INTERNATIONALTRADEOFPANLANDCon-优题课

第三部分阅读（共两节，满分40分）
第一节：阅读理解（15小题，共30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。
In the southern part of America, when somebody has a birthday, often family or friends, or both, will arrange a party. The party could be elaborate(精心准备的)and include a meal or may be simple with a birthday cake and drinks. One does not plan, nor give, one’s own birthday as is the custom in some cultures. At a party there is usually a decorated cake, often with the words “Happy Birthday” and with the name of the person written on the top of the cake. Sometimes there is also one candle for each year of the person celebrating the birthday before the cake is cut. While blowing out the candles, the person makes a wish for something pleasant.
Usually those invited to a birthday party will bring a gift for the person honored. Gifts given by friends do not have to be expensive, but the family of the birthday person will spend whatever they can afford on a gift.
Christmas parties also are very popular in the South. Often this is the only time during the year that some people see acquaintances(熟人). These parties can be elaborate or simple, ranging from a buffet(自助餐)to a reception called “open house (家庭招待会)”. If you are invited to one of these, you don’t need to take a Christmas gift, as it is not customary to take the hostess a gift every time you are invited to a party or a meal. However, if you wish to take a gift, it should only be something useful and inexpensive and should be given to the hostess at the door as you enter the party. Usually gifts of Christmas food treats are the most appreciated.
1. On one’s birthday, before blowing out the candles, he or she will______.
A. wear beautiful clothes B. eat birthday cake
C. invite friends D. make a wish
2. This passage mainly tells us about __________.
A. two kinds of parties in the southern United States
B. how to arrange a birthday party
C. how to arrange a Christmas party
D. who will arrange a party
3. In southern America, birthday parties are often arranged by _________.
A. friends B. oneself C. family D. Both A and C
4. Which of the following is true?
A. For a birthday party, the cake is often cut before candles are blown out.
B. For a birthday party, neither friends nor the family will buy expensive presents.
C. It’s customary to take the hostess a gift when you are invited to a party.
D. If you take a gift to a Christmas party, you’d better take something useful and inexpensive.
5. What kind of gift is the best if someone is invited to a Christmas party?
A. Expensive things B. Candles C. Food D. Money

Nearly all the visitors to southeast France pay a visit a Monaco, too. Lying near the French-Italian border, Monaco is not part of France, but a separate principality (大公国)—though it is surrounded by its great neighbour.
Monaco became a principality in the 16th century after being owned by a family member of a certain Italian king. The French and Italian, however, soon came to protect it one after another until 1861, when it became its own master again.
Facing the blue Mediterranean (地中海), Monaco is mainly made up of two cities, Monaco, where the palace for the Prince stands, and Monte Carlo, which is a wonderful place for visitors. Every year, about half a million people come to Monaco, nearly 25 times as much as its population.
Believe it or not, Monaco has no soldiers or policemen of its own. Law and order is kept by the French police, and the French stand for it in its foreign affairs, even the money used in Monaco is the franc, too.
1. Which of the following maps shows the right position of Monaco and its neighbouring countries? (Mc="Monaco," Fr="=France," I="Italy," Md=Mediterranean)

2. Monaco has a population of ____.
A. nearly 25 thousand B. no more than 20 thousand
C. about 12,500 thousand D. a little over 20 thousand
3. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The national income of Monaco must be very little.
B. Monaco isn’t a completely independent country.
C. A principality is a country ruled by foreigners.
D. Monaco belongs to France since law and order is kept by the French police.
4. Now the head of the government of Monaco is ____.
A. an Italian B. a French C. a prince D. a president

In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is about, It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich life--style of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series (系列) of short stories, He called it ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ because ‘Jones’ is a very common name in the United States.’ Keeping up with the Joneses’ came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are ‘Jonses’ in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.
1. Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.
A. want to be as rich as their neighbours
B. want others to know or to think that they are rich
C. don’t want others to know they are rich
D. want to be happy
2. It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.
A. live outside New York City B. live in New York City
C. live in apartments D. have many neighbours
3. The underlined word neighbourhood in the second paragraph means ________.
A. a person who lives near another B. people living in an area
C. an area near the place referred to D. an area in another town or city
4. According to the writer, it is _________ to keep up with the Joneses.
A. correct B. interesting C. impossible D. good

Do you have bright ideas? Ideas or inventions that change society or, at least, make life easier for somebody? Perhaps we all do sometimes, but we don’t often make the idea a reality. Recently, in Britain, there was a competition called British Designers for Tomorrow. The competition encourages young people to carry out their bright ideas. There were two groups in the contest; Group One was for schoolchildren under 16; Group Two was for schoolchildren over 16. And there were eleven prize-winners altogether.
Neil Hunt, one of the prize-winners, was called “Sunshine Superman”. It’s important when people study the weather to be able to record sunshine accurately. We need to know how many hours of sunshine we have and how strong it is. Most sunshine recorders only record direct sunlight. Neil’s is more accurate(精确的) and this is very important for research into the way of using solar power.
You can do so much with animated cartoon. Look at Simon West’s idea for animated road signs. He uses pictures which appear to move as you go nearer to or farther from them. This isn’t a new idea. But it is new to use these pictures on road signs. “We found that people were more likely to see moving signs,” said Simon. So now, you can really see rocks falling, trains moving , horses running or a car falling over the edge of a cliff(悬崖). Quite a warning!
The ideas in the competition were so inventive that we are surprised that British industry doesn’t ask more schoolchildren for suggestions. Perhaps this will be the start of “pupil power!”
1. The writer holds that people seldom ______.
A. have bright ideas B. turn their bright ideas into reality
C. make their life easier D. think of inventing something
2. Neil Hunt’s design would finally lead to the improvement of the way of _______.
A. recording direct sunshine B. recording the hours of sunshine
C. using the energy of the sun D. knowing how strong sunlight is
3. What’s the use of Simon West’s animated road signs?
A. To warn people to be careful while working.
B. To warn people on the roads of the danger ahead.
C. To add to the beauty of a city.
D. To help make a car trip more exciting.
4. The writer seems to be encouraging the British industry to ______.
A. take better care of schoolchildren
B. help schoolchildren in their studies
C. stop asking schoolchildren for suggestions
D. pay more attention to schoolchildren’s inventive power

A traveller was staying in an Egyptian village. One day, she held up her camera to take pictures of the children. Suddenly the young ones began to shout at her. The traveller's face turned red and she apologized to the head for what she was doing, and told him she had forgotten that people in some places believed a person would lose his soul if his picture was taken. She explained to him the operation of a camera for a long time. Several times the head tried to say something, but he couldn't. When she believed that the head didn't fear any longer, the traveller then let him speak. With a smile, he said, "The children were trying to tell you that you forgot to take off the lens(镜头) cap!"
1. The children shouted when the traveller was taking pictures of them because _______.
A. they didn't want to stop playing
B. the traveller forgot to take off the cap on her head
C. they didn't want to have their pictures taken
D. the traveller was not doing well with her camera
2. The traveller made an apology to the head because _______.
A. she thought it was not right to take people's pictures without telling them beforehand.
B. the children would lose their souls
C. she had stayed in the village too long
D. she didn't take a picture of the head first
3. When the head smiled, it's clear that _______ .
A. the children wanted to play with her
B. the traveller didn't know what the children meant
C. he wanted the traveller to tell him something else
D. the traveller didn't let him speak
4. Which of the following is NOT right?
A. The traveller knew something about people in some countries.
B. The children wouldn't mind if the traveller took pictures of them.
C. The head was afraid that the traveller's camera would hurt the children.
D. The traveller didn't understand why the children shouted.

A．farmers	B．fishing people
C．unskilled laborers	D．skilled factory workers