William Butler Yeats, a most famous Irish writer, was born in Dublin on June 13, 1865. His childhood lacked the harmony(和睦) that was typical of a happy family. Later, Yeats shocked his family by saying that he remembered “little of childhood but its pain”. In fact, he inherited(继承) excellent taste in art from his family—both his father and his brother were painters. But he finally settled on literature, particularly drama(戏剧) and poetry.
Yeats had strong faith in coming of new artistic movements. He set himself the fresh task in founding an Irish national theatre in the late 1890s. His early theatrical experiments, however, were not received favorably at the beginning. He didn’t lose heart, and finally enjoyed success in his poetical drama.
Compared with his dramatic works, Yeats’s poems attract much admiring notice. The subject matter includes love, nature, history, time and aging. Though Yeats generally relied on very traditional forms, he brought modern sensibility to them. As his literary life progressed, his poetry grew finer and richer, which led him to worldwide recognition.
He had not enjoyed a major public life since winning the Nobel Prize in 1923. Yet, he continued writing almost to the end of his life. Had Yeats stopped writing at age 40, he would who probably now be valued as a minor poet, for there is no other example in literary history of a poet who produces his greatest works between the ages of 50 and 75. After Yeats’s death in 1939, W.H.Auden wrote, among others, the following lines:
Earth, receive an honored guest:
William Yeats is laid to rest.
Let the Irish vessel(船) lie
Emptied of its poetry. Which of the following can describe Yeats’s family?
| A.It filled Yeats’s childhood with laughter. |
| B.It was shocked by Yeats’s choice. |
| C.It was a typically wealthy family. |
| D.It had an artistic atmosphere. |
According to the passage, what do we know about Yeats’s life?
| A.Yeats founded the first Irish theater. |
| B.Yeats stuck to modern forms in his poetry. |
| C.Yeats began to produce his best works from the 1910s. |
| D.Yeats was not favored by the public until the 1923 Noble Prize. |
What kind of feeling is expressed in W. H. Auden’s lines?
| A.Envy. |
| B.Sympathy. |
| C.Emptiness. |
| D.Admiration. |
C
Elephants are the largest land animals and they need plenty of living span. They have seasonal migration(迁徙) routes. As human populations rise, elephant land is being cleared for agriculture and other kinds of development.
When animals are effectively trapped on small areas of land, it restricts the gene pool and also results in a shortage of food. Where elephant reserves (保护区 ) border agricultural areas, elephants are often attracted to leave parks to attack crops and barns. Only the strongest walls will stop an adult elephant, so farmers have great difficulty protecting their fields.
In India, elephants don’t only attack for food. Some even have developed a taste for rice beer. In Assam, elephant-human conflict has resulted in the death of more than 150 people and 200 elephants in two years.
Poverty leads to the killing of elephants for meat. If people don’t have enough food and their governments cannot afford to enforce poaching(偷猎) bans, it’s not difficult to predict the outcome.
Ivory comes from elephant tusks, which can grow to be 3 metres long. Both male and female African elephants have large tusks.
Most new ivory comes from Africa and is sold as a high status material in Asian countries such as Thailand, mainland China and Japan. It can fetch $150 a pound and is carved to make decorations, chopsticks and ink stamps(印章). The conservation priority(重点) here is to change public attitudes.
In some countries in southern Africa, where conservation efforts have been successful, there is not enough room for a growing elephant population and animals have to be killed. A CITES meeting in November 2002 ruled that Botswana, Namibia and South Africa may sell stock-piled(库存的) ivory, starting in 2004.
Many conservationists are convinced that this will fuel the demand for ivory and lead to more illegal poaching, they say it is almost impossible to tell legal from poached ivory. The governments argue that the sales will be used to fund conservation work.
64. Which of the following isn’t the result of smaller elephant land?
A. Seasonal migration. B. Elephant-human conflict.
C. Restricting the gene pool. D. Shortage of food.
65. The most important thing to protect elephants is _______.
A. to build strongest walls
B. to sell stock-piled ivory instead of illegal ivory
C. to enforce poaching bans
D. to change people’s ideas
66. What does the underlined word “this” in the last paragraph refer to?
A. The killing of dephants for meat.
B. The ban of the trade in African elephant ivory.
C. The selling of stock-piled ivory.
D. The sales to fund conservation work.
67. According to the passage, we can infer that_______.
A. farmers have trouble protecting their field since no walls can stop an adult elephant.
B. if the government could help solve poverty, there would be less killing of elephants.
C. only male elephants in Africa have tusks as long as 3 meters.
D. since there is not enough room for a growing elephant population, there is no need to ban poaching all over Africa.
B
After the coming of Europeans to the Americas, Indians were forced to change their way of life.Yet the influence of native American culture is still felt throughout the United States.
Many of the foods commonly eaten in the United States today were first grown by American Indians. Among these foods are corn, wheat and sweet potatoes, peanuts, pumpkins, tomatoes, and certain beans and berries. Native Americans also discovered ways to use herbs and other plants as medicines.
Native American inventions, such as canoes, ponchos and parkas(风雪衣), hammocks (吊床) and snowshoes are still in use today. Other marks of Indian culture were left in American place names. The state of Alaska, for example, takes its name from a native American word meaning “great land”.
Today nearly 1.5 million native Americans live in the United States. Some still preserve the ways of their ancestors, speaking Indian languages and keeping alive their legends,art forms, and customs. Other native Americans keep few of the old ways, but remain proud of their people’s contributions to American history.Americans have come to appreciate the beauty of Indian crafts(工艺). Many artists find inspiration in traditional Indian designs. Many Indian values, too, have become widely held.Americans today believe that the land, air and water are precious resources (资源) that must be carefully protected. As one government official wrote recently:
We have slowly come back to some of the truths that the Indians knew from the beginning. People need to learn from nature, to keep an ear to the earth, and to refill their spirits in frequent contact with animals and wild land.
60. What does “native Americans” refer to in the passage?
A. Europeans settling in the Americas. B. People born and living in America.
C. American Indians. D. Ancestors of Americans.
61. What influences Americans most according to the passage?
A. Agriculture of native Americans. B. Ancient Indian medicines.
C. Native American inventions. D. Indian languages.
62.The underlined word “inspiration” (in Paragraph 5) means_______.
A. confidence B. creative ideas C. power D. good advice
63.Which of the following best shows the Indian values?
A. Americans should preserve the ways of Indian ancestors.
B. Native Americans are still making contributions to American history.
C. The resources offered by nature should be carefully protected.
D. Native Americans knew the truths long before Americans do today.
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每题2分,共40分)
第一节:(共15小题,每题2分,共30分)
阅读下面四篇短文,从四个选项(A、B、C、D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Recently, a professor of philosophy in the United States has written a book called Money and the Meaning of Life. He has discovered that how we deal with money in our day-to-day life has more meaning than we usually think. One of the exercises he asked his students to do is to keep record of every penny they spend for a week. From the way they spend their money, they can see what they really value in life.
He says our relation with others often becomes clearly defined when money enters the picture. You might have wonderful friendship with somebody and you think that you are a very good friend. But you will know him only when you ask him to lend you some money. If he does, it brings something to the relationship that seems stronger than ever before. Or it can suddenly weaken the relationship if he doesn’t. This person may say that he has a certain feeling, but if it is not carried out in the money world, there is something less real about it.
Since money is so important to us, we consider those who possess a lot of it to be very important. The author interviewed some millionaires in researching his book.
Question: What is the most surprising thing you have discovered abotrt being rich, because you are a self-made man?
Answer: The most surprising thing is how people give me so much respect. I am nothing. I do not know much. All I am is rich.
People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? How much do I need for any given purposes in my life? In his book, the professor uncovered an important need in modern society: to bring back the idea that money is an instrument rather than the end. Money plays an important role in the material world, but expecting money to bring happiness may be missing the meaning of life.
56. The author seems to believe that asking your friend to lend you some money_______.
A. is a good way to test your friendship B. will do harm to your friendship
C. will strengthen your friendship D. is a good way to break off your friendship
57. What can we learn about the millionaire from his answer in the interview?
A. He does not feel that he is well educated.
B. He does not think that he is a very important person.
C. He doesn’t think that being rich is worth so much attention.
D. He does not consider himself to be very successful
58. What does the American professor of philosophy want to explain in his book?
A. Money is an end. B. Money is a means.
C. Money is everything. D. Money is unimportant.
59. Which of the following might the author disagree with?
A. Money is important in modern society.
B. The meaning of life does not completely lie in money.
C. Wealth will surely bring the owner happiness.
D. Happiness is not necessarily the result of wealth.
E
Cities alarmed by deaths and injuries of pedestrians(行人) are taking efforts to make crosswalks safer for people on foot , especially seniors and children who need more time to cross streets .
A pedestrian is killed in a traffic accident in the USA every 110 minutes;one is injured every nine minutes, according to official data. Crosswalks can be especially dangerous for the elderly. Among people 70 and older, 36% of pedestrian deaths in 2006 occurred in crosswalks, compared with 21% of those younger than 70 , according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The Federal Highway Administration(FHWA)advises that next year states increase by nearly 15% the amount of time traffic lights provided for pedestrians to cross the street after the flashing orange hand appears .
FHWA spokesman Doug Hecox says reasons for the change include an aging population that needs more time to cross, health-conscious Americans walking more , children encouraged to walk to prevent getting overweight and high gas prices pushing people to walk instead of drive.
Pedestrian deaths went down by 12% from 5,449 in 1996 to 4,784 in 2006. But among those in 2006, 471 were killed in crosswalks, down slightly from 488 ten years earlier, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says .
72. Which of the following is true according to the text ?
A. Among 100 pedestrian deaths there were 21 people younger than 70.
B. Old people are more likely to meet with accidents in crosswalks.
C. Traffic accidents killed more old people than young people.
D. About seven traffic accidents happened per hour.
73. What is FHWA’s suggestion to states?
A. Fixing more traffic lights.
B. Providing more crosswalks.
C. Giving pedestrians more time to cross streets.
D. Increasing the time before the orange lights appear.
74. What’s the cause of the crosswalk safety problem according to the text?
A. There’re many cars and buses on the road.
B. Pedestrians are careless.
C. Crosswalks are crowded.
D. Drivers don’t give way.
75. The report from NHTSA suggests that .
A. fewer people were injured in crosswalks
B. crosswalk safety has been greatly improved
C. much has been done to reduce traffic accidents
D. pedestrian deaths in crosswalk remain a serious problem
D
Looking for a low-cost path to self-knowledge? A way to mine your subconsciousness for clues to your motivations, desires and fears? No need to have years of treatment or analysis. Just look to your dreams.“You can ignore your dreams, but you are really doing harm to yourself,” says Lauri Quinn Loewenberg. “If so, you’re letting red flags pass you by, letting great ideas pass you by.”
Some sleep researchers believe dreams are more directly related to our moods and emotions and can serve as tools to self-understanding. Dreams occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) cycles of sleep each night. For adults, that means about every 90 minutes. The first period of REM sleep may be short, 5 to 10 minutes, followed by longer periods, finally reaching an hour or more in the fourth or fifth period.When people are dreaming, brain scans show a lot of activities. The brain is online during dreams. The experiences you have during the day are connected during dream sleep. People we know or experiences we’ve had at different times in our lives may be different in the same dream.
AmyBeth Gilstrap has had the same recurring dream that annoyed her since Hurricane Katrina drove her and her daughter and friends out of New Orleans. Ms. Gilstrap says, “It is always a spy. My job is to get people to some place.” She’s certain the dream is related to her effort in the hurricane to help several families leave. Sometimes her cats also are part of that dream. That’s because she went back into New Orleans, before it was allowed, to rescue her cats.
Today, through brain scans scientists have known that the parts of the brain that control emotion and long-term memory are active during REM sleep.
68. The passage is mainly to tell readers ______.
A. dreams are mainly caused by hard work
B. dreams can offer us a key to self-knowledge
C. dreams are only activities of our brains
D. how dreams help us solve our problems
69. According to the words from Lauri Quinn Loewenberg, ______.
A. dreams can make you feel badly ill
B. you often have red flags in your dreams
C. dreams will make your life colorful
D. you may get great help from your dreams
70. According to the passage, the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refers to ______.
A. Ms. Gilstrap’s dream B. Ms. Gilstrap’s job
C. Hurricane Katrina D. New Orleans
71. According to the passage, when you are dreaming at night, ______.
A. your dream is connected with your work that day
B. the dream will generally last about 5 to 10 minutes
C. the longer dream should be in the later part of the sleep
D. your eyes will still move slowly during the time