PART THREE: READING COMPREHENSION (30分)
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
A
At dawn on Friday, May 19, 1780, farmers in New England stopped to wonder at the pink color of the sun. By noon the sky had darkened to midnight blackness, causing Americans, still in the painful struggle of a prolonged war of independence, to light candles and tremble at thoughts of the Last Judgment. As the birds quieted and no storm accompanied the darkness, men and women crowded into churches, where one minister commented that “The people were very attentive.” John Greenleaf Whittier later wrote that “Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp . . .”
A recent study of researchers, led by Richard Guyette from the University of Missouri’s Tree Ring Laboratory, has shown that vast forest fires in the Algonquin Highlands of southern Ontario and elsewhere in Canada brought this event upon New England. The scientists have discovered “fire scars” on the rings for that year, left when the heat of a wildfire has killed a part of a tree’s cambium (形成层). Evidence collected also points to a drought that year. An easterly wind and low barometric pressure (低气压) helped force smoke into the upper atmosphere. “The record fits pretty close,” says Guyette. “We had the right fuel, the drought. The conditions were all there.”
Lacking the ability to communicate quickly over long distances, Americans in 1780 remained in the dark about the event, which had disappeared by the next day. Over the next several months, the papers carried heated debates about what brought the darkness. Some were the voices of angry prediction, such as one Massachusetts farmer who wrote, “Oh! Backsliding New-England, attend now to the things which belong to your peace before they are forever hid from your eyes.” Others gave different answers. One stated that a “flaming star” had passed between the earth and the sun. Ash, argued another commentator. The debate, carried on throughout New England, where there were no scientific journals or academies yet, reflected an unfolding culture of scientific enquiry already sweeping the Western world, a revolution nearly as influential as the war for independence from the English.
New Englanders would not soon forget that dark day; it lived on in folklore, poems, and sermons for generations.
56. New Englanders crowded into churches because they were frightened by         .
A. the pink color of the sun      B. the darkened sky at daytime
C. the Last Judgment on Friday    D. the American War of Independence
57. What can we infer about the event in New England on May 19, 1780?
A. Prayers remained silent and attentive.
B. Night birds no longer came out to sing.
C. People’s ears became sharper than usual.
D. Midday meals were served by candlelight.
58. According to the researchers, the origin of the event was         .
A. an east wind                B. a severe drought
C. some burning fuel            D. low barometric pressure
59. What can we know about the debates after the dark day?
A. They focused on causes of the event.
B. They swept throughout the Western world.
C. They were organized by scientific institutions.
D. They improved Americans’ ability to communicate.
60. What can be the best title for the text?
A. New England’s dark day.  B. Voices of angry prediction.
C. There is no smoke without fire.       D. Tree rings and scientific discovery.

C

A woman whose sports car was stolen with her dog in it put up notices all over the area that made it clear that getting back her pet was more important than her car．

“Whoever did this can keep my car．Please let Benjerman come home,” the notice said．

It is not known whether the thief showed any pity, but almost 30 hours after the 1 pm theft Friday, Kimberly Atkins of Dover and Benjerman，a 12-year-old black retriever（猎犬），were reunited after police located them in Barrington．

“He’s hungry, he’s dirty, but he’s very happy to be home，”Atkins said．

The car was found at about 5 pm Saturday off Route 125 in a swampy area frequented by off-the-road cars and dirt bikes．However, the police couldn’t control Benjerman，and they had to call Atkins to come and get him．

Atkins said the thief cared for Benjerman a little by providing him with some dry cat food．She believed Benjerman ended up drinking some muddy water in the area．

She said they have been together for nearly 11 years after she took him back from a society shelter in Dallas, Texas．

Before Benjerman was found，Atkins and several friends put up notices all over the city and in Somersworth．They also contacted animal shelters，throughout southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The notice stated there was a reward，and also that the dog needed medication．Any caller could remain anonymous（匿名的）．

Atkins had parked the car outside a hardware store with the keys inside and gone into rent a carpet cleaner.

“It was l0 minutes and I came out and my car was gone along with Benjerman in broad daylight，” Atkins said．The car thief threw Atkins’ wallet and other personal items out of the car before escaping from the scene．

1. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．A car with a dog was stolen

B．Lucky dog was returned to his owner

C．Stealing cars：a most important social problem

D．Woman wants dog back more than stolen car

2. Which of the following shows the correct order of what happened?

a．Notices were put up saying there was a reward．

b．Atkins saw Benjerman again．

c．Police found Atkins’ car．

d．Atkins took Benjerman back from a society shelter． 

e．Atkins hired a carpet cleaner in a hardware store．

A．d,e,a, b,c          B．d,e,a,c,b           C．e,a,d,b,c           D．e,a,c,d,b

3.We can infer from the passage     ．

A．the dog was treated extremely badly by the thief

B．car stolen accidents happen frequently nowadays

C．the dog was found because of the reward

D．the thief stole the car easily

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Benjerman was sent back immediately after Atkins put up the notices．

B．Atkins and her friends made a great effort to look for Benierman．

C．The thief gave the dog back but kept the sports car．

D．The dog was back at 1 pm on a Friday．

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A line of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes marched across the South on Friday, peeling away roofs, overturning cars and killing at least 11 people in Tennessee, officials said.
It was the second wave of violent weather to hit the state in less than a week. Last weekend, tornadoes killed 24 people in the western part of the state and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and buildings.
The storms crossed an area from northern Mississippi to northern Virginia as they moved to the northeast late Friday after developing from a low-pressure system in the central Plains.
The Nashville suburbs were the hardest hit, with at least eight deaths happening northeast of the city. Three more people were killed in a rural area about 65 miles southeast of Nashville.
Tornadoes were also reported in some other places. The storms pulled up trees, knocked down power lines and damaged buildings. What’s worse, phone lines and most businesses were out of service. Hospitals admitted at least 60 people with storm-related injuries and transferred at least nine badly injured patients to Nashville hospitals.
In southern Indiana, the storms damaged some areas with golf ball-sized hail. High winds blew the roof off a country club and overthrew a semitrailer（拖车）. As the storms moved farther east, parts of West Virginia were lashed with heavy rain and winds, great damages caused.
The number of tornadoes in the US has jumped through the first part of 2006 compared with the past few years. Through the end of March, an estimated 286 tornadoes had hit the US, compared with an average of 70 for the same three-month period in each of the past three years.
The number of tornado-related deaths was 38 before Friday's storms. The average number of deaths from 2003 to 2005 was 45 a year, the prediction center said.
【小题1】 How many deaths have the thunderstorms and tornadoes on Friday caused?

C
At dawn on Friday, May 19, 1780, farmers in New England stopped to wonder at the pink color of the sun. By noon the sky had darkened to midnight blackness, causing Americans, still in the painful struggle of a prolonged war of independence, to light candles and tremble at thoughts of the Last Judgment. As the birds quieted and no storm accompanied the darkness, men and women crowded into churches, where one minister commented that “The people were very attentive.” John Greenleaf Whittier later wrote that “Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp . . .”
A recent study of researchers, led by Richard Guyette from the University of Missouri’s Tree Ring Laboratory, has shown that vast forest fires in the Algonquin Highlands of southern Ontario and elsewhere in Canada brought this event upon New England. The scientists have discovered “fire scars” on the rings for that year, left when the heat of a wildfire has killed a part of a tree’s cambium (形成层). Evidence collected also points to a drought that year. An easterly wind and low barometric pressure (低气压) helped force smoke into the upper atmosphere. “The record fits pretty close,” says Guyette. “We had the right fuel, the drought. The conditions were all there.”
Lacking the ability to communicate quickly over long distances, Americans in 1780 remained in the dark about the event, which had disappeared by the next day. Over the next several months, the papers carried heated debates about what brought the darkness. Some were the voices of angry prediction, such as one Massachusetts farmer who wrote, “Oh! Backsliding New-England, attend now to the things which belong to your peace before they are forever hid from your eyes.” Others gave different answers. One stated that a “flaming star” had passed between the earth and the sun. Ash, argued another commentator. The debate, carried on throughout New England, where there were no scientific journals or academies yet, reflected an unfolding culture of scientific enquiry already sweeping the Western world, a revolution nearly as influential as the war for independence from the English.
New Englanders would not soon forget that dark day; it lived on in folklore, poems, and sermons for generations.
66. New Englanders crowded into churches because they were frightened by_____.
A. the pink color of the sun       B. the darkened sky at daytime
C. the Last Judgment on Friday    D. the American War of Independence
67. What can we infer about the event in New England on May 19, 1780?
A. Prayers remained silent and attentive.    B. Night birds no longer came out to sing.
C. People’s ears became sharper than usual.  D. Midday meals were served by candlelight.
68. According to the researchers, the origin of the event was_________.
A. an east wind    B. a severe drought   C. some burning fuel   D. low barometric pressure
69. What can we know about the debates after the dark day?
A. They focused on causes of the event.
B. They swept throughout the Western world.
C. They were organized by scientific institutions.
D. They improved Americans’ ability to communicate.
70. What can be the best title for the text?
A. New England’s dark day.      B. Voices of angry prediction.
C. There is no smoke without fire.  D. Tree rings and scientific discovery.

It was the summer of 1965. Deluca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked Deluca about his plan for the future. “I'm going to college, but I need a way to pay for it,” Deluca recalls saying, “Buck said, ‘you should open a sandwich shop.’”

That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, Buck wrote a check for $1,000. Deluca rented a storefront (店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn't cover their start­up costs, Buck kicked in another $1,000.

But business didn't go smoothly as they expected. Deluca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn't know how badly, because we didn't have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.

Deluca was managing the store and to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They'd meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, ‘We are so successful; we are opening a second store.’” And they did—in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.

But the partners' learn­as­you­go approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, Deluca would drive around and hand­deliver the checks to pay their supplies. “It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn't necessary but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out,” Deluca says.

And having a goal was also important. “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal,” Deluca adds.

Deluca ended up founding Subways Sandwich, the multimillion­dollar restaurant chain.

1. Which of the following is true of Buck?

A. He put money into the sandwich business.

B. He was a professor of business administration.

C. He was studying at the University of Bridgeport.

D. He rented a storefront for Deluca.

2.What can we learn about their first shop?

A. It stood at an unfavorable place.

B. It lowered the prices to poor management.

C. It made no profits due to poor management.

D. It lacked control over the quality of sandwich.

3.They decided to open a second store because they ________.

A. had enough money to do it

B. had succeeded in their business

C. wished to meet the increasing demand of customers

D. wanted to make believe that they were successful

4.What contributes most to their success according to the author?

A. Learning by trial and error.             

B. Making friends with supplies.

C. Finding a good partner.                

D. Opening chain stores.