Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s. the sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 percent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people’s diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.
Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetable.
People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.
Today, we know that the little iron in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid.
It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.A good title for this reading passage is______.
A.Popeye the Sailor |
B.The Truth About Spinach |
C.A Mistake with Numbers |
D.Folic Acid Makes You Strong |
Why did many people eat spinach after they saw Popeye the Sailor?
A.People liked folic acid. |
B.They thought Popeye was funny. |
C.Spinach had a lot of iron. |
D.They thought spinach made them strong. |
A research group told people that spinach______.
A.made Popeye strong |
B.was a green vegetable |
C.had less iron than other green vegetables |
D.had more iron than other green vegetables |
The reading passage says that perhaps Popeye got his strength from______.
A.iron | B.spinach | C.folic acid | D.exercise |
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每小题2分,满分40分)
My family couldn’t afford to send me to school when I was 16. When my mother took me out of school, I really lost heart about my life and didn’t know what I was going to do.
I worked to help my mother sell newspapers and that was all I could do at the time. When I was 18 years old, my mother started telling me that I would have to live on my own. I felt very frightened of the future. One night while I was watching television, a piece of news about joining the army caught my eyes. I had admired soldiers since I was very young. Now the chance came and I felt pleased. The next day I called the number on the news and set up an appointment to meet the recruiter(征兵人员), an elderly officer. When he heard that I didn’t graduate from high school, he told me that I had a slim(微小的) chance. I explained to him that I would study to improve myself and work hard. At last, he agreed to try to help me.
About a month later he asked me to go to his office and explained to me that he would get me in the service(服役) but I had to promise him that I would make the best of this chance he was trying to create for me and I did. He was able to help me join the army and I kept my promise by doing eight years and receiving an Honorable Discharge (光荣退伍证) from the service. After that, I have worked as a guard with good pay.
56. Why did the author drop out of high school?
A. Because he wanted to help his mother.
B. Because his mother wanted him to work.
C. Because he lost interest in study.
D. Because his family was too poor.
57. When the author got out of school, he felt _______.
A. relaxed B. hopeless C. bored D. frightened
58. How did the author succeed in joining the army?
A. Through his mother’s encouragement and his luck.
B. Through his great performance before the recruiter.
C. Through his sincere(真诚的) request and an officer’s help.
D. Through his optimistic attitude and serious promise.
59. We can infer from the text that _________.
A. people can achieve success if they don’t give up
B. a person’s achievements depend mainly on other’s help
C. failure in one field doesn’t mean failure in another
D. people should be confident in the face of difficulties
There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The one most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama came from ritual (宗教仪式). The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world, even the seasonal changes, as unpredictable, and they sought through various means, to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then kept and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths (神话), coutinued to exist and provided material for art and drama.
Those who believe that drama came from ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used. Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the “acting area” and the “watching area.” In addition, there were performers, and, since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in performing, religious leaders usually undertook that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often imitated other people, animals, or supernatural beings, and used gestures about the desired effect, success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival (复活) of the Sun. Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities.
Another theory traces the theater’s origin from the human interest in storytelling. According to this view, tales about the hunt, war, or other feats are gradually added in detail, at first through imitation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely-related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitations of animal movements and sounds.
67.What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The origins of theater. B. The role of ritual in modern dance.
C. The importance of storytelling. D. The variety of early religious activities.
68.What aspect of drama does the author discuss in the first parapraph?
A. The reason why drama is often unpredictable.
B. The seasons in which dramas were performed.
C. The connection between myths and dramatic plots.
D. The importance of costumes in early drama.
69.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a common element of theater and ritual?
A. Dance. B. Costumes. C. Music. D. Magic.
70.According to the passage, what is the main difference between ritual and drama?
A. Ritual uses music whereas drama does not.
B. Ritual is shorter than drama.
C. Ritual requires fewer performers than drama.
D. Ritual has a religious purpose and drama does not.
Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the websites you’ve visited. Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.
In fact, it’s likely some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen—the 21st century equivalent(equal) of being caught naked.
Psychologists tell us boundaries (dividing line) are healthy, that it’s important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread pieces you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.
Thekeyquestionis:Doesthatmatter?
FormanyAmericans,theanswerapparentlyis“no.”
When opinion polls (民意测验) ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found an overwhelming (very large) pessimism about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is “slipping away, and that bothers me.”
But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny part of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve (protect) their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths (收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessanfro Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will surrender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon (优惠券).
But privacy does matter—at least sometimes. It’s like health: when you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it.
63.What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?
A. Friends should open their hearts to each other.
B. Friends should always be faithful to each other.
C. There should be a distance even between friends.
D. There should be fewer disputes between friends.
64.Why does the author say “we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret” (Line 4—5, Para, 3)?
A. Modern society has finally developed into an open society.
B. People leave traces around when using modern technology.
C. There are always people who are curious about others’ affairs.
D. Many search engines profit by revealing people’s identities.
65.What do most Americans do about privacy protection?
A. They change behaviors that might disclose their identity.
B. They use various loyalty cards for business deals.
C. They rely more and more on electronic devices.
D. They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it.
66.According to the passage, privacy is like health because ________.
A. people will make every effort to keep it
B. its importance is rarely understood
C. it is something that can easily be lost
D. people don’t cherish it until they lose it
I don’t ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it’s like to work in a field dominated (controlled) by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space, time and the nature of black holes.
At 19, when I began studying astrophysics (天体物理学), it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement—jobs, research papers, awards—was viewed through the lens of gender politics. So were my failures. Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus right brain, or nature versus nurture (培育), I would instantly fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind.
Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all provocations (挑衅): I don’t talk about that anymore. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn’t want to deal with gender issues. Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I don’t study sociology or political theory.
Today I research and teach at Barnard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer, 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t take account of those concerns. Still, I don’t tell them “war” stories. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant (怀孕的) doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about.
59.From Paragraph 2, we can infer that people would attribute (把……归因于) the author’s failures to ________.
A. the very fact that she is a woman
B. her involvement in gender politics
C. her over-confidence as a female astrophysicist
D. the burden she bears in a male-dominated society
60.What did the author constantly fight against while doing her Ph.D. and post-doctoral research?
A. Lack of confidence in succeeding in space science.
B. Unfair accusations (accusing sb.) from both inside and outside her circle.
C. People’s fixed attitude toward female scientists.
D. Widespread wrong understanding about nature and nurture.
61.Why does the author feel great satisfaction when talking about her class?
A. Female students no longer have to bother about gender issues.
B. Her students’ performance has brought back her confidence.
C. Her female students can do just as well as male students.
D. More female students are pursuing science than before.
62.What does the image that the author presents to her students suggest?
A. Women students needn’t have the concerns of her generation.
B. Women have more difficulties on their way to academic success.
C. Women can balance a career in science and having a family.
D. Women now have fewer problems pursuing a science career.
●CAFE DISPLAY
●OUR JOURNEYS
●12 April-29 May 2008
Young people explore how they have adapted to life in Oxford.
“When I first came here,” says one young African woman, “I just wanted to cry all the time. And now I have learned to laugh again.” Working with photographer Rory Carnegie and writer Nikki van der Gaag, young men and women explore their journey from the time they first arrived in a strange place to where they find themselves today. Organised by The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival (10-17 April 2008). Supported by the Maggie Black Trust and Oxford City Council.
●ACTIVlTlES FOR CHlLDREN AND FAMILIES
●MODERN ART TROLLEY FREE
Art activities for children every weekend during the exhibition in the Entrance Space from 2 p. m. to 4 p. m. Just drop in. Children must be led by an adult.
●WORKSHOP FOR 8 TO 12 YEAR OLDS
Thursday 7 April, 10:30 a. m. to 1:30 p. m.
Looking at themes from the exhibition and exploring pictures based ideas through group discussion and using digital cameras. Led by Judie Waldmann.
●BOOK LAUNCH FREE
The Drawing Book by Sarah Simblet is a practical approach to drawing the world around you. Sarah Simblet, who teaches at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford, will be present to give a short talk about the development of her book. Special price of£18 on copies purchased in the evening.
Booking recommended on 01865 813802
●TEACHERS’EVENING FREE
Thursday 21 April, 5 p.m. to 7:30 p. m.
Lecture by Susan Bright, independent writer and lecturer, at 5:30 p. m. followed by an opportunity to view the exhibition. FREE Education Notes will be provided for teachers attending the evening.
●WORKSHOP FOR PRIMARY TEACHERS
Saturday 7 May, 10:30 a. m. to 1:30 p. m.
Workshop for primary teachers who would like to develop their practical art skill as well as gain an understanding of modern art practice. Led by Judie Waldmann, artist and former primary school teacher.
●TALKS AND WORKSHOPS FOR SCHOOL GROUPS
Exhibition talks and artist-led workshops to create work in response to the exhibition are available for pre-booked school groups.Suitable for primary and secondary schools, to check availability and discuss details call Sarah Mossop on 1865 813816.
55.If you are a teacher and interested in art, you probably would like to go to ________.
A. TEACHERS’EVENING
B. MODERN ART TROLLEY
C. WORKSHOP FOR PRIMARY TEACHERS
D. TALKS AND WORKSHOPS FOR SCHOOL GROUPS
56.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Susan Bright will give a short talk at the launch of the Drawing Book.
B. Rory Carnegie and Nikki will teach young people how to take photos.
C. The workshop led by Judie is intended for the secondary school students.
D. The children who go to the Modern Art Trolley must be led by an adult.
57.Which of the following would be the best title of the text?
A. FREE JOURNEYS B. SPRING EVENTS
C. WEEKEND ACTIVITIES D. ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHERS
58.The passage makes you believe that __________.
A. if you attend “BOOK LAUNCH”, you can get the book at a low price.
B. school groups can attend talks and workshops for them at any time.
C. almost all the young people have difficulty in adapting to life in Oxford.
D. TEACHERS’ EVENING is only accessible to teachers.