When scientists accidentally killed what turned out to be the world’s oldest living creature, it was bad enough. Now, their mistake has been worsened after further research found it was even older – at 507 years.
The ocean quahog, a type of deep-sea clam, was dredged (捕捞) alive from the bottom of the North Atlantic near Iceland in 2006 by researchers. They then put it in a fridge-freezer, as is normal practice, unaware of its age. It was only when it was taken to a laboratory that scientists from Bangor University studied it and concluded it was 400 years old.
The discovery made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. However, by this time, it was too late for Ming the Mollusc(软体动物), named after the Chinese dynasty when its life began. Unfortunately researchers who calculated Ming’s age killed it instantly by opening its shell.
The researchers opened the ancient clam up to judge its age by counting growth rings inside. But the rings were so close together that scientists ended up having to count the rings on the outside to be accurate, leading CBS journalists to point out that if scientists had just started there, Ming could have lived on. Now, after examining the quahog more closely, using more advanced methods, the researchers have found the animal was actually 100 years older than they first thought.
Dr Paul Butler, from the University’s School of Ocean Sciences, said: “We got it wrong the first time and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then. But we are absolutely certain that we’ve got the right age now.” The mollusc was born in 1499 – just seven years after Columbus discovered America and before Henry VIII had even married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon in 1509.
A quahog’s shell grows by a layer every year, in the summer when the water is warmer and food is plentiful. It means that when its shell is cut in half, scientists can count the lines in a similar way that trees can be dated by rings in their trunks.
Jan Heinemeier, associate professor at the University of Denmark, who helped date Ming, told Science Nordic: “The fact that we got our hands on a 507-year-old animal is incredibly fascinating, but the really exciting thing is of course everything we can learn from studying the mollusk.”At first, the scientists found that _____________.
| A．The ocean quahog got a deadly disease |
| B．The growth rings inside were so close together |
| C．it was accurate to count the growth rings outside |
| D．The ocean quahog was 400 years old |
Why did the scientists open the ancient clam up?
| A．To count the growth rings outside of the clam. |
| B．To study how old the clam was. |
| C．To see the structure of it. |
| D．To give an immediate operation on it. |
The sixth paragraph is mainly about_____________.
| A．How to calculate the age of a tree |
| B．Why a quahog’s shell grows by a layer each year |
| C．How to calculate the age of a quahog |
| D．Why a quahog likes it when the water is warmer |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The researchers have got the right age of the ocean quahog. |
| B．The mollusc was born after Columbus discovered America. |
| C．The ocean quahog was named after the Chinese dynasty. |
| D．A quahog’s shell grows by a layer every season. |
Where does the text probably come from?
| A．A magazine of marine life. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A biography. | D．A science fiction. |
Each year, prizes are presented to adults who make great achievements in art, writing, science, and economics. So 
why not give awards to kids?
Harry Leibowitz asked himself that question in 1996. As an answer, he and his wife, Kay, created the World of Children organization and began handing out awards to kids and adults whose work has helped kids all over the world. The awards the World of Children presents are nicknamed（给……起绰号）the “ Children’s Nobel Prize”.
“You know, children are so important,” Leibowitz, a retired business manager, told me. “ We should have prizes for children if we’re going to have prizes for everything else.”
Talia Leman, from Iowa, w
as awarded a Founder’s Youth Award for Leadership this year. She is only 13 years old, but she has completed a lot. In 2005, she founded “ RandomKid”. Since then, it has raised more th
an$10 million to help kids in 48 states in the U.S. and in 19 other countries.
One place helped by RandomKid was a school built in Cambodia to enable 300 kids to go to school. The organization has also helped fix a school for 200 kids in Louisiana, and provided interactive play centers that serve more than 500 kids in hospitals in Iowa. In faraway places like Africa, RandomKid has provided money to buy water pumps（水泵）.
Talia never thought that the organization she founded would be as successful as it has become. She said, “ My first goal was to raise $1million. That seemed really high, but when you reach a goal, you always wind up reaching higher, and we actually raised $10 million.”
I asked her what advice she would offer to other young people who want to help kids in need. “ Well, I’d say the first thing would be to find an adult and tell them your idea,” Talia said. “ They’re really the people who can help, and from there I think 
it can just really take off.”
63. The purpose of the first two paragraphs is to tell us .
A. the origin of the Nobe1 Prize
B. the achievements Harry and his wife made
C. how the “ Children’s Nobe1 Prize” was star
ted
D. how Harry and his wife helped kids
64. The World of Children presents awards to those who .
A. help the kids in the U.S B. realize the importance of education
C. raise a lot of money for the poor D. do a lot to help kids in need
65. Which of the following
is TRUE about Talia?
A. She founded a hospital for 500 kids in Iowa.
B. She offered money to buy water pumps for Africans.
C. She helped teach 300 kids in a school in Cambodia.
D. She built a school for 200 kids in Louisiana.
66. What advice is given by Talia to those who want to help kids in need?
A. To ask for an idea from adults. B. To set a higher goal at first.
C. To win help from adults. D. To make an idea become popular.
A woman and a man were involved in a car accident on a snowy cold Monday morning. Both of their cars became totally damaged. But amazingly neither of them was hurt. God works in mysterious ways.
After they got out of their cars, the woman said, “ So you’re a man. That’s interesting. I’m a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There’s nothing left, but we’re unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be
friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days.”
Flattered（受到了奉承）, the man replied, “ Oh yes, I agree with 
you completely. This must be a sign from God!”
The woman continued, “And look at this, here’s another miracle. My car is completely destroyed but this bottle of wine doesn’t break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune.” Then she handed the bottle to the man.
The man nodded his head in agreement, opened it and drank half the bottle and then handed it back to the woman. The woman took t
he bottle and immediately put the cap back on, and handed it back to the man.
The man asked, “ Aren’t you having any?”
The woman replied, “ No. I think I’ll just wait for the police…”
60. What was the result of the accident?
A. The drivers were badly hurt.
B. The cars were completely destroyed.
C. The police arrived and saved the drivers.
D. The drivers became good friends.
61. The woman told the man to drink the wine to .
A. thank God’s help B. accept her apology
C. celebrate their survivalD. calm down and get relaxed
62. Which of the following words can best describe the woman?
A. Tricky. B. Friendly. C. Generous. D. Optimistic（乐观的）.
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Most people think that the capital of the movie world is Hollywood, in the United States. However, the real movie capital is Mumbai, in India. Mumbai used to be known as Bombay, and so the film industry（工业）there is called “Bollywood”. Bollywoo
d makes twice as many movies each year as Hollywood-more than 800 films a year.
The movies from Bollywood are very different from Hollywood movies. For one thing, Bollywood movies are much longer than most Hollywood movies. Most Bollywood movies are more than three hours long, and contain singing, dancing, action adventure, mystery, and romance ( but usually no kissing). Because Bollywood films contain so many different features, this style of film is sometimes called a “ masala” film.
Another big difference between Bollywood and Holl
ywood movies is the way the movies are made. It takes much longer to make a movie in Hollywood than in Bollywood. In fact, filming may begin on a Bollywood movie before the script（剧本）is even finished. The director and writers can make up the story while the film is being made. Sometimes they will even write the script by hand instead of taking time to type it.
Bollywood actors are very popula
r and some are in such high demand that they may work on several movies at the same time. They may even shoot（拍摄）scenes for several films on the same day using the same costumes and scenery. Since most Bollywood movies follow the same kind of story, shooting scenes for several films at the same time is not a big problem for actors or directors. This also helps keep the cost of Bollywood movies lower than the cost of Hollywood movies. The average Bollywood film, with a budget（预算）of only two million US dollars, seems very cheap compared to the average budget of sixty million US dollars for a Hollywood film -thirty times as much!
56．Which
of the following is the main topic of the reading?
A. Famous stars in Bollywood.
B. The differences between two movie industries.
C. How Bollywood movies are made.
D. The history of movie making in India.
57. Which of the following is NOT true about Mumbai?
A. It is the movie capital of India.
B. The new name is Bombay.
C. More movies are made there than in Hollywood.
D. It is less expensive to make films there than in Hollywood.
58. Bollywood films are often called “ masala” films because .
A. they are very popular B. they are much longer than Hollywood films
C. they show Indian culture D. they mix different styles of movies
59. Which of the following statements would the writer probably agree with?
A. Most Bollywood movies are very similar.
B. It takes a lot of money to make a good movie.
C. Only Indian people can understand Bollywood movies.
D. Hollywood movies are too short.
Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experience? Strangely enough, the answer to these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given to us at birth, and no amount of education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of person’s intelligence are fixed at birth, whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.
It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random from population, it is likely that their degree of intelligence will be completely different. If, on the other hand, we take two identical twins, they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.
Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part. This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all are likely to have similar degree of intelligence.
51. The writer is in favor of the view that man’s intelligence is given to him____________.
A. at birth B. through education
C. both at birth and through education D. neither at birth nor through education
52. If a child is born with low intelligence, he can_____________________.
A. become a genius B. still become a genius if he should be given special education
C. reach his intelligence limits in rich surroundings
D. not reach his intelligence in his life.
53. In the second paragraph, the underlined sentence means if we_______________.
A．pick any two persons
B. take out two different persons
C. choose two persons who are relative
D. choose two persons with different intelligence
54. The example of the twins going to a university and to a factory separately shows___________.
A. the importance of their intelligence B. the role of environment on intelligence
C. the importance of their positions D. the part that birth plays
55. The best title of the passage can be _______________.
A. Surroundings B. Intelligence
C. Dependence on Environment D. Effect of education
It was Thanksgiving morning and in the crowded kitchen of my small home I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags huddling together inside the storm door on the top step.
“Any old papers, lady?” asked one of them.
I was busy. I wanted to say “no” until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little sandals, wet with heavy snow.
“Come in and I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa.”
They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor. I served them cocoa and bread with jam to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget.
The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, “Lady, are you rich?”
I looked at my shabby slipcovers. The girl put her cup back in its saucer carefully and said, “Your cups match your saucers.” Her voice was hungry with a need that no amount of food could supply. They left after that, holding their bundles of papers against the wind. They hadn’t said “Thank you.” They didn’t need to. They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful. Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.
I tasted the potatoes and stirred the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job—these matched, too.
I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my floor. Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how rich I am.
46. Two children came to the writer’s front door because _________________.
A. it was Thanksgiving Day
B. they were beggars
C. they wanted old papers
D. they wanted a cup of cocoa
47. Why did the writer let the children in?
A. She showed great pity on them
B. She had old papers to sell
C. She wanted to invite them to her Thanksgiving feast
D. She wanted them to see how rich she was
48. The girl thought the writer was rich perhaps because ________________.
A. she saw that the lady’s room was comfortable
B. she saw the cups matched the saucers
C. the writer’s slipcovers were very new
D. the writer was preparing a big meal while she was too hungry.
49. From the passage, we can infer that whether you are rich depends on ____________.
A. how much money you have had B. how you feel about your life
C. how you have helped others D. what job your husband is doing
50. The writer left the muddy prints of small sandals on the floor for a while to ____________.
A. show her husband that someone had come
B. remind her that she had helped two children
C. remind her that she was very rich in the neighborhood
D. remind her how life should be