阅读理解

　　It was late afternoon. Farmer Lum was walking home from his fields. His feet sank deep in the thick dust. A dry, hot wind blew dust across the brown fields. The raining season was late this year. Everything needed rain. Even the water in the village well was getting low.

　　Every morning Farmer Lum stepped from his house and looked at the sky. But there were no clouds. And every night before he went to bed, he looked at the sky. Even a small cloud might bring rain by morning. But no rain fell.

　　Early one morning several days later Farmer Lum was woken up by a heavy rain. He got up quickly, went to the door, and stepped outside. He held out his hands to catch the cool drops of rain. He breathed deeply. How good the rain smelled!

　　After a few days of rain, the ground was soft enough to be ploughed. Every morning Farmer Lum got up early to drive his ox to the fields. Soon the seed-bed in the corner of the field was ready for planting. He took the grains of rice from the bag carefully because he did not want to lose a single one. Then he planted them in the soft, wet soil.

　　While Farmer Lum planted the rice, his wife planted vegetable seeds in the garden by the house.

　　After a few days Farmer Lum and his wife began to pull the young seedlings(幼苗) from the wet soil and took them to the field to plant. Several months later the rice was ready for harvesting. Again Farmer Lum and his wife went to the field. This time they cut the long yellow stalks(梗), then put them in the sun to dry. Later Farmer Lum dove the ox back and forth over the stalks to loosen(使松开) the grain from them. Then he and his wife tossed (抛) the stalks high in the air, and the grains of rice fell off the stalks onto the ground. Before they finished, they had gathered every grain of rice.

　　When evening came, Farmer Lum sat in front of his house. He smiled, because the rice crop was good. In fact, it was the best rice crop he had ever had. He would have enough to feed his family and there would be some left over to sell. Maybe he would be able to buy a colour TV set.

1．Every morning Farmer Lum stepped from his house and looked at the sky because ________.

[　　]

A．he had been looking forward to rain

B．he liked to count the stars in the sky

C．he liked the clouds in the sky

D．he liked to breathe the fresh air outside the door

2．One morning when Farmer Lum found it was raining heavily, ________.

[　　]

A．he felt afraid

B．he was surprised at it

C．he felt very happy

D．he felt very sad

3．Farmer Lum took the grains of rice from his beg carefully because ________.

[　　]

A．his beg was broken

B．he wanted to choose some good seeds

C．he was very old and he had to take the seeds out of his bag slowly

D．he did not want to lose a single one

4．After several months Farmer Lum and his wife began to ________.

[　　]

A．harvest rice

B．drive their ox to the field

C．plant vegetable seeds in the garden by the house

D．plan to buy something in town

第二节 完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I was 14 when Mr. Ingram knocked on our farmhouse door in Sacred Heart. Okla. The old farmer   36  about a mile away and needed an assistant to help out grass. It was the first time I had been actually   37  for work.

Mr. Ingram was   38  with the job I did and ended up hiring me to dig potatoes. I even   39  when a   40  cow was being born.

One day he found an old truck that was   41  in the   42  ， sandy soil of the melon field. Was full of melons that someone had tried to steal before their truck got stuck.

Mr. Ingram explained that the truck's owner would be returning soon, and he wanted me to   43   the truck and lean(倚靠) against it. Soon a man from a nearby village, who had a terrible   44  for fighting and stealing,   45   with his two full – grown sons. They looked   46  .

While   47   Mr. Ingram said, “Well, I see you want to buy some   48  .”

There was a long silence   49   the man answered, “Yeah, I guess so. What are you getting for them?”

“Three dollars each,”   50  said immediately. “Well, I guess that would be   51   enough if you help me get my truck out of here,” the man bargained.

It   52  out to be our biggest sale of the summer, and an unpleasant, perhaps unfortunate incident had been   53  . After they left, Mr. Ingram smiled and said to me, “Son, if you don’t   54   your enemies, you’re going to run out of friends.” Mr. Ingram died a few years later, but I have never forgotten him or what he taught me   55   my first job.

36．A．covered      B．went  C．lived   D．ran

37．A．charged     B．paid   C．inquired     D．blamed

38．A．strict B．disappointed      C．unsatisfied         D．content

39．A．assisted     B．disturbed   C．included     D．existed

40．A．father         B．mother       C．baby  D．brother

41．A．struck         B．dropped     C．fallen D．stuck

42．A．soft    B．hard   C．smooth      D．tough

43．A．glare at      B．watch         C．spot   D．stare at

44．A．honor          B．custom       C．reputation D．habit

45．A．took down B．showed up          C．set out       D．broke up

46．A．sad   B．angry C．happy         D．pleased

47．A．hardly         B．anxiously   C．calmly         D．noisily

48．A．truck  B．watermelons     C．tomatoes  D．grass

49．A．before        B．after  C．since  D．unless

50．A．they   B．the sons     C．I         D．the farmed

51．A．expensive  B．sure   C．friendly       D．fair

52．A．turned        B．came C．broke D．stood

53．A．caused       B．postponed C．prevented D．cancelled

54．A．hate   B．forgive        C．admire       D．abandon

55．A．under          B．below         C．off      D．on

阅读下面短文，撑握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

One summer day my father sent me to buy wire for our farm. At 16, I liked 1better than driving our truck, 2this time I was not happy. My father had told me I’d have to ask for credit(赊账) at the store.

Sixteen is a 3age, when a young man wants respect, not charity. It was 1976, and the ugly 4of racial discrimination was 5a fact of life. I’d seen my friends ask for credit and then stand, head down, while the store owner 6whether they were “good for it.” I knew black youths just like me who were 7like thieves by the store clerk each time they went into a grocery.

My family was 8. We paid our debts. But before harvest, cash was short. Would the store owner 9us ?

At Davis’s store, Buck Davis stood behind the cash desk, talking to a farmer. I nodded 10I passed him on my way to the hardware shelves. When I brought my 11to the cash desk, I said 12, “I need to put this on credit.”

The farmer gave me an amused, distrustful 13. But Buck’s face didn’t change. “Sure,” he said 14. “Your daddy is 15good for it.” He  16to the other man. “This here is one of James Williams’s sons.”

The farmer nodded in a neighborly 17. I was filled with pride. James William’s son. Those three words had opened a door to an adult’s respect and trust.

That day I discovered that the good name my parents had  18brought our whole family the respect of our neighbors. Everyone knew what to 19from a Williams: a decent person who kept his word and respected himself 20much to do wrong.

1.A. something   B. nothing    C. anything    D. everything

2.A. and         B. so         C. but         D. for

3.A. prideful    B. wonderful  C. respectful  D. colorful

4.A. intention   B. shadow     C. habit       D. faith

5.A. thus        B. just       C. still       D. ever

6.A. guessed     B. suspected   C. questioned   D. figured

7.A. watched     B. caught     C. dismissed   D. accused

8.A. generous    B. honest     C. friendly    D. modest

9.A. blame       B. excuse     C. charge      D. trust

10.A. until       B. as         C. once        D. since

11.A. purchases   B. sales      C. orders      D. favorites

12.A. casually    B. confidently   C. cheerfully   D. carefully

13.A. look    B. stare   C. response   D. comment

14.A. patiently   B. eagerly    C. easily   D. proudly

15.A generally    B. never   C. sometimes   D. always

16.A. pointed     B. replied   C. turned   D introduced

17.A. sense   B. way   C. degree   D. mood

18.A. earned   B. deserved   C. given    D. used

19.A. receive   B. expect   C. collect   D. require

20.A. very     B. so     C. how     D. too

In the Caucasus region of the Soviet Union, nearly 50 out of every 100,000 people live to celebrate their 100^th birthday, and many don’t stop at 100! By comparison, in America only 3 people in 100,000 reach 100. But these Soviet old people aren’t alone. The Pakistani Hunzas, who live high in the Himalaya Mountains, and the Vilacbambans of the Andes Mountains in Ecuador seem to share the secret of long too.

These peoples remain healthy in body and spirit despite the passage of time. While many older persons in industrial societies become weak and ill in their 60s and 70s, some Soviet Georgians, aged 110 to 140, work in the fields beside their great- great- grandchildren. Even the idea of aging is foreign to them. When asked, “At what age does youth end?”, most of these old people has no answer. Several replied, “Well, perhaps at age 80.” The very youngest estimate was age 60.

What accounts for this ability to survive to such old age, and to survive so well? First of all, hard physical work is a way of life for all of these long-lived peoples. They begin their long days of physical labor as children and never seem to stop. For example, Mr. Rustam Mamedov is 142 years of age. He remember his life experiences: the Grimean War of 1854; the Turkish War of 1878; the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. His wife is 116 years old. They have been married for 90 years. Mr. Mamedov has no intentions of retiring from his life as a farmer. “Why? What else would I do?” he asks. Oh, he has slowed down a bit. Now he might quit for the day after 6 hours in the field instead of 10.

All these people get healthful rewards from the environment in which they work. They all come from mountainous regions. They live and work at elevations of 5,000 to 12,000 feet (1,660 to 4,000 meters) above sea level. The air has less oxygen and is pollutionfree. This reduced-oxygen environment makes the heart and blood vessel system stronger.

Another factor that may contribute to the good health of these people is their isolation. To a great extent, they are separated from the pressures and worried of industrial society.

Inherited factors also play some role. Most of the longest-lived people had parents and grandparents who also reached very old ages. Good family genes may, therefore, be one factor in living longer.

Finally, although these three groups don’t eat exactly the same foods, their diets are similar. The Hunzas, Vilacbambans, and Soviets eat little animal meat. Their diets are full of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, cheese, and milk. They never eat more food than their bodies need.

It is clear that isolation from urban pressures and pollution, clean mountain air, daily hard work, moderate diets, good genes, and a youthful approach to life all contribute to the health and remarkable long life of all these people.

1. What kinds of things contribute to the remarkable long life of these peoples?

A. Moderate diets                    B. Clean mountain air.

C. Daily hard work.                  D. All the above factors（因素）.

2. How do you think the author feels about these long-lived people?

A. He is impressed with them          B. He doesn’t care.

C. He doesn’t like them.             D. He admires them.

3.According to the passage, the phrase “the passage of time” means         .

A. have time to do what they want     B. being on time

C. time going by                      D. limited time

4.In the passage, why does the author describe Mr. Mamedov?

A. An example of a typical long life among these people.

B. An example of an unusual long life among these people.

C. An explanation of why he is still healthy.

D. An example of why his wife died early than him.

5.What is the main subject of this article?

A. Mr. Mamedov’s life.

B. A description of several societies where people live a long time.

C. Suggestions for how you can live long life.

D. People are healthy in mountainous regions.

The website “FarmersOnly.com” calls itself an online dating and friendship finder. The idea started in the mind of a man, Jerry Miller in Ohio. He wondered how farmers could meet new people who understand the life of a farmer. Jerry Miller is not a farmer but he represents a lot of farmers.

As he tells it, the idea for the site was planted when a farmer told him one day that she was recently divorced and would like to date. But someone would invite her to meet for coffee at nine o’clock at night, when she had to start her day at five the next morning.

So, in 2005, Jerry Miller launched his website. “You don’t have to be a farmer to be on FarmersOnly.com, but you do have to have the good old-fashioned traditional values of America’s Heartland.” 

You also have to live in the United States or Canada to be a member of the site. Some services are free, but a full membership costs fifty dollars for a year. As of last week the site listed more than 58,000 members. Many of them are farmers in the United States. Others are students or workers involved in some way with agriculture. Jerry Miller tells us about thirty marriages in the last year have resulted from his website.

Some farmers have also found love through a group, Singles in Agriculture, which was formed as a nonprofit organization in 1986. It organizes gatherings that usually end with a dance, but is not a dating service. The purpose is to support educational and social activities that offer people a chance for friendship. Its website, singlesinag.org, says there are more than 1,000 members across the nation and as far away as France.

1.Jerry Miller started singlesinag.org in order to     .

A. help farmers                                         B. represent farmers

C. support traditions                               D. understand farmers

2.Which of the following is true of singlesinag.org?

A. It provides dating services.

B. Only farmers can become its members.

C. Its services are free.

D. Farmers in France can’t benefit from it.

3. The author of the text intends to     .

A. advertise for the two websites

B. urge readers to help farmers

C. intro duce two websites

D. encourage social activities

4.It can be inferred from the text that     .

A. farmers are easy to meet new people

B. the Internet helps improve farmers’ social life

C. all farmers desire marriage

D. more farmers get divorced in the USA