I think it was my mother who taught me the meaning of honesty. Not because she actually was honest, but because she lied all the time. She felt that the easiest way out of any given situation was generally the best way out. And, for her, that generally meant telling a “little white lie.” As a young child I thought it was kind of cool. And, naturally, when I would come to her with a concern or question wondering what I should do, she generally advised me to lie.
“Mom, I told Theresa that I would go over to her house, but now I would rather go to Sue’s house to play.”
“Tell Theresa you’re sick,” she would advise. And generally I did. But I didn’t seem blessed with her lack of conscience. On many painful occasions Theresa would find out that I really went to Sue’s house without her. These occasions taught me that it is more painful to be caught in a lie than it is to tell the truth in the first place. I wondered how it was possible that my mother had never learned that lesson.
I started thinking of all the lies that I’d heard her tell. I remembered the time she told someone that her favorite restaurant had closed, because she didn’t want to see them there anymore. Or the time she told Dad that she loved the lawn-mower he gave her for her birthday. Or when she claimed that our phone lines had been down when she was trying to explain why she hadn’t been in touch with a friend of hers for weeks. And what bothered me even more were all the times she had involved me into her lies. Like the time she told my guidance counselor that I had to miss school for exploratory surgery, when she really needed me to babysit. And it even started to bother me when someone would call for her and she would ask me to tell them that she wasn’t there.
So, I started my own personal fight against her dishonesty. When I answered the phone and it was someone my mother didn’t want to talk to, I said, “Louise, mom is here, but she doesn’t want to talk to you.” The first time I did it, she punished me, but I refused to apologize. I told her that I had decided that it was wrong to lie. And the next time it happened I did the same thing. Finally, she approached me and said, “I agree that lying is not the best thing to do, but we need to find a way to be honest without being rude.” She admitted that her methods weren’t right, and I admitted that mine were a bit too extreme.
Over the past few years, the two of us have worked together to be honest—and yet kind. Honesty should mean more than not lying. It should mean speaking the truth in kindness. Though I started by trying to teach my mom the importance of honesty, I ended up gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning of the term. The author’s mother __________.
| A．thought white lies were not lies |
| B．helped the author get out of trouble with white lies |
| C．told the author to lie when in trouble |
| D．taught the author the importance of being honest |
The author __________.
| A．was thankful to her mother’s advice |
| B．felt more awkward when being caught lying |
| C．found that telling the truth hurt more than telling a lie |
| D．felt guilty when hurting people with her honesty |
It can be inferred that the author’s mother __________.
| A．met her friends in the same restaurant regularly |
| B．didn’t get along with the author’s teachers |
| C．was not popular among her friends |
| D．wanted to have something else for her birthday |
Finally the author and her mother agreed that __________.
| A．kind-heartedness is more important than honesty |
| B．appropriate methods are the key to telling a good lie |
| C．honesty is defined as kindness as well as truthfulness |
| D．absolute honesty is basic to good interpersonal relationships |
A recent study, published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how risky it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a fatal accident as a teenager driving alone. By contrast, the risk of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.
The authors also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 p.m., and especially after midnight. With passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.
Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic issue”, he says, “is that adults who are responsible for issuing licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled task the driving is.”
Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (减轻) the problem is to have states institute so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a multistage process. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself capable of driving in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with passenger restrictions, before graduating to full driving privileges.
Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies. About half of the states now have some sort of graduated licensing system in place, but only 10 of
those states have restrictions on passengers. California is the strictest, with a novice (初学者) driver prohibited from carrying any passenger under 20 for the first six months.
46. Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?
A. Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p.m.
B. A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car.
C. Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night.
D. A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight.
47. According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due to _________.
A. their lack of driving experience B. their frequent driving at night
C. their improper way of driving D. their driving with passengers
48. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?
A. Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive.
B. Driving is a skill too complicated for teenagers to learn.
C. Restrictions should be imposed on teenagers applying to take driving lessons.
D. The licensing authorities are partly responsible for teenagers' driving accidents.
49. A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that _________.
A. driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule
B. they should be prohibited from taking on passengers
C.the licensing system should be greatly improved
D. they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p.m.
50. The present situation in about half of the states is that the graduated licensing system _______.
A. is under discussion B. has been put into effect
C. is about to be set up D. has been perfected
Ⅲ 阅读 （共两节，满分40分）
第一节阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A person has to be sixteen to drive, seventeen to see certain movies, and eighteen to vote. People can get terrific discounts on all sorts of stuff－provided they’re over sixty-five. Everywhere we look there are age limits that define what people can and can’t do. But creativity has no boundaries, no limitations. Anyone can invent. And they do. Inventors are popping up at the youngest ages.
Sitting in the car waiting for her mom to return from shopping, Becky decided she might as well try to finish her math homework. But it was growing dark and getting hard to see the paper.
“I didn’t have a flashlight, and I didn’t want to open the car door because then the whole car would light up.” recalled Becky. “So I thought it would be neat to have my paper light up somehow, and that’s when the idea came to me.”
It isn’t every day that a ten-year-old invents a product eagerly sought by several businesses, but that’s exactly what Becky Schroeder did when she created a tool that enabled people to write in the dark. Her invention? The Glo-sheet.
That night Becky went home, trying to imagine different ways of making her paper glow in the dark. She remembered all sorts of glow-in-the-dark toys－like balls and Frisbees－and wondered how they were made. She was determined to find a solution. So they very next day, Beck’s dad took her on an outing to the hardware store. They returned with a pail (桶) of phosphorescent paint. She took the paint and stacks of paper into the darkest room in the house－the bathroom. There, she experimented.
“I’d turn on the light, turn it off, turn it on,” said Becky. “My parents remember me running out the room saying ‘It works, it works! I’m writing in the dark!’ ”
She used an acrylic board and coated it with a specific amount of phosphorescent paint. She took a complicated idea and made it work rather simply. When the coated clipboard is exposed to light, it glows. The glowing board then illuminates or lights up the paper that has been placed on top. Two years after her initial inspiration, in 1974, Becky became the youngest female ever to receive a U.S. patent.
She didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet. She didn’t need to. The New York Times wrote an article about an incredible invention－patented by a twelve-year-old, and the inquiries and orders streamed in.
1. From Paragraph 1 , we can draw a conclusion that _________.
A. it is illegal for one to drive under sixteen
B. people enjoy privileges when over sixty-five
C. one is never too old or too young to invent
D. people hate the limitations that define our behavior
2. What caused Becky to invent Glo-sheet?
A. She was trying to do homework when it got dark.
B. She was having trouble with math problems.
C. She was trying to earn some money.
D. She was working on a school project.
3. What is the meaning of the underlined words “phosphorescent paint” in paragraph 5?
A. paint that acts as a glue B. paint that covers a mark
C. paint that becomes hard D. paint that glows in the dark
4. What does it mean that Beck “didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet” according to paragraph 8?
A. She kept the original one for her own use.
B. Other people came to her for the Glo-sheet.
C. Becky’s father tried to sell the Glo-sheet.
D. She gave away patent to the government.
5. With which statement would Becky most likely agree?
A. Experience is needed to be a good inventor.
B. Only by inventing things can you know what people need.
C. Always try to sell patent rights to large companies.
D. You never know what you can do unless you try.
Vienna——In spite of Iraq’s decision to stop oil deliveries, the 11- nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries（OPEC）will not increase production to make up the shortfall, ministers decided Tuesday in Vienna.
The 11 oil ministers decided to meet again on July 3 to discuss the effects of the Iraq temporary stop. The organization’s president, Charkid Kheria of Algeria, said after the meeting that stocks were high and prices were stable, so quota increases were not necessary.
The E.U. Commission has expressed concern about Iraq’s output stop. A speaker said OPEC had to take all possible measures to keep or lower the oil price.
Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Nuaimi had earlier said there would not be any shortfall of oil in the market. The organization had already taken steps to fill the gap, he said. OPEC Secretary General Ali Rodriguez added that the period of Iraq’s output stop was not known, so other exporters were not going to lift quotas yet. If the market was destabilized（使……动摇）, a suitable response could be made.
Iraq on Monday stopped shipments of crude oil to protest against the U.N. Security Council’s decision to extend the oil-for-food programme by only a month, instead of the normal six-month renewal. Just before the Vienna meeting, oil prices had gone up, with a barrel of OPEC crude oil selling for 27.05 dollars, up from 26.81 dollars last Friday. North sea oil was at 29.26 dollars Monday evening.
OPEC wants the oil price to stay within a margin of 22 to 28 dollars and achieved that with cuts in January and March that reduced 2.5 million barrels per day off quotas（配额）.
56. Iraq made the decision to stop oil deliveries because ___________.
A. oil price is too low in international market.
B. The U.N. Secretary Council has decided to shorten the time of extension of the oil-for-food programme
C. Many oil wells were destroyed during the war in the late 1980s
D. It couldn’t get enough money to develop its economy
57. The attitude the E.U. Commission took towards Iraq’s output stop is ________.
A. active B. concerned C. cold D. surprised
58. The underlined words“The organization”here refers to ________.
A. OPEC B. the E.U. Commission C. Vienna D. WTO
59. The main idea of the passage is ________.
A. the oil prices in the world were stable though Iraq has stopped oil deliveries
B. OPEC has controlled the oil price to stay within a margin of 22 to 28 dollars
C. OPEC will not increase oil production to make up the shortfall that caused by Iraq
D. Oil is connected with people’s daily life
60. The 11 oil ministers decided to meet on July 3 so that _________.
A. they can persuade Iraq to continue oil production
B. they can have a talk with the U.N. Security Council
C. they can have a discussion about the effects of Iraq’s temporary output stop
D. they can make up their minds to increase oil production
Most young architects ----particularly those in big cities ----can only dream about working in a building of their own. And marking that dream come true often means finding a building no one else seems to want, which is exactly what happened to David Yocum and his partner, Brain Bell. Their building is a former automobile electrical –parts firm in Atlanta. Form the outside, it looks too old, even something horrible, but open the door and you are in a wide, open courtyard, lined on three sides with rusting(生锈的) walls.
In 2000, Yocum and Bell found this building in the city’s West End. Built in 1947, the structure had been abandoned years earlier and the roof of the main building had fallen down. But the price was right, so Yocum bought it. He spent eight months of his off-hours on demolition(拆除), pulling rubbish out through the roof, because it was too dangerous to go inside the building, The demolition was hard work, but it gave him time to think about what he wanted to do, and “to treasure what was there – the walls, the rust, the light,” Yocum said.” Every season, more paint falls off the walls and more rust develops. It’s like an art installation(装置) in there-a slow-motion show.”
Since the back building had been constructed without windows, an all-glass front was added to the building to give it a view of the courtyard, and skylights were installed in the roof. The back of the building is a working area and a living room for Yocum and his wife. A sort of buffer(缓冲) zone between the front and the back contains a bathroom, a kitchen and a mechanical room, and the walls that separate these zones have openings that allow views through to the front of the studio and the courtyard beyond.
Yocum and Bell, who have just completed an art gallery for the city, feel that the experience from decoration of their building, focusing on the inside rather than the outside, has influenced their work. It has also given these architects a chance to show how they can make more out of less.
1. According to the passage, it is for most young architects in big cities to work in a building of their own.
A. easy B. unnecessary C. unrealistic D. common
2. Yocum bought the old building because __.
A. it was a bargain to him B. it was still in good condition
C. it was located in the city center D. it looked attractive from the outside
3. Working on the old building, Yocum and Bell＿.
A. pulled rubbish out through the roof B. removed the skylights from the bathroom
C. presented a slow–motion show in an art gallery
D. built a kitchen at the back part of the old building
4. It can be inferred from the passage that Yocum and Bell __.
A. benefited a lot from pulling down the roof B. turned more old buildings into art galleries
C. got inspiration from decorating their old building
D. paid more attention to the outside of the gallery
5. The main idea of the passage is that __.
A. people can learn a lot from their failures
B. it is worthwhile to spend money on an old building
C. people should not judge things by their appearance
D. creative people can make the best of what they have
My destination is the River Walk, one of the most popular places in all of Texas. In the first half of 20th century, to control flooding, the city fathers began redirecting the San Antonio River. They built a network of canals that pass through the downtown area. At nearly every street corner, stairs lead down to walkways on both sides of the canals.
The River Walk is linked with cafes, bars, shops --- and, of course, plenty of bridges. You can easily cross over to the other side without having to return to the street. It’s a constant party along the River Walk, with music and festivals throughout the year. The Mud Festival, for example, takes place each January, when the city empties this section of the river to clean it out. That’s when the Mud King and Mud Queen are crowned.
No visit to Texas would be complete without seeing a rodeo --- another aspect of this part of the country that is completely foreign to someone from New England. The announcer walks on stage and gets the crowd excited with talk about the courageous cowboys who’ll be performing. While he’s talking, a band plays sad songs about love gone wrong.
Suddenly the announcer calls for silence. He takes off his tall hat and asks us to join him in prayer. We pray for the cowboys who are, we are told, risking their lives to entertain us, as well as for the bulls and other animals taking part in the shows. We pray for the tourists who are visiting. The rodeo gets going and the fun begins.
Our prayers for the cowboys and animals are answered, and nobody gets hurt. But as we walk over to the cowboy dance hall after the show to enjoy a Texas-size barbecue, it’s clear that not enough prayers were said for the bulls’ less athletic relatives --- the ones not chosen for rodeo work. They’ll be our meal. It seems that moving too slowly has its disadvantages, too.
46.What do you know about the River Walk from the article?
A. People hold parties to celebrate festivals here every day.
B. It refers to the sidewalks on either side of this section of the San Antonio River.
C. There are many bridges that connect the River Walk and the Main Street.
D. Stairs link the River Walk to cafes, bars and shops in the street.
47. Which of the following statements about Mud festival is NOT true?
A. Mud Festival dates back to the first half of 20th century.
B. Mud Festival is held in January every year.
C. Mud King and Mud Queen are chosen in the festival
D. Mud Festival is celebrated to clear the mud of the San Antonio River.
48. What does the underlined word “rodeo” refer to?
A. One aspect of the American country life. B. The concert given by a band.
C. The cowboys’ performance. D. The grand Texas-size barbecue.
49. Why do some bulls become the visitors’ meal?
A. Because they do not run as fast as those taking part in the shows.
B. Because the visitors do not pray enough for them before the shows.
C. Because they lose the competition to their relatives in the shows.
D. Because they are only beef cattle intended as people’s food.
50. Which of the following words can NOT be used to describe the writer’s mood?
A. light-hearted B. excited C. anxious D. humorous