One early morning，I went into the living room to find my mother reading a thick book called Best Loved Poems to Read Again and Again．My interest was aroused only by the fact that the word"Poems"appeared in big，hot pink letters．
"Is it good？"I asked her．
"Yeah，"she answered．"There's one I really like and you'll like it，too．"I leaned forward．
"‘Patty Poem，'"she read the title．Who is Patty？I wondered．The poem began：
She never puts her toys away，
Just leaves them scattered①where they lay，…①散乱的
The poem was just three short sections．The final one came quickly：
When she grows and gathers poise②，②稳重
I'll miss her harum﹣scarum③ noise，③莽撞的
And look in vain④ for scattered toys．④徒劳地
And I'll be sad．
A terrible sorrow washed over me．Whoever Patty was，she was a mean girl．Then，the shock．
"It's you，honey，"My mother said sadly．
To my mother，the poem revealed a parent's affection when her child grows up and leaves．To me，the"she"in the poem was horror．It was my mama who would be sad．It was so terrible I burst out crying．
"What's wrong？"my mother asked．
"Oh Mama，"I cried．"I don't want to grow up ever!"
She smiled．"Honey，it's okay．You're not growing up anytime soon．And when you do，I'll still love you，okay？"
"Okay，"I was still weeping．My panic has gone．But I could not help thinking about that silly poem．After what seemed like a safe amount of time，I read the poem again and was confused．It all fit so well together，like a puzzle．The language was simple，so simple I could plainly understand its meaning，yet it was still beautiful．I was now fascinated by the idea of poetry，words that had the power to make or break a person's world．
I have since fallen in love with other poems，but"Patty Poem"remains my poem．After all，"Patty Poem"gave me my love for poetry not because it was the poem that lifted my spirits，but because it was the one that hurt me the most．
66．Why was the writer attracted by the book Best Loved Poems to Read Again and Again？
A．It was a thick enough book．
B．Something on its cover caught her eye．
C．Her mother was reading it with interest．
D．It has a meaningful title．
67．After her mother read the poem to her，the writer felt at first．
A．sad
B．excited
C．horrified
D．confused
68．The writer's mother liked to read"Patty Poem"probably because ．
A．it reflected her own childhood
B．it was written in simple language
C．it was composed by a famous poet
D．it gave her a hint of what would happen
69．It can be concluded from the passage that"Patty Poem"leads the writer to ．
A．discover the power of poetry
B．recognize her love for puzzles
C．find her eagerness to grow up
D．experience great homesickness．
阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在文后第47至第56小题的空格里填上适当的单词并将答案转写到答题卡上。
注意：每空仅填一个单词。
The ancient religions of the Greeks and Romans were based on myths. Originally the word meant “spoken words” or stories. Nowadays myths refer to tales without a kernel of truth, or fantasies.
In nearly every civilization people tried to control their surroundings and the things happening around them to make them less threatening. In prehistoric cultures myths were used to explain natural phenomena. Ancient civilizations saw the earth as the goddess because of its fertility. Other phenomena like wind, lightning and thunder also were brought into connection with supernatural forces. The people felt themselves surrounded by gods and completely dependent.
The Greek myths also originated in that manner, but had more functions. They also explained the beginning of the world and the origin of man. Furthermore, the myths kept alive the memories of the foundation of important cities as well as the heroic deeds of civilizations and individuals. The tales of heroes, human beings with often supernatural capacities, gave men examples of perfection. During the whole Classical Period people believed the myths, but over time they came to be taken less and less seriously.
During the Greek Period myths were spread by word of mouth. The singing of mythical events was an important aspect of religious ritual. Many singers traveled around and sang the tales they heard on their way.
The first collection of myths was the work of Homer. He was blind, and to survive he collected traditional stories and let them been written down by others. The books of his that we know are the Iliad and the Odyssey. The first author to write about the beginning of the world and its deities was Hesiod in the 18the century.
| Title: |
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| Meaning |
They meant “spoken words” or traditional stories. |
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| Nowadays |
They meant something that people believe but which doesn’t |
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| Prehistoric cultures |
They were used to explain aspects of the natural world and supernatural phenomena. |
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| People felt completely dependent on |
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| Classical period |
Besides explaining natural phenomena, they also ①explained how the world began and how the man came into ② ③dealt with supernatural beings and heroes. |
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| People believed in them but were not |
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| Forms |
Oral myths |
They were usually sung in religious rituals or by |
| The representative authors are Homer and Hesiod. |
任务型阅读 (共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
注意：请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号后的横线上。每个空格只填一个单词.
Aspirin has been called a wonder drug because it has so many applications. As opposed to most drugs, which have a single purpose, aspirin is a pain reliever, a fever reducer, and a blood thinner all in one. Scientists didn’t begin to truly understand how aspirin works until the 1970s, but we now know that aspirin prevents cells from producing prostaglandins (前列腺素), chemicals that carry pain messages from damaged cells to the brain.
Preventing prostaglandin production is also how aspirin helps keep blood flowing through the cardiovascular (心脏血管的) system. Aspirin shuts down the production of many types of prostaglandins, one of which causes blood cells to stick together and helps prevent clots (凝块). By preventing this particular prostaglandin’s production, aspirin thins the blood. Many people with heart disease take a low dose of aspirin every day as a preventative measure against heart attacks and strokes. While it’s not known exactly how aspirin reduces fevers, modern physicians and researchers believe that aspirin acts on the hypothalamus (下丘脑), the part of the brain that regulates autonomic functions, including body temperature.
Because of its long history and roots in traditional medicine, aspirin is often thought to be completely safe and harmless, but unfortunately, even a wonder drug can have some downsides. Doctors warn people with clotting problems against taking aspirin, since it can make clotting disorders worse, and it shouldn’t be taken for lengthened periods of time after operations, since it can slow healing by preventing blood from clotting. Aspirin is particularly inadvisable for children, because kids who take aspirin (especially for things like fevers and the flu) are more likely to develop a deadly nervous-system disorder called Reye’s syndrome.
It’s worthwhile keeping a bottle of regular aspirin in the house. Besides coming in handy for various aches and pains, aspirin is also helpful in several household applications.
Aspirin is highly effective at reducing the redness caused by insect bites. Wet the area and put an aspirin tablet on the spot. Cut flowers will last longer if their water includes a crushed-up aspirin tablet. Because it contains salicylic acid, aspirin also works to reduce the appearance of pimples (脓疱). Putting an aspirin paste on a pimple will help dry it out and get rid of the redness.
If you find that your white T-shirts accumulate yellow stains, aspirin can fix those, too. Break a few pills into pieces, mix them with some warm water, and wet the stains with the solution before washing—the aspirin will make the shirts look as good as new. Aspirin has also been recommended for bringing dead car batteries back to life and removing chlorine (氯) buildup from the hair of people who swim frequently in pools.
Considering all the things aspirin can do, modern medicine would be hard pressed to come up with something better.
| An Aspirin a Day Keeps Everything Away |
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| Passage outline |
Supporting details |
| Medicinal applications of aspirin |
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| Downsides of aspirin |
worsening clotting |
| reducing the redness caused by insect bites effectively enabling cut flowers to |
A listener from China has written for advice about how to lose weight. Michael in Shanghai says he is 26 and has battled obesity for most of his life.
Obesity, a severe weight problem, is a complex condition. A doctor may advise taking medicine along with changing one's behaviors. Experts say that the most successful weight-loss plans include a wellbalanced diet and exercise.
People who want to avoid weight gain have to balance the number of calories they eat with the number of calories they use. To lose weight, you can reduce the number of calories you take in, increase the number you use, or both.
A recent study looked at four of the most popular dieting plans in the US. Researchers at Stanford University in California studied over 300 overweight women, mostly in their thirties and forties. Each woman went on one of the four plans: Atkins, The Zone, Ornish or LEARN. The women attended diet classes and received written information about the food plans.
At the end of the year, the women on the Atkins diet had lost the most, more than four and one-half kilograms on average. They also did better on tests for cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
Christopher Gardner, who led the study, says the Atkins diet may be more successful because of its simple message to eat less sugar. He also says that the advice to increase protein in the diet leads to more satisfying meals. He says that there was not enough money to study men, but that men would probably have similar results.
Last week, another report based on thirty-one studies suggested that only a small minority of people have long-term success with dieting. Most dieters regained their lost weight within five years and often they become more overweight. But those who kept the weight off generally were the ones who exercised.
Title: to lose weight
| Doctors' advice |
●take medicine along with |
| Experts' |
●a well-balanced diet: ● |
| Four of the most popular dieting plans in the US |
●Atkins: eat less sugar than usual and ●The Zone ● ●LEARN |
| From |
●have long-term success with dieting, otherwise most dieters will ●exercise is more important than dieting for |
Frederick M. Hess is the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, which is a nonprofit organization that conducts research on many public issues. He says that a long summer vacation doesn’t make sense in today’s world.
Can American students afford to take a summer vacation? In a summer vacation, millions of kids spend valuable time sending messages, watching TV, playing video games and doing shopping in the mall. They will also be putting their academic futures at risk.
Summer vacation once made sense in the past when you didn’t need an education to get a good job. But now things have changed. For today’s students, academic skills are important to students’future success, but such skills are affected in the summertime. Many nations don’t give kids an American-style summer vacation. They offer no more than seven consecutive（连续的） weeks of vacation. Most American school districts offer up to thirteen weeks. To compete in the global marketplace, Americans must be prepared to go up against international competitors.
Summer vacation also causes challenges for today’s families. In the 1960s, more than 60% of families had a stay-at-home Mom. Now two-thirds of American children live in households where every adult works. For these families, summer vacation can be more burden than break. Someone must watch the kids.
But the biggest problem may be how summer vacation hurts academic achievement. Researchers have found that disadvantaged students lose significant ground in the summertime.
A longer school year does not have to be an invitation to hard boring work. Rather, it should allow time-pressed teachers to conduct richer and more imaginative lessons. Schools would have more time to devote to athletics, languages, music and the arts. Summer vacation can be a grand thing. But in the 21st century, it may also be outdated.
Title: Summer Vacation
| Theme |
A long summer vacation isn’t |
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| Basic Information |
13 weeks in most American schools |
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| Students’ |
·Sending messages and watching TV ·Playing video games ·Doing shopping |
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| Disadvantages |
· ·Being a ·Hurting students’ academic achievement and resulting in |
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| Suggestion |
A longer school year does not have to |
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| Though being a ground thing, summer vacation might be out of |
The family sphere(范围) used to be defined by its isolation from the public realm. There was the public male realm（领域）of "rational accomplishment" and cruel competition, and the private female and child-rearing sphere of home, intuition（直觉）and emotion. The private realm was supposed to be isolated from the realities of adult life. For both better and worse, television and other electronic media tend to break down the difference between those two worlds. The membrane around the family sphere is much more permeable(可渗透的). TV takes public events and transforms them into dramas that are played out in the privacy of our living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms.
Parents used to be the channel through which children learned about the outside world. They could decide what to tell their children and when to tell it to them. Since children learn to read in stages, books provide a kind of natural screening process, where adults can decide what to tell and not tell children of different reading abilities. Television destroyed the system that separated adult from child knowledge and separated information into year-by-year slices for children of different ages. Instead, it presents the same information directly to children of all ages, without going through adult filters.
So television presents a real challenge to adults. While a parent can read a newspaper without sharing it with children in the same room, television is accessible to everyone in that space. And unlike books, television doesn't allow us to flip（翻转）through it and see what's coming up. We may think we're giving our children a lesson in science by having them watch the Challenger take off, and then suddenly they learn about death, disaster and adult mistakes.
Books allow adults to discuss privately what to tell or not tell children. This also allows parents to keep adult material secret from children and keep their secret keeping secret. Take that same material and put it on The Today Show and you have 800,000 children hearing the very things the adults are trying to keep from them. "Television takes our kids across the globe before parents give them permission to cross the street."
More importantly, children gradually learn that adults are worried and anxious about being parents. Actually, television has also places families under a lot of stress.
How Television Changes Childhood?
| Main comparisons |
Contexts |
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| Distance between __ |
Homes used to be isolated from the ____ |
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| Homes nowadays are __ |
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| Media through which children can obtain information |
In the past, children might learn __ |
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| More information is got directly through TV and other electronic media, which breaks down the __ |
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| ___ |
Traditionally, kids could only knew what they should learn at their age, carefully___ |
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| Everything can possibly be known by children, including many aspects of __ |
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| Effects on family education |
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| Parental instruction |
Families are now under greater stress than before. Adults are anxious about being parents and faced with new __ |
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