When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.
It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie’s basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.
“Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint.” She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted bit stripes (条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!
The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn’t wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother’s face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.
My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, “What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors’ trees, but this! Come inside right now!” I stood there glaring hack at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art.
“Now go clean it up!” Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.
Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful. What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?
| A．To introduce Stephanie to her. |
| B．To prevent her from seeing his painting. |
| C．To put the materials back in the yard. |
| D．To show his artwork to her. |
In his mother’s eyes, the writer_______.
| A．was a born artist |
| B．always caused trouble |
| C．was a problem solver |
| D．worked very hard |
The underlined word “rainbow” in the last paragraph refers to ______.
| A．the rainbow in the sky |
| B．the stripes on the pavement |
| C．something imaginative and fun |
| D．important lessons learned in childhood |
It can be learned from the passage that parents should ________.
| A．encourage children to paint |
| B．value friendship among children |
| C．discover the hidden talent in children |
| D．protect rather than destroy children’s dreams |
Making an advertisement for television often costs more than a movie. For example, a two – hour movie costs ＄6 million to make. A TV commercial can cost more than ＄6 000 a second. And that does not include cost of paying for air time. Which is more valuable, the program or the ad? In terms of money – and making money is what television is all about – the commercial is by far the more important.
Research, market testing, talent, time and money —— all come together to make us want to buy a product. No matter how bad we think a commercial is, it works. The sales of Charm went up once the ads began. TV commercials actually buy their way into our head. We, in turn, buy the product.
And the ads work because so much time and attention are given to them. Here are some rules of commercial ad making. If you want to get the low middle – class buyer, make sure the announcer has a though, manly voice. Put some people in the ad who work with their hands. If you want to sell to upper – class audience, make sure that the house, the furniture, and the hair style are the types that the group identifies（认同）with. If you want the buyer feel superior to the character selling the product, then make that person so stupid or silly that everyone will feel great about himself or herself.
We laugh at commercials. We don’t think we pay that much attention to them. But evidence shows we are kidding ourselves. The making of a commercial that costs so much money is not kid stuff. It’s big, big business. And it’s telling us what to think , what we need, and what to buy. To put simply, the TV commercial is a form of brainwashing.
1．TV commercials are more important than other programs to television because.
A．they bring in great profits（利润）
B．they require a lot of money to make
C．they are not difficult to produce
D．they attract more viewers than other programs
2．The purpose of all the efforts made in turning out TV commercials is .`
A．to persuade people to buy the product
B．to show how valuable the product is
C．to test the market value of the product
D．to make them as interesting as TV movies
3．From the rules set for making commercial ads, we can see that .
A．the lower – middle – class buyer likes to work with his hand
B．the more stupid the characters, the more buyers of the product
C．ad designers attract different people with different skills
D．an upper – class buyer is only interested in houses and furniture
4．It is believed by the writer that .
A．few people like to watch TV commercials
B．TV commercials are a good guide to buyers
C．TV commercials often make people laugh
D．people do not think highly of TV commercials
5．What does the author actually mean in the last paragraph?
A．He asks TV viewers never to laugh at the TV commercial ads.
B．Commercials are used to show the true value of a product to be sold.
C．TV commercials cost much and they do influence us in one way or another.
D．Brainwashing must be introduced to sell something on TV.
Some years ago industries had more freedom than they have now, and they did not need to be as careful as they must today. They did not need to worry a lot about the safety of the new products that they developed. They did not have to pay much attention to the health and safety of the people who worked for them. Often new products were dangerous for the people who used them; often conditions in the work place had very bad effects on the health of the workers.
Of course sometimes there were real disasters which attracted the attention of governments and which showed the need for changes. Also scientists who were doing research into the health of workers sometimes produced information which governments could not ignore. At such times, there were inquiries into the causes of the disasters or the problems. New safety rules were often introduced as a result of these inquiries; however, the new rules came too late to protect the people who died or two became seriously ill.
Today many governments have special departments which protect customers and workers. In the U.S., for example, there is a department which tests new airplanes and gives warnings about possible problems. It also makes the rules that aircraft producers must follow. Another department controls the foods and drugs that companies sell. A third department looks at the places where people work, and then reports any companies that are breaking the laws which protect the health and safety of workers. Of course, new government departments and new laws cannot prevent every accident or illness, but they are having some good results. Our work places are safer and cleaner than before. The planes and cars which we use for travel are better. Producers are thinking more about the safety and health of the people who buy and use their products.
1．The main topic the passage is .
A．conditions in the work place
B．the freedom of industries in the past
C．changes in industrial production
D．the safety and health of workers and customers
2．It can be inferred from the passage that in the past .
A．workers often got ill because of the poor working conditions
B．companies were free to put out any products they wanted to
C．many people were killed by dangerous products
D．industries were as careful in management as they are today
3．It is implied in the passage that .
A．governments and companies had different opinions about the safety of products
B．in the past no safety laws were introduced by governments
C．government officials often did not listen to scientists
D．governments paid no attention to the safety of products at all
4．From the passage, we know that some years ago safety rules .
A．were put forward due to scientists’ recommendations
B．came into being as a result of the workers’ demands
C．were introduced because quite a number of people were killed or seriously injured
D．were effective enough to protect workers and customers
5．The special departments protect customers and workers in many ways EXCEPT by .
A．testing new products B．controlling the sale of products
C．designing new products D．inspecting work places
Veronica
By Mary Gaitskill.
Pantheon Books, $ 23.
This attractively dark novel from the author of Bad Behavior and Two Girls, Fat and Thin is narrated by a former Paris model who is now sick and poor; her reflections on beauty and cruelty have clarity and an uncanny bite.
On Beauty
By Zadie Smith.
Penguin Press, $ 25.95
In her new book, a cultural – politics novel set in a place like Harvard, the author of White Teeth brings everything to the table: a crisp intellect, a lovely wit and enormous sympathy for the men, women and children who read her story.
Saturday
By Ian McEwan.
Nan A. Talese / Doubleday. $ 26.
As exciting and as carefully constructed as anything McEwan has written, this astringent (尖锐的) novel traces a day in the life of an English neurosurgeon who comes face to face with senseless violence.
De Kooning: An American Master
By Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan.
Alfred A. Knopf, $ 35.
A brilliant biography, impressively researched and absorbingly written, of the talented immigrant who stood at the vortex (中心) of mid – 20th – century American art.
A History of Europe Since 1945
By Tony Judt.
Penguin Press, $ 39.95.
Judt’s massive, learned, truthfully detailed account of Europe’s recovery from the wreckage of World War Ⅱpresents a whole continent in panorama (全景) even as it sets off detonations (爆炸) of insight on almost every page.
1．According to the passage, the most probable non – fiction novel is .
A．Veronica B．Saturday
C．On Beauty D．A History of Europe Since 1945
2．If you’re fond art, which of the following would be your favorite?
A．On Beauty B．Saturday
C．Veronica D．De Kooning : An American Master
3．The novels published by the same company are .
A．On Beauty & A History of Europe Since 1945
B．Saturday & De Kooning : An American Master
C．Veronica & On Beauty
D．A History of Europe Since 1945 & Saturday
4．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．Mary Gaitskill is the author of both Veronica and Bad Behaviour.
B．On Beauty describes the stories that happened in Harvard.
C．Two authors finished De Kooning : An American Master together.
D．A post – war Europe can be found in A History of Europe Since 1945.
5．Which of the following novels are written by Zadie Smith?
A．On Beauty & Bad Behavior
B．Saturday & De Kooning : An American Master
C．On Beauty & White Teeth
D．Veronica & White Teeth
第二部分阅读理解（共25小题；每小题2分,满分50分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Football is , I believe , the most important game in England : one has only to go to one of the important matches to see this . Rich and poor , young and old , one can see them all there , shouting for one side or the other .
To a stranger , one of the most surprising things about football in England is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most of the important teams . He has pictures of them and knows the results of large numbers of matches . He will tell you who he expects will win such a match, and his opinion is usually as good as that of men three or four times his age .
Most schools in England take football seriously—much more seriously than nearly all European schools , where lessons are all that are important, and games are left for the children themselves . In England, it is believed that education is not only a matter of filling a boy’s mind with facts in classroom, it also means the training of character by means of games , especially team games , where they boy or girl has to learn to work with others for the team instead of working for himself alone . The school therefore plans games and matches for its pupils . Football is a good team game ; it is good for both the body and the mind . That is why it is every school’s game in England .
1．In Paragraph 1, “this” means .
A．people often shout at each other in a football match
B．people , rich and poor , young and old , often play football
C．football is the most popular game in England
D．people usually go to the important matches
2．People often one football team or the other by shouting .
A．beat B．win over C．support D．laugh at
3．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage ?
A．English children know more about football than adults
B．Nearly all European schools consider lessons the most important
C．It is surprising that English children have great knowledge of football
D．English schools attach more importance to football than nearly all European schools
4．What does education mean in England ?
A．Filling a boy’s mind with facts .
B．Teaching how to work with others for the team .
C．Training character by means of games .
D．More than the teaching of knowledge .
5．From the passage , we learn that .
A．football is popular mostly among English children
B．schools in England make use of football for the training of body and mind
C．football is more important than lessons in England
D．other European schools consider football unimportant
I've cheated in school when I thought that I could get away with it. I'm not proud of it and I don't usually feel very good about myself afterward, but sometimes it's the only way possible to survive in a pressure cooker. My parents are really set on my getting good grades. They study my report card the same way they examine the newspaper's stock market page. And they make me feel that I've got to live up to their expectations.
But often each teacher acts as if his is the only subject we have. They think nothing of piling on our homework or giving surprise quizzes. Sometimes we have to take two or three tests in different subjects on the same day. I'd like to see a lot of adults I know preparing for that.
When the pressure becomes too high, some kids may resort to(诉诸于) cheating. If you have three or four subjects to study for, you're not going to be able to devote enough time to each subject in order to be well prepared for each class. Besides, it may be the only way left to live up to your parents' expectations and compete with the top students in the class.
Everybody knows that if you cheat, it's important not to get caught. Few things can cause more of chaos. Once, my elder brother got caught cheating on a math final. My parents acted as though he'd committed a federal crime. The assistant principal called them to school, but although the incident caused several conferences, I don't think that anybody ever really understood what my brother was going through. We're just supposed to perform outstandingly as well as always act honestly, but how many adults can actually live up to the standards they set for us?
My father has gotten countless traffic tickets for parking in no parking zones or for not coming to a full stop at stop signs. And you're always hearing about people who don't file their income tax honestly. How about all the corruption in government? Successful adults often accept dishonesty in order to achieve their business goals. Are kids the only ones who are supposed to be perfect?
Most of my friends have cheated on tests in school at one time or another. The kids who never cheat are usually either afraid of getting caught or just don't know how to do it safely. Nobody wants to cheat. But if it's a choice of being honest or of getting a grade, most kids will try for the A. That may sound wrong, but we didn't make the rules, we're just trying to get by.
1. What is the best title of this passage?
A. No one wants to cheat！ B. Everyone likes to cheat！
C. No one can survive a cheat！ D. Everyone can fight a cheat!
2. The author owes children’s cheat to the following EXCEPT ___________.
A. parents B. teachers C. children D. examinations
3. In the fifth paragraph, the author mainly wants to say __________.
A. his father always cheats in his life
B. kids are always supposed to be perfect
C. all the adults can not live up to the standards they set for children
D. children shouldn’t learn from successful adults
4. Which of the following is true according to this passage?
A. The author thinks it is children’s right to cheat in school.
B. Most of the author’s friends like cheating on tests in school.
C. The author shows a positive attitude towards a surprise quiz in school.
D. The author thinks it wrong to cheat in school.