四、考查阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30 分）
阅读下面的短文，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。
Dear Florence,
We arrived in India last week, and the voyage was the worst experience of my entire life. I’m lucky to be alive!
The first part of the journey was terrible, because the ship hit bad weather almost as soon as we left Liverpool. But much, much worse was to come. Later, we were involved in a collision with another boat and we had to abandon ship!
We had been at sea for about two weeks and we were in the Mediterranean. There is now a canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea called the Suez Canal, which opened last year. Our boat stopped at Port Said, the Egyptian port at the entrance to the canal. I remember looking through the porthole of my cabin and wishing that I could go ashore and visit this fascinating place, but mummy had ordered that I was to stay in the cabin because I was feeling ill. “you must stay here for at least another two days.” I remember her saying. How wrong she would turn out to be! The ship left the port and headed towards the canal . I was alone in the cabin and I watched the port disappear into the distance. Suddenly there was a loud bang, followed by the most awful crunching（嘎吱的）sound, and the ship shook and turned slightly on its side.
There was an eerie silence for a moment, then people started shouting. Mummy came running into the cabin and told me that we had collided with another boat. She took my hand and we ran along the deck towards the lifeboats. There was a lot of shouting and people were running everywhere, but the crew were all acting calmly, helping people into the lifeboats and telling people not to panic.
Well, clearly we survived, as did all the passengers and crew of the ship. The other boat wasn’t so lucky. It sank and several lives were lost.
I will write about the rest of the journey soon. Please give my love to Aunt Claire and Uncle Eric.
Your loving cousin,
Jane
56．When was the letter written?
A．Before the author went to India. B．In the mid – 19th century.
C．When the author arrived in Egypt. D．Just after the author arrived in India.
57．Why was the journey to India such a bad experience for the author?
A．She was sick when it started and nearly died in Egypt.
B．Her ship left England in bad weather and crashed into another ship near the Suez Canal.
C．She was seasick when her ship sank.
D．She was alone when her ship hit another boat and she got sick.
58．The author’s mother didn’t allow her to go ashore and visit the port city, Said because .
A．she was homesick at that time B．she didn’t feel very well then
C．she could meet some danger ashore D．she could see the city through the porthole on board
59．The underlined phrase “eerie silence” in the sixth paragraph means .
A．pleasant calm silence B．long peaceful silence
C．sudden long silence D．strange uncomfortable silence
Some parents will buy any high﹣tech toy if they think it will help their child，but researchers said puzzles help children with math﹣related skills．
Psychologist Susan Levine，an expert on mathematics development in young children at the University of Chicago，found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills．Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition（认知）after controlling for differences in parents' income，education and the amount of parent talk，Levine said．
The researchers analyzed video recordings of 53 child﹣parent pairs during everyday activities at home and found children who play with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age have better spatial skills when assessed at 54 months of age．
"The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not，on tasks that assessed their ability to rotate（旋转）and translate shapes，" Levine said in a statement．
The parents were asked to interact with their children as they normally would， and about half of the children in the study played with puzzles at one time．Higher﹣income parents tended to have children play with puzzles more frequently，and both boys and girls who played with puzzles had better spatial skills．However，boys tended to play with more complex puzzles than girls，and the parents of boys provided more spatial language and were more active during puzzle play than the parents of girls．
The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science．
（1）In which aspect do children benefit from puzzle play？
| A． |
Building confidence． |
| B． |
Developing spatial skills． |
| C． |
Learning self﹣control． |
| D． |
Gaining high﹣tech knowledge． |
（2）What did Levine take into consideration when designing her experiment？
| A． |
Parents' age． |
| B． |
Children's imagination． |
| C． |
Parents' education． |
| D． |
Child﹣parent relationship． |
（3）How do boys differ from girls in puzzle play？
| A． |
They play with puzzles more often． |
| B． |
They tend to talk less during the game． |
| C． |
They prefer to use more spatial language． |
| D． |
They are likely to play with tougher puzzles． |
（4）What is the text mainly about？
| A． |
A mathematical method． |
| B． |
A scientific study． |
| C． |
A woman psychologist． |
| D． |
A teaching program． |
The Lake District Attractions Guide
Dalemain Mansion & Historic Gardens
History， Culture & Landscape（景观）．Discover and enjoy 4 centuries of history，5 acres of celebrated and award﹣winning gardens with parkland walk．Owned by the Hasell family since 1679，home to the International Marmalade Festival．Gifts and antiques， plant sales，museums & Mediaeval Hall Tearoom．
Open：29 Mar﹣29 Oct， Sun to Thurs．
Tearoom，Gardens & Gift Shop：10.30﹣ 17.00（16.00 in Oct）．
House：11.15﹣ 16.00（15.00 in Oct）．
Town：Pooley Bridge & Penrith
Abbot Hall Art Gallery & Museum
Those viewing the quality of Abbot Hall's temporary exhibitions may be forgiven for thinking they are in a city gallery．The impressive permanent collection includes Turners and Romneys and the temporary exhibition programme has Canaletto and the artists from St Ives．
Open：Mon to Sat and Summer Sundays．10.30﹣17.00 Summer．10.30﹣16.00 Winter．
Town：Kendal
Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery
Discover，explore and enjoy award﹣winning Tullie House，where historic collections，contemporary art and family fun are brought together in one impressive museum and art gallery．There are four fantastic galleries to visit from fine art to interactive fun，so there's something for everyone!
Open：High Season1 Apr﹣31 Oct：Mon to Sat 10.00﹣17.00，Sun 11.00﹣ 17.00．
Low Season1 Nov﹣31 Mar：Mon to Sat 10.00﹣16.30，Sun 12.00﹣ 16.30．
Town：Carlisle
Dove Cottage & The Wordsworth Museum
Discover William Wordsworth's inspirational home．Take a tour of his Lakeland cottage，walk through his hillside garden and explore the riches of the collection in the Museum．Visit the shop and relax in the café．Exhibitions，events and family activities throughout the year．
Open：Daily，09.30﹣17.30（last admission 17.00）．
Town：Grasmere
（1）When is the House at Dalemain Mansion & Historic Gardens open on Sundays in July？
| A． |
09.30﹣17.30． |
| B． |
10.30﹣16.00． |
| C． |
11.15﹣16.00． |
| D． |
12.00﹣16.30． |
（2）What can visitors do at Abbot Hall Art Gallery & Museum？
| A． |
Enjoy Romney's works． |
| B． |
Have some interactive fun． |
| C． |
Attend a famous festival． |
| D． |
Learn the history of a family． |
（3）Where should visitors go if they want to explore Wordsworth's life？
| A． |
Penrith． |
| B． |
Kendal． |
| C． |
Carlisle． |
| D． |
Grasmere． |
The connection between people and plants has long been the subject of scientific research．Recent studies have found positive effects．A study conducted in Youngstown，Ohio，for example，discovered that greener areas of the city experienced less crime．In another，employees were shown to be 15% more productive when their workplaces were decorated with houseplants．
The engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology（MIT） have taken it a step further ﹣ changing the actual composition of plants in order to get them to perform diverse，even unusual functions．These include plants that have sensors printed onto their leaves to show when they're short of water and a plant that can detect harmful chemicals in groundwater．"We're thinking about how we can engineer plants to replace functions of the things that we use every day，" explained Michael Strano，a professor of chemical engineering at MIT．
One of his latest projects has been to make plants glow（发光） in experiments using some common vegetables．Strano's team found that they could create a faint light for three﹣and﹣a﹣half hours．The light，about one﹣thousandth of the amount needed to read by，is just a start．The technology，Strano said，could one day be used to light the rooms or even to turn trees into self﹣powered street lamps．
In the future，the team hopes to develop a version of the technology that can be sprayed onto plant leaves in a on﹣off treatment that would last the plant's lifetime．The engineers are also trying to develop an on and off "switch" where the glow would fade when exposed to daylight．
Lighting accounts for about 7% of the total electricity consumed in the US．Since lighting is often far removed from the power source（电源） ﹣ such as the distance from a power plant to street lamps on a remote highway ﹣ a lot of energy is lost during transmission（传输）．Glowing plants could reduce this distance and therefore help save energy．
（1）What is the first paragraph mainly about？
| A． |
A new study of different plants． |
| B． |
A big fall in crime rates． |
| C． |
Employees from various workplaces． |
| D． |
Benefits from green plants． |
（2）What is the function of the sensors printed on plant leaves by MIT engineers？
| A． |
To detect plants' lack of water． |
| B． |
To change compositions of plants． |
| C． |
To make the life of plants longer． |
| D． |
To test chemicals in plants． |
（3）What can we expect of the glowing plants in the future？
| A． |
They will speed up energy production． |
| B． |
They may transmit electricity to the home． |
| C． |
They might help reduce energy consumption． |
| D． |
They could take the place of power plants． |
（4）Which of the following can be the best title for the text？
| A． |
Can we grow more glowing plants？ |
| B． |
How do we live with glowing plants？ |
| C． |
Could glowing plants replace lamps？ |
| D． |
How are glowing plants made pollution﹣free？ |
Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running，research shows，while most likely contributing to fewer injuries．It does，however，have its own problem．
Race walkers are conditioned athletes．The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50﹣kilometer race walk，which is about five miles longer than the marathon．But the sport's rules require that a race walker's knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact（接触）with the ground at all times．It's this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity，however，says Jaclyn Norberg，an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem，Mass．
Like running，race walking is physically demanding，she says．According to most calculations，race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories（卡路里）per hour，which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking，although fewer than running，which would probably burn about 1，000 or more calories per hour．
However，race walking does not pound the body as much as running does，Dr． Norberg says．According to her research，runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step，while race walkers，who do not leave the ground，create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step．
As a result，she says，some of the injuries associated with running，such as runner's knee，are uncommon among race walkers．But the sport's strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips，so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport．In fact，anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique，she says．It takes some practice．
（1）Why are race walkers conditioned athletes？
| A． |
They must run long distances． |
| B． |
They are qualified for the marathon． |
| C． |
They have to follow special rules． |
| D． |
They are good at swinging their legs． |
（2）What advantage does race walking have over running？
| A． |
It's more popular at the Olympics． |
| B． |
It's less challenging physically． |
| C． |
It's more effective in body building． |
| D． |
It's less likely to cause knee injuries． |
（3）What is Dr． Norberg's suggestion for someone trying race walking？
| A． |
Getting experts' opinions． |
| B． |
Having a medical checkup． |
| C． |
Hiring an experienced coach． |
| D． |
Doing regular exercises． |
（4）Which word best describes the author's attitude to race walking？
| A． |
Skeptical． |
| B． |
Objective． |
| C． |
Tolerant． |
| D． |
Conservative． |
Returning to a book you've read many times can feel like drinks with an old friend．There's a welcome familarity ﹣but also sometimes a slight suspicion that time has changed you both，and thus the relationship．But books don't change，people do．And that's what makes the act of rereading so rich and transformative．
The beauty of rereading lies in the idea that our bond with the work is based on our present mental register．It's true，the older I get，the more I feel time has wings．But with reading，it's all about the present．It's about the now and what one contributes to the now，because reading is a give and take between author and reader．Each has to pull their own weight．
There are three books I reread annually．The first，which I take to reading every spring，is Ernest Hemingway'sA Moveable Feast．Published in 1964，it's his classic memoir of 1920s Paris．The language is almost intoxicating（令人陶醉的），an aging writer looking back on an ambitious yet simpler time．Another is Annie Dillard's Holy the Firm，her poetic 1975 ramble（随笔）about everything and nothing．The third book is Julio Cortázar's Save Twilight：Selected Poems，because poetry．And because Cortázar．
While I tend to buy a lot of books，these three were given to me as gifts，which might add to the meaning I attach to them．But I imagine that，while money is indeed wonderful and necessary，rereading an author's work is the highest currencya reader can pay them．The best books are the ones that open further as time passes．But remember，it's you that has to grow and read and reread in order to better understand your friends．
（1）Why does the author like rereading？
| A． |
It evaluates the writer﹣reader relationship． |
| B． |
It's a window to a whole new world． |
| C． |
It's a substitute for drinking with a friend． |
| D． |
It extends the understanding of oneself． |
（2）What do we know about the book A Moveable Feast？
| A． |
It's a brief account of a trip． |
| B． |
It's about Hemingway's life as a young man． |
| C． |
It's a record of a historic event． |
| D． |
It's about Hemingway's friends in Paris． |
（3）What does the underlined word "currency" in paragraph 4 refer to？
| A． |
Debt． |
| B． |
Reward． |
| C． |
Allowance． |
| D． |
Face value． |
（4）What can we infer about the author from the text？
| A． |
He loves poetry． |
| B． |
He's an editor． |
| C． |
He's very ambitious． |
| D． |
He teaches reading． |