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，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
A
When I was a child , I remember that my mother decided that we would take a trip to visit my Aunt Sandy who lived in Mammoth Lakes, California. I was about 7 at the time but my memory does not fail me because I can recall my personal details .
We were sitting in the kitchen getting ready to have peanut butter and suddenly without warning the room started shaking. I remember thinking that it was weird(怪異)that construction workers must have been moving the house or something, but that it was weird that they would do it when we were still in it. I had a vivid imagination too. So everything started shaking and my aunt had this horrible look on her face as she dropped the knife of peanut-butter onto the ground and held on to the counter. My mom told me to get under the table, which as I think back was odd because what was happening was from the ground so what good was getting under a table going to do. The kitchen window soon broke out on its own from the force of all the shaking and I started getting pretty scared(害怕). I don’t think my aunt moved the entire time. My mom had gotten under the table with me and was holding me to make sure I was OK I suppose. It seemed strange because no one really knew what to do.
So finally the shaking stopped. The power was out and it took minutes before anyone really even started to move and talk again. My mother decided that we would leave the next morning. I don’t remember if we were only planning to stay for one night or if we were just stopping by on our way to Fresno where my mom had friends.
56．The first paragraph is mainly to tell us that the writer_________.
A．was eager to see Aunt Sandy      B．was too young to do anything
C．doesn’t remember anything at all    D．still remember what happened when young
57．While they were sitting in the kitchen__________.
A．the construction workers moved the house    
B．the kitchen window broke out on its own
C．a(chǎn) terrible earthquake took place suddenly     
D．they were warned to leave the room at once
58．Aunt dropped the knife of peanut-butter onto the ground because_________.
A．she was very busy   B．she was too frightened
C．everything shook hard    D．she didn’t use it any more
59．From the last paragraph we can know that________.
A．everyone began to make the house clean and tidy
B．the writer’s mum decided to leave immediately
C．the electricity was cut off completely at home
D．everyone started to talk about the shaking loudly

C
Prince Charles yesterday pledged to reduce the royal impact on the environment through sweeping changes to his personal lifestyle and official schedule. The prince will replace carbon-heavy private jets and helicopters with scheduled flights and train services.
The move came as Prince Charles urged business leaders to publish the environmental pact of their activities.
He said, “Few accountants and business decision-makers ask, ‘How much of our critical natural resource is left? How many miles of polar ice cap has our business helped melt this year? By how many inches have we raised sea levels? How many species have we put at risk? How many homes will be flooded, how many people will die of thirst or starvation because of our activities? ’ These are not comfortable questions, but, by God, they need to be asked.”
He added, “At the moment these costs do not appear in anyone’s books… Yet they are real, they are incurred now and in a relatively short time, the damage being caused may be beyond remedy.” He said the world was “running up the biggest global credit card debt in history, but with little or no thought for how the bill will ever be paid”.
Flanked by the prime minister and business and community leaders at St James’s Palace, the prince said his new “accounting for sustainability” project would give consumers the power to choose products that caused less damage to the planet.
Duchy Originals, the prince’s food company, is taking steps to work out how much carbon dioxide and other green-house gas are emitted in growing, processing and distributing its products. The changes to the prince’s travel arrangements announced yesterday are part of a wider review of the carbon footprint associated with activities at all three of his residences. Clarence House in London, Highgrove and Birkhall on the Balmorals estate, as well as the activities of his 21 personal and 105 full-time staff. Measures include a review of electricity use, commuter and other staff travel and are intended to identify further reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. The review will report in June , when Clarence House will announce annual targets to reduce carbon emission.
47. One of the moves Prince Charles will take to reduce the royal impact on the environment is ______.
A. taking private jets that are not carbon-heavy
B. taking helicopters instead of private jets
C. taking trains instead of scheduled flights
D. taking scheduled flights instead of helicopters
48. How does Prince Charles feel about business leaders in terms of environmental protection?
A. Dissatisfied.       B. Disappointed.            C. Doubtful.         D. Impatient.
49. In response to Prince Charles’ calls, Duchy Originals will ______.
A. make as much green food as possible                    B. cut down its cost.
C. figure out its greenhouse gas emission            D. continue its greenhouse gas emission.
50. The underlined phrase “the biggest global credit card debt” in paragraph 3 probably refers to ______.
A. the great amount of waste produced by industry
B. the great damage caused to the environment
C. the great amount of debts of the royal family
D. the high cost of industry in their producing process
51. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Prince Charles Pledges Greener Royal Lifestyle
B. Better Late than Never
C. Prince Charles and His Concern for Environment
D. The Royal Family Has a Role to Play in Environment Protection

B
Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy is on a mission to recover ￡46 million of council cash. He has traveled to Iceland for high-level talks with Prime Minister Geir Haarde. Mr. Murphy has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to ensure the return to local authorities of the millions of pounds which are locked in crisis-hit Icelandic banks. He also wants to see the return of money deposited there by a number of Scottish charities.
Mr. Murphy said Scots councils and charities had invested in Icelandic banks in good faith before the country’s banking system was severely hit by the global financial crisis.
He said, “Our relationship with Iceland has traditionally been a very good one. But of course, there are pressures at the moment, particularly because of the international credit crisis and the collapse of the Icelandic banks.”
“There is money from Scottish councils and Scottish charities invested in some of those banks and I’m making efforts to persuade the Icelandic government that money should be returned.”
“We’ve made it very clearly, and we’ll do whatever it takes to support Scottish people to get their money out of the Icelandic banking crisis.”
The Scottish Secretary’s move has been welcomed by the Holyrood Parliament. The UK Government is currently trying to save ￡4 billion in deposits held by customers in the failed Icelandic bank Ice-save, at risk after its parent firm Landsbanki folded. The bank’s collapse caused a diplomatic argument after ministers froze assets of other Icelandic banks.
44. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A. Scots councils and charities had invested in Icelandic banks in bad faith.
B. The relationship with Iceland has traditionally been a very good one, so they don’t worry about it forever.
C. The UK Government and people can’t be satisfied with Iceland’s ministers’ measures.
D. The UK Government supports Scottish people to fight with the Iceland.
45. Jim Murphy will pay a visit to Iceland in order to ______.
A. strengthen their cooperation and promote economic progress between two countries
B. persuade the Icelandic Government to give back the money that are locked in
crisis-hit Icelandic bank
C. traveled to Iceland for high-level talks with Prime Minister Geir Haarde and wanted to break away from the crisis together
D. represent the government to help Iceland to recover economy
46. What is the best title for the passage?
A. Icelandic banking crisis                                B. Murphy’s Icelandic mission
C. The influence of the crisis                             D. A friendly visit

C
Kerry and Alice were both artists in Britain. They taught drawing and painting at Cambridge University. Although they were friends, each thought oneself to be the better painter.
One day, Kerry promised marriage to Alice. Surprised and pleased by the offer, the girl was not sure whether she would spend her future as a wife or a painter. After a moment she replied as follows, "Each of us must paint a picture. If yours is superior to mine, you can make me your wife. If not, please drop the question." Then it was decided to give it the following day.
The next morning. Alice hung her picture on the gate. It showed a bunch of flowers and won high praise from everyone who passed by. In fact, a crowd collected in front of her masterpiece and fixed eyes on it.
Several hours passed. Then Kerry was seen coming along to the gate with what appeared to be a beautiful leather suitcase in his hand. When he finally stopped before Alice, the girl artist brushed like a rose and agreed to marry him without any hesitation. Why?
64．What did Alice think Kerry's offer?
A. She liked Kerry, but she didn't expect him to promise marriage to her.
B. She didn't want to marry anybody.
C. She didn't like it at all.
D. She thought the offer wasn't polite.
65．In the sentence "If yours is superior to mine, you can make me your wife"。 "superior to" here means ____.
A. not so better than   B. better than     C. so good as   D. as good as
66．  Which of the following is true?
A. Kerry didn't accept Alice's suggestion.
B. Kerry wasn't sure of his painting so he dropped his offer.
C. Kerry did go the next day, but he failed to take a picture
D. Kerry agreed to Alice's suggestion.
67．Alice's picture won high praise because ____.
A. it was true to nature                        B. the flowers were red
C. it showed so large a bunch of flowers          D. people felt it strange to hang it on the gate
68．The "leather suitcase" was in fact ____.
A. a real one                                  B. a painting drawn by Kerry
C. a box with a picture in it                      D. made up of leather

B
David, a French priest(牧師)of thirty-six, was sent to China by the church in 1872.He did well in the natural and social science besides his religious activities(宗教活動(dòng))。He was also very interested in the rare wild animals and plants in China.
On May 4th, 1879, after searching half a month in the western part of Baoxing, Sichuan the hunters hired(雇用)by David succeeded in bringing him a "black-and-white bear". "The bear is extremely lovely", he wrote in his diary excitedly. Meanwhile, he felt it might be a new species (物種)never discovered by scientists.
He then decided to send it to Paris for a further study. Unfortunately the poor "black-and white" bear died of Jolts(顛簸)of the mountain roads and the climatic (氣候)change. He had to send its pelt (皮毛)to the National Museum in Paris for display (展覽)。In fact, the so-called "black-and white" bear was neither a bear nor a cat. After a complete study, Milla Edwards, head of the museum, judged that it was a new species. He gave the "giant panda".
The discovery made the world excited and Baoxing was also made famous for "home of the giant panda"
60．From the passage we can see that David mainly came to China to ____.
A. learn Chinese science and history     B. look for a panda for church
C. do something on religion(宗教)       D. study the wild animals and plants in China
61．The word "rare" in this passage means ____.
A. very hard to find  B. worth no money  C. easy to find    D. running very fast
62．The first giant panda was caught ____.
A. by David, a French priest        B. quite by accident
C. with a lot of difficulty            D. after the hunters followed it for half a month
63. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
A. The giant panda died when it was on display.  
B. David had never seen a giant panda before.
C. Milla was sure the animal was neither a bear nor a cat.
D. The discovery made the world excited with interest

The Lego Group had a very humble beginning in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Denmark. Christiansen began creating wooden toys in 1932. Two years later, he stumbled on the Lego name by putting together the first two letters of the Danish words Leg and Godt, which mean “play well.” The name could be interpreted as “I put together” in Latin; it also corresponds to the Greek verb meaning “gather” or “pick up.”
In 1947, the company expanded to making plastic toys. At first, the use of plastic for toy manufacture was not highly regarded by retailers and consumers of the time. Many of the Lego Group’s shipments were returned, following poor sales. However, Christiansen’s son, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become a system for creative play. As the junior managing director of the Lego Group, he spent years trying to improve the “l(fā)ocking” ability of the bricks and made the bricks more versatile. In 1958, the modern interlocking brick design was finally developed and patented.
Today Lego is sold in more than 130 countries. Every minute 33,824 Lego bricks are made, and kids around the world spend 5 billion hours a year playing with Lego. There will be more than 400 million people playing with Lego bricks this year. On average, every person in the world owns 62 Lego bricks, and about seven Lego sets are sold every second.
This year Lego fans all over the world are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the tiny building blocks. Though already 50 years old, Lego is still the same product it was in the 1950s. Bricks bought then are still compatible with current bricks and that is probably the reason the toy has never fallen out of favor.
65.   Which of the following is true about the name Lego?
A. It is a combination of Greek and Latin words.
B. It was created by Ole Kirk Christiansen’s son.
C. It was created in 1947 for naming the plastic toys.
D. It came from Danish words meaning “play” and “well.”
66.   When did the Lego brick become as a creative form of toy?
A. 1958          B. 1947    C. 1934    D. 1932
67.   Which of the following is true in describing the popularity of Lego?
A. More than 5 billion people in the world own Lego sets.
B. Children spend an average of 62 dollars on Lego bricks each year.
C. People in the world spend 400 million hours playing with Lego every year.
D. The Lego Group now produces more than 30 thousand toy bricks every minute.
68. What is the main reason that Lego remains popular up to now?
A. Old Lego bricks may still be connected to new ones.
B. The company hasn’t changed its name since 1947.
C. The material for the bricks has proved to be safe.
D. The price of the toy is relatively reasonable.

B
Joanne was stuck in a traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5：30．a(chǎn)nd at 6：30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club．At last，the traffic was moving．She swung quickly racing to her house As she opened the door，she nearly tripped over Sheba．
“Hey，Sheba，”she said，“I've got no time for you now，hut I'll take you out as soon as I get
back from tennis club．”Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking Obviously，she could hardly breathe．Immediately．Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet(獸醫(yī))
When she got there，the vet was just about to close for the day Seeing the state of Sheba，Dr．Sterne brought her quickly into his office．
“Listen，doctor，I'm really in a rush to get to a meeting can I leave her with you，and go and get changed? I'll be back in ten minutes to pick her up，and then I'll take her on to the meeting with me Is that OK?”
“Sure．”said the doctor
Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes'．As she was once more
entering the hallway，the phone by the door began to ring．
“This is Dr．Sterne，”said an anxious voice．“I want you to get out of that house immediately，”said the doctor's voice．“I'm coming round fight away，and the police will be there any time now．Wait outside!”
At that moment，a police car screeched to a stop outside the house．Two policemen got out and ran into the house．Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened．Then the doctor arrived．
“Where’s Sheba? Is she OK?”shouted Joanne．
“She’s fine，Joanne．I took out the thing which was choking her，and she’s OK now．”
Just then，the two policemen reappeared from the house，half-carrying a white—faced man，who could hardly walk．There was blood all over him．
“My God，”said Joanne，“how did he get in there? And how did you know he was there?”
“I think he must be a burglar．”said the doctor．“I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’s throat：it turned out to be three human fingers”
60．What was Joanne supposed to do at 6：30？
A．To walk her dog．         B．To see her doctor．
C．To attend a club meeting．   D．To play tennis with her friends．
61．Joanne wanted to get back to her home again           ．
A．to dress up for the meeting      B．to phone the police station
C．to catch the badly hurt burglar     D．to wait for her dog to be cured  
62．From the passage，we can infer that         ．
A．Sheba fought against the burglar
B．the police found the burglar had broken in
C．Joanne had planned to take her dog to the meeting
D．the doctor performed a difficult operation on the dog
63．In this passage，the writer intends to tell us that the dog is           ．
A．clever                 B．friendly              C．frightening             D．Devoted

D
Wrting artieles about films for The Front Page was my first proper job. Before then I had done bits of reviewing --- novels for other newspapers, films for a magazine and anything I was asked to do for the radio．That was how I met Tom Seaton, the first arts editor of The Front Page, who had also written for television．He hired me, but Tom was not primarily a journalist, or he would certainly have been more careful in choosing his staff．
At first, his idea was that a team of critics should take care of the art forms that didn’t require specialized knowledge: books, TV, theatre, film and radio．There would be a weekly lunch at which we would make our choices from the artistic material that Tom had decided we should cover, though there would also be guests to make the atmosphere sociable．
It all felt like a bit of dream at that time: a new newspaper and I was one of the team．It seemed so unlikely that a paper could be introduced into a crowded market．It seemed just as likely that a millionaire wanted to help me personally, and was pretending to employ me．Such was my lack of self-confidence．
Tom’s original scheme for a team of critics for the arts never took off．It was a good idea, but we didn’t get together as planned and so everything was done by phone．It turned out, too, that the general public out there preferred to associate a reviewer with a single subject area, and so I chose film．Without Tom’s initial push, though, we would hardly have come up with the present arrangement, by which I write an extended weekly piece, usually on one film．
The space I am given allows me to broaden my argument --- or forces me, in an uninteresting week, to make something out of nothing．But what is my role in the public arena? I assume that people choose what films to go to on the basis of the stars, the publicity or the director．So if a film review isn’t really a consumer guide, what is it? I certainly don’t feel I have a responsibility to be ‘right’ about a movie．Nor do I think there should be a certain number of ‘great’ and ‘bad’ films each year．All I have to do is put forward an argument．I’m not a judge, and nor would I want to be．
67．What do we learn about Tom Seaton from the first paragraph?
A．He encouraged Mark to become a writer．
B．He had worked in various areas of the media．
C．He met Mark when working for television．
D．He prefers to employ people that he knows．
68．The weekly lunches were planned in order to       .
A．help the writers get to know each other
B．provide an informal information session
C．distribute the work that had to be done
D．entertain important visitors from the arts
69．What does the author mean when he says that Tom’s plan ‘never took off’ in Paragraph 4?
A．It was unpopular.    
B．It wasted too much time.
C．It wasn’t planned properly.
D．It wasn’t put into practice.
70．Which of the following best describes what Mark says about his work?
A．His success varies from year to year．
B．He prefers to write about films he likes．
C．He can freely express his opinion．
D．He writes according to accepted rules．

三、閱讀理解（共兩節(jié)，40分）
第一節(jié)（共15小題；每小題2分，共30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)。
A
One warm May day, two eighteen – year – old students from San Francisco State College decided to cool off with a swim at Bakers’ Beach. The two students were named Robert Kogler and Shirley O’Neill. They headed out to sea for a distance of 50 metres. Robert was in front.
“Suddenly, I heard him scream,” Shirley recalls. “I looked round and saw this great grey thing going up in the air. The water seemed to be alive.”
Robert sereamed again. “It’s a shark! Get out of here!”
An eye – witness, Army Sergeant Leo P. Day was on guard at the nearby army post. He saw exactly what happened next. “I could see this boy struggling with the shark in the water,” he said. “The sea was red with blood. He was shouting and signalling someone to go back, go back. Then I saw the girl. She was swimming towards him. She completely ignored his warning.”
Shirley reached Robert, and tried to take his hand.
“When I pulled, all I could see was his arm, handing by a thread,” she said.
So she put her arm about Robert’s back, and started to swim towards the shore. She kept praying “Don't’ let it attack again!” That journey to the shore seemed to last for hours. At last, as they neared the shore, a fisherman threw them a line, and pulled them both the rest of the way.
The young man had lost a lot of blood, and died two and a half hours later, From the teeth marks, experts identified the attacker as a Great White Shark.
For what Sergeant Day called “the greatest exhibition of bravery I have ever seen,” the President of the US gave Shirley a medal for bravery.
56．When Albert was attacked by a shark Shirley         .
A．was swimming in the sea
B．was watching him on the shore
C．was on guard at the nearby army post
D．was shouting and struggling with a shark, too
57．Choose the right time order of the following events in the story.
a. Army Sergeant saw the girl swimming to the boy.
b. Shirley saw a great grey thing.
c. They headed out to sea.
d. Robert died.
e. A fisherman threw them a line.
f. He saw a boy struggling with a shark.
A．b,c,e,d,f,a B．c,a,f,d,e,b C．b,c,f,a,d,e D．c,b,f,a,e,d
58．We can learn from the passage that          .
A．the two students were brave and considerate
B．the fisherman was adventurous and helpful
C．the experts didn’t do much research on sharks
D．the Sergeant cared too much about his own life

B
It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and Maggie and I were returning from our walk through the woods. We were only a couple of blocks from home when I spotted a cellphone and credit card sitting on the road. We took them home. We find amazing things on the street. She looks upon it as a movable dinner. Chicken wings here and there.
I found another cellphone a few years back, too, and called a number in its phone book. I explained the situation to the guy who answered. He said it was his sister’s and that he'd swing by to pick it up, which he did.
And that was that. No verbal (口頭的) thank-you, no written thank-you, no “here’s a box of chocolates” thank-you.
I didn’t have time to call anyone on my latest found cellphone. I was pouring myself coffee when it started to vibrate (顫動(dòng)) and dance across the kitchen counter.
“Who’s this?” someone asked when I picked up.
“Who’s this?” I countered. “Sarah?”
She was taken aback until she realized her name was on the credit card I also had recovered. “Could you send it to me?” she asked.
She lives in Arlington, which is 2 miles from my house.
“Hmm, no,” I replied, adding that I thought she could come get them, and that if I wasn’t home, they would be in my mailbox.
A day later, when I was out for a run, someone retrieved them. But I got nothing. In this age of e-mail and cellphones, there’s really no excuse.
Years ago, I found something more precious than a $100 bill on the street: a driver’s license. I saw that its owner lived a couple of blocks from me, so I called him up. He asked whether I could slip the license through his front door.
“I guess I could,” I replied.
And that was that.
61. What would be the best title for the text?
A. Several Experiences of My Own
B. “Thank You” Is Becoming More Priceless
C. It’s Polite to Thank the Finders
D. Only Losers Lack “Thank” for Finders
62. According to the text, it can be inferred that Maggie should be ______.
A. the author’s wife             B. the author’s pet
C. the author’s best friend       D. the author’s son
63. The author didn’t call anyone on his latest found cellphone because ______.
A. it wasn’t worth to do          B. he wanted to keep it as his own
C. he was busy then             D. he didn’t know its owner
64. The underlined word “retrieved” in the tenth paragraph means “______”.
A. got back       B. returned       C. lost      D. threw away
65. How does the author feel when he told his last experience about the driver’s license?
A. Disappointed.      B. Helpless.     C. Encouraged.      D. Hopeful.