In the summer of 1978 an English farmer was driving his tractor through a field of wheat when he discovered that some of his wheat was lying flat on the ground. The fattened (压平的) wheat formed a circle about six meters across. Around this circle were four smaller circles of flattened wheat. The five circles were in a formation like five dots. During the following years, farmers in England found the strange circles in their fields more and more often.
The circles are called “crop circles” because they appear in the fields of grain - usually wheat or corn. The grain in the circles lies flat on the ground but never broken; it continues to grow, and farmers can later harvest it. Farmers always discover the crop circles in the morning, so the circles probably form at night. They appear only in the months from May to September.
At first, people thought that the circles were a hoax. Probably young people were making them as a joke, or farmers were making them to attract tourists. To prove that the circles were a hoax, people tried to make circles exactly like the ones that farmer had found. They couldn’t do it. They couldn’t enter a field of grain without leaving tracks(痕迹), and they couldn’t flatten the grain without breaking it.
Many people believe that beings from outer space are making the circle to communicate with us from far away and that the crop circles are messages from them.
Scientists who have studied the crop circles suggested several possibilities. Some scientists say that a downward rush of wind leads to the formation of the circles - the same downward rush of air that sometimes causes an airplane to crash. Other scientists say that forces within the earth cause the circles to appear. There is one problem with all these scientific explanations: crop circles often appear in formations, like the five-dot formation. It is hard to believe that any natural force could form those.In the summer of 1978, an English farmer discovered in his field that __________.
| A．some of his wheat had been damaged |
| B．his grain was growing up in circles. |
| C．his grain was moved into several circles |
| D．some of his wheat had fallen onto the ground. |
According to the text, the underlined part “hoax” (in the 3rd paragraph) probably means __________.
| A．an attempt made to fool people |
| B．a special way to plant crops |
| C．a research on the force of winds |
| D．an experiment for the protection of crops. |
Which of the following may prove that the crop circles are not made by man?
| A．The farmer couldn’t step out of the field. |
| B．The farmers couldn’t make the circles round. |
| C．The farmers couldn’t leave without footprints. |
| D．The farmers couldn’t keep the wheat straight up. |
A proper title for this passage is ___________.
| A．An Unsolved Mystery |
| B．Strange Flying Objects |
| C．The Power of Natural Forces |
| D．The discovery of Strange Circles |
D
In China, some radio broadcasting stations use hotlines to encourage listeners to take part in the talk shows.
That is a good idea. Yes, the fact is that some people do nothing but break the whole programme.
Some people know little about the topic under discussion. Sometimes they do not even know what the host is talking about. So the host has to tell the caller what the show is about. Usually the caller will ask a few questions which express his hope and show his ignorance(无知). Then the host has to answer and explain ---how silly it is! It wastes a lot of time.
It seems that some people phone the hotlines for fun. They just want to let the listeners hear them. They do not care what the topic is, whether they themselves are interested in the topic or how silly they appear to be.
It is necessary for radio stations to improve the hotline programmes. In my opinion, if a caller does not know what is going on, the operator should not let the caller take part in it.
47. The underlined sentence “some people do nothing but break the whole programme” may tell us that _____
A. radio stations use hotlines in a wrong way
B. there are problems to solve in the use of hotlines by some radio broadcasting stations
C. the use of hotlines by some radio broadcasting stations is a good idea
D. some people have unclear thoughts
48. The underlined word“operator” in the last paragraph refers to_____
A. 话务员 B. 听众 C. 医生 D. 主持人
C
Not many years ago, some American farmers began to complain about hawks(鹰). The hawks were killing chickens. The farmers did not know what to do. They went to the government officials and asked for help.
The officials said, “ We’ll pay you for each hawk you kill.” The farmers began to kill the hawks. Many hawks were killed, but the farmers now had another problem. The field mice were growing in number and they were eating up the farmers’ corn. Hawks eat not only chickens but also field mice. They eat more field mice than chickens. But if the farmers had known that, they would not have upset(打乱) the balance of nature. In one part of the USA, there are deer which eat a kind of wild rose. The deer are eaten by mountain lions. The number of deer, mountain lions, and wild rose does not change much if people stay away from them. If there are too many deer, mountain lions will increase rapidly in number and kill many deer. If there are too many mountain lions, there will be fewer deer and there will be more roses.
It is always necessary for us to keep the balance of nature. The government once killed almost all the mountain lions to protect the deer. Soon there were so many deer that they ate up all the wild roses. Then they began to eat the green leaves of young trees which were important to the farmers.
So the farmers protected their trees from the deer. The deer had nothing to eat, and many of them died.
The government learned a valuable lesson from nature.
44. What had happened after the hawks were killed?
A. People wouldn’t worry about their chickens.
B. The number of the field mice became too large.
C. The number of the field mice became small.
D. The field mice were eating up the farmers’ corn.
45. Why did American people have to protect their trees?
A. Because the mountain lions destroyed the trees.
B. Because there were so many deer that they began to eat the green leaves.
C. Because they wanted the trees to grow well.
D. Because the trees are more important than the deer.
46. What can we learn from the article?
A. We must keep the balance of nature.
B. We must not kill any animals.
C. we must feed the hawks with our corn to keep the balance of nature.
D. Both A and B.
B
Senior citizens are permitted to travel cheaply on a bus if they have a special card. Women may get cards when they are sixty.
Mrs. Matthews lives in the country but she went into town once a week to buy food and other things for the house, and she usually went by bus. She always had to pay the full price for her ride.
Then she reached the age of sixty and got her senior citizen’s card, but when she used it for the first time on the bus, it made her feel very old.
The bus driver had often seen her traveling on the bus before, and he notices that she was feeling unhappy, so after she had paid her money, he winked at her and whispered, “Don’t forget to give your mother’s card back to her when you see her again.”
Mrs. Matthews was very happy when she heard this.
40. Senior citizens in the story refer to _____.
A. those who have special cards
B. old people with special cards
C. people who hold high positions in the government
D. those who want to travel cheaply
41. Women over sixty______
A. don’t have to pay for taking buses
B. pay less for their ride if they have a special card
C. have to pay the full price for their ride
D. have to pay their special card
42. Mrs. Matthews felt unhappy on the bus because _______.
A. she still had to pay for the tide. B. the card wasn`t hers
C. she felt she was now an old woman D. the driver whispered to her
43. The driver whispered to her _______.
A. in order to make her feel younger
B. because he thought that she shouldn’t have borrowed her mother’s card
C. because he wanted her to pay the full amount
D. because he knew her mother was still alive.
第三部分：阅读理解（共15小题，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。
A
As prices and building costs keep rising, the “do-it-yourself” (DIY) trend (趋势) in the U.S. continues to grow.
“We needed furniture(家具) for our living room.” C, “and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $ 280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $ 420. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself.”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.
36. We can learn from the text that many newly married people _______.
A. find it hard to pay for what they need
B. have to learn to make their own furniture.
C. take DIY courses run by the government.
D. seldom go to a department store to buy things
37. John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to _____
A. run a DIY shop B. make or repair things
C. save time and money D. improve the quality of life.
38. When the writer says Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim ____
A. makes shoes in his home B. does extra work at night
C. does his own car and home repairsD. keeps house and looks after his children
39. Jim Hatfield decided to become a “do-it-yourself” when ____
A. his car repairs cost too much B. the car repair class was not helpful
C. he could no possible do two job D. he had to raise the children by himself
第II卷非选择题（两部分，共35分）
第四部分任务型阅读（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）
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最恰当的单词。
注意：每空格1 个单词。
Wealthy Chinese do not have a good reputation（=fame）, a survey by China Youth Daily and Sina.com has found.
The poll（民意调查）, conducted last week, showed about 70 percent of 3,990 interviewees believe the well-off are immoral and not worthy of respect. Only 4 percent thought rich people are good, the survey said.
For the rich, to become popular, they need to do three things, the survey suggested.
First, they need to have a sense of social responsibility. Second, they need to be self -disciplined, and third, they need to have a caring heart.
The number of people who make at least $50,000 a year increases by 15 percent a year and, according to the China Economic Times, the country now has 1.5 million rich people.
The China Youth Daily and Sina.com survey found interviewees questioned how the rich became rich in the first place.
“Some rich people are thought to have accumulated（积累）their wealth through illegal means, such as bribery,” said a post-graduate student at the Communication University of China.
Even so, the survey found wealthy people who abide by（遵守） the law, have a sense of social responsibility and a caring heart, are respected.
The poll showed about 60 percent thought these kinds of wealthy people were worthy of respect.
The survey suggested many voters were much better disposed（怀有好感的）toward rich people from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Western economies——rather than the mainland.
Hong Kong property tycoon（大亨） Li Ka-shing was most highly regarded, followed by Bill Gates, mainland property tycoon Wang Shi and basketball player Yao Ming.
“Rich people on the mainland invest too little in charity and gain too much,” a student from Beijing Sports University said.
Yu Guoming, a professor at Renmin University of China, called on the heads of Chinese companies to think and invest in a long-term way. “Social responsibility is not only about charity, it also connects the company with the government and the public.”