B
It was 1961 and I was in the fifth grade. My marks in school were miserable and, the thing was, I didn’t know enough to really care. My older bother and I lived with Mom in a dingy multi-family house in Detroit. We watched TV every night. The background noise of our lives was gunfire and horses’ hoofs from “Wagon Train” or “Cheyenne”, and laughter from “I Love Lucy”, or “Mister Ed”. After supper, we’d sprawl on Mon’s bed and stare for hours at the tube.
But one day Mom changed our world forever. She turned off the TV. Our mother had only been able to get through third grade. But, she was much brighter and smarter than we boys know at the time. She had noticed something in the suburban houses she cleaned books. So she came home one day, snapped off the TV, sat us down and explained that her sons were going to make something of themselves. “You boys are going to read two books every week,” she said. “And you’re going to write a report on what you read.”
We moaned and complained about how unfair it was. Besides, we didn’t have any books in the house other than Mom’s Bible. But she explained that we would go where the books were: “I’ll drive you to the library.”
So pretty soon there were these two peevish boys sitting in her white 1959 Oldsmobile on their way to Detroit Public Library. I wandered reluctantly among the children’s books. I loved animals, so when I saw some books that seemed to be about animals, I started leafing through them.
The first book I read clear through was Chip the Dam Builder. It was about beavers. For the first time in my life I was lost in another world. No television program had ever taken me so far away from my surroundings as did this verbal visit to a cold stream in a forest and these animals building a home.
It didn’t dawn on me at the time, but the experience was quite different from watching TV. There were images forming in my mind instead of before my eyes. And I could return to them again and again with the flip of a page.
Soon I began to look forward to visiting this hushed sanctuary form my other world. I moved from animals to plants, and then to rocks. Between the covers of all those books were whole worlds, and I was free to go anywhere in them. Along the way a funny thing happened: I started to know things. Teachers started to notice it too. I got to the point where I couldn’t wait to get home to my books.
Now my older brother is an engineer and I am chief of pediatric neurosurgery at John Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore. Sometimes I still can’t believe my life’s journey, from a failing and indifferent student in a Detroit public school to this position, which takes me all over the world to teach and perform critical surgery.
But I know when the journey began the day Mom snapped off the TV set and put us in her Oldsmobile for that drive to the library.
46. We can learn form the beginning of the passage that ___________.
A. the author and his brother had done well in school
B. the author had been very concerned about his school work
C. the author had spent much time watching TV after school
D. the author had realized how important schooling was
47. Which of the following is not true about the author’s family?
A. He came from a middle-class family.
B. He came from a single-parent family.
C. His mother worked as a cleaner.
D. His mother had received little education.
48. The mother was ____________ to make her two sons switch to reading books.
A. hesitant B. unprepared C. reluctant D. determined
49. How did the two boys feel about going to the library at first?
A. They were afraid B. They were reluctant.
C. They were impatient. D. They were eager to go.
50. The author began to love books for the following reasons EXCEPT that ___________.
A. he began to see something in his mind
B. he could visualize what he read in his mind
C. he could go back to read the books again
D. he realized that books offered him new experience
III. 阅读 (共两节，满分40分)
第一节：阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
As goods and services improved, people were persuaded to spend their money on changing from old to new, and found the change worth the expense. When an airline equipped itself with jets, for example, its costs (and therefore air fare) would go up, but the new planes meant such an improvement that the higher cost was justified. A new car (or wireless, washing machine, electric kettle) made life so much more comfortable than the old one that the high cost of replacement was fully repaid. Manufacturers still cry their goods as persuasively as ever, but are the improvements really worth paying for? In many fields, things have now reached such a high standard of performance that further progress is very limited and very, very expensive. Airlines, for example, go to enormous expense in buying the latest prestige jets, in which vast research costs have been spent on relatively small improvements. If we abandon these vast costs we might lose the chance of cutting minutes away from flying times; but wouldn’t it be better to see airfares drop dramatically, as capital costs become relatively insignificant? Again, in the context of a 70 m. p. h. Limit, with lines of cars traveling so close as to control each other’s speeds, improvements in performance are actually irrelevant; improvements in handling are unnecessary, as most production cars grip（抓牢） the road perfectly, and comfort has now reached a very high level. Small improvements here are unlikely to be worth the thousands that anybody replacing an ordinary family car every two years may have spent on them. Let us instead have cars — or wireless, electric kettles, washing machines, television sets — which are made to last, and not to be replaced. Significant progress is obviously a good thing, but the insignificant progression from model-change to model-change is not.
1. The author is obviously challenging the social norm (社会规范) that ________________.
A. it is important to improve goods and services
B. development of technology makes our life more comfortable
C. it is reasonable that prices are going up all the time
D. slightly improved new products are worth buying
2. According to this passage, airfares may rise because ______________.
A. the airplane has been improved
B. people tend to travel by new airplanes
C. the change is found to be reasonable
D. the service on the airplane is better than before
3. According to the author, passengers would be happier if they ____________.
A. could fly in the latest model of good planes
B. could get tickets at much lower prices
C. see the airlines make vital changes in their services
D. could spend less time flying in the air
4. When manufactures have improved the performance of their products to a certain level, then it would be _______________.
A. justified for them to cut the price
B. unnecessary for them to make any new changes
C. difficult and costly to further better them
D. insignificant for them to cut down the research costs
5. In the case of cars, the author advises that we _____________.
A. cancel the speed limit B. further improve their performance
C. change models every two years D. improve their durability (耐久性)
第二节：语法填空（共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分） 阅读下面的短文，根据上下文填入适当的词语，或使用括号中的词语的适当形式填空。
A clear, accurate summary only gives the vital information from a text. Any extra, irrelevant details are left out. 31 (summarize) will seriously improve your quick reading skills — so learn how to do it. You can’t summarize if you haven’t read 32 text carefully. Start by scanning the text, then reading it closely. 33 you understand the whole text, go through it again slowly, working out 34 is relevant, and which details can be left out. Write only the number of words you 35 (tell) — no more. See what the title is, and look for any extra information on the paper 36 could be relevant, 37 the author’s name. Decide what the main theme of the text is.
If the question says how many words long the summary must be, you must never write more _38 __ that limit. You will 39 (definite) lose marks 40 you don’t follow the guidelines. Make sure that all the basic information is there —– don’t include detail when there isn’t room.
II. 语言知识及应用（共两节，满分35分）
第一节：完形填空（共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21-35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。
You need to know when the events of a text take place. This will help you to see the __21__ of the text — the reason things happen in a certain order. Some texts 22 a period of many years, like Wuthering Heights. Others go through a __23__ period of time — many poems try to capture one moment in time. Narrators (讲述者) can be immediate eyewitness, or they may be __24 the past. Some texts present two views of events: an eyewitness version, and a second version, __25__ on the same events much later. This happens in Great Expectations, where the narrator, Pip, sometimes speaks and acts like a __26__, and sometimes like a mature adult. Look out for the __27__ that the events fit together, and how they are caused. This is called the plot—the story of the text. Action in a text is either__28__, or happens by chance. Take notes on how the action is described, eg. if the tone is angry or __29__ . Try to work out how the language of the passage is being used to create the tone, the characters and the descriptions. You should also ask why the text has been written in the way it has — your notes on who, what, when, where and how will help you to 30 your own conclusions.
21. A. structure B. content C. character D. substance
22. A. contain B. discover C. cover D. hold
23. A. hard B. difficult C. long D. short
24. A. looking forward to B. looking out for C. looking back on D. looking after
25. A. relaying B. including C. writing D. reflecting
26. A. boy B. child C. girl D. student
27. A. way B. time C. place D. action
28. A. accurate B. considerate C. desperate D. deliberate
29. A. wonderful B. joyful C. thankful D. painful
30. A. hit B. come C. draw D. find
读写任务（共1小题，满分25分）
阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文
This is a very simple statement，yet not so easy to do—Keep your promises. I try to conduct my life in this manner. If you tell someone that you will do something for them，you can’t turn around at the 1ast minute and say, I didn’t do it because it wasn’t convenient. Keeping your promises is also a way to live your life with integrity. That's why it’s important to be aware of your choice of words, and to live consciously. There were many times that I was not able to keep my promise for example of repaying some money to a friend or colleague, somewhere in the back of my mind I had always intended to repay the debt even if it was years in the future. But that is not a very good way of living. If you consistently live like this you will lose friends because l was not true to my word. It is heartbreaking for both sides.
Especial with Children you need to keep your promise. I get so disturbed when l hear parents trying to sooth a child’s temper and the parent says “I promise一" Later when the child remind the parent or guardian，it becomes clear that the parent had no real thought to keep the promise. The words were just said to placate the child. The parent, as I remember, thought that his or her child would just forget a11 about what was promised. But children have a great memory. Especially when they hear the words I PROMISE. Those words sound stronger than any other words in the English language to a child. We have been taught that those words have power and magic．
[写作内容]
1．以约30个词概括短文的内容要点；
2．以约120个词就“实践你的诺言”这个主题发表你的看法，包含以下的内容要点：
(1)叙述你或你的朋友守信或不守信的一次真实或虚构的经历及其结果。
(2)言而有信让你生机处处；
(3)言而无信使你处处碰壁。
［写作要求］
１、作文中可以使用自己的亲身经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容但不得直接引用原文中的句子； ２、标题自定
[评分标准] 概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，篇章连贯。
信息匹配(共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分)
阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。
首先，请阅读下列应用文：
The weekly magazine tells what you need to know if you’re thinking of traveling. Helpful advice on what to pack and what to buy once you’re there. Lots of colour photos to help you choose the best hotel, the cheapest flights and a special guide to different climates each week. |
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E. Wired This magazine is designed for leaders in the field of information engineering including top managers and professionals in the computer, business, design and education industries. Published by Conde Nast Publications Inc, Wired often carries articles on how technology changes people’s lives. |
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F. EUROPE NEWS The weekly magazine keeps you in touch with what’s happening. Filled with facts and figures about almost everything you can think of, plus articles by our regular writers on the week’s most interesting new stories. Special back page sums up the news for the busy readers. |
请阅读以下读者的信息，然后匹配读者和他/她最适合的杂志：
61. Bill travels a lot when he was younger. Now that he has stopped his work, he enjoys reading about foreign people, places and customs even if he has already visited that part of the world.
62. Emi is a university student studying Italian and Politics. She doesn’t have much time to read anything very detailed but she is looking for something with plenty of news and information.
63. Ben serves as an assistant to the general manager of an American company in Los Angeles. He is very interested in management and the use of high technology.
64. Up till now Brigitte has never traveled far so this year she has decided to go abroad for the first time. The travel agent suggests that she should read about various countries first before choosing her holiday.
65. Susan likes shopping. She is interested in buying clothes and she needs to be offered advice on clothes.
