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。
　　Many people will remember the flight of the space shuttle（航天飞机）challenger，in June，1983. The achievement of Sally Ride，America’s first woman astronaut to fly into space，made this flight especially memorable. Students from two Camden, New Jersey, high schools, however, are probably to remember Norma rather than Sally whenever they think about the flight.
　　Norma didn’t travel alone. She brought about 100 companions along with her. Norma was an ant，a queen ant who，with her subject，made up the first ant colony（群体）to travel into space. The ants were part of a science experiment designed by students to test the effects of weightlessness on insects.
　　The equipment designed by the students for their colony functioned perfectly throughout the long space trip. The young scientists and their teachers were very sad to find that their insect astronauts had all died at some point before the container was returned to the school and opened. The problem didn’t occur in space，but on the ground after challenger had landed. The container remained in the desert for nearly a week before the ant colony was moved. The hot，dry desert air dried out the colony’s container and the ants died from lack of moisture（水分）.
　　The project was termed success because it did provide useful information. Students will continue their efforts to pinpoint（精确找到）what went wrong. They will try to prevent the same difficulties from reoccurring on future missions. They don’t want to be discouraged either by the demise of the ants or by the $ 10,000 shuttle fare they will have to pay to send the next colony of ants into space.
51．What does the passage mainly tell us？
A．Sally Ride，America’s first woman astronaut.
B．How to keep ants alive in space.
C．How to make equipment for insects in space.
D．An experiment with ants in space.
52．According to the passage, we know that the underlined word“demise”is another word for“_____”.
A．death 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　B．colony
C．insect　　　　　　　　　　　　　　D．moisture
53．We don’t think the project was a failure. This is because_____.
A．everything went as smoothly as expected
B．the students had pinpointed exactly the reason
C．something important had been learned
D．the students had succeeded in the experiment
54．We can conclude that ants _____ on the next space trip.
A．will have to be kept alive in a container full of water
B．will have to be sent into space with the first woman astronaut
C．should be put into a container where there is enough food
D．should be put into a container which is not too dry

Section B  

Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once.   Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. environment        B. necessarily  C. allowed        D. cheated       E. hardly

F. admitted       G. communication   H. necessary    I. joy          J. difficulty

    A relative of mine once asked me: “Why should a Chinese take time to learn a language that is not his own?” Obviously he has ___37___ in learning a foreign language. He is not the only one who is mentally against English learning. One reason, as I suspect, is the way English is taught. The emphasis on memorization is such that no ___38___ is left in the process, only endless irritation. What students are presented in the classroom is not the language in real-world ___39___. A Chinese student with extremely high scores for American standardized tests was ___40___ into one of the most famous universities. But his professors soon found out that he could ___41___ understand them in the classroom. Suspecting that he ___42___ in the tests, the school demanded he repeat them. Again, he passed with high scores. Not till then did they realize that the student had mastered the techniques for dealing with the tests, not ___43___ the skills of using the language.

　　Many people take TOFEL, IELTS, GRE, annual Band 4 and Band 6 exams not because they work in areas where English is a ___44___ tool, but because they have to do it for job promotion or enrolment in certain programmes.

　　Must English learning be such a pain in the neck?

　　Create a(n)___45____ where learning English is natural and painless. Don't make it compulsory for people whose work or major does not require it. China will not become more international by adding millions of people who can only say a simple "Hello."

America is growing older. Fifty - eight years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. To day, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect（影响）American society in many ways—education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society—one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior（行为） is suitable（合适）at various , ages.
　　A person s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29 - year - old university president or a 35 - year -old grandmother, or a 70 year - old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.
　　Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother— or my father— was at my age. ”No one says“Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.
【小题1】It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America ________ .

When next year’s crop of high-school graduates arrive at Oxford University in the fall of 2009, they’ll be joined by a new face; Andrew Hamilton, the 55-year-old provost (教务长) of Yale, who’ll become Oxford’s vice-chancellor—a position equivalent to university president in America.

　　Hamilton isn’t the only educator crossing the Atlantic. Schools in France, Egypt, Singapore, etc, have also recently made top-level hires from abroad. Higher education has become a big and competitive business nowadays, and like so many businesses, it’s gone global. Yet the talent flow isn’t universal. High-level personnel tend to head in only one direction: outward from America.

　　The chief reason is that American schools don’t tend to seriously consider looking abroad. For example, when the board of the University of Colorado searched for a new president, it wanted a leader familiar with the state government, a major source of the university’s budget. “We didn’t do any global consideration,” says Patricia Hayes, the board’s chair. The board ultimately picked Bruce Benson, a 69-year-old Colorado businessman and political activist (活动家) who is likely to do well in the main task of modern university presidents: fund-raising. Fund-raising is a distinctively American thing, since U.S. schools rely heavily on donations. The fund-raising ability is largely a product of experience and necessity.

　　Many European universities, meanwhile, are still mostly dependent on government funding. But government support has failed to keep pace with rising student number. The decline in government support has made funding-raising an increasing necessary ability among administrators and has hiring committees hungry for Americans.

　　In the past few years, prominent schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2003, when Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor, the university publicly stressed that in her previous job she had overseen “a major strengthening of Yale’s financial position.”

　　Of course, fund-raising isn’t the only skill outsiders offer. The globalization of education means more universities will be seeking heads with international experience of some kind of promote international programs and attract a global student body. Foreigners can offer a fresh perspective on established practices.

1.What is the current trend in higher education discussed in the passage?

A.Institutions worldwide are hiring administrators from the U.S.

B.A lot of political activists are being recruited as administrators.

C.American universities are enrolling more international students.

D.University presidents are paying more attention to funding-raising.

2.What is the chief consideration of American universities when hiring top-level administrators?

A.The political correctness.

B.Their ability to raise funds.

C.Their fame in academic circles.

D.Their administrative experience.

3.What do we learn about European universities from the passage?

A.The tuitions they charge have been rising considerably.

B.Their operation is under strict government supervision.

C.They are strengthening their position by globalization.

D.Most of their revenues come from the government.

4.Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard as its vice-chancellor chiefly because _____.

A.she was known to be good at raising money

B.she could help strengthen its ties with Yale

C.she knew how to attract students overseas

D.she had boosted Yale’s academic status

5.In what way do top-level administrators from abroad contribute to university development?

A.They can enhance the university’s image.

B.They will bring with them more international faculty.

C.They will view a lot of things from a new perspective.

D.They can set up new academic disciplines.

第二节完形填空（共15小题；每小题1分，满分15分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36-50各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Many years ago, I met with much difficulty with my life and work. I felt so  36 that I wanted to give up.
37  , a speech changed me. At the beginning of the speech, the well-known professor held up a $20 bill. In the room of 200 people, he asked, "Who would   38  this $20 bill?" 　　Hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this.” He crumpled(弄皱) the 20 dollar note up. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” Still the   39   were up in the air. “Well,” he replied, “what if I do this?” He   40   it onto the ground and started to grind(碾) it into the floor   41   his shoe. He   42   it up, now crumpled and dirty. “Now, who still wants it?” Still the hands went into the air. “My friends, you have all learned a very valuable  43  . No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it stayed the same in   44  . It was still worth $20.”
　　“Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we   45   and the circumstances that come on our way. We   46   as if we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will   47  lose your value,” he went on,　　“Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those   48   love you. The   49   of our lives comes, not in what we do or who we know, but by ...WHO WE ARE.” 　　“You are   50   — don’t ever forget it.”
36. A. optimistic     B. cheerful     C. pessimistic     D. worried
37. A. However     B. Therefore     C. Actually      D. Indeed
38. A. borrow         B. like         C. dream         D. have
39. A. hands        B. people      C. dollars        D. heads
40. A. brought       B. got         C. turned         D. dropped
41. A. through      B. with         C. under          D. in
42. A. broke        B. fed          C. picked         D. carried
43. A. advice       B. news         C. tip            D. lesson
44. A. value        B. note          C. quality        D. number
45. A. thought      B. impressed       C. took          D. made
46. A. find         B. feel           C. look         D. sound
47. A. never        B. ever          C. still          D. hardly
48. A. whom        B. which        C. who          D. whose
49. A. experience    B. pleasure       C. worth        D. difficulty
50. A. common      B. intelligent     C. reliable       D. special