My friend took his colleague to see an art exhibition in north London.
The show was basically piles of breeze blocks (煤渣砖) forming armchair and sofa shapes, painted in primary colors.
Seeing these, the colleague said, “You brought me all the way out here to see this pile of junk when we could have been having a nice lunch?” He continued his rant about the work all the way back to the office.
When they got there my friend said, “You said you don’t like the work, but you haven’t stopped talking about it since you first saw it.”
Whether he liked it or not, he could not forget it.
If the artwork is fresh and new, you can’t expect to like it straightaway, because you have nothing to compare it with.
The effort of coming to terms with things you do not understand makes them all the more valuable to you when you do grasp them.
Good art speaks for itself. That doesn’t mean you have to like it.
So the next time you go to an art show, or look at anything for that matter, observe what effect it has on you and try to form your own opinion.
That way, you become the critic and not a mouthpiece for someone else’s opinions.
【小题1】What does the colleague think about the art exhibition?

A．He feels it a waste of time going to the exhibition.

B．He is very interested in the work shown on the exhibition.

C．He is disappointed that art is abused on the exhibition.

D．He thinks his understanding about art is far better than the author of the work on the show.

第二部分 阅读理解(共两节，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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives (观点) by creating worlds we could step into, take part. in. and live in.
With this unshakable belief, I, at. fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.
Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction (文学作品)．As a. law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter—the volume (量) of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn't necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.
1. What can be inferred about the author as a child?
A.  He never watched TV.
B.  He read what he had to.
C.  He found reading unbelievable.
D.  He considered reading part of his life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
2. The underlined word "voice" in the second paragraph most probably means “____________”.
A.  an idea      B. a sound quality  C. a way of writing    D. a world to write about
3. What effect does reading have on the author?
A.  It helps him to realize his dream.
B.  It opens up a wider world for him.
C.  It makes his college life more interesting.
D.  It increases his interest in worldwide travel.
4. Which of the following can be the best title of this text?
A.  Why do I read?  B.  How do I read?  C.  What do I read?  D.  When do I read?

According to a new study, preschool boys perform better on tests that measure learning and other important skills when they are in classes that have more girls than boys. This doesn’t seem to apply to girls, though. For preschool girls, the presence or absence of boys does not affect learning.

“The study raises questions about having all-boy or all-girl classes for preschool”, says psychologist Arlen Moller, who led the study. She added, “Previous researches have shown that high-school girls may study better in all-g irl schools. In middle school, however, the effects of same-sex schooling are unclear, and even less is known for very young kids.” To find out, researchers studied 70 preschool classes with a total of 806 children who were between 3.5 and 6 years old. For each class, teachers recorded the student’s progress over a 6.5-month school year.

Their data included scores of motor skills, social skills and thinking skills. Researchers found that boys developed each of these skills more quickly when there were more girls in the class than boys.

In majority-girl classrooms, boys developed at the same rate as girls. But in classes where boys were the majority, boys developed more slowly than girls. Girls tended to advance in classrooms which had any combination of boys and girls.

The study is one of the first to look at how the proportion of boys and girls in a class affects learning. Because it’s a new finding, researchers don’t know why this difference exists.

“This is an exciting topic, but it’s too early to draw any conclusion because this area is so under-explored,” says psychologist Lean Malofeeva of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

81．What is the finding of the researchers led by Arlen Moller? (no more than 15 words)(2 marks)

82．According to the research , what effect does a minority-girl class have on boy’s study?(no more than 8 words)(3 marks)

83．How does Lean Malofeeva find the study of the researchers led by Arlen Moller?(no more than 6 words)(3 marks)

84．List three abilities the researchers focused on. (on more than 7 words)(3 marks)

A scientist who developed a way to calculate how much water is used in the production of anything from a cup of coffee to a hamburger was awarded the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize.
Professor John Anthony Allan of the University of London in Britain won the award for introducing the idea of “virtual water (虚拟水)”, a calculation method that has changed the nature of trade policy and research.
Allan has written seven books and published more than 100 papers.
The Stockholm International Water Institute said this idea is now embedded (埋藏) in the production of foods and industrial products. The institute said Allan’s work had made a big effect on global trade policy and research, especially in water-scarce (缺水的) regions.
“The improved understanding of trade and water management issues on local, regional and global scales are of the highest value for the successful and sustainable (可持续的) use of water resources,” it said.
“People do not only use water when they drink it or take a shower,” the institute said. “Behind the morning cup of coffee, there are 140 liters of water that was used to grow, produce, package and ship the beans.” That is about as much water as a person in England uses on average for all daily drinking and household needs.
“For a single hamburger, about 2,400 liters of water are needed. In the USA, the average person uses nearly 7,000 liters of virtual water every day.” It said that was more than three times the average use of a Chinese person.
【小题1】Allan was awarded the prize because _______.

I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives（观点）by creating worlds we could step into, take part in and live in.
With this unshakable belief, I, at fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.
Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction. As a law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter — the volume（量）of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.
【小题1】What can be inferred about the author as a child?