.
Ⅳ.阅读理解（30分）
Everyone knows that the French are romantic, the Italians are fashionable and the Germans are serious. Are these just stereotypes(陈规) or is there really such a thing as national character? And if there is, can it affect how a nation succeeds or fails?
At least one group of people is certain that it can. A recent survey of the top 500 entrepreneurs(实业家) in the UK found that 70 percent felt that their efforts were not appreciated by the British public. Britain is hostile to success, they said. It has a culture of jealousy(嫉妒). As a result, the survey said, entrepreneurs were “unloved, unwanted and misunderstood”. Jealousy is sometimes known as the “green-eyed monster(怪物)” and the UK is its home. Scientists at Warwich University in the UK recently tested this idea. They gathered a group of people and gave each an imaginary amount of money. Some were given a little, others a great deal. Those given a little money were given the chance to destroy the large amounts of money given to others—but at the cost of losing their own. Two thirds of the people tested agreed to do this.
This seems to prove the entrepreneurs were right to complain. But there is also conflicting evidence. The Organization for Econnomic Cooperation and Development(OECD) recently reported that the UK was now the world’s fourth largest economy. That is not bad for people who are supposed to hate success. People in the UK also work longer hours than anyone else in Europe. So the British people are not lazy, either.
“It’s not really success that the British dislike,” says Carey Cooper, a Professor of management at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. “It’s people using their success in a way that seems arrogant(傲慢) or unfair or which separates them from their roots.”
Perhaps it is the entrepreneurs who are the problem. They set out to do things in their way. They work long hours. By their own efforts they become millionaires. But instead of being happy they complain that nobody loves them. If they were more friendly, people would like them more. And more people want to be like them.
56. What does the underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refer to?
A. One group of people.            B. A great survey.
C. National character.              D. A nation.
57. Most of the British top entrepreneurs surveyed believe that ________.
A. they are not popular simply because they are successful
B. the British public are hardworking
C. love of success is Britain’s national character
D. they are considered as “green-eyed monsters”
58. What does the result of the Warwich University test show?
A. Two thirds of the people tested didn’t love money.
B. Most people would rather fail than see others succeed.
C. An imaginary amount of money does not attract people.
D. Most people are willing to enjoy success with others.
59. The writer of the passage seems to suggest that _______.
A. jealousy is Britain’s national character
B. British entrepreneurs are not fairly treated
C. the scientists at Warwich University did a successful test
D. the British dislike the entrepreneurs because they do not behave properly

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题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。
A
As a boy, Mark Twain caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play practical jokes on all his friends and neighbors. The nature of his jokes often led to violence. He hated to go to school, and he constantly ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. He was fascinated by that mighty river. He liked to sit on the bank of the river for hours at a time just gaze at the mysterious islands and passing boats and rafts. He was nearly drowned nine different times. He learned many things about the river during those days. He learned all about its history and the unusual people who rode up and down it. He never forgot those scenes and those people. He later made them part of the history of America in his books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Mark Twain received his genius (天才) from his mother. Obviously he didn’t get it from his father. He after stated that he bad never seen a smile on his father’s face. On the other hand, his mother had the rare ability to say humorous things. The some ability made Mark Twain an extremely hum onus public speaker.
56．Because of the nature of his jokes when he was a child, Mark Twain would____.
A．ran away from school
B．cause his parents to quarrel with others
C．get into trouble with his friends and neighbors
D．like to sit no the bank of the Mississippi River
57．It can be learned from the text that____.
A．Mark Twain’s father was a cruel man
B．Mark Twain never attended school on time
C．Mark Twain often went boating in the nearby river
D．Mark Twain’s mother was something of a humorist
58．In his books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain wrote much about____.
A．the Mississippi and the people riding on it
B．his friends and neighbors
C．his school life
D．his parents
59．It is implied that what affected Mark Twain’s character mostly was____.
A．his practical jokes                 B．his father’s seriousness
C．the history of the Mississippi     D．his mother’s genius for humor

            I decided early in my college years that I wanted to experience living abroad before entering in the real world. During my senior year, while most of my friends were interviewing for “real world” jobs, I was investigating how I could go work in a different country. At that early stage of my inquiry I was pretty open about where to go and what kind of work to undertake. My desire to live abroad was so strong that I was willing to do anything anywhere.
Soon I learned about BUNAC, a program that seemed to be designed precisely for student with such interests. BUNAC offers work visas ( 签证 ) for students or recent graduates to work overseas. Of the six countries available, I chose England because of the language and opportunities for employment.
Two months after I graduated from college I went to Britain. I traveled throughout Europe for six weeks before arriving in London. I got to London on August 24, 1997 with a work visa, but no job or place to live. I have to admit it was pretty scary! The day after I arrived, I experienced my first British holiday --- a Bank Holiday, a national holiday that everything is closed for the day. It wasn’t until my third day that I visited the BUNAC office and I learned all about living and working in Britain, paying taxes, getting health insurance, traveling around Britain, finding accommodations and most importantly, finding a job. I was most scared about finding a job since my financial resources were running low and I needed to get my pay soon.
It turned out that finding a job was not so difficult. The BUNAC program is very well known in London and many employers participate in the program. As a result there are many employers in many different fields to choose from. My job search began when I chose three different business employers and faxed them my resume (简历). That first week I had three interviews. I accepted my first offer working for Merrill Lynch International Bank. The Merrill Lynch office I worked at was in a beautiful, old building located two blocks from Buckingham Palace. The people were nice and the work interesting.
It was easy to adjust to life in London. And there is so much to see that after six months exploring I probably covered only half of what I intended.
【小题1】 When the author studied at college she decided _________.

The United Nations says forty million people or so around the world went hungry in 2008, mainly because of higher food prices. Early estimates from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that 963 million people did not get enough to eat.
World food prices have dropped since early 2008. Prices of major crops have decreased by more than half from their height earlier last year. But they remain high compared to earlier years.
But FAO official Hafez Ghanem says lower prices have failed to end the food crisis (危机) in many poor countries. “For millions in developing countries,” he says, “getting enough food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant dream. ”
The FAO says food shortage is a threat to people's health. Today, two-thirds of the world's undernourished people live in just a few countries. These are India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Ethiopia and so on.
A report on food insecurity warns that the current economic crisis could send even more people into hunger and poverty.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of the people who continually go hungry fell from 34% in 1997 to 30% in 2008. But the FAO says Ghana is the only country that has reached two sets of hunger reduction targets. These were set by the 1996 World Food Summit and the Millennium Development Goals. The main reason is the growth in agricultural production in Ghana.
The FAO says some countries in Southeast Asia like Thailand and Vietnam have made progress in hunger reduction goals. But South Asia and Central Asia haven't, and North Korea is still in hot water.
【小题1】What FAO official Hafez Ghanem says implies（暗示）__________

In the United States, when one became rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.    
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ because ‘Jones’ is a very common name in the United States.’ “Keeping up with the Joneses”came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are ‘Jonses’ in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.
【小题1】Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.