My father passed away in a nursing home on a September day. I never remembered him telling me he loved me. Upon hearing his death, I didn’t feel the need to cry. I struggled with my lack of strong feelings over his passing, knowing it was not healthy for me to avoid sadness.
On Christmas Day of the year, I was reflecting on as many good memories of my father as I could. I decided to work out my feelings, so I sat down and wrote my father a letter.
Dear Daddy,
I remember something today. I remember when I was 3 years old, mom carried me right before bedtime and you sang “Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep” to me, and I remember your voice like it was just yesterday. I remember the warmth of you lying next to me and how special I felt at that moment. Then my mom carried me off to my own bed to tuck me in.
I remember times when I could sit out on the porch with you and watch an approaching thunderstorm, and you would tell me the scientific facts behind lightning and thunder. I thought you knew everything.
I remember you taking my two brothers and me on trips to a stream out in the country on summer days. We would walk along the stream, picking wildflowers to take home to mother.
I want to thank you for giving me an appreciation of nature and science and of God’s beautiful creation, Earth. I want to thank you for making us take part in “family worship” every evening after dinner. I remember that Bible stories and the Golden Rule on how to treat others, and I learnt how to appreciate music in my life from the hymns we sang. I also learnt to harmonize with my sisters.
And most of all, I want to forgive you. I forgive you for not being able to tell me that I was a special girl and that you loved me. I longed for your spoken affection. But I realize something in your own upbringing would not allow you to express your feelings verbally（口头地）. I realize that you did the best that you could with what you knew.
I signed the letter and put it into my wooden box to join many other cards and letters from my family and loved ones that I cherished. But somehow, it had not brought any relief I desired.
On New Year’s Eve, I remember the letter to my father. I took it outside to the yard. Then I built a fire and dropped it into the flame and watched it burn.
As I thanked my father for giving me life, the tears came. I released all the grief and whispered, “you were my father… and I love you.”Why did the writer struggle with the feelings upon hearing her father’s death?
| A．Because she couldn’t accept her father’s death. |
| B．Because she wanted to hold back her sadness. |
| C．Because she knew she should have felt sad. |
| D．Because she had a mixed feeling of love and hatred. |
The writer spent much happy time doing memorable things with father EXCEPT that ___.
| A．father sang songs for her before bedtime |
| B．father taught her nature, science, and history |
| C．father took her on trips in nature |
| D．father read Bible stories for her |
It can be inferred from the text that ______.
| A．the writer burned the letter directly after finishing writing it |
| B．father’s growth influenced his way of expressing himself |
| C．the writer never expected father to express his true feelings |
| D．the writer didn’t forgive her father completely after his death |
Which can be chosen as the best title for the story?
| A．Daddy, I miss you. |
| B．A regretful letter to father |
| C．Happy time with daddy |
| D．The flames of forgiveness |
Farming was once the chief way of life in nearly every country. People cannot live without food, and nearly all their food comes from crops and animals raised on farms. Not many people farm for a living any more, but farming remains the most important work in the world.
Before the nineteenth century, the typical American family lived on a small farm. They raised pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, and planted corn, fruits, garden vegetables, and wheat. Everyone worked long and hard, but the results were often poor. Families barely harvested enough food for themselves. This situation began to change during the last half of the 1800's and it changed remarkably(明显地) in the next century.
Scientific methods and labor-saving machinery have made farming increasingly productive. The development of improved plant varieties and fertilizers has helped double and even triple the production of some major crops. More scientific animal care and animal raising have helped increase the amount of meat and products that animals produce. At the same time, the use of tractors and other modern farm equipment has sharply reduced the need for farm labor.
As farming has become less important as a way of life in the United States, it has become more important as a source which offers materials to industry. Today's successful farmers are experts not just in agriculture but also in accounting, marketing, and finance. Farms that are not run in a similar way have great difficulty surviving.
61. We are told in the first paragraph about ____.
A. the history of farming B. the importance of farming
C. the development of farming D. the changes of farming
62. Which of the following describes American farming before the 19th century?
A. Farmers didn’t work hard on their farms.
B. Farmers used tractors to help them.
C. Farming was the main way of living for most people.
D. Farmers could supply materials to industry.
63. Crop production has increased greatly now thanks to all the following EXCEPT __.
A. scientific methods B. labor- saving machinery
C. farmers’ hard work D. chemical fertilizers
64. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Traditional American farming.
B. The increase in the number of crops in the US.
C. Modern farming methods.
D. American farmers’ hard work.
65. The passage mainly talks about_____.
A. the advantages of American farming B. the changes in American farming
C. the situation of American farms D. how rapidly farming has developed
第三部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分, 满分40分）
阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中, 选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other forever. He sent his camera crew out one evening to film the sunset for him.
The next morning he said to the men, “Have you provided me with that sunset?”
“No, sir,” the men answered.
The director was angry. “Why not?” he asked.
“Well, sir,” one of the men answered, “we’re on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset.”
“But I want a sunset!” the director shouted. “Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one.”
But then a young secretary had an idea. “Why don’t you photograph a sunrise,” she suggested, “and then play it backwards? Then it’ll look like a sunset.”
“That’s a very good idea!” the director said. Then he turned to the camera crew and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea.”
The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director. “Here it is, sir,” they said, and gave it to him. He was very pleased.
They all went into the studio. “All right,” the director explained, “now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘sunset’ behind them.”
The “sunset” began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop.
The birds in the film were flying backwards, and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach.
56. One evening, the director sent his camera crew out _________.
A. to film a scene on the sea B. to find an actor and an actress
C. to watch a beautiful sunset D. to meet the audience
57. Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast?
A. Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset.
B. Because he was angry with his crew.
C. Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset.
D. Because it was his secretary’s suggestion.
58. The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because ______.
A. it went well with the separation of the hero and heroine
B. when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening
C. it was more moving than a sunrise
D. the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset
59. After the “sunset” began, the director suddenly put his face in his hands ______.
A. because he was moved to tears
B. as he saw everything in the film moving backwards
C. as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined
D. because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and heroine
60. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The crew had to follow the secretary’s advice.
B. If you want to see a sunrise, the east coat is the place to go.
C. The camera crew wasn’t able to film the scene the first day.
D. The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “sunset”.
We live in a digital world now, and a student's technology needs have changed. For the early years, say when you are in primary school, you can get by with no technology at all. Even if you have a computer, it's a good idea to get children familiar with libraries. At this age, trips to the library are like family outings.
As you get closer to middle school, a computer with Internet access becomes more of a necessity. Teachers will often give assignments that require a student to use the Internet for research. After a computer, technology choices for students become more difficult to make – especially when it comes to cell-phones. Kids will beg their parents for a cell-phone, especially in middle school. For many parents, it's a safety issue: They want to know that their kids can reach them quickly if necessary. For teachers, cell phones can be used to record lessons when students are absent. But many teachers dislike cell-phones. Some kids send messages or have talks in the class. Sending messages also raises the problem of cheating on exams. More and more schools are now forbidding the use of cell-phones.
Many kids see iPods as necessary things to have. iPods are great for music, but do they do anything good for your children’s education? Maybe they do. That’s the opinion of Doug Johnson, an educator for 30 years. Johnson says that educators should accept all new forms of technology in the classroom, including iPods. “Some do more with their cell- phones than we can do with our laptops,” he jokes. “I don’t think we should be afraid. The truth is that it’s easier to change the way we teach than to change the technology habits of an entire generation.”
71. According to author, primary school children should___.
A. use the computer and the Internet regularly
B. ask their parents to buy them cell-phones
C. buy iPods to listen to music
D. go to libraries to read more books
72. Why do parents agree to buy their children cell-phones?
A. They want their children to be cool.
B. They think cell-phones be helpful to their study.
C. They want to keep in touch with their children.
D. They want their children to keep up to date.
73. The following are all reasons why many teachers dislike cell-phones EXCEPT ____.
A. cell-phones can be used to cheat on exams
B. schoolchildren will send messages during class
C. cell-phones can be used to record lessons
D. schoolchildren might talk on them during class
74. What does the underlined word “that” refers to?
A. iPods can be used to listen to music.
B. iPods can be helpful for children’s education.
C. iPods can be used to play games.
D. iPods are necessary for children’s lives.
75. We can infer from what Doug Johnson said that _____.
A. cell-phones are not useful to students
B. teachers should let students use cell-phones
C. it’s better for teachers to change their teaching methods
D. schoolchildren should follow the trends(潮流) of fashion
[1] Look at the center circles of Diagram A and Diagram B. Which of the centre circles looks larger?
[2] Take a first look and you probably think that the centre circle in Diagram A is smaller than that in Diagram B. In fact, they are exactly the same size.
[3]Then look at the picture on the right.What do you see? A vase? Or two faces? Does the picture change quickly from one to the other again and again? Maybe or maybe not, but you can see them at the same time.
[4]“What’s happening? Is something wrong with my eyes?” You may wonder at what you see. Don’t worry. Here is how it goes:
[5]When we look at things, our eyes send messages to our brains and then our brains interpret (解释) the information. However, sometimes our brains interpret the received information in a wrong way. It seems that our eyes are playing a joke on us. This often happens and we call it “Visual illusion(幻觉)”.
[6] Movie makers often make use of illusions. They make the objects around actors much smaller or bigger than usual. This makes us believe that the actors are much larger or smaller than they usually are. The movies Jurassic Park and Honey J shrunk the kids just make use of illusions.
66. In which column of a magazine can you read the above text?
A. Culture. B. Science. C. Humour. D. Education.
67. The centre circle in Diagram A looks smaller than that in Diagram B, That’s because .
A. something is wrong with our eyes
B. the two circles are not of the same size
C. our brains interpret the information wrongly
D. pictures change quickly from one to the other
68. In the picture on the right, it seems that Line AB is shorter than lane
CD, but in fact lane AB is as long as Line CD. Which paragraph
can explain what has happened to our eyes?
A. The second one. B. The third one.
C. The fifth one. D. The sixth one.
69. What’s the right order according to the text?
a. We look at things with our eyes.
b. Our brains interpret the messages.
c. Our brains tell us what we have seen.
d. Our eyes send messages to our brains.
A. a-d-b-cB c-a-b-d C a-c-d-b D. b-e-a-d
70. Movie makers make use of visual illusions to .
A. help the actors look better B. make the actors much braver
C. help the actors become stronger D. make the actors seem different in size
Accidents happen almost daily. Some accidents are minor and some are serious but others may be fatal. We read about such accidents nearly every day in the newspapers. It is wrong for people to think that accidents occur only on the roads or highways, or even at worksites. Home accidents are just as common. Because very few home accidents are reported, people tend to think that there are few accidents which happen in homes.
There have been many cases where people fall to their deaths from high-rise flats. Children often fall from staircases while coming down the stairs. Old people may slip on wet or slippery floors if they are not careful.
Nowadays there are a lot of modern electrical appliances such as rice-cookers, electric irons, and kettles which make life easy for the modern housewives. These appliances can kill if they are not used in the proper way.
Gas stoves used for cooking are also dangerous if they are not properly handled. They may cause burns or, in more serious cases, they may even cause fires.
But all such accidents can be prevented if we are careful and obey simple rules of safety. For example, it is unwise for people to try repairing their own electrical appliances if they do not know how. It is safer for them to get their faulty appliances repaired by a qualified electrician.
61. Accidents take place_______.
A. mostly in homes B. mostly on roads and highways
C. mostly on worksites and factories D. almost everywhere
62. People think accidents happen only on the roads or highways because ______.
A. there are more road accidents
B. many home accidents are not reported in newspapers
C. home accidents are not serious
D. such accidents happen nearly every day
63. Which of the following accidents may NOT happen in homes?
A. People may fall to deaths from high buildings.
B. People may be knocked down by cars on the roads.
C. Gas stoves may caused burns or even fires.
D. People may get a shock from an electrical appliance
64. Which of the following is true about the modern electrical appliances?
A. They help modern housewives a lot.
B. They are very dangerous and should not be used.
C. They are usually safe unless they are used carefully.
D. They are not dangerous even if they are used carelessly.
65. People are advised________.
A. to avoid using electrical appliances
B. to repair their own faulty electrical appliances
C. not to repair their own faulty electrical appliances
D. not to throw away their faulty electrical appliances