第三部分 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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

The man known as the French “ Spiderman” climbed The New York Times building on Thursday to draw attention to global warming, and six hours later another climber made the same climb.

Alain Robert, 45, the first person to climb the 52-story skyscraper, told reporters ahead of the climb on the UN World Environment Day his aim was to raise awareness of global warming since this is one of the main problems for our time.

His manager Julie Cohen said she knew nothing about the second climber. She added that Robert’s climbs were without risk and he was a professional climber.

Robert climbed without equipment except for climbing shoes. He was greeted at the top by the police who arrested him. 

The second climber was also immediately arrested at the top by police. His climb at the height of the evening rush hour drew crowds and was shown live on at least one TV station.

Several people in the crowd shouted“jump” when he stopped part of the way to rest, but there was a loud cheer as he reached the top. Wearing red pants , black climbing shoes and a white T-shirt that read “ Malaria(疟疾) No More”, the man laughed as he was led away by the police from the building.

“ We don’t look at him as a modern spiderman,” said James Coil, a member of the police emergency services unit. “ We look at him as somebody who not only puts his life at risk but is one of members of the public as well.”

Martin Edlund, director of “ Malaria No More”, which aims to prevent the one million yearly deaths from malaria, said the climber had nothing to do with them, but they appreciated his enthusiasm.

56.When was Alain Robert arrested at the top of the building by police?

A. In the early morning.     B. In the late afternoon.

C. In the evening.          D. About at noon.

57. We learn from the text that Robert’s climb was________.

A. cheered by the police    B. supported by his manager

C. prevented by the owner of the skyscraper

D. laughed at by the people watching him

58. The second climber did the same thing as Robert with the purpose of_____.

A. showing that he is as good as Robert 

B. drawing people’s attention to global warming

C. doing something for people’s health improvement

D. making himself well known in the world

59.The underlined sentence shows that________.

A. risk is popular in the USA

B. the Americans go in for risks

C. the actions like the two men’s are forbidden in the USA

D. the USA government supports the actions of risk

What do college teachers think of high school English teachers’English teaching? And how should we see it? Let’s read the following.

A teacher from a community college addressed a sympathetic audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, “High school English teachers are not doing their jobs.” He described how weak his students were—all high school graduates who can use language only at a Grade 9 level.

My topic is not standards nor its decline（降低）. What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.

My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following is natural. It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies（缺陷）. But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.

The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults, the language of the young always seems inadequate.

Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not seen as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and peculiar(特有的) to today’s young people, it naturally follows that today’s English teachers cannot be doing their jobs.

1.The speaker believed that ________.

A. he was an excellent language teacher because he had been teaching English for sixteen years

B. the younger generation was as likely as not worse at language than the older generation 

C. high school English teachers should be responsible for their students’ poor command of English

D. The fact that the students didn’t work hard enough contributed to their poor command of English

2. In the author’s opinion, the speaker ________.

A. had exaggerated (夸大) the language problems of the students  

B. was right in saying English teachers were not doing their jobs       

C. gave a correct judgment of the English level of the students

D. thought and spoke in a wise and responsible way

3.What can we conclude from the passage?

A. Language learning and improving needs time and effort.

B. The author disagrees with the speaker over the standard of English at Grade 9 level. 

C. It is reasonable to include English as one of the high school subjects.

D. The English language teaching is by no means an easy job for college teachers.

4.The author’s attitude towards the speaker’s remarks is ________.

A. neutral（中立的）   B. critical

C. positive    D. compromising(妥协的)

There are a lot of differences in life in the US that you can only learn by living here. However, we will try to introduce you to some of the more important cultural differences.

Personal Space

When two people are talking to each other, they tend to stand a distance apart. Each person has an invisible boundary (界限) around their body into which other people may not come.

Interestingly，the average personal distance varies from culture to culture. Americans tend to require more personal space than in other cultures. So if you try to get too close to an American during your conversation, he or she will feel that you are “in their face” and will try to back away.

Try to avoid physical contact while you are speaking, since this may also lead to discomfort.

Tipping(小费)

Restaurants do not include a service charge in the bill, so you should tip the waiter 15% of the total bill. If service is slow or particular bad, some Americans will tip only 10%. If service is particularly good, it is appropriate to tip 20%. If service is so bad that you will never eat in the restaurant again, leave two cents. It tells the waiter that you haven’t forgotten to leave a tip. Tipping is only appropriate in restaurants which offer table service. You do not tip the cashier in a fast food restaurant.

Gestures

To wave goodbye or hello to someone, raise your hand and wave it from side to side, not front to back. Wave the whole hand, not just the fingers. Waving the hand front to back or the fingers up and down means “no”, “stop”, or “go away’. Holding your hand up with the palm facing forward but no movement means “stop”.

If you want to point at an object, extend the index finger and use it to point at the object. It is not polite to point at people.

Although showing your fist with the thumb up or your open hand with the tips of the thumb and index finger together forming an “O” means “OK”， these are stereotypes (老套). Americans understand these gestures, but they are mainly used by actors in movies, not in real life.

1. If an American to whom you are speaking backs away a little, you’d better __________.

A. not try to close the gap              B. stop talking with him or her

C. back away too                     D. ask him or her what happened

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE when you eat out in the US?

A. The tip always ranges from 10% to 20% of the total bill.

B. You needn’t leave a tip if you will never eat in the restaurant.

C. It’s unnecessary to tip the waiter in a restaurant.

D. Tipping is not necessary in fast food restaurants.

3.Which of the following gestures is not used in Americans’ daily life?

A               B.             C.               D.

.         

4.We can learn from the passage that in the US ___________________.

A. it’s natural to touch each other in a conversation.

B. it’s polite to leave a tip though the service is bad.

C. there is only one gesture meaning “stop”.

D. Americans use the same gesture to point at people and objects.

The speaker, a teacher from a community college, addressed a sympathetic(赞同的) audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, “High school English teachers are not doing their jobs.” He described the inadequacies of his students, all high school graduates who can use language only at a grade 9 level. I was unable to determine from his answers to my questions how this grade 9 level had been established.

My topic is not standards nor its decline(降低). What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.

　　My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following it is inevitable. It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies (缺陷). But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.

　　The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults the language of the young always seems inadequate.

Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not perceived(察觉) as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and peculiar(特有的) to today’s          young people, it naturally follows that today’s English teachers cannot be doing their jobs. Otherwise, young people would not commit offenses against the language.

The speaker the author mentioned in the passage believed that _____.

A. the language of the younger generation is usually inferior(差的) to that of the older     

generation

B. the students had a poor command of English because they didn’t work hard enough

C. he was an excellent language teacher because he had been teaching English for sixteen  

years

D. English teachers should be held responsible for the students’ poor command of English

In the author’s opinion, the speaker ______.

A. gave a correct judgment of the English level of the students

B. had exaggerated(夸大) the language problems of the students

C. was right in saying that English teachers were not doing their jobs

D. could think and speak intelligently

The author’s attitude towards the speaker’s remarks is ______.

A. neutral                    B. positive                   C. critical             D. compromising

It can be concluded from the passage that ______.

A. it is justifiable(有理由的) to include English as a school subject

B. the author disagrees with the speaker over the standard of English at Grade 9 level

C. English language teaching is by no means an easy job

D. language improvement needs time and effort

In the passage the author argues that ______.

A. it is unfair to blame the English teachers for the language deficiencies of the students

B. young people would not commit offences against the language if the teachers did their 

jobs properly

C. to eliminate(消除) language deficiencies one must have sensitive eyes and ears

D. to improve the standard of English requires the effort of several generations

Hurry! Time to “steal vegetables”

Don't be afraid! We are not encouraging the stealing behavior, but to tell you maybe the most popular topic from white-collars' mouth in cities. Together with "How many vegetables do you steal today," "it's harvest time for your ripe peach," "I bought you a new car today."

   Are there so many people in the city really have their own farms, or are they really so rich to buy someone else cars casually?

   The answer is obviously negative. They just play some games on Social Network Sites (SNS) like kaixin001.com.

   Can you imagine that more than millions of people in Chinese mainland will spend lots of time on SNS to play game and talk to friends, especially white-collars who work in the cities? Take kaixin001.com as an example, the current member of it has already hit 38 million.

   However, the great number of people who would like to use such SNS indicates another social problem. That is lots of people choose to escape from the reality. And SNS just offer them a Virtual space to forget the reality.

   Kinds of games and various of friends do give netizens lots of fun. Though indulging, dreaming, chatting and playing , it seems like people could really escape from all the upsets in reality. But virtual world is not real and no one can live in it forever, and reality is not that simple like noodling around on the internet.

   Since this kind of social phenomenon is so popular on the internet, people start thinking to remove it in the reality.After playing the "happy farm" game on kaixin001.com, would you like to put yourself among the real corps while smelling the fragrance of the countryside? Recently, a farm land service called "happy farm in reality" was opened in the suburbs of Shanghai where white-collar workers from around that region can experience the real farmer's life by themselves

1.What is the topic of the passage?

   A. It’s time to” steal vegetables.”

B. a computer game called “Happy Farm”

C. open a farm in reality

D. something behind the game “Happy Farm”

2.Why are so many people interested in “Happy Farm”?

A. Because they like playing computer games.

B. Because it offers them a virtual space to escape from reality.

C. because they can talk and play with their friends at the same time.

 D. because they can harvest peaches.

3.Which group are the majority playing the “Happy Farm” game?

A. Farmers    B. White-collars    C. workers     D. students

4.What’s the author’s attitude towards the “ Happy Farm” game?

A. positive      B. worried       C. neutral   D. we don’t know