第三部分：阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节：选择题（共15小题，每小题２分，共30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A month after Hurricane Katrina, I returned home in New Orleans．There lay my house, reduced to waist-high ruins, smelly and dirty．
Before the trip, I’d had my car fixed．When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill, she noticed my Louisiana license plate．“You from New Orleans?” she asked．I said I was, “No charge,” she said, and firmly shook her head when I reached for my wallet．The next day I went for a haircut, and the same thing happened．
As my wife was studying in Florida, we decided to move there and tried to find a rental house that we could afford while also paying off a mortgage（抵押贷款）on our ruined house．We looked at many places, but none was satisfactory．We’d begun to accept that we’d have to live in extremely reduced circumstances for a while, when I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kennedy in California．He’d read some pieces I’d written about our sufferings for Slate, the online magazine, and wanted to give us (“no conditions attached”) a new house across the lake from New Orleans．
It sounded too good to be true, but I replied, thanking him for his exceptional generosity, that we had no plans to go back．Then a poet at the University of Florida offered to let his house to me while he went to England on his one-year paid leave．The rent was rather reasonable．I mentioned the poet’s offer to James Kennedy, and the next day he sent a check covering our entire rent for eight months．
Throughout this painful experience, the kindness of strangers has done much to bring back my faith in humanity．It’s almost worth losing your worldly possessions to be reminded that people are really nice when given half a chance．
56．What do we know about James Kennedy?
A．He was a writer of an online magazine．
B．He was a poet at the University of Florida．
C．He offered the author a new house free of charge．
D．He learned about the author’s sufferings via e-mail．
57．It can be inferred from the text that ______．
A．the author’s family was in financial difficulty
B．rents were comparatively reasonable despite the disaster
C．houses were difficult to find in the hurricane-stricken area
D．the mortgage on the ruined house was paid off by the bank
58．The author learned from his experience that ______．
A．worldly possessions can be given up when necessary
B．generosity should be encouraged in some cases
C．people benefit from their sad stories
D．human beings are kind after all
第二节 完形填空（共20小题；每题1．5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36-55各题所给的四个选项（A、Ｂ、Ｃ和Ｄ）中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
There is a story told about how Neil set about winning over one particular boy．The boy was always causing trouble and clearly regarded all teachers 36 a hostile eye．On one occasion, Neil, out taking a 37 , had just rounded a corner when he came across the boy playing on his own．The boy, not noticing he was no longer 38 , picked up a stone and threw it through one of the school windows．Turning, he saw Neil．Instead of finding himself 39 at angrily as he expected, the boy was 40 to see Neil bend down, pick up a stone and hurl it at another window．The boy had to 41 to get the window repaired, so did Neil． 42 he thought this a small price to pay for 43 a bond between himself and the boy, whose 44 improved afterwards．
Neil was a remarkable character who knew just when to be 45 and just when to adopt a lighter touch when handling children．Not everyone is so 46 ．Willie Russell, the 47 , likes to talk about the time when he had freshly 48 from teacher training college and had just begun to work as a teacher．On his first day at the school he was left to do playground duty on his own, rather a（n） 49 experience for one so new to the job．Surrounded by children at morning break, he turned to see one of the children throwing a stone at a school window．When the boy saw that he had been 50 by a teacher, his face fell． 51 for this boy, Russell remembered the story about Neil．Stooping down he picked up a stone and propelled(投掷) it through another window．Turning to smile proudly at the boy his satisfaction was suddenly shattered by the sound of dozens of windows being 52 by flying stones．
Unfortunately he had failed to take into account the difference between his 53 and the one which Neil had faced, namely that he and the boy were not alone．It was at this point in his career that Russell decided that perhaps he was not quite cut out to be a teacher． Deciding after this that he was not suited to teaching he left to 54 playwriting．Most of his plays are very imaginative and 55 ．A bit like this story, in fact．
36．A．by B．in C．with D．through
37．A．rest B．exam C．walk D．trip
38．A．seen B．alone C．lonely D．heard
39．A．shouted B．stared C．pointed D．come
40．A．excited B．surprised C．satisfied D．frightened
41．A．punish B．pay C．agree D．propose
42．A．As B．While C．Even if D．But
43．A．breaking B．making C．establishing D．showing
44．A．character B．behavior C．condition D．grades
45．A．still B．kind C．calm D．firm
46．A．humorous B．strange C．successful D．clever
47．A．student B．headmaster C．playwright D．teacher
48．A．graduated B．walked C．studied D．dismissed
49．A．exciting B．challenging C．surprising D．interesting
50．A．blamed B．stopped C．met D．spotted
51．A．Generally B．Fortunately C．Obviously D．Usually
52．A．hit B．knocked C．cleaned D．brushed
53．A．condition B．position C．situation D．occupation
54．A．pick up B．take up C．make up D．put up
55．A．funny B．serious C．realistic D．critical
All passengers ____, please fasten your seat belts and remain seated ____the plane is landing．
A．on board; until B．abroad; since C．on the board; before D．aboard; when
He ____ busy then; otherwise, I believe, he would have given you a hand．
A．had been B．were C．must be D．was
It is not like Mr．Smith, who is a gentleman, _____his wife so rudely．
A．to treat B．treating C．should treat D．treated
As the saying _______, _______ who laughs last laughs best．
A．says; who B．goes; he C．goes; who D．puts; one
