Have you ever noticed advertisements which say “Learn a foreign language in 6 weeks, or your money back! From the first day your pronunciation will be excellent. Just send…” and so on? Of course, it never happens quite like that. The only language that is easy to learn is one’s mother tongue. And think how much practice that gets! Before the Second World War people usually learnt a foreign language in order to read the literature of the country.
Now speaking a foreign language is what most people want. Every year millions of people start learning one. How do they do it? Some people try at home, with books and records of tapes; some use radio or television programs; some use computers and network; others go to evening classes. If they use the language only 2 or 3 times a week, learning it will take a long time, like learning a foreign language at school. A few people try to learn a language fast by studying for 6 or more hours a day. It is clearly easier to learn the language in the country where it is spoken.
However, most people cannot afford this, and for many it is not necessary. They need the language in order to do their work better. For example, scientists and doctors chiefly need to be able to read books and reports in the foreign language. Whether the language is learnt quickly or slowly, it is hard work. Machines and good books will help, but they cannot do the student’s work for him.According to some advertisements, you ______.
| A．have to pay your money if you cannot master a foreign language in 6 weeks |
| B．needn’t pay your money if you cannot learn a foreign language in 6 weeks |
| C．must pay your money if you cannot master a foreign language in 6 weeks |
| D．will be paid much money if you cannot learn a foreign language in 6 weeks |
Now most people try to learn a foreign language in order to ______.
| A．read the literature of the country |
| B．read books and reports |
| C．do their work better |
| D．go to foreign countries |
Learning a foreign language is a hard job ______.
| A．only for scientists and doctors |
| B．only for the students at school |
| C．for those people at home |
| D．for most people |
.
Birds in cities are damaging their health by trying to sing above the noise of urban life．
New research shows that male birds are trying to compete against traffic and city sounds．They are now singing louder and at higher frequencies，which could harm their vocal cords．Some birds are choosing to sing at night instead of dudng the day．This makes them more open to attack and also creates stress and exhanstion．
“The difference between urban and rural birdsong is becoming so big that the two groups could now be unable to communicate．This could lead to inbreeding and a weak gene pool．”said Dr Sue Anne Zollinger of the University of St Andrews．
According to Zollingar,a bird group with a small geae pool might adapt less quickly to new diseases and could be wiped out．
A study of the dawn chorus found that birds in Berlin sang up to 14 decibels(分贝)louder than those in the forest．The birds sang loudest on weekday momings．
“By trying to sing over the sound of the city,birds are rising vocal injury,”said Zollinger．“All this puts the sarne strain on a bird’s vocal cords as when ahuman need to shout to be heard—except the birds are doing it all day,every day,”she said．
“Singing under such pressure means birds have less control over the sound they produce． Their songs may lose quality and become more rough—sounding．”said Zollinger．This could make them appear less attractive to female birds．
Mark Constantine，author of The Sound Approach to Birding，said：“Birdsong is important for our quality of life and has been proved to reduce our blood pressure．When we live in the centre of large，urban areas，we get stressed and it's extremely good to have birdsong around us．The impact on humans of birdsong is massive．It harms us，as well as the birds，if their songs become louder and simpler
53．Some birds in cities now choose to sing at night time because_______．
A．they want to attract more birds of opposite sex
B．they are more likely to be discovered by their family
C．they can’t adapt to the loud noises during the daytime
D．they have to frighten their enemy away
54．According to the passage，urban and rural birds might not be able to_______．
A．recognize each other
B communicate with each other
C live with each other
D．compete against each other
55．It requires greatest efforts for birds in cities to sing o_______．
A．Monday nights B．Wednesday afternoons
C．Saturday Evenings D．Friday momings
56．According to Dr Sue Anne Zollinger,birds singing louder might eventually lead to_______．
A．the harm done to man’s health
B the dying out of a species
C．the serious damage to the bird’s vocal cords
D．the decrease ofthe birth rate ofa bird group
.
For millions ofpeople，the American dream ofowning a home seems to be slipping out of
reach．
“Maybe young couples can no longer afford to buy a ready-made house as their parents did,'’
says 40-year-old building instmctor Pat Hennin．“But they can still have a home．Like their pioneer ancestors，they can build it themselves，and at less than half the cost of a ready-made house．”
The owner-builders came from every occupational group，although surprisingly few are professional building workers．Many take the plunge with little or no experience．“l learned how to build my house from reading books，”says John Brown，who built a six-room home for$25，000 in High Falls，New Jersey．“If you have patience and the carpentry(木匠)skill to make a bookcase，you can build a house．”An astonishing 50 percent of these owner builders hammer every nail．1ay every pipe，and wire every switch with their own hands．The rest contraet(承包)for some parts of the task．But even those who just act as contractors and finish the insides of their homes can save from 30 percent to 45 percent ofwhat a ready-made home would cost．
One survey revealed that 60 percent ofowner-builders also design their homes．Many others
buy commercial house plans for less than $100 or use plans available from the U．S． Department ofAgriculture．
49．What does the passage mainly tell us?
A．The cost of having a house built．
B．A comparison between young couples and their parents．
C．The life of owner-builders in America．
D．The American dream of owning a house．
50．It can be inferred from the passage that many Americans find it difficult to _______
A．build a house B．find aready-made house
C．have a good job D．buy a house
51．The underlined phrase“take the plunge”most probably means“_______”
A．decide to build a house B．decide to pull down a house
C．decide to buy a house D．decide to rent a house
52．From the passage we learn that_______．
A．Many house plans are offered free of charge．
B．Most of the house plans arc offered by building instructors
C．Fifty percent of the Amedcan young couples build houses．
D．Must of the owner．builders design their homes．
.
Parenting has never been an easy job，but mothers and fathers today face challenges in raising their children that their own parents may never have had to deal with
While children have always been particular eaters，for example，parents today are trying to supply healthful food in a world full ofchicken nuggets，processed snacks and soft drinks．Bike riding and hopscotch have given way to video games and text messaging．And working parents have to cope with all things around day care，jobs and family．
At the same time，a large amount of health information on the Intemet and elsewhere has introduced a higher level of stress for parents．Web sites provide supplemants(补品)that increase a child’s brain health while news organizations report on the latest scare from baby bottles or too much television．
All of this makes raising a healthy child overwhelming．But it doesn’t have to be．
This Well guide offers small steps and simple ways to improve a child’s well-being in four
areas—nutrition，development，playtime and safety Inside，there’s advice from experts on how to raise a healthy，active youngster；tips on diet and behavior，help for problems like insomnia，and the latest thinking on day care，discipline and other topics．It’s all designed to help kids stay well every day．
45．According to the author,what is most likely to be found in today’s homes?
A．Hopscotch B．Healthful food．C．Bike riding． D Brain supplements
46．What does“Well guide'’in the last paragraph probably refer to?
A．A programon how to deal with daily affairs
B A game on how to make kids clever．
C．A book on how to raise a child．
D A site on how to reduce work stress
47．From the 1st paragraphinthe passage,we can infer that_______
A．today’s parents are too busy to raise their own children
B today’s parents should seek advice from their own parents
C it was much easier to raise children in the past
D．parents have more concems in raising children today
48．The underlined word in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by．
A．relaxing B．delighting C．stressful D puzzling
.
第二部分：阅读理解(第一节20小题，第二节5小题；每小题2分，满分50分)
第一节：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，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。
They say that before long，we will be able to receive more than 500 television networks on cable or by satellite .Some people think that it's ridiculous to have that many channels．Their usual criticism goes something like this：
“I already get more channels on my TV than I have time to watch．No one needs to see that much TV．There’s not enough time in the day to watch all that!”They also state that most of what’s on television now isn’t worth watching in the first place．
I think they’re missing the point．If the local library wanted to add another 5,000books,would
we say“That’s silly,we’ll never have time to read all those books．”?The point is that we would
have more choices．
I don’t believe that most people should watch more television And if we had 500 or even 1,000 channels to choose from，we wouldn’t have to spend more time watching the tube．We would．however,have a better selection of programs to choose from．That means that the quality of our viewing time would improve．
I，for one，say that the more channels we can access，the better,Give me more choices! If they’re not worth my time，I’ll just hit the“off”button．
41．The author’s main purpose of writing this article is to tell readers
A．his opinion about having more channels on TV
B．some people think it unnecessary to have so many TV channels
C．we will soon have more channels on TV
D．how to choose proper programs on TV
42．According to the passage，some people dislike having more channels because _______．
A．they already get enough channels on their TV
B．it's a waste of time to watch TV programs
C．some of the TV programs are poor in quality
D．they can’t afford enough time to watch so many programs
43．According to the author having more channels means_______．
A．having more good programs
B．having more choices
C．having more time to watch TV
D．getting more information over TV
44．Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A People usually don’t have enough time to see all the programs on TV．
B．More and more television networks are being set up
C．People will think it silly if the local library adds another 5．000 books．
D If we have more channels，we can improve the quality of our viewing time．
.
Research on the human brain has been attracting more and more scientists in recent years, just like the booming hi-tech industry. One of the latest research topics is how to change the human brain or combine the computer and the human brain, i.e. to transplant a chip into a human brain. This idea may make everyone’s dream come true. If we compare a human brain to a hard disc, what the scientists are doing is to enlarge the capacity of the hard disc. For the time being, there are some difficulties in such transplant experiments, but scientists never give up.
Experiments have started on animals. In 1996, a transplant experiment performed at the Defense and Military Physiology Research Institute in the U.S. turned a bear into a dolphin.
The dolphin was named Ted, and the bear was named Tallin. Using the most advanced technology available, deep and detailed images were made of the memory area in Ted’s brain containing information about swimming by the scientists. They obtained a series of useful information, the signals transferred by the nervous system. Such information was saved into a button-sized chip, which was then transplanted into the action memory area in Tallin’s brain. The information saved on the chip was released by means of electric power.
Recently, another comprehensive memory transplant was performed at the Motor Nerve Research Institute of the University of California. The comprehensive memory transplanted in the experiment included actions, moods, logic, words, images, etc. The experiment involved an entire transplant of the memory area. This was the largest such experiment done so far.
The transplant was performed making a transfer from a dog named “Genius” to a dog named “Idiot”. “Genius” could understand and follow up to 100 gestures and orders made by its master. It was a real genius in memorizing. “Idiot” was the younger brother of “Genius”. It had no contact with people at all since its birth. It became an animal with nothing in its brain, without any memory.
The operation was a complete success. When the two dogs woke up, “Idiot” had grasped all the abilities “Genius” possessed; it was good at memorizing and sensible. It could follow every gesture and any command given by its master. But “Genius” gave no response to its master, and in fact did not recognize him at all.
47. The purpose of the experiment is ________.
A. to combine the computer and the human brain
B. to make bear swim
C. to make some stupid dog turn clever
D. to enlarge the capacity of human brain
48. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The scientists transferred a button-sized chip with useful information in Tallin’s brain.
B. The first comprehensive memory transplant was performed at the Motor Nerve Research University.
C. The second experiment wasn’t an entire transplant of the memory area.
D. The Idiot was an animal with memory before brain experiment
49. What does the underlined word “success” refer to?
A. The two dogs woke up.
B. They were both good at memorizing.
C. The Idiot grasped all the abilities of Genius.
D. The Genius grasped all the abilities of Idiot.
50. According to the text, we can infer ________.
A. a person can know more after the experiment
B. a bear can swim after being transferred a chip with related useful information
C. a dog can become clever after entire transplant of the memory area
D. it is really good for animals to have been involved in the transplant experiment