My six-year-old granddaughter stared at me as if she were seeing me for the first time.”Grandma, you are an antique(古董),”she said. "You are old. Antiques are old. You are my antique."
I was not satisfied to let the matter rest there. I took out the Webster's Dictionary and read the definition(定义)to Jenny.I explained, "An antique is not only old, it's an object existing since or belonging to earlier times...a work of art... piece of furniture. Antiques are treasured,"I told Jenny as I put away the dictionary. "They have to be handled carefully because they sometimes are very valuable. In order to qualify as an antique, the object has to be at least 100 years old."
"I'm only 67,"I renunded Jenny.
We looked around the house for other antiques, besides me. There was a desk that was handed down from rone aunt to another and finally to our family. "It's very old,"I told Jenny.“I try to keep it polished and I show it off whenever I can. You do that with antiques."
There was a picture on the wall purchased at a garage sale. It was dated 1867. "Now that's an antique," I boasted. "Over 100 years old." Of course it was marked up and scratched and not in very good condition. "Sometimes age does that," I told Jenny. "But the marks are good marks. They show living, being around. That's something to display with pride. In fact, sometimes, the more an object shows age, the more valuable it can become." It was important that I believed this for my own self-esteem.
Our tour of antiques continued. There was a vase on the floor. It had been in my house for a long time. I was not certain where it came from but I didn't buy it new. One thing about antiques, I explained to Jenny, was that they usually had a story. They'd been in one home and then another, handed down from one family to another, traveling all over the place. They'd lasted through years and years. They could have been tossed away, or ignored. or destroyed, or lost. But instead, they survived.
For a moment, Jenny looked thoughtful. “l don't have any antiques but you," she said. Then her face brightened. "Could I take you to school for show and tell?"
"Only if I fit into your backpack," I answered. And then Jenny's antique lifted her up and embraced her in a hug that would last through the years.Grandma read the definition of "antique" to Jenny in order to .
A.list all the important characteristics of antiques |
B.tell Jenny the importance of protecting antiques |
C.change Jenny's shallow understanding of antiques |
D.express her disappointment at being called "antique" |
Which of the following information did grandma convey to Jenny?
A.The desk reminded her of her dear relatives. |
B.The marks on the picture showed its age and value. |
C.There was usually a sad story behind each antique. |
D.She planned to buy a new vase to replace the old one. |
By saying "I don't have any antiques but you" (Paragraph 7), Jenny meant .
A.grandma was a treasure to her |
B.antiques were rare and valuable |
C.she had nothing but a few possessions |
D.grandma and antiques had a lot in common |
What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A.Grandma was too old to lift Jenny up. |
B.Jenny had a strong desire for grandma's love. |
C.Jenny was too young to know grandma's humor. |
D.Grandma had a deep long-lasting love for Jenny. |
What can be the best title for the passage?
A.Jenny's Antique | B.A Story of Antiques |
C.A Tour of Antiques | D.Grandma's Antique |
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。
A
Learners report two main difficulties in reading, which may be linked. There are too many unknown words and as a result reading is simply not a pleasure. For some students, even reading in their own language is a chore.
Having a wide vocabulary is essential to making sense of written language. Of course, this is a circular argument, because the more you read the more vocabulary you learn and the more words you know the more easily you can read. Don’t make the mistake of reading with your dictionary beside you, looking up every single new or doubtful word. This is laborious and prevents you from practicing the skill of prediction.
Sometimes in reading you find a word you know but the sense doesn’t seem to fit in. This is not surprising because words have so many meanings and degrees of meaning. What is more, part of their meaning is shaped by the words around them. Keep looking at the surrounding words and asking yourself “what sort of meaning would make sense here?”
The more that people study the reading process, the better they can pass on to language learners a range of advice to choose from. People have learned to read in all kinds of ways. Here is some information that could help you plan to be a better reader in the foreign language you are studying.
1)Work out the general meaning first
When people read in a new language they often feel they must take a detailed approach, focusing in every word, particularly those they don’t know. They read as if they were using a microscope, looking carefully at each of the small pieces(the individual words), but not necessarily seeing the whole picture at first. This is called the “bottom-up” approach. Other readers try to look first at the big picture(the “top-down” approach), attending to individual bricks only as necessary, a process that involves some intelligent guesswork. Generally this second approach is recommended by successful learners.
2)Interactive reading
Another way of thinking about reading is to describe it as an interactive process, where the text brings something to you and you bring something to the text. Readers bring together all their knowledge of the world with what they see on the page in front of them. That is why, when reading in our own language, we don’t need to read every word. We add meaning which is not actually stated.
3)From supported reading to independent reading
Language learners start by needing considerable support as they read. Textbooks supply this support in the form of introductions that summaries the contents, glossaries, pictures, explanations of new grammar points. In your reading you need to move gradually from this support to reading more the text itself.
51.According to the author, ________.
A.looking up the dictionary is of great help for the understanding
B.reading more promotes the gaining of vocabulary
C.the more you read,the clearer the meaning is
D.the amount of vocabulary is the key to reading
52.Successful learners recommend ________.
A.trying to look first at the big picture
B.looking carefully at each of the small pieces
C.focusing on every word
D.“bottom-up”approach
53.The word “chore” in the first paragraph maybe means ________.
A.an important aspect
B.a difficult and tiring thing
C.an easy question
D.something special
54.You come across a new or doubtful word when you are reading, you can ________.
A.just miss it and let it be
B.keep looking at the surrounding words
C.look it up in the dictionary each time
D.make sense of it with the help of dictionary
根据对话内容,从对话后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Li Hua, who is planning to travel with his parents, is now calling Hyatt Travel Agency in Xi'an.
(A. Assistant L. Li Hua)
A: Hello, this is Hyatt Travel Agency. May I help you?
L: Yes. This is Li Hua. I'll have a short holiday, and I'm thinking about traveling abroad with my parents. 61.
A: Of course. May I ask how long your holiday will be?
L: About a week.
A: OK. 62.
L: I'd love to go to Europe.
A: 63 .We have a special offer for European tours.
L: Great ! 64 .
A: Sure. For family tours, we have five European cities on the list, and we'll see the Big Bell in London, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and other places of interest.
L: 65 I'll talk about this with my parents and call you back. Thank you.
A: You are welcome.A. What would you like to know?
B. You are very lucky.
C. What do you have in mind?
D. Can you give me some advice?
E. That's just what I am thinking of.
F. Can I have some extra information?
G. I hope you'll have a good journey there.
E
Looking for a low-cost path to self-knowledge? A way to mine your subconscious (潜意识的) for clues to your motivations, desires and fears? No need to have years of treatments or analyses. Just look to your dreams.
“You can ignore your dreams, but you are really doing harm to yourself,” says Lauri Quinn Loewenberg. “If so, you're letting red flags pass you by, letting great ideas pass you by.”Some sleep researchers believe dreams are more directly related to our moods and emotions and can serve as tools to self-understanding. Dreams occur during the REM (rapid eye movements) cycles of sleep each night. For adults, that means about every 90 minutes. The first period of REM sleep may be short, 5 to 10 minutes, followed by longer periods, finally reaching an hour or more in the fourth or fifth period.
When people are dreaming, brain scans show a lot of activities. The brain is online during dreams. The experiences you have during the day are connected during dream sleep. People we know or experiences we've had at different times in our lives may be different in the same dream.
AmyBeth Gilstrap has had the same recurring(再次发生;循环) dream that annoyed her since Hurricane Katrina drove her and her daughter and friends out of New Orleans. Mrs. Gilstrap says, “It is always spies. My job is to get people to some place.” She's certain the dream is related to her efforts in the hurricane to help several families leave. Sometimes her cats also are part of that dream. That's because she went back into New Orleans, before it was allowed, to rescue her cats.
Today, through brain scans scientists have known that the parts of the brain that control emotions and long-term memories are active during the REM sleep.
57. The passage is mainly to tell readers .
A. dreams are mainly caused by hard work B. dreams can offer us key to self-knowledge
C. dreams are only activities of our brains D. how dreams help us solve our problems
58. According to the words from Lauri Quinn Loewenberg, .
A. dreams can make you feel badly ill B. you often have red flags in your dreams
C. dreams will make your life colorful D. you may get great help from your dreams
59. According to the passage, the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 5 refers to .
A. Mrs. Gilstrap's dream B. Mrs. Gilstrap's job
C. Hurricane Katrina D. New Orleans
60. According to the passage, when you are dreaming at night, .
A. your dream is connected with your work in the day
B. the dream will generally last about 5 to 10 minutes
C. the longer dream should be in the later part of the sleep
D. your eyes will not move during the time
DCollege libraries are designed primarily for research and study. To explain its use, let us choose a research topic and follow the step-by-step procedure of looking up the material for the paper. Suppose your assignment is to write a paper on a novel called “The Sun Also Rises” by American writer Hemingway. The first step is to go to the main catalog. Many small drawers on the large wooden cabinets are lined up in alphabetical(字母的) order. Each of the drawers contains hundreds of alphabetical ordered cards. These cards are printed references to all material available in the library. Title cards are cataloged() by the first word of the book title, leaving out the articles like “a”, “an” and “the”. And then you get the cards for the books you need. On the upper left corner of each card is the call number. This is the numerical code that shows where the book is located in the library. The library has open and closed stacks. If your book is on the open stacks, you can go to the open-stack room, and according to the call number find it out by yourself. There are only about 30,000 books on o pen stacks, while most of the 800,000 books in our library are kept in closed stacks, which are accessible only to teachers and graduate students. For undergraduates like you, borrowing books from the closed stacks have to be done with the help of our librarian. In that case, you must fill out a call slip(纸条) for the book, showing the call number, author and title. You can get call slips on tables near the catalog cabinets. You show your call slip together with your library card to a librarian at the information desk. He or she will help you find the book out in the closed stacks.
53.What is the main purpose of this text?
A. To present readers a brief introduction to a college library.
B. To guide readers how to find books needed in a college library.
C. To tell readers how to fill out a call slip in a college library.
D. To show readers where to find books in a college library.
54.What letter you should look for on the title card for the book “The Old Man and the Sea” by the Hemingway?
A. The letter “t”. B. The letter “h”. C. The letter “s”. D. The letter “o”.
55.How are books arranged and shelved in the library?
A. By call numbers. B. By call slips of authors’ names.
C. In alphabetical order. D. By the first word of book title.
56.Suppose you are an undergraduate and you want to borrow a book from the closed stacks, which is the correct order to do it?
a. go to the main catalog b. show your call slip and library card
c. find out the call number d. fill out a call slip
e. get the cards for the books
A.a-b-e-d-c B. a-e-c-d-b C. b-a-c-d-e D. b-c-a-e-d
CAmong the more colorful characters of Leadville’s golden age were H.A.W. Tabor and his second wife, Elizabeth McCourt, better known as "Baby Doe". Their history is fast becoming one of the legends of the Old West. Horace Austin Warner Tabor was a school teacher in Vermont. With his first wife and two children he left Vermont by covered wagon in 1855 to homestead in Kansas. Perhaps he did not find farming to his liking, or perhaps he was attracted by rumors of fortunes to be made in Colorado mines. At any rate, a few years later he moved west to the small Colorado mining camp known as California Gulch, which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen. "A large amount of lead is sure to be found here." he said.
As it turned out, it was silver, not lead, that was to make Leadville’s fortune and wealth. Tabor knew little about mining himself, so he opened a general store, which sold everything from boots to salt, flour, and tobacco. It was his custom to "grubstake" prospective(预期的) miners, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or"grub", while they looked for ore(矿石), in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered. He did this for a number of years, but no one that he aided ever found anything of value.
Finally one day in the year 1878, so the story goes, two miners came in and asked for "grub". Tabor had decided to quit supplying it because he had lost too much money that way. These were persistent(坚持的), however, and Tabor was too busy to argue with them. "Oh help yourself. One more time won’t make any difference," He said and went on selling shoes and hats to other customers. The two miners took $17 worth of supplies, in return for which they gave Tabor a one-third interest in their findings. They picked a barren place on the mountainside and began to dig. After nine days they struck a rich vein of silver. Tabor bought the shares of the other two men, and so the mine belonged to him alone. This mine, known as the "Pittsburgh Mine," made $1,300, 000 for Tabor in return for his $17 investment.
Later Tabor bought the Matchless Mine on another barren hillside just outside the town for $117,000.This turned out to be even more abundant than the Pittsburgh, producing $35 000 worth of silver per day at one time. Leadville grew. Tabor became its first mayor, and later became the governor of the state.
49. The word "grubstake" in paragraph 2 means __________ .
A. to supply miners with food and supplies
B. to open a general store
C. to do one’s contribution to the development of the mine
D. to supply miners with food and supplies and in return get a share in the mine, if one was discovered
50.Tabor made his first fortune_________.
A. by supplying two prospective miners and getting in return a one-third interest in the findings
B. because he was persuaded by the two miners to quit supplying
C. by buying the shares of the other
D. as a land speculator(投机商)
51. The underlying(潜在的)reason for Tabor’s successful life career is __________.
A. purely accidental
B. based on the analysis of miner’s being very poor and their possibility of discovering
profitable mining site
C. through the help from his second wife
D. he planned well and accomplished targets step by step
52. If this passage is the first part of an article, who might be introduced in the following part?
A. Tabor’s life. B. Tabor’s second wife, Elizabeth McCourt.
C. Other colorful characters. D. Tabor’s other careers.