When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days.
It goes like this: You can’t take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks to the rail station. We’d take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the tram, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn’t like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closet station, where Mom’s friend was waiting to give us a ride home——our first car ride of the day.
The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal (多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.
Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just light-rail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox—and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.
On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestnut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where’s the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?
I’m writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn’t try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me. Which was forbidden by Mom on Transportation Days?
| A．Having a car ride. |
| B．Taking the train twice. |
| C．Buying more than one toy. |
| D．Touring the historic district. |
According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?
| A．Building confidence in herself. |
| B．Reducing her use of private cars. |
| C．Developing her sense of direction. |
| D．Giving her knowledge about vehicles. |
The underlined word “paralyzed” (in Para. 5) is closest in meaning to “_______”.
| A．displayed |
| B．justified |
| C．ignored |
| D．ruined |
Which means of transportation does the writer probably disapprove of?
| A．Airplane. |
| B．Subway. |
| C．Tram. |
| D．Car. |
III. Reading comprehension: 50% (共20小题；每小题2.5分，满分50分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳答案。
A
As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.
Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger,conversation gives way to the parents' efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. "In general the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children's IQ scores," Lewis says. "And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is. "
The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings (兄弟姐妹). Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. "Middle children are invisible, "says Lewis. "When yon see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are it's the middle child. "There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention : "When the TV is on," Lewis says,"dinner is a non-event. "
36. The writer's purpose in writing the text is to _______
A. show the relationship between parents and children
B. teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table
C. report on the findings of a study
D. give information about family problems
37. Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because ________.
A. they are busy serving food to their children
B. they are busy keeping order at the dinner table
C. they have to pay more attention to younger children
D. they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family
38. By saying" Middle children are invisible" in Paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children _________.
A. have to help their parents to serve dinner
B. get the least attention from the family
C. are often kept away from the dinner table
D. find it hard to keep up with other children
39. Lewis' research provides an answer to the question _________.
A. why TV is important in family life
B. why parents should keep good order
C. why children in small families seem to be quieter
D. why middle children seem to have more difficulties in life
40. Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?
A. It is important to have the right food for children.
B. It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner.
C. Parents should talk to each of their children frequently.
D. Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner.
D
Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours. They work much longer than in Europe. This difference is quite surprising because productivity per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed.
In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less. In other words they have decided to "spend" a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life. Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply. But not in the United States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be greatly lower taxes in America, which increase the rewards to work. Another may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives.
Longer hours do of course increase the GDP (国内生产总值). So the United States has produced more per worker than, say, France. The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home. The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same.
It is not clear which of the two situations is better. As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in its interest. It is too early to explain the different trends (趋势）in happiness over time in different countries. But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe. Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance ?
51. From the text we know that the author __________.
A. believes that longer working hours is better
B. prefers shorter working hours to longer ones
C. says nothing certain about which pattern is better
D. thinks neither of the patterns is good
52. Which of the following countries has more of its people at work?
A. Spain. B. France. C. Germany. D. America.
53. In the last paragraph, the underlined word "which" refers to_________.
A. family life B. situations C. other values D. trends
54. What message can we get from the text?
A. The GDP of Europe, is higher than that of America.
B. Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US.
C. People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer.
D. Americans are happier than Europeans.
55. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Americans and Europeans. B. Staying at Home.
C. Work and Productivity. D. Work and Happiness.
B
Instead of hitting the beach, fourteen high school students traded swimming suits for lab coats last summer and turned their attention to scientific experiments.
The High School Research Program offers high school students guidance with researchers in Texas A&M's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Jennifer Funkhouser, academic adviser for the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management, directs this four-week summer program designed to increase understanding of research and its career potential(潜能).
Several considerations go into selecting students, including grades, school involvement and interest in science and agriculture. And many students come from poorer school districts, Funkhouser says. "This is their chance to learn techniques and do experiments they never would have a chance to do in high school".
Warner Ervin of Houston is interested in animal science and learned how to tell male from female mosquitoes (蚊子). His adviser, Craig Coates, studies the genes of mosquitoes that allow them to fight against malaria and yellow fever. Coates thought this experience would be fun and helpful to the high school students.
The agricultural research at A&M differs from stereotypes. It's “molecular (分子) science on the cutting edge”, Fnnkhouser says. The program broadened students' knowledge. Victor Garcia of Rio Grande City hopes to become a biology teacher and says he learned a lot about chemistry from the program.
At the end of the program, the students presented papers on their research. They're also paid $600 for their work---another way this program differs from others, which often charge a fee.
Fourteen students got paid to learn that science is fun, that agricuhure is a lot more than milking and plowing and that research can open many doors.
41. The research program is chiefly designed for ________
A. high school advisers from Houston
B. college students majoring in agriculture
C. high school students from different places
D. researchers at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
42. It can be inferred from the text that the students in poorer areas ___________.
A. had little chance to go to college
B. could often take part in the program
C. found the program useful to their future
D. showed much interest in their high school experiments
43. When the program was over, the students ____________.
A. entered that college B. wrote research reports
C. paid for their research D. found a way to make money
44. The underlined expression " on the cutting edge" in Paregraph 5 means" on the most ________ position".
A. important B. favourable C. astonishing D. advanced
45. What would be the best title for the text?
A. A Program for Agricultural Science Students B. A Program for Animal Science Students
C. A Program for Medical Science LoversD. A Program for Future Science Lovers
E
Some recent reports on the death penalty have brought some interesting responses from
readers all over the country. Although I really don’t like to make fun of people who oppose the
death penalty because they are so sincere, I wish they would come up with some new arguments to
replace the worn-out ones.
For example, many said something like this : “Wouldn’t it be better to keep the killers alive so
psychiatrists（精神科医生）can study them in order to find out what makes them the way they are?”
It takes the average psychiatrist about five years to figure why a guy wants to stop for two drinks after work and won’t quit smoking. So how long do you think it will take him to determine why somebody with an IQ of 92 decided to murder the little old lady who lives next door? Besides, we have a huge number of killers in our prisons—more than enough to keep all the nation’s psychiatrists busy for the next 20 years.
Another standard is: “The purpose of the law should be to protect society, not to give cruel punishment, such as the death penalty.”
In that case ,we should tear down all the prisons and let all the criminals go because most people would consider a long period in prison to be cruel punishment--especially those who are locked up. Even 30 days in the Cook County Prison is no picnic.
And: “What gives society the right to take a life if an individual can’t?” The individuals who make up society give it that right. Societies perform many functions that individuals can’t. We can’t carry guns and shoot people, but we give that right to police.
Words can not explain the suffering the families of murder victim are left to live with. The families suffer a terrible loss, and they live with terrible memories. The knowledge that the killers are alive and will probably remain alive and cared for you by society is extremely painful. Probably, people who oppose the death penalty should try explaining to these people how cruel it is to kill someone.
72．What’s the writer’s attitude towards death penalty?
A．Death penalty is a must.
B．Death penalty doesn’t solve all the problems.
C．Death penalty should be practiced more carefully.
D．Death penalty should only be used on murderers.
73．How many arguments against death penalty are discussed in the passage?
A．Two B．Three C．Four D．Five
74．What does the last sentence of the text suggest?
A．It’s cruel to use death penalty to kill someone.
B．Murder victims need more comfort from the society.
C．Opponents of death penalty should offer explanations.
D．Murderers should be put to death as the punishment.
75．The author develops the passage by .
A．providing typical examples of death penalty
B．following the natural time order
C．presenting and analyzing ideas
D．comparing opinions from different fields
D
“How did you do it, Dad? How have you managed not to take a drink for almost 20 years?” It
took a man almost 20 years to have the courage to ask my father this very personal question. When Dad first quit drinking, the whole family was on pins and needles every time he got into a situation that, in the past, would have started him drinking again. For a few years we were afraid to bring it up for fear the drinking would begin again.
“I had this little poem that I would recite to myself at least four to five times a day,” was Dad’s reply to my 18-year-old unasked question. “The words were an instant relief and constant reminder to me that things were never so tough that I could not handle them,” Dad said. And then he shared the poem with me. The poem’s simple, yet the words are meaningful.
About a month after this talk with my father, I received a gift in the mail from a friend of mine. It was a book of daily words of wisdom listed for each day of the year. It has been my experience that when you get something with days of the year on it, you naturally turn to the page that lists your own birthday.
I hurriedly opened the book to November 10 to see what words of wisdom this book had in store for me. Tears of disbelief and appreciation rolled down my face. There, on my birthday, was the exact same poem that had helped my father for all these years! It went like this: God, give me the Serenity（平静） to accept the things I cannot change; the Courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference.
68．The underlined expression “on pins and needles” in the first paragraph means .
A．upset B．pleased C．nervous D．surprised
69．Dad would review the poem several times a day .
A．to share the poem with the families B．to practice reciting the poem
C．to prevent himself from drinking again D．to remind himself that poems are useful
70．When the author saw the same poem in the book, he felt .
A．regretful B．thankful C．hopeful D．painful
71．The author bust into tears because .
A．his friends gave him a special gift B．the poem was full of wisdom
C．his father had read the same book D．his father quit drinking for his son