Soong Mei-ling was one of the most well-known Chinese women of the twentieth century.
Mei-ling was born in Hainan in 1898, the youngest daughter of Charlie Soong. At the age of 8, she was sent to the United States to go to school, where she did well. She graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1917 with a degree in English Literature. Because of her education Mei-ling spoke excellent English.
After graduation Mei-ling returned to China and she met Chiang Kai-shek(蔣介石) in 1920. She married him in 1927 after his divorce. During the war against Japan, Mei-ling acted as her husband’s interpreter and translator. She worked hard to promote the Chinese cause during the war, especially in the United States. In 1943 she became the first Chinese national and only the second woman to speak before the US Congress(國會).
After the defeat(潰敗) of her husband’s government in 1949, Mei-ling moved to Taiwan. She lived there until her husband’s death in 1975. She then emigrated to the USA and lived on her family’s estate(別墅) in Lattington, Long Island, near New York. She spent much of time painting.
Mei-ling died peacefully at her apartment in New York on October 23, 2003 at the age of 105.
41.  Mei-ling was born in ______
A.  1920      B.  1927       C.  1917       D.  1898
42.  After graduation Mei-ling_______
A.  went back to China B.  studied English Literature
C..  lived in Massachusetts   D.  spoke little English
43.  During the war against Japan, Mei-ling________
A.  was her husband’s interperter and translator
B.  toured the United States
C.  spent her time in Long Island
D.  lived in Tai’wan
44.  Soong Mei-ling ______
A.  was the oldest Soong sister    B.  loved money
C.  died in the USA     D.  married Dr Sun Yat-sen(孫中山)

I have a rule for travel: Never carry a map. I prefer to ask for directions.
Foreign visitors are often puzzled in Japan because most streets there don’t have names. In Japan, people use landmarks in their directions in stead of street names, For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit marks. The post office is across from the bus stop. ”
In the countryside of the American Midwest, usually there are not many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat. In many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distance. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map. They measure distance by means of time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” You ask, “Oh,” They answer, “It’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don’t know.
People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions because visitors seldom understand the Greek language. Instead of giving you the direction, a Greek will often say, “Follow me.” Then he’ll lead you through the streets of the city to the post office.
Sometimes a person doesn’t know the answer to your question. What happens in this situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers, “I don’t know.” People in Yucatan think that “I don’t know.” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A visitor can get very, very lost in Yucatan!
One thing will help you everywhere --- in Japan, in the United States. In Greece, in Mexico, or in any other place. You might not understand a person’s words, but maybe you can understand his body language. He or she will usually turn and then point in the correct direction. Go in that direction, and you may find the post office!
1 The passage mainly tell us that ____ .
A. never carry a map for travel
B. there are not many landmarks in the American Midwest
C. there are different ways to give directions in different parts of the world
D. New Yorkers often say, “I have no idea,” but people in Yucatan, Mexico, never say this
2 The passage says, “In Japan, people use landmarks in their directions. “The word “l(fā)andmarks” means ____ .
A. building names
B. street names
C. hotels, markets and bus stops
D. buildings or places which are easily recognized
3 In which place do people tell distance by means of time?
A. Japan  B. American Midwest    C. Los Angeles, California    D. Greece
4 In the passage, ____ countries are mentioned by the writer.
A. seven  B. four    C. eight   D. five
5 Which of the following is wrong?
A. Travelers can learn about people’s customs by asking questions about directions.
B. A person’s body language can help you understand directions.
C. People in some places give directions in miles, but people in other places give directions by means of time.
D. People in different places always give directions in the same way: They use street names.

In the kitchen of my mother’s houses there has always been a wooden stand（木架）with a small notepad（記事本）and a hole for a pencil.
I’m looking for paper on which to note down the name of a book I am recommending to my mother. Over forty years since my earliest memories of the kitchen pad and pencil, five houses later, the current paper and pencil look the same as they always did. Surely it can’t be the same pencil? The pad is more modern, but the wooden stand is definitely the original one.
“I’m just amazed you still have the same stand for holding the pad and pencil after all these year.” I say to her, walking bank into the living-room with a sheet of paper and the pencil. “You still use a pencil. Can’t you afford a pen?”
My mother replies a little sharply. “It works perfectly well. I’ve always kept the stand in the kitchen. I never knew when I might want to note down an idea, and I was always in the kitchen in these days.”
Immediately I can picture her, hair wild, blue housecoat covered in flour, a wooden spoon in one hand, the pencil in the other, her mouth moving silently. My mother smiles and says, “One day I was cooking and watching baby Pauline, and I had a brilliant thought, but the stand was empty. One of the children must have taken the paper. So I just picked up the breadboard and wrote it all down on the back. It turned out to be a real breakthrough for solving the mathematical problem I was working on.”
This story—which happened before I was born—reminds me how extraordinary my mother was, and is, as a gifted mathematician. I feel embarrassed that I complain about not having enough child-free time to work. Later, when my mother is in the bathroom, I go into her kitchen and turn over the breadboards. Sure enough, on the back of the smallest one, are some penciled marks I recognize as mathematics. Those symbols have traveled unaffected through fifty years, rooted in the soil of a cheap wooden breadboard, invisible（看不到的）exhibits at every meal.
1．Why has the author’s mother always kept the notepad and pencil in the kitchen?
A．To leave messages.                      B．To list her everyday tasks.
C．To note down maths problems.             D．To write down a flash of inspiration.
2. What is the author’s original opinion about the wooden stand?
A. It has great value for the family.
B. It needs to be replaced by a better one.
C. It brings her back to her lonely childhood.
D .It should be passed on to the next generation.
3. The author feels embarrassed for_______.
A. blaming her mother wrongly.
B. giving her mother a lot of trouble.
C. not making good use of time as her mother did.
D. not making any breakthrough in her field.
4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A .The mother is successful in her career.
B. The family members like traveling.
C. The author had little time to play when young.
D. The marks on the breadboard have disappeared.
5. In the author’s mind ,her mother is_________.
A. strange in behavior.             B. keen on her research.
C. fond of collecting old things.      D. careless about her appearance.

Why play games? Because they are fun, and a 1ot more besides. Following the rules…planning your next move...acting as a team member…these are all “game” ideas that you will come across throughout your life.
Think about some off the games you played as a young child, such as rope-jumping and hide-and-seek. Such games are entertaining and fun. But perhaps more importantly, they translate life into exciting dramas that teach children some of the basic rules they will be expected to follow the rest of their lives, such as taking turns and cooperating (合作) .   
Many children’s games have a practical side Children around the world play games that prepare them for work they will do as grown-ups. For instance, some Saudi Arabian children play a game called bones. Which sharpens the hand-eye coordination（協(xié)調(diào)）needed in hunting.
Many sports encourage national or local pride. The most famous games of all, the Olympic Games, bring athletes from around the world together to take part in friendly competition. People who watch the event wave flags, knowing that a gold medal is a win for an entire country, not just the athlete who earned it. For countries experiencing natural disasters or war, an Olympic win can mean so much.
Sports are also an event that unites people. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. People on all continents play it—some for fun and some for a living. Nicolette Iribarne, a Californian soccer player, has discovered a way to spread hope through soccer. He created a foundation to provide poor children with not only soccer balls but also a promising future.
Next time you play your favorite game or sport, think about why you enjoy it, what skills are needed, and whether these skills will help you in other aspects of your life.
1. Through playing hide-and-seek, children are expected to learn to ________.
A. be a team leader             B. obey the basic rules
C. act as a grown-up            D. predict possible danger
2. The underlined part in Paragraph 2 most probably means that games can________.
A. describe life in an exciting way
B. turn real-life experiences into a play
C. make learning life skills more interesting
D. change people’s views of sporting events
3. According to the passage, why is winning Olympic medals so encouraging?
A. It inspires people’s deep love for the country.
B. It proves the exceptional skills of the winners.
C. It helps the country out of natural disasters.
D. It earns the winners fame and fortune.
4. Iribarne’s goal of forming the foundation is to _______.
A. bring fun to poor kids
B. provide soccer balls for children
C. give poor kids a chance for a better life
D. appeal to soccer players to help poor kids
5．What can be inferred from the passage?
A．Gamed benefit people all their lives.
B．Sports can get all athletes together.
C．People are advised to play games for fun.
D．Sports increase a country’s competitiveness.

It is reported that conservation groups in North America have been arguing about the benefits and dangers of wolves. Some groups believe wolves should be killed. Other people believe wolves
Must be protected so that they will not disappear from the wilderndss(荒野)
For Killing Wolves
In Alaska，the wolf almost disappeared a few years ago，because hunters were killing hundreds
0f them forsport .However．1aws were established to protect the wolves from sportsmen and people who catch the animals for their fur．So the woIf population has greatly increased. Now there are so many wolves that they are destroying their own food supply．
A wolf naturally eats animals in the deer family. People in the wilderness also hunt deer for
food．Many of the animals have been destroyed by the very cold winters recently and by changes in the wilderness plant life．When the deer can’t find enough food，they die．
If the wolves continue to kill large numbers of deer，their prey(獵物)will disappear some
day．And the wolves will．too．So we must change the cycle of life in the wilderness to balance the
ecology．If we killed more wolves，we would save them and their prey from dying out．We’d also
save some farm animals．
In another northern state，wolves attack cows and chickens for food．Farmers want the
government to send biologists to study the problem．They believe it necessary to kill wolves in some areas and to protect them in places where there is a small woIf population．
Against Killing Wolves
If you had lived long ago，you would have heard many different stories about the dangerous
wolf．According to most stories，hungry wolves often kill people for food．Even today，the stories of the“big bad woIf'＂will not disappear．
But the fact is wolves are afraid of people．a(chǎn)nd they seldom travel in areas where there is a
human smell．When wolves eat other animals，they usually kill the very young．or the sick and
injured .The strongest survive .No kind of animal would have survived through the centuries if the
weak members had lived．And has always been a law of nature
Although some people say it is good sense to kill wolves，we say it is nonsense!Researchers
have found wolves and their prey living in balance．The wolves keep the deer population from
becoming too large,and that keeps a balance in the wilderness plant life．
The real problem is that the areas where wolves can live are being used bv people．Even if
wilderness land is not used directly for human needs．the wolves can’t always find enough food .So they travel to the nearest source,which is often a farm．Then there is danger．The“big bad wolf”has arrived! And everyone knows what happens next．
1．According to the passage，some people in North America favor killing wolves for all the following reasons EXCET that_____________．
A．there are too many wolves                  B．they kill large numbers deer
C．they attack cows and chickens for food        D．they destroy the wilderness plant life
2．Some people are against killing wolves because____________．
A．wolves help to keep the ecological balance in the wildemess
B．there is too small a wolf population in the wilderness
C．there are too many deer in the wilderness
D．wolves are afraid of people and never attack people
3．According to those against killing wolves，when wolves eat other animals，____________．
A．they never eat strong and healthy ones
B．they always go against the law of nature
C．they might help this kind of animals survive in nature
D．they disturb the ecological balance in the wilderness
4．The last sentence“And everyone knows what happens next”implies that in such cases____________．
A．farm animals will be in danger and have to be shipped away
B．woIves will kill people and people will in turn kill them
C．wolves wilI find enough food sources on famls
D．people will leave the areas where wolves can live

On May 23,1989, Stefania Follini came out from a cave at Carlsbad, New Mexico. She hadn’t seen the sun for eighteen and a half weeks. Stefania was in a research program, and the scientists in the program were studying body rhythms(節(jié)奏). In this experiment Stefania had spent 130 days in a cave, 30 feet in depth.
During her time in the cave, Stefania had been completely alone except for two white mice. Her living place had been very comfortable, but there had been nothing to tell her the time. She’d had no clocks or watches, no television or radio. There had been no natural light and the temperature had always been kept at 21℃.
The results were very interesting. Stefania had been in the cave for over four months, but she thought she had been there for only two. Her body clock had changed. She hadn’t kept to a 24-hour day, she had stayed awake for 20-25 hours and then had slept for 10 hours. She had eaten fewer meals and had lost 171bs in weight as a results! She had also become rather depressed（抑郁）.
How had she spent her time in the cave? As part of the experiment she’d done some physical and mental tests. She’d recorded her daily activities and the results of the tests on a computer. This computer had been specially programmed for the project. Whenever she was free, she’d played cards, read books and listened to music. She’d also learned French from tapes.
The experiment showed that our body clocks are affected by light and temperature. For example, the pattern of day and night makes us wake up and go to sleep. However, people are affected in different ways. Some people wake up naturally at 5:00 am, but others don’t start to wake up till 9:00 or 10:00 am. This affects the whole daily rhythm. As a result, the early risers, on the other hand, are tired during the day and only come to life in the afternoon or evening!
1. Stefania stayed in the cave for a long time because ______.
A. she was asked to do research on mice
B. she wanted to experience loneliness
C. she was the subject of a study
D. she needed to record her life
2. What is a cause for the change of Stefania’s body clock?
A. Eating fewer meals.
B. Having more hours of sleep.
C. Lacking physical exercise.
D. Getting no natural light.
3. Where does the text probably come from?
A. A novel.   B. A news story.  C. A pet magazine.   D. A travel guide.

I hated dinner parties .But I decided to give them another shot because I’m  in London. And my friend Mallery invited me . And because dinner parties in London are very different from those  in New York,  “I’m having a dinner party ” means : “I’m booking a table for 12 at a restaurant  you can’t afford ang we’ll be sharing the cheque evenly , no matter what you eat.” Wors , in  Manhattan there  is  always someone who  leaves before  the  bill arrives  .They’ll throw  down cash, half of what  they owe, and then people like me, who don’t  drink, end  up paying even  more . But if try to use the same  trick  , the hostess will shout; “Where are you going ?” And it’s not like I can  say I have somewhere to go : everyone knows I have  nowhere to go.
But in London, dinner patise are in people’s homes . Not only that, the guests  are an interesting  mix .The last time I went to one , the guests were from France , India ,Denmark and  Nigeria; it was like a gathering  at the United Nations . In New York ,the mix is less striking . It’s  like a gathering at Bloomingdat="le’s" , a well-known de partment  store.
For New Yorkers, talking ,talking  about  other  parts  of the world  means Brooklyn  and Queens in New Yorkers.But at Mallery’s ,when I side that I had been to Myanmar recently, peo ple knew where it was , In New Yorkers people would think it was a usual culb.
1.What does the word “shot” in Paragraph I pro baly mean?
A.  Choice B. Try   C. Style   D.Goal
2. What does  the writer  dislike most about  dinner  parties  in New Yorkers
A. There  is a stange mix of people.
B. The restaurants are expensive.
C. The bill is not fairly shared.
D. People  have  to  pay cash 
3.What does the author think of the parties in London?
A. A bit unusual   B. Full of tricks  C.Less costly  D. More interesting
4.What  is the author’s opininon of some New Yorkers from her experience?
A.Easy-going B. Self-centred.   C.Generous D.Conservative

第三部分 閱讀理解（共兩節(jié)，滿分40分）
（共15小題：每小題2分，滿分30分）
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
Tt was a village in India. The people were poor . However, they were not unhappy. After all , their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries.
Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived . They told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog’s legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, and so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.
This seemed like money for nothing . There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were  no use to the villagers. All they had to do was catch them . Agreement was reached, and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money. For the first time ,the people were able to dream of a better future. But the dream didn’t last long.
The change was hardly noticed at first ,but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well. More worrying was that the children fell ill more often ,and ,there seemed to be more insects around lately.
The villagers decided that they couldn’t just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides （殺蟲劑）and medicines. Soon there was no money left .
Then the people realized what was happening.Tt was the frog .They hadn’t been useless. They had been doing an important job-eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed , the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.
Now, the people are still poor .But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.
1. From Paragragh 1 we learn that the villagers__________.
A.worked very hard for centuries
B.dreamed of having a better life
C.were poor but somewhat content
D.lived a different life from their forefathers
2.Why did the villagers agree to sell frogs?
A.The frogs were easy money.
B.They needed money to buy visitors.
C.They wanted to please the visitors.
D.The frogs made too much noise.
3.What might be the cause of the children’s sickness?
A.The crops didn’t do well.
B.There were too many insects.
C.The visitors brought in diseases.
D.The pesticides were overused.
4.What can we infer from the last sentence of the text?
A.Happiness comes from peaceful life in the country.
B.Health is more important than money.
C.The harmony between man and nature is important.
D.Good old days will never be forgotten.

My father was 44 and knew he wasn’t　going to male it to 45. He wrote me a letter and hoped that something in it would help me for  the  rest  of my life.
Since the day 1 was 12 and first read his letter, some of his words have lived in my
beart. One it aways times out. “Right now, you are pretending to be a time-killer. But I know that one hay, you will do something great that will set you among the very best.” Knowing that my dad believed in me gave me permission to believe in myself. “You will do something great.” He didn’t know what that would be, and neither did I, but at times in my life when I’ve felt proud of myself, I remember his words and wish he were here so I could ask. “Is this what you were talking about, Dad? Should I keep going?”
A long way frim 12 now, I realize hew would have been proud when I made any progress. Lately, thongn. I’ve come to believe he’d want me to move on to winat com next: to be nrood of and believe in, somebody else. It’s time to start writing my own letters to my children. Our children look to us with the same unanswered question we had. Our kids don’t  hold back because they’re afraid to fail. They’re only afraid of failing us. They don’t worry about being disappointed. Their fear－as mine was until my father’s letter－is of being a disappointment.
Give your chikdren permission to succeed. They’re witing for you to believe in them. I always knew way parents loved me. But trust my That elic will be more comlece, that love will be more real, and their belief in the nelces whi be greater if you write the words on their hearts; “Don’t worry; you’ll do something great.” Not having that blessing from their parents may be the only thing holding them back.
1.We learn from the text that the author___________.
A.lost his father when he was young
B.worked hard before he read his father’s letter
C.asked his father permission to believe in himself
D.knew execty at thing his father wanted him to do
2.What clis the hor tell us in the 3rd passgiaph?
A.Children need their parents’letters.
B.Children are afraid to be disappointcd.
C.His children’s fear of failure held them back.
D.His father’s letter removed his fear of failing his parents.
3.Which of the following is true of the author?
A.He got no access to success.
B.He wrote back to his father at 12.
C.He was surk his parents loved him.
D.He whce asked his father about the letter.
4.The main purpose of the text is to _______.
A. describe children’s thinking
B.answer some questions children have
C.stress the importance of communication
D.advise parents to encourage their children

Have you ever wondered?
1.Why do airplanes take longer to fly west than east?
It can take five hours to go west-east from New York(NY) to London but seven hours to travel east-west from London to NY. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon know as the jet(噴射) stream. The jet stream is a very high altitude wind which always blows from the west to the east across the Atlantic. The planes movement a constams air speed thus go faster in the west-east direction when the air moving with the wind than in the opposite direction.
2 What would happen if the gravity on Earth was suddenly turned off?
Supposing we could magically turn off gravity. Would buildings and other structures float away? What happened would depend on how strongly the things were attached to the Earth. The Earth is moving at quite a speed moving at over a thousand miles per hour. If you turn something round your head on a string, it goes around in a circle until you let go of the strong go of the string. Things not attacked to the Earth would fly off in a straight line . People in buildings would suddenly shoot  upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling. Most things would fly off into space.
1.What information coa we get from the first passage?
A.tis the iet stoomn that affeets how fast airplanes fly.
B.Planes go slower when they are moving with the wind.
C.It takes more time to fly from NY to London than from London to NY.
D.The jet stream always blows from the east to the west across the Atantic.
2.The word“shoot”underlined in the 2nd passage probably means“__________”.
A.send for
B.move quickly
C.come out
D.grow quickly
3.It can be interred that without gravity_________.
A.buildings and other structures would float away
B.trees and buildings would not so easily fly off
C.something around your head would not float away
D.everything outside buildings would fly off into space
4.Where can wemost probably read this text?
A.In s research paper
B.In a tort story.
C.In a travel magazine.
D.In a student’s book.