Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.
The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move.“Sensei,” the boy finally said, “shouldn't I be learning more moves?”“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know,” the sensei replied.
Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.
Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy skillfully used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.
“No,” the sensei insisted, “Let him continue.” Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.
On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. “Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?” “You won for two reasons,” the sensei answered. “First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. Second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”
The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.we can infer from Paragraph 2 that the teacher__________.
| A．was unwilling to teach the boy |
| B．regarded mastering one move as extremely important. |
| C．worried about the boys ability |
| D．trained the boy to win judo tournaments |
After the boy came in the finals, __________.
| A．he feared to get hurt. |
| B．the teacher felt satisfied |
| C．he thought of giving up. |
| D．the judge stopped the game. |
The underlined expression “be overmatched” in Paragraph 3 is closed in meaning to__________.
| A．lose heart |
| B．lose patience |
| C．be defeated |
| D．be monitored |
How did the boy’s teacher explain his success of the tournament?
| A．His opponent was too confident and careless. |
| B．The boy was experienced in playing the games. |
| C．His opponent didn't notice the boys left hand. |
| D．The boy made use of his judo skill and weakness. |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To suggest we turn weakness into strength. |
| B．To encourage us to insist in a match. |
| C．To show us how to win a match luckily. |
| D．To tell us to choose an experienced teacher. |
One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us the “cashless society” is not on the horizon---it’s already here.
While computer offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how far they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customer for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.
Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.
49.According to the passage, the credit card enables its owner to .
A. withdraw as much money from the bank as he wishes
B. obtain more convenient services than other people do
C. enjoy great trust from the storekeeper
D. cash money where he wished to
50. From the last sentence of the first paragraph we learn that .
A. in the future all the Americans will use credit cads
B. credit cards are mainly used in the United States today
C. nowadays many Americans do not pay in cash
D. it is now more convenient to use credit cards than before
51. The phrase“ring up sales”most probably means .
A. make an order of goods B. record sales on a cash register
C. call the sales manager D. keep track of the goods in stock
There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.
45. People who are unhappy .
A. always consider things differently from others
B. usually are affected by the results of certain things
C. usually misunderstand what others think or say
D. always discover the unpleasant side of certain things
46. We can conclude from the passage that .
A. we should pity all such unhappy people
B. such unhappy people are dangerous to social life
C. people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness
D. unhappy people can not understand happy persons
47. If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should .
A. prevent any communication with them
B. show no respect and politeness to them
C. persuade them to recognize the bad effects
D. quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes
48. In this passage, the writer mainly .
A. describes two types of people
B. laughs at the unhappy people
C. suggests the unhappy people should get rid of the habits of unhappiness
D. tell people how to be happy in life
第三部分阅读理解（共20小题：每小题2分，满分40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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
When I was a boy, my father told me that he could do anything he wanted to. Dad said that he wanted to be the first to develop color prints in our city. And so he did.
When I was 16, Dad looked closely at the violin I played and announced that he wanted to make one. He read about violinmaking, and then became a violinmaker at the age of 43. He bought the tools and materials, opened a small store and set Mom up as the shopkeeper, while he worked at a local company. He retired from the company 17 years later and continued to make violins and other instruments.
Dad often guessed why the Stradivarius violins sound so beautiful. Some experts claimed that it was the unique varnish(清漆) that gave those instruments their beautiful sound. Dad argued that chemists could analyze the varnish---if that were the answer.
One of Dad’s friends asked him once which kind of wood was used to make violins. When Dad explained that the top was made of spruce（云杉）, his friend said that he had an old piece of spruce Dad might be interested in.
He worked for the next 12 months making a violin from the wood that his friend had given him. It proved to be a superior violin and it would become Dad’s masterpiece. He was convinced that the secret of the Stradivarius sound was in the wood itself.
Later, the instrument was stolen. Dad’s spirit was broken by the robbery, and he stopped making instruments. But he kept the music shop until he was 80 years old, selling guitars and violins.
My father has been gone for 14 years now. The violin has been missing for more than 25 years. Somewhere a musician is playing a late-20th-century violin with an excellent tone. The owner today may never understand why this ordinary-looking violin sounds so much like Stradivarius.
41. The author mentions his father’s developing color prints .
A. to show that his father’s real interest was not in making violins
B. to prove that his father could do anything he wanted to
C. to give an example proving that his father was an inventor
D. to describe the real thing that made the author believe his father
42. What did the author’ father think about Stradivarius violins?
A. The varnish was different from others.
B. The way of making them was special.
C. The wood of the violins was special.
D. They could only be analyzed by chemists.
43. From the underlined sentence, we can learn that the author’s father .
A. liked the violin very much B. got crazy after this happened
C. lost interest in instruments D. didn’t want to become famous
44. We can infer from the last paragraph that the author .
A. really hates the thief B. misses his father a lot
C.really wants to play the violin D. wonders who’s playing the violin now
When someone says, “Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music,” it doesn’t mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you did not do this or that. Terrible music, indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time or another, every one of us has had to “face the music”, especially as children. We can remember father’s angry voice: “I want to talk to you!” And only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!
The phrase “face the music” is known to every American, old and young. It is at least one hundred years old. Where did the expression come from?
The first explanation came from the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. He said, in 1851, that expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings (舞台的两侧) to go on stage. After they got their clue(暗示) to go on , they often said, “It’s time to go to face the music.” And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra (乐队) which was just below the stage. An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience(观众) that might be friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So “face the music” came to mean: having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.The expression “face the music” means ______.
| A．plan to go to a concert |
| B．get one’s clue to do something |
| C．have to go through something far less pleasant |
| D．disobey what one's father says |
The passage tells us that the expression was first used by _____.
| A．children | B．novelists | C．actors | D．audience |
In the last paragraph the Chinese meaning of the word “line” is _______.
| A．老板 | B．同事 | C．角色 | D．台词 |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The expression came from James Fenimore Cooper, an American novelist |
| B．The expression has a history of 100 years. |
| C．If someone doesn’t obey his boss, he will have to face the music. |
| D．Almost everyone once had an experience to face the music. |
Ever since farmers began to grow grain, they have had to protect their crops from birds. In the 1300's, English farmers hired children to protect their crops. They were called “bird scares”. The children chased birds and threw stones at them.
Bird scares were replaced in the 1800's by scarecrows. A scarecrow is anything that is set in a field to scare birds away. Often it is a pole dressed like a person. Some farms with small fields still use scarecrows today.
Farming became big business in the twentieth century. Scarecrows could no longer protect the huge fields of grain, so farmers used poisonous chemicals on the fields. The poison made the grain bitter. The birds usually would not eat the bitter grain.
Although they can prevent crops from being destroyed by insects and birds, some chemicals can be harmful to humans. Therefore, farmers are using fewer chemicals now than they did twenty years ago. Perhaps scarecrows may be seen more often in the fields in the future.English farmers began to hire children to get away birds since_____.
| A．the twelfth century | B．the fifteenth century |
| C．the sixteenth century | D．the fourteenth century |
“Bird scares” keep birds away from crops by_____.
| A．feeding them bitter grain | B．pretending to be scarecrows |
| C．spreading chemicals in the fields | D．chasing them and throwing stones |
Which statement from the passage supports the idea that scarecrows may be seen more often in the fields in the future?
| A．Scarecrows could no longer protect fields. | B．They were called “bird scares”. |
| C．English farmers hired children. | D．Farmers are using fewer chemicals. |
The author's purpose is to ________.
| A．give information about children who worked as bird scares |
| B．tell how crops have been protected from birds |
| C．make the readers feel sorry for birds that eat poisoned grain |
| D．entertain the readers with a funny story |