二、阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分，满分30分)

阅读下列短文，从每小题所给的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。

A

Once upon a time, an old woman had two large water pots. Each hung on the end of a pole(杆子)which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect, From the river to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. And the other pot was always full. The perfect pot took pride in its talent.  But the poor cracked pot felt sad for its own disadvantage.

One day by the river the cracked pot said to the woman, "I feel bad about myself, because the crack in me causes water to come out all the way back to your house.”

The old woman smiled and said, "Why are there flowers on your side of the road, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your crack. So I planted flowers on your side of the road, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my house, There would not be this beauty without you. Each of us has our own cracks. But the cracks make our lives so interesting and beautiful."

So, to all the cracked pot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the road!

26. If each of the two pots could be filled with 20 kilos of water, the woman would probably get _______ kilos of water from the river to the house.

A 10      B. 20      C. 30      D. 40

27. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A  The woman preferred the perfect pot to the cracked pot.

B. The cracked pot felt more talented than the perfect pot.

C. There were beautiful flowers on both sides of the road.

D. The old woman decorated her house with some flowers.

28. What can we learn from the story?

A  Everyone has a talent.

B. A true friend is hard to find.

C. Success never comes easily.

D. Mistakes improve our learning,

B

Have you ever had an embarrassing(尴尬的)experience? Last week we asked readers to tell us about embarrassing experiences.  We received thousands of letters! Here is a selection.

Tony:

My most embarrassing experience happened when I had just left university. I had just started teaching in a Liverpool secondary school. One morning my alarm clock didn't ring. I woke up at half past eight and school began at nine. I quickly washed, dressed, jumped into my car and rushed to school. When I arrived, the students had already gone into class. I didn't go to the office, but went straight into class. After two or three minutes the students began laughing, and I couldn't understand why! Suddenly I looked down and understood. I had put on one black shoe and one brown shoe!

Henry:

The most embarrassing experience I've ever had, happened two years ago. After seeing a film, my wife and I had lunch in our favourite restaurant in town. Then we decided to take a walk along the street. The street was very busy and we started holding hands. Suddenly my wife saw a dress that she liked in a shop window, and stopped. I started looking at some watches in the next window. After a minute or two I reached for my wife's hand. There was a loud scream, and a woman slapped my face. I hadn't taken my wife's hand. I'd taken the hand of a complete stranger!

James:

My wife and I had decided to buy a new house, and I'd made an appointment to see our bank manager. I'd never met him before. I went into town in my car and I was lucky enough to find a parking space outside the bank. I'd just started reversing(倒车) into the space when another car made its way into it. I was irritated! I opened my window and shouted at the man in the car. He ignored me and walked away. It took me twenty minutes to find another place. As soon as I had parked the car, I rushed back to the bank. I was ten minutes late for my appointment. I went to the manager's office, knocked and walked in. The manager was sitting behind his desk. He was the man who had taken my parking space!

29. The students began laughing when they saw Tony_______.

A. wearing a wrong shoe       B. carrying an alarm clock

C. looking down suddenly      D. rushing into the classroom

30. Henry was embarrassed because he_______.

A  slapped the woman in the face

B. took the hand of a complete stranger

C. heard his wife screaming in the street

D. knocked over some watches in the shop

31. James went into town to_______.

A. put money in the bank      B. look for a job

C. meet the bank manager      D. buy a new car

32. The underlined word "irritated" probably means "_______ ".

A. angry      B. impolite     C. worried     D. embarrassed

C

Roosegaarde, an artist and designer from Dutch has thought of a device(装置). He hopes it will make Beijing's sky clear again and help the people with masks breathe fresh air again in Beijing.

An electromagnetic field(电磁场) will pull the dirty particles in the air to the ground, and then they can be easily cleaned.

Roosegaarde says, "It's like when you have a balloon which has static electricity(静电) and your hair goes toward it. Smog happens the same way as the hair."

His workplace has reached an agreement with the Beijing government to test the technology in one of the capital's parks.  Beijing's skies are regularly covered by grey smog. Serious cases of air pollution are often reported in Beijing. Roosegaarde says an indoor test has already shown it works well and he is confident of the results. With the help of a team of scientists and engineers, he is sure that the device can be worked outside.

"Beijing is a very good place to test the device because the smog in Beijing is quite low and there's not so much wind." says Roosegaarde. "We'll be able to make the air pure but the most difficult thing is to remove the smog. As a result, you can see the sun again."

Roosegaarde also reminds us that his aim is not only to give a plan to solve Beijing's dirty air pollution but also to make people pay attention to the environment problem. He adds, "This is not the real answer for smog. The real answer to do with it is clean cars, different industry and different lifestyles. " However, he hopes the project will make the citizens realize the differences between clean air and smog-filled air.

33. The device works by_______.

A  helping keep the particles out with more masks

B. pulling particles to the ground with an electromagnetic field

C. absorbing hair with a balloon with static

D. creating clean air and letting it out into the sky

34. What does Roosegaarde use his device for?

A  To make smog.       B. To make the air clean

C. To make static electricity.     D. To make Beijing's parks beautiful.

35. After reading the passage, we can know_______.

A the device doesn't work well indoors

B. the people with masks can breathe fresher air

C. Beijing government agreed to test the device

D. clean cars aren't helpful to the environment in Beijing

36. Roosegaarde hopes people in Beijing can_______.

A  pay attention to air pollution and solve the problem finally

B. invent more devices to clean the smog in Beijing

C. drive modern cars and try different lifestyles

D. realize how serious the pollution they're facing is

D

According to scientists' research, the month in which babies are born could affect them in some ways.

Babies born in spring get sick easily. Children born under Aquarius may be less clever than those born in other seasons. They may also have shorter lives than those born in autumn  Scientists believe many of the differences can be explained by the mother's exposure to sunlight in pregnancy(怀孕).  Sunlight helps lead to the production of Vitamin D in the body. The lack of this in the first months of life may have a bad effect on mental and physical health.

Vitamin D, called the "sunshine vitamin", is known to help regulate(调节) thousands of genes during development, according to a study of more than two million people. So Vitamin D has a good effect on health  This study showed that people born from April to June had slightly shorter lives than those born in October, November or December. Similar studies in the USA showed that people born in autumn lived about 160 days longer than those born in spring.

Professor Russell Foster, an Oxford University neuroscientist on seasonal biology, said the conclusions were surprising and interesting. He added, "These are small effects but they are very, very clear. I am not giving voice to star signs and they are just for fun. But it is true that we are affected by our season of birth."

37.A baby's season of birth doesn't affect its_______.

A health      B height      C length of life     D. mind

38. According to the passage,_______ can help people get Vitamin D.

A. enough sleep        B. enough sunlight

C fresh air       D. suitable seasons

39. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. People born in spring may not be in good health.

B. Children born under Aquarius are cleverer than those born under Libra.

C. Professor Russell Foster is interested in star signs and believes in them

D. People born in May will live longer than those born in October.

40. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A. People can know the length of life by star sign.

B. Women should choose to give birth to children in spring.

C A child's season of birth has some effect on him or her.

D. Vitamin D is very important to people's health.