My father had returned from his business visit to London when I came in, rather late, to supper. I could tell at once that he and my mother had been discussing something. In that half-playful, half-serious way I knew so well, he said, "How would you like to go to Eton?"
"You bet," I cried quickly catching the joke. Everyone knew it was the most expensive, the most famous of schools. You had to be entered at birth, if not before. Besides, even at 12 or 13, I understood my father. He disliked any form of showing off. He always knew his proper station in life, which was in the middle of the middle class, our house was medium-sized; he had avoided joining Royal Liverpool Golf Club and went to a smaller one instead; though once he had got a second-hand Rolls-Royce at a remarkably low price, he felt embarrassed driving it, and quickly changed it for an Austin 1100.
This could only be his delightful way of telling me that the whole boarding school idea was to be dropped. Alas! I should also have remembered that he had a liking for being different from everyone else, if it did not conflict(冲突) with his fear of drawing attention to himself.
It seemed that he had happened to be talking to Graham Brown of the London office, a very nice fellow, and Graham had a friend who had just entered his boy at the school, and while he was in that part of the world he thought he might just as well phone them. I remember my eyes stinging(刺痛) and my hands shaking with the puzzlement of my feelings. There was excitement, at the heart of great sadness.
"Oh, he doesn't want to go away," said my mother, "You shouldn't go on like this.” “It's up to him," said my father. "He can make up his own mind."The house the writer's family lived in was ________.
| A．the best they could afford | B．right for their social position |
| C．for showing off | D．rather small |
His father sold his Roils-Royce because ________.
| A．it made him feel uneasy | B．it was too old to work well |
| C．it was too expensive to possess | D．it was too cheap |
The writer's father enjoyed being different as long as ________.
| A．it drew attention to him | B．it didn't bring him in arguments |
| C．it was understood as a joke | D．there was no danger of his showing off |
What was the writer's reaction to the idea of going to Eton?
| A．He was very unhappy. | B．He didn't believe it. |
| C．He was delighted. | D．He had mixed feelings. |
We can know from the passage that ________.
| A．Children who can go to Eton are very famous |
| B．Children can go to Eton if they will |
| C．It is very difficult for a child to get admitted by Eton |
| D．Children don't have the right to decide whether they will go to Eton |
A recent study, published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how risky it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a fatal accident as a teenager driving alone. By contrast, the risk of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.
The authors also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 p.m., and especially after midnight. With passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.
Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic issue”, he says, “is that adults who are responsible for issuing licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled task the driving is.”
Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (减轻) the problem is to have states institute so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a multistage process. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself capable of driving in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with passenger restrictions, before graduating to full driving privileges.
Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies. About half of the states now have some sort of graduated licensing system in place, but only 10 of
those states have restrictions on passengers. California is the strictest, with a novice (初学者) driver prohibited from carrying any passenger under 20 for the first six months.
46. Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?
A. Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p.m.
B. A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car.
C. Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night.
D. A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight.
47. According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due to _________.
A. their lack of driving experience B. their frequent driving at night
C. their improper way of driving D. their driving with passengers
48. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?
A. Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive.
B. Driving is a skill too complicated for teenagers to learn.
C. Restrictions should be imposed on teenagers applying to take driving lessons.
D. The licensing authorities are partly responsible for teenagers' driving accidents.
49. A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that _________.
A. driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule
B. they should be prohibited from taking on passengers
C.the licensing system should be greatly improved
D. they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p.m.
50. The present situation in about half of the states is that the graduated licensing system _______.
A. is under discussion B. has been put into effect
C. is about to be set up D. has been perfected
Ⅲ 阅读 （共两节，满分40分）
第一节阅读理解（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A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A person has to be sixteen to drive, seventeen to see certain movies, and eighteen to vote. People can get terrific discounts on all sorts of stuff－provided they’re over sixty-five. Everywhere we look there are age limits that define what people can and can’t do. But creativity has no boundaries, no limitations. Anyone can invent. And they do. Inventors are popping up at the youngest ages.
Sitting in the car waiting for her mom to return from shopping, Becky decided she might as well try to finish her math homework. But it was growing dark and getting hard to see the paper.
“I didn’t have a flashlight, and I didn’t want to open the car door because then the whole car would light up.” recalled Becky. “So I thought it would be neat to have my paper light up somehow, and that’s when the idea came to me.”
It isn’t every day that a ten-year-old invents a product eagerly sought by several businesses, but that’s exactly what Becky Schroeder did when she created a tool that enabled people to write in the dark. Her invention? The Glo-sheet.
That night Becky went home, trying to imagine different ways of making her paper glow in the dark. She remembered all sorts of glow-in-the-dark toys－like balls and Frisbees－and wondered how they were made. She was determined to find a solution. So they very next day, Beck’s dad took her on an outing to the hardware store. They returned with a pail (桶) of phosphorescent paint. She took the paint and stacks of paper into the darkest room in the house－the bathroom. There, she experimented.
“I’d turn on the light, turn it off, turn it on,” said Becky. “My parents remember me running out the room saying ‘It works, it works! I’m writing in the dark!’ ”
She used an acrylic board and coated it with a specific amount of phosphorescent paint. She took a complicated idea and made it work rather simply. When the coated clipboard is exposed to light, it glows. The glowing board then illuminates or lights up the paper that has been placed on top. Two years after her initial inspiration, in 1974, Becky became the youngest female ever to receive a U.S. patent.
She didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet. She didn’t need to. The New York Times wrote an article about an incredible invention－patented by a twelve-year-old, and the inquiries and orders streamed in.
1. From Paragraph 1 , we can draw a conclusion that _________.
A. it is illegal for one to drive under sixteen
B. people enjoy privileges when over sixty-five
C. one is never too old or too young to invent
D. people hate the limitations that define our behavior
2. What caused Becky to invent Glo-sheet?
A. She was trying to do homework when it got dark.
B. She was having trouble with math problems.
C. She was trying to earn some money.
D. She was working on a school project.
3. What is the meaning of the underlined words “phosphorescent paint” in paragraph 5?
A. paint that acts as a glue B. paint that covers a mark
C. paint that becomes hard D. paint that glows in the dark
4. What does it mean that Beck “didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet” according to paragraph 8?
A. She kept the original one for her own use.
B. Other people came to her for the Glo-sheet.
C. Becky’s father tried to sell the Glo-sheet.
D. She gave away patent to the government.
5. With which statement would Becky most likely agree?
A. Experience is needed to be a good inventor.
B. Only by inventing things can you know what people need.
C. Always try to sell patent rights to large companies.
D. You never know what you can do unless you try.
Vienna——In spite of Iraq’s decision to stop oil deliveries, the 11- nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries（OPEC）will not increase production to make up the shortfall, ministers decided Tuesday in Vienna.
The 11 oil ministers decided to meet again on July 3 to discuss the effects of the Iraq temporary stop. The organization’s president, Charkid Kheria of Algeria, said after the meeting that stocks were high and prices were stable, so quota increases were not necessary.
The E.U. Commission has expressed concern about Iraq’s output stop. A speaker said OPEC had to take all possible measures to keep or lower the oil price.
Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Nuaimi had earlier said there would not be any shortfall of oil in the market. The organization had already taken steps to fill the gap, he said. OPEC Secretary General Ali Rodriguez added that the period of Iraq’s output stop was not known, so other exporters were not going to lift quotas yet. If the market was destabilized（使……动摇）, a suitable response could be made.
Iraq on Monday stopped shipments of crude oil to protest against the U.N. Security Council’s decision to extend the oil-for-food programme by only a month, instead of the normal six-month renewal. Just before the Vienna meeting, oil prices had gone up, with a barrel of OPEC crude oil selling for 27.05 dollars, up from 26.81 dollars last Friday. North sea oil was at 29.26 dollars Monday evening.
OPEC wants the oil price to stay within a margin of 22 to 28 dollars and achieved that with cuts in January and March that reduced 2.5 million barrels per day off quotas（配额）.
56. Iraq made the decision to stop oil deliveries because ___________.
A. oil price is too low in international market.
B. The U.N. Secretary Council has decided to shorten the time of extension of the oil-for-food programme
C. Many oil wells were destroyed during the war in the late 1980s
D. It couldn’t get enough money to develop its economy
57. The attitude the E.U. Commission took towards Iraq’s output stop is ________.
A. active B. concerned C. cold D. surprised
58. The underlined words“The organization”here refers to ________.
A. OPEC B. the E.U. Commission C. Vienna D. WTO
59. The main idea of the passage is ________.
A. the oil prices in the world were stable though Iraq has stopped oil deliveries
B. OPEC has controlled the oil price to stay within a margin of 22 to 28 dollars
C. OPEC will not increase oil production to make up the shortfall that caused by Iraq
D. Oil is connected with people’s daily life
60. The 11 oil ministers decided to meet on July 3 so that _________.
A. they can persuade Iraq to continue oil production
B. they can have a talk with the U.N. Security Council
C. they can have a discussion about the effects of Iraq’s temporary output stop
D. they can make up their minds to increase oil production
Most young architects ----particularly those in big cities ----can only dream about working in a building of their own. And marking that dream come true often means finding a building no one else seems to want, which is exactly what happened to David Yocum and his partner, Brain Bell. Their building is a former automobile electrical –parts firm in Atlanta. Form the outside, it looks too old, even something horrible, but open the door and you are in a wide, open courtyard, lined on three sides with rusting(生锈的) walls.
In 2000, Yocum and Bell found this building in the city’s West End. Built in 1947, the structure had been abandoned years earlier and the roof of the main building had fallen down. But the price was right, so Yocum bought it. He spent eight months of his off-hours on demolition(拆除), pulling rubbish out through the roof, because it was too dangerous to go inside the building, The demolition was hard work, but it gave him time to think about what he wanted to do, and “to treasure what was there – the walls, the rust, the light,” Yocum said.” Every season, more paint falls off the walls and more rust develops. It’s like an art installation(装置) in there-a slow-motion show.”
Since the back building had been constructed without windows, an all-glass front was added to the building to give it a view of the courtyard, and skylights were installed in the roof. The back of the building is a working area and a living room for Yocum and his wife. A sort of buffer(缓冲) zone between the front and the back contains a bathroom, a kitchen and a mechanical room, and the walls that separate these zones have openings that allow views through to the front of the studio and the courtyard beyond.
Yocum and Bell, who have just completed an art gallery for the city, feel that the experience from decoration of their building, focusing on the inside rather than the outside, has influenced their work. It has also given these architects a chance to show how they can make more out of less.
1. According to the passage, it is for most young architects in big cities to work in a building of their own.
A. easy B. unnecessary C. unrealistic D. common
2. Yocum bought the old building because __.
A. it was a bargain to him B. it was still in good condition
C. it was located in the city center D. it looked attractive from the outside
3. Working on the old building, Yocum and Bell＿.
A. pulled rubbish out through the roof B. removed the skylights from the bathroom
C. presented a slow–motion show in an art gallery
D. built a kitchen at the back part of the old building
4. It can be inferred from the passage that Yocum and Bell __.
A. benefited a lot from pulling down the roof B. turned more old buildings into art galleries
C. got inspiration from decorating their old building
D. paid more attention to the outside of the gallery
5. The main idea of the passage is that __.
A. people can learn a lot from their failures
B. it is worthwhile to spend money on an old building
C. people should not judge things by their appearance
D. creative people can make the best of what they have
My destination is the River Walk, one of the most popular places in all of Texas. In the first half of 20th century, to control flooding, the city fathers began redirecting the San Antonio River. They built a network of canals that pass through the downtown area. At nearly every street corner, stairs lead down to walkways on both sides of the canals.
The River Walk is linked with cafes, bars, shops --- and, of course, plenty of bridges. You can easily cross over to the other side without having to return to the street. It’s a constant party along the River Walk, with music and festivals throughout the year. The Mud Festival, for example, takes place each January, when the city empties this section of the river to clean it out. That’s when the Mud King and Mud Queen are crowned.
No visit to Texas would be complete without seeing a rodeo --- another aspect of this part of the country that is completely foreign to someone from New England. The announcer walks on stage and gets the crowd excited with talk about the courageous cowboys who’ll be performing. While he’s talking, a band plays sad songs about love gone wrong.
Suddenly the announcer calls for silence. He takes off his tall hat and asks us to join him in prayer. We pray for the cowboys who are, we are told, risking their lives to entertain us, as well as for the bulls and other animals taking part in the shows. We pray for the tourists who are visiting. The rodeo gets going and the fun begins.
Our prayers for the cowboys and animals are answered, and nobody gets hurt. But as we walk over to the cowboy dance hall after the show to enjoy a Texas-size barbecue, it’s clear that not enough prayers were said for the bulls’ less athletic relatives --- the ones not chosen for rodeo work. They’ll be our meal. It seems that moving too slowly has its disadvantages, too.
46.What do you know about the River Walk from the article?
A. People hold parties to celebrate festivals here every day.
B. It refers to the sidewalks on either side of this section of the San Antonio River.
C. There are many bridges that connect the River Walk and the Main Street.
D. Stairs link the River Walk to cafes, bars and shops in the street.
47. Which of the following statements about Mud festival is NOT true?
A. Mud Festival dates back to the first half of 20th century.
B. Mud Festival is held in January every year.
C. Mud King and Mud Queen are chosen in the festival
D. Mud Festival is celebrated to clear the mud of the San Antonio River.
48. What does the underlined word “rodeo” refer to?
A. One aspect of the American country life. B. The concert given by a band.
C. The cowboys’ performance. D. The grand Texas-size barbecue.
49. Why do some bulls become the visitors’ meal?
A. Because they do not run as fast as those taking part in the shows.
B. Because the visitors do not pray enough for them before the shows.
C. Because they lose the competition to their relatives in the shows.
D. Because they are only beef cattle intended as people’s food.
50. Which of the following words can NOT be used to describe the writer’s mood?
A. light-hearted B. excited C. anxious D. humorous