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第二部分 阅读理解 （2010.9）Passage 1:Clowns（小丑）like to make people laugh. They paint their faces and put on funny noses. Sometimes they put on a sad face but most of the time they put on a happy face. They also wear funny clothes.Most clowns work in circuses. They do all kinds of silly things to make the audience laugh. They run, jump, fall down, turn somersaults (翻滚，斤头), and roll over. They ride donkeys backwards. They push each other in wagons or wheelbarrows. Sometimes they shout and sing. Clowns are funny men, and occasionally, women, too! A circus is not a circus without clowns!Children especially enjoy watching clowns. A clown named Cookie often visits hospitals to entertain sick children as well as older people. Sick people need to laugh. It helps them to get better faster.There is an old saying: Laughter is good medicine. 1. Clowns make people laugh by _ D. doing all kinds of silly things _. 2. Clowns are _ D. mostly male _. 3. The sentence A circus is not a circus without clowns means _ A. a circus will not be of much fun if it has no clowns4. Clowns are a great favorite with _ C. children _. 5. The best interpretation of the old saying Laughter is good medicine may be _ D. laughter helps sick people get better faster _. Passage 2:Many people now keep animals as pets. Numerous people have cats and dogs in their houses. Other people like fish, caged birds, tortoises and even snakes, monkeys or lions. Millions of dollars and much time are spent every year on pet food, equipment, taming and medical treatment.Of course, there are some people who do not look after their pets properly or are even cruel to them. For this reason a royal society was created in 184 in Britain to prevent cruel treatment of animals.In contrast to the love of pets is the fact that blood sports still exist in most countries. People go hunting foxes, elephants, pandas, ducks, rabbits, and other animals, or go fishing, not because they need the meat to eat, but just for pleasure. In some countries, blood sports like bull fighting and cock fighting are common and hunting rare animals for commercial purposes has brought about an even more serious problem in the protection of the ecosystem.It is strange that people love certain animals, but enjoy killing others, in cruel ways, too. 1. How do most people treat their pets? D. They spend a large amount of money and time taking care of them.2. Which of the following is NOT a blood sport? D. Horse racing. 3. What do you think is the speakers attitude toward blood sports? A. He thinks they are cruel. 4. Which of the following seems to affect the earths ecosystem most seriously? C. Illegal killing of rare animals. 5. What does the passage mainly imply? C. Animals should be well treated and protected.Passage 3:My secret for staying young is simple. Put all attention to the part of your brain and keep it young and growing. Keep your mind awake and youll stay young all over. These are exciting times. Take an interest in the world around you, and stick to learning at least one new thing every day. No matter how old you are, its not too late to make your life more interesting. I know a housewife with no knowledge before she made herself into a well-known engineer. I know a retired electrical engineer who has become a highly-paid dress designer. Get over the idea that you are too old to go back to school. I know a man who entered medical college at 70. He got his degree with honours and became a famous doctor. Another man went to law school at 71 and now was an active lawyer. Staying young is easy for those, old or young, who live in the future. You can do it if you care enough to try. Keep your mind awake and active: thats the only way. 1. According to the passage, that peoples brain of all ages remains young and growing is_ C. a secret _. 2. It is wrong for the old to_ A. think himself too old to go back to school _.3. The passage says that the man who entered college at 70 _ D. became famous in the medical circle _.4. The only way to keep young is_ D. to keep ones mind awake and alive _.5. The writer suggests that you should _ C. keep on _learning at least one new thing every day.Passage 4:Mrs. Jones telephone number was 3463, and the number of the cinema in her town was 3464, so people often made a mistake when they wanted the cinema.One evening the telephone bell rang and Mrs. Jones answered it. A tired man said, At what time does your last film begin?Im sorry, said Mrs. Jones, but you have the wrong number. This is not the cinema.Oh, it began twenty minutes ago, said the man. Im sorry about that. Goodbye.Mrs. Jones was very surprised, so she told her husband. Mr. Jones laughed and said, The mans wife wanted to go the cinema, but he was feeling tired, so he telephoned the cinema. His wife heard HIM, but she didnt hear YOU. Now they will stay at home this evening, and the husband will be happy!6. Why do people often telephone Mrs. Jones when they want the cinema? D. Because her telephone number is similar to that of the cinema.7. Why was Mrs. Jones so surprised at a phone call one evening? C. Because the man on the phone asked a question and then answered it himself.8. According to Mr. Jones, why didnt the man on the phone want to go to the cinema? B. Because he was feeling very tired that evening. 9. What do you think the mans wife wanted to do that evening? A. To go to the cinema with her husband. 10. What can you conclude from the story? B. The man on the phone was rather clever. Passage 5:The word horsepower was first used two hundred years ago. James Watt had made the world first widely used steam engine. He had no way of telling people exactly how powerful it was, for at that time there were no units for measuring power.Watt decided to find out how much work one strong horse could do in one minute. He called that unit one horsepower. With this unit he could measure the work his steam engine could do.He discovered that a horse could lift a 3300-pound weight 10 feet into the air on one minute. His engine could lift a 33-pound weight 100 feet in one minute. Because his engine did ten times as much work as the horse, Watt called it a ten horsepower engine. 1. The selection says that Watt made the first _ C. widely used steam engine _. 2. Watt wanted to find a way to_ D. Both A and B _. 3. He made up a unit of measurement based on the strength of _ D. a hors e _. 4. One horsepower would equal the _ A. work a horse could do in a minute _. 5. The best title for this selection is _ B. The Origin of the Term Horsepower _. Passage 6:No one is glad to hear that his body has to be cut open by a surgeon and part of it taken out. Today, however, we neednt worry about feeling pain during the operation. The sick person falls into a kind of sleep, and when he awakes, the operation is finished. But these happy conditions are fairly new. It is not many years since a man who had to have operation felt all its pain.Long ago, operation had usually to be done while the sick man could feel everything. Soon after 1770, Josept Priestley discovered a gas which is now called laughing gas. Laughing gas became known in America. Young men and women went to parties to try it. Most of them spent their time laughing, but one man at a party, Horace Wells, noticed that people didnt seem to feel pain when they were using this gas. He decided to make an experiment on himself. He asked a friend to help him.Wells took some of the gas, and his friend pulled out one of Wells teeth. Wells felt no pain at all.As he didnt know enough about laughing gas, he gave a man less gas than he should have. The man cried out with pain when his tooth was being pulled out.Wells tried again, but this time he gave too much of the gas, and the man died. Wells never forgot this terrible event. 1. It is B. not long since a man felt all the pain while being operated .2. Long ago , when the sick man was operated on , he C. could feel all the pain.3. Using the laughing gas, the people did not seem to B. feel pain.4. If a man took less laughing gas than he should have when an operation went on, he C. still felt pain .5. One who took too much of the laughing gas A. would die.Passage 7：Nancy and Peter McCall like sports. In the summer they swim and in the winter they ski. They are planning ski trip for this weekend, but they dont know about the weather. Its 7:30 now, and they are listening to the weather report on the radio. The weatherman is giving the weather forecast for the weekend.Friday is going to be cold and cloudy, but its not going to rain. The temperature is going to be in the thirties. Its going to snow Friday night and maybe Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon and Sunday are going to be clear, cold and sunny. Now Nancy and Peter are excited. The weather is going to be perfect for a ski trip. They are going to have a wonderful weekend in the mountains. 1. When did Nancy and Peter listen to the weather forecast? A Thursday evening.2. What are Nancy and Peter planning for the weekend? C A ski trip in the mountains.3. When is it going to snow according to the weather forecast? D Friday night. 4. What will the weather be like on Sunday? C Clear, cold and sunny. 5. What can you infer from the passage? A Nancy and Peter must live quite near the mountains.Passage 8：Americans, like many people elsewhere in the world, like to invite friends to their homes for an evening of food, drink and conversation. Formal dinners in fine homes and hotels in the United States are much the same as formal dinners anywhere in the world. But as most people in the United States have no servants, their dinner parties at home are decidedly informal. As many new small homes have no separate dining room or just have very small dining space, guests can also serve themselves and eat in the living room, holding their plates or trays on their knees.A more enjoyable form of entertainment is the picnic. Americans are great picnickers, and almost every family has a picnic basket. Summer invitations are often for a picnic at a park or in the open countryside. Unless hamburgers or hot dogs are cooked over a fire, picnic food is usually cold sandwiches, salads, potato chips, pickles. Watermelon is a favorite dessert, followed very often by baseball for the young and active, and naps for the old and weary. 1. What do Americans like to do with their friends? D To invite them over to dinner at their homes.2. Why do most Americans prefer informal parties? B Because they have no servants to help them prepare formal ones.3. Where do guests sit and eat at an informal dinner, according to the passage? A In the dining room or in the living room.4. According to the passage, what do people SELDOM have at a picnic? C Hot food.5. Why is the picnic considered a more enjoyable form of meal? C Because people can be closer to nature.Passage 9：A man got into a train and found himself sitting opposite a woman who seemed to be about thirty-five years old. Soon they began talking to each other, and the man said to her, Do you have a family?Yes, I have one son, the woman answered.Oh, really? said the man. Does he smoke?No, hes never touched a cigarette, the woman replied.Thats good, the man continued. I dont smoke either. Tobacco is very bad to ones health. And does your son drink wine?Oh, no, the woman answered at once. Hes never drunk a drop of it.Then I congratulate you, maam, the man said. And does he ever come home late at night?No, never, his neighbor answered. He goes to bed immediately after dinner every night.Well, the man said, hes a wise young man. How old is he?Hes six months old today. But he will grow up to be a gentleman, the woman replied proudly.1. What are the man and the woman talking about? C The womans son. 2. How does the woman feel about her son? C He will grow up to be a wise young man. 3. Where does the conversation take place? A On a train. 4. Which of the following probably best describes the mans feeling at the end of the conversation? C Amused. 5. What cant you learn form the conversation? C The woman is so proud of her son that she does not really understand what the mans questions mean.Passage 10：There was once a large, fat woman who had a small, thin husband. He had a job in a big company and was given his weekly wages every Friday evening. As soon as he got home on Fridays, his wife used to make him give her all his money, and then she used to give him back enough to buy his lunch in the office every day.One day the small man came home very excited. He hurried into the living-room. His wife was listening to the radio and eating chocolates there.Youll never guess what happened to me today, dear, he said.He waited for a few seconds and then added, I won ten thousand pounds on the lottery!Thats wonderful! said his wife delightedly. But then she thought for a few seconds and added angrily, But wait a moment! How could you afford to buy the lottery tickets? 1. How much money was the small man allowed to keep every day? C Just enough to buy his lunch in the office2. What happened to the man one day? D He won a lottery. 3. Which of the following adjectives best describes the woman? C Bossy. 4. How did the woman respond to her husbands news? A She was pleased yet suspicious.5. Which of the following is implied in the passage? D The man had put some money aside for himself.Passage 11：A guide dog is a dog especially trained to guide a blind person. Dogs chosen for such training must show good disposition, intelligence, physical fitness and sense of responsibility.At the age of about fourteen months, a guide dog begins an intensive course that lasts from three to five months. It becomes accustomed to the leather harness and stiff leather handle it will wear when guiding its blind owner. The dog learns to watch the traffic and to cross the street safely. It also learns to obey such commands as forward, left, right and sit and to disobey any command that might lead its owner into danger.The most important part of the training course is a four-week program in which the guide dog and its future owner learn to work together. However, many blind people are unsuited by personality to work with dogs. Only a tenth of the blind find a guide dog useful. 1. What is a guide dog? A A dog trained to help the blind.2. At what age does a guide dog begin its training course? C At the age of fourteen months. 3. Which of the following is NOT included in the training course? D Learning to save its owner when he/she falls into danger. 4. What is the most important part of the training course? C To teach the dog how to cooperate with its future owner. 5. Why are guide dogs not popular? A Many blind people find it hard to work with dogs.Passage 12:Great changes have been made in family life because of science and industry. In the past, when more Americans lived on farms, the typical family had many children. In a farm family, parents and their children often lived with grandparents. Often, too, uncles and aunts lived nearby. But when industry became more important than agriculture in American life, families became smaller because industry requires workers who are ready and able to move off the land and to move again whenever necessary. And large families can not be moved from place to place as smaller families can. So, at present people tend to have smaller families. In the future, because of industrialization, a typical family will be required to move even more often than now, so families will be even smaller. The typical family may remain childless and consists only of a man and a woman. A small number of families may take child raising as their chief work. At the same time they may also raise other peoples children, leaving those families free to move from job to job. 1. Which of the following topics is discussed in the passage? B. Influence of science and industry on American families.2. What kind of families is described in the passage? D. Families of the past, the present and the future.3. According to the writer, what is one of the reasons why families are getting smaller in America? C. The need for workers who are able to move at any time has been increasing.4. Who will take the chief responsibility of raising children in the future? D. A small number of families.5. What can you infer from the passage? C. Large families can hardly survive in a highly industrialized society.Passage 13：Very few people were coming to eat at the White Rose Restaurant, and its owner didnt know what to do. The food in his restaurant was cheap and good, but nobody seemed to want to eat there.Then he did something that changed all that, and in a few weeks his restaurant was always full of men and their lady friends. Whenever a gentleman came with a lady, a smiling waiter gave each of them a beautiful menu. The menus looked exactly the same on the outside, but there was an important difference inside. The menu that the waiter handed to the man gave the correct price for each dish and each bottle of wine; while the menu that he handed to the lady gave a much higher price! So when the man calmly ordered dish after dish and wine after wine, the lady thought he was much more generous than he really was! 1. To whom did the waiter give a beautiful menu when a gentleman and his lady friend came into the restaurant? C. Both of them.2. Were the menus for the guests the same? C. They were the same on the outside but different inside.3. Why could the male guest remain calm when he ordered dish after dish? A. Because the prices of the dishes were reasonable.4. What did the lady think of her friend after a meal at this restaurant? D. She thought he was very generous5. What does the story mainly suggest? A. Knowledge of customer psychology helps promote business.Passage 14Lets watch the weather forecast on television. We may go to Scotland, we may go to Wales or London. We can decide after the forecast.Good morning, and here is the weather forecast for tomorrow. Northern Scotland will be cold, and there may be snow over High Ground. In the north of England it will be a wet day and rain will move into Wales and the Midlands during the afternoon. East Anglia（英国）will be generally dry, and it will be a bright clear day with sunshine, but it may rain during the evening. In the southwest it may be foggy during the morning, but the afternoon will be clear. It may be windy later in the day.1. What is the speaker planning to do? A. To go traveling within the country.2. Can the speaker fly to Northern Scotland tomorrow morning, according to the weather forecast? Why or why not? B. Yes, because it wont be foggy there tomorrow.3. When is the speaker watching the forecast? A. In the morning. 4. What does the forecast mainly tell us? C. Within one day the weather varies from one part of the country to another, even within one 5. What can you infer from the passage? C. None of the places offers ideal weather tomorrow for travel.Passage 15Herman had worked for the bank of Ruritania for ten years and wa
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