“Human beings are ruder today because they are rushed and more ‘time poor’ than ever before,” says Patsy Rowe, “ Manners have fallen off the radar(雷达).” Due to our strong attraction to electronic equipment it is a wonder more people don’t wake up each morning and greet the singing birds with a complaint（抱怨）about the noise. Here are some examples of rudeness.
Some people prefer to do almost everything over the internet. To them, dealing with an actual human is like an evolutionary step backward. It feels very slow because humans don’t work at 4G speeds. When you have dinner with friends, you will often notice someone paying more attention to his mobile phone. We have programmed ourselves to think that every new message brings life-changing news, so taking calls and checking our texts are more important than talking to the people we are with. What is worse, some people even tend to send anonymous（匿名的） rude messages by email.
However, rudeness is never acceptable, Don’t assume it is OK to be rude if the person you’re in touch with won’t recognize you. If you have something awful to say, have the courage to face the person and say it, write a letter or email and sign it, or forget it. Upsetting people with unsigned messages is cruel and disgusting.
We shouldn’t blame technology for our shortcomings.Technology is here to help us, but we should not allow it to take over our lives. An important step ia acknowledging our shortcomings.People spend a lot of time pointing out bad manners but it would be even more help if we′d publicly acknowledge good manners when we see them.What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in Paragraph I?
| A．People can tell good from bad behavior. |
| B．Radar is able to observe human behavior. |
| C．People care little about their behavior. |
| D．Radar can be used to predict human behavior. |
Some people are less willing to deal with humans because
| A．they are becoming less patient |
| B．they are growing too independent |
| C．they have to handle many important messages |
| D．they have to follow an evolutionary step backward. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．We should applaud good behavior. |
| B．Technology can never be blamed |
| C．We should keep pointing out mistakes. |
| D．Technology will take over lives one day. |
B
Early in the 16th century men were trying to reach Asia by traveling west from Europe. In order to find Asia they had to find a way past South America. The man who finally found the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific was Ferdinand Magellan (麦哲伦). Magellan sailed from Seville in August, 1519 with five ships and about 280 men. Fourteen months later, after spending the cold winter on the coast of Patagonia, he discovered the channel which is now called Magellan Strait(海峡). In November, 1520, after many months of dangers from rocks and storms, the three remaining ships entered the ocean on the other side of South America. They then continued, hoping to reach Asia. But they did not see any land until they reached the islands off the coast of Asia. Before they arrived at these islands, later known as the Philippines (菲律宾), men were dying of starvation (饥饿). While they were staying in the Philippines, Magellan was killed in battle. The remaining officers then had to get back to Spain. They decided to sail round Africa. After many difficulties, one ship with eighteen men sailed into Seville three years after leaving. They were all that remained of Magellan’s expedition. However, their achievement was great. They were the first men to sail round the world.
61. The purpose of Magellan’s expedition was to ________.
A. sail round the world
B. find a seaway from the Atlantic to the Pacific
C. make a voyage to Asia
D. carry men to Philippines
62. How long did Magellan and his sailors spend before they reach Magellan Strait?
A. 1519 B. Fourteen months C. 280 D. 1520
63. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage concerning the expedition?
A. Lack of equipment.
B. Cold winter in Patagonia.
C. The death of Magellan.
D. Dangers from rocks and storms.
64. The number of the ships lost on the whole expedition was ________.
A. two B. three C. four D. five
65. The best title for this passage is ________.
A. The Discovery of Magellan’s Strait
B. The Discovery of the Philippines
C. The Most Dangerous Expedition
D. The First Expedition to sail round the world
IV. Reading comprehension 阅读理解 2’ * 10 = 20’
A
The sky usually looks light blue. But if you went to the top of the highest mountain, where there is less air between you and the sun to scatter (使……分散，散射) the sunlight, the sky would be deep, dark blue. And if you rode in a rocket high above the earth, where there is no air at all to scatter the sunlight, the sky would be so dark that it would be black. Sometimes the sky doesn't look blue. At sunrise and sunset, the light from the sun sometimes is scattered in such a way that you see red, orange, and other colors in the sky.
56. The sky usually looks light blue because _____.
A. the sun is light and blue
B. the air is light and blue 
C. the air scatters the sunlight
D. the sunlight is blue
57. The sky looks dark blue when _____.
A. there is less air between you and the sun
B. there is high mountain
C. the mountain is highest
D. you climb a mountain
58. The sky looks black if ______.
A. you ride in a rocket
B. the rocket is high in the sky
C. the rocket is high above the earth
D. there is no air to scatter the sunlight
59. Sometimes the sky doesn't look blue because ______.
A. the sun is rising
B. the sun is setting
C. the air has different colors
D. the light from the sun is scattered in a different way
60. A good title for this passage would be _______.
A. The Sky Looks Blue
B. Why the Sky Looks Colorful
C. The Beautiful Sunlight
D. Something About the Air
E
Many cities in the world are benefiting from the nocturnal (夜间活动的) activities of a group of people who call themselves guerrilla (游击队的) gardeners. Armed with trowels, spades and a van full of flowers and plants, guerrilla gardeners turn abandoned urban land into a blaze of color. In city centre locations where there was mud, weeds and empty plastic bottles, residents often wake up to find that the wasted area has been transformed overnight with brightly-colored bedding plants.
In most British cities, local governments and police turn a blind eye to the exploits (开发) of the gardeners, whose activities are always carried out under cover of nightfall. And so far, there has been nothing but praise from the astonished and delighted local residents when they find their neighborhood transformed in such a striking fashion.
Not only do the guerrilla gardeners beautify neglected places, they also return regularly to water the plants and weed the flower beds. They also make sure that at least some of the plants they bring are evergreens, which means that the area doesn’t look dismal (凄凉的) in the winter months.
The first guerrilla gardener in London was Richard Reynolds, whose day job is at an advertising agency. Mr Reynolds, a graduate of Oxford University, began his efforts two years ago when he moved to a flat in a tower block in South London. From his balcony, he could see several empty concrete pots, placed by the local governments to contain plants but never used. He went out after midnight and filled the pots with plants, and then planted more flowers in the path leading to the entrance to the block.
He then set up a website to explain his plan and called upon more gardeners to join him. Cash donations flooded in and, more importantly, volunteers rushed to be part of the campaign. Within six months, there were five hundred people in London prepared to come out at very short notice to revitalize (恢复活力) neglected parts of the urban landscape. There are now unofficial but carefully-organized groups in many cities in Britain and North America and there is also a website where would-be urban gardeners can find out the location of the next expedition.
1. According to the text, guerrilla gardeners got their names ______.
A. because of the residents’ advice B. from the local governments
C. for the nature of their work D. based on the local cultures
2. These guerrilla gardeners do their work ______.
A. at the request of the government B. nearby their house
C. often in return for others’ help D. of their own free will
3. Why do the guerrilla gardeners often return to their former working places?
A. To look after these plants. B. To enjoy these beautiful flowers.
C. To help plants live through winter months. D. To change the types of these plants.
4. Richard Reynolds decided to fill the pots with plants with the purpose of ______.
A. making the neighborhood more beautiful B. agreeing with his own job
C. advertising some products in his agency D. killing his spare time
5. It can be inferred from the text that these guerrilla gardeners ______.
A. are mainly from the United Kingdom
B. will later get well paid
C. are still not accepted by the local people
D. become more and more organized
D
Have you ever noticed what happens to an idea once you express it? Just talking about it or writing it down causes you to make it clear in your own mind. How can you use this to increase your brain power? Start writing.
By putting thoughts into words, you are telling yourself the logic (逻辑) behind what you think, feel, or only partly understand. Often, explaining a thought is the process of understanding. In other words, you increase your brain power by exercising your “explain power.”
Try this experiment. Explain how you’ll increase your brain power, even if you have no idea how right now. Just start with anything, and create an explanation. For example, start with “I’ll learn chess,” or “I’ll read an article on the mind every week.” Explain how that will help. You’ll be surprised how often this becomes a workable plan, and if you actually do this, you’ll have a better understanding of your brain twenty minutes from now.
Another benefit of writing is that it helps you remember. Many, if not most, highly productive people are always taking notes. You can try keeping it all in your head, but if you keep a journal of your ideas the next time you’re working on a big project, you’ll probably have more success.
Want to understand a topic? Write a book about it. That’s an extreme example, but if you are learning something new, write a letter to a friend about it, and you will understand it better. Want to invent something? Write an explanation of the problem, why you want to solve it, and why it is worth solving, and you’re half-way there.
Writers don’t always write because they clearly understand something beforehand. Often, they write about something because they want to understand it. You can do the same. Writing will help bring you to an understanding. Give it a try.
71. What would be the best title for the text?
A. A Way on How to Write
B. Increase Your Brain Power through Writing
C. Brain Power Helps Improve Your Writing
D. How to Start Your Writing
72. According to the text, writing can help you a lot in the following ways EXCEPT ______.
A. the increase of your brain power
B. the ability to remember
C. the development of your interest in study
D. the better understanding of a topic
73. If a writer writes something, it means that he or she _______.
A. has understood it very well
B. needs to understand it better
C. wants to remember it in his or her mind
D. is exercising his or her “explain power”
74. The underlined sentence “you’re half-way there” in the fifth paragraph implies that ______.
A. you are already successful
B. you still need to work hard
C. writing can help you walk half way
D. writing is important to solve problems
75. What’s the main purpose of the writer writing the text?
A. To advise readers to start their writing.
B. To explain the importance of writing.
C. To persuade readers to become writers.
D. To increase readers’ brain power.
C
Wikipedia was founded as a branch of Nupedia, a now-abandoned project to produce a free encyclopedia (百科全书). Nupedia required highly qualified contributors, but the writing of articles was slow. During 2000, Jimmy Wales, founder of Nupedia, and Larry Sanger, whom Wales had employed to work on the project, discussed ways of supplementing (补充) Nupedia with a more open project. Multiple sources are suggested for the idea that a wiki might allow members of the public to contribute material, and Nupedia’s first wiki went online on January 10.
There was considerable resistance on the part of Nupedia’s editors and reviewers to the idea of associating Nupedia with a Web site in the wiki format (格式), so the new project was given the name “Wikipedia” and launched on its own domain (域名), wikipedia.com, on January 15. The domain was eventually changed to the present wikipedia.org when the not-for-profit Wikimedia Foundation was launched as its new parent organization. In March 2007, the word wiki became a newly-recognized English word.
In May 2001, a wave of non-English Wikipedias was launched — in Catalan, Chinese, Dutch, Esperanto, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. These were soon joined by Arabic and Hungarian. In September, Polish was added. At the end of the year, Afrikaans, Norwegian, and Serbocroatian versions were announced.
Anyone with Web access can edit Wikipedia, and this openness encourages inclusion of a great amount of content. About 75,000 editors — from expert scholars to casual readers — regularly edit Wikipedia, and these experienced editors often help to create a consistent style throughout the encyclopedia.
Editors are able to watch pages and techies (科技人员) can write editing programs to keep track of or correct bad edits. Where there’re disagreements on how to present facts, editors work together to arrive at an article that fairly represents current expert opinion on the subject. Although the Wikimedia Foundation owns the site, it’s largely uninvolved in writing and daily operations.
66. Jimmy Wales wanted a more open project because ______.
A. he wanted to found Wikipedia
B. Nupedia had its own disadvantages
C. he earned less money from Nupedia
D. Nupedia had been abandoned
67. The idea of connecting Nupedia with a Web site in the wiki format ______.
A. gained a wide support
B. came into being on January 15, 2000
C. made Nupedia better and better known to the public
D. weren’t welcomed by all Nupedia’s editors
68. Which of the following versions joined the Wikipedia in or after October 2001?
A. English version. B. Norwegian version.
C. Hebrew version. D. Arabic version.
69. Who are responsible to create the main style for the Wikipedia?
A. Any readers of the Wikipedia B. The techies.
C. The Wikimedia Foundation. D. The experienced editors.
70. Which of the following facts about Wikipedia most probably surprises readers?
A. Its owner contributes less to its writing.
B. It appeals to a wider audience.
C. Its owner was founded only recently.
D. It was evolved from Nupedia.