第二部分：阅读理解(共两节，满分40分)
第一节(共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读下列短文, 从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
A.
We were driving on the right road when, all of a sudden, a black car pulled out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver stepped on his brake, skidded(打滑), and missed the black car’s back end by just inches! The driver of the black car, who almost caused a major accident, turned his head angrily and started shouting bad words at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I mean, my taxi driver was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to hospital!” And the following is what my taxi driver told me, which I now call “the law of the Garbage Truck”.
“Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump(倾卸)it. And if you let them, they dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish him well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.”
So this is “The Law of the Garbage Truck”. I started thinking: How often do I let “Garbage Trucks” run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets? It was then that I said, “I’m not going to do it any more.”
I began to see “Garbage Trucks”. I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my taxi driver, I don’t make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, and move on.
Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses. What about you? The mark of a successful person is how quickly he can get back his focus on what’s important.
46. Who acted like a garbage truck in the accident described in the first two paragraphs?
A. The author. B. The taxi driver.
C. The driver of the black car. D. Both drivers.
47. The reason why the taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy is that ______.
A. the black car was full of garbage
B. the taxi driver didn’t want his mood ruined
C. the driver of the black car didn’t cause any damage to the taxi
D. the driver of the black car was angry and the taxi driver felt a little frightened
48. The underlined part “the load” in Paragraph 5 refers to _____.
A. bad mood B. excitement C. new products D. waste materials
49. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. Always be kind and hardworking.
B. Ignore unpleasantness and stick to your tasks.
C. Try to be good leaders as well as good parents.
D. Do things quickly so as to be ready for the next.
B
Longer Lives for Wild Elephants
Most people think of zoos as safe places for animals, where struggles such as difficulty finding food and avoiding predators don't exist. Without such problems, animals in zoos should live to a ripe old age.
But that may not be true for the largest land animals on Earth. Scientists have known that elephants in zoos often suffer from poor health. They develop diseases, joint problems and behavior changes. Sometimes, they even become unable to have babies.
To learn more about how captivity(监禁) affects elephants, a team of international scientists compared the life spans of female elephants born in zoos with female elephants living outdoors in their native lands. Zoos keep detailed records of all the animals in their care, documenting factors such as birth dates, illnesses, weight and death. These records made it possible for the researchers to analyze 40 years of data on 800 African and Asian elephants in zoos across Europe. The scientists compared the life spans of the zoo-born elephants with the life spans of thousands of female wild elephants in Africa and Asian elephants that work in logging camps(伐木场), over approximately the same time period.
The team found that female African elephants born in zoos lived an average of 16.9 years. Their wild counterparts who died of natural causes lived an average of 56 years——more than three times as long. Female Asian elephants followed a similar pattern. In zoos, they lived 18.9 years, while those in the logging camps lived 41.7 years.
Scientists don't yet know why wild elephants seem to live so much better than their zoo-raised counterparts. Georgia Mason, a biologist at the University of Guelph in Canada who led the study, thinks stress and obesity(肥胖) may be to blame. Zoo elephants don't get the same kind of exercise they would in the wild, and most are very fat. Elephant social lives are also much more different in zoos than in the wild, where they live in large herds and family groups.
Another finding from the study showed that Asian elephants born in zoos were more likely to die early than Asian elephants captured in the wild and brought to zoos. Mason suggests stress in the mothers in zoos might cause them to have babies that are less likely to survive.
The study raises some questions about acquiring more elephants to keep in zoos. While some threatened and endangered species living in zoos reproduce successfully and maintain healthy populations, that doesn't appear to be the case with elephants.
50.According to the first two paragraphs, unlike other zoo animals, zoo elephants ___ .
A. have difficulty eating food. B. 1ive to a ripe old age.
C. are not afraid of predators. D. develop health problems.
51. Which of the following about the international scientists' research on the life spans of elephants is NOT true? (See paragraph 3)?
A. They compared zoo elephants with wild elephants.
B. Zoos kept detailed records of all the elephants in their care.
C. They analyzed the records of the elephants kept in zoos.
D. The zoo-born elephants they studied are kept in European zoos.
52. What do the scientists find in their research?
A. Female elephants live longer than male elephants.
B. Female zoo elephants live longer than their wild counterparts.
C. Female zoo elephants die much earlier than their wild counterparts.
D. Elephants in zoos and those in the wild enjoy the same long life spans.
53. Which of the following does the author suggest in the last paragraph?
A. It may not be a wise policy to keep elephants in the zoo.
B. Elephants are no longer an endangered species.
C. Zoo-born elephants should be looked after more carefully.
D. Zoos should keep more animals except elephants.
C
Do you want to see the effects of global warming?Then head north.Will Steger is going to take all of us there.
Steger,64，the first person to make a dogsled trip to the North Pole，is a very famous and admired polar explorer.He’s at home in frozen parts of the world where few humans ever step on.Steger is also a devoted environmentalist who was early to ring the alarm bell on global warming.He saw its effects firsthand in frequent polar expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica.
Now Steger is about to lead a team of six young adventurers on a 1,400-mile,60-day-long dogsled trip across Ellesmere Island，in the Canadian Arctic.The sea ice in that region should still be frozen.“We want to take our audience to the front lines of global warming，” says Steger.The team will be uploading videos，stories and photos to the website global warming 101.com as they march along，allowing armchair adventurers and kids in classrooms to follow their progress day to day.“We can actually bring the audience up there，” Steger says.
Steger’s team will include some already-famous young explorers.Sam Branson，the 22-year-old son of British airline tycoon (大亨) Richard Branson，is an experienced Arctic traveler.Also on the journey will be 27-year-old Norwegian Sigarid Ekran.Last year，Ekran became only the second woman in history to win Rookie (新秀) of the Year for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
What they will see may be very surprising.Even Steger doesn’t know exactly what to expect.Climate change has already reshaped the geography of the Arctic.“Within a decade or less，it’s going to be impossible to reach the North Pole by dog team without flotation (漂浮)，”says Steger.
Climate change is happening，but people can change too.Their willingness to change will determine the shape of the Earth’s future.
54.Why is Steger about to organize the adventure to the Arctic?
A.To collect evidence for his scientific research.
B.To develop the young people’s adventurous spirit.
C.To let more people enjoy its natural beauty.
D.To let people realize the bad effects of global warming.
55.Global warming will lead to many unexpected events except that________.
A.the North Pole adventure team led by Steger are not sure about what they are going to see
B.it will be impossible to reach the North Pole just by dogsled since the sea ice around the North Pole will be melted
C.the animals living in the Arctic are going to face great dangers because their living environment changes
D.more audience will be taken to the front lines of global warming and reflect on their behaviors and way of life
56.According to Steger，people can save the earth by________.
A.changing their harmful way of life
B.learning more about the environment
C.willingly giving up their comfortable life
D.getting used to the present changes of the earth
57.What would be the best title for the passage?
A.The Arctic is in danger B.Sledding through the Arctic
C.Discoveries of the Arctic D.Consequences of global warming
D
A new generation addiction is quickly spreading all over the world. Weboholism(网瘾), a twentieth century disease, affects people from different ages. They surf the net, use e-mail and speak in chat rooms. They spend many hours on the computer, and it becomes a compulsive habit. They cannot stop, and it affects their lives.
Ten years ago, no one thought that using computers could become compulsive behavior that could affect the social and physical life of computer users. Such behavior has seriously affected teenagers and college students. They are likely to log(写日志) on computers and spend long hours at different websites.
They become hooked(着迷) on computers and gradually their social and school life is affected by this situation. They spend all free time surfing and don’t concentrate on homework, so this addiction influences their grades and success at school. Because they can find everything on the websites, they hang out there. Moreover, this addiction to websites influences their social life.
They spend more time in front of computers than with their friends. The relation with their friends changes. The virtual life becomes more important than their real life. They have a new language that they speak in the chat rooms and it causes cultural changes in society.
Because of the change in their behavior, they begin to isolate themselves from the society and live with their virtual friends. They share their emotions and feelings with friends who they have never met in their life. Although they feel confident on the computer, they are not confident with real live friends they have known all their life. It is a problem for the future. This addictive behavior is beginning to affect all the world.
58.The main idea of the passage is about__________.
A. the cause of weboholism B. the advantage of weboholism
C. the popularity of weboholism D. the effect of weboholism
59. We can infer from the passage that_______.
A. weboholism has the greatest effect on teenagers
B. students can hardly balance real and virtual life
C. people are addicted to games on the Internet
D. virtual life is more vivid and attractive than real life.
60. Which of the following is NOT true of weboholism?
A. It contributes to the development of the web.
B. The chat room language may change social culture.
C. The problem will be getting more and more serious later.
D. People addicted to the web often become inactive in real life.
