“Mama, when I grow up, I’m going to be one of those!” I said this after seeing the Capital Dancing Company perform when I was three. It was the first time that my dream took on a vivid form and acted as something important to start my training. As I grew older and was exposed to more, my interests in the world of dance certainly varied but that little girl’s dream of someday becoming a dancer in the company never left me. In the summer of 2005 when I was 18, I received the phone call which made that dream a reality: I became a member of the company dating back to 1925.
As I look back on that day now, it surely lacks any sense of reality. I believe I stayed in a state of pleasant disbelief until I was halfway through rehearsals (排练) on my first day. I never actually expect to get the job. After being offered the position, I was completely astonished. I remember shaking with excitement.
Though I was absolutely thrilled with the chance, it did not come without its fair share of challenge. Through the strict rehearsal period of dancing six days a week, I found it vital to pick up the material fast with every last bit of concentration. It is that extreme attention to detail (细节) and stress on practice that set us apart. To then follow those high-energy rehearsals with a busy show schedule of up to five performances a day, I discovered a new meaning of the words “hard work.” What I thought were my physical boundaries were pushed much further than I thought possible. I learned to make each performance better than the last.
Today, when I look at the unbelievable company that I have the great honor of being a part of, not only as a member, but as a dance captain, I see a tradition that has inspired not only generations of little girls but a splendid company that continues to develop and grow-and inspires people every day to follow their dreams.How many years has the Capital Dancing Company existed when the author received the phone call from it?
| A．180 | B．1925 | C．2005 | D．80 |
How did the author feel when she look back on that day now?
| A．strange | B．unrealistic | C．indifferent | D．lucky |
Which of the following statement can best interpret the underlined sentence in paragraph 3?
| A．Though I was excited, I should share the chance with others. |
| B．Though I was excited, it’s fair to share the chance when there is challenge. |
| C．Though I was excited, it’s a challenge for me to share the chance with others. |
| D．Though I was excited, I know clearly where there is chance there is challenge. |
What conclusion could be drawn from the passage?
| A．The company values practice most. |
| B．The company extremely focus on intelligence. |
| C．The company has an inherited tradition of inspiring its members break their limits. |
| D．The company sets the members apart in order to extremely stress detail and practice. |
第三部分阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项。
A
Bamboo (竹子) is one of nature’s (自然) most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.
Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist reported one bamboo plant which grew 1.5 metres (4 feet) in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1, 000 kinds of bamboo.
Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimeters wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimetres (1 foot) across. This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green.
Bamboo has been used to make many things such as hats and kitchen tools(厨房用具). Because it is strong, bamboo is also used to build buildings.
Many Asian countries have used bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for buildings and supporting (支撑) new buildings and bridges while they are being built.
In Africa, poor farmers are taught how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap way to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water.Bamboo pipes (管子) help poor farmers bring water to their thirsty fields without spending a lot of money.
56. How is bamboo like grass?
A. It grows quickly. B. It’s wood. C. it is easy to cut D.It is very thin
57. Though you can see bamboo everywhere, it doesn’t grow.
A.in China B.in Europe C. on mountains D. in Africa
58. Why is bamboo used by African poor farmers? Because.
A.it is cheap B.it has different colours
C.it is strong D.it has been used by Asians
59. Bamboo pipes can.
A. make money B. be trees C. grow quickly D. carry water
60. In Asia, bamboo has been used for.
A.a short time B.many thousands of years
C. many hundreds of years D. about 100 years
C
Isn't it astonishing how much time we spend talking about food? “Have you ever eaten …?” “What did you have for lunch?” and so on. And yet when you travel from one country to another, you will find that people have quite different feelings about food. People often feel that what they eat is normal (正常) and that what other people eat is strange or silly. In most parts of Asia, for example, no meal is complete without rice. In England, people eat potatoes every day. In the Middle East, bread is the main part of every meal. Eating like so many things we do, becomes a habit which is difficult to change. Americans like to drink a lot of orange juice and coffee. The English drink tea four or five times every day. Australians drink a great deal of beer, and the French drink wine every day.
The sort of meat people like to eat also differs from one country to another. Horse meat is thought to be delicious in France. In Hong Kong, some people enjoy eating snakes. New Zealanders eat sheep, but they never eat goat meat. The Japanese don't like to eat sheep meat because of its smell, but they enjoy eating raw fish (生鱼).
So it seems that although eating is a topic we can talk about for hours, there is very little common sense in what we say it. People everywhere enjoy eating what they have always eaten, and there is very little we can do to change our eating habits.
64. Which of the following is true according to the article?
A. All people have the same feeling about food.
B. In most parts of Asia, people usually have rice for meals.
C. People often consider other people to be strange or silly.
D. The topic people spend time talking about is bread and meat.
65. People in different countries ___.
A. drink the same sort of wine B. have the same eating habit
C. eat different kinds of meat D. have the same tea at different time within a day
66. The Japanese don't like to eat sheep meat __.
A. because they dislike its smell B. because it is too expensive
C. because it is easy to go badD. because they think it will do harm to their health
67. English people drink tea four or five times a day _.
A. because they get thirsty easilyB. because there is plenty of tea in Britain
C. because of their drinking habitD. because they have enough time to do so
B
A beautiful and very successful actress (女演员) was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in the countryside, but she did not want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the centre of the city, got some beautiful furniture (家具) and got a man to paint the rooms in new colours.
It was very difficult to get tickets for her show, because everybody wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of the month, when she got the painter’s bill (账单). At the bottom of it were these words: “ Four hours watching Miss Hall sing and dance: 3 pounds,” with this note: “After 5 p.m., I get 15 shillings (先令) an hour instead of 10 shillings.”
60. The actress bought a house in the centre of the city because ______.
A. she liked to live in the busiest place
B. she didn’t like to live in the country
C. her home was far away from where she worked
D. she didn’t want to go back to her hometown any longer
61. In order to make the painter work better for her, the actress ________.
A. gave him two tickets for her show B. sang and danced for him for hours
C. paid him 3 poundsD. decided to pay him 15 shillings an hour
62. The actress got the painter’s bill ________.
A. to ask for the money of his painting work
B. to ask to pay for his watching her show
C. in which he showed his thanks for the tickets
D. in which he expressed his dissatisfaction
63. What kind of man was the painter?
A. He was a careful man. B. He was a poor man.
C. He was not friendly to others. D. He knew little about music and dances.