第三部分：阅读理解(共两节，40分)
第一节(共15小题;每小题2分，共30分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Dear Mr. King,
Your grocery store is outstanding in many ways. I enjoy the selection of produce and fresh bakery items. I have been a long time Supermart shopper and hope to continue for many years. I have found, however, that I must make a separate shopping trip to one of your competitors because there are many items your store does not carry. This becomes inconvenient for me, as my time is valuable, and I do not like to make two trips. Your low prices and excellent customer service keep me coming back to Supermart, but I would be a more satisfied customer if I could find all the items I need in one place.
Specifically, I have never been able to purchase nacho cheese soup at your store. I can find other flavors (味道) of soup, but your store does not carry nacho cheese soup, a common ingredient (原料) in many of my recipes. In addition, I can only find large wonton wrappers, while many other stores carry both large and small and offer a more varied selection for their customers. Another example is Regent Brand Chili Seasoning. Though it is not a leading brand, it is still common on the shelves of other grocery stores in this area and is superior in flavor to its competitors.
I sincerely hope to continue a relationship with your store, and I hope that you will consider the possibility of expanding your goods to be more competitive.
Yours truly,
Bob Watson
56. According to Bob, the grocery store ________.
A. meets all his needsB. is outstanding in every way
C. offers good customer serviceD. lacks convenient transportation
57. How does the author present his point in Paragraph 2?
A. By giving examples.B. By analyzing the figures.
C. By providing scientific findings. D. By comparing two different stores.
58. From the letter, we can learn that the author is ________.
A. a very picky reporterB. a competitor of the store
C. a responsible nutritionist D. a regular customer of the store
B
A Simple Lesson
“Another bad day at school?” my father asked as I came into the room.
“How could you tell? I didn’t shut the door heavily or anything,” I replied. Over the past two months I had either done this or thrown my backpack across the room every time I came home from school. Papa thinks it has something to do with moving to a new house.
“I know this move has been hard on you. Leaving your friends and cousins behind is tough,” Papa said, as he put his arm around my shoulder. “What you must remember is that, with a lot of hard work and some time, you will make new friends.”
“You don’t know how hard it is. This year my baseball team would have won the championship. They won’t even give me a chance to pitch (投球) here. All I get to play is right
field, and that’s the worst!”
Papa turned toward me. “Things will get better, I promise you. Let me ask you, do you know why you were named David Lorenzo?”
“Yes, your name is David and grandfather’s name is Lorenzo.”
“Very good, and what makes your grandfather so important?”
“He was the first in the family to come to this country and all that,” I answered.
“That is only partly correct. Your grandfather was a very great man. In Mexico, he had been a teacher. When he came to America he could only get low-paid labor jobs because he didn’t speak the language. It took him two years before he spoke English well enough to be allowed to teach here, but he did it. He never complained because he knew change could be difficult. Did he ever tell you that?” my father asked.
I looked down at my feet, ashamed at my behavior. “No. That must have been hard,” I said sheepishly.
“Your grandfather taught me that if you let people see your talent, they will accept you for who you are. I want you to always remember what my father taught me, even if it takes a few years for people to see who you are,” said Papa.
All I could say was, “Okay.” Then I asked, “What should I do now?”
Laughing, Papa said, “How about you pitch a few to me? You need some work.”
59. Why was the author unhappy that day?
A. Because he moved to a new country.
B. Because his baseball team lost the game.
C. Because he wasn’t offered a chance to pitch.
D. Because he quarreled with his friends at school.
60. The father successfully changed his son’s mood by ________.
A. asking him to train harder
B. playing baseball with him
C. telling his grandfather’s story
D. introducing him some new friends
61. The underlined word “sheepishly” probably means ________.
A. shylyB. patientlyC. clumsilyD. cautiously
62. What can we infer about the author?
A. He thinks his father lives in the past.
B. He’d rather live with his grandfather.
C. He will continue to dislike school and everything.
D. He will try his best to adapt to the new environment.
C
Last week I did something that scared me. I stood in front of nearly 200 financial planners and I talked to them about why financial blogs are a good thing.
I’m a confident writer. I’ve been doing this long enough that I know my strength and my limitations. I’m less confident as a speaker. I don’t have time to pause to collect my thoughts. I’m not able to edit. I’m afraid of being trapped in a corner without being able to talk my way out. Basically, I’m scared to speak.
It would be easy to simply refuse the chances that come my way. When somebody asks me to speak in front of a group, I could say “no”. When radio and television stations call for an interview, I could say “no”. But for the past two years, I’ve been following my own policy to say “yes” to new chances.
To say “yes” is to live in fear. My goal is to continually improve myself to become better than I am today. One way to do that is to do the things that scare me, to take them on as challenges, and to learn from them — even if I fail.
In mid-November, a local station asked me to appear on live television. “I realize it’s short notice,” the producer wrote, “but we’d love to have you on the show if you’re available tonight.” I was frightened. I thought about recent taped television interviews that I had hated. I was afraid of what might happen.
But I also thought about the things that had gone right. I thought of how my speaking skills had improved over the past year. And then I thought of the book I was reading, a book that I had bought for $1.29 at the local store. The Magic of Thinking Big was a huge bestseller during the 1960s. Written by Dr. David Schwartz, a professor at Georgia State University, the book contains dozens of practical tips on how to take risks to achieve big goals. Schwartz argues that nobody will believe in you until you believe in yourself.
So when the television producer asked if I wanted to appear on his show, I thought big. “Sure,” I said. “I’ll do it.” I acted confidently, but on the inside I was frightened. What I needed was techniques to build up my confidence and to overcome my fear.
63. Why is the author afraid of speaking in public?
A. He is aware of his potential.B. He has few chances to talk.
C. He is not able to edit what he says.D. He likes writing better.
64. The underlined words “my own policy” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ________.
A. self-improving through challenges
B. hesitating before chances
C. turning down the invitations
D. saying yes to fear
65. The author mentioned the book The Magic of Thinking Big mainly because ________.
A. it was inspiring B. it was a bestseller
C. its author was famousD. its price was attractive
66. What is the author’s purpose to write the passage?
A. To analyze his strength and weaknesses.
B. To give practical tips on speaking in public.
C. To persuade people to follow his example.
D. To share his experiences of overcoming fear
D
To Friend or Not to Friend
We all love our parents and turn to them when we’re in need, but would you like them to hear the conversations you have with your friends on the school playground or lunch queue? Social networking sites have become extensions of the school hallways , so would you add your parents as “friends” and allow them to view your online activities and conversations with friends?
In the past the generation gap included a technology gap, where children were up to date with latest technology and parents were left behind, content to continue their day to day lives as they always had because they had no need to know more about technology. However, more and more parents are beginning to realize just how important social networks are in their lives. This realization has given many parents the motivation to educate themselves about social networking sites.
These days many people are attracted to social networking sites because they can choose who they have around them; there’s also a certain amount of control over privacy that we don’t get in real life. Sometimes we feel that privacy is violated when we must accept a “friend” request from a parent or family member.
It’s a difficult choice whether or not to allow a parent to become a part of our online lives. On the one hand we don’t want to “reject” their request because that might hurt their feelings or make them feel you have something to hide. On the other hand if you do accept, then you could have a sense of being watched and no longer feel free to comment or communicate the way you did before.
A recent survey suggested that parents shouldn’t take it personally if their child ignores their request: “When a teen ignores a parent’s friend request, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are hiding something, but it could mean that this is one part of their life where they want to be independent.”
Perhaps talking with parents and giving explanations would help soften the blow if you do choose not to add them to your friends list.
67. From Paragraph 2, we learn that ______.
A. parents feel secure about their privacy online
B. social networks successfully fill the generation gap
C. parents have realized the importance of social networks
D. social networks offer a platform for parents to communicate
68. Teenagers may refuse a parent’s friend request because ______.
A. they hide something from their parents
B. they are unwilling to be watched by parents
C. their parents tend to fall behind in technology
D. their parents make negative comments on them
69. The passage is mainly about ______.
A. privacy onlineB. social networks
C. the generation gap D. parents’ friend requests
70. The passage is written mainly for ______.
A. parents B. teenagers
C. teachers D. researchers
