There’s a small town in the central part of England called Gotham. Some say it’s a town of fools. Others say all the villagers are wise. Let me tell you about the people of Gotham so you can decide for yourself.
Long ago, England was ruled by a cruel king named John. One day, the people of Gotham heard that King John and his men would soon be riding through their town.This worried the villagers, for they knew the greedy king would demand food and accommodation for his men. What’s more, if he saw anything to his liking, he would surely take it.
A town meeting was called. After much discussion, the townspeople decided to cut down a number of huge trees to block the roads leading into Gotham. When King John and his men reached the outskirts of the village, they could not pass. Angry, King John ordered his men to go into the town and punish the villagers.
When the king’s officers finally made their way over the trees, they found a village of fools. Some say that was because the people of Gotham had a plan—they had decided to act like fools since they had never heard of anyone being punished for being a noodlehead. Others say that’s just the way they were.
In the village, the king’s men encountered a man riding a donkey. The man was bent over because he carried a huge bag of grain on his own shoulders. He looked exhausted. One of the king’s men approached him and asked, “Why, in heaven’s name, are you carrying that bag? Why don’t you just put it behind you on your donkey’s back?”
“You see,” replied the man from Gotham, “my donkey is feeling poor today. It’s bad enough that she has to carry me, so I decided to lighten her burden by carrying the bag myself.”
The king’s men said, “But sir, don’t you see that if you’re riding on top of the donkey, she’s
still carrying the weight of the bag?” The man didn’t reply. He just looked at the king’s men as if they were crazy and went on his way. The king’s officers giggled at the foolishness of the man. Before long, they passed a pond where they found a number of villagers in the midst of a great argument. Two of them were holding a big eel. “Quiet down,” commanded one of the king’s men. “What’s the problem here?”
One of the villagers stepped forward and said, “Last year we took all the extra fish we [caught and put them in this pond so they would multiply. But this year when we came back, all we caught was this one huge eel. Obviously it has eaten all of our fish! Since then, we have argued long and hard over how to punish this bad eel. But we have finally agreed on the perfect punishment. We are just about to drown the eel in this very pond!” The king’s officers couldn’t believe their ears. Drown an eel whose home is in the water? These men were sillier than the first man they met!
Before long, they reached the center of the village, where they were in for another surprise. There they found the rest of the townspeople building a towering stone wall. When the soldiers inquired what was going on, one of the villagers replied, “Every spring a cuckoo comes to live in our village. It always brings warm weather. When it leaves, the cold weather returns. Last year we decided that if we could get the cuckoo to stay here all year, we would always have warm weather. We built this stone wall, but it obviously wasn’t high enough because the bird flew away. This year we’re determined to build it so high that the cuckoo can’t escape.”
The king’s officers had heard enough. They couldn’t bring themselves to punish such stupid people. They returned to King John and told him all about the fools of Gotham. Whether it’s fair or not, the people of Gotham have been known as fools ever since.
What do you think? Were the villagers of Gotham wise or foolish?This story is most like___________.
| A.a news article | B.a folktale |
| C.realistic fiction | D.historical fiction |
The story is set in___________.
| A.A city | B.A forest |
| C.A royal palace | D.A small village |
Why do the townspeople cut down the trees?
| A.To make room for their crops. |
| B.To block the roads to the village. |
| C.To create a gift for the king’s men. |
| D.To build accommodation for the king’s men. |
The townspeople are worried about the king’s visit because he will___________.
| A.laugh at them |
| B.cut down their trees |
| C.take anything he wants |
| D.want to move to their town |
Based on the story, why might the townspeople be considered wise?
| A.They trick the king’s men into thinking they are fools. |
| B.They think ahead by putting their extra fish into a pond. |
| C.They make sure their donkeys are healthy enough to work. |
| D.They realize the importance of warm weather to their crops. |
The five clearest role-related behaviours of travellers (in order of relative importance )
| Tourist |
takes photos, buys souvenirs, goes to famous places, stays briefly in one place, does not understand the local people |
| Traveller |
stays briefly in one place, experiments with local food, goes to famous places, takes photos, explores places privately |
| Holidaymaker |
takes photos, goes to famous places, is separated from the local society, buys souvenirs, contributes to the visited economy |
| Jet-setter |
lives a life of luxury (奢侈) , concerned with social status, seeks physical pleasures, prefers communicating with people of his/her own kind, goes to famous places |
| Businessperson |
concerned with social status, contributes to the economy, does not take photos prefers interacting with people of his/her own kind, lives a life of luxury |
| Conservationist |
interested in the environment, does not buy souvenirs, does not exploit the local people, explores places privately, takes photos |
| Explorer |
explores places privately, interested in the environment, takes physical risks, does not buy souvenirs, observes the visited economy |
| Overseas student |
experiments with local food, does not exploit the people, takes photos, observes the visited society, takes physical risks |
| International athlete |
is not separated from their own society, does not exploit the local people, does not understand the local people, explores places privately, searches for the meaning of life |
| Overseas journalist |
takes photos, observes the visited society, goes to famous places, takes physical risks, ex plores places privately |
64.Which of the following behaviours do Tourist, Traveller and Holidaymaker share?
A.Stay briefly in one place. B.Buy souvenirs.
C.Go to famous places. D.Explore places privately.
65.We can learn that overseas students .
A.are curious about the society they visit
B.like to do experiments with local food
C.take photos as their teachers have instructed
D.enjoy taking physical risks because they are brave
66.According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A.Three groups are interested in exploring places privately.
B.More than two groups live a life of luxury.
C.Six groups are fond of taking photos.
D.Two groups don't like buying souvenirs.
Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook by yourself? Have you been doing Internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can't you be bothered to do?
A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of the adults are so idle (懒散的) that they'd catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs.
Just over 2000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuffield Health, Britain's largest health center. The results were extremely surprising.
About one in six people questioned said if their remote control was broken, they would continue watching the same channel rather than get up.
More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus. Worryingly, of the 654 respondents with children, 64% said they were often too tired to play with them.
This led the report to conclude that it's no wonder that one in six children in the UK are classified as obese (very fat) before they start school.
Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said, “People need to get fitter, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of their families, friends and evidently their pets too.”
“If we don't start to take control of this problem, a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the most fundamental tasks.”
And Scotland's largest city, Glasgow, was shamed as the most idle city in the UK, with 75% questioned admitting they do not get enough exercise, followed closely by Birmingham and Southampton, both with 67%.
The results bring serious challenges for the National Health Service, where obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease
and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and are costing billions of pounds every year.
60.How many people questioned don't play with their children?
A.1280.B.More than 333. C.654.D.About 420.
61.The study leads us to believe that .
A.the pets in the UK will be in trouble if their owners keep their way of life
B.Glasgow people feel ashamed because they don't get enough exercise
C.British people are the laziest around the world
D.five sixths of the British children are healthy
62.How does the author convince the readers?
A.By presenting the results of a study. B.By providing answers to questions.
C.By interviewing some experts. D.By telling a story.
63.What is the passage mainly about?
A.A study of British people's laziness. B.
A study of British people's lifestyles.
C.The health service in the UK. D.The obesity problem in the UK.
第三部分:阅读理解(共两节,40分)
第一节:(共15小题;每小题2分,共30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。
The sun shone in through the dining room window,lighting up the hardwood floor We had been talking there for nearly two hours.The phone of the“Nightline”rang yet again and Morrie asked his helper.Connie,to get it She had been taking down the callers’names in Morrie’s small black appointment book It was clear 1 was not the only one interested in visiting my old professor—the“Nightline”appearance had made him something of a big figure—but I was impressed with.perhaps even a bit envious of,all the friends that Morrie seemed to have
“You know.Mitch,now that I'm dying,I've become much more interesting to people.I’m
on the last great journey here——and people want me to tell them what to pack.”
The phone rang again.
“Morrie,can you talk?”Connie asked
“I’m visiting with my old friend now,”he announced.“Let them call back.”
I cannot tell you why he received me so warmly.I was hardly the promising student who had left him sixteen years earlier.Had it not been for“Nightline,”Morrie might have died without ever seeing me again.
What happened to me?
The eighties happened The nineties happened.Death and sickness and getting fat and going bald happened.I traded lots of dreams for a bigger paycheck,and I never even realized I was doing it Yet here was Morrie talking with the wonder of our college years,as if I'd Simply been on a long vacation
“Have you found someone to share your heart with?” he asked
“Are you at peace with yourself?”
“Are you trying to be as human as you can be?”
I felt ashamed,wanting to show I had been trying hard to
work out such questions.What
happened to me? I once promised myself I would never work for money,that I would join the
Peace Corps,and that 1 would live in beautiful,inspirational places.
Instead, I had been in Detroit for ten years,at the same workplace,using the same bank,visiting the same barber I was thirty-seven,more mature than in college,tied to computers and modems and cell phones.I was no longer young,nor did I walk around in gray sweatshirts with
unlit cigarettes in my mouth.I did not have long discussions over egg salad sandwiches about the meaning of life.
My days were full,yet I remained,much of the time,unsatisfied
What happened to me?
56.When did the author graduate from Morrie’s college?
A.In the eighties. B.In the nineties.
C.When he was sixteen D.When he was twenty-one.
57.What do we know about the“Nightline”?
A.Morrie started it by himself B.It helped Morrie earn a fame.
C.The author helped Morrie start it. D.It was only operated at night.
58.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Both the author and Morrie liked travelling.
B.Morrie liked helping people pack things for their journeys.
C.The author envied Morrie’s friends the help they got from him.
D.The author earned a lot of money at the cost of his dreams.
59.What’s the author’s feeling when he writes this passage?
A.Regretful.B.Enthusiastic. C.Sympathetic.D.Humorous.
Every profession,every art,and every science has its technical vocabulary. Its function is partly to name things or processes which can not be described in ordinary English.Such special terms are necessary in technical discussion of any kind.Being universally understood by the specialists of the particular science or art,these terms have the exactness of a mathematical formula(公式).Besides,they save time, for it is much more convenient to name a process than to describe it.
Different occupations,however,differ widely in the character of their special vocabularies.In trades and handicrafts,and other professions,like farming and fishery,that have occupied great numbers of men in the past,the technical vocabulary is very old.It consists largely of native words, or borrowed words that have worked themselves into the very fibre of our language.As a consequence, though highly technical in many particulars,these vocabularies are more familiar in sound;and more generally understood,than most other technicalities.
Yet every profession still possesses a large body of technical terms that remain extremely unfamiliar, even to educated speech.And the amount has been much increased in the last fifty years.New terms are invented with the greatest freedom,and abandoned unconcernedly when they have served their turn.Most of the new inventions of words and expressions are restricted to special discussions, and seldom get into general conversation.
Yet no profession is,nowadays,as all professions once were,a closed association.Specialists in different fields share ideas and associate freely with each other. Furthermore, what is called “popular science” familiarizes everybody with modern views and recent discoveries. Any important experiment, though made in a remote lab, is at once reported in the newspaper, and everybody is soon talking about it—as in the case of the Roentgen rays and wordless telegraph. Thus our common speech is always taking up new technical terms and making them commonplace.
67.Technical terms are created so .
A.specialists may communicate more easily
B.people may enjoy varieties of occupations
C.people may save time in everyday discussions
D.specialists may well accept mathematical formulas
68.The writer lists wireless telegraph as an example to show special words .
A.should represent popular science
B.may become part of common speech
C.should be restricted to scientific fields
D.may be considered great inventions of man
69.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Nonteehnical words may be replaced.
B.Media helps to popularize special terms.
C.Various professionals exchange their terms.
D.Educated people know most technical terms.
A gadget which makes water out of air could become the greatest househo1d invention since the microwave.
Using the same technology as a dehumidifier(除湿器),the Water Mill is able to create a ready supply of drinking water because it can always get it from an unlimited source—the air.
The company behind the machine says not only does it offer an alternative to bottled water in
developed countries, but it is a solution for the millions who face a daily water shortage.
The machine works by drawing in wet air through a filter(过滤器)and over a cooling instrument which changes it into water droplets.It can produce up to 1 2 liters a day.The Water Mill will also produce more water when storms pass over, as the amount of water which is contained in the air increases.
In keeping with its eco-development, the machine uses the same amount of electricity as three lights.
Inventor Jonathan Ritchey said: “The demand for water is off the chart. So people are looking for freedom from water distribution systems that are shaky and unreliable.”
The machine, which is about 3 feet wide, is likely to cost £800 when it goes on sale here in the spring. Its make
r, Canadian Firm Element Four, roughly calculates that a litre of water cost around 20p to produce.
Environmentalists state that half the world’s population will face water shortage because of climate change by 2080. One in five is said to lack access to safe drinking.
The Water Mill is not effective in areas where the amount of water contained in the air is below about 30 percent, but in Britain that won’t be much of a problem.
63.What does the underlined word “it” refer do?
A.Drinking water. B.Invention. C.Microwave. D.Water Mill.
64.What do we learn about the machine?
A.It works in the same way as microwaves.
B.It is very expensive for families to afford.
C.It absorbs steam and turns it into water.
D.It helps to make the water clean to drink.
65.What does the passage lead us to believe?
A.The cost of water will go up. B.Bottled water will disappear sooner.
C.The machine is energy saving. D.The machine will be popular worldwide.
66.What’s the best title for the passage?
A.A New Way to Solve Water Problem. B.A Machine to Make Water out of Air.
C.A Dehumidifier to Produce Water. D.An Absolutely New Invention