Last year, on report card day, my son and a bunch of his 13-year-old friends piled into the back seat of my car, ready for the last-day-of-school party at McDonald’s. “Jack got a laptop for getting straight A’s, and Laurie got a cellphone,” one boy said. “Oh, yeah, and Sarah got an iPod Nano, and she’s only in third grade,” said another. “And how about Brian? He got $ 10 for each A.”
I suddenly became concerned. These payoffs might get parents through grammar school, but what about high school and beyond? What would be left after the electric guitar, the cellphone, and the portable DVD player?
I saw the road ahead: As the homework load increased, my income would decrease. I saw my comfortable lifestyle vanish before my eyes-no more of those $ 5 bags of already-peeled organic carrots. No more organic anything!
I started to feel surprised and nervous. Would every goal attained by my two children fetch a reward? A high grade point average? A good class ranking? Would sports achievements be included in this reward system: soccer goals, touchdowns, runs-batted-in? What about orchestra? Would first chair pay more than second? I’d be penniless by eighth-grade graduation.
“We never paid anything for good grades,” said my neighbor across the street, whose son was recently accepted at MIT. “He just did it on his own. Maybe once in a while we went out for pizza, but that’s about it.”
Don’t you just hate that? We’re all running around looking for the MP3 player with the most updates, and she’s spending a few dollars on pizza. She gets motivation; we get negotiation.
1．The sentence “As the homework load increased, my income would decrease.” in the third paragraph probably means _____________.
A．taking care of the children would influence my work
B．I would spend more money on my children’s homework
C．reducing children’s homework load would cost me a lot
D．more rewards would be needed as the children grew up
2．We can tell from the passage that the author’s son was in ___________.
A．primary school B．junior middle school C．high school D．university
3．It can be inferred from the passage that ____________.
A．if you pay the children for good grades, they would take it for granted
B．if you buy children pizza for good grades, they would work harder
C．children would not ask for rewards when they enter high school
D．children would not ask for rewards when they enter university
4．The example of the author’s neighbor shows that ____________.
A．pizza is the best way to motivate children
B．reward is not the only way to motivate children
C．the author’s neighbor was very poor
D．the author’s neighbor’s son didn’t like reward
5．What is the author’s attitude toward paying children reward for good grades?
A．Favorable B．Ambiguous C．Disagreeable D．Unknowable
第二部分 阅读理解（共20小题：每小题2.5分，满分50分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
A very important world problem---- in fact, I tend to say it is the most important of all the great world problems which face us at present time----is the rapidly increasing pressure of population on land and on land resources.
It is not so much the actual population of the world but its rate of increase, which is the most important. It works out to be about 1.6 percent net annual increase. In terms of numbers this means something like 40 to 55 million additional people very year. Canada has a population of 20 million, rather less 6 months’ climb in world population. And there are 10 million people in Australia. So, it takes the world less than three moths to add to itself a population, a population of that vast country. Let us come to our own crowded country---- England and Wales; 45--50 million people---- just about a year’s supply. By this time tomorrow, and every day, there will be added to the earth about 120, 000 extra people---- just about the population of the city of York.
I am not talking about birthrate. This is net increase. To give you some idea of birthrate, look at the second hand of your watch. Every second three babies are born somewhere in the world. Another baby! Another baby! Another baby! You cannot speak quickly enough to keep pace with the birthrate.
This enormous increase of population will create immense problems. By 2010 A. D., unless something desperate happens, there will be as many as 7,000, 000, 000 people on the surface of this earth! So this is a problem which you are going to see in your lifetime.
1．The topic for the passage is _________.
A．The Lack of Land Resources B．Population Explosion
C．Your Lifetime D．The Birthrate
2．According to the author, _________ is the most important for population pressure.
A．the net increase rate B．the birthrate
C．the enormous amount of world population D．the population explosion in Australia
3．It can be learned from Paragraph 2 that ________.
A．in more than 6 months, to the world population 20 million will be added
B．three months later, to the population in the world 10 million will be added
C．in less than three months, to the world population 10 million will be added
D．one year later, the population of England and Wales will be doubled
4．Which of the following is TRUE?
A．After 24 hours, 120 thousand babies were born
B．The birthrate is 180 babies every minute.
C．During a year, about 45 million people are born.
D．After a day, York will have 120, 000 extra people.
5．“…something desperate happens” in the last paragraph can be best replaced by _________.
A．the world wars break out B．people are in despair
C．birth control policy is adopted
D．people realize the seriousness of the population problem
第二节完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的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。
I hired a carpenter to help me restore an old farmhouse. After he had just finished a rough first day on the job, a 16 tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw 17 and now his ancient pickup truck refused to 18 . While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. 19 arriving, he invited me in to meet his family.
As we walked toward the front door, he paused 20 at a small tree, touching tips of the 21 with his hands.
When opening the door, he 22 an amusing transformation. His brown face was covered with 23 and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
After leaving the 24 family, I passed the tree and my curiosity got the 25 of me. I asked him, who 26 me to the car, “Before we went in, 27 did you stop by the tree earlier”
“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied, “I know I can’t help having 28 on the job and in my life, but those troubles don’t 29 in the house with my wife and children. I know I can control one thing for 30 . I can hang them up on the tree every night 31 I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again before I 32 for work.”
“ 33 thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as 34 as I remember 35 up the night before.”
16．A．broken B．terrible C．flat D．fantastic
17．A．quit B．deleted C．declined D．reduced
18．A．ride B．increase C．perform D．start
19．A．Before B．On C．Immediately D．Directly
|
20．A．shortly B．briefly C．quietly D．straight
21．A．trucks B．leaves C．branches D．shoots
22．A．went by B．went over C．went off D．went through
23．A．smiles B．sorrow C．confidence D．doubts
24．A．happy B．large C．complex D．modern
25．A．worse B．better C．more D．less
26．A．drove B．sent C．instructed D．walked
27．A．how B．who C．why D．where
28．A．matters B．troubles C．questions D．worries
29．A．belong B．insert C．include D．provide
30．A．instance B．ages C．purpose D．sure
31．A．when B．since C．because D．if
32．A．ask B．come C．leave D．look
33．A．Frightful B．Funny C．Strange D．Accessible
34．A．much B．few C．little D．many
35．A．picking B．holding C．hanging D．giving
．It is well known that the Internet will let people have __________ to huge amounts of information from their own homes.
|
A．entrance |
B．way |
C．means |
D．access |
. Being out of order, ______ to the factory.
|
A．he sent his computer |
B．he drove at once |
|
C．his computer was sent |
D．his father helped him send it |
----- I have booked a room for today and tomorrow.
----- _______, sir.
|
A．I'm sure |
B．My pleasure |
C．It's all right |
D．I'll check |
