year-old Mr. Backus found that out of the 30 million women in the UK, only 26 would be suitable girlfriends for him.
The dull equation takes into account the number of women aged 24 to 34, living in his home city of London, and who are single, meaning his chances of meeting his dream woman on a night out are slim.
The economics expert said: “There are 26 women in London with whom I might have a wonderful relationship. So, on a given night out in London there is a 0.0000034% chance of meeting one of these special people. That’s a 1 in 285,000 chance, so it’s not great.”
The puzzling Drake equation reads: N =" R*" x Fp x Ne x Fi x Fc x L, and helped pioneering scientist Professor Drake to predict that there could be 10,000 civilizations in our galaxy.
Mr. Backus simply replaced the original equation with his own criteria for a dream date, which included the percentage of women likely to find him attractive, and the number of girls aged 24-34 in London. He said: “The research may sound depressing to people looking for love, but the good news for singles is, it’s probably not your fault!”
56. Mr. Backus’ discovery in this passage is mainly concerned about ______.
A. whether there exists life out of our planet
B. the possibility of his being able to find love
C. how to get rid of singledom
D. what math can do to serve our daily life
57. What does Mr. Backus think of the result of his research?
A. Optimistic. B. Depressing. C. Unrealistic. D. Exciting.
58. What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A. Mr. Backus’ major research field is “singledom”.
B. Mr. Backus found a girlfriend three years ago.
C. Mr. Backus’ new thesis will surely be well received.
D. Mr. Backus has been searching for love for long.
59. By “the good news for singles” in the last sentence, Mr. Backus probably mean _____.
A. you don’t have to blame yourself for remaining single
B. maybe the discovery is not reliable at all
C. the result was based on his own criteria
D. there might be more dream date out of London
60. Which of the following statements is true?
A. This passage could be published in a scientific magazine.
B. The passage intends to prove there are other civilizations.
C. The passage writer doesn’t really understand the Drake equation.
D. Most women in London are not suitable for university teachers.
第Ⅱ卷(共45分)
第四部分书面表达(共二节,满分45分)
第一节阅读表达(共5小题;每小题3分,满分15分)
阅读下面短文,并根据短文后的要求答题(请注意问题后的字数要求)。
[1] People today, in all this new world of technology and thinking, have lost sight of what a true friendship is. So, though I own my best friend Jenny, I thought I would help the world out a little and explain what real, true friends are.
[2] Friends don’t have to be exactly the same. They have similarities but __________________. The key to opening up the world of friendship is not only to expand on similarities but to accept each other’s faults, because you can’t ever judge your friend.
[3] Friends have to argue! No one likes to but it is necessary to be healthy. Because if you agree on everything, either the government has expanded cloning subjects or someone isn’t being true and is trying a little too hard.
[4] You have to be comfortable together. Otherwise, you just aren’t going to click. If you feel uneasy around the person then something isn’t quite right.
[5] Friends love unconditionally. They have their little angry moments but what’s done is done and all is forgiven and forgotten. Why let something that happened in the past ruin the happiness you could have in the future?
[6] Believe in love at first sight because there is the same thing happening in friendship. Some people think that you have to know someone really well to become good friends. Trust me, it’s not true.
[7] These are only a few of the basics. Just remember, friends are forever. But only if you keep it that way. Don’t disrespect your friends, love them instead.
76. What is the best title of the passage? (no more than 6 words)
_____________________________________________________________________________
77. Which sentence in the passage is the closest in meaning to the following one?
Make up with your friends after the quarrels and don’t let the sadness last long.
_____________________________________________________________________________
78. Please fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (no more than 8 words)
_____________________________________________________________________________
79. Please list three of the writer’s viewpoints on friendship. (no more than 10 words)
①______________________ ②_______________________ ③________________________
80. Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 into Chinese.
______________________________________________________________________________
D
Some people may be born happy, while others are genetically negative, scientists have suggested in a study published late February in a British journal.
Earlier research had already established that the gene known as 5-HTTLPR plays a key role in determining how the neurotransmitter (神经传递素) serotonin works within the brain. Serotonin, a hormone (荷尔蒙), passes chemical messages between nerve cells. It has been closely linked to mood. Several anti-depressant (抗抑郁) drugs regulate serotonin levels.
Scientists had also identified three variants (变体) of the gene. Two so-called “short” variants were linked to a higher risk of depression and suicide (自杀) attempts. Unlike the two “short” variants, the “long” variant of 5-HTTLPR showed a clear dislike of negative images, such as fierce animals, and a clear liking for positive ones, such as flowers.
Researchers from the University of Essex in Britain showed participants a series of images, which were divided into three kinds: negative ones aimed at inspiring fear or stress such as a snake or person about to commit suicide, pleasant ones and neutral (中性的) ones.
The participants who had the long variant of the 5-HTTLPR gene “showed a clear dislike of negative material alongside a careful attention for positive material,” the researchers found. They paid close attention to the pretty pictures, and ignored the frightening ones. On the other hand, the short variant groups had the opposite reaction.
In January, the Australian government organized “happiness workshops”, teaching government staff how to be happy. The department that held the “happiness workshops” said unhappy staff weren’t productive staff.
Australian political opposition parties have argued that the “happiness workshops” are probably a waste of money and couldn’t increase productivity as intended. However, whether the workshop will have a happy or disappointing result, we will have to wait and see.
71. Various kinds of images were shown to the participants to .
A. draw their attention
B. cater to their different tastes
C. find out about their reactions
D. teach them to improve their artistic appreciation
72. The “short” variants of 5-HTTLPR differ from the “long” variants of 5-HTTLPR in that_____.
A. the former is connected with positive mood while the latter negative
B. the former is connected with negative mood while the latter positive
C. the former has a greater effect on one’s mood than the latter
D. the latter has a greater effect on one’s mood than the former
73. Which of the following statements is true about “happiness workshops”?
A. Most people believe that they are a waste of money.
B. They will be beneficial in the long run.
C. The purpose of “happiness workshops” is to teach all Australians to be happy.
D. They are organized in the belief that happy staff can work more efficiently.
74. It can be learned from the article that .
A. drugs can be used to control people’s serotonin levels
B. happiness is more important than sadness
C. nothing can affect our mood
D. people with the short variant of 5-HTTLPR prefer a flower to a snake
75. The article is mainly about .
A. the reason for the foundation of “happiness workshops”
B. the link between people’s mood and their gene
C. the study on people’s likes and dislikes
D. the differences in people’s attitude towards life