Drunken driving –sometimes called America’s socially accepted form of murder—has become a national epidemic (流行病). Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers，adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past ten years. A drunken driver is usually referred to as one with 0.10-blood alcohol content or roughly three beer glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American manly image and judges were lenient in most courts，but the drunken killing has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies，especially concerning young children，that public opinion is no longer so tolerant.

    Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21，reversing a trend in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18，the number of people killed by 18-20 years old drivers more than doubled，so the state recently upped it back to 21.

    Reformers，however，fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop ‘responsible attitudes’ about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.

    Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests in many areas already，to a marked drop in accidents，some states are also punishing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A bar in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who was ‘obviously drunk’ and later drove off the road，killing a 9-year-old boy.

As the accidents continue to occur daily in every state，some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years national prohibition of alcohol that began in 1919，which President Hoover called the ‘noble experiment’. They forgot that legal prohibition didn’t stop drinking，but encouraged political corruption and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally，there is no easy solution.

1.Statistics issued in New Jersey suggested that ____________.

A. many drivers were not of legal age.　　      B. young drivers were often bad drivers.

　　C. the level of drinking increased in the 1960s.    D. the legal drinking age should be raised.

2.The underlined word ‘lenient’ in the first paragraph means ‘_________’.

A. serious          B. cruel                C. merciful         D. determined

3.In America, public opinion about drunken driving has changed because __________.

A.  judges are no longer tolerant

B.  new laws are introduced in some states

C.  the increasing number of traffic accidents has got the attention of the public

D.  drivers do not appreciate their manly image any more

4.Which of the following best shows the writer’s opinion of drunken driving?

A. It may lead to organized crime.          B. It is difficult to solve this problem.

C. The new laws can stop heavy drinking.        D. There should be no bars to serve drinks. 

When Marilynne Robinson published her first novel, Housekeeping, in 1980, she was unknown in the literary world. But an early review in The New York Times ensured that the book would be noticed. “It’s as if, in writing it, she broke through the ordinary human condition with all its dissatisfactions, and achieved a kind of transfiguration（美化）,” wrote Anatole Broyard, with an enthusiasm and amazement that was shared by many critics and readers. The book became a classic, and Robinson was recognized as one of the outstanding American writers of our time. Yet it would be more than twenty years before she wrote another novel. 

During the period, Robinson devoted herself to writing nonfiction. Her essays and book reviews appeared in Harper’s and The New York Times Book Review, and in 1989 she published Mother Country: Britain, the Welfare State, and Nuclear Pollution, criticizing severely the environmental and public health dangers caused by the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in England—and the political and moral corruption(腐败). In 1998, Robinson published a collection of her critical and theological writings, The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought, which featured reassessments of such figures as Charles Darwin, John Calvin, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Aside from a single short story—“Connie Bronson,” published in The Paris Review in 1986—it wasn’t until 2004 that she returned to fiction with the novel Gilead, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her third novel, Home, came out this fall.

Her novels could be described as celebrations of the human—the characters in them are unforgettable creations. Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and her sister Lucille, who are cared for by their eccentric（古怪的）Aunt Sylvie after their mother commits suicide. Robinson writes a lot about how each of the three is changed by their new life together. Gilead is an even more close exploration of personality: the book centres on John Ames, a seventy-seven-year-old pastor(牧师) who is writing an account of his life and his family history to leave to his young son after he dies. Home borrows characters from Gilead but centers on Ames’s friend Reverend Robert Boughton and his troubled son Jack. Robinson returned to the same territory as Gilead because, she said, “after I write a novel or a story, I miss the characters—I feel like losing some close friends.”

1.Robinson’s second novel came out ____.

A. in 1980                         B. in 1986                          C. in 1998                          D. in 2004

2.What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A. Robinson’s achievements in fiction.

B. Robinson’s achievements in nonfiction.

C. Robinson’s influence on the literary world.

D. Robinson’s contributions to the environment.

3.According to Paragraph 3, who is John Ames?

A. He is Robinson’s close friend.

B. He is a character in Gilead. 

C. He is a figure in The Death of Adam.

D. He is a historian writing family stories.

4.From which section of a newspaper can you read this passage?

A. Career.                        B. Lifestyle.     　   C. Music.                           D. Culture.

第二部分：阅读理解(第一节20小题，第二节5小题;每小题2分，满分50分)

　　第一节：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。

　　　Being the head of a high school for many years, I grew tired of budget meetings, funding cuts, and many other administrative chores (杂务). I started to dream of retirement. Sitting in traffic on a weekday morning, I would find my mind wandering. I would imagine spending time with my grandchildren, quiet evenings with my wife, traveling, or rediscovering some great books. I told myself that I wouldn’t sign myself up for any committees, any classes, or anything requiring a schedule.

　　My first day of retirement came at last! I cooked a great breakfast for my wife and me, leisurely read the paper, cleaned a bit of the house, and wrote a few letters to friends. On the second day, I cooked breakfast, read the paper … On the third day, … This is retirement? I tried to tell myself that it was just the transition (过渡), that those golden moments were right round the corner, and that I would enjoy them soon enough. But something was missing.

　　A former colleague asked a favor. A group of students was going to Jamaica to work with children in the poorest neighborhoods. Would I interrupt my newfound “happiness” and return to the students, just this once? One trip. That’s all. My bags were packed and by the door.

　　The trip was very inspiring. I was moved not only by the poverty I saw but also by the sense of responsibility of the young people on the trip. When I returned home, I offered to work one day a week with a local youth organization. The experience was so positive that I was soon volunteering nearly full-time, working with students across North America to assist them in their voluntary work.

　　Now, it seems, the tables have turned。Some days I am the teacher, other days I am the student. These young people have reawakened my commitment (责任感) to social justice issues by challenging me to learn more about the situation in the world today, where people are still poor and suffer because of greed, corruption and war. Most important, they have given me the opportunity to continue to participate in helping to find solutions. In return, I help them do their charitable projects overseas. I’ve gone from running one school to helping oversee the construction of schools in twenty-one countries!

　　41. What did the writer expect to do after he retired?

　　A. To stay away from busy schedules.

　　B. To write some great books.

　　C. To teach his grandchildren.

　　D. To plan for his future.

　　42. Why did the writer decide to go to Jamaica?

　　A. He missed his students in that country.

　　B. He couldn’t refuse his colleague’s favor.

　　C. He was concerned about the people there.

　　D. He was not satisfied with his retired life.

　　43. The underlined part “the tables have turned” (Paragraph 5) means that the writer _________.

　　A. improved the situation in his school

　　B. felt happy to work with students again

　　C. became a learner rather than a teacher

　　D. changed his attitude toward his retired life

　　44. What does the writer think of his retired life now?

A. Disappointing. B. Troublesome. C. Relaxing. D. Meaningful.