Jack Benny was one of the most famous names in show business.He was born in Chicago,Illinois,on February 14th,1894.His parents,Meyer and Emma Kubelsky,were religious Jews.They had moved to the United States from Eastern Europe.Benny was a quiet boy.For much of the time,his parents were busy working in his father’s store.As a child,Benny learned to play the violin.After finishing his school,he joined the Navy.He continued using his violin to perform for sailors.In one show he was chosen more for his funny jokes than for his skill with the violin.That experience made him believe that his future job was a comedian.
Benny developed a show personality that had all the qualities people dislike.He was known for being so stingy—he refused to spend any money unless forced to do so.On his shows Benny often spoke of his appearance,especially his baby blue eyes.As he grew older,he always claimed to be 39 years old.Benny rarely made jokes that hurt other people.Instead,he would let the other actors on the show tell jokes about him.
In real life,he was very giving and he was a person people liked having as their employer.Benny entered the new media of television in 1950.Five years later,he dropped his radio programme to spend more time developing his television show.At first his appearances on television were rare.By 1960 the Benny Show was a weekly television programme.It continued until 1965.Benny appeared in about twenty films during his life.A few became popular.But most were not.In 1963 Benny returned to Broadway for the first time since 1931.
Benny received many awards during his lifetime.Perhaps the one honour that pleased him most was that his hometown of Waukeegan named a school for him.This was a special honour for a man who had never finished high school.
Benny continued to perform.He died of cancer in 1974.At his funeral his friend Bob Hope said,“Jack Benny was stingy to the end.He gave us only eighty years.”Benny was determined to be a comedian after he ______.
| A.left high school |
| B.joined the Navy |
| C.performed in a show for the sailors |
| D.left the Navy for Broadway |
The underlined word “stingy” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “________”.
| A.clever | B.mean |
| C.outgoing | D.hardworking |
According to the text,on Benny’s shows,he ________.
| A.developed a good personality |
| B.played the violin skillfully |
| C.often referred to his appearance |
| D.said funny things that hurt others |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Benny?
| A.He did a good job in show business. |
| B.His first appearance on TV was very successful. |
| C.Most of his films became wellknown to Americans. |
| D.He treated all his awards as nothing. |
In the atmosphere , carbon dioxide acts rather like a one-way mirror or the glass in the roof of a greenhouse which allows the sun’s rays to enter but prevents the heat from escaping.
According to a weather expert’s prediction, the atmosphere will be 3℃ warmer in the year 2050 than it is today, if man continues to burn fuels at the present rate. If this warming up took place, the ice caps in the poles would begin to melt, thus raising sea level several meters and severely flooding coastal cities. Also, the increase in atmospheric temperature would lead to great changes in the climate of the northern hemisphere(半球), possibly resulting in an alteration of the earth’s chief food growing zones.
In the past, concern about a man-made warming of the earth has concentrated on the Arctic because the Antarctic is much colder and has a much thicker ice sheet. But the weather experts are now paying more attention to West Antarctic, which may be affected by only a few degrees of warming, in other words, by a warming on the scale that will possibly take place in the next fifty years from the burning of fuels.
Satellite pictures show that large areas of Antarctic ice are already disappearing. The evidence available suggests that a warming has taken place. This fits the theory that carbon dioxide warms the earth
However, most of the fuel is burnt in the northern hemisphere, where temperatures seem to be falling. Scientists conclude, therefore, that up to now natural influences on the weather have gone beyond those caused by man. The question is: Which natural cause has most effect on the weather?
One possibility is the variable behavior of the sun. Astronomers at one research station have studied the hot sports and ‘cold” spots( that is, the relatively less hot spots) on the sun. As the sun rotates(使旋转), every 27.5 days, it presents hotter or colder faces to the earth, and different aspects to different parts of the earth. This seems to have a considerable effect on the distribution of the earth’s atmospheric pressure, and consequently on wind circulation. The sun is also changeable over a long term: its heat output goes up and down in cycles, the latest trend being downward.
Scientists are now finding shared relations between models of solar weather interactions and the actual climate over many thousands of years, including the last Ice Age. The problem is that the models are predicting that the world should be entering a new Ice Age and it is hot. One way of solving this theoretical difficulty is to assume a delay of thousands of years while the solar effects overcome the inertia(惯性) of the earth’s climate. If this is right, the warming effect of carbon dioxide might thus be serving as a useful opposed balance to the sun’s fading heat.
63. It can be concluded that concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would ____.
A. mean a warming-up in the Arctic.
B. raise the temperature of the earth’s surface.
C. prevent the sun’s rays from reaching the earth’ s surface.
D. explain the cause of great changes in the climate in the northern hemisphere.
64. The article was written to explain____.
A. the greenhouse effect. B. the solar effects on the earth.
C. the causes affecting weather. D. the models of solar weather of solar weather interactions.
65. Although the fuel consumption is greater in the northern hemisphere, temperature there seems to be falling. This is ____.
A. mainly because the levels of carbon dioxide are rising
B. partly due to changes in the output of solar energy
C. possibly because the ice caps in the poles are melting
D. only due to the effect of the inertia of the earth’s climate
66. On the basis of their models, scientists are of the opinion that .
A. the climate of the world should be becoming cooler
B. the new Ice Age will be delayed by the greenhouse effect
C. the man-made warning effect helps to increase the solar effects
D. it will take thousands of years for the interia of the earth’s climate to take effect.
67. If the assumption about the delay of a new Ice Age is correct, ___.
A. ice would soon cover the northern hemisphere.
B. the greenhouse effect could work in favor of the earth.
C. the best way to overcome the cooling effect would be to burn more fuels.
D. the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could warm up the earth even more quickly.
(1)Paul Smith's College
The College of Nature
Experience a different kind of classroom: 14,200 acres of forests, lakes and streams, a hotel and a restaurant, 99% placement upon graduation. Two-and-four-year degree programs.
PO. Box 265
Paul Smiths, NY12970
1-800-421-2605
www.paulsmiths.edu
(2) SIMMONS
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES AND MODERN STUDIES
Simmons educates women to achieve their work and life goals. More than 40 majors.
Lie in the heart of Boston. U.S .News & World Report ranks Simmons among the top state universities in the North and among the best values.
617-521-2051
www.simmons.edu
(3) ST.MARYS UNTVERSITY
Personal Attention Powerful Programs
Experience the technology of today at our co-educational university
One Camino Santa Maria
Utah 78228-8503
800-FOR-SIMU
www.stmarytx.edu
(4) Northern University
A famous private university
with 3,200 students in Colleges of Arts & Sciences
●Business and Engineering
●Medicine and Law
Among the top ten by U.S. News and World Report
Old Union 232
CA 94305-3005
650-723-2091
www.stanford.edu
60. If a man is tired of working indoors and wouldn't like to be too far away from his girl friend who studies at Simmons, which college will be choose?
A. Simmons. B. ST. Mary's C. Paul Smith's D. Northern.
61. If a girl wanted to learn modern science and she prefers to stay by the ocean or in the northeast, which college will like best?
A.Simmons. B. ST. Mary's. C. Paul Smith's. D. Northern.
62. If a man wishes to study business and in a non-state-run university, which of the following is her favorite?
A. Simmons. B. ST. Mary's. C. Paul Smith's D. Northern.
第三部分:阅读理解(共两节,满分40分)
第一节:(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30 分)
阅读下面的短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
She was known to millions as the "Queen of Crime" or the "Duchess (女公爵) of death". But surprisingly, she hated violence and blood, and knew nothing of the weapons most often used in murder. "I don't think I dare look at a really horrible and damaged body." Agatha Christie once said.
But her pen dared travel where her eyes would not. In a 50-year writing career, Christie's murder stories made her the world's best-known mystery writer. She is outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.
Her works have been turned into films and TV series, and a line of computer games is to be released over the next six years.
"My grandmother liked to use new ways to reach people who wanted to enjoy her work," said Christie's grandson, Mathew Pritchard. "Turning her stories into PC games allows us to introduce classic mysteries to new audiences."
Born in 1890 in England, Christie was educated at home and began her writing career while working as a nurse during World War I. She went on to produce 79 novels and numerous short stories, dying at the age of 86.
"With her knowledge of murder, Christie could have been a teacher at police academies," said one fan.
56. By saying "her pen dared travel where her eyes would not", the writer means
A. she would like to make a trip with her pen rather than other things
B. she couldn't live without her pen
C. she could describe anything with her pen that she would not like to face
D. she made up stories with her pen
57. By which means can't we learn the works of Christie?
A. Watching TV. B. Going to the cinema. C. Reading novels. D. Playing computer games.
58. Mathew Prichard's words suggest that _
A. Christie had been trying to write different stories in different styles
B. Christie was fond of changing styles while writing
C. Christie's works are short of audiences
D. People began to lose interest in Christie's works
59. The fifth paragraph mainly
A. tells us Christie is a productive writer B. gives us a brief introduction of Christie
C. tells us when Christie took up writing D. tells us why Christie was popular
CANBERRA(Reuters)—Australia’s kangaroos are genetically similar to humans and may have first evolved in China, Australian researchers said Tuesday.
Scientists said they had for the first time mapped the genetic code of the Australian marsupials(有袋类)and found much of it was similar to the genome for humans, the government backed Center of Excellence for Kangaroo Genomics said.
“There are a few differences, we have a few more of this, a few less of that, but they are the same genes and a lot of them are in the same order,”center Director Jenny Graves told reporters in Melbourne.
“We thought they’d be completely scrambled, but they’re not. There is great chunks of the human genome which is sitting right there in the kangaroo genome,” Graves said, according to AAP.
Humans and knagaroos last shared an ancestor at least 150 million years ago, the researchers found, while mice and humans separated and went in different ways from one another only 70 million years ago.
Kangaroos first evolved in China, but migrated across the America to Australia and Antarctica, they said.
“Kangaroos are hugely informative about what we were like 150 million years ago,” Graves said.
68.Where does the kangaroo first develop according the scientists?
A.In China. B.In America. C.In Australia. D.In Antarctica.
69.What does the passage mainly tell us?
A.How the Kangaroo first evolved. B.Kangaroo’ genetic code have been mapped.
C.Kangaroos’genes are close to humans’. D.Scientists did much research into Kangaroos.
70.What does the underlined word “scrambled” probably mean in the fourth paragraph?
A.Funny. B.Wrong. C.Curious. D.Right.
About a year ago, I went to stay at a Detroit hotel. I didn’t want to carry too much money with me, so I asked the desk clerk(职员) to put a hundred dollar bill in the safe for me.
The next morning, however, the clerk said that he knew nothing about my money. I didn’t have any proof(证据) that I had given the man the money. There was clearly nothing left to do but to go to the nearest lawyer.
The lawyer advised me to return to the hotel with him and give another hundred-dollar bill to the desk. So we did. An hour later, I went back to the desk and asked for my money. Since I had the lawyer as an eyewitness to the second hundred-dollar bill, the clerk could not say he knew nothing about it.
Another hour later, I put the second part of the lawyer’s plan into action. This time both the lawyer and I went to the hotel to ask for the hundred-dollar bill once again. And when the clerk insisted that he had given it to me, I said it was not true. The lawyer said to him, “ I saw this gentleman give you a hundred-dollar bill. If you don’t hand it in immediately, I will be forced to call the policeman.” The clerk realized he had been cheated, so he gave me back the first hundred-dollar bill.
“I don’t know how to thank you enough for getting my money back.” I said to the lawyer. And what do you suppose he answered? He said, “oh, don’t thank me. That will be one hundred dollars, please.”
64.What do you think a “safe” is?
A.a box to put money or other valuables in B.a desk at the checking counter
C.a drawer in which guests’ money is kept D.a public purse to put money in
65.The clerk finally returned my money to me because________.
A.the lawyer had seen everything B.he was afraid of going to prison
C.the bill was not real money D.I had called the police
66.Which of the following would be the best title for the story?
A.How I lost my money! B.Cheated by a clerk
C.Don’t believe in lawyers! D.At a Detroit hotel
67.How much did the author lose in all?
A.100 dollars. B.200 dollars. C.300 dollars. D.400 dollars.