We do not know when man first began to use salt, but we do know that it has been used in many different ways throughout history. Historical evidence shows, for example, that people who lived over 3,000 years ago ate salted fish. Thousands of years ago in Egypt, salt was used to preserve (保存) the dead.
Stealing salt was considered a major crime (罪行) during some periods of history. In the eighteenth century, for example, if a person was caught stealing salt, he could be put in prison and his ears could be cut off.
In the Roman Empire, one of the most important roads was the one that carried salt from the salt mines to Rome. Guards were stationed along the route to protect against salt thieves, and they received their pay in salt, thus bringing the English word, salary. Any guard who fell asleep while on duty was thought to be “not worth his salt”, and as a result he would get a little less salt on his next payday. The expression, “not worth his salt”, is still used today in English.
In the modern world salt has many uses beyond the dining table. It is used in making glass and airplane parts, in the growing of crops, and in the killing of weeds (杂草). It is also used to make water soft, to melt (融化) ice on roads and highways, to make soap, and to fix colors in cloth.
Salt can be got in various ways besides being taken from mines underground. Salt water from the ocean, salt water lakes or small seas can be used to make salt. Yet, no matter where it comes from, salt will continue to play an important role in the lives of people everywhere.According to the text, salt can be used in the following EXCEPT _____.
A.keeping dead bodies |
B.punishing thieves |
C.protecting crops |
D.making industrial products |
In the Roman Empire many people were employed as guards to _____.
A.protect the city of Rome |
B.watch people carrying salt |
C.prevent thieves from stealing salt |
D.carry salt from the mines to Rome |
The expression “not worth his salt” used today refers to the one who _____.
A.fails to do his work well |
B.should not be paid in salt |
C.doesn’t want to work at all |
D.should use less salt |
The main purpose of the text is to tell readers _____.
A.how salt was found and got |
B.salt is important in people’s life |
C.salt was difficult to get in the past |
D.what salt brings to the English language |
Robots are smart。 With their computer brains, they help people work in dangerous places or do difficult jobs。 Some robots do regular jobs。Bobby, the mail carrier, brings mail to a large office building in Washington, D。C。 He is one of 250 mail carriers in the United States。
Mr。 Leachim, who weighs two hundred pounds and is six feet tall, has some advantages as a teacher。 One is that he does not forget details。 He knows each child’s name, the parents’ names and what each child knows and needs to know。 In addition, he knows each child’s pets and hobbies。 Mr。 Leachim does not make mistakes。 Each child goes and tells him his or her name, then dials an identification (身份证明) number。 His computer brain puts the child’s voice and number together。 He identifies the child with no mistakes。 Then he starts the lesson。
Another advantage is that Mr。 Leachim is flexible。 If the children need more time to do their lessons they can move switches。 In this way they can repeat Mr。 Leachim’s lesson over and over again。 When the children do a good job he tells them something interesting about their hobbies。 At the end of the lesson the children switch Mr。 Leachim off。
58。 The first paragraph of the passage tells us _______。
A。 human beings are not as smart as robots
B。 robots will take the place of man to rule the earth
C。 we can only use robots to do some regular jobs
D。 robots can help people in many different ways
59。 Mr。 Leachim’s ______ makes him a good teacher。
A。 knowledge B。 appearance C。 advantage D。 energy
60。 The word “flexible” in the last paragraph means _______。
A。 not strict B。 not hard C。 suitable D。 changeable
Growing numbers of people are becoming addicted to text messaging(手机信息), a German doctor warned recently。
Psychotherapist(采用精神疗法的医生) Andreas Herter estimated that there were some 380,000 sufferers in Germany。 Herter based his prediction(预测)on the growing number of manic mobile phone users among patients arriving at his Hanover clinic (诊所)for addiction treatment。
“Text message addiction is a real and serious illness because it causes mental and financial damage,” said Herter。 “The problem leads to depression and personality disorders, not to mention skyrocketing (飞涨的)phone bills。”
For example, a teenage boy spent 8,900 euros (US$11,000) texting people he didn’t even know and a married couple could only communicate by text message, even when they were sitting side by side。
55。 The passage is mainly to tell us ______。
A。 why people like text messaging B。 text messaging has many advantages
C。 overusing text message does great harm D。 text messaging does no good
56。 Herter thinks text message addiction is ______。
A。 acceptable B。 easy to deal with C。 unreasonable D。 worrying
57。 The examples given in the last paragraph are used to show ______。
A。 text message addiction is a serious diseas
B。they care about nothing else but text message
C。 sending text message is their only hobby
D。 they are very rich
Switzerland(瑞士) is famous for its watches。 However, this country didn’t invent the watch。It was the British who did it。 Here is a story of how the watch was brought to Switzerland。
Many years ago , an Englishman was travelling to Italy 。 On his way he stopped in a small town in South Switzerland。 This Englishman travelled in a carriage(马车) inside which there was a carriage watch。 This was the earliest kind of watch。 A native shop assistant (售货员) happened to see the watch 。 He wondered what it was and asked the Englishman about it。 “ It is a carriage watch 。” said the man 。 This machine tells the time but now it isn’t working 。
At once the shop assistant offered to try to repair it 。 So the traveller handed him the watch。 The assistant was a very wise man 。 So it was not surprising that he managed to repair it 。 He even remembered how it was made。 As soon as the traveller had gone on his way , he made a watch exactly the same type。
Thus the watch-making was started in Switzerland。 Today Swiss watches are sold in stores all over the world。
50 Switzerland is famous for ____________。
A 。making watches B selling watches C inventing watches D the carriage watch
51。It was ______who brought a watch to Switzerland earliest 。
A a SwissB an Italian C an Englishman D a shop assistant
52。 The earlist watches were made in __________。
A SwitzerlandB EnglandC ItalyD a small town
53 The first Swiss watch was made by ___________。
A an Italian shop assistant
B an English shop assistant
C a man who came from Switzerland
D。 a man who was travelling to Italy。
54。 The carriage watch was a machine which __________。
A was put in the carriageB wasn’t working
C told people timeD had to be repaired
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A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Long long ago, there was an old merchant who had three sons。 “To which one shall I leave my fortune?” he wondered。 “It must be to the cleverest son。 But which one is the cleverest?”
He called his three sons to him。 “Here is some money,” he told them, “you must each take one coin to buy something that will fill this room。 Anyone who can do this shall have my fortune。”
“It is a big room,” said the eldest son。
“One coin will not buy very much,” said the second son。
But the youngest son said nothing。 He stood and thought, and then he smiled, “Come, brothers,” he said, “let us go to the market。”
The eldest son bought straw with his coin。 But one coin bought only a bit of straw。 Even when he had spread it as much as he could, the straw covered only a corner of the room。
The second son bought sand with his coin。 But one coin bought only a bit of sand。 Even when he had spread it as much as he could, the sand covered only half of the floor。
“What did you buy?” the eldest son angrily asked the youngest son。 “You don't have any straw。”
“Yes, what did you buy?” the second son asked angrily。 “You don't have any sand。”
“I bought this,” said the youngest son。
“A candle!” cried his brothers。 “What good is a candle?”
“Watch”, said the youngest son。
He lit the candle, and all at once the room was filled from wall to wall, from ceiling to floor。 It was filled with light!
“Although you are the youngest, you are indeed the cleverest of my sons,” the old merchant said。
And that is how, the old merchant left his fortune to his youngest son, the one who could fill a room with light。
46。 Who would get father's fortune according to his requirement?
A。 The oldest son。 B。 The richest son。
C。 The cleverest son。 D。 The silliest son。
47。 The merchant left his fortune to the son
A。 who would fill the room by using something which is worth one coin
B。 who would take care of him when he became old
C。 who wanted to get his fortune
D。 who got married first
48。 How do you think of the youngest son?
A。 He is very clever。 B。 He is very lazy。
C。 He is very mean。 D。 He is very diligent。
49。 The youngest son used _____ to fill the room。
A。 straw B。 candle C。 sand D。 water
If there is one thing that matters in high school-and for your whole life-it is friendships.
My latest novel,THE UNWRITTEN RULE,is about a girl,Sarah,who falls for her best friend Brianna’s boyfriend,Ryan,but it’s more about wrestling with feelings for a guy that you know you shouldn’t have.A lot of the book deals with friendship,the kind of lifelong friendship that means the world to you...and what happens when you realize that maybe it isn’t what you think it is.
Maybe your best friend isn’t your best friend.Maybe she isn’t even a friend at all.
Friendships are tricky things.You can he sure everything is fine,and that your friendship is going to last forever...and it can just end.No explanation,no anything.And it is not easy.In fact,I think losing a friend is worse than losing a boyfriend,especially when it is a friend you’ve had in your life for a long time.
One of the things that Sarah struggles with in THE UNWRITTEN RULE,beyond her feelings for Ryan,is her friendship with Brianna—how long they’ve been friends,how she understands Brianna in a way no one else does,and what to do when a crack appears in their friend ship,not because of Sarah’s feelings for Ryan,but because Sarah begins to wonder if maybe Brianna isn’t her best friend after all.
Having a friendship end is incredibly painful and one of the things I hated when I was younger—and that I still hate now—is how people say.“Oh,it’ll be okay.You’ll move on,you’ll be fine.”
It is true that you will eventually move on and that you will be fine.But you will also always carry that lost friendship with you.It may not take up all of your heart like it does at first,but it will take part of it.
And that,I think,is something no one ever talks about and that I wish we could — and would.
What do you do when someone you are friends with decides your friendship is over? How do you deal with it?
Maybe my latest novel can provide something for you.
47.From the passage we can infer that_____.
A.it may takes Sarah a long time to recover after she lost Brianna’s friendship
B.Sarah and Brianna are still best friends after a long period of time
C.Sarah does not value Brianna’s friendship at all
D.Ryan would feel puzzled about his real love
48.What do you think the book THE UNWRITTEN RULE is mainly about?
A.Friendship. B.School life. C.Love. D.Wrestling with feelings.
49.What’s the writer’s attitude towards friendship?
A.We will all lose some friends in our life.
B.Ending a friendship is worse than losing a boyfriend.
C.It’s usual when a crack appears.
D.You will eventually move on after you lose a friendship.
50.What do you think is the best title for the passage above?
A.My Latest Novel. B.Tricky Friends.
C.Sarah and Brianna. D.Unforgettable Friendship