第三部分：阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分；共30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

A man walks into a doctor’s office. He has a cucumber (黄瓜) up his nose, a carrot in his left ear and a banana in his right ear. “What's the matter with me?” he asks the doctor. The doctor replies, “You’re not eating properly.”

This is a popular joke among British school children. It shows Britain's famous dry and satirical (讽刺的) way of seeing the funny side of life. People say this unique sense of humor is one of Britain's national characteristics.

The British sense of humor is different from other countries because it is often more negative. When it comes to making the British laugh, there is nothing that works better than a socially inappropriate (不恰当的) joke. It reflects the culture where mocking (嘲弄) is part of everyday life.

While most Britons don’t take these jokes too seriously, foreigners often don’t understand them. A recent survey found that most foreigners who visited Britain think the British are “unfriendly and have almost no sense of humor”.

Are the British just not as funny as they think they are? Leo McKinstry, a British journalist, thinks the British are funny. “Accusing the British of having no sense of humor is like telling Rolls-Royce (劳斯莱斯) that its cars are cheap and not good in quality,” he says.

56. What does the doctor actually mean by the remark “You’re not eating properly”?

A. What you have had is the cause of these problems.   B. You are not having the right food.

C. You don’t eat the way people usually do.           D. You eat with the wrong cutlery. ( 餐具 )

57. The word “dry” in Paragraph 2 means ________.

A. without water or liquid inside                 B. special and popular among school children

C. dull and meaningless                        D. funny and clever while seeming to be serious

58. Why do most visitors, who once visited Britain, think that the British are unfriendly?

A. Because the British always take things seriously.

B. Because the British have no sense of humor.

C. Because the British are cold and difficult to get along with.

D. Because the British have a different sense of humor.

59. Which of the following is NOT the characteristics of British humor?

A. dry and satirical                             B. negative and mocking

C. encouraging and gentle                        D. clever and witty

“Mobile phone killed my man,” screamed one headline last year. Also came claims that an unpublished study had found that mobile phones could cause memory loss. And a British newspaper devoted its front page to a picture supposedly showing how mobile phones could heat the brain.

     For anyone who uses a mobile phone, these are worrying times. But speak to the scientists whose work is the focus of these scares and you hear a different story.

     One of the oddest effects comes from the now famous “memory loss” study. Alan Preece and his colleagues at the University of Bristol placed a device that imitated the microwave radiation of mobile phones to the left ear of volunteers. The volunteers were good at recalling words and pictures they had been shown on a computer screen. Preece says he still can’t comment on the effects of using a mobile phone for years on end. But he rules out the suggestion that mobile phones have an immediate effect on our cognitive（认识的）abilities. “I’m pretty sure there is no effect on short-term memory,” he says.

     Another expert, Tattersall, remarked that his latest findings have removed fears about memory loss. One result, for instance, suggests that nerve cell synapses（神经元突触） exposed to microwaves become more — rather than less — receptive to undergoing changes linked to memory formation.

An even happier outcome would be that microwaves turned out to be good for you. It sounds crazy, but a couple of years ago a team led by William Adey at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California found that mice exposed to microwaves for two hours a day were less likely to develop brain tumours when given a cancer-causing chemical.

“If it doesn’t certainly cause cancer in animals and cells, then it probably isn’t going to cause cancer in humans,” says William. And while there’s still no absolute evidence that mobile phone use does damage your memories or give you cancer, the conclusion is: don’t be afraid.

1. Mobile phone users are worried because ______.

A. they are not sure whether mobile phones can cause memory loss

B. it’s said that mobile phones have a lot of side effects

C. one headline reported “Mobile phone killed my man”

D. a British newspaper showed mobile phones could heat the brain

2. According to this passage, we can know that _____.

A. the mobile phone is a most wonderful invention

B. there’s no need to worry about the radiation from mobile phones

C. something must be done to stop people using mobile phones

D. mobile phone companies shouldn’t cheat customers

3. What would be the best title for this passage? ______.

A. New Mobile Phones.                         B. Special Mobile Phones.

C. New Special Investigation: Mobile Phones.      D. New Investigation.

He lived his whole life as a poor man. His art and talent were recognized by almost no one. He suffered from a mental（精神的）illness that led him to cut off part of his left ear in 1888 and to shoot himself two years later. But after his death, he achieved world fame. Today, Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh is recognized as one of
the leading artists of all time.
　　Now, 150 years after his birth on March 30, 1853, Zundert, the town of his birth, has made 2003 “The van Gogh Year”in his honor. And the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, home to the biggest collection of his masterpieces, is marking the anniversary（周年纪念）with exhibitions throughout the year. The museum draws around 1.3 million visitors every year. Some people enjoy the art and then learn about his life. Others are first interested in his life, which then helps them understand his art.
Van Gogh was the son of a pastor（牧师）. He left school when he was just 15. By the age of 27, he had already tried many jobs including an art gallery（画廊）salesman and a French teacher. Finally in 1880, he decided to begin his studies in art.
Van Gogh is famed for his ability to put his own emotions into his paintings and show his feelings about a scene. His style is marked by short, broad brush strokes（笔画）.“Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use color more freely, in order to express myself more forcibly,” he wrote in a letter to his brother in 1888.
Van Gogh sold only one painting during his short life. He relied heavily on the support from his brother, an art dealer who lived in Paris. But now his works are sold for millions of dollars. His portrait of Dr. Gacher sold for $89.5 million in 1990. It is the highest price ever paid for a painting. “I think his paintings are powerful and the brilliant colors in them are attractive to people,” said a Van Gogh’s fan.
【小题1】All through his life, Van Gogh __________.

　　He lived his whole life as a poor man He suffered from a mental illness that led him to cut off part of his left ear in 1888 and to shoot himself two years later. But after his death, he achieved the world fame.

　　* And the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, home to the biggest collection of his masterpieces, is marking the anniversary with exhibitions throughout the year.

　　“He is a big fame like Einstein and Beethoven. He is such a great figure. We are always amazed by how popular he is and his popularity seems to be growing.” said Andreas Bluehm, the museum's head of exhibitions.

　　Van Gogh was the son of a pastor. He left school when he was just 15. By the age of 27, he had already tried many jobs including an art gallery salesman and a French teacher. Finally in 1880, he decided to begin his studies in art.

　　“Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes. I use colour more freely, in order to express myself more forcibly,” he wrote in a letter to his brother, Theo, in 1888.

　　Van Gogh sold only one painting during his short life. But now his works are sold for millions of dollars. His “Portrait of Dr. Gachet” was sold for US 89.5 million in 1990. It is the highest price ever paid for a painting.

1．The second paragraph mainly tells us that ________.

[　　]

A．the Van Gogh Museum is located in Amsterdam

B．the Van Gogh Museum has the biggest collection of Van Gogh'smasterpieces

C．exhibitions will be held in honor of Van Gogh

D．the Van Gogh Museum will hold exhibitions the whole year through for Van Gogh

2．The underlined word “figure” in the third paragraph means “________”.

[　　]

3．The writer cited a part of a letter written by Van Gogh to show Van Gogh's ________.

[　　]

4．Choose the right order of the given events.

a．He worked as a French teacher.

b．He achieved the world fame.

c．He left school. d. He cut off his left ear.

e．He shot himself. f. He began studies in art.

[　　]

“Mobile phone killed my man,” screamed one headline last year. Also came claims that an unpublished study had found that mobile phones could cause memory loss. And a British newspaper devoted its front page to a picture supposedly showing how mobile phones could heat the brain.
For anyone who uses a mobile phone, these are worrying times. But speak to the scientists whose work is the focus of these scares and you hear a different story.
One of the oddest effects comes from the now famous “memory loss” study. Alan Preece and his colleagues at the University of Bristol placed a device that imitated the microwave radiation of mobile phones to the left ear of volunteers. The volunteers were good at recalling words and pictures they had been shown on a computer screen. Preece says he still can’t comment on the effects of using a mobile phone for years on end. But he rules out the suggestion that mobile phones have an immediate effect on our cognitive（认识的）abilities. “I’m pretty sure there is no effect on short-term memory,” he says.
Another expert, Tattersall, remarked that his latest findings have removed fears about memory loss. One result, for instance, suggests that nerve cell synapses（神经元突触） exposed to microwaves become more — rather than less — receptive to undergoing changes linked to memory formation.
An even happier outcome would be that microwaves turned out to be good for you. It sounds crazy, but a couple of years ago a team led by William Adey at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California found that mice exposed to microwaves for two hours a day were less likely to develop brain tumours when given a cancer-causing chemical.
“If it doesn’t certainly cause cancer in animals and cells, then it probably isn’t going to cause cancer in humans,” says William. And while there’s still no absolute evidence that mobile phone use does damage your memories or give you cancer, the conclusion is: don’t be afraid.
【小题1】 Mobile phone users are worried because ______.

A．they are not sure whether mobile phones can cause memory loss

B．it’s said that mobile phones have a lot of side effects

C．one headline reported “Mobile phone killed my man”

D．a British newspaper showed mobile phones could heat the brain