PART THREE  READING COMPREHENSION

Directions: Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.

Short reader-submitted stories -- for the woman you should think of today!

Compiled by Amy Zerello

Great Minds Reminded of Mom

After a long, exhausting day, a friend of mine, Allen, headed home．On the road, he passed an elderly woman who was standing by a car with a flat tire．If that were his mother, he thought, he would want someone to help her．With a tired sigh, he turned around and drove back．

Just as he reached the poor woman, a truck pulled up and a burly man got out．"Kind of reminds you of your mom, too?" the man asked as the two of them pitched in together to change the tire for her．

Contributed by Katherine L．Houge

Your Biggest Fan

While waiting in a bookstore for a guest author to sign her latest book, I leafed through some of the Civil War novels she had written．The woman in line behind me commented, "Those are the best books I've ever read．I couldn't put them down."

Before I could reply, the author, frowning, looked over and said, "Oh come on, Mom!"

-- Contributed by Marilyn Kopp

Head of the Household

My husband, Jeff, and I came across several problems while assembling our new computer system, so we called the help desk．The man on the phone started to talk to Jeff in computer jargon(行業(yè)術(shù)語), which confused us even more．

"Sir," my husband politely said, "please explain what I should do as if I were a four-year-old."

"Okay," the computer technician replied．"Sweetie, could you please put your mommy on the phone?"

-- Contributed by Lena Worth

How does it feel to tickle your mom’s funny bone?

Now send your own funny story to us! You could earn up to $300!

56．Who would the burly man be in the first joke?

       A．Another kind helper.          B．The old lady’s son.

C．Allen’s friend.            D．A policeman.

57．What was the guest author’s mom trying to do in the second story?

       A．Push hard to get her daughter’s signature．  

       B．Promote her daughter’s books by pretending to be a fan.

       C．Show her pride in her daughter’s achievement.

       D．Persuade Marilyn Kopp to buy her daughter’s book.

58．The computer technician on the phone in the third story ________.

       A．a(chǎn)ctually could find no way to solve Jeff’s problems

       B．teased Jeff about his poor knowledge of computer jargon

       C．wanted to talk to Lena instead

       D．believed that Jeff’s mom would know more computer jargon

59．What is the main purpose of the jokes?

       A．To make fun of moms.    B．To honor moms.

       C．To educate moms.           D．To amuse moms．

60．The passage is most possibly found ________.

       A．in a storybook         B．in a commercial ad

       C．in a magazine          D．in a student’s text book

第四部分：書面表達（共兩節(jié)，滿分40分）

第一節(jié)：完成句子（共10小題；每小題1.5分，滿分15分）

閱讀下列各小題，根據(jù)括號內(nèi)的漢語提示，用句末括號內(nèi)的英語單詞完成句子，并將答案寫在答題卡上的相應(yīng)題號后。

71．You’d better take a sweater with you _____（以防天氣變冷）．（get）

72．Water pollution is a big problem and 20℅ of the people on earth_____（喝不到） clean drinking water.（access）

73．A major problem arose at the meeting _____________（要花多少錢） to complete the whole project．（cost）    

74．_____________ （他一到達） when he received an important letter from his former classmate．（Hardly）

75．My daughter was badly hurt in the accident．I really regretted __________ （沒有開車去接她） from school yesterday．（pick） 

76．A number of children _____（父母死去了的） in the earthquake were sent to live with families in other cities．（kill）

77．It is said that those who are stressed or working overtime___（更有可能） put on weight．（likely）

78．--I’m sorry．I __________ （我不該向你大吼） the other day.

--Forget it．I was a bit out of control myself too．（shout）

79．Tomorrow would be Christmas Day．Della had only $1.87______（用它去給吉姆買） a present．（which）

80．--I’ve read another book this week.

--Well, maybe it is not how much you read but what you read ________ （是重要的）．（count）

Science Daily (Apr 27, 2008) — Dutch ecologist Roxina Soler and her colleagues have discovered that subterranean (地下的) and aboveground herbivorous (食草的) insects can communicate with each other by using plants as telephones. Subterranean insects issue chemical warning signals through the leaves of the plant. This way, aboveground insects are warned that the plant is already “occupied”.

Aboveground, leaf-eating insects prefer plants that have not yet been occupied by subterranean root-eating insects. Subterranean insects send out chemical signals through the leaves of the plant, which warn the aboveground insects about their presence. This messaging makes it possible for spatially-separated insects to avoid each other, so that they do not compete for the same plant.

In recent years it has been discovered that different types of aboveground insects develop slowly if they feed on plants that also have subterranean residents and vice versa (反之亦然). It seems that a system has developed through natural selection, which helps the subterranean and aboveground insects to notice each other. This avoids unnecessary competition.

Through the “green telephone lines”, subterranean insects can also communicate with a third party, namely the natural enemy of caterpillars (毛蟲). Parasitic wasps (寄生的黃蜂) lay their eggs inside aboveground insects. The wasps also benefit from the signals sent by the leaves, as these help them find more insects for their eggs.

The communication between subterranean and aboveground insects has only been studied in a few cases. It is still not clear how widespread this phenomenon is. But scientists are looking into it. This research was carried out at the Netherlands Institute for Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) by Roxina Soler, Jeffrey Harvey, Martijn Bezemer, Wim van der Putten and Louise Vet. The PhD project, in which this study was carried out, was funded by the Free Competition of NWO Earth and Life Sciences.

51. After finding a plant occupied by subterranean insects, aboveground insects usually ____.

A. send out warning signals             B. choose to give up the plant

C. compete for the plant                D. share it with the subterranean insects

52. Aboveground insects will develop more quickly if they ____.

A. feed on plants occupied by subterranean insects

B. feed on plants not occupied by subterranean insects

C. become cleverer through natural selection

D. compete with subterranean insects

53. Subterranean insects communicate with a third party through ____.

A. caterpillars     B. parasitic wasps    C. wasps’ eggs     D. a plant’s leaves

54. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A. Other animals may communicate in the same way.

B. There will be further research into this phenomenon.

C. Part of the study is a PhD project.

D. The Free Completion of NWO Earth and Life Sciences has the patent for these results.

55. What would be the best title for this passage?

A. Insects use plants as a telephone.         B. Insects live in harmony with each other.

C. No species can live alone.               D. Plants and animals have an effect on each other.

A heated debate is under way on _____ Chinese media should use English terms like "GDP", "NBA" and "GSM"．

       A．which           B．that C．whether            D．what

A modern factory has been set up in _______ used to be a pond ten years ago . 

A. what             B. which                    C. that                        D. where

On the outside Betsy Lueth’s school looks like any other in Minneapolis. Yet inside, it is

Yinghua Academy, a public school where elementary（小學(xué)）students study subjects ranging from

math to American history in Chinese.

    Yinghua, the first such immersion（沉浸式）program in the Midwest is on the leading edge (前沿) of a movement that in recent years has seen Chinese language programs spread rapidly throughout the U.S.

The idea behind Yinghua is to introduce kids to the language and culture as early as possible —ideally, before age 12. Kindergarteners and first graders are taught in Chinese and a single period of English is introduced in second grade. By sixth grade, kids are learning half in English and half in Chinese, with the expectation of fluency in both. In Yinghua’s classrooms, the walls are covered not with ABCs but with pictures and Chinese characters.

There are many challenges at Yinghua. Most teachers come from Taiwan or mainland China, and cultural misunderstandings are very common. Lueth’s teachers are learning to be tolerant of local customs — as well as a lot more parental input (家長看法) than they are used to. “In China, teachers are respected. They are not questioned,” says Luyi Lien, Yinghua’s Taiwan-born director. “In America, parents are more expressive of their opinions.”

Research has shown that in the long run, immersion programs can provide benefits, including more flexible, creative thinking. Though students from the programs fall behind for a few years in English, by fifth grade they perform as well as or better than their monolingual（單語言）peers on standardized reading and math tests. For multicultural families, the psychological (心理上的) help can also be important. Lueth, a former teacher, co-founded the school as a way to expose her adopted Chinese daughter Lucy to her native culture. Lucy used to be annoyed when cousins asked why her skin color was different from theirs; before she started at Yinghua, she resisted exploring anything related to China. Now, Lueth says, Lucy proudly answers her cousins, “Yeah, I was born in China.”

63．Yinghua is different from other schools in Minneapolis in the way that_________.

       A．it offers subjects to students mostly in Chinese

       B．its language program is popular in the U.S.A

       C．kids there begin to learn Chinese at the age of 12

       D．its students learn subjects half in English and half in Chinese

64．One of the challenges at Yinghua is that_________.

       A．most parents do not respect its teachers

       B．teachers need to get used to the local culture

       C．its students are mostly from nontraditional families

       D．there is misunderstanding between teachers and students

65．We can learn from the last paragraph that immersion program _________.

       A．enables students pass tests more easily

       B．benefits students in learning psychology

       C．helps some students accept the local customs

       D．contributes to the better development of students

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

      A．Teachers in Yinghua have difficulty in understanding the local culture.

       B．Parents are discouraged to speak out their opinions of the school in Yinghua.

       C．The students in Yinghua are expected to speak English and Chinese fluently.

       D．Yinghua is the first school in the USA to introduce Chinese culture to students.

---Do you mind if I record your lecture?

  --- ________. Go ahead.

      A. Never mind             B. No way                   C. Not at all                 D. No, you'd better not

. — Did you take enough money with you?

   — No, I needed _______ I thought I would.

       A. not so much as   B. as much as  C. much more than D. much less than

. Newly-developed materials for spaceships can _________ extreme weather conditions.

A. hold                    B. support              C. stand               D. carry

—Do you have the New Chinese-English Dictionary?

       —Yes, but no more than one copy. Would you like to take            ?

       A．some B．them C．it      D．one