第二部分：閱讀理解（共20題，每小題3分，滿分60分）
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在機(jī)讀卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
The part of the earth’s history known as the coal age began more than 250 million years ago and lasted millions of years. During that time, in the area that is now the United States, coal beds formed from Texas to the north Atlantic coast.
At that time thick forests swamps（沼澤） covered much of the earth’s surface. Great trees died and fell into the swamps. Then they rotted （腐爛）and new trees and plants grew on top of them. The process repeated itself for thousands of years. The rotted plants turned into a substance called peat（泥炭）, which is still forming today in many swamps.
Meanwhile the land surface was changing. Movement in the earth’s crust (地殼) pushed up hills in some places, while elsewhere land sank. Swift rivers ran from the hills; heavy rains fell and the rivers overflowed, leaving muddy sand in the sunken wooded places and swamps. Oceans, too, poured in over the low-lying land, carrying sand that covered the peaty areas.
The pressure of water and sand pressed the oxygen and hydrogen out of the peat, leaving carbon. Under constant pressure, the rotted material, containing a high percentage of carbon, formed gradually into coal.
56. This main idea of the passage is about the ______.
A. coal beds in the U.S.   B. earth’s history   C. formation of coal   D. swamp age
57. When plants died, they _____.
A. grew up again       B. fell into the water and rotted
C. fell into coal beds    D. turned immediately to coal
58. Hills were formed as a result of _____.
A. movements of the earth’s crust       B. the remaining from swamps
C. the remaining from swift rivers       D. ocean currents
59. What is implied but not stated in the passage?
A. Peat is still forming today.
B. The formation of coal requires high pressure.
C. The land surface changed during the coal age.
D. The formation of coal was very rapid.

A couple from Miami, Bill and Simone Butler, spent sixty –six days in a life-raft (救生艇) in the seas of Central America after their boat sank.
Twenty-one days after they left Panama in their boat, Simony, they met some whales (鯨魚). “They started to hit the side of the boat,” said Bill, “and then suddenly we heard water.” Two minutes later, the boat was sinking. They jumped into the life-raft and watched the boat go under the water.
For twenty days they had tins of food, biscuits, and bottles of water. They also had a fishing-line and a machine to make salt water into drinking water— two things which saved their lives. They caught eight to ten fish a day and ate them raw (生的). Then the line broke. “So we had no more fish until something very strange happened. Some sharks (鯊魚) came to feed, and the fish under the raft were afraid and came to the surface. I caught them with my hands.”
About twenty ships passed them, but no one saw them. After fifty days at sea their life-raft was beginning to break up. Then suddenly it was all over. A fishing boat saw them and picked them up. They couldn’t stand up. So the captain carried them onto his boat and took them to Costa Rica. Their two months at sea was over.
68. Bill and Simone were traveling ______ when they met some whales.
A. in a life-raft    B. in Miami     C. in Simony     D. in Panama
69. During their days at sea, ______ saved their lives.
A. tins of food and bottles of water    B. a fishing-line and a machine
C. whales and sharks               D. Twenty passing ships
70. After their boat sank, the couple ______.
A. jumped into the life-raft          B. heard water
C. watched the boat go under water   D. stayed in the life-raft

Lots of students shop to reduce stress or just to kill time with their friends. Shopping to get rid of boredom or to escape from life’s pressures may lead to serious problems. When you start to shop out of control, you become a shopping addict.
Shopping addicts show signs that are similar to other addicts. Some students think that shopping, even as little as buying gifts for classmates, can make them feel better and forget their problems. Actually, it can make them feel worse, guilty, or even cause them to run into financial difficulties. Finding yourself in a financial struggle or deep in debt may harm your relationships with friends and parents.
Do you go shopping for just a few things and come home with your wallet empty? Do you always go shopping after an emotional trauma or when life feels tough（艱難的）? Do you regret later what you buy? Or do you buy things that you never use? Maybe your parents or friends have expressed disagreement that leads you to hide items or lie about prices.
Avoid any environment that may make you want to spend money. Never use credit cards. Form some other meaningful and beneficial hobbies. Exercise, yoga and hot baths generally may help you not want to shop. Take a drive through the country where there aren’t any stores. Have patience with yourself and your money, which can benefit you for the rest of your life.
60. According to the passage, shopping addicts ______.
are always rich people             B. get well along with friends
C. may suffer financial difficulties      D. all the above
61. The third paragraph mainly tells about ______.
ways to get rid of shopping addiction
the signs of shopping addicts
the danger of shopping addiction
why shopping addicts can’t stop shopping
62. The underlined word “trauma” probably means “______”.
hurt       B. satisfaction      C. enjoyment    D. appreciation
63. The intended readers of the passage are ______.
teachers       B. doctors      C. students     D. education

第三部分：閱讀理解（共20小題，每題2分，滿分40分）
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
One winter evening, a storekeeper was going to close up  his shop. Suddenly he saw Seth, a lazy, good – for – nothing fellow grasp a pound of fresh butter and hid it in his hat. No sooner had the storekeeper seen the act than he hit upon exactly the right revenge(報(bào)復(fù)). He would punish the thief, and satisfy his own appetite for fun.     
Seth had his hat on his head, and the butter in his hat. He was anxious to leave. However, the rightful owner of the butter offered him a cup of hot drink, took him by the shoulders and planted him in a seat close to the stove. The grocer filled in the stove as many sticks of wood as he could. Seth already could feel the butter settling down closer to his hair, so he jumped up, declaring that he must go. “Sit down; don’t be in such a hurry,” replied the grocer, pushing him back into the chair again.      
Streak after streak of the butter came pouring from under the poor man’s hat. The fun-loving grocer kept on putting wood into the stove. Then, as if surprised, he remarked, “You seem to be sweating as if you were warm! Let me put your hat away for you.”     
“No! ” exclaimed poor Seth at last, unable to stand it a moment longer. “ No, I must go; let me out.” A greasy (油膩的) waterfall of butter was now pouring down the poor man’s face and neck, dipping into his clothes, and trickling down his body into his boots. He was bathed in oil from head to toe. Just as Seth rushed out of the door, the grocer said , “ I believe the fun I’ve had out of you is worth the money, so I shan’t charge you for that pound of butter in your hat.”
56．Why did Seth put the butter in his hat?
A．Because he didn’t want to pay for it.
B．Because he just wanted to play a trick on the grocer.
C．Because he wanted to revenge himself on the grocer.
D．Because he had nowhere to put the butter but in the hat.
57．What is not the action that the grocer took as a revenge?
A．The grocer offered Seth a cup of hot drink.
B．The grocer offered to take off Seth’s hat.
C．The grocer overcharged Seth for the butter.
D．The grocer forced Seth to take a seat near the stove.
58．What was the purpose of the grocer’s hospitality(熱情好客)？
A．He wanted to be kind to him.
B．He wanted to sell more of his goods.
C．He wanted to make friends with Seth
D．He wanted to take his revenge on Seth by making the butter in his hat melt.
59．What is the best title of the passage?
A．Great Fun                     B．The Right Revenge
C．A Fun-loving Grocer            D．A Foolish Customer

Writer and power chair adventurer Mary Laver has not walked for twenty years. Yet the cheerful and positive 60 year old is not only refusing to let her disability get her down ---- she is also planning to cross the length of Britain in a power wheelchair.
Getting ready for the trip is not easy. She has already run into many problems - not least officials and organizations who view her as a health and safety risk. One police officer wrote to Mary requesting:
1. The proposed route through our area with road numbers.
2. The dates and times each day that this will be taking place.
3. The location details of the proposed overnight stops.
4. The names and mobile phone contact details of the Support Crew.
Another police officer asked her to travel off road! As Mary told me, this was unacceptable - as a power wheelchair user with limited movement she needs to be"gettable".
There are other problems in her way though - she is, after all, in her 60’s and has severe rheumatoid arthritis(風(fēng)濕性關(guān)節(jié)炎). However, unlike many other people with arthritis, she is no longer in pain.
"When you are in a power chair and it is going at eight miles an hour, believe me it feels fast … to me it is the Formula One(一級(jí)方程式賽車) chair of electric wheelchairs."
At the end of the interview, I asked Mary if she had a message for any other power chair users who wanted to do a challenge, and her reply was simple："Just do it!"
【小題1】What is Mary Laver planning to do？

When we think about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, a top great delight.
For a child, happiness has a magic quality. I remember playing police and robbers in the woods, getting a speaking part in the school play. Of course, kids also experience lows, but their delight at tops of pleasure is easily seen，such as winning a race or getting a new bike.
For teenagers, or people under 20 the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement, love, and popularity. I can still feel the pain of not being invited to a party that almost everyone else was going to. I also recall the great happiness of being invited at another event to dance with a very handsome young man.
In adulthood the things that bring great joy—birth , love , marriage—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. Love may not last; loved ones die. For adults, happiness is complex.
My dictionary explains “happy” as “l(fā)ucky” or “ fortunate”, but I think a better explanation of happiness is “ the ability to enjoy something”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It’s easy for us not to notice the pleasure we get from loving and being loved, the company of friends, the freedom to love where we please, and even good health. Nowadays, with so many choices and much pleasure, we have turned happiness into one more thing we have. We think we own the right to have it, which makes us extremely unhappy. So we try hard to get it and consider it to be the same as wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren’t necessarily happier.
While happiness may be more complex for us, the answer is the same as ever. Happiness isn’t about what happens to us. It’s the ability to find a positive for every negative, and view a difficulty as a challenge. Don’t be sad for what we don’t have, but enjoy what we do possess.
60. According to the passage, happiness lies in the ability to_______.
A. think of something extraordinary   B. experience delight at an old age
C. feel the magic quality of pleasure   D. enjoy what one has at the moment
61. In paragraph 3, a teenager looks at happiness mainly in terms of_____.
A. material gains                  B. social honor
C. spiritual satisfaction            D. academic achievement
62. The author implies that when one dreams wealth and finally gets it he____.
A. can realize what happiness is    
B. may not end up with happiness
C. may consider it extreme happiness 
D. should not feel content with himself
63. The passage aims to tell_______.
A. the great importance of happiness  B. the real meaning of happiness
C. the constant dream of happiness    D. the changing concept of happiness

It was Mother's Day，but the young mother was a little unhappy，because she was 800 miles away from her parents．In the morning she phoned her mother to wish her a happy Mother's Day，and her mother told her about the beautiful lilacs（丁香）in the garden．
Later that day，when she told her husband about the lilacs，he said，“I know where we can find all that you want．Get the children and come on．”So they went，driving down the country roads．
There on a small hill，they saw a lot of beautiful purple(紫色的) lilacs．The young woman ran quickly to enjoy the flowers．Carefully，she picked a few here and a few there．On their way home there was a smile on her face．
When they were passing a nursing home（養(yǎng)老院），the young woman saw an old granny sitting in a chair．She had no children with her．They stopped the car and the young woman walked to the old woman，put the flowers in her hands，and smiled at her．The old granny thanked her again and again．She smiled happily，too．
When the young mother came back to her car，her children asked her，“Who is that old granny？Why did you give our flowers to her？”
“I don't know her，”their mother said．“But it's Mother's Day，and she has no children．I have all of you，and I still have my mother．Just think how much those flowers meant to her．”
56. The young woman was a little unhappy on Mother's Day because        ．
A．she didn't have a present            B．she was a long way from her mother
C．she didn't know it was Mother's Day  D．she wanted to see her father
57. The young woman had        ．
A．one child                      B．no child 
C．more than one child            D．a(chǎn) boy and a girl
58.The young woman gave the flowers to the old granny because        ．
A．she was her mother           B．she didn't like those flowers
C．her mother asked her to do so D．she wanted the old granny to be happy，too
59. Which of the following is NOT true？
A．The young woman was kind．     B．The young woman was understanding．
C．The young woman was friendly． D．The young woman was surprised．

Everyone knows the smart black-and-white dog that sits on top of a red doghouse with his best friend ---- a bird called Woodstock.
Created by the American cartoonist Charles Schulz in 1950, the clever dog is loved by generations of kids and adults. He speaks more than 20 languages and appears daily in 26,000 newspapers around the world.
When Snoopy first appeared, he was no different from other pet dogs. But two years later, he had begun to speak in thought bubbles with simple words and sounds. By 1957 he could walk on two legs and was going to school with his master, Charlie Brown, who fails at just about everything. Later he learned to use the typewriter.
Snoopy has done lots of jobs. He has been a bow-tie wearing lawyer, a tennis player, an Olympic figure skater, a world famous grocery checkout clerk, a pilot and even the first astronaut on the moon.
However, Snoopy has always dreamed of being a famous writer. The beginning of his story is always, “It was a dark and stormy night…” Unfortunately for him no one has ever wanted to publish the story.
In love, Snoopy is as much of a failure as Charlie Brown is at baseball. He easily falls in love but always has his heart broken. He eats to forget, but it never works.
Snoopy is an insightful(有洞察力的), feel-good and sometimes sad dog. If you think a little about his words, you might find them full of life lessons. Among his most famous lines are “To live is to dance, to dance is to live.” And “Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There’s so little hope for advancement.”
60. From the passage, we can learn that ________.
A. Snoopy is always a sad dog
B. Snoopy can't speak in the beginning
C. Snoopy often dreams of true love       
D. Snoopy is a real smart pet dog
61. Snoopy has done all the following jobs EXCEPT ________.
A. a lawyer               B. a player                    C. a clerk                            D. a writer
62. It can be inferred that Snoopy ________.
A. has many bird friends and relatives             B. is a well-known writer and clerk
C. has been unfortunate since it was born        D. is very popular in the whole world
63. The underlined word “advancement” in the last paragraph probably means ________.
A. success                 B. progress                   C. growth                     D. popularity

第三部分：閱讀理解（共20小題；每小題2分，滿分40分）
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的A、B、C、D四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
A straight-A student got a C in cooking class and didn't like it. She didn't like it so much that her dad filed a complaint in court about it. He says that the teacher, who is white, discriminated against（歧視） his daughter, who is black. He hopes to have her grade changed from a C to an A and asks for uncertain ecnomic damages.
Virginia Brown is in the ninth grade at Ashley High School. Since her first year in school, she has had perfect attendance and all her grades have been A's. Virginia's father said her heart was broken when she got the C.
"She cried the whole weekend," he said. "She wouldn't come out of her room. Her eyes were
red and puffy. My little girl hasn’t been this upset since her cat got killed by a car when she was 6 years old."
Virginia is a model student. She's the class monitor. She's on the swim team, the volleyball team, and the track team. She also goes to the chess club. She is a member of the Girl Scouts and sings in her church choir.
The home economics teacher is 28-year-old Jessica Smith. This is her first year teaching. Ms. Smith said that discrimination was clearly not the truth. “Some of my best friends are African-Americans," she said. “This isn’t a black and white problem. Everybody in America wants to sue（控告） everybody else. I’m going to sue them for defamation（誹謗） of character and whatever else my lawyer comes up with.”
56. Mr. Brown was upset because ________.
A. his daughter did a poor job in cooking class
B. he was not satisfied with Ms. Smith’s work
C. he thought the teacher looked down on his daughter
D. he was afraid his daughter couldn’t go to a good university
57.According to the passage, which of the following statements is WRONG?
A.Virginia Brown is an excellent student.
B.Ms. Smith is an experienced teacher.
C.Virginia Brown feels sad about the grade.
D.The father isn't happy with the teacher.
58. Ms. Smith was _____ about Mr. Brown’s accusation(指控).
A. worried          B. angry              C. calm                   D. afraid
59. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. Black Girl Discriminated by White Teacher
B. Straight-A Girl Poor at Cooking
C. School Girl Puts Her Teacher to Court  
D. Students And Teachers Are Equal 

I was in a rush as always, but this time it was for an important date I just couldn’t be late for! I found myself at a checkout counter behind an elderly woman seemingly in no hurry as she paid for her groceries.  Being a PhD student without a lot of money, I had hurried into the store to pick up some flowers. I was in a huge rush, thinking of my upcoming evening. I did not want to be late for this date
We were in Boston, a place not always known for small conversations between strangers. The woman stopped unloading her basket and looked up at me. She smiled. It was a nice smile—warm and reassuring(令人寬慰的)-and I returned her gift by smiling back.
“Must be a special lady, whoever it is that will be getting those beautiful flowers,” she said.
“Yes, she’s special,” I said, and then to my embarrassment, the words kept coming out. “It’s only our second date, but somehow I am just having the feeling she’s ‘the one,’” jokingly, I added, “The only problem is that I can’t figure out why she’d want to date a guy like me.”
“Well, I think she’s very lucky to have a boyfriend who brings her such lovely flowers and who is obviously in love with her,” the woman said .”My husband used to bring me flowers every week—even when times were tough and we didn’t have much money. Those were incredible days; he was very romantic and—of course— I miss him since he’s passed away.”
I paid for my flowers as she was gathering up her groceries. There was no doubt in my mind as I walked up to her. I touched her on the shoulder and said “You were right, you know. These flowers are indeed for a very special lady.” I handed the flowers and thanked her for such a nice conversation.
It took her a moment to realize that I was giving her the flowers I had just purchased. “May you have a wonderful evening ,”I said. I left het with a big smile and my heart warmed as I saw her smelling the beautiful flowers.
I remember being slightly late for my date that night and telling my girlfriend the above story. A couple of years later, when I finally worked up the courage to ask her to marry me, she told me that this story had helped to seal it for her—that was the night that I won her heart .
41．Why was the writer in a hurry that day?
A. He was to meet his girlfriend.         B. He had to go back to school soon.
C. He was delayed by an elderly lady.      D. He had to pick up some groceries.
42．What does the underlined phrase “her gift” (Paragraph 2 ) refer to?
A. Her words.            B. Her smile.     C. Her flowers.         D. Her politeness.
43．Why did the writer give his flowers to the elderly lady?
A. She told him a nice story.                B. She allowed him to pay first.
C. She gave him encouragement.             D. She liked flowers very much.
44．What is the message conveyed in the story?
A. Flowers are important for a date.      B. Small talk is helpful.
C. Love and kindness are rewarding.       D. Elderly people deserve respecting.