There was a gardener who looked after his garden with great care .To water his flowers, he used two buckets(水桶) .One was a shiny and new bucket. The other was a very old and dilapidated one，which had seen many years of service, but was now past its best.
Every morning, the gardener would fill up the two buckets. Then he would carry them along the path, one on each side, to the flowerbeds. The new bucket was very proud of itself. It could carry a full bucket of water without a single drop spilled (溢出). The old bucket felt very ashamed because of its holes: before it reached the flowerbeds, much water had leaked (漏出) along the path.
Sometimes the new bucket would say,“ See how capable I am ! How good it is that the gardener has me to water the flowers every day! I don't know why he still bothers with you. What a waste of space you are!”
And all that the old bucket could say was. “ I know I am not very useful, but I can only do my best. I am happy that the gardener still finds a little bit of use in me, at least.”
One day, the gardener heard that kind of conversation .After watering the flowers as usual, he said , “You both have done your work very well .Now I am going to carry you back .I want you to look carefully along the path.”
Then the two buckets did so. All along the path, they noticed, on the side where the new bucket was carried, there was just bare（光秃秃的）earth; on the other side where the old bucket was carried, there was a joyous row of wild flowers, leading all the way to the garden.What was the old bucket ashamed of?
| A．His past. | B．His aging. |
| C．His manner. | D．His leaking. |
What does the underlined word “dilapidated” probably mean?
| A．dirty | B．dark |
| C．worn-out | D．ordinary-looking. |
The new bucket made conversations with the old one mainly to _________.
| A．take pity on the old one |
| B．laugh at the old one |
| C．show off its beautiful looks |
| D．praise the gardener’s kindness |
Why was the old bucket still kept by the gardener?
| A．Because it was used to keep a balance |
| B．Because it stayed in its best condition |
| C．Because it had its own function |
| D．Because it was taken as a treasure |
C
Every once in a while, it is necessary to take a step back in order to take a long, hard look at where we are in our lives. At this point, it is good to ask yourself a bunch of critical questions. Have you so far accomplished all of your goals in life ? If so, you have not accomplished your goals in life, then perhaps you have made the mistake of setting too many goals or trying to accomplish them at an unnaturally fast pace.
It is necessary to set reasonable, intelligent goals in order to succeed in life. Do not be unrealistic because life is not a fairy tale. But you should try to recognize what you want,when attempting to visualize（形象化） or otherwise express what your goals in life are.
In order for a goal to sufficiently motivate you, it needs to be a major one. The bigger your goals are, then the more motivated you will need to be to work towards accomplishing them. If you want, you are a beginner, then no doubt mastering those tough songs is a very intelligent and realistic goal to set. But if that is your only goal as a pianist achieved. This is why it is necessary to constantly stop and re-evaluate our goals so that we are aware of what they are, and thus stay motivated.
49. From the passage, if your goals have all been achieved, you should then ______.
A. ask yourself some serious questions B. take a hard look at your success
C. set some other intelligent goals D. stretch yourself to relax
50. By saying “life is not a fairy tale”, the author suggests that you should ________ .
A. set as big a goal as possible B. try hard to realize your dream
C. make your goals practical D. abandon all your ambitions
51. To perform several Beethoven pieces well is a goal that _______.
A. is not suitable for the pianist B. is appropriate for a beginner
C. stops you from growing as a pianist D. is very easy to achieve
52. What is the best title for the passage ?
A. Set Intelligent Goals for Yourself B. Try to Accomplish Your Goals
C. Get Yourself More Motivated D. Goals Help You to Succeed
B
Home schooling offers other unforeseen advantages as well. One of these might be more available time. Home schooling can be an effective way to teach. The time you have during the day can be used resourcefully, in this manner reducing the overall time that the student in fact spends at school.
Home schooling allows the parent to develop into the main adviser and foundation of guidance for a child. This connection could be the basis of a higher degree of trust between the child and the parent where the child is more apt to come to the parent for help and direction as an alternative of turning somewhere else.
Home schooling can be an instrument for a special case where a child may have been a target of extreme harassment（侵扰）at a standard public school. way to re-focus on learning and makes the child be able to receive the close parental leadership.
It is a proven fact that home schooled students do well when it comes to college preparation. In addition, it is a fact that home schooled students can do as well as their public schooled peers in college.
Home schooling is not for every person. Each parent should cautiously assess . There are many considerations to be made when choosing home schooling, but for many, home schooling has been a preference that has proven to be very beneficial to the student’s exceptional education.
45. The passage mainly talks about _______.
A. how to carry out home schooling
B. the advantages of home schooling
C. home schooling and standard public schooling
D. parents’ preference for home schooling
46. A student trapped in school harassment may 
not _______.
A. focus his / her attention on learning
B. get along well with others
C. form a good habit of learning
D. form a tight connection with his / her teacher
47. The college and SAT assessments are referred in this passage to prove that _______.
A. the final results of home schooling are doubtful
B. public schooled students do better than home schooled students
C. home schooling is equal to or better than public schooling
D. home schooling may not be beneficial to every person
48. Which of the following may the writer agree with ?
A. Home schooling has more advantages than disadvantages
B. Parents should devote their time to home schooling
C. Home schooling is usually not as effective as expected
D. Many factors should be considered before choosing home schooling
第四节：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。
A
Science Daily -------- Dutch ecologist Roxina Soler and her colleagues have discovered that subterranean（地下的）and above ground herbivorous（食草的）insects can communicate with each other by using plants as telephones. Subterranean insects issue chemical warning signals through the leaves of the plant. Thus, aboveground insects are warned that the plant is already “ occupied”.
In recent years it has been discovered that different types of aboveground insects develop slowly if they feed on plants that also have subterranean residents and vice versa（反之亦然）. It seems that a system has developed through natural selection, which helps the subterranean and aboveground insects to communicate with each other. This avoids unnecessary competition.
Through the “green telephone lines”, subterranean insects can also communicate with a third party, namely caterpillars（毛虫）. Parasitic wasps（寄生的黄蜂）lay their eggs inside aboveground insects. The wasps also benefit from the signals sent by the leaves, The communication between subterranean and aboveground It is still not clear how widespread this phenomenon is.
This research was carried out at the Netherlands Institute for Ecology by Roxina Soler, Jeffrey Harvey, Martijn Bezemer, Wim van der Putten and Louise Vet. was funded by the Free Competition of NOW Earth and Life Sciences.
41. After finding a plant occupied by root-eating insects, aboveground insects will usually ________.
A. send out warning signals
B. choose to leave the plant
C. fight with the root-eating insects
D. compete with them for the same plant
42. Aboveground insects will develop more quickly if their food plants _______.
A. have more green leaves
B. get more water and sunlight
C. are often visited by parasitic wasps
D. are not occupied by root-eating insects
43. The underlined part “a third party” in Paragraph 4 refers to ______.
A. caterpillars B. root-eating insects
C. parasitic wasps D. aboveground insects
44. What is the best title for the passage ?
A. Insects use plants as “telephones”
B. How do animals avoid competition
C. The living habit of different insects
D. Communication between different insects
D
His first fight was for the equal rights of black people in South Africa. Then, as the first black president he fought to unite the country and organize the government. Now Nelson Mandela has set his sights on a new enemy, AIDS.
On March 19 the 82-year-old, former president, hosted his second AIDS-awareness concert. He warned that 25 million people in Africa were already infected with the fatal disease.
Mandela was born in a small village in South Africa in 1918. He was adopted (收养) by the chief of his tribe (部族) and could have been a chief himself and lived a happy country life.
But he refused to be a chief when his people lived under racial discrimination ( 种族歧视). He decided to fight for equal rights for all the people in South Africa. Before 1990, under the country’s Racial Segregation Law (种族隔离法), colored and white people lived separately. Black people were treated unfairly even when taking a bus. Blacks had to stand at the back of the bus to make room for white people even when there were only a few of them on board.
For his opposition (反对) to the system Mandela was arrested (被捕) and spent 27 years in prison. He was freed in 1990 and become the president of the country after the first elections were held in which everyone could vote.
Mandela was not only a political fighter who attacked with speeches. He was also a trained boxer (拳击手) and fought in the ring when he was young.
“ Although I did not enjoy the violence of boxing, I was interested in how one moved one’s body to protect oneself, how one used a strategy both to attack and retreat (撤退),” he wrote in his autobiography.
As a skillful fighter, he chose music as his weapon against AIDS. He hopes to win another victory against AIDS.
52．Nelson Mandela succeeded in doing the following except _____.
A. winning the equal rights for the black people in South Africa
B. uniting South Africa
C. organizing a government in South Africa
D. controlling the spread of AIDS
53．If Nelson Mandela hadn’t fought against racial discrimination, he _____.
A. could easily have been the president of South Africa
B. could still have lived a happy life
C. could have been in a difficult situation
D. would have been an excellent boxer
54．It can be inferred that Nelson Mandela _____.
A. continues to help the black people with the political struggle
B. is taking a position in a music group
C. is taking on the world’s greatest fight against AIDS
D. is preparing for the next election of president
55．Which statement can best describe the life of Nelson Mandela?
A. Struggle is his life. B. Sports make his fame.
C. Fight for equal rights. D. Great fighter against government.
C
Classified Ads（广告）
For direct classified service, call 800-0667 10 a.m.—4 p.m., Monday---Friday.
For Rent
Best on Campus
Excellent Room for girls, begins Jan. , 2, 4, or 8 months lease. Single, $ 105. $125. Double, $ 140. Call 800-1932.
Family Home, 3 bedrooms, large yard. $ 275. Call 800-4300.
For Sale
Sheepskin Coat, men’s size 42, 1year old. $ 85. After 6 p.m. call 800-5224.
Moving: Must sell. Color TV 21, $ 150; transistor radio, $ 15; recorder, $ 25. Call 800-0739.
Help Wanted
Babysitter—My home
If you could find a few hours during the day, some evenings and weekends to care for 2 school- age children, please call 800-1111.
Lost
A black bag with a pencil-box and some books left in the reading room. Will the finder please come to Class 3, Grade 1?
Found
A green jacket was left on the sports ground yesterday afternoon ( April 15th). Will the owner please ring 656-6688?
49．If you wanted to place an ad. , what number would you call?
A．800-0739 B．800-1932 C．800-5224 D．800-0667
50．“Classified Ads” may probably mean “________”.
A. ads about everyone’s life
B. ads giving one some necessary information
C. ads divided into different groups according to a certain rules
D. ads for which you needn’t pay any money
51．If you want to find a part-time job, you will look at________.
A. For Rent B. For Sale C. Help Wanted D. Lost