三、阅读理解 阅读下面的短文，然后根据短文内容选择最佳答案。(本大题共26分，每小题2分) 　B

I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was not to be held any more. I called him several times, but each time his

secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited and waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone，“ Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?” 　　At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, caught the phone, tore off the wires，and shouted at the phone，“Yeah! Who do you think you are?Bad telephone ! Bad telephone!”And she swept it into the wastebasket.

I stood watching her, speechless. What on earth? She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the rest of the house, “Now hear this ! All objects in this room — if you do anything to make my husband unhappy, out you go!”

Then she turned to me, kissed me, and said calmly，“Honey，you just have to learn how to take control. ”With that, she left the room.

After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything that could be seen，I noticed that something in my mood had changed. I was laughing. How could I have trouble with that phone?Her antics helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him calmly.

28. Why did the author shout at the telephone?

A. He was mad at the telephone. B. He was angry with his agent.

C. He was anxious about his wife. D. He was impatient with the secretary.

29. What did the author’s wife do after she heard his shouting?

A. She said nothing. B. She shouted at him.

C. She called the agent

D. She threw the phone away.

30. What made the author laugh?

A. His own behavior.

B. His wife’s suggestion.

C. His changeable feelings.

D. His wife’s sweet kiss.

C

One day last September, as Britney Spears was about to board a flight to Los Angeles from London, a blue bottle fell out of her purse. She quickly put it back in, but not before the camera recorded the event. Spears and her spokesman were both unwilling to say what was in the bottle, but the next morning London’s Daily Express published a page of pictures under the headline “EXCLUSIVE(独家新闻): POP PRINCESS APPEARED AT AIRPORT WITH POT OF SLIMMING TABLETS.” Spears was carrying Zantrex-3, one of the most popular weight-loss pills now sold in the United States. The pill, which is sold at about fifty dollars for a month’s need, contains plenty of caffeine, some green tea, and three common South American herbs(药草) that also act as stimulants (兴奋剂). It hit the U.S. market last March and has had a success that would be hard to overstate. Millions of bottles have been sold, and during the Christmas season it was shown in the windows of the nation’s largest chain of vitamin shops, G.N.C. (It is so highly sought after that many of the stores keep it in locked counters.) Zantrex-3 is also sold at CVS, Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, an

d other chains, and over the telephone and on the Internet. If you type “Zantrex” into Google, more than a hundred thousand pieces of information about it will appear. At any moment, there are large numbers of people selling it on eBay. 　　Perhaps the most interesting thing about the success story of Zantrex-3, however, is that it is far from unique—the one and only. There are hundreds of similar prod

ucts on the market today, and they are bought by millions of Americans. And though Zantrex’s producer makes some exciting statements (“the highest-quality weight control compound (化合物)period”), so do the people who sell Stacker 2 and Anorex along with those who sell Carb Eliminator and Fat Eliminator. Almost all of these compounds suggest that they can help people lose weight and regain the lost energy, and often without diet, exercise, or any other effort. 　　31. Which of the following is also a kind of weight-loss pill?

A. CVS B. Rite Aid C. Wal-Mart D. Anorex

32.The underlined part of the sentence in the first paragraph is most likely similar

in meaning

A. it is difficult to say how successful Zantrex-3 is.

B. you don’t know the success of Zantrex-3

C. you can’t think too highly of the success of Zantrex-3

D. Zantrex-3 is not very successful

33. The text mainly tells us __________________________________.

A. when Britney Spears was found taking weight-loss pills with her

B. how Zantrex-3 became successful in the USA

C. weight-loss pills are very popular in the USA

D. Zantrex-3 mustn

’t be sold on the US market 　　D

Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In the age of the keyboard, some people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. 90% of teachers say they are required to teach handwriting. But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they are teaching it. One study this year found that about three out of every four teachers say they are not prepared to teach handwriting. Some teachers are teaching handwriting by providing instructi

on for 10 ,15 minutes a day, and then other teachers who basically teach it for 60 to 70 minutes a day — which really for handwriting is pretty much. 　　Many adults remember learning that way — by copying letters over and over again. Today’s thinking is that short periods of practice are better. Many experts also think handwriting should not be taught by itself. Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express ideas. After all, that is why we write.

Handwriting involves two skills. One is legibility, which means forming the letters so they can be read. The other is fluency — writing without having to think about it. Fluency continues to develop up until high school.

But not everyone masters these skills. Teachers commonly report that about one fourth of their kids have poor handwriting. Some people might think handwriting is not important any more because of computers and voice recognition programs.

But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt says word processing is rarely done in elementary school, especially in the early years. American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write in cursive, which connects the letters. But guess what we learned from a spokeswoman for the College Board, which administers the SAT college admission test. More than 75 percent of students choose to print their article on the test rather than write in cursive.

34. We can learn ________ from Paragraph 1.

A. teaching handwriting is a basic requirement in teaching job

B. most teachers prefer to teach handwriting

C. teachers spend little time in teaching handwriting

D. a keyboard has taken the place of the handwriting completely.

35. Which of the following is WRONG for traditional handwriting in the USA?

A. The students are taught by practicing a long period.

B. The letters are repeated many times.

C. Handwriting includes two skills.

D. To write in cursive is taught first.

36. The underlined word “legibility” in Paragraph 3 means ________.

A. easy to read B. hard

C. unexpected D. unreadable

37. The best title for the passage is ________.

A. How to improve handwriting in school

B. Right or wrong: the death of handwriting

C. Handwriting involves two skills

D. Handwriting lessons are on the way out