A well-dressed man entered a famous jewelry shop. He explained that he wished to buy a pearl for his wife’s birthday. The price didn’t matter. Since business had been very good for him that year. After examining a nice black one that cost $5000, he paid for the pearl in cash, shook hands with the jeweler, and left.
A few days later the man returned and said that his wife liked the pearl so much that she wanted another one just like it. It had to be exactly the same size and quality, as she wanted a pair of earrings made, “Can you give me any advice on how to get such a pearl?” said the man. The jeweler regretfully replied, “I would say it’s exactly impossible to find one exactly like that pearl.”
The rich man insisted that the jeweler advertise in the newspapers, offering $ 25,000 for the matching pearl. Many people answered the advertisement but nobody had a pearl that was just right.
Just when the jeweler had given up hope, a little old lady came into his store. To his great surprise, she pulled the perfect pearl from her purse. “I don’t like to part with it,” she said sadly, “I inherited it from my mother, and my mother inherited it from hers. But I really need the money.”
The jeweler was quick to pay her before she changed her mind. Then he called the rich man’s hotel to tell him the good news. The man, however, was nowhere to be found.
【小题1】The man said he wanted to buy a pearl for ______.
A. his wife             B. his mother-in–law 
C. his own mother           D. no one
57. He paid $ 5,000 for the black pearl without bargaining because ______.
A. he was very rich           B. he wanted to make the jeweler believe him
C. he was anxious to get it      D. his business had been successful
【小题2】He told the jeweler to get him another pearl that must be ______.

Helen was loved as a friendly 1ady by a11 who knew her. She had belonged to the same church for almost all her adult lire and was highly 36.______. Poor Helen was well into her 90’s. Since her husband passed away，she moved in with Jennifer, her young granddaughter. However, life is 37._______. One night driving home from the store, Jennifer was hit dead by a drunk driver. Once again, Helen was alone.
The 38._______ of losing those closest to her and the loneliness of being all alone were 39.______ she could bear. She changed--she fell into 40._______ and hopelessness. Naturally, people around her saw the change. But nobody seemed to know how to 41._______ her. Months passed. It was now December, and the holiday season was 42._______ to be harder than Helen imagined it would be. She felt like she was 43._______, slowly inside. She wondered if she would see Christmas this year.
44._______, the second Sunday of December, the Sunday School teacher came to her with a special request. Would she be 45.______ enough to help decorate the tree that was in the middle of the children’s classroom? Each child had handmade a special decoration to 46.______ on the tree, and they needed assistance. Helen attempted to 47._______ refuse, but the teacher said that the children had requested she be the 48._______ that year. It was important to them for some reason, the teacher whispered.
The night of the special event, Helen was present and wore the best smile. The 49.______ of the young children was bittersweet, which held memories of her dear Jennifer. For the first time in months, though, you could see her eyes 50._______ through tears. She was happy that the children had 51.______ her. Most decorations had been placed on the tree 52._______ a group of nine children came and sat in front of her. Each of them either had no grandmother any longer, 53.______  had never even known theirs. This was a very special celebration and union. In the middle lay a gift-wrapped box 54._______ for her with a card reading “Our Grandma, with love. ”
Christmas this year wasn’t unkind to Helen. No, it was a new 55._______, a brand-new start and nine new reasons to her…

Warm water freezes more quickly than cold water. Sir Francis Bacon said that almost four hundred years ago. But few people believed him until 1970. In that year a Canadian scientist George Kill proved the English professor was right. Dr Kill filled an open oil pail(桶) with cold water. He filled another with warm water. He put both in the same low temperature. The warm water froze first. The lack of covers on the pails is the secret. Some of the warm water changed into vapor. This meant that less of the warm water was left to be frozen. And so the warm water froze faster than the cold water even though it had a greater temperature drop to make.
【小题1】Hundreds of years ago, Sir Francis Bacon found _______.

Ever since I was little, my favorite season was winter. I loved to play in the snow and enjoy the hot chocolate.
____36_____, winter never gave me the special gift of snow on my birthday. I would ask my grandmother ____37____ it didn’t snow on my birthday. She would laugh and tell me I asked too many questions. ___38____one day, she promised that she would make it snow on my next birthday.
That year, ____39____ my birthday, my grandmother died.  I was sad but angry because she had promised to make it snow. The day of my sixth birthday, I woke up and ran to the window, hoping to see just one snowflake. But there was no snow. I felt mad at my grandmother. She had broken a promise.
But my sixteenth birthday, I had lost all hope of getting my snow, even though I still wished for ___40____. During my party, I stayed with my friends and family and was truly happy. I ___41___ the best time ever! Then I saw the white snow ____42___down all around. I was so excited that I ran around screaming and laughing. My friends all laughed ____43___me, but I didn’t care.
When I ___44____home, my grandpa said he had a gift for me. I was ___45___ because he had given me a gift. It was a small white box, which looked old. I opened it. There was a crystal snowflake(水晶雪花) with a card that said, “Happy Birthday.”
How could this be? My grandpa said it was my grandmother’s final ___46____ on my “sweet sixteenth”. I cried.
I was ___47_____ that my smiling grandmother angel was and had been watching over me.

第二部分 阅读（共两节，满分80分）
第一节：阅读理解（共35小题；每小题2分，满分70分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21~55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It has long been known the ancient Egyptian rulers, or pharaohs, were buried with great ceremony and lavish treasures that were to be used in the other world.
Unfortunately, until 1922 no remains of any of the pharaohs or their treasures had ever been found. In that year, however, an archaeologist named Howard Carter and his sponsor, Lord Carnavon, were at last successful. They found the tomb of King Tutankhamen, who was buried 3,200 years ago. King Tut’s tomb was the first fully preserved burial site to be uncovered in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. The two men found the tomb to contain wonderful treasures. Gold figures and magnificent furniture decorated with gold were found in the myriad of secret rooms and tunnels within the pyramid.
The only disappointment for Howard Carter came when he found that King Tut’s body was nothing but dust. Apparently a mistake had been made when the king’s remains were mummified (使成木乃伊). Carter did, however, find 143 pieces of jewelry within the mummy case, mostly made of gold and precious stones.
Actually, despite all the publicity about the remarkable finds in his tomb, Tutankhamen’s reign (统治时期) as pharaoh was short and relatively uneventful. He died when he was just 18 years old.
There is an interesting story that goes along with King Tut’s tomb. According to legend, a powerful curse was placed in it. This curse was to descend on anyone uncovering Tutankhamen’s burial place. Not very long after the discovery, Lord Carnavon, along with several of the workmen, died suddenly.
1．The subject of this passage is              .
A．the Valley of the Kings    B．the discovery of King Tut’s tomb
C．King Tut’s accomplishments   D．Howard Carter, archaeologist
2．Which statement is true according to this article?
A．Not until King Tut’s tomb was found did people realize that Egyptian pharaohs
were buried with great ceremony and lavish treasures.
B．The first grand burial site of the ancient Egyptian rulers was built 3,200 years ago.
C．Historically, Tutankhamen’s reign was not very much important.
D．The writer feels it a pity that Lord Carnavon and several of the workmen died
because of the curse.
3．It seems clear that King Tut        .
A．was a great military leader      B．thought a great deal of himself
C．was afraid of dying  D．was killed by his enemies
4．If you have a myriad of something, you have          .
A．many       B．some C．few   D．several
5．Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A．King Tut’s Tomb     B．The Egyptian Tombs and Treasures
C．King Tut’s body      D．The First Pharaoh’s Treasures