Some people are lucky enough to be born with a good sense of direction and even if they have only visited a place once, they will be able to find it again years later.
I am one of those unlucky people who have poor sense of direction and I may have visited a place time after time but I still get lost on my way there. When I was young I was so shy that I never dared ask complete strangers the way and so I used to wander round in circles and hope that by some chance I would get to the place I was heading for.
I am no longer too shy to ask people for direction, but I often receive replies that puzzle me. Often people do not like to admit(承认)that they didn’t know their hometown and will insist on telling you the way, even if they do not know it; others, who are anxious to prove that they know their hometown very well, will give you a long list of directions which you can not possibly hope to remember, and still others do not seem to be able to tell between their left and their right and you find in the end that you are going in the opposite(相反的)direction to that in which you should be going.
If anyone ever asks me the way to somewhere, I always tell them I am a stranger to the town in order to avoid giving them wrong direction but even this can have embarrassing results.
Once I was on my way to work when I was stopped by a man who asked me if I would direct him the way to the Sunlight Building. I gave my usual reply, but I had not walked on a few steps when I realized that he had asked for directions to my office building. However, at this point, I decide it was too late to turn back and search for him out of the crowd behind me as I was going to meet with someone at the office and I did not want to keep him waiting.
Imagine my embarrassment when my secretary showed in the very man who had asked for directions of my office and his astonishment when he recognized me as the person he had asked.What is the writer going to do when someone asks him for direction?
A.He will direct the right way to the person willingly. |
B.He will reply to it by the means of being a stranger to the town. |
C.He will give the very person long list of direction. |
D.He is going to show the man an opposite direction. |
Why did the writer consider himself to be an unlucky dog?
A.Because of his poor sense of direction. |
B.Because he always forget the way to home. |
C.Because he did not have any friend. |
D. Because he used to be shy and dared not ask others the way. |
How did the visitor feel when he was showed into the very room?
A.He felt strange. | B.He felt embarrassed. |
C.He felt very sad. | D.He felt astonished. |
Who showed the right way to the interviewee according to the passage?
A.Someone we don’t know. | B.The writer did it for himself. |
C.The secretary did so. | D.A warm-hearted old lady did itI. |
第三部分阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)
第一节阅读下面两篇语言材料,然后按要求做题。(共10小题;每小题2分,满分20分)
A few years ago, I took a sightseeing trip to Washington D.C. I saw many of our nation’s treasures, and I also saw a lot of unfortunate people like beggars and homeless folks in the streets.
Standing outside the Ronald Reagan Center, I heard a voice say, “Can you help me?” When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended(伸出). In a natural reaction, I reached into my pocket, pulled out all of my loose change and placed it in her hand. I didn’t even look at her. I was annoyed at being bothered by a beggar.
But the blind woman smiled and said, “I don’t want your money. I just need help finding the post office.”
Immediately, I realized what I had done. I acted with prejudice(偏见)—I judged another person simply for what I thought she was.
The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant. I left Honduras and arrived in America at the age of 15. Through the years, I have been a dishwasher, cashier, mechanic and pizza delivery driver among many other jobs, and finally I became a network engineer.
In my own life, I have experienced many open acts of prejudice. I remember a time, at age 17— I was a busboy, and I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well at school, he would end up like me.
But now, living in my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to be going. That blind woman on the street of Washington D.C. cured me of my blindness. She reminded me to always keep my eyes and heart open.
1. When the author came to America at first ______.
A. he usually did some work with a little payment.
B. he used to beg for some money on the street.
C. he lived a comfortable life as a network engineer.
D. he was respected by others all the time.
2. According to the passage, what did the author regret?
A. That he gave all his change to the blind woman.
B. The way he treated the blind woman.
C. That he came to Washington D.C. for a visit.
D. That he didn’t tell the woman the way to the post office.
3. The father mentioned in the passage wanted ______.
A. to encourage his son to make a living by himself
B. his son to become a busboy in the future
C. his son to work harder at school
D. to remind his son to depend on himself at school
4. We can infer all of the following statements from the passage EXCEPT ______.
A. He disliked being bothered by beggars.
B. He was delighted to give away his money to beggars.
C. He once suffered a lot.
D. The blind woman didn’t beg for money at that time.
5. What does the author want to tell us through this story?
A. Don’t dream up ways to get what you want. B. Money is the root of all evils.
C. An easy life makes a person forgetful. D. Be good to others all the time.
L
第四部分:任务型阅读(共10小题;每小题l分,满分l0分)
请认真阅读下列短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单
词。
注意:每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。
D.R.Gaul Middle School in Union, Maine, a blue-berry farming town where the summer fair finds kids competing in pig scrambles and pie-eating contests.
Gaul, with about 170 seventh-and eighth-graders, has its own history of lower level academic achievement. One likely reason: education beyond the basic requirements hasn't always been a top priority for families who've worked the same land for generations. Here, few adults have college degrees, and outsiders(teachers included) are often kept at a respectful distance.
Since 2002, Gaul's students have been divided into four classes, each of them was taught almost every subject by two teachers. The goal: to find common threads across disciplines to help students create a big picture that gives fresh meaning and context to their classwork and sparks motivation for leaning.
Working within state guidelines, each team makes its individual schedules and lesson plans, incorporating non-textbook literature, hands-on lab work and fields trips. If students are covering the Civil War in social studies, they're reading The Read Badge of Courage or some other period literature in English class. In science, they study the viruses and bacteria that caused many deaths in the war.
Team teaching isn't unusual. About 77 percent middle schools now employ some form of it, says John Lounsbury, consulting editor for the National Middle School Association. But most schools use four-or five-person teams, which Gaul tried before considering two-person teams more effective. Gual supports the team concept by "looping" classes (跟班)so that the same two teachers stick with the same teens through seventh and eighth grades. Combining teams and looping creates an extremely strong bond between teacher and student. It also, says teacher Beth Ahlholm, "allows us to build an excellent relationship with parents."
Ahlholm and teammate Madelon Kelly are fully aware how many glazed looks they see in the classroom, but they know 72 percent of their eighth-graders met Maine's reading standard last year--double the statewide average. Only 31 percent met the Maths standard, still better than the state average(21 percent). Their students also beat the state average in writing and science. And in 2006, Gual was one of 47 schools in the state to see testing gains of at least 20 percent in four of the previous five years, coinciding roughly with team teaching’ arrival.
A Classroom with Context |
|
Problems of the school |
Being a farming town, it (71)______ little in education before. |
(72)_____ education is considered less important. |
|
The community is relatively (73)_____ rather than open to the outsiders. |
|
Ways of solving the problems |
The division of the classes is made and students are well (74)_____. |
Individual schedules and lesson plans are (75)_____ by each team. |
|
A strong (76)_____ between teacher and student is established through combining teams and looping. |
|
Signs of (77)_____ |
72 percent of the eighth-graders (78)_____ Maine's reading standard |
(79)_____percent higher than the state average in Maths |
|
The school beating the state average in writing and science |
|
Four of the previous five years (80)_____ at least 20 percent test gains |
K
People tend to be more impressed by evidence that seems to confirm some relationship. Thus many are convinced their dreams are known ahead of time because a few have come true; they neglect or fail to notice the many that have not.
Consider also the belief that "the phone always rings when I'm in the shower. "If it does ring while you do it , the event will stand out and be remembered. If it doesn't ring, that thing probably won't even be remembered.
People want to see order, pattern and meaning in the world. Consider, for example, the common belief that things like personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths "happen in threes." Such beliefs stem from the tendency of people to allow the third event to define the time period. If three plane crashes occur in a month, then the period of time that counts as their "happening together” is one month; if three crashes occur in a year, the period of time is stretched. Flexible end points reinforce such beliefs.
We also tend to believe what we want to believe. A majority of people think they are more intelligent, more fair-minded and more skilled behind the wheel of an automobile than the average person. Part of the reason we view ourselves so favorably is that we use criteria that work to our advantage. As economist Thomas Schelling explains, “Everybody ranks himself high in qualities he values: careful drivers give weight to care, skilled drivers give weight to skill, and those who are polite give weight to courtesy," This way everyone ranks high on his own scale.
Perhaps the most important mental habit we can learn is to be cautious in drawing conclusions. The "evidence" of everyday life is sometimes misleading.
1. In the first paragraph the author states that______.
A. dreams cannot be said to be prophetic even though a few have come true.
B. dreams are prophetic did come true.
C. dreams may come true if clearly remembered.
D. dreams and reality are closely related.
2. By" things like...""happen in threes"(Para.3,Line 2),the author indicates that people believe_____.
A. personal misfortunes tend to happen every now and then.
B. personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths usually happen together.
C. misfortunes tend to occur according to certain patterns.
D. misfortunes will never occur more than three times to a person in his lifetime.
3. The word "courtesy" (Para.4,Line 6)probably means_____.
A. good manners B. appropriate speech
C. friendly relations. D. satisfactory service.
4.What can be inferred from the passage_____.
A. Happenings that go unnoticed deserve more attention.
B. In a series of misfortunes the third one is usually the most serious.
C. People tend to make use of evidence that supports their own beliefs.
D. Believers of misfortunes happening in threes are cautious in interpreting events.
5.It can be concluded from the passage that_____.
A. there is some truth even in the wildest dreams.
B. one should take notice of other people's merits.
C. there is no order or pattern in world events.
D. we should not base our conclusions on accidental evidence.
J
During the Christmas shopping rush in London, the intriguing story was reported of a tramp(流浪汉) who, apparently through no fault of his own, found himself locked in a well-known chain store late on Christmas Eve. No doubt the store was crowded with last minute Christmas shoppers and the staff were dead beat and longing to get home. Presumably all the proper Security checks were made before the store was locked and they left to enjoy the three-day holiday untroubled by customers desperate to get last minute Christmas presents
However that may be, our tramp found himself alone in the store and decided to make the best of it. There was food, drink, bedding and camping equipment, of which he made good use. There must also have been television sets and radios Though it was not reported if he took advantage of these facilities, when the shop re-opened, he was discovered in bed with a large number of empty bottles beside him. He seems to have been a man of good humour and philosophic temperament---as indeed vagrants(流浪汉) very commonly arc. Everyone also was enjoying Christmas, so he saw no good reason why he should not do the same. He submitted, cheerfully enough, to being taken way by the police. Perhaps he had bad a better Christmas than usual. He was sent to prison for Seven days. The judge awarded no compensation to the chain store for the food and drink our tramp had consumed. They had, in his opinion, already received valuable free publicity from the coverage the story received in the newspapers and on television. Perhaps the judge had had a good Christmas too.
1. The tramp was locked in the store____
A. for his mistakes. B. due to a misunderstanding
C. by accident. D. through an error of judgment.
2. The staff were 'dead beat' means they were _____
A. half asleep B. exhausted. C. annoyed. D. forgetful.
3. What action did the tramp take? He_____
A. looted the store. B. made himself at home.
C. went to sleep for 2 days.D. had a Christmas party.
4. When the tramp was arrested, he _____
A. laughed at the police. B. looked forward to going to pr)son.
C. rook his bottles with him. D. didn't make any fuss
5. Why didn't the judge award compensation to the chain store?
A. The tramp had stolen nothing of value B. The store had profited by the incident.
C. The tramp deserved a happy Christmas D. The store was responsible for what happened.
I
One day Mr. Kerry was walking along the Strand in London, killing time, when his eye was caught by an enormous picture displayed upon the wall of a house. It represented a human figure covered with long, dark hair, with huge nails upon his hands and a most fearful expression. On coming nearer, he heard a man call out 'Walk in, ladies and gentlemen, the most wonderful curiosity ever exhibited-only five pence-the wild man from Africa-he eats raw food, and many other pleasing and surprising performances. Mr. Kerry paid his money and was admitted. At first the crowd prevented his seeing anything, for the place was full of suffocation(窒息), and the noise was awful. At last, Mr. Kerry obtained, by dint of squeezing and pushing, a place in the front, when to his horror, he saw a figure that was far worse than the portrait outside.
It was a man, nearly naked, covered with long, shaggy hair, that grew even over his nose and cheekbones. He sprang about, sometimes his feet, sometimes on all-fours, but always uttering the most fearful yells, and glaring upon the crowd in a manner that was really dangerous. Mr. Kerry did not feel exactly happy at the whole proceeding, and began heartily to wish himself outside. Suddenly, thc savage gave a more frantic scream than before and seized a morsel(小块) of raw beef which a keeper extended to him on a long fork. This he tore to pieces eagerly, and devoured in the most voracious(贪婪的) manner, amid great clapping of hands and other evidence of satisfaction from the audience: 'I'll go now', thought Mr. Kerry, 'for who knows whether, in his hungry moods, he might not fancy finishing his dinner with me.' Just at this instant, some sounds struck his ear that surprised him. He listened more attentively and, to his amazement, found that amid the most fearful cries and wild yells, the savage was talking Irish. Now, Mr. Kerry had never heard of an African Irishman so he listened very closely, and, by degrees, not only thc words were known to him, but the very voice was familiar, so turning to the savage he addressed him in Irish, at the same time fixing him with a severe look.
'Who are you?' said Mr. Kerry.
'Billy McCabe, sir.'
'And what do you mean by playing your tricks here, instead of earning your living like an honest man?'
'Well,' said Billy, 'I'm earning the rent to pay you. One must do many strange things to pay the kind of rent you charge.'
1. Mr. Kerry was walking along the Strand because _____
A .he had nothing else to do.
B. he was late for an appointment.
C. he was looking for something to do.
D. he was reluctant to go home.
2. Inside the house, at first, Mr. Kerry____
A. was nearly suffocated.
B. could see nothing.
C. was pushed about.
D .couldn't hear anything
3. The wild man gave the impression of being dangerous by_______
A. the way he moved B. the way he dressed
C. the looks he gave D. the cries he made
4. Mr Kerry decided to leave the house because _______
A. he felt extremely frightenedB. he was worried what might happen
C. he didn’t wish to eat with the savage D. he feared he might have a heart attack
5. The wild man surprised Mr Kerry by speaking Irish since____
A. he was on show in London B. he was a primitive savage.
C. he previously spoke nonsense D. he was thought to be African.