第二部分 阅读理解（共两节, 满分40分）

[来源:学+科+网Z+X+X+K]

第一节 阅读短文(共20小题;每小题2分, 满分40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。

A

What's on

Oscar Film Themes Symphony Concert

Film highlights accompanied by live performances of movie theme music by the China Opera and Dance Drama Theatre Symphony Orchestra, which has recorded the music for many films. Familiar tunes will come from such flicks(电影) as Titanic, Jurassic Park and Waterloo Bridge.

Where: Nationality Cultural Palace Theatre

When: March 8, 7:30 pm

Admission: 80-380 yuan

Tel: 6528 7674 ext 508

Fantastic View All the Way

The mountains in this area are not very high, but the vistas(景色) are excellent. This walk is gentle and very interesting, going through valleys, over passes, along a ridge(山脊) and through a few little tranquil villages that are located in amazing places. Many sites along the walk offer panoramic(全景) view of the surrounding mountains.

Where: Pinggu, northeast of Beijing

When: March 9, meet 8:30 am outside Starbucks at Lido Hotel, or 9 am at Capital Paradise front gate, return 5 pm

Admission: adults 150 yuan, children 100 yuan

Tel: 13701003694

Email: fjhikers @ yahoo. co. uk

Spring Greetings

Paintings in bold colors in a traditional Chinese style by young artist Tian Xifeng are displayed to welcom

e the spring. Tian is a student of famous bird-and-flower painting artist, Wang Qing. He has won several prizes at various national painting exhibitions and developed a style emphasizing vivid close-ups(特写) of natural scenes.

 

Where: Melodic Gallery, 14 Jianwai Dajie, opposite Friendship Store

When: till March 31, 9 am - 5 pm

Admission: free

Tel: 65188123

Cala, My Dog

Directed by Lu Xuechang, starring Ge You. The story is about a middle-aged working man, known as Lao Er, whose chief source of stability and comfort in life is his dog, Cala. One day, when his wife is out walking Cala, a policeman confiscates(没收) the unregistered canine(狗). As Lao Er endeavors to recover his dog, the difficult circumstances of his life are revealed. Chinese with English subtitle(字幕)

Where: Dongchuang Theatre, 3 Xinzhongjie, Dongzhimenwai

When: March 13 and 20, 8: 30 pm

Admission: 20 yuan

Tel: 64169253

31. If you are a music lover you can go to ________ on Women's Day.

A. Capital Paradise B. Dongchuang Theatre

C. Capital Gymnasium D. Nationality Cultural Palace Theatre

32. The exhibition held in Melodic Gallery ________.

A. is open to the public from 7:30 am - 5pm till April lst

B. presents the works by Tian Xifeng and his teacher

C. is to display some bird-and-flower paintings

D. costs the art lovers much money to visit

33. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Both adults and children can take part in the walk in Pinggu.

B. Even you don't know English you can enjoy Cala, My Dog.

C. You'll have to dial 65188123 to book a ticket for the film.

D. You'll have a choice of two meeting places on March 9th.

34. All the advertisements in this passage are about ________.

A. music B. movies C. exhibitions D. entertainments

B

Dear Guys,

I’d like to talk to you about the shame that you subjected(使……蒙受) me to last night. Let me first refresh your memory: You, a group of fit young men, were playing soccer on the field across from my apartment building. I, a better-than-average looking young woman, was walking along the sidewalk with my groce

ries. That’s when your ball came flying over the fence and landed in front of me.

 

One of you approached and asked politely if I would throw the ball back to you. Fighting the urge to drop my bags and run screaming down the street, I reluctantly (勉强地) agreed.

Before I continue, let me explain something that I didn’t have a chance to mention last night: I hate sports. More specifically, I hate sports involving balls. This results from my lack of natural ability when it comes to throwing, catching and hitting. I’m bad at aiming to

o. So you can understand why I’d be nervous at what I’m sure seemed to you like a laughably simple request.

 

However, wanting to appear agreeable, I put my bags down, picked up the ball and, eyes half-shut, threw it as hard as I could.

It hit the middle of the fence and bounced back to me

Trying to act casually, I said something about being out of practice, then picked up the ball again. If you remember, at your command, I agreed to try throwing underhand. While outwardly I was smiling, in my head, I was praying, Oh God, oh please oh please oh please. I threw the ball upward with all my strength, terrified by what happened next.

The ball hit slightly higher up on the fence and bounced back to me.[来源:学。科。网Z。X。X。K]

This is the point where I start to take issue(辩论) with you. Wouldn’t it have been a better use of your time, and mine, if you had just walked around the fence and took the ball then? I was clearly struggling; my smiles were more and more forced. And yet, you all just stood there, motionless.

Seeing that you weren’t going to let me out of the trouble, I became desperate. Memories of middle school softball came flooding back. I tried hard to throw the ball but it only went about eight feet, then I decided to pick it up and dash with ball in hand towards the baseline, while annoyed thirteen-year-old boys screamed at me that I was ruining their lives. Children are cruel.

Being a big girl now, I pushed those memories aside and picked up the soccer ball for the third time. I forced a good-natured laugh while crying inside as you patiently shouted words of support over the fence at me.

“Throw it granny-style!” one of you said.

“Just back up a little and give it all you’ve got!” another offered.

And, most embarrassing of all, “You can do it!”

I know you thought you were being encouraging, but it only served to deepen the shame.

Anyway, I accepted your ball-throwing advice, backed up, rocked back and forth a little, took a deep breath and let it fly.

It hit the edge of the fence and bounced back to me.

I surprised myself ---- and I’m sure you as well ---- by letting out a cry, “DAMN IT!!!” I then willed myself to have a heart attack and pass out in front of you just so I’d be put out of my misery.

Alas, the heart attack didn’t happen, and you continued to look at me expectantly, like you were content to do this all night. I had become a sort of exhibition for you. I could feel your collective thoughts drifting through the chain-link: “Can she really not do it? But I mean, really?”

Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t really game to continue your experiment. Three failed attempts at a simple task in front of a group of people in a two-minute period was just enough blow for me for one night. I picked up the ball one last time, approached the fence and grumbled, “Please just come to get the damn ball.”

And you did. And thanks to you, I decided at that very moment to never throw anything ever again, except disrespectful glances at people who play sports.

Sincerely,

Jen Cordery

35. The writer agreed to throw the ball because ______.

A. she needed to have a relax carrying the heavy groceries

B. she wanted to refresh her childhood memories

C. she could not refuse the polite request from the young man

D. she had fallen in love with the young man at first sight

36. Why did the writer mention her middle school memory?

A. To explain why she failed the attempts to throw the ball back.

B. To complain that she had not mastered the ball throwing skills.

C. To show how cruel those 13-year-old boys were.

D. To express her dislike towards softball.

37. What the boys said before the writer’s third attempt actually made the writer _______.

A. inspired          B. encouraged            C. embarrassed    D. depressed

38. What happened to the ball at last?

A. The writer managed to throw the ball back.

B. The boy got the ball back by himself.

C. The writer threw the ball away out of anger.

D. The boys got angry and 

left without the ball.

 

C

With the possible exception of equal rights, perhaps the most heated argument across the United States today is the death penalty (死刑). Many argue that it is an effective deterrent (威慑) to murder, while others think there is no enough proof that the death penalty reduces the number of murders.

The argument advanced by those opposed to the death penalty is that it is cruel and inhuman punishment, that it is still mark of a bad society and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent to crime anyway.

In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary action. Throughout recorded history there have always been those peculiar persons in every society who made 

terrible crimes s

uch as murder. But some are more dangerous than others.

 

For example, it is one thing to take the life of another in time of blind anger, but quite another to coldly plan and carry out the murder of one or more people in the style of a butcher. Thus, murder, like all other crimes, is a matter of different degree. While it could be argued with some reason that the criminal in the first instance should be merely kept from society, such should not be the fate of the latter type murderer.

The value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime may be open to discussion. But the majority of people believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is proved by the fact that the death penalty prevents murder. For example, from 1954 to 1963, when the death penalty was carried out from time to time in California, the murder rate remained between three and four murders for each 100, 000 population. Since 1964 the death

 penalty has been done only once, and the murder rate has risen to10.4 murders for each 100, 000 population. The sharp climb in the state's murder rate, which began when killings stopped, does not happen by chance. It certainly shows that the death penalty does deter(威慑) many murderers. If the law about death penalty is vetoed (否决), some people will be murdered ------ some whose lives may have been saved if the death penalty were in effect. This is really a life or death matter. The lives of thousands of people must be protected.

 

39. The main purpose of this passage is to _____.

A. speak for the majority    B. support a veto

C. speak ill of the government    D. argue for the value of the death penalty

40. Which of the following is among the heated arguments across the USA besides death penalty?

A. Air pollution. B. The war against Iraq.

C. Equal rights. D. Election of president.

41. The numbers in the last paragraph show that ______.

A. if they stick to death penalty, the number of murders will be reduced

B. death penalty almost stopped from 1954 to 1963

C. the population of California has risen

D. death penalty is of little value

42. It can be inferred that the writer thinks that ______.[来源:Zxxk.Com]

A. the death penalty is the most important problem in the United States today

B. the second type of murderers (in Paragraph 4) should be sentenced to death

C. the veto of the law about death penalty is of little importance

D. the value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime is not to be discussed.

D

Kelly Reeves was getting ready for a trip when her phone slipped into a sink full of water. Panic moment! She quickly picked up the wet phone and tried to turn it on, but nothing worked. Her first reaction? She got dressed, drove to the nearest store, and bought a new mobile at full price.

A new study finds that fear of losing your phone is a common illness. About 66 percent of those surveyed suffer from nomophobia or “no mobile phone phobia”. Interestingly, more women worry about losing their phone than men.

Fortunately, there’s a solution.

The first step is to figure out if you have nomophobia. Checking your phone too often is one thing, but the true sign of a problem is that you can’t conduct business or go about your routine when the fear becomes so severe.

Do you go to unusual lengths to make sure you have your phone? That’s another sign of a problem. If you find you check your phone plenty of times per hour, or a total of an hour per day, there may be a problem.

Some of the treatments are similar to those for treating anxiety attacks: leaving the phone behind and not checking e-mail or text messages, and then learning to tolerate the after anxiety. Even if this leads to a high level of worry and stress, the solution is to push through the fear and learn to deal with not having your phone.

Of course, there are also technological alternatives. Luis Levy, a co-founder at Novy PR, says he uses an application called Cerberus that can automatically track the location of his phone. To find it, he can just go to a website and see the phone’s location.

He also insures his phone through a service called Asurion. The company’s description of its product reads like a prescription for anxiety: “60 million phones are lost, stolen or damaged each year. You’ll have complete peace of mind knowing that your phone is protected and you can quickly reconnect with family, friends and work, as soon as the very next day!”

43. Why does the author mention Kelly’s experience in the first paragraph?

A. To introduce the topic for discussion.

B. To inform us that mobile phones are useful.

C. To warn us that we should be careful.

D. To tell us we should get phones ready for a trip.

44. The underlined word “nomophobia” in Paragraph 2 means “ ” .

A. habits of using mobile phones 

B. fear of losing mobile phones

 

C. eagerness for new mobile phones D. independence of mobile phones

45. Which of the following is a way to treat nomophobia?

A. Avoiding using a phone for some time

B. Learning more about modern technology

C. Protecting one’s phone against any damage

D. Not using a mobile phone in one’s daily work

46. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Attitude toward mobile phones B. New mobile phone technology

C. Disadvantages of mobile phones D. Solutions to nomophobia

E

Los Angeles: Love for Mom is necessary, but buying flowers on her big day may not be.

A slump in flower sales since late last year was likely to continue through Mother’s Day, another example of Americans cutting back on spending due to recession fears, which is a period of reduced trade and business activity, and increasing food and gasoline prices.

“If you look at what has happened on Valentine’s Day and Christmas, the market for flowers has cooled,” said Eric Beder, an analyst at Brean Murray. “Growth has slowed in the past two quarters.Mother’s Day will probably be a slow quarter, too.”

US floral sales for Mother’s Day, celebrated yesterday, will fall thirteen percent this year to $2 billion, with consumers spending an average of $17.65, according to the National Federation estimates.

Mother’s Day, which accounts for a one-quarter of annual holiday purchases, according to the Society of American Florists, is traditionally the day when flowers are delivered to the doorsteps of many mothers.

But this year, the shop-owners are concerned. Gabriel Soto, who owns a flower shop beneath an office high-rise in the Los financial district, is expecting lower sales — and has ordered 30 percent fewer flowers than normal this Mother’s Day. Last month, Soto, who also operates website downtown-flowers.net, closed another store in a nearby building that was headquarters to a mortgage company. After workers lost their jobs due to the housing crisis, orders decreased.

47. The underlined word “slump” in Para. 2 probably means .

A. sharp decrease in price B. great fear for losing jobs

C. global worry of floral stores D. sudden fall by a large amount?

48. According to the author, Mother’s Day should be an occasion of .

A. a large family get-together B. a big annual holiday purchase?

C. a great love showed to mothers D. a celebration among Americans?

49. This passage implies that Americans have .

A. met financial problems recently?

B. no longer bought flowers for mothers?

C. delivered flowers to every house for mothers?

D. cut back on spending because of having lost jobs?

50. Which would be the best title for this passage? ?

A. Hard time coming nearer? B. Mother’s Day and crisis

C. Sorry mom, love you but no flowers? D. Holiday purchases have a hard time