第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,共40分)
第一节(共15题, 每小题2分,满分30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。
Most people know that a wedding ring is symbolic of the bond of love and commitment between two people.But not everyone knows about the history behind this small yet powerful symbol.The history of the wedding ring goes back not just hundreds but thousands of years.No other currently practiced wedding tradition has been around as long.
The Egyptians were the first recorded civilization to use the wedding ring.In Egyptian hieroglyphics(象形文字) a circle represented eternity.Once a woman accepted the ring she became the “property” of the person who gave it to her and she was in a sense “his.” The first wedding ring could have been made of braided grass or hay (which would have been changed often), ivory, bone, or leather.Eventually, metal was used, but the first wedding bands were crude(未加工的) and rough.However, the sentiment remained the same-eternal commitment and love.
The Egyptians wore the wedding ring on the left hand because it was believed that a vein in the left hand went straight to the heart.This tradition is still commonly practiced today in most parts of the world largely for practical purposes (most people are right handed.) It is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand.But there are some countries and groups which do not follow this tradition.In the Jewish faith, the wedding ring is put on the index finger.Roman Catholics traditionally wore their wedding band on the
right hand, and in many countries and regions in Europe some people still follow this tradition.
It is interesting to note that in the long history of the wedding ring that it is only in the last century that men have begun to wear them.However, now both men and women show their love and commitment by exchanging rings on their wedding day.
Once you begin shopping for rings you may be amazed by the choices that await you.There are several different types of metals: traditional gold, white gold, platinum, and titanium.You can have an inscription put on the inside of the band if you like.Some people are even choosing a tattoo band.The styles vary from a simple, yet elegant band to an elaborate ring covered with jewels.If you do not buy the wedding and engagement rings as a set you will want to be sure the styles are compatible.Choose carefully because this choice will need to stand the test of eternity.
56.What’s the best title for this passage?
A.History of rings B.Interesting facts about rings
C.Different beliefs about rings D.The meaning of the rings.
57.What may the word “eternity” in paragraph 2 probably mean?
A.Elegance B.Marriage C.Wedding D.Foreverness
58.Which is NOT true according to the passage?
A.The meaning of the rings remained unchanged.
B.One should be careful of choosing a ring in a shop from different kinds.
C.Jewish are so faithful to their beliefs to wear rings on the fourth finger.
D.Now most people in the world still follow Roman Catholics traditionally.
59.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Men were looked upon by women for thousands years.
B.Only women have the right to make themselves beautiful.
C.women wore rings thousands of years earlier than men.
D
.You can have an inscription put on the inside the band.
Jane Austen, a famous English writer, was born at Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16,1775, and died on July 18, 1817. She began writing early in life, although the prejudices of her times forced her to have her books published anonymously ( 匿名 ).
But Jane Austen is perhaps the best known and best loved of Bath's many famous local people and visitors. She paid two long visits here during the last five years of the eighteenth century and from 1801 to 1806, Bath was her home. Her deep knowledge of the city is fully seen in two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, which are largely set in Bath. The city is still very much as Jane Austen knew it, keeping in its streets and public buildings the well-ordered world that she described so well in her novels. Now the pleasure of learning Jane Austen's Bath can be enhanced (增强)by visiting the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street. Here, in a Georgian town house in the heart of the city, you can find out more about Bath in Jane Austen's time and the importance of Bath in her life and work.
The Centre has been set up with the help and guidance of members of the Jane Austen Society. After your visit to the Centre, you can look round the attractive shop, which offers a huge collection of Jane Austen related books, cards and many specially designed gifts. Jane Austen quizzes are offered to keep the children busy.
You can also have walking tours of Jane Austen's Bath, which is a great way to find out more about Jane Austen and discover the wonderful Georgian city of Bath. The tour lasts about one and a half hours. The experienced guides will take you to the places where Jane lived, walked and shopped.Jane Austen paid two long visits to Bath________.
| A.in her early twenties | B.in her early teens |
| C.in her late twenties | D.in her late teens |
What can we learn about Bath from the passage?
| A.Bath has greatly changed since Jane Austen's death. |
| B.The city has changed as much as Jane Austen knew it. |
| C.Bath remains almost the same as in Jane Austen's time. |
| D.No changes have taken place in Bath since Jane Austen's time. |
The author writes this passage in order to________.
| A.attract readers to visit the city of Bath |
| B.ask readers to buy Austen's books |
| C.tell readers about Jane Austen's experience |
| D.give a brief introduction to the Jane Austen Society |
It takes you about one and a half hours________.
| A.to get to the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street |
| B.to buy Jane Austen related books, cards and gifts |
| C.to find a guide to take you to the Centre |
| D.to look around the city of Bath on foot |
Every year more people recognize that it is wrong to kill wildlife for “sport.” Progress in this direction is slow because shooting is not a sport for watching, and only those few who take part realize the cruelty and destruction.
The number of gunners, however, grows rapidly. Children too young to develop proper judgments through independent thought are led along way away by their gunning parents. They are subjected to advertisements of gun producers who describe shooting as good for their health and guncarrying as a way of putting redder blood in the veins (血管). They are persuaded by gunner magazines with stories honoring the chase and the kill. In school they view motion pictures which are supposedly meant to teach them how to deal with arms safely but which are actually designed to stimulate (刺激) a desire to own a gun. Wildlife is disappearing because of shooting and because of the loss of wildland habitat (栖息地). Habitat loss will continue with our increasing population, but can we slow the loss of wildlife caused by shooting? There doesn't seem to be any chance if the serious condition of our birds is not improved.
Wildlife belongs to everyone and not to the gunners alone. Although most people do not shoot, they seem to forgive shooting for sport because they know little or nothing about it. The only answer, then, is to bring the truth about sport shooting to the great majority of people.
Now, it is time to realize that animals have the same right to life as we do and that there is nothing fair or right about a person with a gun shooting the harmless and beautiful creatures. The gunners like to describe what they do as character-building, but we know that to wound an animal and watch it go through the agony of dying can make nobody happy. If, as they would have you believe, gun-carrying and killing improve human-character, then perhaps we should encourage war.According to the text, most people do not seem to be against hunting because___________.
| A.they have little knowledge of it | B.it helps to build human character |
| C.it is too costly to stop killing wildlife | D.they want to keep wildlife under control |
The underlined word "agony" in the last paragraph probably means______________.
| A.form | B.Condition | C.pain | D.sadness |
According to the text, the films children watch at school actually__________.
| A.teach them how to deal with guns safely | B.praise hunting as character-building |
| C.describe hunting as an exercise | D.encourage them to have guns of their own |
It can be inferred from the text that the author seems to_____________.
| A.blame the majority of people | B.worry about the existence of wildlife |
| C.be in favour of war | D.be in support of character-building |
Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson River must remember the Catskill Mountains. They are a branch of the great Appalachian family, and can be seen to the west rising up to a noble height and towering over the surrounding country. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their beautiful shapes on the clear evening sky, but sometimes when it is cloudless, gray steam gathers around the top of the mountains which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will shine and light up like a crown of glory (华丽的皇冠).
At the foot of these mountains, a traveler may see light smoke going up from a village.
In that village, and in one of the houses (which, to tell the exact truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived many years ago, a simple, good-natured fellow by the name of Rip Van Winkle.
Rip's great weakness was a natural dislike of all kinds of money-making labor. It could not be from lack of diligence (勤劳), for he could sit all day on a wet rock and fish without saying a word, even though he was not encouraged by a single bite. He would carry a gun on his shoulder for hours, walking through woods and fields to shoot a few birds or squirrels. He would never refuse to help a neighbor, even in the roughest work. The women of the village, too, used to employ him to do such little jobs as their less helpful husbands would not do for them. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to everybody's business but his own.
If left to himself, he would have whistled ( 吹口哨) life away in perfect satisfaction; but his wife was always mad at him for his idleness (懒散). Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was endlessly going, so that he was forced to escape to the outside of the house -- the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband.Which of the following best describes the Catskill Mountains?
| A.They are on the west of the Hudson River. |
| B.They are very high and beautiful in this area. |
| C.They can be seen from the Appalachian family. |
| D.They gather beautiful clouds in blue and purple. |
The hero of the story is probably_____________.
| A.hard-working and likes all kinds of work |
| B.idle and hates all kinds of jobs |
| C.simple, idle but very dutiful |
| D.gentle, helpful but a little idle |
The underlined words "henpecked husband" in the last paragraph probably means a man who
| A.likes hunting | B.is afraid of hens |
| C.loves his wife | D.is afraid of his wife |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A.Catskill Mountains. | B.A Mountain Village. |
| C.Rip Van Winkle. | D.A Dutiful Husband. |
| THE BEST SHOPPING IN SYDNEY Sydney is one of the world's biggest cities and has something for everyone when it comes to shopping. You will find excellent Australian products alongside the best that the world has to offer. At the bottom of Sydney Tower, you can shop in 160 of Sydney's favorite stores including 16 jewellery stores and many gift and fashion shops. It's all at Westfield Centrepoint. Tel: 9231 9300. |
SOVEREIGN HILL This prize-winning living museum is where Australia's history comes alive! Visit daily or stay for the night and experience life of the Gold Rush days. A wonderful nightly sound and light show, " Blood on the Southern Cross" tells the story of the famous Eureka Uprising. Enjoy shopping along with real life character and entertainment. 4-star hotel and breakfast. Tel: 5331 1944 |
| ANCHORAGE RESTAURANT Come and enjoy our delicious Cantonese seafood right on the water's edge in the historic fishing port of Williamstown with views of the city centre across Port Phillip Bay. Open 7 days a week Lunch: Sunday to Friday 11:00 am--2:00 pm Dinner: Monday to Saturday 5:00pm.--10: 30pm. Tel: 9397 6270 or 9397 7799 |
COOK'S COTTAGE Built by James and Grace Cook, parents of Captain James Cook, Cook's Cottage stands proud in the Fitzroy Gardens as a reminder of life in the eighteenth century, and as a celebration and commemoration of the life and travels of Captain James Cook. Open 9:00 am —5:00 pm daily, and until 5,: 30 pm during the summer. Information: 9419 4677. |
Where can you spend the night in a tour?
| A.Cook's Cottage. | B.Westfield Centrepoint. |
| C.Sydney Tower: | D.Sovereign Hill. |
What is the time that Cook's Cottage is open on Saturday in the summer?
| A.11:00 am--2:00 pm. | B.5:00 pm--10:30 pm. |
| C.9:00 am--5:30 pm. | D.9:00 am--5:00 pm. |
The Anchorage Restaurant is_______________________.
| A.in Williamstown | B.in the centre of the city |
| C.in Anchorage | D.in a Cantonese fishing port |
If you want to buy the best products in Australia, you may call_____________.
| A.9397 6270 | B.9231 9300 | C. 5331 1944 | D. 9419 4677 |
Deserts are found where there is little rainfall or where rain for a whole year falls in only a few weeks' time. Ten inches of rain may be enough for many plants to survive (存活)if the rain is
spread throughout the year, If it falls, within one or two months and the rest of the year is dry, those plants may die and a desert may form.
Sand begins as tiny pieces of rock that get smaller and smaller as wind and weather wear them down. Sand dunes (沙丘) are formed as winds move the sand across the desert. Bit by bit, the
dunes grow over the years, always moving with the winds and changing the shape. Most of them are only a few feet tall, but they can grow to be several hundred feet high.
There is, however, much more to a desert than sand. In the deserts of the southwestern United States, cliffs (悬崖) and deep valleys were formed from thick mud that once lay beneath a sea more than millions of years ago. Over the centuries, the water dried up. Wind, sand , rain, heat and cold all wore away at the remaining rocks. The faces of the desert mountains are always changing –-very, very slowly ---as these forces of nature continue to work on the rock.
Most deserts have a surprising variety of life. There are plants, animals and insects that :have adapted to life in the desert. During the heat of the day, a visitor may see very few signs of living things, but as the air begins to cool in the evening, the desert comes to life. As the sun begins to rise again in the sky, the desert once again becomes quiet and lonely.Many plants may survive in deserts when__________________.
| A.the rain is spread out in a year | B.the rain falls only in a few weeks |
| C.there is little rain in a year | D.it is dry all the year round |
Sand dunes are formed when___________________.
| A.sand piles up gradually | B.there is plenty of rain in a year |
| C.the sea has dried up over the years | D.pieces of rock get smaller |
The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that in a desert there is____________.
| A.too much sand | B.more sand than before |
| C.nothing except sand | D.something else besides sand |
It can be learned from the text that in a desert____________.
| A.there is no rainfall throughout the year | B.life exists in rough conditions |
| C.all sand dunes are a few feet high | D.rocks are worn away only by wind and heat |