阅读表达(共5小题;每小题3分,满分15分)
Last December, Doris Low turned 90. Once a week she still drives to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) in Toronto, where she helps transform literature into Braille() to bring the power of story and knowledge to the hears and minds of blind readers. She has been volunteering her time and talents to such enterprises foe more than 40 years.
After working in the business world for a while, Low got fed up. So she turned to teaching at a technical school and later moved into the library.
Low’s mother liked reading. As her eyes began to fail, low read to her. Then “ hearing an advertisement encouraging people to learn Braille, I decided to give it a try.” In 1973, she was certified as a braille transcriber (转译者) and began transcribing books as a volunteer for the CNIB library.
The job was strenuous ---she could get to the end of a page, make a mistake on the last line, and have to do the whole thing again. For a number of years, low also worked in the CNIB sound studio reading books onto tape. Three years ago, she took up proofreading (校对) at the CNIB’s word factory.
In April, during Volunteer Week, the CNIB recognized Low for her great contributions. Thanks to volunteers like Low, the CNIB library has got more than 80,000 accessible materials for people unable to read traditional print. “ I can’t imagine how many readers of all ages have benefited from
Doris’s contribution as a skilled volunteer through her rich voice and her high degree of accuracy in the hundreds of books she has brailled and proofread over the years--- and she is still doing so,” said a CNIB official.
“For me,” said Low, “the CNIB is more than just a place to volunteer. Three thins matter most in my life: a little play, a little work, a little love. I’ve found them all here.”What does Low still do at the age of 90 at the CNIB? ( no more than 10 words)
Why did Low learn Braille? ( no more than 15 words)
what does the underlined word “strenuous” most probably mean?(1 word)
What are Low’s contributions to the CNIB? ( no more than 10 words)
What do you think of Low? Give your reasons. ( no more than 20 words)
阅读(共两节,15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)
第一节:阅读理解。阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项中,选出最佳选项。
This is a true story from Guyana. One day, a boy took a piece of paper from a box. He made a paper ball and pushed it into his nose. He couldn’t get it out. He ran crying to his mother. His mother couldn’t get the paper out, either. A week later, the paper was still in the boy’s nose. His nose began to have a bad smell.
So his mother took the boy to a hospital. The doctor looked up at the child’s nose, but she couldn’t get the paper out. She said she had to cut the boy’s nose to get the paper out.
The boy’s mother came home looking sad. She didn’t want her child to have his nose cut. The next day she took the boy to her friend Sidney who lived in a house with an old lady called May. May wanted to see the child, so the child let her look up his nose.
“Yes, I can see it,” May said. “It will be out soon.”
As she spoke, she shook some black pepper on the child’s nose. The child gave a mighty sneeze and the paper flew out. His mother was surprised. May told his mother to take the boy to the seaside for a swim, for the salt water would go up his nose and stop the bad smell.
So the lucky boy didn’t have to go to the hospital to have his nose cut.
41. After the boy pushed a paper ball into his nose, ____.
A. he took it out B. his mother took it out
C. he did nothing but cryD. he tried to take it out but failed
42. The paper ball stayed in the boy’s nose for ____.
A. at most seven days B. less than seven days
C. more than seven days D. exactly seven days
43. According to the story, _____ was most worried about the boy’s accident.
A. the boy’s mother B. Sidney C. May D. the doctor
44. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The doctor helped to take the paper ball out of the boy’s nose.
B. May succeeded in taking the paper out.
C. The boy’s mother found some black pepper to solve the problem.
D. The boy had to have his nose cut at last.
45. The boy should be taken to the seaside for a swim because ____.
A. he needed to learn to swim
B. the sea water would stop the bad smell of his nose.
C. the sea water would wash out the paper ball.
D. he needed a rest
In today's world, we rely on computers as never before. They are used for everything from ordering a pizza to running hospitals and military defense systems. Banking and credit card information is stored and accessed by computers. So what happens when a computer gets infected with a virus? One effect is that people's access to their e-mail accounts is cut off. A more serious possible consequence is that billions of dollars could be lost.
A virus is a computer program that copies itself onto other programs and infects them. Similar to an easily spread disease, a computer virus goes from computer to computer, either adding to or changing the tasks a program is designed to do.
The first computer viruses were created in the mid '80s and had varying effects. Some caused files to be deleted, or made the letters on the screen appear to fall off. Others displayed a specific message once the computer was turned on.
Viruses today are much more widespread and dangerous than ever before. Perhaps the most damaging to date has been the "I Love You" virus. "I Love You" appeared in May 2000 and has possibly been the most destructive virus in terms of monetary loss.
The virus is released when an attachment to a fake e-mail message is opened. By changing the names of files on computers, "I Love You" makes them difficult to access. It also searches for important personal information, including passwords, which it sends to a web site for others to see.
It is estimated that more than 45 million people in 20 countries have had their computers infected by the "I Love You" virus. Some say the cost of repair and lost business has been more than US$10 billion.
If you own a computer, it is important to keep it in good health by installing an anti-virus program. If updated frequently, it will protect your e-mail access--not to mention your wallet.
51.What does "virus" mean in the article?
A. An easily spread disease.
B. A contagious (传染的) computer program.
C. An extremely small organism (生物) which causes disease.
D. A parasite (寄生虫) in computer.
52. How does "I Love You" virus spread?
A. It is spread when an e-mail account is opened.
B. It is spread through on-line chatting.
C. It is spread through e-mail.
D. It spreads from web site to web site.
53. Which of the following is one of the damages brought by "I Love You" virus?
A. It deletes files. B. It automatically turns on computers.
C. It automatically turns off computers. D. It makes it difficult to access files.
54. Which of the following is the best way to guard against virus?
A. To load an up-to-date anti-virus program into our computer
B. Not to use an e-mail account.
C. To upgrade our computer. D. Not to use the Internet.
55. What is the purpose of the article?
A. To warn us against virus.
B. To remind us the importance of being healthy.
C. To stress the importance of computer.
D. To alert us to economic loss.
Several different stories are told about the origin of Saint Valentine’s Day. One legend(story) dates as far back as the days of Roman Empire. According to the story. Claudius, the Emperor of Rome, wanted to increase the size of the army. He knew that it would be easier to get young men who were not married to join the army; therefore, he made a rule that no young men could marry until he had served in the army for a number of years.
A priest(man working in church) named Valentine broke the rule and secretly married a great number of young people. Finally, Claudius found out about Valentine and put the priest in prison, where he remained until his death on February 14.
After his death, Valentine was made a saint(perfect man in public opinion) and the day of his death was named Saint Valentine’s Day----which is a time for people to send one another their greeting of many kinds.
February 14, Valentine’s Day, is sweetheart’s day, on which people in love with each other express their tender emotions(soft feelings).
People sometimes put their
love message in a heart shaped box of chocolate or a bunch of flowers tied with red ribbons(silk). Words of letters may be written on the flower covered card, or something else. Whatever the form may be, the message is almost the same “Will you be my Valentine?”
46. According to the rule_______.
A. no young men could get married unless they were old enough.
B. Young men could get married if they had served the army for a number of years.
no one could get married without the emperor’s permission
young men could get married only in the army.
47.The passage mainly tells us about_______.
A. How Valentine died B. The emperor of Rome
C. How Valentine’s Day is celebrated D. The origin of Valentine’s Day
48. February 14 is chosen as Valentine’s Day because_______.
A. people want to remember Valentine
lovers express their tender emotions on this day
people send one another greeting of many kinds on this day
people want to fix a date for lovers to express their emotion
49. Valentine was put in prison for ________.
A. he helped the couples who were not supposed to get married B. he got married C. he fell in love with more than one woman.
D. he broke the emperor’s rule on purpose
50. When a boy asks a neighbor girl to be his Valentine, he is probably asking her to _________.
A. spend the festival with him B. be his date
C. forgive himD. not to break his heart
三.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,并填写在答题卡上。
Linda often asked Luke to dinner. Linda loved Luke, but Luke loved Linda’s cooking, not Linda herself. Linda accepted that for the time being. But she felt that, with enough meals and enough time, she would get her man.
Luke rarely stayed more than ten minutes past the last bite of dessert. Linda would ask luke if he wanted to watch TV, or play cards or chess, or take a walk around the neighborhood, but Luke always declined. He always said, “ I’ve got to go.” They both knew that Luke didn’t have to go anywhere. All he ever did was to go back to his apartment and read books or go online.
Tonight was probably going to be more of the same. But Linda was a patient woman. She loved to cook, and she loved to watch people eat her cooking. Tonight she prepared shrimp, fresh green beans, mashed potatoes, and asparagus(芦笋). Luke ate everything. Then she brought out her homemade cheesecake with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Luke asked, “ Are you trying to fatten me up for something? Every time I come over here, I have to eat celery(芹菜) and lettuce for a week to get back down to my normal weight. Or maybe I should start going to the gym more often. Nah, I’m too lazy for that.”
“Oh, stop exaggerating(夸张).” Linda replied. “ You enoy every mouthful. And besides, I don’t think you lazy at all.”
“ You’re right. I apologise. I love your cooking, and if you didn’t invite me over here, I’d be hurt and hungry.”
Linda watched contentedly(满足地) as Luke devoured the cheesecake and ice cream. Someday, she thought, I will be his dessert.
41. Which of the following were included in the meal Linda made for Luke.
A. Shrimp, tomatoes and ice cream.
B. Mashed potatoes, ice cream and cheesecake.
C. Bean, fried potaties and asparagus.
D. Shrimp, green peas and cheesecake.
42. What can be inferred from this passage?
A. Linda will eventually capture Luke’s heart.
B. Luke is often a very busy man.
C. Linda prefers fat men.
D. Both Luke and Linda are single.
43. According to the passage which of the following is NOT true about Luke?
A. He owns a computer.
B. He enjoys reading.
C. He prefers ice cream to cheesecake.
D. He has had dinner with Linda before.
44. What would be the best title for this passage?
A. My Foolish Heart.
B. The Way to a Man’s Heart is Through his Stomach.
C. The Fatter the Better.
D. The Food of Life.
45. Why did Luke always decline Linda’s invitations to do other things besides eating?
A. He was often busy at work.
B. He only liked Linda’s cooking.
C. He preferred being alone most of the time.
D. He was very shy.
If U.S.software companies don't pay more attention to quality, they could kiss their business good-bye.Both India and Brazil are developing a world-class software industry.Their weapon is quality and one of their jobs is to attract the top U.S.quality specialists whose voices are not listened to in their country.
Already, of the world's 12 software houses that have earned the highest rating in the world, seven are in India.That's largely because they have used new methods rejected by American software specialists.For example, for decades, quality specialists, W.Edwards Deming and J.M.Juran had urged U.S.software companies to change their attitudes to quality.But their quality call mainly fell on deaf ears in the U.S -- but not in Japan.By the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was grabbing market share with better, cheaper products.They used Deming's and Juran's ideas to bring down the cost of good quality to as little as 5% of total production costs.In U.S.factories, the cost of quality then was 10 times as high: 50%.In software, it still is.
Watts S.Humphrey spent 27 years at IBM heading up software production and then quality assurance.But his advice was seldom paid attention to.He retired from IBM in 1986.In 1987, he worked out a system for assessing(evaluating) and improving software quality.It has proved its value time and again.For example, in 1990 the cost of quality at Raytheon Electronics Systems was almost 60% of total software production costs.It fell to 15% in 1996 and has since further dropped to below 10%.
Like Deming and Juran, Humphrey seems to be winning more praises overseas than at home.The Indian government and several companies have just founded the Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute at the Software Technology Park in Chennai, India.Let's hope that U.S.lead in software will not be eaten up by its quality problems.
72.What country has more highest-rating companies in the world than any other country has?
A.India. B.The US. C.Brazil. D.Germany.
73.Which of the following statements about Humphrey is true?
A.He is now still an IBM employer.B.He has worked for IBM for 37 years.
C.India honors him highly.
D.The US pays much attention to his quality advice.
74.By what means did Japan grab its large market share by the 1970s and the 1980s?
A.Its advertising was most successful.
B.Its products were cheaper in price and better in quality.
C.The US hardware industry was lagging behind
D.Japan hired a lot of Indian software specialists.
75. What is the writer worrying about?
A.Many US software specialists are working for Japan.
B.The quality problem has become a worldwide problem.
C.India and Japan are joining hands to compete with the US.
D.The US will no longer be the first software player in the world