In a room at Texas Children Cancer Center in Houston, eight-year-old Simran Jatar lay in bed with a drip (点滴) above her to fight her bone cancer. Over her bald (秃的) head, she wore a pink hat that matched her clothes. But the third grader’s cheery dressing didn’t mask her pain and weary eyes.
Then a visitor showed up. “Do you want to write a song?” asked Anita Kruse, 49, rolling a cart equipped with an electronic keyboard, a microphone and speakers. Simran stared. “Have you ever written a poem?” Anita Kruse continued. “Well, yes,” Simran said.
Within minutes, Simran was reading her poem into the microphone. “Some bird soaring through the sky,” she said softly. “Imagination in its head…” Anita Kruse added piano music, a few warbling (鸣, 唱) birds, and finally the girl’s voice. Thirty minutes later, she presented Simran with a CD of her first recorded song.
That was the beginning of Anita Kruse’s project, Purple Songs Can Fly, one that has helped more than 125 young patients write and record songs. As a composer and pianist who had performed at the hospital, Kruse said that the idea of how she could help “came in one flash”.
The effect on the kids has been great. One teenage girl, curling (蜷缩) in pain in her wheelchair, stood unaided to dance to a hip-hop song she had written. A 12-year-old boy with Hodgkin’s disease who rarely spoke surprised his doctors with a song he called I Can Make It.
“My time with the kids is heartbreaking because of the severity of their illnesses,” says Anita Kruse. “But they also make you happy, when the children are smiling, excited to share their CD with their families.”
Simran is now an active sixth grader and cancer-free. From time to time, she and her mother listen to her song, Always Remembering, and they always remember the “really sweet and nice and loving” lady who gave them a shining moment in the dark hour.Simran Jatar lay in bed in hospital because ______.
| A．most of her hair had fallen out |
| B．she was receiving treatment for cancer |
| C．she felt depressed and quit from school |
| D．she was suffering from a pain in her back |
What do we know about Anita Kruse’s project?
| A．It helps young patients record songs. |
| B．It is supported by singers and patients. |
| C．It aims to replace the medical treatment. |
| D．It offers patients chances to realize their dreams. |
What does the case of a 12-year-old boy suggest?
| A．Most children are naturally fond of music. |
| B．He was brave enough to put up performance. |
| C．The project has positive effect on young patients. |
| D．Singing is the best way to treat some illnesses. |
What is probably the best title for the passage?
| A．Purple Songs Can Fly |
| B．Singing Can Improve Health |
| C．A Shining Moment in Life |
| D．A Kind Woman—Anita Kruse |
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.
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。
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.
At dawn on Friday, May 19, 1780, farmers in New England stopped to wonder at the pink color of the sun. By noon the sky had darkened to midnight blackness, causing Americans, still in the painful struggle of a prolonged war of independence, to light candles and tremble at thoughts of the Last Judgment. As the birds quieted and no storm accompanied the darkness, men and women crowded into churches, where one minister commented that “The people were very attentive.” John Greenleaf Whittier later wrote that “Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp . . .”
A recent study of researchers, led by Richard Guyette from the University of Missouri’s Tree Ring Laboratory, has shown that vast forest fires in the Algonquin Highlands of southern Ontario and elsewhere in Canada brought this event upon New England. The scientists have discovered “fire scars” on the rings for that year, left when the heat of a wildfire has killed a part of a tree’s cambium (形成层). Evidence collected also points to a drought that year. An easterly wind and low barometric pressure (低气压) helped force smoke into the upper atmosphere. “The record fits pretty close,” says Guyette. “We had the right fuel, the drought. The conditions were all there.”
Lacking the ability to communicate quickly over long distances, Americans in 1780 remained in the dark about the event, which had disappeared by the next day. Over the next several months, the papers carried heated debates about what brought the darkness. Some were the voices of angry prediction, such as one Massachusetts farmer who wrote, “Oh! Backsliding New-England, attend now to the things which belong to your peace before they are forever hid from your eyes.” Others gave different answers. One stated that a “flaming star” had passed between the earth and the sun. Ash, argued another commentator. The debate, carried on throughout New England, where there were no scientific journals or academies yet, reflected an unfolding culture of scientific enquiry already sweeping the Western world, a revolution nearly as influential as the war for independence from the English.
New Englanders would not soon forget that dark day; it lived on in folklore, poems, and sermons for generations.
66. New Englanders crowded into churches because they were frightened by .
A. the pink color of the sunB. the darkened sky at daytime
C. the Last Judgment on Friday D. the American War of Independence
67. What can we infer about the event in New England on May 19, 1780?
A. Prayers remained silent and attentive.B. Night birds no longer came out to sing.
C. People’s ears became sharper than usual.D. Midday meals were served by candlelight.
68. According to the researchers, the origin of the event was .
A. an east wind B. a severe drought C. some burning fuel D. low barometric pressure
69. What can we know about the debates after the dark day?
A. They focused on causes of the event.
B. They swept throughout the Western world.
C. They were organized by scientific institutions.
D. They improved Americans’ ability to communicate.
70. What can be the best title for the text?
A. New England’s dark day.
B. Voices of angry prediction.
C. There is no smoke without fire.
D. Tree rings and scientific discovery.
I believe that it is important to be brought up with a firm belief in the good. I was fortunate in this respect. My parents not only gave me a happy home, but they had me study half a dozen foreign languages and made it possible for me to travel in other countries. This made me more tolerant and helped me to bridge many difficulties in later life.
Soon after I got married, my husband and I left our native Czechoslovakia and went to live in Shanghai, China. Here was a really international city. People of all races and beliefs lived and worked together.
In Shanghai, in 1941, when I was only twenty years old, the doctors discovered that I had diabetes. It was a terrible shock, because diabetes is incurable. But it can be controlled by insulin (胰岛素). Although this drug was not manufactured in China, there were enough stocks of imported insulin available. This enabled me to continue a normal, happy life.
Then bombs fell on Pearl Harbor and the Japanese occupied Shanghai. The import of insulin was cut off. Before long, there was not enough for the diabetics. I was on a starvation diet to keep my insulin requirements as low as possible. Many diabetics had already died, and the situation became desperate. In spite of all this, I never stopped believing that with the help of my husband’s love and care, I would survive.
I continued to teach in Chinese schools. My faith and my husband’s never-ending efforts to get the manufacture of insulin started gave me courage. In his small laboratory the production of insulin was attempted. I served as the human guinea pig（实验品）on which it was tested. I’ll never forget the day when my husband gave me the first injection of the new insulin, which had worked on rabbits. It helped! Can you imagine our happiness and relief?
I received the greatest strength from the deep love and complete understanding between my husband and me. And next to that was the kindness and help of many, many friends of many nationalities. To me, the experience of living in Shanghai during the special times was unforgettable.
After the Second World War, my husband and I sailed to the Untied States, which is also known as a melt pot. Wherever we live, I believe, with faith and love, love between families and friends from different nationalities, we can make it our cherished home.
61. What can we know about the author?
A. She visited China before twenty.B. She was given an unhappy home.
C. She got married in Czechoslovakia. D. She could hardly tolerate her parents.
62. As a diabetic, the author could still live normally in 1941 because.
A. she was able to buy enough insulin B. she received good medical treatment
C. she was looked after by her husband D. she was helped by people of different races
63. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refers to.
A. a small rabbit B. an ever lasting effort
C. the new insulin D. the human guinea pig
64. How does the author feel about her stay in China?
A. Unbearable. B. Unbelievable. C. Unfortunate. D. Unforgettable.
65. We can infer from the text that the author’s husband was.
A. a doctor B. a researcher C. a teacher D. a sailor