第二部分阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C和D中,选出最佳选项。
A
Each time I see a balloon, my mind flies back to a memory of when I was a six-year-old girl. It was a rainy Sunday and my father had recently died. I asked my mom if Dad had gone to heaven. "Yes, honey. Of course," she said.
"Can we write him a letter?"
She paused, the longest pause of my short life, and answered, "Yes."
My heart jumped. "How? Does the mailman go there?" I asked.
"No, but I have an idea." Mom drove to a party store and returned with a red balloon. I asked her what it was for.
"Just wait, honey. You'll see." Mom told me to write my letter. Eagerly, I got my favorite pen, and poured out my six-year-old heart in the form of blue ink. I wrote about my day, what I learned at school, how Morn was doing, and even about what happened in a story I had read. For a few minutes it was as if Dad were still alive. I gave the letter to Mom. She read it over, and a smile crossed her face.
She made a hole in the corner of the letter where she looped(缠绕) the balloon string. We went outside and she gave me the balloon. It was still raining.
"Okay, on the count of three, let go. One, two, three."
The balloon, carrying my letter, darted(猛冲) upward against the rain. We watched until it was swallowed by the mass of clouds.
Later I realized, like the balloon, that Dad had never let his sickness get him down. He was strong. No matter what he suffered, he'd persevere, dart up, and finally transcend(超越) this cold world and his sick body. He rose into sky and became something beautiful. I watched until the balloon disappeared into the gray and white and I prayed that his strength was hereditary(遗传的). I prayed to be a balloon.
56. When the girl asked her mother if they could write to her father, her mother ______.
A. felt it hard to answer                       B. thought her a creative girl
C. believed it easy to do so                    D. found it easy to lie
57. When the girl was told that she could send a letter to her father, she ______.
A. jumped with joy                           B. became excited
C. started writing immediately            D. was worried that it couldn't be delivered
58. In the eyes of the author, what was the rain like?
A. An incurable disease.                     B. An unforgettable memory.
C. The hard time her father had.                 D. The failures her father experienced.
59. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. The strong red balloon                     B. An unforgettable experience
C. Fly to paradise                          D . A great father


III.阅读理解(20×2)
When Sir Winston Churchill , the great British prime minister, reached his eightieth birthday in November 1954, he was presented with his portrait by a well-known modern artist, Granham Sutherland. The painting had been ordered and paid by the members of Parliament(国会), who wanted to honor the Grand Man of World war II.
Sir Winston and Lady Churchill were deeply moved by this mark of respect and affection. Neither of them, of course, allowed the donors(捐赠者) to see how much they both disliked the portrait. “It makes me look stupid—which I am not !” Churchill protested in private. Publicly, he only said that it was “a fine example of modern art”. His friends smiled: it was well-known that Sir Winston didn’t care for modern art.
Churchill was so unhappy about the portrait that finally his wife had it destroyed. Churchill died at ninety in January 1965. lady Churchill followed him in 1977. Shortly after her death, the public learned what had happened to Sutherland’s painting, and a heated argument broke out. The painter was understandably sad. The artistic community, shocked and angry, claimed that the destruction of the picture had been a crime. Historians said that they regretted the disappearance of a historical document. All agreed that Churchills didn’t have the right to do what they had done.
Well—did they ? A good part of the public felt that the owner of a portrait had the right to get rid of it if it made him so unhappy. The question, however, has been raised many times before: who has the right to a work of art—the sitter, the owner, the donor or the artist who created it?  And when the painting is the portrait of a historical figure, should the right of posterity (后代) be considered, as the historians claimed?
1. To have Churchill’s portrait painted was the idea of ______.
A.a well-known modern artist       B.Parliament
C.a friend of Churchill             D.the public
2. Which of the following is true ?
A. Churchill liked the portrait but his wife not
B. Churchill didn’t like the portrait because he didn’t like the painter
C. Churchill liked the portrait because it was a fine modern art.
D . Churchill didn’t like the portrait and nor did his wife
3. When Churchill said it was “a fine example of modern art”, he was ______.
A. dishonest           B. joking        C. praising the portrait          D. not been straight
4.When was the destruction of the portrait known to the public?
A . As soon as it happened             B.After Churchill died in 1965
C. Soon after Lady Churchill’s death     D. Not until recently
5. How did people reacted to the news?
A. People of the artistic community were all very sad.
B. The historians felt more strongly against it than the artistic community.
C.All people agreed that Chutchills had no right to destroy the picture.
D. while some were upset, quite a few people believed the Churchills had the right to destroy it.

Brave Frenchman Found Half-way Around the World (NEW YORK)
A French tourist highly praised for rescuing a two-year-old girl in Manhattan said he didn’t think twice before diving into the freezing East River.
Tuesday’s Daily News said 29-year-old Julien Duret from France is the man who left the spot quickly after the rescue last Saturday.
He lifted the little girl out of the water after she fell off the bank at the South Street Seaport museum. He handed the girl to her father, David Anderson, who had dived in after him.
“I didn’t think at all,” Duret told the Daily News. “It happened very fast. I reacted very fast.”
Duret, an engineer on vacation, was walking with his girlfriend along the pier (码头) when he saw something falling into the water. He thought it was a doll, but realized it was a child when he approached the river. In an instant, he took off his coat and jumped into the water.
When he reached the girl, she appeared lifeless, he said. Fortunately, when she was out of the water, she opened her eyes.
Anderson said his daughter slipped off the bank when he was adjusting his camera. An ambulance came later for her, said Duret, who was handed dry clothes from onlookers. Duret caught a taxi with his girlfriend shortly after.
The rescue happened on the day before he left for France. Duret said he didn’t realize his tale of heroism had greatly moved New York until he was leaving the city the next morning.
“I don’t really think I’m a hero,” said Duret. “Anyone would do the same thing.”
【小题1】Why was Duret in New York?

A.To meet his girlfriend.B.To work as an engineer.
C.To spend his holiday.D.To visit the Andersons.
【小题2】What did Duret do shortly after the ambulance came?
A.He was interviewed by a newspaper.
B.He asked his girlfriend for his dry clothes.
C.He went to the hospital in the ambulance.
D.He disappeared from the spot quickly.
【小题3】Who dived after Duret into the river to save the little girl?
A.David Anderson.B.A passer-by.
C.His girlfriend.D.A taxi driver.
【小题4】When was Duret most probably found to be the very hero?
A.The day when he was leaving for home.
B.A couple of days after the girl was rescued.
C.The first day when he was in New York.
D.The same day when he was interviewed.


The Board Meeting had come to an end. Bob started to stand up and knocked into the table, spilling his coffee over his notes. “How embarrassing! I am getting so clumsy(笨拙的) in my old age.”
Everyone had a good laugh, and soon we were all telling stories of our most embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank, who sat quietly listening to the others. Someone said, “Come on, Frank. Tell us your most embarrassing moment.”
Frank laughed and began to tell us of his childhood. “I grew up in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed the family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still at home.”
He looked at us and said, “I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled like the ocean. He would wear his old canvas, foul-weather coat and his bibbed overalls. His rain hat would be pulled down over his brow. No matter how much my mother washed them, they would still smell of the sea and of fish.”
Frank’s voice dropped a bit. “When the weather was bad he would drive me to school. He had this old truck that he used in his fishing business. That truck was older than he was. It would wheeze and rattle down the road. You could hear it coming for blocks. As he would drive toward the school, I would shrink (畏缩) down into the seat hoping to disappear. Half the time, he would slam to a stop and the old truck would belch (喷出) a cloud of smoke. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here, I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me goodbye!”
He paused and then went on, “I remember the day I decided I was too old for a goodbye kiss. When we got to the school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, “No, Dad.” It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this surprised look on his face. I said, “Dad, I’m too old for a goodbye kiss. I’m too old for any kind of kiss.” My Dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear up. Then he turned and looked out of the windshield(挡风玻璃). “You’re right,” he said. “ You are a big boy....a man. I won’t kiss you anymore.”
Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his eyes, as he spoke. “It wasn’t long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back. It was a day when most of the fleet (船队) stayed in, but not Dad. He had a big family to feed. They found his boat adrift with its nets half in and half out. He must have gotten into a strong wind and was trying to save the nets and the floats.”
I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again. “Guys, you don’t know what I would give to have my Dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek…to feel his rough old face… to smell the ocean on him… to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man, I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a goodbye kiss.”
【小题1】When his father drove him to the school, Frank would shrink down into the seat hoping to disappear because ________.

A.he was ashamed of his father’s old truck
B.he didn’t want his schoolmates to see his father
C.he thought he was old enough to go to school alone
D.he hated the way his schoolmates stared at his father
【小题2】According to the story we can conclude that Frank’s father ________.
A.was quite confident in his skills in fishing
B.loved his children but hardly expressed it
C.seldom gave up faced with challenges
D.was full of devotion to his family
【小题3】By saying the sentence “I wish I had been a man then…”, Frank meant ________.
A.he was tired of his father kissing him goodbye
B.he deeply regretted what he had done to his father
C.he was then too young to refuse a goodbye kiss
D.he hoped that his father would forgive him
【小题4】Which of the following may be the best title for this passage?
A.The Smell of the OceanB.We All Need Love
C.A Goodbye KissD.Father’s Embarrassment

Prince Roman was a Polish nobleman, a captain in the army of Czar Nicholas of Russia. When his young wife died, the prince left the army and returned in sorrow to his native Poland.
In time, love for his country and its people took the place of his lost love. He joined a Polish rising against the Russians. The rising was crushed, and Prince Roman was taken prisoner. His relatives and friends begged the military court to have mercy on him.
The president of the court received these appeals kindly. He was a good Russian, but he was also a good-natured man. Russian hatred of Poles was not as fierce at that time as it became later; and the Russian felt sympathetic as soon as he saw the prince's thin, tired, sun-burnt face.
The court of three officers sat in a bare room, behind a long black table. Some clerks sat at the two ends, but no one else was there when the guards brought in the prince.
Those four walls shut out from Prince Roman all sights and sounds of freedom, all hopes of the future, all comforting thoughts. How much love for Poland remained in him then? How much love of life? He stood before his judges alone, having refused their permission to sit. He answered their first formal questions — his name and so on — clearly and politely although he felt too weary to talk.
Then the president of the court seemed to suggest how the young man could best help himself. He asked questions in a way that almost put the right answers in the prisoner's mouth.
“Didn't your wife's death drive you to despair? Wasn't your mind unbalanced by that sad event ?”
Prince Roman was silent.
"You were not fully responsible for you conduct, were you?"
Prince Roman was silent.
"You made a sudden blind decision to join the rising. You didn't realize that your actions were dangerous and dishonourable. Isn't that the truth of this unfortunate matter?"
The judges looked at the prisoner hopefully. In silence the prince reached for a pen and some paper. He wrote, "I joined the rising because I believe it was just." He pushed the paper towards the president, who took it and read it in silence.
Prince Roman was sentenced to hard work for life in the Siberian salt mines. It was a sentence of delayed death.
When Czar Nicholas read the report and sentence, he added in his own handwriting, "Make sure that this prisoner walks in chains every step of the way to Siberia."
【小题1】What does the passage tell us of Poland at the time?

A.Polish officers in the Russian army had to return to Poland.
B.Russia was at war with Poland, so the Poles were enemies.
C.The Russians were very cruel rulers of Poland.
D.It was ruled by Russia, and Poles served in the Russian army.
【小题2】How much love for Poland remained in the prince when he stood trial?
A.Not much, probably, after the failure of the rising.
B. More than he had ever felt before.
C.As much as he had ever felt.
D.The passage doesn't suggest an answer to the question.
【小题3】The questions which the president asked show that ______.
A.he was trying to find excuse for the prince's conduct
B.the court wanted the prince to admit his own guilt
C.he wanted to learn the truth about the Polish rising
D.Prince Roman was a weak person
【小题4】In the trial, Prince Roman ______.
A.was afraid to be responsible for his actions
B.blamed others for his actions
C.accepted responsibility for his actions
D.admitted his guilt
【小题5】According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A.The judges were less sympathetic than Czar Nicholas.
B.Czar Nicholas was as kind as the judges.
C.Czar Nicholas was not as sympathetic as the judges.
D.The judges were as cruel as Czar Nicholas.

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网