根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项.选-优题课

III．阅读理解
The blue tits(山雀) have been inspecting the nest-box again this year. The male is the house-hunter but the female will make the final choice. He lands at the hole and turns his head to expose his white cheeks as a signal to attract the female from where she has been feeding.
Among many birds that nest in holes, the male has a light-coloured patch on its plumage(鸟羽) which acts as signal for drawing the female’s attention to a suitable nesting-place. Unlike the blue tit, the redstart(红尾鸲) may be only the male that strikingly coloured and the female is not beautiful.
A few years ago I was lucky enough to spot a pair of redstarts in action in a Walsh wood. The male was leading an interested female to holes that he had previously(先前) checked out. He sat at the entrance of each hole and put his head on to show off his white forehead, or his head in to reveal(显露) his tail.
If the female failed to react to his visual signals, the male sometimes sang for extra effect, while gliding towards her on spread wings and tail. Once the female accepts by following the male through the hole the displays stop, you must be at the right place at the right time to watch them.
36. How do the blue tits choose their nest?
A. They choose their nest together.
B. The male chooses their nest.
C. The house-hunter chooses their nest.
D. The female chooses their nest.
37. The writer was lucky to see ________.
A. how the male made his tricks
B. how an interested female played with the male happily
C. what the male displayed and won the female
D. that the male tried his best but failed to attract the female
38. You can spot a pair of redstarts in a Walsh wood ________.
A. at any time B. regularly C. in April D. occasionally
39. The writer is probably ________.
A. a bird expert B. a bird-hunter C. a bird raiser D. a scientist

　　A sixth of undergraduates in Beijing this year have registered at driving school. The students, mostly from majors such as business management or international trade, will finish their driving courses within 20 days or so.
　　Training costs have dropped to 2, 600 yuan for students, according to the Haidian Driving School in Beijing. The price is not really low, but students will accept it, seeing it as an investment in their future. Familiarity with the operation of computers and fluent English are the basic skills graduating students need to find a job. But a driver’s permit has become another factor.
“In the job market, owning a driver’s permit sometimes strengthens a graduating student’s competitiveness for a good position, ”says Zhou Yang, an undergraduate at the China University of Political Science and Law.
　　Cars will become a necessary part of many people’s lives in the coming years, and it is difficult to get a permit of campus because of the pressures on working people’s time. “Having a fulltime job after graduation offers limited time to learn to drive. We senior students have plenty of spare time, plenty of opportunity to learn. ”Zhou says.
　　Xu Jian, an official at the driving school, said undergraduates were very able and serious, and could grasp in an hour what ordinary people took four hours to learn. In this driving school, middle -aged people, young women and college students are the main customers.
　　To get a driver’s permit, a beginner is now required to have at least 86 hours’ practice before the final road test.
40．________ in Beijing want to learn to drive.
　　A. Most of the undergraduates
　　B. Many undergraduates
　　C. Many students in the driving school
　　D. Most of the students who learn business or international trade
41．The undergraduates are learning to drive because ________.
　　A. they need this skill to find a good job
　　B. they like to drive cars
　　C. they will not have any time to learn to drive after they have found a full - time job
　　D. most of them will be able to buy cars in the future
42．Which of the following is likely to be Xu Jian’s opinion of students learning to drive?
　　A. He thought it was better to learn it at college than at work.
　　B. He decided it was a waste of money and time to learn to drive.
　　C. He agreed that they could learn to drive.
　　D. He thought they would spend three times more time to learn to drive than usual.
43．Which of the following can be the best headline for the passage?
　　A. Students Pay Less to Learn to Drive Now.
　　B. Students Learn to Drive.
　　C. It is Better to Learn to Drive at Colleges.
　　D. Welcome to the Driving School.

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。
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK - US President Bush said on Monday that he wanted Osama bin Laden “dead or alive” for last week’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the pentagon, but many of Washington’s allies are cool on strikes against Afghanistan．Bush has named Saudi - born militant Osama bin Laden as a prime suspect, though he has provided no evidence for his claim． Still, he had been building public support for military action and has warned Afghanistan’s Taliban to give up Bin Laden．
　　But the Taliban, which has warned of “holy war” in response to any US attack, by Tuesday afternoon had given no indication of whether the man they call their“ guest” would be handed over．
　　On an unprecedented“ Day of terror”, two planes smashed into New York’s World Trade Center twin towers on September 11, putting them into ruins while explosions rocked the Pentagon in Washington, and the White House and State Department were evacuated． The attacks have left more than 5, 000 people dead or missing．
　　China has said it is ready to join international efforts in fighting “terrorism ”but insisted that peace, not war, is the best option．
　　In London, Blair declared it a“ war between the civilized world and fanaticism ”and determined to stand by an ally which aided Britain in two world wars． France, Germany and others, including Russia, are also supportive．　“The evil must be punished, ” Russian President Vladimir Putin said． “But we should not liken ( 把…比着 )ourselves to bandit．” His defense chiefs have ruled out hosting NATO forces in former Soviet Central Asia or joining US military action, although Moscow says it will help with intelligence．
36．What building（s）was/were totally damaged?
　　A． The World Trade Center and the Pentagon
　　B． The World Trade Center．
　　C． The Pentagon．
　　D． The White House
37．In this passage, what country does the underlined part refer to?
　　A． Russia　　　　B． France　　　　C． Germany　　　 D． America
38．According to the passage, which of the following is right?
　　A． It was bin Laden that made the terrorist attacks, which have left more than 5, 000 people dead or missing．
　　B． Russian forces will join US military action．
　　C． There is no sign to show that the Taliban will hand over bin Laden．
　　D． Few countries support America after the attacks．
39．From the passage, what problem is the world facing?
　　A． Wars　　　　B． Terrorism　　　C． Population　　　D． Explosions

There is an English saying: "Laughter is best medicine." Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now, however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter really can improve people's health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their heart, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercises. It increases blood pressure, the heart beating and breathing; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group that tolerated(忍受) the pain for the longest time was the groups which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemicals in the brain which diminish both stress and pain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients' condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.
63. Doctors have proved the following except that ____________.
A. smiling does good to health B.laughter can be tolerated
C.there is a way to reduce pain D.laughter can work the muscles in the feet
64. The main idea of the passage is ____________.
A.laughter and physical exercises have similar effects on the human body
B.smile can produce the same effects as laughter
C.pain can be reduced by laughter
D.laughter is best medicine
65. The underlined word "diminish" is similar to____________.
A. test B. stop C. reduce D. increase
66. Doctors hold laughter clinics _____.
A.to give better condition to their patients
B.in order to improve patients' health
C.to make patients smile
D.to prove smile and laughter have the same effect

Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea. People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.
Tea remained rare and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.
At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea. Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added. She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.
At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening. No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess(公爵夫人)found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’ clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born.
59. Which of the following is true of the introduction of tea into Britain?
A. The Britons got expensive tea from India.
B. Tea reached Britain from Holland.
C. The Britons were the first people in Europe who drank tea.
D. It was not until the 17th century that the Britons had tea.
60. This passage mainly discusses ____________ .
A. the history of tea drinking in Britain
B. how tea became a popular drink in Britain
C. how the Britons got the habit of drinking tea
D. how tea-time was born
61. Tea became a popular drink in Britain____________.
A. in the eighteenth century B. in the sixteenth century
C. in the seventeenth century D. in the late seventeenth century
62. We may infer from the passage that the habit of drinking tea in Britain was mostly due to the influence of _________.
A. a famous French lady B. the ancient Chinese
C. the upper social class D. people in Holland