Herbie Ricketts，52,lives in Thornton Heath，south London，and works as an electrician．He has been a listening volunteer with the Samaritans for 16 years.
Each caller is as individual as their circumstances and I didn’t realize so many people take their own lives until I became a Samaritan．And only then did the true nature of the work I was doing hit home.
I’ll always remember my first day on duty．The caller, stressed and depressed，told me he was suicidal(想自杀的)．He’d been too frightened to talk to the people around him，which is common．People are told they’ve got nothing to be upset about．Or, if they are already classified as having mental health issues，so they tell no one．How do you make sense of your feelings if you can’t tell someone? Just allowing people to say what they honestly feel helps them find a different perspective．I couldn’t offer him practical advice but I could support him emotionally．I helped him come to terms with his situation and make sense of some of the terrible emotions he was experiencing．Offering anonymity(匿名)and being nonjudgmental(无偏见的)allows people easily hurt to explore their thoughts without fear or worry．I left him in an emotionally safe place，ensuring he knew 1 wasn’t rejecting or abandoning him．I let him know we were still there if he needed us，explaining that it might not be me on the other end of the phone but another Samaritan who could also support．
Suicidal people will ring with issues like drug use or loneliness．If you look at it from the perspective of, “How can I solve this? ”you can become，like them，at a loss．Every cell in your body wants to offer solutions，but as a Samaritan I’m not there to sort their problems out．I listen and will support them when they can’t see any further than tomorrow．When the phone goes silent，we stay with that caller as long as we possibly can，which could be two or three hours．
The shifts are up to four hours long．When it doesn’t go so well，I offload to my colleague，so I don’t carry home a heavy heart．Being a Samaritan has greatly improved my life．I’m calmer and become a supportive listener, which has also improved my relationships．But being a wonderful Samaritan doesn’t make you a wonderful parent or wonderful partner—I wish it did．What does the underlined sentence in the passage probably mean?
| A．Those who called in had their unique nature． |
| B．I got to realize the value of being a Samaritan． |
| C．It was common that many people committed suicide． |
| D．I was determined to be a Samaritan at home． |
Some people choose not to tell others about their feelings mainly because they________.
| A．actually have nothing to worry about |
| B．are too shy to expose themselves to others |
| C．suffer from serious mental health problems |
| D．find no supportive listeners around them |
Samaritans usually help callers by________.
| A．sorting out their problems |
| B．providing practical advice for them |
| C．offering them emotional support |
| D．asking questions such as“How can I solve this? ” |
We may infer from the passage that________.
| A．being a good Samaritan takes patience |
| B．Samaritans are easily affected by callers |
| C．callers are always successfully comforted |
| D．people kill themselves for lack of listening volunteers |
C
In the early days of human history, people lived by hunting wild animals, or gathering wild grains and plants for food. Then, some people learned to grow crops and raise animals for food. They were the first farmers.
Since the sixteenth century, the word farm has meant agricultural land. But a much older meaning of the word farm is linked to economics. The word farm comes from the Latin word, firma, which means an unchanging payment.
Experts say the earliest meaning of the English word farm was a yearly payment made as a tax or rent.
Farmers in early England did not own their land. They paid every year to use agricultural lands.
Beans are a popular farm crop. But beans are used to describe something of very little value in the expression, not worth a hill of beans. The expression is often used today. You could say, for example, that a bad idea is not worth a hill of beans.
Language expert Charles Earle Funk said the expression was first used almost seven hundred years ago. He said Robert of Gloucester described a message from the King of Germany to King John of England as altogether not worth a bean.
49. In the early days of human history, how did people live?
A. By raising animals. B. By hunting wild animals.
C. By growing crops. D. By selling plants.
50. What is the much older meaning of “farm” linked to?
A. Agriculture. B. Industry. C. Economics. D. Changing payment.
51. What does the expression “not worth a hill of beans” mean?
A. Very important. B. Very valuable. C. Not valuable. D. Not expensive.
52. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. Since the sixteenth century, the word farm has meant agricultural land.
B. The word farm comes from the Latin word.
C. Farmers in early England owned their land.
D. The expression “not worth a hill of beans” was first used almost seven hundred years ago.
B
Some schools in the United States offer Chinese language classes with government support from China.
Saint Mary’s School is a private college preparatory school in Medford, Oregon.
Carly Irvine is in her fourth year of learning Mandarin(普通话).
CARLY IRVINE: “Since China and America are working so closely and our relationship is growing more and more, I think it will be very important in the future to know Chinese.”
Saint Mary’s also teaches Spanish, German and Latin. It added Mandarin in two thousand five. Two years ago, it became the first school in the country to join the Confucius Classroom program.
The program pays about half the costs of a teacher sent to a school in the United States. China’s Education Ministry also provides books and other materials.
Saint Mary’s principal, Frank Phillips, says knowing Chinese will help students in a world where China is quickly gaining economic power.
Zheng Ling, a teacher at Saint Mary’s, came from China in two thousand eight.
ZHENG LING: “People do not know much about China, especially the latest development. So I think this is a chance for them to know more about China, what China is really like. It’s quite different from what it was twenty years ago.”
The Confucius Classroom program is in about forty countries, including more than fifty American schools and universities.
A recent report said more schools in the United States are teaching Chinese and Arabic, although the numbers are still low.
45. How many American schools and universities have the Confucius Classroom program?
A. 4. B. 20. C. 40. D. 50.
46. Which of the following is true about Saint Mary’s School?
A. It is a public college preparatory school.
B. It added Mandarin in two thousand six.
C. It became the first school in America to join the Confucius Classroom program.
D. It also teaches Spanish, German and French.
47. How does Carly Irvine think learning Chinese?
A. Helpful. B. Useless. C. Unnecessary. D. Terrible.
48. What’s the passage mainly about?
A. Some US Students Learn Mandarin with China’s Help.
B. China is quickly gaining economic power.
C. Saint Mary’s School.
D. Carly Irvine.
第三部分阅读技能（共三节，满分35分）
第一节阅读理解（共12小题；每小题2分，满分24分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Animals are natural resources that people have wasted all through our history.
Animals have been killed for their fur and feathers, for food, for sport, and simply because they were in the way. Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the world forever. Hundreds more are on the danger list today. About 170 kinds in the United States alone are considered in danger.
Why should people care? Because we need animals. And because once they are gone, there will never be any more.
Animals are more than just beautiful and interesting. They are more than just a source of food. The most important is that every animal has its place in the balance of nature. Destroying one kind of animal can create many problems.
For example, when farmers killed large numbers of hawks(老鹰), the farmers stores of corn and grain were destroyed by rats and mice. Why? Because hawks eat rats and mice. With no hawks to keep down their numbers, the rats and mice multiplied(繁殖) quickly.
Luckily, some people are working to help save the animals. Some groups raise money to let people know about the problem. And they try to get the governments to pass laws protecting animals in danger.
Quite a few countries have passed laws. These laws forbid the killing of any animals or plants on the danger list. Slowly, the number of some animals in danger is growing.
41. Animals are important to us mainly because ______.
A. they give us a source of food B. they are beautiful and lovely
C. they keep the balance of nature D. they give us a lot of pleasure
42. What has happened to the animals on the earth?
A. Hundreds of kinds of animals have disappeared forever.
B. Many kinds of animals have died out.
C. About 170 kinds of animals have disappeared forever.
D. All kinds of animals are in danger.
43. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. People care much about animals because they need them.
B. Once a certain kind of animals is gone forever, there will never be any more.
C. Killing all rats and mice may cause some problems.
D. People must not kill any animals.
44. What can we infer from the fact that quite a few countries have passed laws protecting animals
in danger?
A. Every person will know the importance of protecting wild animals.
B. Animals in danger will not be killed any more.
C. The number of some animals in danger will increase.
D. Animals in danger will be kept away from people.
E
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Every boy and every girl expects their parents to give them more pocket money. Why do their parents just give them a certain amount?51
The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend as they wish differs from family to family.52Some children get weekly pocket money. Others get monthly pocket money.
First of all, children are expected to make a choice between spending and saving. Then parents should make the children understand what is expected to pay for with the money. At first, some young children may spend all of the money soon after they receive it. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until it is the right time.53
In order to encourage their children to do some housework, some parents give pocket money if the children help around the home. Some experts think it not wise to pay the children for doing that.54
Pocket money can give children a chance to experience the three things they can do with
themoney. They can spend it by giving it to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. 55 Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice. Saving can also open the door to future saving and investing for children.
| A．They can save it for future use. |
| B．Timing is another consideration. |
| C．As helping at home is a normal part of family life. |
| D．Some children are not good at managing their pocket money. |
E.Learning how to get money is very important for every child.
F.One main purpose is to let kids learn how to manage their own money.
G.By doing so, these children will learn that spending must be done with a budget（预算）.
D
The reasons for going to college have been accepted without question for more than a generation．All high school graduates ought to go ，because college will help them earn more money, become “better” people，and learn to be more responsible citizens than those who don’t go.
But college has never been able to work its magic for everyone．And now that close to half our high school graduates are attending，those who don’t fit the pattern are becoming more numerous，and more obvious．College graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis；college students interfere with each other’s experiments and write false letters of recommendation in the intense competition for admission to graduate school．Others find no stimulation in their studies，and drop out—often encouraged by college administrators．
Some observers say the fault is with the young people themselves—they are spoiled and they are expecting too much．But that’s a criticize of the stud
ents as a whole，and doesn’t explain all campus unhappiness．Others blame the state of the world，and they are partly right．We’ve been told that young people have to go to college because our economy can’t absorb an army of untrained eighteen-year-old either．
Some adventuresome educators and campus watchers have openly begun to suggest that college may not be the best，the proper, the only place for every young person after the completion of high school．We may have been looking at all those surveys and statistics upside down，it seems，and through the rosy glow of our own remembered college experiences．Perhaps college doesn’t make people intelligent，ambitious，happy , liberal，or quick to learn things-maybe it's just the other way around，and intelligent，ambitious，happy, liberal，quick-learning people are merely the ones who have been attracted to college in the first place．And perhaps all those successful college graduates would have been successful whether they had gone to college or not．This is heresy(异端)to those of us who have been brought up to believe that if a little schooling is good，more has to be much better．But contrary evidence is beginning to gradually increase in amount．
48．What does the author believe according to the passage?
A．People used to question the value of college education．
B．People used to have full confidence in higher education．
C．All high school graduates went to college．
D．Very few high school graduates chose to go to college
49．Why does the drop-out rate of college students seem to go up?
A．Young people are disappointed with the traditional way of teaching at college.
B．Many young people are required to join the army．
C．Young people have little motivation in pursuing a higher education．
D．Young people don’t like the intense competition for admission to graduate school．
50．According to the passage，the problems of college education partly arise from the fact that___.
A．society cannot provide enough jobs for properly trained college graduates
B．high school graduates do not fit the pattern of college education
C．too many students have to earn their own living
D．college administrators encourage students to drop out