September can be a depressing month. The summer holidays are over, it’s time to go back to work or school and Christmas is four months away. However, for some people it’s the perfect time to get away.
These days more and more people are taking their holidays late in the year and for good reasons. Holidays in autumn can be cheaper, the resorts are less crowded and the weather isn’t as extreme as it is in the summer. So, where are the best places to go? Here are our top tips.
Sardinia (in Italy) has an average temperature of 27℃ in September. It also has “Autunno in Barbagia” (Autumn in Barbagia) a series of festivals that take place in 27 villages in Barbagia, a mountainous region of inland Sardinia. The festivals continue from September to December, so there’s always something happening. There are street markets, craft workshops and there’s lots of eating and drinking (This is Italy, after all).
Dubrovnik Croatia has become very popular in summer but it’s quieter and more pleasant once the crowds have left. The weather is still warm but less humid. You can take a ferry to the popular beaches on the islands of Sunj and enjoy it with locals.
Dahab Egypt, is extremely hot in the summer with temperatures up to 38℃. However, the autumn is cooler while the sea is still warm. This makes Dahab the perfect place for snorkeling and windsurfing. There are also interesting historical sites to visit such as the Coloured Canyon, with its dramatic rock formations, and St Catherine’s Monastery, at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Kas is a relaxed fishing village on the Lycian coast in southern Turkey. There are plenty of things to do and the temperature has dropped (so you can actually enjoy doing them!) Kas is a good place to stay if you want to walk part of the Lycian way: a long-distance footpath that stretches for 500km from Fethiye to Antalya through the ancient land of Lycia. There are also watersports, of course. The best time to go diving is supposed to be after the first rains of autumn (usually between late September and early October) when the fish become most active.
Marrakech Morocco is another good destination. The city itself is a fascinating place to spend a few days. When you have had enough of that, go to Tigmi, a beautiful hill town about 20 kilometers away. There’s a hammam (a Turkish bath) and a large heated pool, which makes it the perfect place to relax.
Wherever you go this autumn – have fun!Here are the good reasons for people to take holidays in autumn except that _______.
| A．Holidays in autumn can be cheaper |
| B．the scenery in autumn is more attractive |
| C．the resorts in autumn are less crowded |
| D．The weather is neither too hot nor too cold |
We can infer from Paragraph 3 that _______________.
| A．visitors can take part in a series of festivals in October in Barbagia |
| B．Barbagia in Egypt is surrounded by mountains |
| C．the festivals continue from September to November |
| D．the temperature in Sardinia in September is always below 27℃ |
For someone who enjoys walking, __________ is the best choice.
| A．Kas | B．Marrakech | C．Dahab | D．Dubrovnik |
Which of the following places may not be close to sea?
| A．Dubrovnik | B．Dahab | C．Kas | D．Marrakech |
C
Poorer children would be offered the chance to attend lessons on Saturday to help catch up with their middleclass peers (同龄人), the shadow schools secretary, Michael Gove, said today.The Conservatives would give English state schools the freedom to choose to have longer teaching hours and extra classes at the weekend, he told the Association of Teachers and Lecturers’annual conference.
Gove said the move would help to close the achievement gap with richer children whose parents could afford extras such as tutoring and music lessons.
He told delegates (代表) in Manchester: “For children who come from homes where parents don’t have the resources to provide additional stretch and cultural experiences, there are benefits in having those children in the learning environment, in school, for longer.”
“Parents would love to have schools starting earlier in some circumstances, and certainly going on later in the afternoon, given the reality of their working lives,” he said. He held up the example of Kipp (Knowledge is Power Program) schools in the US, which are often based in the poorest communities and open from 7:30 am to 5pm on weekdays, plus Saturdays.
But it would be up to schools to decide to offer longer hours, Gove added.
Parents said Saturday classes could become a “badge of dishonor”if pupils were forced to go, while teachers raised concerns about their workload.
Margaret Morrissey, of Parents Outloud, said: “I think the suggestion the government made about one-to-one teaching for these kids would be a more preferable way of improving these children’s performance. I’m just not sure whether taking away a child at weekends is actually going to make them cleverer in the week.”
The ATL’s general secretary, Mary Bousted, said: “If we want Saturday schools, then we need more teachers doing the extra hours, not the same teachers working longer.”
66. The program is intended for children____________.
A. who are from middle-class families B. whose parents can’t afford extra help
C. who perform poorly academically D. whose weekends are mostly unoccupied
67. “Additional stretch” in Paragraph 4 probably refers to_________.
A. music lessons B. physical relaxation
C. entertainment activities D. out-of-school improvement
68. Why did Gove mention Kipp schools in the US?
A. To make a comparison. B. To introduce a new program.
C. To seek supportive evidence. D. To prove his program is better.
69. What is Margaret Morrissey’s opinion about the new program?
A. Favourable. B. Doubtful. C. Optimistic. D. Acceptable.
70. Which of the following is true?
A. Teachers may not like the program. B. Schools are trying to make profits.
C. The program is already under way. D. The program is popular with children.
B
Across the United States, there are several places where two independent towns grew together to become one city — but kept both their names.
WinstonSalem is one of them. It’s a midsized city in what’s called the plateau（high land）, between the Atlantic Coast and the inland mountains in the state of North Carolina. The Winston part is a relatively new place, founded early this century. It’s home to the nation’s biggest openair tobacco market.
The giant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company’s headquarters is in WinstonSalem, and Winston is the name of one of Reynolds’bestknown cigarette brands. Fastgrowing Winston soon surrounded the much older town of Salem, so in 1913, people in the area voted to combine them into a single place.
From a historical and tourist point of view, Salem, or Old Salem, as it’s called today, is the interesting and unusual part of town.
Salem was founded in the 1700s by the Moravians. They spoke German, and their community was religiously based, with single men and single women living apart in separate dormitories. The Moravians greatly valued women’s work and brainpower. In fact, one of the nation’s oldest boarding schools for young women— the Moravians’Salem Academy founded in 1772 — is still in operation.
Over the years, Salem lost its Moravian character. That all changed, though, when a nonprofit group began to rehabilitate the historic area. These days Old Salem is what’s called a living history museum, with exhibits, music, and tours of 18th-century houses, taverns and Moravian dormitory buildings just seven blocks from the tallest skyscraper in Winston-Salem.
The historic community is booming again. Just as R. J. Reynolds is taking in millions of dollars making cigarettes across town, Old Salem is generating about S| 15 million a year in tourism revenue and donations.
61. From the passage we can know that____________.
A. Winston-Salem is the name of a city
B. Salem is home to the tobacco market
C. the city Winston-alem has two names
D. Old Salem is the name of a tobacco brand
62. It can be inferred from Paragraph 3 that__________.
A. the two cities benefited each other
B. Salem developed faster than Winston
C. R.J. Reynolds Company has moved into Salem
D. the combination meets the wishes of the people
63. The city Salem is special for its__________.
A. boarding school B. lifestyle and tradition
C. respect for brainpowerD. religious belief
64. The underlined word “rehabilitate” in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to “_________”.
A. reconstruct B. evaluate C. enlarge D. decorate
65. What will probably be talked about in the following part?
A. Some other attractions in Winston-Salem.
B. How Winston makes profits from tourism.
C. Other examples of cities combined by two parts.
D. Something about the boarding school for women.
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分 40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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
In their book Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, Robert and Brenda Vale say keeping a mediumsized dog has the same ecological impact as driving 10,000 km a year in a 4.6 liter Land Cruiser.
“We’re not actually saying it is time to eat the dog. We’ re just saying that we need to think about and know the ecological impact of some of the things we do and that we take for granted.”
Constructing and driving the jeep for a year requires 0.41 hectares of land, while growing and manufacturing a dog’s food takes about 0.84 hectares — or 1.1 hectares in the case of a large dog such as a German shepherd.
Convincing flesheating cats and dogs to go vegetarian for the sake of the planet is a nonstarter, the Vales say. Instead they recommend keeping “greener”, smaller, and more sustainable pets, such as goldfish, chickens or rabbits.
The book’s playful title, and serious suggestion that pet animals may be usefully “recycled”, by being eaten by their owners or turned into pet food when they die, may not appeal to animal fans.
Annoying as the idea may be, the question is valid given the planet’s growing population and limited resources, Robert Vale said.
“Issues about sustainability are increasingly becoming things that are going to require us to make choices which are as difficult as eating your dog. It’s not just about changing your light bulbs or taking a cloth bag to the supermarket,” he said.
“It’s about much more challenging and difficult issues,” he added. “Once you see where cats and dogs fit in your overall balance of things, you might decide to have the cat but not also to have the two cars and the three bathrooms and be a meat eater yourself.”
56. The authors gave their book the playful title to________.
A. make it amusingB. create a vivid image
C. show writing skills D. arouse people’ s concern
57. In Paragraph 3 the writer mainly wants to tell us________.
A. the amount of consumed land B. the neglected ecological impact
C. some familiar examples D. some actual figures
58. What does “sustainability” mean according to the passage?
A. Going vegetarian. B. Raising cats and dogs.
C. Using a cloth bag. D. Keeping a greener life.
59. Who may not like the idea of “recycling” pet animals?
A. Manufacturers.B. Drivers. C. Animal fans.D. The authorities.
60. What do the authors think of living a sustainable life?
A. Challenging. B. Inspiring. C. Inviting. D. Touching.
D
Here is what I have been told of the matter.
In the spring of 1842, Marguerite was so weak, so different in her looks, that the doctors had ordered her to take the waters.She therefore set out for Bagneres.
Among the other sufferers there, was the Duke's daughter who not only had the same complaint but a face so like Marguerite's that they could have been taken for sisters. The fact was that the young Duchess was in the third stage of consumption and, only days after Marguerite's arrival, she passed away.
One morning the Duke, who had remained at Bagnerescaught sight of Marguerite as she turned a corner of a gravel walk.
It seemed as though he was seeing the spirit of his dead child and, going up to her, he took both her hands, embraced her tearfully and, without asking who she was,begged permission to call on her and to love in her person the living image of his dead daughter.
Marguerite, alone at Bagneres with her maid, and in any case having nothing to lose by compromising herself, granted the Duke what he asked.
Now there were a number of people at Bagneres who knew her,and they made a point of calling on the Duke to inform him of Marguerite's true situation.It was a terrible blow for the old man, for any resemblance with his daughter stopped there.But it was too late.The young woman had become an emotional necessity, his only excuse and his sole reason for living.
He did not criticize her, he had no right to, but he did ask her if she felt that she could change her way of life, and, in exchange for this sacrifice,he would offer all the compensations she could want.She agreed.
It should be said that at this point Marguerite, who was by nature somewhat highly strung(excited and nervous), was seriously ill.Her past appeared to her to be one of the major causes of her illness,and a kind of superstition(迷信) led her to hope that God would allow her to keep her beauty and her health in exchange for her regret and shame.
And indeed the waters, the walks, healthy fatigue and sleep had almost restored her fully by the end of that summer.
The Duke accompanied Marguerite to Paris, where he continued to call on her as at Bagneres.
This connection, of which the true origin and true motive were known to no one, gave rise here to a great deal of talk, since the Duke, known till now as an enormously wealthy man, now began to acquire a name for the prodigality(挥霍).
67. Why did the Duke take Marguerite’s both hands when he saw her?
A. His daughter and Marguerite were once good friends.
B. Marguerite is his daughter’s spirit.
C. Marguerite resembles his daughter.
D. They haven’t seen each other for long.
68. What’s the right order of the events?
a. The Duke accompanied Marguerite to Paris.
b. Marguerite set out for Bagneres.
c. The Duke took Marguerite as his daughter.
d. The daughter of the Duke passed away.
e. Marguerite took a gravel walk
A. e-c-b-d-a B. c-d-e-b-a C. b-d-e-c-a D. d-a-c-b-e
69. From the passage we can guess that Marguerite _______.
A. doesn’t believe in God
B. was once a woman without a good fame
C. was strange to all the people in Bagners
D. kept her own way of life while living with the Duke
70. According to the passage, Marguerite went to Bagners _______.
A. just for a gravel walk B. to find her sister
C. to visit the Duke D. for treatment
C
Recently scientists have worked out a way to judge roughly where a person has lived using strands(缕) of hair, a technique that could help track the movements of criminal suspects or unidentified bodies .
The method depends on measuring how chemical variations in drinking water show up in people’s hair.
While U.S diet is relatively identical, water supplies vary. The differences result from weather patterns. The chemical composition of rainfall changes slightly as clouds move.
Most hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water are stable , but traces of both elements are also present as heavier isotopes (同位素) . The heaviest raid（列阵）falls first. As a result, storms that form over the Pacific deliver heavier water to California than to Utah.
Similar patterns exist throughout the U.S. By measuring the proportion of heavier hydrogen and oxygen isotopes along a strand of hair, scientists can establish a geographic timeline. Each inch of hair corresponds to about two months.
Cerling’s team collected tap water samples from 600 cities and constructed a frame of the regional differences. They checked the accuracy of the map by testing 200 hair samples collected from 65 barber shops. They were able to accurately place the hair samples in broad regions roughly corresponding to the movement of raid systems.
“It’s not good for pinpointing (精确定位),” he said. “It’s good for ruling out many possibilities.”
64. What can we learn from the passage about the latest discovery?
A. One’s hair growth has to do with the amount of water they drink.
B. A person’s hair may reveal where they have lived.
C. Hair analysis identifies criminal suspects accurately.
D. The chemical composition of hair varies from person to person.
65. What does the underlined word “identical” in paragraph 3 probably mean?
A. similar B. fantastic C. beneficial D. healthy
66. What is the practical value of Cerling’s research?
A. It helps analyze the quality of water in different regions.
B. It helps the police determine where a crime is committed.
C. It helps the police narrow down possibilities in detective work.
D. It helps identify the drinking habits of the person under investigation.