第二部分：阅读理解(共25小题，第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分)
第一节：阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。                              A
Endless sea, sand and sunshine on a tiny island--everyone' s idea of heaven. Who wouldn' t want to live in such a place.?
One person who certainly does is Ben Southall, from the UK. The 34-year-old was one of more　than 34,000 people who applied for the post of "caretaker" on Hamilton Island, Australia, which　the local government called "the best job in the world". The position starts in July and runs for six months. The salary is 150,000 Australian dollars(780,639 yuan).
Why Southall? Well, first let's take a look at the criteria(标准) for the job: "We're looking for applicants who like to have adventures, have a great love of the outdoors and have good commu-nication skills. "
On his application video, Southall expressed a love of adventure and included photographs of himself riding an ostrich(鸵鸟 ), running a marathon, diving, and kissing a giraffe. "From the time he was announced in the Top 50, and then the Top 16, Southall did a great job by showing true ex-citement about Queensland," Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said in a statement.
"His ideas for how he will make the role his own.., as well as his ability to rise to a challenge impressed the judges and helped him to win his place in the top job," Lawlor said.
Southall was born in Coventry, UK and used his parents' home as a base for his adventures. He had an old Land Rover that he used for a charity-fund-raising trek(跋涉) across Africa which in-volved joining in five marathons( a 42.16 km race) and climbing five mountains.
"It was sometimes hard work to make him get his head down and do his work because he always wanted to be outside," his mother said about his early years.
"He wanted to go surfing in South Africa, so he got a job house-sitting to pay for it. We regu-larly ask him when he is going to get a proper job, but he is confident and has a strong set of friends and is a great social animal. Now he has got the perfect job for his skills," said his father.
So, you see? No matter what type of person you are, there's always the possibility of getting a dream job. How' s that? Just read the job descriptions carefully and think about how your skills and qualities fit with the ones needed for the job. That' s what Southall did to get his job.
41. The post of "caretaker" on Hamilton Island is said-to be the best job in the world mainly because of_____
A. a beautiful landscape                          B. a short working time
C. great pay for a fun job                          D. very good weather
42. According to Lawlor, what wasn' t the reason that helped Southall win the job?
A. His outstanding application video
B. His passion for the job and ability to face up to challenges
C. His great love of adventures
D. His true excitement about the Austrilian lifestyle
43. Which of the following statements about Southall is true?
A. He did a poor job in school when he was young.
B. He worked as a house-sitter to raise charity funds.
C. He has won five marathons.
D. He is good at communicating with others.
44. We can leam from Southall that_____
A. the world offers opportunities for everyone    
B. setbacks will only make you stronger
C. all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy  
D. where there is a will, there is a way

Bill Javis took over our village’s news-agency at a time of life when most of us only wanted to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-a??gency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at 6:00 a. m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his doorstep before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the after??noon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometimes in the afternoon, the evening paper landed on the doorway, and at 4 o’clock Bill reopened his shop. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the af??ternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was aston??ished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had no luck, I could see, but he was making no effort to move.

“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire en??gine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, “Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.”

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

Bill Javis became a news-agent when _______.

A. he needed the money      

B. he was quite an old man

C. he decided to take up fishing  

D. he gave up clock-repairing

Bill opened the shop so early in the day because _______.

A. he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B. the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C. he was never sure of time

D. it was then that he did a lot of business

From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

A. The bell was－it must have gone off at the wrong time.

B. Bill was－he had dropped off to sleep.

C. The writer’s watch was－it was fast.

D. Bill’s clock was－it was old.

Sparrow is a fast-food chain with 200 restaurants. Some years ago, the group to which Sparrow belonged was taken over by another company. Although Sparrow showed no sign of declining, the chain was generally in an unhealthy state. With more and more fast-food concepts reaching the market, the Sparrow menu had to struggle for attention. And to make matters worse, its new owner had no plans to give it the funds it required.

Sparrow failed to grow for another two years. Until a new CEO, Carl Pearson, decided to build up its market share. He did a survey, which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain, while customers of other fast-food chains were unwilling to turn away from them. Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign.

Pearson faced a battle over the future of the Sparrow brand. The chain’s owner now favored rebranding Sparrow as Marcy’s restaurants. Pearson resisted, arguing for an advertising campaign designed to convince customers that visits to Sparrow restaurants were fun. Such an attempt to establish a positive relationship between a company and the general public was unusual for that time. Pearson strongly believed that numbers were the key to success, rather than customers’ speeding power. Finally, the owner accepted his idea.

The campaign itself changed the traditional advertising style of the fast-food industry. The TV ads of Sparrow focused on entertainment and featured original songs performed by a variety of stars. Instead of showing the superiority of a specific product, the intention was to put Sparrow in the hearts of potential customers.

Pearson also made other decisions which he believed would contribute to the new Sparrow image. For example, he offered to lower the rent of any restaurants which achieved a certain increase in their turnover (营业额) .

These efforts paid off, and Sparrow soon became one of the most successful fast-food chains in the regions where it operated.

1.Which was one of the problems Sparrow faced before Pearson became CEO?

A．The number of its customers was declining

B．Its customers found the food unhealthy

C．It was in need of financial support

D．Most of its restaurants were closed

2.What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Customers of Sparrow restaurants           B．Sparrow restaurants

C．Customers of other fast-food chains         D．other fast-food chains

3.For what purpose did Pearson start the advertising campaign?

A．To build a good relationship with the public

B．To stress the unusual tradition of Sparrow

C．To lean about customers’ spending power.

D．To meet the challenge from Marcy’s restaurants.

4.The TV ads of Sparrow ________ .

A．changed people’s views on pop stars

B．amused the public with original songs

C．focused on the superiority of its products

D．influenced the eating habits of the audience

5.What was Pearson’s achievement as a CEO?

A．He managed to pay off Sparrow’s debts.

B．He made Sparrow much more competitive

C．He helped Sparrow take over a company

D．He improved the welfare of Sparrow employees

Sparrow is a fast-food chain with 200 restaurants. Some years ago, the group to which Sparrow belonged was taken over by another company. Although Sparrow showed no sign of declining, the chain was generally in an unhealthy state. With more and more fast-food concepts reaching the market, the Sparrow menu had to struggle for attention. And to make matters worse, its new owner had no plans to give it the funds it required.
Sparrow failed to grow for another two years. Until a new CEO, Carl Pearson, decided to build up its market share. He did a survey, which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain, while customers of other fast-food chains were unwilling to turn away from them. Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign.
Pearson faced a battle over the future of the Sparrow brand. The chain’s owner now favored rebranding Sparrow as Marcy’s restaurants. Pearson resisted, arguing for an advertising campaign designed to convince customers that visits to Sparrow restaurants were fun. Such an attempt to establish a positive relationship between a company and the general public was unusual for that time. Pearson strongly believed that numbers were the key to success, rather than customers’ speeding power. Finally, the owner accepted his idea.
The campaign itself changed the traditional advertising style of the fast-food industry. The TV ads of Sparrow focused on entertainment and featured original songs performed by a variety of stars. Instead of showing the superiority of a specific product, the intention was to put Sparrow in the hearts of potential customers.
Pearson also made other decisions which he believed would contribute to the new Sparrow image. For example, he offered to lower the rent of any restaurants which achieved a certain increase in their turnover (营业额) .
These efforts paid off, and Sparrow soon became one of the most successful fast-food chains in the regions where it operated.
【小题1】Which was one of the problems Sparrow faced before Pearson became CEO?

High school students need “cool” jobs in summer holidays. Working at popular retail chains(零售连锁店) and ice-cream shops are good choices. The U.S. Department of Labor(美国劳工部) says that about two-thirds of the teenager workers are in fast food business. 1/5 of cooks and food workers are between 16 and 19 years old and 2/5 of food workers are part-time workers.
If you think taking a part-time job is easier, you are wrong. For young people, whatever you do, do your jobs well. Because a good work record will be useful for higher-paid jobs in the future. Let’s share my story.
Unless with my family members, I would go to eat fast food. That doesn’t mean I don’t like working in a fast food restaurant. My first part-time job, at age 16, was at the McDonald’s in Bloomington, Indiana. It was very hard work. Especially on Indiana University football weekends, we had no time to rest, but we still had a lot of fun. Finally I got a higher-paid job.
A future manager believes that difficult work encourages success. The growing U.S. population will bring more restaurants. While many people can’t deal with the pressure(压力) to fill orders quickly, the people who really do a great job will get plenty of rewards in the workplace.
【小题1】According to the U.S. Department of Labor, ______.