A frightening example of the sea’s power saw 125,000 people die in 12 different countries last week. The terrible disaster was caused when a great earthquake sent tsunamis breaking into Indian Ocean coastlines. Various areas in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Malaysia and East Africa have been destroyed by the huge waves. Whole towns were simply swept aside by the power of the water. Cars, trains and buildings could not remain steady, not to say the people who stood in the way.

The earthquake measured 9.0 on the Richter scale and occurred off the coast of Indonesia. It was recorded as the fifth strongest since 1900. Scientists said the quake was as powerful as a million of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan during the World War II. “This may be the worst natural disaster in recent history because it is affecting so many heavily populated coastal areas.” said Jan Ege-land, a UN official.

Because such waves hardly happen in the Indian Ocean, there is no system in place to warn coastal people who are about to be hit. Tsunami is a Japanese word. They are usually caused by a sudden rise or fall of part of the Earth’s crust under the ocean. Tsunamis often happen in oceans and they are most common in the Pacific.

Tsunamis can be very long, as much as 100 kilometers. They are able to cross entire oceans without losing much energy. One of the most striking facts about tsunamis is that an earthquake on one side of the Pacific Ocean can cause huge waves on the other side.

When the ocean is deep, tsunamis can travel unnoticed at speeds of up to 800 kilometers per hour. They can cross the entire ocean in a day or less. The wave may only be a few meters high in the ocean, but when it is near the shore and reaches shallow water, the wave builds up very quickly in height.

61. How many countries were stricken by the terrible disaster?

         A. 6.                                      B. 12.                          C. 18.                          D. Not sure.

62. All of the following statements are true EXCEPT __________.

Tsunami is a word taken in from Japanese

Tsunamis are quite common in the Indian Ocean

The earthquake measured 9.0 on the Richter scale

No warning system has been set up to watch tsunamis there

63. We can know from this passage that __________.

the earthquake has been the strongest in the last century

the wave soon becomes higher when it reaches the shore

the atomic bombs were more powerful than the earthquake

tsunamis can cross entire oceans with almost the same energy

64. You’ll see the passage in __________ section of a newspaper most probably.

A. Sports                              B. Health                    C. News                      D. Culture

Parents should stop blaming themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.
I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I called round. Sprawling himself (懒散地躺) on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don’t know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”
He hasn’t forgotten them. He’s just decided that he’s not going to use them. She confessed (坦白) that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.
Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.
“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.
46. This text is most probably written by ______.
A. a specialist in teenager studies
B. a headmaster of a middle school
C. a parent with teenage children
D. a doctor for mental health problems
47. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ______.
A. the change from good to bad that’ s seen in a child
B. the way that parents often blame themselves
C. the opinion that a child has of his parents
D. the advice that parents want their children to follow
48. The boy on the sofa would most probably be described as ______.
A. lazy   B. quiet   C. unusual    D. rude
49. From the second example we can infer that the parents of the two daughters ______.
A. pay no attention to them
B. are too busy to look after them
C. have come to hate them
D. feel helpless to do much about them
50. What is the author’s opinion about the sudden change in teenage children?
A. Parents have no choice but to try to accept it.
B. Parents should pay still more attention to the change.
C. Parents should work more closely with school teachers.
D. Parents are at fault for the change in their children.

Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden change in pronunciation started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16^th century the British had contact with people from around the world. This means that many new words and phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Spelling and grammar became fixed and the dialect （方言）of London became the standard. In 1604, the first English dictionary was published.

The numbers of words in Early Modern English and Late Modern English differ. Late Modern English has a lot more words because of two main factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire covered one quarter of the earth’s surface, and the English language took in foreign words from many countries.

From around 1600, the English colonization(殖民地化)of North America resulted in the creation of American English. Some English pronunciation and words  froze when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English. Some expressions that the British call “ Americanisms” are in fact original （原先的）British expressions that were preserved (保存) in the colonies but were lost in Britain. Spanish also had an influence on American English, with words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante being examples of Spanish words that entered English. French words and West African words also influenced American English.

Today, American English is the most influential(有影响力的). But there are many other kinds of English around the world, including Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English , Indian English and Caribbean English. They have differences.

1.What can we know from Paragraph 1?

2.From Paragraph 2, we know that the Industrial Revolution __________.

3.The underlined word “froze” in Paragraph 3 shows that some English words in America___________.

4.What will the paragraph following this passage most probably discuss?

第二部分：阅读理解：（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）

阅读下面的短文，然后从A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

My father came to the United States as a Ukrainian immigrant （移民）when he was 14 years old. Unable to speak English but willing to do anything to succeed, he learned the language, and became a barber. He put his two daughters, my sister and me, through college during a time when most people thought that women didn’t need an education and that they should be satisfied by getting married and having children.

I was preparing to get married and my father was trying to practice the polka, a must at any Ukrainian wedding. But he couldn’t do it! He had lost the mobility（活动能力）in his leg and suffered a brain tumor（瘤）. He was forced to retire as a result of paralysis（瘫痪）of his right arm and leg. Dad had always worked two jobs and spent his spare time working around the house. Now his life came to a sudden stop. Yet never once did he complain. He bought rubber balls and spent his days trying to regain his hand mobility by squeezing those balls over and over.

After his second brain operation, he chatted pleasantly in the hospital room until a nurse flew into the room, waving her finger at me, and yelling, “You’d better tell your father to stay in bed. He is paralyzed and will never walk again. I am sick of picking him up and you’d better warn him to stay put!” My father smiled. He spent a great deal of time on the floor that year, but he eventually got up and walked.

My father lived nineteen more years after that second brain operation. He bought himself a motorized scooter（单脚滑行车）and spent years moving around the streets of Philadelphia. He was proud, free and always smiling.

56.In what way was the father different from most other people in his time?

A. He succeeded immigrating to the US.     

B. He learned the new language easily and quickly.

C. He achieved his life goal by working as a barber.   

D. He tried to offer his daughters the education chance.

57.   The underlined word “polka” in Paragraph 2 probably refers to ________.

A. a song     B. a dance         C. a rubber ball       D. a new language

58.   The author’s father played with rubber balls to ________.

A. kill his too much spare time     B. reduce his work pressure

C. get his hand mobility back       D. recover from the brain tumor

59.   What can we learn from the passage?

A. Love can create wonders.          B. Failure is the mother of success.

C. Father’s love is the most valuable.   D. Never give up your life and dream.