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三、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）

    Grandma Moses is among the most famous twentieth-century painters of the United States, yet she did not start painting until she was in her late seventies. As she once said of herself: “I would never sit back in a rocking chair, waiting for someone to help me.” No one could have had a more productive old age.

    She was born Anna Mary Robertson on a farm in New York State, one of five boys and five girls. At twelve she left home and was in domestic(家庭的) service until, at twenty-seven, she married Thomas Moses, the hired hand of one of her employers. They farmed most of their lives, first in Virginia and then in New York State, at Eagle Bridge. She had ten children, of whom five survived; her husband died in 1927.

    Grandma Moses painted a little as a child and made embroidery(刺绣) pictures as a hobby, but only changed to oils in old age because her hands had become too stiff(硬的) to sew and she wanted to keep busy and pass the time. Her pictures were first sold at a local market and were soon noticed by a businessman who bought everything she painted. Three of the pictures exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, and in 1940 she had her first exhibition in New York. Between the 1930s and her death she produced some 2,000 pictures: detailed and lively portrayals(描绘) of the country life she had known for so long, with a wonderful sense of colour and form. “I think really hard till I think of something really pretty, and then I paint it.” she said.

36. According to the passage, Grandma Moses began to paint because she wanted to______.

   A. make herself beautiful               B. keep active

   C. earn more money                   D. become famous

37. The underlined word “survived” means_____ .

   A. graduated from college               B. examined the condition of the house

   C. lived longer than the other children      D. gave up themselves to the police

38. From Grandma Moses’ description of herself in the first paragraph, it can be inferred that she wa__________.

   A. independent     B. pretty     C. rich     D. nervous

39. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

   A. Grandma Moses: Her Life and Pictures.    B. The Children of Grandma Moses.

   C. Grandma Moses: Her Best Exhibition.    D. Grandma Moses and Other Older Artists.

No one in the department but Tom and I          that the director is going to resign.

Who's in control of your life? Who is pulling your string? For the majority of us, it's other people-society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community. We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course. We were brainwashed. We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us. As Oscar Wilde puts it, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry(模仿)，their passions a quotation.”

So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good. We long for this good feeling like a drug－we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can. Therefore, we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives failing to do the things we really want to. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix(一剂毒品)，we worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval.

But just as with any drug, there is a price to pay. The price of the approval drug is freedom－the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot-control what other people think. People have their own agenda(日程安排), and they come with their own baggage and, in the end, they're more interested in themselves than in you. Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of others, we will build our life on sinking sand. Everyone has a different way of thinking, and people change their opinions all the time. The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probable pleasing no one in the process.

 So how can we take back control? I think there's only one way－make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think. We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values－not values imposed from the outside by others, but innate values which come from within. If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others, we will live a more authentic(真实的), effective, purposeful and happy life.

What Oscar Wilde says implies that       .

  A. most people's thoughts are controlled by others.

  B. we have thoughts similar to those of others.

  C. most people have a variety of thoughts.

  D. other people's thoughts are more important.

What does the author try to argue in the third paragraph?

  A. The price of taking the drug is freedom.

  B. Changing opinions may cost us our freedom.

  C. We may lose ourselves to please others.

  D. We need to pay for what we want to get.

It can be concluded from the passage that      .

  A. it's important to accept others' opinions.

  B. it's better to do what we like.

  C. we shouldn't care what others think.

  D. we shouldn't change our won opinions.

The author tries to persuade the readers to accept his arguments mainly by      .

  A. making suggestions.                      B. analyzing causes and effects.                     

  C. providing examples and facts.        D. discussing questions                                 

Most people have heard of Shakespeare and probably know something of the plays that he wrote.However，not everybody knows much about the life of this remarkable man，except perhaps that he was born in the market town of Stratford?upon?Avon and that he married a woman called Anne Hathaway.We know nothing of his school life.We do not know，for example，how long it lasted，but we presume(推测)that he attended the local grammar school，where the principal subject taught was Latin.

Nothing certain is known of what he did between the time he left school and his departure(出发)for London.According to a local legend，he was beaten and even put in prison for stealing rabbits and deer from the estate of neighbouring landowner，Sir Thomas Lucy.It is said that because of this he was forced to run away from his native place.A different legend says that he was apprenticed(做学徒)to a Stratford butcher, but did not like the life and for this reason decided to leave Stratford.

Whatever caused him to leave the town of his birth，the world could be grateful that he did so.What is certain is that he set his foot on the road to fame when he arrived in London.It is said that at first he was without money or friends there，but that he earned a little by taking care of the horses of the gentleman who attended the plays at the theatre.They stopped and spoke to him.They found his conversations so brilliant(有才气的)that finally he was invited to join their company.

1．In the early life of Shakespeare，he ______.

A．attended a public school　　　　　　 B．lived in London

C．studied Latin　　　　　　　　　　　 D．was put in prison for stealing cattle

2．Why was he forced to leave his native place according to this passage?

A．Because he didn’t want to go to school.

B．Because he left for London to become famous.

C．Because he had stolen deer and was beaten.

D．No one knows for certain.

3．What is the reason why the world could be grateful?

A．He wrote many world?famous plays.　　　　　 B．He was an actor.

C．He lived a hard life.　　　　　　　　　　　　 D．He liked to travel all over the world.

4．“In time，as he became a familiar figure”“in time” means ______.

A．on time 　　　　 B．sometime　　　　　 C．some time later 　　 D．some time

5.The best title is ______.

A．The Early Life of Shakespeare　　　　　　　 B．Shakespeare’s Life in London

C．Shakespeare’s Role in Performance　　　　 D．Shakespeare’s Later Life

No one expected house prices to fall, but _____ that's exactly what happened.