III. Reading Comprehension （35分）
Section A
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
There was a man who played the piano in a small bar. There were not too many ___46___, but because he was a good piano player, some people ___47___ came in every night just to hear him play. But one night, a patron (老顾客) told him he didn’t want to hear him play but to sing a song.
The man said, “I have never done that before in public. I think I’m ___48___ at playing the piano.” But the customer ___49___. He told the waiter, “I’m ___50___ listening to the piano day after day. I want to hear something new and I want that guy to sing.”
The waiter ___51___ across the room, “Hey, buddy! If you want to get ___52___, sing a song. The patrons are asking you to sing!”
So in order no bring some money home that night, the piano player who had never sung in public did so for the very first time. And ___53___ had ever heard the song Mona Lisa sung before ___54___ that night by Nat King Cole, and it surprised all, including the ___55___ himself.
He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar, but ___56___ he had to sing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in America.
You, too, have skills and ___57___. You may not feel as if your “talent” is particularly ___58___, but it may be better than you think! And with persistence, most skills can be ___59___. Besides, you may as well have no ability at all if you sit on whatever talent you possess. The ___60___ is not “What ability do I have that is useful?” It is rather “How will I use whatever ability I have?”
46.   A. waiters       B. players       C. singers       D. customers
47.   A. never         B. still     C. ever    D. only
48.   A. better  B. nicer   C. easier  D. sooner
49.   A. agreed       B. worried      C. insisted      D. charged
50.   A. familiar with     B. fond of      C. used to      D. tired of
51.   A. complained       B. shouted      C. explained   D. served
52.   A. changed     B. fired          C. paid    D. praised
53.   A. nobody      B. anybody     C. somebody   D. everybody
54.   A. since   B. after   C. until   D. when
55.   A. waiter B. singer C. patron D. owner
56.   A. unless B. although     C. because      D. if
57    A. advantages B. characters   C. abilities      D. principles
58.   A. different    B. surprising   C. famous       D. great
59.   A. improved   B. wasted       C. recognized        D. impressed
60    A. decision     B. difficulty    C. question     D. solution

阅读下列信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。

A. When I take notes I always rewrite them. I also add things as I go, especially from the readings that I feel are important. This helps me remember things better and as I look things up in the text and add notes, it brings a deeper understanding of the material.

   B. When I have to learn a new word, I write down the word and its meaning in the back of my notebook. Then I make sure to use the word at least 7 times in the next week. I put a check next to the word each time I use it to be sure. This way I can remember that word better.

   C. I sit in the front of the classroom. That way there are no distractions between me and the teacher. The further back you sit, the more kids there are in front of you who can distract you.

   D. I watch my teachers carefully for clues about what’s most important. Some start moving around a lot, some raise their voice, and some start moving their hands about. When this happens, I write down what they’re saying in my notebook.

   E. Here are some tips on how to create a good study environment: Find a place to study and keep it for study only. Tool-up the environment with all study needs. Control the noise level at acceptable levels. Avoid relaxing while working.

   F. When I work on math problems, I write each step as I do it. This makes me think carefully about what I am doing. If the answer doesn’t seem right, I can go back through the steps I wrote to see where I went wrong.

    阅读下列学习方面的问题，并与上面的经验相匹配。

   1. I love learning new words, but I’m confused about how to remember them well. Whenever I meet a new word, I look it up in the dictionary for its meaning and write it down. However, a few days later, I’ll forget what the word means. It’s really a headache.

   2. I can’t concentrate on what the teacher says in class. I sit at the back of the classroom. What the students in the front row do always attracts my attention. I’m wondering if anyone else has the same problem.

   3. It’s impossible to write down everything the teacher says in my notebook. I have been told to take down the important points, but how can I tell which points are important?

   4. I take good notes in class. I’m curious to know how to make good use of these notes to improve my understanding. I’m often confused about how to deal with the notes.

   5. I enjoy studying at home at night or over the weekend. But sometimes I just can’t focus. I think it’s the study environment that makes me not feel like studying. Who can tell me how to improve the study environment?

The first time I saw Carlos I would never have believed he was going to change my life. I had my arms full of books and I was tearing into the classroom when I ran into something solid. It was Carlos.
“My, you’re tall,” he said.
Of course, the class began to laugh. Angry, I walked to my seat without a word.
I glanced back to see if Reed Harrington was laughing with the rest. That would be the last straw. But Reed was studying chemistry and did not seem to be aware of anything else. I didn’t know why I considered Reed my friend. Maybe just because he was a good two inches taller than I. Anyway, every time I blew out my birthday candles and made a wish, it was for a date with Reed Harrington. “Take that seat,” Mr. McCarthy told the proud newcomer Carlos, pointing to the only empty one, in the back of the room.
Carlos smiled broadly. “But I need a couple of dictionaries.” Again the class laughed, but now they were laughing with Carlos, not at him. He had been here only 10 minutes and already he had them on his side.
It was the school elections that made me think of Carlos again. Reed Harrington was voted president and Carlos vice president. “How come?” I kept asking myself. “How come this shrimp(虾) who’s only been in town for a little over a month gets to be so popular.”
So on that morning, I stopped Carlos and said, “It doesn’t seem to bother you—being short.” He looked up at me. “Of course I mind being short. But there isn’t anything I can do about it. When I realized I was going to have to spend my life in this undersized skin, I just decided to make the best of it and concentrate on being myself.” “You seem to get along great,” I admitted. “But what about me? Nobody wants to date a girl taller than he is.” “The trouble with you is you’re afraid to be yourself. You’re smart. And you could be pretty. In fact, you might be more than pretty.” I felt myself turning red...
【小题1】
Which of the following is true according to the passage?

I keep hammering this because I keep seeing people who don’t do it.

1. Look up English to Elvish.

2. Look up the Elvish word in the best Elvish dictionary you have, and, preferably, find out the context（上下文） in Tolkien’s language dictionary.

3. Change the word to suit rules of grammar: singular or plural, mutations, verb tenses, etc.

You cannot leave out any of these steps. If you do, you’re almost certain to have errors. Why you have to do step 2:

Languages never match up one- to-one. English and Elvish are closer than usual, but there are still problems. And English has strange idioms: why are there no baths or beds in public bathrooms or restrooms? You can’t translate literally（逐字地）. You have to understand the meaning behind each word.

In Elvish this is even more true, since our dictionaries contain more or less questionable reconstructions, and words that Tolkien later threw away or replaced. Find the best one you can.

Consider the word “fair”. We tend to use it to mean “just”. Tolkien tends to use it to mean “beautiful”. In Elvish, these are two entirely different words. So when you look up “fair”, you’ll have to go to the Elvish dictionary to see that you’ve got the right one.

Consider the nightmare（噩梦） of He left the bar. Is “left” the opposite of “right” （which also has two meanings） ? Is “bar” extruded steel（型材钢）, or something to do with law? You have to know what words mean in both languages.

And you’d be amazed at how many people ignore step 3, forgetting that language is more than a string of words, and there are rules about how to fit those words together. You can’t simply look up the word “I” and use it everywhere. Sometimes you need “me” or “my”. There’s a reason it takes a while to learn a language: you have to learn the rules.

It drives me completely mad when people give a questionable translation they insist is right because “it’s in the dictionary”. A dictionary is a tool, a resource. but its entries（词目）should not be mistaken for a finished product. They are raw materials.

1.The underlined word “this” in paragraph 1 refers to         .

A. consulting the dictionaries when translating between languages

B. finding out the true meaning in context

C. ignoring the rules of grammar

D. leaving out some of the three steps the author mentions

2. According to the author, you have to do step 2 because         .

A. you have to understand the meaning behind each word

B. Elvish and English are quite different in forms

C. there are no baths or beds in public bathrooms

D. Elvish has some words which are hard to find

3.Grammar is also very important because it         .

A. helps fit the words together

B. takes a while to learn a language

C. is a rule to obey

D. is often forgotten in translating

4.In the last paragraph, the author shows         .

A. his impatience to those who insist their wrong translation is right

B. his puzzle to the questionable translation

C. the importance of the correct use of dictionaries

D. the mistaken entries in the dictionaries

5. The passage is mainly about how to         .

A. learn a foreign language with a dictionary

B. avoid errors when looking up a dictionary

C. understand the meaning of a strange word

D. use a dictionary to translate between languages

The first time I saw Carlos I would never have believed he was going to change my life. I had my arms full of books and I was tearing into the classroom when I ran into something solid. It was Carlos.

“My, you’re tall,” he said.

Of course, the class began to laugh. Angry, I walked to my seat without a word.

I glanced back to see if Reed Harrington was laughing with the rest. That would be the last straw. But Reed was studying chemistry and did not seem to be aware of anything else. I didn’t know why I considered Reed my friend. Maybe just because he was a good two inches taller than I. Anyway, every time I blew out my birthday candles and made a wish, it was for a date with Reed Harrington. “Take that seat,” Mr. McCarthy told the proud newcomer Carlos, pointing to the only empty one, in the back of the room.

Carlos smiled broadly. “But I need a couple of dictionaries.” Again the class laughed, but now they were laughing with Carlos, not at him. He had been here only 10 minutes and already he had them on his side.

It was the school elections that made me think of Carlos again. Reed Harrington was voted president and Carlos vice president. “How come?” I kept asking myself. “How come this shrimp(虾) who’s only been in town for a little over a month gets to be so popular.”

So on that morning, I stopped Carlos and said, “It doesn’t seem to bother you—being short.” He looked up at me.“Of course I mind being short. But there isn’t anything I can do about it. When I realized I was going to have to spend my life in this undersized skin, I just decided to make the best of it and concentrate on being myself.” “You seem to get along great,” I admitted. “But what about me? Nobody wants to date a girl taller than he is.” “The trouble with you is you’re afraid to be yourself. You’re smart. And you could be pretty. In fact, you might be more than pretty.” I felt myself turning red...

1. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

   A. The writer cared much about Reed’s attitude.

   B. Carlos isn’t popular with the classmates.

   C. The writer is always confident with herself.

   D. Carlos always makes fun of the writer.

2.From the passage, we can conclude _______________.

   A. Carlos is as tall as the writer

   B. Carlos fell love with the writer later

   C. the writer is very tall

   D. Reed, Carlos and the writer became good friends later

3.What can we use to describe Carlos’ character?

   A. Handsome and proud                                B. Humorous and confident

C. Diligent and helpful                                D. Hardworking and popular

4.What’s the best title of the passage?

   A. A girl and a boy.                                                    B. My shortcomings.

   C. My helpful classmates.                                      D. A change in my life.