When 47-year-old volunteer Susan Boyle stepped onto the stage of Britain’s Got Talent and announced she was unemployed, had never been married and “never been kissed, actually”, few in the audience would have wondered why. This Ms Boyle, looking unfashionable, from a village in Scotland, shocked the three judges and the audience with the song I dreamed a dream from the musical Les Miserables on a show of Britain’s Got Talent, one of the hottest reality shows in Britain.

She couldn’t hide the awkwardness when walking to the center of the stage in a housedress, and everyone — including the judges — seemed laughing at her when she said she wanted to be as successful as Elaine Paige. As soon as she began singing, however, everyone in the auditorium fell silent, then rose within seconds to applaud her incredible voice as the celebrity judges sat open-mouthed, and remained standing to the end.

After her performance, one of the judges Piers Morgan said, “Without doubt that was the biggest surprise I’ve had in three years of this show. When you stood there everyone was laughing at you. No one is laughing now. That was amazing.” Actress Amanda Holden followed, “I’m so thrilled because I know that we everybody were against you. I honestly think that we were all being very cynical (愤世嫉俗的) and I think that’s the biggest wake up call ever.”

Susan obviously won over the hearts of millions around the world with sensation spreading across the Atlantic. Hollywood actors Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore — who between them have nearly 1.5 million followers — speak highly of her. Kutcher posted a link to the video clip (片段). The Scottish talent made her live American debut via satellite connection on CBS’s The Early Show, doing an interview and singing live from her room. And she already accepted an invitation from talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Now Boyle has become one of the world’s hottest celebrities. The video clip of her performance has been viewed more than 50 million times on Youtube, becoming a hit on the Internet.

We learn from the passage that Susan Boyle ______.

A. rose from a low social class

B. had an unhappy marriage

C. lived with a dog alone on a farm

D. won the championship in the Britain’s Got Talent show

At the beginning of the show, almost everybody ______.

A. looked forward to her wonderful performance

B. was attracted by her beautiful dress

C. looked down upon her

D. placed great hope on her

We can infer that ______ contributed most to her global popularity.

A. the judges   B. the Internet   C. the newspaper   D. the advertisement

The 4^th paragraph intends to tell us ______.

A. how Susan Boyle achieved her success

B. the comment made by American actor Ashton Kutcher

C. Susan Boyle’s influence in the USA

D. Oprah Winfrey’s invitation to Susan Boyle

IV、写作（共两节，满分为40分）
第一节基础写作（共1题，满分15分）
2009年10月31日，著名科学家钱学森在北京逝世。请根据下列信息以“A Great Scientist”为题写一篇介绍钱学森的英语短文。

姓名： 钱学森 （ 1911-2009 ） 个人经历：1911年出生于上海，1935年留学美国，获博士学位。五十年代几经波折回 到中国。 职业成就：在中国的导弹技术和航空航天领域做出了卓越的贡献。被誉为“中国航天之父”和“火箭之王”。 所获特别奖项及相关情况：获两弹一星特别奖章；中国科协将国际编号为3763号的小行星命名为“钱学森”星。

Satellites are an important part of our ordinary lives．For example, the information for weather forecasts is sent by satellite．Some satellites have cameras which take photographs of the Earth to show how clouds are moving．Satellites are also used to connect our international phone calls．

Computer connections of the World Wide Web and Internet also use satellites. Many of our TV programs come to US through satellites．Airplane pilots also sometimes use a satellite to help them find their exact location．

We use satellites to send television pictures from one part of the world to another．They are usually 35，880 kilometers above the equator．Sometimes we can see a satellite in the sky and it seems to stay in the same place．This is because it is moving around the world at 11，000 kilometers an hour—exactly the same speed that the earth rotates．A satellite must orbit the Earth with its antennae(天线)facing the earth．Sometimes, it moves away from its orbit，So there are little rockets on it which are used to put the satellite back in the right position．This usually happens about every five or six days．

Space is not empty! Every week, more and more satellites are sent into space to orbit the Earth．A satellite usually works for about 10-12 years．Satellites which are broken are sometimes repaired by astronauts or sometimes brought back to Earth to be repaired．Often，very old or broken satellites are left in space to orbit the Earth for a very long time．This is very serious because some satellites use nuclear power and they can crash into each other．

1.Which of the following is NOT done by satellites according to the passage?

A．Sending information for weather forecast．

B．Taking photographs of the Earth．

C．Sending TV pictures．

D．Providing food for airplane pilots．

2.What’s the speed the earth rotates at?

A．35,880 kilometers per hour．     B．335,880 kilometers per hour．

C．11,000 kilometers per hour．     D．110,000 kilometers per hour

3.Why does the satellite move around the world at the same speed as the Earth rotates?

A．In order to take photographs．

B．In order to stay in a certain position in the orbit．

C．In order to move away from its orbit．

D．In order to send television pictures．

4.What does the underlined word “This” in the 3^rd paragraph refer to?

A．A satellite． 

B．A little rocket．

C．A satellite seems to stay in the same place in the sky．

D．The satellite puts the rockets in the right position．

5.Which is true of satellites?

A．A satellite usually works for about 10-12 years．

B．Every time a satellite gets broken，it is brought back to the Earth to be repaired．

C．A broken satellite is never left in space．

D．They often crash into each other．

Now satellites are helping to forecast（预报）the weather. They are in space, and they can reach any part of the world. The satellites take pictures of the atmosphere（大气）, because this is where the weather forms（形成）. They send these pictures to the weather stations. So meteorologists（气象学家）can see the weather of any part of the world. From the pictures, the scientists can often say how the weather will change.

 Today, nearly five hundred weather stations in sixty countries receive satellite pictures. When they receive new pictures, the meteorologists compare（比较）them with earlier ones. Perhaps they may find that the clouds have changed during the last few hours. This may mean that the weather on the ground may soon change, too. In their next weather forecast, the meteorologists can say this.

 So the weather satellites are a great help to the meteorologists. Before satellites were invented, the scientists could forecast the weather for about 24 or 48 hours. Now they can make good forecasts for three or five days. Soon, perhaps, they may be able to forecast the weather for a week or more ahead（提前）.

Satellites travel _____________.

A. in space               B. in the atmosphere

C. above the ground       D. above space

Why do we use the weather satellites to take pictures of the atmosphere? Because __________.

A. the weather satellites can do it easily

B. clouds form there

C. the weather forms there

D. the pictures can forecast the weather

Meteorologists forecast the weather __________.

A. when they have received satellite pictures

B. after they have compared new satellite pictures with earlier ones

C. before they received satellite pictures

D. during they study satellite pictures

The main（主要的）idea of this passage is that satellites are now used in _________.

A. taking pictures of the atmosphere

B. receiving pictures of the atmosphere

C. doing other work in many ways

D. weather forecasting

.

第二部分：阅读理解(第一节20小题，第二节5小题；每小题2分，满分50分)

第一节：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，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。

They say that before long，we will be able to receive more than 500 television networks on cable or by satellite .Some people think that it's ridiculous to have that many channels．Their usual criticism goes something like this：

“I already get more channels on my TV than I have time to watch．No one needs to see that much TV．There’s not enough time in the day to watch all that!”They also state that most of what’s on television now isn’t worth watching in the first place．

I think they’re missing the point．If the local library wanted to add another 5,000books,would

we say“That’s silly,we’ll never have time to read all those books．”?The point is that we would

have more choices．

I don’t believe that most people should watch more television And if we had 500 or even 1,000 channels to choose from，we wouldn’t have to spend more time watching the tube．We would．however,have a better selection of programs to choose from．That means that the quality of our viewing time would improve．

I，for one，say that the more channels we can access，the better,Give me more choices! If they’re not worth my time，I’ll just hit the“off”button．

41．The author’s main purpose of writing this article is to tell readers

A．his opinion about having more channels on TV

B．some people think it unnecessary to have so many TV channels

C．we will soon have more channels on TV

D．how to choose proper programs on TV

42．According to the passage，some people dislike having more channels because _______．

A．they already get enough channels on their TV

B．it's a waste of time to watch TV programs

C．some of the TV programs are poor in quality

D．they can’t afford enough time to watch so many programs

43．According to the author having more channels means_______．

A．having more good programs

B．having more choices

C．having more time to watch TV

D．getting more information over TV

44．Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A  People usually don’t have enough time to see all the programs on TV．

B．More and more television networks are being set up

C．People will think it silly if the local library adds another 5．000 books．

D  If we have more channels，we can improve the quality of our viewing time．