In most languages, a greeting is usually followed by “small talk”. Small talk means the little things we talk about at start of a conversation. In English-speaking countries people often make small talk about the weather: “Nice day, isn’t it?” But there is something special about small talk. It must be about something which both people have the same opinion about. The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something. This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable. People usually agree about the weather, so it is a safer topic for small talk. But people often disagree about religion or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk in English. The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place. At football matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching: “Great game, isn’t it?” At bus stops, people may comment about the transport system: “The bus service is terrible, isn’t it?”
Greetings and small talk are important parts of conversation in any language. The way people greet each other and the things they talk about, however, may be different from one language to another. This shows that there is much more to learn when we learn a language than just the vocabulary and the grammar of the language. We also have to learn the social behavior of the people who speak it.Small talk __________ .
| A．is a kind of conversation with short words |
| B．is a greeting when people meet each other |
| C．is to let people disagree about something |
| D．is something we talk about to start with a conversation |
Why do people need small talk?
| A．To choose a topic for conversation. |
| B．To agree about the weather. |
| C．To let meeting people become easier and more comfortable. |
| D．To learn a language. |
The passage suggests that when we learn a language ,__________．
| A．we should grasp the importance of the language |
| B．we should know the culture of the language |
| C．we should only master the grammar and vocabulary |
| D．we should learn about the transport system of the country |
Ⅲ阅读(共两节，满分40分)
第一节阅读理解(共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Learning English is a great challenge, but with a little help from technology it can be as easy as a piece of cake.
As well as the classroom, teachers and textbooks, the Internet, TV and radio programs can play an active role in helping learn English. The Internet is full of rich and up-to-date information. English learners might wish to try http://www.in2english.com.cn. This website is co-established by the British Council, the BBC World Service and Central Radio and TV University. It provides cultural information about Britain and has an example of the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) that students can use for practice. Different levels of grammar tests can also be found.
Make friends online
Another useful website for middle school students and teachers is. Besides reading 21st Century School Edition online, students are also invited to put their views on different topics up on the website.
Users have the opportunity to make friends with people who share their interests.
In the teaching and learning section, there are reading and vocabulary tips for students.
Compared with the Internet, TV programs have their own advantages: one does not have to sit at a computer and the audio and visual effects can even be relaxing.
One popular English-learning program is called "Modern English". This focuses on oral English in practical situations such as taking photos and shopping.
The short dialogues and useful phrases may help students to express themselves if they go abroad or meet foreigners in China. More than 50 TV stations in about 300 cities have aired the program.
Word to World
If you watch Beijing Television Channel 8, you might see a program titled "Study Abroad". On this show Professor Wang Qiang from New Oriental School hosts "From Word to World".
He selects words with a deep cultural background and teaches useful phrases related to that word. Cartoons are also used to explain how to use the word in daily life. Listening to the radio may not be a new way to learn English but it is easy.
China Radio International airs a program called "Studio Classroom" at 6:30 a.m. every day. This 25-minute program is aimed at middle school students and covers subjects from current news to travel and history, all in simple language.
41. This passage ______.
A. introduces some new websites and TV and radio programs
B. focuses on advantages and disadvantages of different medium forms
C. recommends technological help in learning English
D. aims at advertising various English courses
42. If you want to read an English newspaper and make comments on different topics, you try_____.
A. www.in2english.com.cn. B. www.21se.com.cn.
C. Modern English D. Studio Classroom
43. One can practise oral English in everyday situations in _____.
A. Studio Classroom B. From Word to World
C. Study Abroad D. Modern English
44. According to the author, one superiority of TV programs over the Internet is that they ____.
A. offer more English learning resources
B. cost you nothing
C. have better audio and visual effects
D. have English courses available whenever you need them
45. The author wants the readers to know that learning English ______.
A. is difficult
B. is easy
C. is neither easy nor difficult
D. can be made much easier with a little help of modern technology
Botany, the study of plants, occupies a special position in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest (含糊的) of insight. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things, even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of peoples, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, eyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognized accurately hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them, botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of knowledge at all.
Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid. When our Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer productions the next season, the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the wonder of agriculture; cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild and the built up knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and close relationship with plants in the wild would begin fade away.
51. Which of the following statements about early humans is expressed in the passage?
A. They probably had extensive knowledge of plants.
B. They thought there was no need to cultivate crops.
C. They did not enjoy the study of botany.
D. They placed great importance on the ownership of property.
52. What does the comment “This is logical.” In the first paragraph mean?
A. There is no clear way to determine the extent of our ancestor’s knowledge of plants.
B. It is not surprising that early humans had a detailed knowledge of plants.
C. It is reasonable to assume that our ancestors behaved very much like people in pre-industrial societies.
D. Human knowledge of plants is well organized and very detailed.
53. According to the passage, why has general knowledge of botany begun to fade?
A. People no longer value plants as a useful resource.
B. Botany is not recognized as a special branch of science.
C. Research is unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of plants.
D. Direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased.
54. In the second paragraph, what is the author’s purpose in mentioning “ a rose, an apple, or an orchid”?
A. To make the passage more poetic.
B. To give an example of plant that are attractive.
C. To give botanical examples that all readers will recognize.
D. To explain the variety of botanical life.
55. According to the passage, what was the first great step toward the practice of agriculture?
A. The invention of agricultural tools and machinery.
B. The development of a system of names for plants.
C. The discovery of grasses that could be harvested and replanted.
D. The changing diets of early humans.
All her life, my mother wanted busy children. It was very important that her house should remain at all times clean and tidy. You could turn your back for a moment in my mother’s house, leave a half-written letter on the dining room table, a magazine open on the chair, and turn around to find that my mother had “put it back where it belonged,” as she explained.
My wife, one of her first visits to my mother’s house, placed a packet of biscuits on an end table and went to the kitchen to fetch a drink. When she returned, she found the packet had been removed. Confused, she set down her drink and went back to the kitchen for more biscuits, only to return to find that her drink had disappeared. Up to then she had guessed that everyone in my family held onto their drinks, so as not to make water rings on the end tables. Now she knows better.
These disappearance had a confusing effect on our family. We were all inclined to (有……的倾向) forgetfulness, and it was common for one of us, upon returning from the bathroom, to find that every sign of his work in progress had disappeared suddenly. “ Do you remember what I was doing?” was a question frequently asked, but rarely answered.
Now my sister has developed a second-hand love of cleaning windows, and my brother does the cleaning in his house, perhaps to avoid having to be the one to lift his feet. I try not to think about it too much, but I have at this later time started to dust the furniture once a week.
We have all become busy persons.
46. Which of the following is TRUE about my mother?
A. she enjoyed removing others’ drinks. B. She became more and more forgetful.
C. She preferred to do everything by herself. D. She wanted to keep her house in good order.
47. My wife could not find her biscuits and drink in my mother’s house because _______.
A. she had already finished them B. my mother had taken them away
C. she forgot where she had left them D. someone in my family was holding them
48. The underlined part suggests that my sister ______.
A. is happy to clean windows B. loves to clean used windows
C. is fond of cleaning used windows D. likes cleaning windows as my mother did
49. How many persons are mentioned in the passage?
A. Six. B. Seven. C. Five. D. Four.
50. This passage mainly tells us that ______.
A. my mother often made us confused
B. my family members had a poor memory
C. my mother helped us to form a good habit
D. my wife was surprised when she visited my mother
第三部分阅读（共两节，满分40分）
第一节阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列三篇短文，从每题所给的四个选现（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
American like to visit the national parks. In 1996, over 250,000,000 people visited areas run by the National Park Service. Experts predict that by 2010, 500,000,000 people per year will visit the parks. As a result, people are trying to think of ways to protect the parks from the crowds.
The crowding of the parks has caused several problems. One is that there is not enough space for all of the people who want to use the parks. To cope with this problem, national parks may require reservations months in advance for some spots. The Park Service may also raise entrance fees at these places.
Another problem caused by increased park use is pollution. Some garbage and waste can be cleaned up, and the cleanup can be paid for by increased entrance fees. To cut down on noise pollution and air pollution, officials may decrease the number of cars allowed in parks. If this happens, people may use buses to travel around the parks. Officials may also limit the use of jet-skis, snowmobiles (摩托雪橇), motorboats, and sightseeing helicopters and planes.
The parks are also threatened by development that is going on around them. For example, around Yellow Stone Park, many motels (汽车旅馆), golf courses, resorts, and other tourist attractions have been built. Some of these developments affect areas that are used by animals. People will have to learn to agree about ways to protect the parks. If they do not, there will soon be no reason to visit these national treasures.
41. By 2010, the number of visitors will rise by ______ per year.
A. 250 million B. 500 million C. 2.5 billion D. 5 billion
42. If you want to visit the national parks, you may have to _____ in the future.
A. pay less than before B. stay there for months
C. book the ticket before months D. fill in a form to apply for the ticket
43. Entrance fees may be increased _______.
A. just for the benefit of the National Park Service
B. either to limit the number of visitors or to pay for the cleaner
C. not only to protect the animals but to reduce the noise pollution
D. merely for the development of the national parks
44. What does the underlined sentence in the passage mean?
A. People are not supposed to visit the national parks for fear that they will harm the animals.
B. Only if more man-made tourist attractions are built will more people visit the parks.
C. It is reasonable to keep the balance between the development of the parks and the reserve.
D. People will not visit the national parks since there are no golf courses and resorts.
45. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. High fees may probably keep some people out of parks.
B. Helicopters and planes will not be used in parks any longer.
C. The bus will become the only toot in parks with the purpose of pollution reduction.
D. The National Park Service welcomes as many visitors as possible.
If you're in charge of a project, the key to success is getting everyone to want to help you. As a director, I point, I suggest, I gently push the actors in the direction I want them to go.
In the 1986 movie Nothing in Common, Jackie Gleason's character, Max Basner, gets fired (or unemployed) from his job as a clothing salesman. The scene, shot (拍) on a boat, shows Max's despair(绝望) about being out of work. I was looking for some gesture that would allow Max to show his feelings.
Jackie had far more experience at everything than I did, and at first I was frightened. What could I possibly tell “The Great One” about acting? Out of fear I decided to direct by suggestion, and I sat down with Gleason to talk about the scene. “So Max is sad, right?” I said.
Gleason nodded.
“And he’s probably still carrying his pens with his name on them ---the ones he used to hand out to his customers, right?”
Gleason nodded.
“ So what would you want to do with the pens after you were fired?” He was silent for a moment. “Why don’t I throw them overboard (or all over the boat)?” I stood up and turned toward the crew. “Hey, everybody, Jackie has a wonderful idea. Let’s shoot it.”
After filming the scene, Gleason called me over and said with a smile, “Garry, what kind of wonderful idea am I going to have tomorrow?” You and your team can discover the answers to problems together. When there are no prizes or gold stars for who gets the solution (or the way to work out a problem) first, you'll all benefit (or get something of use or value) when everything turns out right.
48. The author tells us that to succeed in a project you are in charge of, you should __.
A. make everyone work for you
B. get everyone willing to help you
C. let people know you have the final say
D. keep sending out orders to them
49. It can be inferred(推断) that ______________.
A. Jackie Gleason is the director of the film Nothing in common
B. Jackie Gleason is very angry when he is fired from his job
C. Max, a character in a film, is in very low spirits(情绪) when he loses his job
D. Jackie Gleason is the writer of the film Nothing in common
50. “The Great One” in paragraph 3 refers to ___________.
A. Gleason B. the director himself C. MaxD. Max's boss
51. Why did Gleason call the director over and smile at him? That’s because Gleason ___
A. thought his wonderful idea was accepted by the latter(后者)
B. succeeded in hitting upon (or think of) a wonderful idea
C. was certain about his work the next day
D. appreciated the latter's way of directing films
52. The best title for the passage is ____________.
A. Directing a Film B. The Key to Success
C. A Wonderful Experience D. Working with Film Stars