In recent years, the price of gas has been rising sharply, and people have made many adjustments.
There was, for a time, considerable unemployment in the auto industry, and three quarters of the garages and service stations have gone out of business. However; the bicycle and motor-scooter business has flourished（兴旺); and many people have found employment there: Now that Federal Motors has brought out its new Lilliput, which travels forty miles on a gallon, the auto business is picking up again. The factories that haven't switched over to two-wheel transportation are working on their new smaller models. There is talk, too, about bringing out new steam and electric automobiles that will be just as economical as the old cars.
In the meantime, streetcars are gradually replacing buses all over the country because of the greater economy of electric power. And many people who have seldom used public transportation are now riding the streetcars while their automobiles rust（生锈）in their garages. There's no market at all for their big, luxurious cars, for only the wealthy can now afford to operate them. Many people are now shopping in their own neighborhood, and small businesses are thriving.
Ministers, educators, and editorial writers are pointing out that there has been a great improvement in family life. Families now stay at home more for their fun, and children and parents are becoming better acquainted. The stores report a booming business in parlor games, hobby materials, books, musical instruments and albums.
People have lost their pale indoor look. The revival of the lost art of walking has brought a healthy pink back to many a cheek. This return to the heels has revolutionized the clothing styles; people now need to be ready for all kinds of weather:
These conditions, however, may not last. Already our clever chemists are at work on new synthetic fuels which, they say, will put us right back where we were一on wheels. Shall we wish them success or not?The following sentences are the results of the gas price rising EXCEPT____________.
| A．More people prefer to travel on public transportation which costs less than driving cars. |
| B．People return to the traditional exercise of walking, which helps them to look healthier. |
| C．People shop in nearby stores without having to drive, so small businesses are increasing. |
| D．The auto industry has been forced to develop new models which are more expensive. |
Which is NOT the effect the rising oil price have on families ?
| A．Family life has improved a lot. |
| B．Children and parents make acquaintances with more people than before. |
| C．Families now stay at home more to have fun. |
| D．Families develop all kinds of hobbies. |
What’s the writer’s opinion to these adjustment？
| A．Objective | B．Supportive |
| C．Ambiguous | D．Indifferent |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．This passage mainly shows the chain reactions of the rising gas price |
| B．This passage mainly discusses whether it's necessary to work on new fuels |
| C．This passage mainly warns people not to use too much gasoline |
| D．This passage mainly pictures what life will be like if gas runs out |
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题2分，满分40分）
It was graduation day at the university where I work and a beautiful day quite unlike the first graduation I attended as a young professor. On that cold day years ago, as we watched the students walking into the hall, one of my colleagues turned to me and said . “Graduation will be one of the happiest and one of the saddest time of your life.” At my inquiry, he answered, “Because the students you have gotten to know have to leave.”
As years went by, my previous confusion about my colleague’s words no longer existed. When I came across naughty students, I have had to rethink why I chose to be a teacher. It obviously isn’t the money. Once a former computer science student of mine called me, asking me if I wanted to have a change. He was working at Nintendo Corporation. His salary was higher than my current one, though I have more education and have worked for over a decade. With my programming skills, he said he could get me hired. I thanked him, but declined his kind offer.
A few days before this current graduation, while working on final grades. I found a note a student ahd slipped in with her homework. She thanked me for beign her teacher and said the things she had learned in my class—not about math, but about life—would be things she would remember long after the math skills had faded away. As I finished reading, I remembered why I had become a teacher.
Now, on this sunny graduation day, as I again observed the sea of blue hats and gowns, I did so with renewed dedication and a deeper sense of satisfaction – I will always be grateful that I am a teacher.
56. How did the author feel when he heard his colleague’s description of graduation for the first time?
A. He quite agreed with his colleague. B. He was very puzzled.
C. He thought it very funny. D. He was very sad.
57. The computer science student called up the author because he ___________.
A. wanted to inform the author of his present job
B. thought the author wasn’t fit to be a teacher
C. wanted the author to share his joy and satisfaction
D. tried to persuade the author to work with him
58. What does the underlined part “blue hats and gowns” in the last paragraph refer to?
A. University colleagues B. Life memories.
C. Graduates’ clothes. D. Decorations in the hall.
59. The author wrote the passage to _________.
A. express his devotion to being a teacher B. compare two different graduation ceremonies
C. talk about the meaning of graduation D. give-advice on how to be a good teacher
Thousands of people in the world are a hundred years old－or more and certain parts of the world are famous for the long lives of their inhabitants: the Vilacamba Valley in Ecuador, and the home of the Hunzas in the Himalayas．
Why do so many people live to a healthy old age in certain parts of the world? What is the secret of their long lives? Three things seem to be very important: fresh air, fresh food and a simple way of life．People work near their homes in the clean mountain air instead of travelling long distances to work by bus, car or train．They do not sit all day in busy offices or factories, but work hard outdoors in the fields．They take more exercise and eat less food than people in the cities of the West．For years the Hunzas of the Himalayas did not need policemen, lawyers or doctors．There was no crime, no divorce and not much illness in their society． They were a happy, peaceful people, famous all over India for their long, healthy lives．
Do you want to live to a hundred years old? Here are some rules for success．Firstly, choose your parents and grandparents carefully．If they lived or live to a good old age, so will you．Secondly, live in the right place．Thirdly, choose the right kind of job．Doctors, dentists and bus-drivers die young．Farmers, priests and orchestral conductors live much longer．If you are in the wrong kind of job, you can still improve your way of life．
An old man in the Caucasus was talking about his past life．"I was young then," he said, as he described his 87th year．His secret was: "Think young and stay young．" An old woman from Missouri, USA, gave this advice, "Drink a little whisky and some warm beer every day．" An English lady just said, "Take a cold bath every morning．" The shortest, simplest piece of advice came from Mr．Jim Chapman, aged 103．"Just keep breathing," he told reporters．
72．Who is most likely to live a long life?
A．A doctor． B．A bus-driver． C．A dentist． D．An orchestral conductor．
73．We can see from the passage that long-lived people avoid ____．
A．working hard B．drinking
C．eating too much D．taking cold baths
74．The passage indicates that we can change our _____to live a long life．
A．jobs B．places of living C．ways of living D．ways of thinking
75．What is mainly talked about in the last paragraph?
A．Whose advice is the best．
B．Who is the most long-lived person in the world．
C．Lifestyles of long-lived people．
D．How long-lived people think of their life．
An annoying problem for humans, who like to boast (夸耀) about all the distant planets and moons we have explored, is that we've never taken a good look right under our noses. The inside of the earth is relatively close, but how can we get there?
The deepest oil well enters a mere six miles into the crust (地壳) (the center of the earth is about 4,000 miles deeper). Russian scientists dug the deepest hole in Siberia, but bottomed out at about 7.5 miles below the surface. The Mohole project, a U.S. plan in the 1950s, called for drilling a hole 25 miles down to the boundary between the hard rocks of the crust and the soft mantle (地幔). Sadly the project involved government supporting.
It gets harder and harder to drill deep into the earth because rocks get softer and softer. Hard but easily broken at the surface, rocks become plastic at depth, and the pressure caused by the weight of the overlaying crust --- about 52,800 pounds per square inch at a depth of ten miles, makes further drilling impossible.
What little we know about the inside of the earth (like the fact that there's a crust, a mantle, and a core) comes from indirect evidence, such as the analysis of earthquakes.
So maybe it's time for a thorough new method to explore the earth's inside. Scientist David Stevenson says we should forget about drilling holes. Instead, we should open a crack (裂缝).
Stevenson suggests digging a crack about a half mile long, a yard wide, and a half mile deep (not with a shovel) but with an explosion on the scale of a nuclear bomb. Next, he'd pour a few hundred thousand tons of molten (熔化的) iron into the crack, along with a robot. The iron, thicker than the surrounding crust, would move downward at about 16 feet per second, carrying the robot with it and opening the crack deeper and deeper. The iron mass would drop for about a week and 2,000 miles to the outer edge of the earth core, the robot sending out data to the surface.
Stevenson compares his idea to space exploration. "We're going somewhere we haven't been before,"he says. "In all possibility, there will be surprises.”
This idea can probably be put in the drawer marked with Isn't Going To Happen. The robot would have to survive temperatures that would melt pretty much anything. But Stevenson's idea may inspire a new look at an old problem. Great things can come from what seems like impossible ideas.
72. Going inside the earth is _____ than going into space.
A. more interesting B. more possible C. easier D. more challenging
73. How deep have we gone into the earth until now?
A. 6 miles. B. 4,000 miles. C. 7.5 miles. D. 25 miles.
74. Which of the following is TRUE about David Stevenson's idea?
A. It is an inspiring but not practical idea now.
B. It is a practical proposal that has come into use now.
C. It is a good proposal that will soon be put into practice.
D. It is a false theory that cannot be carried out at all.
75. What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A. An Annoying Problem for Humans
B. To the Center of the Earth
C. The Mohole Project
D. David Stevenson's Proposal
Don't go to Kauai. Go to any of the other Hawaiian Islands --- Maui, Lanai, the Big Island --- but leave Kauai for us. The weather on Kauai is so unpredictable (不可预测的) that sometimes it rains all day --- in fact, it's the second-wettest spot on the earth. Yes, there are giant double rainbows all the time, and the sunlight through the clouds is magical. But if you are not interested in these, go somewhere else. You just can't control the nature on Kauai, and 
who wants to surrender (屈服) to the nature when you could be at a fine hotel, lying in a comfortable chair next to a swimming pool, with food served upon request?
So what if Kauai produces surf champions the way Texas produces cowboys？Most of its 300 white-sand beaches are unmarked. Unless you connect with the local people, the hidden spots are hard to find. While Hanalei is the most beautiful town you've ever dreamed of, you can 
forget about discos and clubs. Worse, it doesn't have one single four-star restaurant. What it does have is the original drive-through places where you pass by a rambutan tree (红毛丹树), and pick a piece of fruit.
Shopping in Kauai? Forget it --- unless you are interested in shell necklaces and beautifully carved wood bowls. Kauai is not about pampering. It's about going natural and finding the nature within you. It's a do-it-yourself place that offers walking along the coast, diving and swimming in the Pacific Ocean, and lying on the beach.
Don't go to Kauai unless you have a lot of time, because there's only one road, which can be slightly dull. It winds through the beautiful scenery of waterfalls, rivers flowing into the ocean, and taro (芋头) fields. You have no choice but to look at everything, because the speed limit is 35 m.p.h.
If you're not interested in color, don't bother with Kauai, because that's what you get --- red roads, blue oceans, and a hundred different shades of green. It's like diving on land. Many people on Kauai believe that this is Lemuria --- a lost island in the Atlantic. Can you imagine? Those Hawaiians, surfers, New Agers, and people who love nature and beauty and want a different quality of life --- what do they know, anyway? Forget about it --- you're not going to like it. Go somewhere else. Leave Kauai for us.
68. After reading the text, we come to know that it is _____.
A. a piece of shocking news B. an exciting story
C. an interesting introduction D. a moving advertisement
69. It can be learned from the text that _____.
A. Kauai is an island near the Hawaiian Islands
B. Kauai is another name of the Hawaiian Islands
C. Kauai is one of the Hawaiian Islands
D. Kauai does not belong to the Hawaiian Islands
70. In the writer's real opinion, Kauai _____.
A. is not worth visiting at all B. is well worth visiting
C. is not a beautiful island D. is a dangerous island
71. Who would like to visit Kauai?
A. Those who love nature. B. Those who love city life.
C. Those who love the comfort in a fine hotel. D. Those who love going shopping.
Every year landslides (滑坡) cause 25 to 50 deaths and $1.5 billion in damage in the United States. They account for 15 percent of the deaths from natural disasters in Europe. And in December, a single event killed more than 200 people in the Philippines. Sending workers to stabilize (加固) mountainsides using steel bars and cement (水泥) can help prevent disaster, but it introduces new difficulties. Shaking drills produce harmful dust and loosen heavy, dangerous debris (岩屑). "It's quite a risky job,"says Giorgio Pezzuto of D'Appolonia, an engineering company in Italy.
D'Appolonia, working with eight other companies, may have an answer: a three-ton robot called Roboclimber. "The idea is to operate a machine far away that can drill without a human being on board,"says Pezzuto, manager for the project, which is supported by the European Commission. Engineers claim that the machine will be faster and cheaper than manual labor. The robot, a large radio-controlled four-legged mechanical spider(蜘蛛), has cost at least $2 million so far. The final product should be able to climb unstable mountainsides, drill holes, in_sert bars and cement, and collect data on the slope's stability. Testing should begin in May.
64. The underlined word "event"(in Paragraph 1) refers to _____.
A. landslide B. machine C. earthquake D. flood
65. The purpose in writing this text is _____.
A. to tell people how serious the damage caused by landslides is
B. to tell people that sending workers to stabilize mountainsides is a risky job
C. to introduce a product that can be used to stabilize mountainsides
D. to show people how to use a new product
66. What does the robot look like?
A. A human being. B. A spider. C. A truck. D. A drill.
67. The biggest advantage of this product is that _____.
A. it will be faster and cheaper than manual labor
B. it can climb mountainsides, drill holes, in_sert bars and cement
C. it can collect data on the slope's stability
D. it can drill without a human being on board