When I was growing up, 16 was always a magical age, a symbol of maturity, responsibility and of course more independence and freedom. I sat through the hours of Driver’s Ed classes eager to get out on the road. I couldn’t wait to get my driver’s license.
But it’s a different story for today’s teens. In January, the U.S. Department Transportation released 2012 data that showed only 30.7 percent of U.S. teens got their license at age 16, Twenty years before, that number was almost 45 percent.
There are numbers of reasons for the fall – off. The growing responsibilities like paying for insurance and high gas prices discourage teens from getting behind the wheel. Plus, many teens today are so busy with homework, endless hours of activities and part-time jobs, that finding the time for Driver’s Ed classes may be more difficult that ever.
In addition, many states have raised the driving age, or restricted when teens can drive and who they can have in the car. Parents may also be making their own personal restrictions until they feel their teens are responsible enough to drive safely.
Driving is part of the American culture, but it’s not the central focus like it was 25 years ago. They have so many other things to do now. One of the more interesting factors delaying teens driving might be the change of their social life. Today, teens need to look no further than Face book or other social networking sites to connect with their friends. There is simply less need, maybe less desire, to be able to grab the keys and go.
Michelle Wei got her license as a senior in high school because her digital social life made it easy not to drive. “If I couldn’t get a ride to see my friend who lives a town over,” the 19-year-old said, “I could talk on IM or Skype.”
Research has shown that these online relationships can lead to higher quality friendships, so it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, it’s important to find a balance. If old face-to-face friendships are good, why not drive to find them?We can infer from the first paragraph that _______ .
A.Driver’s Ed classes allowed teens to know what maturity was |
B.getting a driving license at 16 was a must for American teens |
C.16 was considered an age when one could get his driver’s license |
D.teens could drive on the road without taking Driver’s Ed classes |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.Desire to drive on the road declines among American teens. |
B.Getting a license costs much more than ever before. |
C.Social networking sites are changing the life of American teens. |
D.American teens are becoming more responsible than ever. |
Michelle’s Wei’s example is used to explain ________.
A.why American teens are crazy about digital social life |
B.what social networking websites are bringing to American teens |
C.to what degree the Internet is affecting the American car culture |
D.what the Internet does to help teens to get a driving license |
The last paragraph is reminding the readers that _______ .
A.the Internet has a bad effect on the teen’s social life |
B.teens should keep a balance in choosing their lifestyle |
C.actual contacts can be replaced by talking on line |
D.face-to-face friendship is always the best choice |
第三部份:阅读理解(共两节,满分50分)
第一节,阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。(共20小题,每小题2分,满分40分)
A
Here is how your health risks increase at different BMIs(体重指数) if your waist circumference(腰围) is higher than 40 inches(102 cm) in men and 35 inches (88 cm) in women:
·If your BMI is in the 18.5 to 24.9 range, or “Normal”, then a larger waist that is near or greater than 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women can indicate that you are at “increased” risk.
·If your BMI is in the 25 to 29.9 range, or “Overweight”, then a larger waist (less than or equal to 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women) can indicate that you are at “increased” risk. Above these sizes,the risk is considered “high”.
·If your BMI is in the 30 to 34.9 range, or “Obese(肥胖症)I”, then a larger waist (less than or equal to 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women) can indicate that you are at “high” risk. Above these sizes, the risk is considered “very high.”
·If your BMI is in the 35 to 39.9 range, or “Obese II”, then a larger waist (less than or equal to 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women) can indicate that you are at “very high” risk. Above these sizes, the risk is still considered “very high”.
·If your BMI is or in the 40 + range, or “Obese III”, then a larger waist (less than or equal to 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women) can indicate that you are at “extremely high” risk. Above these sizes, the risk is still considered “extremely high”.
41.People’s BMIs fall into ______ ranges.
A.3 B.4 C.5 D.6
42.How can we judge a man’s health risk according to the passage?
A.By his BMI.
B.By his waist circumference.
C.From neither his BMI nor his waist circumference.
D.From both his BMI and his waist circumference.
43.If a woman’s BMI is 35 and her waist is 34, we can consider her health risk is _____.
A.normal B.high C.very high D.extremely high
44.The best title for this passage might be _____.
A.What Having a Bigger Belly Means.
B.High Risks.
C.Measuring Belly Fat.
D.Are You at High Risk?
John Steinbeck once said, “All Americans believe they are born fishermen. For a man to admit to a distaste in fishing would be like denouncing (公开指责) mother – love or hating moonlight.”
I can’t say that I’m the biggest John Steinbeck fan. Actually, the only thing I can ever remember reading by him was “The pearl” when I was in middle school, but I couldn’t agree more with the man when it comes to fishing. Whether I am on a boat in the middle of the Lay Lake, fishing off the shores of the Florida Keys for tarpon (大海鲢) or catching rainbow trout (红鲭鱼) in the Shoshone River of Wyoming, fishing is my life.
According to the American Sports Fishing Association, the fishing industry brings in more than $ 116 billion per year from fishermen across the country.
Though a beautiful picture to imagine fishing is much more than that. Fishing is a way of life for many people and a way to escape everyday stress. Being a fisherman makes me a member of a wonderful group of people extending to all walks of life. Even President Bush can be found fishing on his farm in Texas with his good friend Roland Martin when the job gets too stressful.
I can remember fishing with my grandfather when I was 5 years old on his boat at Lake Mitchell. Although I didn’t understand what I doing. I did know that my grandfather was happy and that made me happy. Since then I’ve spent the past 16 years on the rivers and lakes of Alabama.
After days of practice, before and after work, I slowly developed an understanding of fishing. My boss. Ric Horst, took me back to the Shoshone, and I managed to bring in a 19 – inch cutthroat trout. Fishing with Ric was a life – changing experience for me. He not only showed my how to fish correctly, but also told me how fishing could be a way to escape your problems.
Since then, prime – time (黄金时间) season seems to take forever to arrive.
Now, with the ending of February and beginning of March in sight, the excitement of heading out Lake Tuscaloosa or Lake Lurleen before classes and catching something has finally returned.
51.What John Steinbeck said in the first paragraph implies that .
A.Americans are believed to be the offspring (后代) of fishermen
B.it is unthinkable for an American to admit his dislike of fishing
C.all Americans are expert at fishing
D.those who dislike fishing would not love their mother
52.The writer came to understand the real meaning of fishing .
A.when he was reading “The pearl” by John Steinbeck
B.when he went fishing with his grandfather at Lake Mitchell
C.after he had spent 16 years on the rivers and lakes of Alabama
D.after he went fishing with his boss, Ric Horst on the Shoshone
53.What can be inferred from the text?
A.The author is at most 21 years old.
B.The author regards fishing as a very important part in his life.
C.The author agreed with John Steinbeck the most when he was in middle school.
D.President Bush often goes fishing in public in order to collect idea for his job.
54.According to the author, .
A.people can get to know VIPs when fishing.
B.people can smooth away all the troubles by fishing
C.Fishing is a way of communication
D.Fishing is a way to make a living for most American people
55.What is the purpose of the writing?
A.To describe the writer’s experience and understanding of fishing.
B.To explain the reason why so many Americans like fishing.
C.To make others understand the industry of fishing.
D.To express his opinions about fishing in different time of the year.
SYDNEY: As they sat sharing sweets beside a swimming pool in 1999. Shane Gould and Jessicah Schipper were simply getting along well, chatting about sport, life and anything else that came up.
Yet in Sydney next month, they will meet again by the pool, and for a short time the friends will race against each other in the 50 – meter butterfly in the Australian championships at Homebu Bay.
Gould, now a 47 – year – old mother of four, has announced she will be making a return to elite competition (顶级赛事) to swim the one event, having set a qualifying (合格的)time of 30. 32 seconds in winning gold at last year’s United States Masters championships. Her comeback comes 32 years after she won three golds at the Munich Olympics.
Schipper, now a 17 – year – old girl from Brisbane with a bright future of going to Athens for her first Olympics, yesterday recalled (回忆) her time with Gould five years ago.
“I was at a national youth camp on the Gold Coast and Shane had come along to talk to us and watch us train.” Schipper explained. “It seemed as if we had long been good friends. I don’t know why. We just started talking and it went from there.”
“She had a lot to share with all of us at that camp. She old us stories about what it was like at big meets like Olympics and what it was like to be on an Australian team. It was really interesting.”
Next time, things will be more serious: “I will still be swimming in the 50 m butterfly at the nationals, so there is a chance that I could actually be competing against Shane Gould.” said Schipper, who burst onto the scene at last year’s national championships with second places in the 100 m and 200 butterfly.
46.What is the passage mainly about?
A.Stories happening in swimming competitions.
B.Two women swimmers winning Olympic golds.
C.Lessons learned from international swimming championships.
D.Friendship and competition between two swimmers.
47.Gould and Schipper are going to____________.
A.talk about sport and life B.go back to elite competition
C.set a qualifying time and win gold D.take part in the same sports event
48.Gould won her three Olympic golds when she was____________.
A.15 B.17C.22 D.30
49.The underlined word “it” in the fifth paragraph probably refers to .
A.the Olympics B.the youth camp
C.the friendship D.the Australian team
50.What Schipper said showed that she___________.
A.was no longer Gould’s friend B.had learned a lot from Gould
C.was not interested in Gould’s stories D.would not like to compete against Gould
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity, others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self – worth relied (依赖) on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life – and – death affairs. In their single – minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to se ek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self – respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.
41.What does this passage mainly talk about?
A.Competition helps to set up self – respect.
B.Opinions about competition are different among people.
C.Competition is harmful to personal quality development.
D.Failures are necessary experiences in competition
42.Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
A.It pushes society forward. B.It builds up a sense of duty.
C.It improves personal abilities. D.It encourages individual efforts.
43.The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means .
A.those who try their best to win
B.those who value competition most highly
C.those who are against competition most strongly
D.those who rely on others most for success
44.What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a desire to fail ?
A.One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others.
B.One’s success in competition needs great efforts.
C.One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills.
D.One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.
45.Which point of view may the author agree to?
A.Every effort should be paid back.
B.Competition should be encouraged.
C.Winning should be a life – and – death matter.
D.Fear of failure should be removed in competition.
An important scientific report announced “irrefutable(不能反驳的) proof” that climate change is happening and it’s all our fault. How long has it been before people are against the global warming idea? But here’s a funny thing. Last year there was a very bad hurricane season in the Caribbean when, among other disasters, New Orleans was all but wiped off the map. We were wisely informed by the experts at the time that this was owing to global warming.
I remember watching a BBC science programme and hearing a learned professor with a beard tell us, “The increased frequency and strength of hurricanes is what we shall have to learn to expect given global warming.”
This year there have been far fewer hurricanes and those there have been were relatively mild. Why?Global warming again of course. Professor Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist, writes, “In the constant media reports of possible greenhouse related disasters, almost any event is now linked to climate change.” He adds, “We should not spend vast amounts of money to cut a tiny slice of the global temperature increase when this leads to a poor use of resources and when we could probably use these funds far more effectively in the developing world.” For saying this, Lomborg has had death threats.
Other scientists who do not toe the global warming-is-happening-and-it’s-all-our-fault line have received the same. There are plenty of people who count against global warming. A world of senior climatologists and meteorologists wrote to the Times last year to complain that they couldn’t get their research findings published — because they disagreed to it. We have had a warm autumn. The experts, fanatics(狂热者) all of them, put it down to global warming. If we have an extra cold winter, they will tell us it’s a result of global warming. If my big toe feels cold or hurts badly, it will be owing to global warming.
52. The purpose of this passage may be to ____.
A. support the idea of global warming
B. organize a debate about global warming
C. speak out against the global warming idea
D. encourage people to use money effectively
53. What happened to New Orleans last year?
A. It was badly destroyed. B. It disappeared in the world.
C. It witnessed global warming. D. It experienced several disasters.
54. From the passage, we can infer that ____.
A. people are taking too many efforts to stop global warming
B. people have realized the side effect of development
C. a different idea sometimes may cost one his life
D. the majority usually stand for the correct opinion
55. The main idea of the last paragraph may be ____.
A. global warming may lead to toe’s catching cold in a sense
B. the Times refuses to publish articles on global warming
C. a warming autumn is not related to global warming at all
D. it is certainly incorrect to owe everything to global warming