信息匹配（共1小题）
For the rest of March，a disease will sweep across the US．It will keep kids home from school．__1.__ Employees will suddenly lose their ability to concentrate．
The disease，known as “March Madness”，refers to the yearly 65-team US men’s college basketball tournament(锦标赛)．__2._ Teams compete against each other in a single-elimination(单局淘汰) tournament that eventually crowns a national champion．
__3._ The fun comes partly from guessing the winners for every game．Friends compete against friends．Husbands against wives．Colleagues against bosses．
Big-name schools are usually favored to advance into the tournament．But each year there are dark horses from little-known universities．This adds to the madness．Watching a team from a school with 3，000 students beat a team from a school with 30，000，for many Americans，is an exciting experience．Two years ago，the little-known George Mason University was one of the final teams．_4.__
College basketball players are not paid，so the game is more about making a name for their university and themselves．__5._ About $4 billion will be spent gambling on the event．According to Media Life magazine，the event will bring in $500 million in advertising income this year，topping the post-season income of every US professional league，including that of the NBA．A．Nearly 20 million Americans will find themselves prisoners of basketball festival Madness．
B．The players will go all out for the games．
C．But that doesn’t mean money isn’t involved．
D．College students will ignore piles of homework．
E．People are willing to spend more money on watching it．
F．It begins on March 15 and lasts through the beginning of April．
G．Many people had never even heard of the university before the tournament．
D Are you an optimist？ Do you look at your glass and see it as half full？ Do you believe that every cloud has a silver lining and that things generally turn out for the best？ Do you believe that if something is meant to be，it will be？ If you reply “yes” to all of these questions，then you are an optimist．You probably are enthusiastic，cheerful and outgoing．You may be successful at work and in love．
But you may be misguided because things don't turn out for the best．You may believe that when on door closes another one opens(for example，you may fail to obtain a new job; another chance will come around soon)．Wrong．When one door closes，another door slams(砰然关上)in your face．That's bitter reality．
Now a book has been published which confirms what pessimists(悲观者)have suspected all along．it's called The Positive Power of Defensive Pessimism．Its author argues that defensive pessimism can lead to positive results．Defensive pessimism is a strategy used to manage fear，anxiety and worry．Defensive pessimists prepare for the tings by setting low outcomes for themselves．They carefully consider everything that may go wrong and plan for ways to handle these problems．And this gives them a sense of control．Lawrence Sanno，a psychology professor，says，“What's interesting about defensive pessimists is that they tend to be very successful people，so their low opinion of the situation's outcomes is not realistic．They use it to motivate themselves to perform better．”
So far，so good．This is not rocket science．Defensive pessimists prepare carefully and consider what might go wrong，whether at work，on date or even in a sports game．It makes sense to have a back-up plan．There are many sayings in English urging caution．For example，“Don't put all your eggs in one basket．”
And “Don't count your chickens until they hatch．” To have a confident and optimistic approach to life's problems is good．But listen to what Woody Alien，the American comedian says ，”Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem．”
There are pros and cons to being an optimist and a pessimist．Don't feel bad if you see the glass half empty．You are a realist But lighten up and hook up with someone who sees the same glass half full．
1.What's the passage mainly about？
A．A book that has recently been published．
B．How to become successful in life
C．The dangers of being too optimistic．
D．The benefits of defensive pessimism．
2.The underlined sentence “This is not rocket science”(Para．4)means ______．
A．it's not a dangerous thing to do
B．it is quite simple to understand
C．the cost is not so high
D．there is no real proof
3.Which of the following English expressions would a defensive pessimist believe？
A．Don't put all your eggs in one basket．
B．The glass is half full not half empty．
C．Whatever will be，will be．
D．Every cloud has a silver lining．
4.The writer would probably describe himself as ______．
A．an optimist
B．a defeatist
C．a realist
D．a scientist
C
If asked if space exploration should continue，most Americans would give an immediate response either in favor of continuing or in favor of ending space exploration．A common response would be that space exploration is a waste of money．An average American，uneducated on the subject，might believe that the government is wasting billions of dollars on the research that has no merit．Someone strange to the subject might say that a space shuttle goes up once in a while and that is about all that happens．Research is ongoing and continues when there are no shuttles being launched．This also costs the government money．Does the extreme cost of space exploration make sense？
One argument is that the government is wasting money on the research not being used on Earth．Actually，the money goes to workers and scientists that support National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) missions (任务)，and goes to major companies that play important roles in major sectors of the US economy．Boeing is a partner of NASA for aircraft，the same company that makes commercial aircraft for the airline industry．
Another benefit to continuing space exploration is the many spinoff (衍生的) technologies it provides．The artificial heart resulted from experiments on the space shuttle．The handheld Jaws of Life used to save victims from car accidents originated from the system used to separate the space shuttle from its booster rockets．Insulation in homes that keeps them warm and energy efficient is based on the technology used to insulate the space shuttle．
There are direct benefits to the economy provided by NASA missions as well as spinoff technologies．These advances are found in food，building materials，medical procedures and the vehicles we drive．While it can be proven that billions of dollars that could be used elsewhere is being spent on space exploration，the benefits it provides outweigh the terrible aspects．As a matter of fact，the money spent helps to improve the quality of our lives．
1.How is Paragraph 2 mainly developed？
A．By offering analyses．
B．By making comparisons．
C．By giving some examples．
D．By presenting research findings．
2.The function of Jaws of Life is to _____．
A．save people from traffic accidents
B．do experiments on the space shuttle
C．keep houses warm and energy efficient
D．separate the space shuttle from its booster rockets
3.In the author’s opinion，space exploration _____．
A．has changed our life completely
B．costs too much of our time
C．benefits us in many ways
D．has nothing to do with us
4.What would be the best title for the text？
A．Benefits of space exploration
B．Is space exploration worth the cost？
C．How to make space exploration affordable
D．Missions of the NASA space shuttle program
B
Environment Awareness Week
Regal Convention Centre，Halls 1-4
24-30 March 2011 10:00 am-9:00 pm
Free admission for all!
Save the environment，Save our future
Our environment needs help．With the participation of more than 50 organizations，Environment Awareness Week is the biggest public education event dedicated to environmental protection and conservation．Don’t miss it! Come and know more about:
The Threats to Earth (Hall 1) – What is global warming？ How serious is pollution？ Learn about different environmental problems from our university students．Protect our environment!
The Search for renewable Energy (Hall 2) – can we get electricity from wind，solar energy，waves，rivers and underground heat？ Get the answers from Solar Ace，Tefron，Touch Wind Resources and other participants．
The Quest for Fresh water (Hall 3) – is the shortage of freshwater worsening？ What are Singapore’s solutions for treating wastewater？ Hear from Flow Technologies，HydroMax Solutions and other participants．
The 3 Rs and Save Earth (Hall 4) – How can we REDUCE，REUSE and RECYCLE to cut down household wastes？ Find out from the Global Gala Network，Green Earth Foundation and other participants．
For more information，please call Mr．Philip Koh at 65531188，send an email to Mrs．Daisy Soh at daisy_soh@ief．org or visit the events web at http://www．ief．org/caw
1.The main aim of Environment Awareness Week is to ________．
A．educate the public on protecting the environment
B．discuss global warming and other environmental problems
C．explain ways for producing freshwater to save the environment
D．learn about renewable energy sources that protect the environment
2.The organizer of the event is ________．
A．Global Gaia Network
B．Clean Energy Agency
C．Green Earth Foundation
D．Global Environment Fund
3.Which of the following statements is NOT true of the event？
A．It will last a week and the halls will be open 11 hours a day．
B．You can send an email to Mrs．Daisy Soh for more information．
C．Each hall charges the same amount of money as the other．
D．Lectures in Hall 1 will be given by university students．
A
First，you ought to know that I’m “only” fourteen．My mother points this out often．I can make my own decisions when I’m old enough to vote，she says．Second，I should tell you that she’s right — I’m not always responsible．I sometimes take the prize for grade-A dork（呆子）．Take last weekend for instance．I was staying at Dad’s，and I decided it was time I learned to drive．It was Sunday morning，7 A．M．，and I hadn’t slept well．I’d been up thinking about an argument，which I’ll tell you about in a minute．Well，nobody was up yet in the neighborhood，so I thought it couldn’t hurt to back the car out of the garage and drive around the block．But Dad has a clutch（离合器）car．The “R” on the shift handle was up on the left side，right next to first gear（档位）．I guess you can guess the rest．
Dad’s always been understanding．He didn’t say，“Okay，little Miss Know-It-All，you can just spend the rest of the year paying this off，” which is what Mom would have said．Instead，Dad worried about what might have happened to me．And that made me feel more guilty than anything．I think he’d be a better number-one caregiver，but I can’t say things like that to Mom．To her，I have to say，“But Mom，Dad’s place is closer to school．I could ride my bike，” to which she replies，“Amy Lynn，you don’t own a bike．Remember？ You left it in the yard，and it was stolen．And you haven’t got the patience to earn the money to replace it．”
1.The writer feels guilty because she ________．
A．made her dad worry
B．ruined the car
C．broke the law
D．didn’t tell her mom about the car incident
2.The main conflict between the writer and her mother is about whether she ________．
A．can make her own decisions
B．should live with her mom or her dad
C．should be allowed to drive
D．should pay for things she loses or breaks
3.The writer’s mother thinks the writer is ________．
A．too attached to her dad
B．too emotional
C．too shy
D．irresponsible
4.In the first sentence，the writer used “only” to suggest that she ________．
A．doesn’t want to grow old
B．thinks fourteen is old enough for some things
C．wishes she were older
D．thinks fourteen is an embarrassing age
完形填空（共1小题）
In 1956，Phoenix，Arizona，was a city with boundless blue skies．One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet on my finger，I wanted to show.
Perky the sky looked like．Maybe he could make a little bird out there．I took him into the backyard，and then，to my ，Perky flew off．The enormous blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue and suddenly he had gone，clipping its wings．
Kathy managed to me．With fake optimism，she even tried to reassure me that Perky would find a new ．But I was far too clever to that such a thing was possible．
Decades later，I watched my own growing．We shared their activities，spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the of the kids’ friends，the Kissells．The two families went camping around Arizona together．We became the of friends．One evening，the game was to tell Great Pet stories．One person claimed to the oldest living goldfish．Someone else had a psychic dog． Barry，the father of the other family，took the floor and that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet，Sweetie Pie．
“The best thing Sweetie Pie，” he said，“was the we got him．One day，when I was about eight，out of the clear，blue sky，a little blue parakeet just down and landed on my finger．”
When I was finally able to ，we examined the amazing evidence．The dates and the locations and the pictures of the bird all ．It seems ourtwo families had been long before we ever met．Forty years later，I ran to my sister and said，“You were ! Perky lived!”
1.A．what B．how C．which D．where
2.A．food B．nest C．friend D．family
3.A．joy B．horror C．disappointment D．satisfaction
4.A．pleasure B．sadness C．treasure D．sense
5.A．forgive B．comfort C．help D．delight
6.A．parent B．home C．master D．life
7.A．imagine B．suppose C．doubt D．believe
8.A．birds B．happiness C．worries D．children
9.A．parents B．birds C．interests D．games
10.A．first B．best C．last D．happiest
11.A．catch B．find C．buy D．have
12.A．Suddenly B．Fortunately C．Then D．However
13.A．announced B．said C．told D．hoped
14.A．in B．about C．of D．on
15.A．day B．place C．way D．story
16.A．floated B．dived C．settled D．went
17.A．think B．speak C．interrupt D．explain
18.A．came up B．turned up C．turned out D．matched up
19.A．known B．fastened C．connected D．introduced
20.A．right B．wrong C．silly D．mad
