At Blossom End Railroad Station, 22-year-old Stanley Vine sat, waiting for his new employer. The surrounding green fields were so unlike the muddy landscape of war-torn France. After four horrible years as an army private fighting in Europe, Stanley had returned to England in February 1946. Armed now with some savings and with no prospects for a job in England, he answered a newspaper ad for farm help in Canada. Two months later he was on his way.
When the old car rumbled (发着辘辘声) toward the tiny station, Stanley rose to his feet, trying to make the most of his five foot and four inches frame. The farmer, Alphonse Lapine, shook his head and complained, “You’re a skinny thing.” On the way to his dairy farm, Alphonse explained that he had a wife and seven kids. “Money is tight. You’ll get room and board. You’ll get up at dawn for milking, and then help me around the farm until evening milking time again. Ten dollars a week. Sundays off.” Stanley nodded. He had never been on a farm before, but he took the job.
From the beginning Stanley was treated horribly by the whole family. They made fun of the way he dressed and talked. He could do nothing right. The humourless farmer frequently lost his temper, criticizing Stanley for the slightest mistake. The oldest son, 13-year-old Armand, constantly played tricks on him. But the kind-hearted Stanley never responded.
Stanley never became part of the Lapine family. After work, they ignored him. He spend his nights alone in a tiny bedroom. However, each evening before retiring, he lovingly cared for the farmer’s horses, eagerly awaiting him at the field gate. He called them his gentle giants. On Saturday nights he hitch-hiked into the nearest town and wandered the streets or enjoyed a restaurant meal before returning to the farm.
Early one November morning Alphonse Lapine discovered that Stanley had disappeared, after only six months as his farmhand. The railway station master, when questioned later that week, said he had not seen him. In fact no one in the community ever heard of him again. That is, until one evening, almost 20 years later, when Armand, opened an American sports magazine and came across a shocking headline, “Millionaire jockey (赛马骑师), Stanley Vine, ex-British soldier and 5-time horse riding champion, began life in North America as a farmhand in Canada.”
【小题1】Stanley Vine decided to go to Canada because ___________.

The volcano is one of the most surprising frightening things of nature. Maybe you have seen pic??tures of these " fireworks " of nature. Sometimes when a volcano erupts, a very large wall of melted rock moves down the side of a mountain. It looks like a " river of fire". Sometimes volcanoes ex??plode, throwing the melted rock and ashes high into the air. But where does this melted rock come from?

The earth is made up of many layers (层). The top layer that we see is called the crust. Under the crust are many layers of hard rock. But far, far beneath the crust the rock is so hot that it is soft. In some places it even melts. The melted rock is called magma. Sometimes the magma breaks out to the surface through cracks (裂缝) in the crust. These cracks are volcanoes.

Most people think of mountains when they think of volcanoes. But not every mountain is a volca??no. A volcano is simply the opening in the earth from which the magma escapes. The hot magma, or lava as it is called, cools and builds up on the surface of the earth. Over thousands of years, this pile of cooled lava can grow to be very, very big. For example, the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanja??ro, is a volcano. It rises more than 16,000 feet above the ground around it.

8. The underlined word "erupts" means ______.

A. moves down   B. breaks away    C. builds up        D. suddenly throws out lava

9. Which words in the passage have the same meaning as "melted rock"?

A. volcano and crust                  B. crust and hard rock

C. magma and lava                  D. volcano and magma

10. Which is the correct order of the layers of the earth (beginning with the top layer)?

A. crust — hard rock — magma — soft rock

B. crust — hard rock — soft rock — magma

C. agma — soft rock — hard rock — crust

D. volcano — cracks — magma — crust

11. The best title of the passage should be______.

A. The Volcano         B. Kilimanjaro Volcano   C. The Mountains   D. The Melted Rock

填空（共10小题，每小题1分，共10分）：

阅读下面的短文，在标有序号的空白处填入一个适当的词，或填入括号中单词的正确形式，并将序号及相应答案写在答题纸上。

Around the world young people are spending unbelievable sums of money to listen to rock music. Forbes Magazine claims that at least fifty rock stars have an __1__ of between two million and six million dollars per year.

Some observers think the customers are buying more than music. According to one theory, rock music has a special appeal because no real training is needed to produce it. There is __2__ gap between the audience and the performers. Every boy and girl in the audience thinks,” I could sing __3__ that.” So rock has become a new kind of religion, a new form of worship. Young people are glad to worship a rock star because it is a way of worshipping __4__.

Luck is a key word for explaining the success of many. In 1972 one of the luckiest was Don McLean, who wrote and sang “American Pie”. Like most performers, McLean __5__ his own music, so he earns additional money. Records provide only part of a star’s income. Around the world young listeners soon want to see the star in movies, on television, and __6__ person.

__7__ do the rock stars use their money? What do they do when the money starts pouring in like water? Most of the young stars just throw the money around. England’s Elton John bought himself a $5,000 pair of eyeglasses that light up and spell E-L-T-O-N. He also bought himself __8__ cars, “one for each foot”.

In the end the rock star’s life is unrewarding. After two or three years fame and fortune are gone. __9__(leave) with his memories and his tax problems, the lonely ex-performer spends his __10__ (remain) years trying to impress strangers. New stars have arrived to take his place.

D

Have you ever known a married couple that just didn’t seem as though they should fit together—yet they are both happy in the marriage, and you can’t figure out why?

I know of one couple: the husband is a burly(魁梧的)ex-athlete who, in addition to being a successful salesman, coaches Little League, is active in his Rotary Club and plays golf every Saturday with friends. Meanwhile, his wife is petite, quiet and a complete homebody. She doesn’t even like to go out to dinner.

What mysterious force drives us into the arms of one person, while pushing us away from another who might appear equally desirable to any unbiased(没有偏见的) observer?

Of the many factors influencing our idea of the perfect mate, one of the most telling, according to John Money, professor emeritus(荣誉退休的) of medical psychology and pediatrics(儿科学) at Johns Hopkins University, is what he calls our “love map”—a group of messages encoded in our brains that describes our likes and dislikes. It shows our preferences in hair and eye color, in voice, smell, body build. It also records the kind of personality that appeals to us, whether it’s the warm and friendly type or the strong, silent type.

In short, we fall for and pursue those people who most clearly fit our love map. And this love map is largely determined in childhood. By age eight, the pattern for our ideal mate has already begun to float around in our brains.

When I lecture, I often ask couples in the audience what drew them to their dates or mates. Answers range from “She’s strong and independent” and “I go for redheads” to “I love his sense of humor” and “That crooked smile, that’s what did it.”

I believe what they say. But I also know that if I were to ask those same men and women to describe their mothers, there would be many similarities between their ideal mates and their moms. Yes, our mothers—the first real love of our lives—write a significant portion of our love map.

51. What does the underlined word “petite” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A. Clever.              B. Little.               C. Energetic.         D. Lovely.

52. What is “love map” according to John Money?

A. One of the many factors influencing our idea of the perfect mate.

B. Our preferences in hair and eye color, in voice, smell, body build.

C. A group of messages encodes in our brains that describes our likes and dislikes.

D. Something that appeals to us, whether it’s the warm and friendly type.

53. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. By age eight, the pattern for our ideal mate has already begun to float around in our brains.

B. We fall for and pursue those people who most clearly fit our love map.

C. Love map is largely determined in childhood.

D. “She’d strong and independent” is the most important reason that drew the couple together.

54. What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A. The author believes what the questioned couple said.

B. Our mothers play a very important role in the forming of our “love map”.

C. Our mothers are the first real love in our lives.

D. There would be many similarities between ideal mates and moms.

55. What would be the best title of this passage?

A. The “love map” in our mind.

B. What mysterious force drives us into the arms of one person?

C. The real reason why we choose that special someone.

D. Our mothers write a significant portion of our love map.            

Three quarters of Britain’s parents are too busy to read bedtime stories to their children，according to a study. The study was carried out by CITV to start their new children’s show Bookaboo，which is designed to encourage anyone to pick up a book and read with their children at any time of the day.
Worryingly，the study showed that only three percent of fathers now find the time to read to the kids compared to 89 percent of mothers. Lucy Goodman，creator of Bookaboo，said，“It’s important for young boys to be able to share a book with dads，granddads or male carers and it can be fun and rewarding，too.” Of the dads who said they didn’t read to their kids,87 percent blamed work while more than a third said they were too tired. While 89 percent of mums said they did read to their children，more than half of them said cleaning distracted (使分心) them and 49 percent were distracted by other household things.
Researchers also found parents are now relying heavily on other people to lend a hand with reading to their children with grandparents doing the most，followed by sisters and brothers，aunts and uncles. While 95 percent of parents read to their children at some point，only five percent read to their children during the day. More than one in ten said they read every couple of weeks or less，and five percent could not remember the last time they shared a book.
The study found parents also seem content with allowing their children to immerse (使沉浸) themselves in TV programs or playing computer games rather than reading.
Ex­goalkeeper David Seaman，who is a dad of two，has been a guest in Bookaboo.He says，“I think it’s important that fathers do read to their children because it’s a special time. Sometimes my two children will come to listen to the same book—it’s a magical moment and I advise fathers just to try it.”
【小题1】We can know from the passage that Bookaboo________.