The opening scene of The King’s Speech was, in a word, terrifying. The moment King George VI—wonderfully played by Colin Firth—stepped up to the microphone at Wembley Stadium, a rush of nervousness came over me. It took me back to my school days, standing at my desk, having to read aloud to the class. I whispered to my wife, Jill, “A stutterer(口吃者) wrote this screenplay(剧本).
I grew up with a stutter, really afraid of trying to get through simple sentences—knowing that I would then, or later, be laughed at. I still remember the reading when I was in 7th grade at St. Helena’s: “Sir Walter Raleigh was a gentlemen…” I remember reciting, “Sir Walter Raleigh was a gentlemen.” The school teacher said, “Master B-B-B-Biden! What’s that word?” She wanted me to say gentlemen. But by then, I had learned to put my sentences into bite-size pieces and I was reading it: “gentle”｜breath｜“man”.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, the teachers were great. I never had professional treatment but a couple of teachers taught me to put a regular rise and fall in my tone of speaking, and that’s why I spent so much time reading poetry. But even in my small, boys’ prep school, I got nailed in my class with the nickname Joe Stutterer. You get so desperate, you’re so embarrassed. I actually went and stood by the side of my house once, with a small round stone in my mouth, and tried to talk. Jill always thought I was kidding until she saw the movie and saw King George did the same thing.
King George relied on the support his wife and the help of Lionel Longue, who, in describing working with other stutterers, said, “My job was to give them confidence in their voices and let them know that a friend was listening.” I was lucky enough to have more than a couple of Lionels in my life. Nobody in my family ever—ever—made fun of me or tried to finish my sentences. My mother would say, “Joey, you cannot let stuttering define you.” And because of her and others, I made sure it didn’t.
Through hard work and determination, I beat my stutter in high school. I even spoke briefly at my graduation ceremony in 1961—the most difficult speech of my life. My fight against shyness and embarrassment at my early age has developed my ability to understand others’ feelings as Vice President of the country in public life. I still mark up all of my speeches the say way Firth’s character does in the movie, pencil-marking every line to remind myself to stop, to breathe, to pause—to beat back my stuttering as best as I can. I don’t stutter anymore, and most people who know me only late in my life are shocked that I ever did.
By capturing exactly how a stutter feels, The King’s Speech has shown millions of people how much courage it takes for a stutterer to stand up and speak. Equally important, it has shown millions who suffer from the pain that it can be overcome, we are not alone, and with the support of those around us, our deepest fears can be conquered. The writer whispered to his wife, “A stutterer wrote this screenplay”, because __________.
| A．he desired to release his secret to his wife |
| B．he was reminded how it was as a stutterer on such occasions |
| C．he thought Colin Firth had a wonderful performance in the film |
| D．he wanted to make his wife realize why the film was so popular |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 imply?
| A．The writer would have a good fortune to get help from many people. |
| B．The writer should realize he had to stand up from his pain and defeat it |
| C．The writer could get enough confidence under his mother’s help |
| D．The writer must be happy that everyone in his family did not laugh at him. |
What message is conveyed in the passage?
| A．Whatever pain and fear we have, we can defeat them if we try hard. |
| B．The similar stories of the writer and King George VI gains great admiration. |
| C．The suffer we had at our early age will have a heavy influence on our future life. |
| D．Stuttering is such a pain for children that we should give help and encourage them. |
C
Scientists used to explore on the surface of the ocean. Now they are exploring below the surface, too. They want to know about ocean water and the plant and animal life deep in the ocean.
In 1934 the scientist William Beebe dived 3,000 feet below the surface in a hollow steel ball. In 1935 August Piccard dived 10, 330 feet. In 1960 his son Jean dived to a depth of 35,800 feet.
All these early dives were deep. But the divers could not stay down for very long. They had to come back up to the surface after a few seconds. Scientists needed to stay down longer to study life below the surface. Gradually they succeeded. Cousteau, a Frenchman, was able to keep men down to a depth of 36 feet for one month and to a depth of 90 feet for a week.
Now scientists are developing even better equipment. With this new equipment, men can stay below the surface for days or even weeks. In 1962 Cousteau set up a research station 35 feet below the surface. Then in 1964 he set up another station on the ocean floor of the Red Sea. This was the first undersea station to operate without help from the surface.
Many countries are now studying undersea living things. The former Soviet Union had an undersea laboratory in the Crimean Sea. The United States has a laboratory 50 feet down on the ocean floor off the Virgin Islands. In 1970 five men lived there for two weeks. Then a team of five women scientists stayed in the laboratory. Next came other teams of men. All were there to explore the ocean depths and to make plans for the use of its resources. Scientists hope to find enough mineral, vegetable, and animal wealth there to provide food for the entire world.
64. In order to _____, scientists are exploring below the surface of the ocean.
A. know about the ocean water deep in the ocean
B. know about the plant and animal life deep in the ocean
C. stay down longer to study life of the plant and animal below the surface
D. both A and B
65. Who set up the first undersea station?
A. A Frenchman B. An American
C. A Russian D. The passage made no mention
66. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Nobody can stay below the surface of the ocean.
B. The early divers could not stay below the surface of the ocean for very long.
C. The purpose of setting up the undersea laboratories is to make plans for the use of the resources in the ocean.
D. Up to now only five women scientists have stayed in the undersea laboratory.
B
Chinese sword play
Learn Chinese swordsmanship and practice Chinese sword play under the instruction of a professional in Ditan Park every Sunday afternoon.
Fee: 60 yuan(US$ 7.2)
Time/Date: 2 pm --- 3:30 pm, October 10.
Place: Meet at the south gate of Ditan Park, across the overpass north of the Lama Temple, Chaoyang District.
Tel: 8457-2772
See Lu Xun’s former residence
Visit the museum and former residence of Lu Xun, the father of Chinese modern literature, and learn about this period of Chinese history, from 1910 to the late 1930’s.
Fee: 50 yuan(US$ 6)
Time/Date: 2:30 pm --- 4:30 pm, October 16
Place: Meet in front of Lu Xun’s Museum, Fuchengmennei Dajie, Xicheng District
Tel: 6432-9341
Hike on Heifengkou Great Wall
Heifengkou Great Wall is about one and a half hours’ drive north of Beijing. The hike starts from the village at the foot of the mountain where the Great Wall meanders to the top.
Fee: 150 yuan(US$ 18) for adults, 100 yuan(US$ 12) for kids under 12.
Time/Date: 8:30 am --- 5:30 pm, October 16
Pick-up: Meet at 8:30 am in front of the Big Easy, at the South Gate of Chaoyang Park, returning by 5:30 pm.
Contact Lucy at lucy @ highclub. cn, or 6553-3920 for signing up.
Tai Chi class
This is a beginner’s level of Chen-style Tai Chi class, instructed by Paul Wang, who speaks excellent English and has a lot of experience teaching Westerners. He is the 12th generation master of Chen-Style Tai Chi, Tai Chi Sword, and Shaolin Temple longquan.
Time/Date: 10 am --- 11:30 am, October 12.
Fee: 60 yuan(US$ 7.2)
Place: In front of Jintai Gallery, inside the West Gate of Chaoyang Park, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6432-9341
Contact Gina at linshujuan@chinadaily. com. cn.
60. The underline word “residence” in the second text possibly refers to ______ .
A. a work B. a famous person C. a park D. a house
61. If John wants to learn Chinese sword play, he may go to _____.
A. Ditan Park at 2 pm --- 3:30 pm, October 10
B. Fuchengmennei Dajie at 2:30 pm --- 4:30 pm, October 16
C. the South Gate of Chaoyang Park at 8:30 am
D. Chaoyang Park at 10 am --- 11:30 am, October 12.
62. If you are free from 10:00 am --- 11:30 am, you may go to _____.
A. learn Chinese sword play
B. hike on Heifengkou Great Wall
C. visit the museum and former residence of Lu Xun
D. take the Tai Chi class
63. In which section of the newspaper can you find the information above?
A. Sports. B. Entertainment. C. Advertisements. D. Brief
第三部分：阅读理解
第一节阅读下列短文，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。（共15小题，每小题2分，共30分）
A
It was midnight in Paris and we were rolling toward Avenue Bosguet. As we came to the Pont Alexandra Ⅲ, the taxi slowed down, for the traffic light was red against us, and then, without stopping, we sailed through the red in a sudden burst of speed. The same performance was repeated at the Alma Bridge. As I paid the driver, I asked him why he had driven through two red lights.
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself, breaking the law and endangering your life that way ,” I protested.
He looked at me, astonished. “Ashamed of myself? I am a law abiding(守法的)citizen and have no desire to get killed either.” He cut me off before I could protest.
“No, just listen to me before you complain .What did I do? Went through a red light. Well, did you ever stop to consider what a red light is, what it means?”
“Certainly,” I replied. “It’s a stop signal and means that traffic is rolling in the opposite direction.”
“Half-right,” said the driver, “but in
complete. It’s only an automatic stop signal. And it does not mean that there is cross traffic. Did you see any cross traffic during our trip? Of course not. I slowed down at the light, looked carefully to the right and to the left. Not another car on the street at this hour. Well, then! What would you have me do? Should I stop like a stupid animal because an automatic, brainless machine turns red every forty seconds? No, sir,” he shouted. “I am a man, not a machine. I have eyes and a brain and judgment, given me by God. Ashamed of myself, you say? I would only be ashamed of myself if I let those blinking lamps do my thinking for me. Good night ,sir.”
Is this bad, is this good? Frankly I am no longer sure...
56. At the Alma Bridge,_________.
A. the writer stopped the taxi and paid the driver
B. the taxi went through a red light again
C. there was a performance the writer had already watched
D. the writer began to criticize the driver
57. To the taxi driver, a red light_________.
A. was not a stop signal
B. should not work at midnight
C. sometimes made mistakes in judgment
D. didn’t always mean that there was cross traffic
58. The main reason the driver dared to drive through the red light was that______.
A. he found there was no cross traffic there at that time
B. he thought it a shame to be controlled by a machine
C. he knew no other driver w
ould see him at this hour
D. he didn’t trust any brainless machine
59. According to the passage, the driver thought what he had done was________.
A. law abiding（守法的）B .lawbreaking
C. something to be proud of D .something to be ashamed of
E
Parking has long been a major headache for drivers in Shanghai. The Transportation Department is mapping out a new plan for the city’s parking system. There are one million cars on the road in Shanghai but only enough public parking space to provide room for 15 percent of these vehicles. It is no wonder that local drivers get so worried trying to find a place to park.
The city is seeing a rise in private car owners. In March, the city sent out 2,000 private car licenses, the highest number of licenses ever sent out in a month. And prices rose to 14,600 yuan, 500 more than in February. Industry experts say this suggests that local people have a strong, active interest in buying cars.
By the year 2020, the number of automobiles in Shanghai will probably reach two million. If one parking lot is for each car, then a lot of parking space should be built for these vehicles.
Downtown Shanghai is most short of parking space. However, experts point out that simply building more parking lots in downtown areas is not practical and doesn’t provide an ideal solution. The idea of “ Park & Ride” system has been suggested. This means that drivers can leave their vehicles in car parks nearby subway or bus stations and ride public transport to go downtown. Based on this idea, the city will limit the number of parking lots in downtown areas and demand higher parking fees but build more parking areas near main subway and bus stops.
72.The underlined phrase “ mapping out ” in the first paragraph means __________.
A. making B. arguing C. controlling D. inspiring
73. About __________ drivers can find places to park their cars in Shanghai now.
A. 850,000 B. 1,000,000 C. 150,000 D. 2,000,000
74. What does the second paragraph mainly tell us ?
A. The city sent out more private licenses in February.
B. Less and less people bought cars in March.
C. The city sent out less private licenses in March.
D. More and more people are going to buy cars.
75. According to the idea of a “ Park & Ride ” system, the city will __________.
A. send out more private car licenses
B. build more parking lots near bus stops
C. encourage people to buy more cars
D. build more parking areas in downtown
D
When you take a walk in any city, you often see a lot of people walking dogs. It is still true that a dog is the most useful and faithful animal in the world, but the reason why people keep a dog has changed. In the old days people used to train dogs to protect(保护) themselves against attacks by other beasts. Later they came to realize that a dog was not only useful for protection but willing to obey his master. For example, when people used dogs for hunting, the dogs would not eat what was caught without permission.
These days people in the city need not protect themselves against attacks from animals. Why do they keep dogs, then? Some people keep dogs to protect themselves from robbery（抢劫）. But the most important reason is for companionship. For a child, a dog is a best friend when there are no friends to play with. For young couples, a dog is their child when they have no children. For old couples, a dog is also their child when their natural children have grown up. So the main reason why people keep dogs has changed from protection to friendship.
67. According to the passage, in the old days people trained dogs ______ .
A.for protection against robbery B.just for fun
C.for companionship D.for protection against other animals
68. The word "companionship" may mean ______ .
A. native B. advice C. friendly relationship（关系） D. usage
69. The dogs were used for hunting because ______ .
A. they were good hunters B. they obeyed their masters
C. they were useful for protection D. they did not eat other animals
70. The most important reason for people to keep dogs now is they ______ .
A. need companion B. like children
C. enjoy hunting D .want to protect themselves
71. We can infer from the passage that ______ .
A. dogs can be helpful to those who need company
B. city people always feel lonely
C. dogs can be boring （厌烦的）
D. the city can be a very dangerous place