The small coastal town of Broome, in northwest Australia, is a remote village in the vast countryside.
There are no traffic jams and hardly any roads. There is only the massive Australian wild land, where some houses are 500 miles apart and some driveways are 50 miles long.
There seem to be only two main sources of entertainment out here: the sunset at the beach and Sun Pictures.
Sun Pictures is a very different movie theater:The seats are park benches and deck chairs, but you’re also welcome to sit on the grass.
It is the world’s oldest outdoor movie garden. Sun Pictures was built in 1916 on the other side of the globe from Hollywood. All the big films were shipped here and the lonely country was amazed.
Broome resident Pearl Hamaguchi has never traveled far from home. But in the Sun Pictures chairs, under the deep blue night sky, she has been almost everywhere.
“And we came back excited about Gregory Peck,” she recalled.
This is one of the few places left in the world where you can see two sets of stars at the same time-----one set in the sky, the other in the film.
Each night, dozens of people from around the world line up at the old wooden stand, with no computer in sight, and buy their tickets to the latest films.
Sun Pictures is also a museum, exhibiting projectors(放映机) that date back to the silent films, a portrait gallery of the famous people who never knew about this place---- even though they came here all the time.
Every once in a while, I’m told, you might find a non-ticket holder in your seat. That’s why it’s always a good idea to shake out your chair to make sure there are no spiders or scorpions.
“We’ve only had a couple of scorpion incidents but no one’s been stung yet,” said Aaron Mestemaker, a tourist visiting from Michigan.
Sun Pictures is a holy hall of movie history and a reminder that air conditioning and carpet are no match for grass and fresh air---even when the lizards steal the scene.The first two paragraphs want to show that__________.
A.living in Broome is inconvenient | B.the life in Broome is boring |
C.few people like to live in Broome | D.Broome is simple but vast |
Sun Pictures is different from other theaters because _________.
A.it is the most historical outdoor theater in the world |
B.the audience can either sit on chairs or on the grass |
C.it was built by some constructor from Hollywood |
D.all the films were imported here from Hollywood |
Gregory Peck is most probably the name of_________.
A.a place | B.a film | C.a movie star | D.a country fellow |
It can be inferred that the tourists in Broome are most attracted by ________.
A.its peacefulness | B.its beautiful sunset |
C.the Sun Pictures | D.the gallery of mo![]() |
It s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree.It has been there for the past 10 years or so.It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas—the commercial aspects of Christmas-overspending.Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to avoid the usual presents.The idea came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a match against a team sponsored by a church.These youngsters, dressed in ragged clothes, presenting a sharp contrast to our boys in their beautiful dresses and shoes.As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears.It was a luxury that the poor team obviously could not afford.Well, we ended up defeating them.Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said."They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." That's when the idea for his present came.That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought wrestling headgear and shoes for the youngsters and sent them anonymously (匿名地) to the church.On Christmas Eve? I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me.His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in the following years.
For each Christmas, I followed the tradition.The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas.It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed expectation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to show its contents.As the children grew, they joined.
May we all remember the reason for Christmas, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always.God bless梡ass this along to your friends and loved ones.The author avoids usual Christmas presents because her husband _____.
A.likes cheap Christmas presents |
B.likes expensive Christmas presents |
C.dislikes spending much on large Christmas presents |
D.dislikes spending much on unmeaningful Christmas gifts |
The underlined word "luxury" in Paragraph 2 means "_____".
A.something of poor quality | B.something abundant |
C.something strange | D.something expensive |
From the passage we can infer that in character the husband is _____.
A.modest and mature | B.kind and practical |
C.strong-willed and vain | D.optimistic and outgoing |
What is the most exciting thing for the family at Christmas?
A.Preparing gifts. | B.Exchanging gifts. |
C.Opening the envelope. | D.Writing Christmas cards. |
Family quarrels and lack of free time can promote headaches in children. This is what Jennifer Gassmann and her partners have concluded in a study that appears in the current issue of the Deutsches Arzteblatt International. This study was a component of a large-scale study entitled “Children, Adolescents, and Headaches”, in which data were collected in four annual “waves” from 2003 to 2006.
Up to 30% of children around the world complain of headaches at least once a week. Out of a variety of possible factors tested in a larger study, the authors chose to look at the ones related to the children’s family and leisure time.
According to the study, boys who experience more than one family quarrel per week have a 1.8 times higher risk of developing headaches. The amount of free time available to them seems to be even more important: boys who seldom have time to themselves have a 2.1 times higher risk of developing headaches.
The behavior of parents when children complain of headaches also seems to play a major role. Both positive and negative responses from parents teach children that they can gain advantages from headaches. These responses have a particularly strong effect on the frequency of symptoms in girls, with supportive responses raising the risk of recurrent(周期性的) headaches by 25%.
The genders also differed with respect to headache frequency. Twice as many girls as boys had their symptoms at least once a week. The ages of the children, however, seemed to have no more than a minor effect on their headaches.
The study may become a reminder for parents, especially for those unpeaceful families.
68. What is the passage mainly about?
A. How family quarrels and lack of free time can promote headaches in children.
B. A new study on the frequency of headaches in children.
C. Factors which lead to children’s having headaches.
D. Advice for parents wanting to keep their children from having headaches.
69. We learn from the study that ______________.
A. most children have headaches at least once a week
B. the way a family behaves is the chief factor for the headaches of children
C. parents are to blame for the increase in headaches in children
D. girls are more likely to get headache symptoms than boys
70. Parents should learn from the passage that ______________.
A. they should spend more time with their children
B. they should avoid quarreling
C. they shouldn’t care when their children have headaches
D. they should treat boys and girls differently
Could you stand the noise of a street-sweeper truck going up and down the street outside of your house three times a week at 4 a.m.? The noise —described by Blomberg as “loud as a NASCAR(全国赛车联合会) race car but at a speed of 5 miles per hour” — annoyed him so much that he tried to persuade the city to reschedule street sweeping to begin at 6 a.m. He also founded the nonprofit Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, an organization that provides research and information to others whose request for quiet might otherwise fall on deaf ears.
Hearing loss, in fact, is the most obvious medical consequence of noise pollution, but it is hardly the only one, explains environmental psychologist Arline Bronaft. In her research, Bronzaft found that constant noise exposure could reduce children’s learning ability and cognitive(认知的) development. Beyond all that, regularly, “you’ve got to take a break from sound,” says Bronzaft.
The bad news, says Blomberg, is that “the last century was the noisiest in history.” The good news, he continues, is that the greener we get, the quieter we’ll also get. Electric cars and lawn equipment, for instance, make less noise, just as more fuel-efficient vehicles do. Improved technology can also provide measures to make the problem less serious. Fire engines and police cars could replace those loud sirens(警报器) with other models; and you can turn down the volume inside your home by replacing noisy household appliances with quieter, energy-saving models.
“ I don’t think you can name a noise source that I can’t find a way to make quieter,” says Blomberg. But the real challenge is to change people’s attitudes. “ In the 1960s, we made it unacceptable to throw litter out of the window of your car,” he says. Today it’s time to recognize that “noise is to the soundscape as litter is to the landscape.” The goal is to “create a culture where you do not throw your aural (听觉的) litter out of the window.
64. What do we know about the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse?
A. It was founded by the city leaders.
B. It was supported by NASCSR.
C. It can rearrange the time of street sweeping.
D. It aims to help those who want more peace and quiet.
65. Which of the following makes the most noise?
A. Electric cars. B. Loud sirens. C. Lawn equipment.D. Police cars.
66. As Blomberg says, _____________.
A. it’s impossible to make a noise-maker quieter
B. it’s difficult to quiet people down
C. in the 1960s, throwing “sound” out of the window was forbidden
D. street sweeping should be stopped forever
67. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. Reducing Noise Pollution B. Children’s Mental Development
C. Vehicles that Make Less Noise D. Forbidding Throwing Litter
What’s that smell? Do you hear that noise? Taste this! Look at me! Feel this, isn’t it soft? When you hear, or even use these phrases, you probably don’t stop to think about why we use them. Well, it’s because of our senses. Without us even knowing, our sense organs (nose, eyes, ears, tongue, and skin) are taking in information and sending it to the brain for processing. If we didn’t have them, we would not be able to smell, see, hear, taste, or touch anything!
Senses are the physical means by which all living things see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Each sense collects information about the world and detects changes within the body. Both people and animals get all of their knowledge from their senses, and that is why senses are so important.
All senses depend on the working nerve system. Our sense organs start to work when something stimulates(刺激) special nerve cells, called receptors, in a sense organ. Once stimulated, the receptors send nerve impulses along sensory nerves to the brain. Your brain then tells you what to do. For example, your sound receptors are often attacked by billions of sound waves. When these signals reach the part of the brain called the cerebral cortex(大脑皮层), we become conscious of the sounds.
Our group really learned a lot about the senses while creating this website. We hope that you are able to get just as much out of it. Please feel free to comment about anything on the site by e-mailing us. Also, don’t forget to sign the guest book! Thanks for visiting our site. Come back soon!
60. This article is most probably taken from a _____.
A. newspaper B. magazine C. website D. novel
61. Senses are very important because _____.
A. both people and animals get all of their knowledge from them
B. they are used to communicate with others
C. they can prevent the organs from being attacked
D. they can tell you what the stimulus is
62. Which of the following tells you what stimulate you?
A. The nerve cell. B. The receptor. C. The nerve impulse. D. The brain.
63. According to this article, the following are all functions of the senses, EXCEPT _____.
A. collecting information about the world
B. detecting changes within the body
C. sending nerve impulses to the brain
D. serving the brain when needed
第三部分:阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)
请认真阅读下列短文,从短文后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Dear Ralf,
I have received your letter from school and am glad to know that you are becoming responsible(有责任的)enough to decide on your career.
You are now in the final year of college and are about to start more independent life in society. You know that a generation divides us, and the conditions of social life were different in my days. However, all I can say as advice is that you must select a career wisely. The first consideration is your interest. You can only succeed and feel happy when you do something you enjoy. Your job must be both gainful and satisfying. Then, you must read up on the latest books on the field you are aiming at. Also, you should get familiar with the men and women in the profession of that field. When mind and heart function together, success is inevitable(必然的).
No career is more or less important than any other career. It takes different people to operate the machine of life. I think your interest may lie in the field of making TV programs. Your great communication skills, your active participation(参与) in school plays and the prizes you have won in speech competitions all point in that direction. So a career in Mass Communication and TV film production proves suitable for you. If you succeed and make it in that field, fame and treasure will both follow.
Think a thousand times before making any final decision regarding your career. Anyhow, I want you to be a man of success.
I know that you are mature(成熟的) enough to think for yourself.
With all the best wishes!
Your loving father
56. We can infer that Ralf wrote a letter to ask for advice on how to ________.
A. prepare for a competition. B. communicate with others
C. choose a career D. get good marks
57. What can we know about Ralf?
A. He has graduated from college. B. He gets on badly with his father.
C. He has taken part in school plays. D. He won prizes in the field of making films.
58. Ralf’s father thinks that ________.
A. fame is more important than treasure
B. every career is of the same importance
C. Ralf is too young to make a decision himself
D. there is no real understanding between parents and children
59. The father suggests that his son should ____________.
A. consider his interest first when choosing a career.
B. make friends with successful people.
C. be never proud when making progress
D. be active in school activities.