Lifeguard, sportscaster, movie star, governor, president——there wasn’t much Ronald Reagan didn’t do in life.
“The world was a vast opportunity for him,” Lou Cannon wrote in his biography（传记） of the former US president, who died on June 5，2004， aged 93.
Reagan’s final years saw him fight a losing battle against Alzheimer’s disease（老年痴呆症）. But his positive attitude toward life has given hope to many people.
Born in 1911 to a poor family in a small town in Illinois, his father was a failed salesman who drank too much. It was in these difficult times, though, that Reagan developed the powerful optimism（乐观） that would serve him so well. He always believed better times lying ahead, and this was reflected in his high school yearbook entry. “Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music,” he wrote.
As a teenager, Reagan spent summers working as a lifeguard at a local beach, saving 77 lives in seven years. He graduated from college in 1932 with a degree in economics and sociology. But America was still in the middle of the Great Depression, and jobs were hard to find. Reagan finally found work as a radio sports announcer and this road led him to Hollywood in 1937.
During the 20---year film career, he never became a leading star. As in his lifeguard days, Reagan loved to play the hero and only took the role of a bad guy once in more than 50 films.
A talented speaker who was always able to connect with his audience, Reagan became involved in politics in the 1950s. This popular touch led to him being elected the governor of California in 1967.
All the while Reagan was in California, he had his eye on the White House. In 1980, aged 69, he became the oldest man ever elected president.
He held office from 1981 to 1989, the first president to serve two complete terms after World War Ⅱ. When he left, aged 77, he held the highest popularity rate of any retiring president in US history.
He remained positive even when he discovered he had an illness that would destroy him. “I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal（永恒的optimism(乐观) for its future,”he wrote.Reagan can be best described as a man with ______.
| A．firmness | B．humour | C．optimism | D．talent |
What didn’t Reagan do in his life time?
| A．Playing the role of a bad guy. |
| B．Being a leading star of the film. |
| C．Saving people’s lives. |
| D．Working as a radio sports announcer. |
Which is the correct order of events described in the passage?
a. Reagan fought a losing battle against Alzheimer’s disease.
b. Reagan became an actor.
c. Reagan worked as a lifeguard.
d. Reagan graduated from college.
e. Reagan was elected the governor of California.
| A．a, c, d, e ,b | B．e, c, d, b, a |
| C．b, a, c, d, e | D．c, d, b, e, a |
When the writer of Reagan’s biography says “The world was a vast opportunity for him,” he really means that _______.
| A．Reagan achieved much in his whole life |
| B．Reagan could have done much better |
| C．Reagan did much for America and the world |
| D．Reagan was a very lucky man |
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Commercial (商业广告) business is profitable (有利可图的),and most radio and TV stations depend on the income. The prices for radio and TV commercials are different according to the popularity (声望) of the station and the time they give. Take WGY, a rock music station in Albary, New York, for instance, they ask $100 for a one-minute commercial from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., the morning driving time. This is a time when people are driving on their way to work and they like to turn on their car-radios.
During other hours of the day the cost varies (变化) from $25 to $60 for one minute. TV commercials are much more expensive. During a good national or international football game or baseball game, the price for a one-minute TV commercial may reach as high as $100,000. On local TV station, prices of commercials are different according to the different programmes and the time of showing. At 7 p.m., when the TV stations are showing their most popular programmes, the price for a commercial for 30 seconds is $800.
49. This passage mainly tells that ________.
A. WGY, a rock music station earns much money by broadcasting commercials
B. the prices for commercials are different according to the different programmes
C. TV commercials are much more expensive than radio ones
D. commercial business can help most radio and TV stations earn a lot of money
50. The prices for radio and TV stations depend mainly on _______.
A. different radio and TV stations
B. different time the commercials are given
C. the most popular programmes
D. all of the above
51. How much does WGY, a rock music station ask for a half minute commercial at 9 a.m.?
A. $25 B. $50 C. $60 D. $100
52. When a commercial is shown at 7 a.m. on the local TV station for one minute, it will cost ________.
A. eight hundred dollars B. eighty hundred dollars
C. sixteen hundred dollars D. sixty hundred dollars
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Winter-swimming has become popular in Beijing．Three years ago，few people would go swimming in the icy waters．But now there is a Winter-swimming Enthusiasts’ Club(冬泳爱好者协会)and it has more than 2 000 members．The oldest is 84 years old and the youngest is only 7．The members ate from all walks of life．They may be workers，peasants，soldiers，teachers， students…Though it is now the coldest part of the season and the water temperature in the city’s lakes is around 0℃，many winter-swimmers still swim in the icy waters．even when it is snowing． They enjoy themselves in the lake，while the people by the side of the lake are wearing heavy clothes．
Why are so many people interested in winter-swimming? Because winter-swimming can be good for one’ s health．
Bei Sha is a good example．He is 69，and he once suffered from(患……病)heart trouble for 26 years．After ten years of winter-swimming he is now in good health．Scientists are now studying the effects of winter-swimming on health．
45．Among the winter-swimmers the oldest man is_______years older than the youngest one．
A．91 B．84 C．77D．7
46．Guess what “The members are from all walks of life” means?
A．The members do different jobs at different places．
B．They come from all parts of Beijing．
C．They are persons of different ages．
D．They are men and women，old and young．
47．Winter-swimming has become popular in Beijing because_______．
A．more and more people like to swim in Beijing
B．it is more interesting than swimming in summer
C．winter-swimmers are brave men
D．winter-swimming does a lot of good to one’s health
48．What’s the best title for this passage?
A．People in Beijing Like Swimming in Winter
B．Winter-swimming—A Craze(狂热)in Beijing
C．People Benefit from Winter-swimming
D．Winter-swimmers Are Brave Men
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第二部分：阅读理解
第一节：阅读下列短文，从A、B、C、D选项中选出最佳选项。（每小题2分，共40分）
Let us begin by saying what causes our dreams. Our dreams do not come from another world. They are not messages from some outside source .They are not a look into the future, either.
All our dreams have something to do with our feelings, fears, longings, wishes, needs and memories. If a person is hungry, or tired, or cold , his dreams may include a feeling of this kind. If the covers on your body, such as a quilt or a blanket, have slipped off your bed, you may dream that you are sleeping on ice or in snow. The material for the dream you will have tonight is likely to come from the experience you have today.
So the subject of your dream usually comes from something that has effect on you while you are sleeping（feeling of cold, a noise, a discomfort, etc.）and it may also use your past experiences and the wishes and the interests you have now. This is why children are likely to dream of fairies, older children of school examinations, hungry people of food, home-sick soldiers of their families and prisoners of freedom.
To show you how this is happening while you are asleep and how your needs and wishes can all be joined together in a dream, here is the story of the experiment. A man was asleep and the back of his hand was rubbed with a piece of absorbed cotton. He would dream he was in hospital and his charming girlfriend was visiting him, sitting on the bed and feeling gently his hands!
There are some scientists who have made a special study of why we dream, what we dream and what those dreams mean. Their explanation of dreams, though a bit reasonable, is not accepted by everyone but it offers an interesting approach to the problem. They believe that dreams are mostly expressions of wishes that did not come true. In other words dreaming is a way of having your wishes carried out.
41. From the passage we know that our dreams_______.
A. are imagination of our daily life
B. are man’s curious look into the future
C. have nothing to do with our feelings
D. are to some degree connected with our feelings
42. In your dream when you feel like eating something it indicates（暗示）that_______
A. you are in a state of being cold B. you are in a state of being tired
C. you are in a state of hunger D. you should have had your dinner that day
43. Older children often dream of examinations probably because_______.
A. they are interested in exams
B. they are often worried about their studies
C. they hope for better life
D. they show much interest in their studies
44. Some scientists’ explanation of dreams_______.
A. is not widely accepted though a bit reasonable
B. gives an exact description of our life
C. provides us with information of dreams
D. is of no use for us
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Geniuses amaze us, impress us and make us all a little jealous．How do they differ from the average person? Scientists are working hard to figure out that answer．Tune in to the National Geographic Channel to find out about the discoveries they’re making in the series My Brilliant Brain.
When Marc Yu was only two years old, he began to play the piano．After a year, he started learning pieces by Beethoven．Now he’s a world-famous concert pianist at age eight．He learns newer and more difficult pieces with ease and can identify any note he hears．He seems to be specially designed for music．In Born Genius, National Geographic looks at the science behind child prodigies (神童) to explain why some children seem to be born without limits.
Genius didn’t come naturally to Tommy McHugh．His came only after he nearly died from bleeding in his brain．After recovering, McHugh’s head was filled with new thoughts and pictures．So, he began to express them in the form of poetry and art．Now, he’s a seemingly unstoppable creative machine．Sufferers of autism and brain injury have shown that great mental ability can sometimes come from damage or disease．Accidental Genius explores this puzzling relationship.
Can normal people be trained to be geniuses? Susan Polger has shown no signs of extraordinary intelligence．Yet, during her childhood, she studied thousands of chess patterns and learned to recognize them immediately．As a result, she was able to beat skilled adult players by age 10 and can now play up to five games at the same time without even seeing the boards．Make Me a Genius examines what it takes to turn an ordinary brain into that of a genius.
If becoming a genius were easy, we’d all be one．Yet, there is much more to super intelligence than simply being born lucky．Learn more about amazing brains this month on National Geographic’s My Brilliant Brain.
57．My Brilliant Brains is most probably from _______.
A．a website B．the radio C．a magazine D．a newspaper
58．The author takes Marc Yu as an example to show that a child prodigy is .
A．a person who learns something easily
B．a child who is eager to learn new things
C．a student who practices an instrument a lot
D．a kid who works hard to do well in school
59．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．New things about the brain are still being discovered.
B．People without natural abilities can learn to do things well.
C．Some people naturally have more active brains.
D．People are usually smarter when they recover from brain injury.
60．The author develops the passage mainly by .
A．providing typical examples
B．following the natural time order
C．presenting a cause and analyzing its effects
D．comparing opinions from different scientists
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When you are little, it’s not hard to believe you can changed the world. I remember my enthusiasm when, at the age of 12, I addressed the people at the Rio Earth Summit. “I am only a child,” I told them. "Yet I know that if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this would be. In school you teach us not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share, not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do? You grownups say you love us, but I challenge you, please, to make your actions reflect your words."
I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation. Some of the delegates even cried. I thought that maybe I had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur（刺激） action. Now, a decade from Rio, after I've sat through many more conferences, I'm not sure what has been accomplished. My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual's voice to reach them has been deeply shaken.
When I was little, the world was simple. But as a young adult, I'm learning that as we have to make choices--education, career, lifestyle--life gets more and more complicated. We are beginning to feel pressure to produce and be successful. We are learning a shortsighted way of looking at the future, focusing on four-year government terms and quarterly business reports. We are taught that economic growth is progress, but we aren't taught how to pursue a happy, healthy or sustainable way of living. And we are learning that what we wanted for our future when we were 12 was idealistic and naïve（天真）.
Today I'm no longer a child, but I'm worried about what kind of environment my children will grow up in. I know change is possible, because I am changing, still figuring out what I think. I am still deciding how to live my life. The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of the change. I hope this goal will be met through our common efforts. Thank you all.
53．The purpose of what the speaker said at the age of 12 was to .
A．end poverty and make school beautiful
B．find environmental answers and show off
C．focus people’s attention on some social problems
D．find a wonderful place and clean it up
54．What does the underlined word “ovation” in the second paragraph refer to?
A．A long period of laughing. B．A cold and unfriendly welcome.
C．An expression used for greeting. D．Great applause or cheering.
55．The information in the text is presented mainly through .
A．question and answer B．a personal lecture
C．cause and effect D．listing steps in a process
56．Which of the following best describes the speaker?
A．He is an experienced educator. B．He is an impolite man.
C．He is a man of great worries. D．He is a man of social responsibility.