Before she appeared on the reality show (真人秀) Britain's Got Talent, Susan Boyle was just an ordinary middleaged British woman.Now all this is going to change.
She lives in a house with her cat Pebbles in a tiny Scottish town.Because of learning difficulties, she doesn't have much education.But what she does have is a very good voice.As a kid, she sang in church and choirs and school plays.For a living, she sang at local pubs.
When she took the stage on April 10th her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just_one_step_up_from rags.The audience laughed at her.
But then she opened her mouth.A few bars into the song and the laughing audience went silent.A beautiful voice was singing I Dreamed a Dream from the musical Les Miserables.Everyone was amazed.At the end of her song, the audience jumped to their feet and applauded wildly.
Almost overnight, Susan became a household name.She won fans and millions of admirers.Her online videos have drawn over 85.2 million hits.
Susan's story proved the truth of an old saying: “Never judge the book by its cover.” Susan may look ordinary, and doesn't have much dress sense, but she can certainly sing.
Susan's fans admire her courage, as much as they do her voice.She has experienced mockery and many disappointments, but her love for music has kept her going, which is worth anyone's respect.According to the passage, Susan Boyle ________.
| A．is a famous young actress | B．became famous after a show |
| C．used to be a good student | D．is good at dancing and has millions of admirers |
The underlined phrase “just one step up from” in the third paragraph probably means ________.
| A．far from | B．close to | C．different from | D．the same as |
The audience jumped and applauded wildly because ________.
| A．her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just one step up from rags |
| B．she looked very funny |
| C．she sang so well that everyone was amazed |
| D．she made a foolish mistake in the end |
Susan Boyle has many fans now because of ________.
| A．her beautiful face | B．her knowing how to dress |
| C．her good education | D．her beautiful voice and courage |
The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．how to win fans | B．how to sing well |
| C．a woman's sudden success | D．a woman's simple life |
As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.
Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it. In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.
The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities, others lose heart at the first sign of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make choice between "flight or fight" and in more primitive days the choices made the difference between life or death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same response. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Since we can't remove stress from our lives (it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it.
46. People are finding less and less time for relaxing themselves because _____.
A. they regard working as their greatest enjoyment
B. they believe that work is superior to relaxation
C. they are traveling fast all the time
D. they are becoming busier with their work than ever before
47. According to the author, the most important character for a good manager is his _____.
A. strong will to hold out stress
B. knowing the art of relaxation
C. high sense of responsibility
D. having control over performance
48. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?
A. We can find quite a few ways to avoid stress.
B. Stress is always harmful to people's health
C. It's easy to change the habit of keeping oneself busy with work.
D. Different people can bear different amount of stress.
49. In the last sentence of the passage, "do so" refers to _____.
A. "expose ourselves to stress"
B. "find ways to deal with stress"
C. "remove stress from our lives"
D. "establish links between diseases and stress"
50. According to the author, the right attitude toward stress is _____.
A. to avoid it
B. to try to cope with it
C. to regard it as a vital motivation
D. to find some relaxation
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）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从41~55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卷上将该项涂黑。
Language learning begins with listening. Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and later starters are often long listeners. Most children will “obey” spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word “obey” is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises. Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves as particularly expressive as delight, pain, friendliness, and so on. But since these can’t be said to show the baby’s intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new words to their store. This self-imitation（模仿）leads on to deliberate（有意的）imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech. It is a problem we need to get out. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world .Thus the use at seven months of “mama” as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at other times for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes. Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself, I doubt, however whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds.
41. Before children start speaking________.
A. they need equal amount of listening
B. they need different amounts of listening
C. they are all eager to cooperate with the adults by obeying spoken instructions
D. they can’t understand and obey the adult’s oral instructions
42. Children who start speaking late ________.
A. may have problems with their listening
B. probably do not hear enough language spoken around them
C. usually pay close attention to what they hear
D. often take a long time in learning to listen properly
43. A baby’s first noises are ________.
A. an expression of his moods and feelings
B. an early form of language
C. a sign that he means to tell you something
D. an imitation of the speech of adults
44. The problem of deciding at what point a baby’s imitations can be considered as speech________.
A. is important because words have different meanings for different people
B. is one that should be properly understood because the meaning of words changes with age
C. is not especially important because the changeover takes place gradually
D. is one that should be completely ignored（忽略）because children’s use of words is often meaningless
45. The author implies________.
A. parents can never hope to teach their children new sounds
B. even after they have learnt to speak, children still enjoy imitating
C. children no longer imitate people after they begin to speak
D. children who are good at imitating learn new words more quickly
Two magazines recently listed the best cities to live in. Here are two of the cities listed as “the world’s best.”
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA The city has comfortable weather all year round (15°C to 26°C ). Housing is not very expensive in San Jose. Also, many of the city’s older neighborhoods are very beautiful and have small hotels and cafés(咖啡馆). Beautiful mountains are around the city. You can visit them easily from San Jose. So lots of people go sightseeing there every year. But air pollution is a problem in the city center.
HONG KONG, CHINA This lively city—once a small fishing village—is today an international business center. It is an interesting mix of East and West, old and new. Modern tall buildings are next to small temples (庙宇). Popular nightclubs are close to traditional teahouses. Busy people fill the streets at all hours of the day. But outside the city, there are parks for walking or relaxing. Hong Kong is famous for its wonderful native dishes. There’s also food from Europe, North America, and other parts of Asia. However, this small city has a large population. Nearly seven million people live in Hong Kong! That’s why housing is often very expensive. Traffic and air pollution are also a problem.
56. Which of the following is not mentioned about San Jose?
A. The weather. B. The mountains. C. The air. D. The traffic.
57. What makes Hong Kong the world’s best according to this passage?
A. The lively city and the wonderful dishes. B. The beautiful mountains and the lively city.
C. The expensive housing and the food. D. The city and the people.
58. The writer thinks housing in Hong Kong is expensive because .
A. it was a small fishing village B. it is a mix of East and West
C. it is famous for its wonderful food D. there are too many people in the city
59. What do the two cities have in common?
A. They both have beautiful mountains. B. They both have a large population.
C. Air pollution is a problem in both. D. They are both crowded.
60. From the passage, we can know that .
A. San Jose and Hong Kong are the only two cities of the world’s best
B. San Jose has more natural sights than Hong Kong does
C. the weather in both cities is fine
D. Hong Kong is the more popular city of the two
How old is “old”? The answer has changed over the years. Two hundred years ago，you were old at 35.At the beginning of the 20 th century，the average life span（平均寿命）was 45. In 1950，70-year-olds were really old.Today，a healthy 70-year-old is still thought young.
So，how old is old? The answer is one you’ve heard many times，from all kinds of people.“You are as old（or young）as you feel.”Your age simply tells you how many years you have lived.Your body tells you how well you’ve lived.
“Nobody grows old by living a number of years.” wrote a writer.“People grow old when they don’t have their ideals.”
People shouldn’t have the wrong ideas about aging.Sometimes，older minds can be as bright as young minds.Alice Brophy once said，“It makes me unhappy when people say，‘You look young for your age。’ What does that mean?
You know you can die old at 30 and live young at 80. ”
53.The meaning of the underlined word “aging” is “ ”
A．growing old B. staying young C. keeping healthy D. feeling unhappy
54.Which question is NOT answered in the passage?
A. Can older people be as bright as young people?
B. What tells you how well you’ve lived?
C. How old is “old”?
D. what is the average life span today?
55.The passage is mainly about __________ .
A. the average life span B. aging
C. the 20th century D. older people and young people
PDAs are very useful．They are like small computers．You can put a lot of information into them． For example．you can put in telephone numbers and e-mail addresses．Many people use PDAs to remember important dates．Some of these super machines can even send and receive e-mails．
PDAs are small and convenient．A few years ago，they were expensive．Now，they are cheap．Many people use them at work and at school．People can carry PDAs in their shirt pockets．
But，it’s important to be careful．These little machines are easy to lose．People put so much important information into their PDAs．It’s really terrible to lose them．
50．What is the main idea of the article?
A．PDAs are like small computers． B．PDAs are cheap．
C．You can do many things with a PDA．D．Too many people use PDAs
51．What do we learn about PDAs?
A．They are not very expensive now． B．Students do not like to use them．
C．All of them can send and receive e-mails．D．They are very large．
52．What kind of person would not use a PDA?
A．A business person．B．Someone who hates computers．
C．A student． D．A person with a busy schedule．