A group of 1,309 passengers boarded the MS Balmoral on Sunday, in Southampton, England, on a voyage to retrace (重走) the path of the Titanic. The Titanic was the biggest ship in the world when it sailed on its ill-fated first voyage on April 10, 1912. Of the 2,227 passengers and crew aboard, more than l,500 died. The ship, which was headed for New York City, carried the rich and famous on its first voyage. It also carried immigrants who were seeking a better life in America.
Relatives of people who sailed on the Titanic, historians, authors and people fascinated by the story of the unsinkable ship were on the Balmoral. They wanted to remember the Titanic and those who died on her first and last voyage.
The Balmoral was following Titanic’s original route from Southampton. First, the modern-day cruise liner docked (进港) in the port of Cherbourg, France, where the Titanic had picked up more passengers. On Monday afternoon, the Balmoral stopped in Cobh, Ireland, the Titanic’s last port of call before sailing to New York.
The Balmoral then sailed the North Atlantic Ocean to the location where the Titanic hit an iceberg. On Sunday, April 15, at 2:20 a.m. — the time the Titanic went down － passengers and crew held a memorial service. The next two days were spent in Halifax, Canada, where many victims of the Titanic are buried. Then, the Balmoral reached its final destination in New York City, where the Titanic was supposed to dock — but never did.
So far, several teams of divers have explored the site. They have recovered items such as dishes and silverware and put them on public display. And the Titanic and its passengers and crew have been remembered in books, movies and TV programs. But there’s a much more important contribution that the Titanic has given us. After she sank, lawmakers and ship builders made ships safer. It took a terrible tragedy to make ship travel safer for all.We learn from the first paragraph that _____.
| A．the Titanic sank on its second voyage |
| B．about 700 passengers of the Titanic survived |
| C．less than 2,000 passengers boarded the Titanic |
| D．all the passengers’ hopes of the Titanic lay in America |
Which of the following shows the correct route of the Balmoral?
a. Halifax b. New York City c. Cobh d. Southampton e. Cherbourg
| A．d-e-c-a-b | B．e-d-a-b-c | C．e-c-a-b-d | D．d-c-e-a-b |
What might be the most important contribution of the Titanic?
| A．Its site attracts many exploration teams. | B．It has made later ships more secure. |
| C．Some of its items are on public display. | D．More trips are planned to its site. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．The unsinkable ship | B．The Titanic today |
| C．The Titanic’s route | D．Sailing through history |
If you wish to become a better reader, here are four important points to remember about rate, or speed, of reading,
1. Knowing why you are reading –what you are reading to find out –will often help you to know whether to read rapidly or slowly.
2. Some things should be read slowly throughout examples are directions for making or doing something, arithmetic problems, science and history books, which are full of important information. You must read such things slowly to remember each important step and understand each important idea.
3. Some things should be read rapidly throughout. Examples are simple stories meant for enjoyment, news, letters from friends, items, or bits of news from local, or hometown, paper, telling what is happening to friends and neighbours.
4. In some of your readings, you must change your speed from fast to slow to fast, as you go along. You need to read certain pages rapidly and then slow down and do more careful readings when you come to important ideas which must be remembered.
68. According to the passage, your reading speed depends on .
A. whether the reading material is easy or difficultB. what you are reading
C. what your purpose in reading something isD. both B and C
69. Which of the following readings should you read slowly and carefully? ________
A. Fairy tales.B. Aesop’s Fables.
C. Directions for use of a machine.D. An evening paper.
70. Which of the following can best express the main idea of the passage? _________
A. How to decide your reading speed.B. How to raise your reading speed.
C. How to improve your reading skills.D. How to choose your reading materials
The other day I heard a few local musicians talking,
“I hate all the terrible pianos in this town. I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They can’t even understand a bit of music.”
“I’m never playing in that club again. Too many drunks and nobody listens to us.”
But, one younger musician said, “There are a few clubs that book my band a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also looking to book a few summer festivals this year.”
I’ve heard that you are the average of the five people whom you spend the most time with, or to put it another way, you are who your friends are.
Attitudes are important. Whether they’re positive or negative, they’re rubbing off on you. If you’re around people who complain about lack of work and about other musicians, or blame others, and you play the role of victim, chances are you will start to as well. So it’s time to take a look at the people you call “friends”.
This is an easy exercise: Make a list of the people who you hang out with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard.
Keep successful people around you and your own chances for success will be much better. Ask them how they do it. Ask if they will help you get the work you’re looking for, or maybe give you some advice to help you on your career path.
64. The underlined sentence “they’re rubbing off on you” in Paragraph 6 means ______.
A. they’ll push you ahead
B. they’ll influence you
C. they’ll cover your shortcomings
D. they’ll help you achieve your goal
65. The musicians’ words at the beginning are written mainly to show ______.
A. the musicians’ living conditions are quite poor
B. people have poor taste in music
C. people have different attitudes towards the same thing
D. young people have greater chances of succeeding
66. By taking the exercise mentioned in Paragraph 7, you can ______.
A. improve a lot in making more friends
B. come to the right way of making friends
C. develop a better relationship with your friends
D. arrange the time with your friends properly
67. The passage is mainly written for ______.
A. musicians B. managers C. negative people D. people wanting to succeed
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!
60. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage? _________
A. Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families.
B. Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives.
C. Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy.
D. Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break.
61. From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.
A. warmly welcomed at the airportB. offered a ride to his home
C. treated hospitably at his homeD. treated to dinner in a restaurant
62. The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.
A. strict with timeB. serious with time
C. careful with timeD. willing to spend time
63. A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.
A. Friendships between ChineseB. Friendships between Americans
C. Americans’ hospitalityD. Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendships
三阅读
第一节
There is a wonderful story about a young girl who had no family and no one to love her. One day feeling very sad and lonely, she was walking through a grassland when she noticed a small butterfly caught in a thorn bush. The young girl carefully released the butterfly. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
For your wonderful kindness, the good fairy said to the girl, “ I will give you any wish you would like. The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, I want to be happy.
The fairy leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the fairy disappeared.
As the little girl grew up, there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her secret of happiness. She would only smile and answer, the secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.
When she was very old and on her deathbed, the neighbours all gathered around her, that her unbelievable secret of happiness would die with her. “Tell us, please,” they begged, “ Tell us what the good fairy said.” The lovely old woman simply smiled and said, “ She told me that everyone, no matter how secure they seemed, no matter how old or young ,how rich or poor, had need of me.”
56.the girl felt sad and lonely.
A. there were many friends but B. there was nobody to love her so
C. there was nothing to do D. seeing the butterfly was caught
57. Noticing the butterfly was caught by the thorn, the orphan girl.
A. helped the butterfly escaped from the thorn
B. felt sorrow, but she didn’t go up to help it
C. fell down on it too
D. failed to help it release from the thorn
58. The butterfly after was saved by the little girl.
A. flied awayB. still diedC. changed into a fairy D. was more beautiful than before
59. The neighbours all gathered around the old happy woman when she was dying, because.
A. they loved this woman deeply and they didn’t wanted her to die
B. the woman had lots of money to be shared as soon as she died
C. they wanted to know the secret of her lifetime happiness
D. they wanted to pray for her after her death.
Do you wake up in the morning dreading the moment that your feet have to hit the floor for you to get ready for work? If that’s the case, join most of Americans. Very few people wake up to that annoying alarm clock and spring out of bed excited about having to go to work.
As if that were not enough, most of us have to fight traffic getting there, usually an hour’s drive. Then, when we get to work, we have to fight with unruly co-workers or a nagging boss. And to make matters worse, you have to fight the same traffic going in the opposite direction just to get back home.
Making dinner, fixing plates, eating and then straightening up afterwards is a job within itself. If that sounds like your life, you probably have a J-O-B. you know what J-O-B stands for? Just Over Broke, that’s what! With a job, most Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck and hating every minute of it. I know because I was doing the same thing: trading time for money. And, I came to a conclusion that it stinks (糟糕透了)! Big time!
Looking around at my co-workers, friends and relatives, I saw that they were all doing the same thing I was doing. They were complaining about the same things I was complaining about : not having enough time or money. And, I decided that I wanted to do something different.
So, I started a home-based business. There are several to choose from. The extra income has done so much for our family. We can vacation more. We have been able to give more. And, we’ve even been able to do something calling save! It’s been amazing.
Therefore, if you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, it’s time you make a change, too. The definition of insanity (疯狂) is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I know you aren’t stupid. If you continue to do what everyone else is doing: trading time for money, you’re going to keep getting what everyone else is getting: being broke and not having the time to do what is really important to you.
Do your due diligence. Find a home-based business that works well for you. Go to work, and live the life you’ve always imagined!
68. According to Paragraph 1, which of the following statements is TRUE about most Americans?
A. Most Americans are excited to go to work every day.
B. Most Americans are used to sleeping in the morning.
C. Most Americans are tired of having to go to work every morning.
D. Most Americans have alarm clocks to wake them up in the morning.
69. By writing the first three paragraphs, what feeling does the writer express?
A. Regret. B. Joy. C. Pride. D. Dissatisfaction
70. What does “something different” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A. To set up a business at home. B. To complain about life and work.
C. To spend more time on holidays. D. To resign from the former job and get a new one.