Let us suppose it is now about A.D. 2060. Let's make believe it is about 47 years from now. Of course, things have changed and life is very different.
Voyages to the moon are being made every day. It is as easy to take a holiday on the moon today as it was for the people in 1960 to take a holiday in Europe. At a number of scenic spots on the moon, many hotels have been built. In order that everyone can enjoy the beautiful scenery on the moon, every room has at least one picture window. Everything imaginable is provided for entertainment of young and old.
What are people eating now? People are still eating food. They haven't yet started to take on heir(继承) supply of energy directly as electrical current or as nuclear power. They may some day. But many foods now come in pill form, and the food that goes into the pill continues to come mainly from green plants.
Since there are several times as many people in the world today as there were a hundred years ago, most of our planet's surface has to be filled. The deserts are irrigated with water and crops are no longer destroyed by pests. The harvest is always good.
Farming, of course, is very highly developed. Very few people have to work on the farm. It is possible to run the farm by just pushing a few buttons now and then.
We are healthier both in our bodies and in our minds, and we know the causes and cure of disease and pain, and it is possible to get rid of diseases. No one has to be ill any more.
Such would be our life in 2060.
When was the passage written?
A. In about A.D. 2060 B. In about 1960
C. In about 2013 D. In about 2014
According to the passage, what will be on the moon in about A.D. 2060?
A. Many other animals. B. Many plants.
C. Many tourists. D. A sea.
The passage tells us that in 2060, ________ on the earth than now.
A.there are more pests |
B.the crops are getting better |
C.there are fewer people |
D.there is less water |
Prince Charles yesterday promised to reduce the royal impact on the environment through sweeping changes to his personal lifestyle and official schedule.The prince will replace carbon-heavy private jets and helicopters with scheduled flights and train services.
The move came as Prince Charles urged business leaders to publish the environmental pact of their activities.
He said, “Few accountants and business decision-makers ask, ‘How much of our critical natural resource is left? How many miles of polar ice cap has our business helped melt this year? By how many inches have we raised sea levels? How many species have we put at risk? How many homes will be flooded, how many people will die of thirst or starvation because of our activities? ’ These are not comfortable questions, but, by God, they need to be asked.”
He added, “At the moment these costs do not appear in anyone’s books… Yet they are real, they are incurred now and in a relatively short time, the damage being caused may be beyond remedy.” He said the world was “running up the biggest global credit card debt in history, but with little or no thought for how the bill will ever be paid”.
Flanked by the prime minister and business and community leaders at St James’ Palace, the prince said his new “accounting for sustainability” project would give consumers the power to choose products that caused less damage to the planet.
Duchy Originals, the prince’s food company, is taking steps to work out how much carbon dioxide and other green-house gas are emitted in growing, processing and distributing its products.The changes to the prince’s travel arrangements announced yesterday are part of a wider review of the carbon footprint associated with activities at all three of his residences.Clarence House in London, Highgrove and Birkhall on the Balmorals estate(庄园), as well as the activities of his 21 personal and 105 full-time staff.Measures include a review of electricity use, commuter and other staff travel and are intended to identify further reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.The review will report in June , when Clarence House will announce annual targets to reduce carbon emission.
71.One of the moves Prince Charles will take to reduce the royal impact on the environment is ______.
A.taking private jets that are not carbon-heavy
B.taking helicopters instead of private jets
C.taking trains instead of scheduled flights
D.taking scheduled flights instead of helicopters
72.How does Prince Charles feel about business leaders in terms of environmental protection?
A.Dissatisfied. B.Disappointed. C.Doubtful. D.Impatient.
73.In response to Prince Charles’ calls, Duchy Originals will ______.
A.make as much green food as possible
B.cut down its cost
C.figure out its greenhouse gas emission
D.continue its greenhouse gas emission
74.The underlined phrase in paragraph 4 probably refers to ______.
A.the great amount of waste produced by industry
B.the great damage caused to the environment
C.the great amount of debts of the royal family
D.the high cost of industry in their producing process
75.What would be the best title for the passage?
A.Prince Charles promised Greener Royal Lifestyle
B.Better Late than Never
C.Prince Charles and His Concern for Environment
D.The Royal Family Has a Role to Play in Environment Protection
The meaning of the word “volunteer” may be a little different in different countries, but it usually means “one who offers his or her services.” There are many different ways in which people can volunteer, such as taking care of sick people, working in homes for homeless children, and picking up garbage from beaches and parks.Volunteers may work within their own countries or in other countries.They are often people with a strong wish to help those who are less fortunate than themselves.Volunteers don’t expect any kind of pay.
At the root of volunteering is the idea that one person may have the ability to offer services that can help other people.Tracy, a good friend of mine, however, recently came back from India with a new idea of what being a volunteer means.She worked for two and a half weeks in one of Mother Teresa’s homes in Calcutta.The following is her story.
“I first heard about Mother Teresa in my high school.We watched a video about her work in India and all over the world.I was so moved by her spirit to help others and her endless love for every human being that after I graduated from high school, I too wanted to try her kind of work.So with two friends I flew to Calcutta for a few weeks.”
“I was asked to work in a home for sick people.I helped wash clothes and sheets, and pass out lunch.I also fed the people who were too weak to feed themselves and tried to cheer them up.I felt it was better to share with them than to think that I have helped them.To be honest, I don’t think I was helping very much.It was then that I realized that I had not really come to help, but to learn about and experience another culture that helped improve my own understanding of life and the world.”
66.According to the text, a volunteer refers to a person who ______.
A.is willing to help those in need without pay
B.can afford to travel to different places
C.has a strong wish to be successful
D.has made a big fortune in life
67.Tracy started her work as a volunteer _______.
A.after she met Mother Teresa
B.after she finished high school
C.when she was touring Calcutta
D.when she was working in a hospital
68.Why did Tracy choose to be a volunteer?
A.She liked to work with Mother Teresa.
B.She had already had some experience.
C.She was asked by Mother Teresa’s example.
D.She wanted to follow Mother Teresa’s example.
69.What is Tracy’s “new idea” (Paragraph 2) of being a volunteer?
A.Going abroad to help the sick.
B.Working in Mother Teresa’s home.
C.Doing simple things to help the poor.
D.Improving oneself through helping others.
70.What is the best title for the passage?
A.How To Be A Volunteer. B.Voluntary Life In India.
C.A Different Meaning Of Volunteer. D.Inspiration From Mother Teresa.
Runners in a relay(接力) race pass a stick in one direction.However, merchants passed silk, gold, fruit, and glass along the Silk Road in more than one direction.They earned their living by traveling the famous Silk Road.
The Silk Road was not a simple trading network.It passed through thousands of cities and towns.It started from eastern China, across Central Asia and the Middle East, and ended in the Mediterranean Sea.It was used from about 200 B.C.to about 1300 A.D., when sea travel offered new routes(路线).It was sometimes called the world’s longest highway.However, the Silk Road was made up of many routes, not one smooth path.They passed through what are now 18 countries.The routes crossed mountains and deserts and had many dangers of hot sun, deep snow and even battles.Only experienced traders could return safe.
The Silk Road got its name from its most prized product.Silk could be used like money to pay taxes or buy goods.But the traders carried more than just silk.Gold, silver, and glass from Europe were much found in the Middle East and Asia.Horses traded from other areas changed farming practices in China.Indian merchants traded salt and other valuable goods.Chinese merchants traded paper, which produced an immediate effect on the West.Apples traveled from central Asia to Rome.The Chinese had learned to graft(嫁接) different trees together to make new kinds of fruit.They passed this science on to others, including the Romans.The Romans used grafting to grow the apple.Trading along the Silk Road led to world-wide business 2,000 years before the World Wide Web.
The people along the Silk Road did not share just goods.They also shared their beliefs.The Silk Road provided pathways for learning, diplomacy(外交), and religion (宗教).
61.It’s probable that traders along the Silk Road needed.
A.to remember the entire trade route B.to know the making of products
C.to receive certain special training D.to deal with a lot of difficulties
62.The Silk Road became less important because.
A.it was made up of different routes B.silk trading became less popular
C.sea travel provided easier routes D.people needed fewer foreign goods
63.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A.Silk. B.A trading network.
C.The world’s longest highway. D.Goods.
64.New technologies could travel along the Silk Road because people.
A.learned from one another B.shared each other’s beliefs
C.traded goods along the route D.earned their living by traveling
65.What is the best title for the passage?
A.The Silk Road: Past and Present B.The Silk Road: East Meets West
C.The Silk Road: Routes Full of Dangers D.The Silk Road: Pathways for Learning
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,共40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。
Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s.Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent(聪明的) than women.Right? Wrong.Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size.Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain.The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter”.While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.
It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women.This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time.When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.
There are other important differences between two sexes.As white matter is the key to spatial(空间的) tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things.“A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher.That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions…and women often need to!
The differences begin when fetuses(胎儿) are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one.A boy would try to climb a barrier (障碍物) before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others.These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills.It may all go back to our ancestors(祖先), among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.
If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t.“The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it.” says a biologist.
56.The passage mainly tells us ________.
A.the difference between men’s and women’s brains
B.the changes in brain throughout our lives
C.that men are better at spatial tasks
D.that brain differences are related to our ancestors
57.Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?
A.Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s
B.Grey matter plays the same role as white matter.
C.Grey matter controls thinking in the brain.
D.Both sexes have the same amount of white matter.
58.What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?
A.Women prefer doing many things at a time.
B.Men do better dealing with one job at a time.
C.Women do not need to tell directions.
D.Men have weaker spatial abilities.
59.Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?
A.Young boys may be stronger than young girls.
B.More women take up jobs requiring speech skills
C.Women may have stronger feelings than men.
D.Our ancestors needed more spatial skills.
60.What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?
A.Defensive. B.Persuasive. C.Supportive. D.Objective.
It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, such moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose you place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don't worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.
Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn't really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King's famous speech---"I have a Dream", you may notice that he stumbles(结巴) over his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don't remember. Why? Because you were paying your attention to his message rather than to his way of speech- making.
People care a lot about making a mistake in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker's ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker's attractiveness by making him more human.
As you work on your speech, don't worry about being perfect. Once you free you mind off this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.
68. The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ______.
A. be smarter than you B. do better than you
C. notice your mistakes D. know what you are talking about
69. You don't remember obvious mistakes in a speech because ______.
A. you don't fully understand the speech
B. you fix your attention on the content
C. you don't know what the speaker plans to say
D. you find the way of speech-making more important
70. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A. giving a speech is like giving a performance
B. the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made
C. one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad
D. the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be.
71. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. How to Be a Perfect Speaker
B. How to Make a Perfect Speech
C. Don't Expect Mistakes in a Speech
D. Don't Expect a Perfect Speech