第三部分 阅读理解(20小题，每题2分，共40分)

第一节(共15小题;每小题2分，共30分)

A

A linguist, an expert on languages, is always listening, never off-duty. I invited a group of friends round to my house, telling them that I was going to record their speech. I said I was interested in their regional accents, and that it would take just a few minutes. Thus, one evening, three people came to my house and were shown into my front room. In front of each chair there was a microphone at head height, connected to a recorder in the middle of the floor. They sat down, rather nervously, and I explained that all I wanted was for them to count from one to twenty. Then we could relax and have a drink.

I turned on the recorder and each in turn counted from one to twenty in their best accents. When it was over, I turned the recorder off and brought round the drinks. I joined them in talking and joking freely. Then I left them for a telephone call which lasted some time. The rest of the evening seemed to be spent in total relaxation.

Or at least that is how it would appear, for, of course, the microphones were not connected to the recorder in the middle of the room at all but to another one in the bedroom. My friends, having seen the recorder before them turned off, paid no more attention to the microphones a few inches from their mouths, thus giving excellent sound quality.

I should add, perhaps, that I did tell my friends what had happened to them, after the recording was over, and asked them whether it should be destroyed. None of them wanted to----but for some years after that, it always seemed that when it came to buying drinks, it was I who paid for them. Linguistic research can be a very expensive business.

61. The writer asked his friends to count from one to twenty because he wanted _________.

a) to record how they pronounced numbers in their own regional accents

b) to check if they were all good at languages

c) them to believe that was all he would record

d) to discover who had the best pronunciation

62.The writer managed to get as __________ a piece of talk as it would be possible to find.

A. natural B. clear C. excellent D. expensive

63.The last sentence of the passage shows _________.

A. you will pay much money if you want to do some linguistic research

B. his friends always made him buy them drinks in return

C. the writer’s kindness and humour

D. a three-ring binder format

linguistic research is a kind of business

B

Books don’t grow on trees

A local community college professor decided to fight back.

“The price of books for our students is just getting higher and

higher and, combined with the rising cost of tuition, it’s killing these

kids,” said Peter Jason, Ph.D. “Remember, students are one of the poorest groups of people in America. Almost half of them have at least one part-time job. In fact, one of my students has three jobs. She is a part-time sales clerk at a clothing store three days a week, then works three evenings a week as a pizza cook, and on weekends she does manicures(修指甲) at a beauty salon. And she still manages to have a high GPA (grade point average)and go to school full-time.”

Textbook prices are traditionally high. Adding to that problem, many college instructors change textbooks year after year; they either upgrade t o a new edition or switch to an entirely different textbook. This further hurts students because if an instructor no longer uses a particular textbook, that book has no resale value.

Dr. Jason decided to make life a little easier and a lot cheaper for his students by writing his own book on public speaking. “Many books have an increased price because of bells and whistles: CD-ROMs, lots of color photographs, and lots of graphics. I talked to my students, and many of the m, like me, prefer to keep things simple. So, during a sabbatical a few years ago, I wrote my own text book. I made sure that it wasn’t long-winded. I called it Successful Public Speaking: How To Be Brief, Concise, and to the Point.

“Compared to most other public speaking books, mine is half the number of pages, and one-third the price. That is, $30 instead of $90. Plus, it is published in a three-ring binder format. So, when I wrote a second edition last year, students only had to buy the 35 new pages and delete 35 of the original pages. For only $7.00, they had upgraded to the new edition. I’ve had great feedback from my students about this loose-leaf concept. Maybe the word will get out, and more writers and publishers will try it.”

64.The reason why some students have to work is that .

A.they have to support themselves

B.the cost of living is rising rapidly

C.they lack the money for their education

D.a high GPA is required for further studies

65.More money is spent on textbooks because .

A.publishers pay more to the writers

B.students need textbooks with pictures

C.textbook prices are traditionally high

D.textbooks may be changed every year

66.Dr. Jason wrote his own textbook to .

A.make it short B.increase its price

C.make it easy to update D.add CD-ROMs and photos

67.It can be inferred from the passage that .

A.a college professor objects to writing textbooks

B.instructors don’t use particular textbooks any longer

C.more writers and publishers will write shorter textbooks

D.the loose-leaf concept is well received among the students

C

Over the past several decades, the U.S., Canada, and Europe have received a great deal of media and even research attention over unusual phenomena and unsolved mysteries. These include UFOs as well as sightings and encounters with "nonhuman creatures" such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster. Only recently has Latin America begun to receive some attention as well. Although the mysteries of the Aztec, Mayan, and Inca civilizations have been known for centuries, now the public is also becoming aware of unusual, paranormal phenomena in countries such as Peru.

The Nazca "lines" of Peru were discovered in the 1930s. These lines are deeply carved into a flat, stony plain, and form about 300 intricate pictures of animals such as birds, a monkey, and a lizard. Seen at ground level, the designs are a senseless mess. The images are so large that they can only be viewed at a height of 1,000 feet - meaning from an aircraft. Yet there were no aircraft in 300 B.C., when it is judged the designs were made. Nor were there then, or are there now, any nearby mountain ranges from which to view them. So how and why did the native people of Nazca create these marvelous designs? One answer appeared in 1969, when the German researcher and writer Erich von Daniken proposed that the lines were drawn by extraterrestrials(外星人) as runways for their aircraft. The scientific c ommunity did not take long to scoff(嘲笑) at and abandon von Daniken's theory. Over the years several other theories have been put forth, but none has been accepted by the scientific community.

Today there is a new and heightened interest in the Nazca lines. It is a direct result of the creation of the Internet. Currently there are over 60 sites dedicated to this mystery from Latin America's past, and even respected scientists have joined the discussion through e-mail and chat rooms.

Will the Internet help explain these unsolved mysteries? Perhaps it is a step in the right direction.

68. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A. Latin America has long received attention for unusual phenomena.

B. Public attention is now directed towards countries like Peru.

C. Public interest usually focuses on North America and Europe.

D. Some ancient civilizations have unsolved mysteries.

69. We can infer from the passage that the higher the lines are seen, the ____ the images they present.

A. smaller B. larger C. clearer D. brighter

70. There has been increasing interest in the Nazca lines mainly because of

A. the participation of scientists. B. the appearance of the lnternet.

C. the birth of new theories. D. the interest in the Internet.

71. The author is ____ about the role of the lnternet in solving mysteries.

A. cautious B. pessimistic C. doubtful D. optimistic

D

So often our needs are defined by things that do n’t get us much: the comfort of having lots of stuff, the image we want to portray, the social pressure to appear to be rich, the fantastic idea of having something new for its own sake, like a new car or new TV or the latest fashion. For years, we have spoken to our customers about the difference between fashion and style. We’ve tried our best to encourage style and reinforce(加强,强调) the concept that style isn’t fashion. It comes from your imagination and is developed slowly. It’s reflection of your values.

Today, more than ever, the direction of an environmentally conscious style is not to have luxury or conspicuous (炫耀的) consumption written all over your clothes. This is still our message. We believe this could be best achieved by simply asking yourself before you buy something (from us or any other company) whether this is something you really need. It could be you’ll buy more or less from us, but only what you need . We’ll be happy to adjust our business up or down accordingly, because we’ll feel we are then contributing to a healthier attitude about consumption. We know this is an opinion against the growth of economy, but frankly, if this kind of thinking doesn’t catch on quickly, we, like a plague(瘟疫) of locusts, will swallow all that’s left of the planet. We could make the decision to reduce our consumption, or the decision will soon be made for us.

We are optimistic that we can change course and avoid the disastrous destination toward which we’re heading. We also believe that there are many events occurring throughout the world right now which support this outlook. We’ve experienced big changes in people’s attitudes about some extremely important philosophical issues and values.

Our purchasing habits have enormous influence. By changing the things that make us happy and buying less stuff, we can reduce the t errible influence we have been placing on the environment. We can buy for vital needs, not silly self-satisfying needs. We do need clothes, yes, but so many?

While we’re advocating responsible consumption, we want to suggest one more idea. What you save, if you do, through changing your purchasing habits, contributes to one of the thousands of social and environmental organizations that are working to correct, repair, preserve or stop the damage to which our consumptive ways and economic system have led us.

We all have to work together to preserve the continuity of natural cycles and processes. If we don’t, we’ll have nothing to give to our grandchildren. All will be gone. Our place in history will be that of the greatest mismanagers of the Earth, not such a loving way to be remembered!

--a text from Esprit, a company that is trying

72. According to the passage, __________ is an appropriate attitude toward consumption.

A. buying what you need B. changing consumptive ways

C. pursuing the latest fashion D. buying things that satisfy us

73. Which of the following is close to the meaning of the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?

A. We’re heading for a disastrous destination and cannot change the course.

B. Have a healthier attitude towards consumption, or we will be punished by nature one day.

C. Get rid of the locust disaster, otherwise we will never be able to live a happy life.

D. If we cannot manage the economic growth well, less consumption won’t be accomplished.

74. We can learn from the passage that _________.

A. consumer’s wise purchasing will benefit the finance of the company

B. it is certain that Esprit will change consumers’ attitude by getting across its idea

C. to change purchasing habits, consumers have to donate to environmental organizations

D. pursuing style is more meaningful than pursuing fashion since it reflects personal values

75. The purpose of the passage is to _________.

A. encourage people to make a difference in fashion[来

B. appeal for responsible consumption

C. shorten the distance between Esprit and the consumers

D. arouse consumers’ awareness of environmental protection

编辑推荐：

高考生要以正确心态对待每一次月考

2012高考备战：高三复习必须遵循的4个科学步骤

2012年高考备战：复习常面临的一些困惑