As a boy, Charles Robert Darwin collected anything that caught his interest: insects, coins and interesting stones. He was not very clever, but Darwin was good at doing the things that interested him.
His father was a doctor, so Darwin was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine, and was planned to follow a medical career. But Charles found the lectures boring. Then his father sent him to Cambridge University to study to be a priest. While at Cambridge, Darwin’s interest in zoology and geography grew. Later he got a letter from Robert Fitzroy who was planning to make a voyage around the world on a ship, the Beagle. He wanted a naturalist to join the ship, and Darwin was recommended(推荐). That voyage was the start of Darwin’s great life.
As the Beagle sailed around the world, Darwin began to wonder how life had developed on earth. He began to observe everything. After he was home, he set to work, getting his collection in order. His first great work The Zoology of the Beagle was well received, but he was slow to make public his ideas on the origin of life.
Later Darwin and Wallace, another naturalist who had the same opinions as Darwin, produced a paper together. Darwin’s great book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (《物种起源》) appeared. It attracted a storm. People thought that Darwin was saying they were descended from monkeys. What a shameful idea! Although most scientists agreed that Darwin was right, the Church was still so strong that Darwin never received any honors for his work.
Afterwards, he published another great work, The Descent of Man. His health grew worse, but he still worked. “When I have to give up observation, I shall die,” he said. He was still working on 17, April, 1882. He was dead two days later.
【小题1】Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Charles Darwin’s ideas

B．Charles Darwin’s works

C．Father of modern biology: Charles Darwin

D．The greatest scientist: Charles Darwin

A．his study at Cambridge University

B．his collection of coins

C．the naturalists at Cambridge

D．the voyage of the Beagle

A．they gave monkeys life

B．they were different from monkeys

C．they were developed from monkeys

D．they had to live with monkeys

C
A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office．The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teach- er, not his cellphone．The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr．Gallagher noticed the student's fingers moving on his lap．He was texting while being scolded for texting．"It was a subconscious act," says Mr．Gallagher, who took the phone away．"Young people today are con-nected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the moming until they close their eyes at night． It's compulsive．"
A study this year by psychology students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga．, found that the more time young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weaker study habits． Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more sociable, but they are alsomore likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed．
Almost a quarter of today's teens check Facebook more than 10 times a day, according to a2009 survey by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that monitors media's impact on families．Will these young people get rid of this habit once they enter the work force, or will employers cometo see texting and 'social-network checking' as accepted parts of the workday? Think bac．k．Whentoday's older workers were in their 20s, they might have taken a break on the job to call friends andmake after-work plans．In those earlier eras, companies discouraged non-business-related calls, and someone who made personal calls all day risked being fired． It was impossible to imagine the con-stant back-and-forth texting that defines interactions among young people today．Educators are alsobeing asked by parents, students and educational strategists to reconsider their rules．"In past gen-erations, students got in trouble for passing notes in class．Now students are good at texting withtheir phones stiU in their pockets," says 40-year-old Mr．Gallagher, the vice principal,  ”and they're able to communicate with someone one floor down and three rows over．Students are just fun-amentally different today．They will take suspensions rather than give up their phones．"
66．The underlined word“a subconscious act" in the first paragraph refers to an act______
A．on purpose                      B．without realization
C．in secret                       D．with care
67．Young people addicted to the use of Facebook______．
A．are good at dealing with the social relationships and concentrate on their study
B．have high spirits and positive attitudes towards their life and work
C．have been influenced mentally in the aspects of behaviors and habits
D．are always in bad mood and have poor performance in every respect
68．Through the situation of today's older workers in their 20s, it can be inferred that______．
A．the employers will not accept young people's sending text messages
B．a cellphone is a must for today's older workers instead of young people
C．the employers prefer older workers to young people
D．the employers will find it hard to control the interaction among young people
69． Mr． Gallagher reminds us that the students in the past and those today______．
A．like to break rules and have the same means of sending messages
B．are alwa)-s the big problem for the educators and their parents
C．like sending text messages but those today do it in a more secret and skillful way  
D．cannot live without a ceUphone
70．What's the best title of the passage?
A．Teenagers and CeLl．phones         B．Teenagers' Texting Addiction
C．Employers and Teenagers              D．Teenagers' Education    

Perhaps every older generation since ancient times has complained about young people, and today is no different. Isn’t it obvious that kids these days are self-absorbed social network addicts?
However, this summer, my impression of today’s kids has been restored by the story of Rachel Beckwith. She could teach my generation a great deal about maturity (成熟) and unselfishness — even though she’s just 9 years old, or was when she died on July 23.
At age 5, Rachel had her long hair cut off and sent to Locks of Love, which uses hair donations to make artificial hair for children who have lost their own hair because of cancer or other diseases. After that, Rachel announced that she would grow her hair long again and donate it again. And that’s what she did.
Then when she was 8 years old, her church began raising money to build wells in Africa through an organization called “charity: water”. Rachel was astonished when she learned that other children had no clean water, so she skipped her ninth birthday party. Rachel set up a birthday page on the charity: water website with a target of $300. Instead of presents, she asked her friends to donate $9 each to charity: water. Finally Rachel raised only $220 — which had left her just a bit disappointed.
Then, on July 20, a serious traffic accident left Rachel critically injured. Church members and friends, seeking some way of showing support, began donating on Rachel’s birthday page — charitywater.org/Rachel — and donations reached her $300 goal, and kept rising.
When it was clear that Rachel would never regain consciousness, the family decided to remove the life-support machine. Her parents donated her hair for the final time to Locks of Love, and her organs to other children.
Word spread about Rachel’s last fund-raiser (募捐行动). Contributions poured in, often they donated $9. The total donations soon topped $100,000, then $300,000.
This is a story not just of one girl, but of a young generation of outstanding problem-solvers working creatively.
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE of Rachel?

After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a spe­cial student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me. I was told it would mean a great deal to him, so I agreed.
During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy (肌肉萎缩症). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams.
I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we had finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “You are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”
Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:
Dick,
My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don’t have long to live any more, but I still smile as much as I can.
I told you someday that I would go to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I will never get to do that. However, I know I’m a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you for loving me.
Your friend,
Matthew
【小题1】 The boy looked forward to meeting the author because _________. 

第三部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题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。
　　Many people will remember the flight of the space shuttle（航天飞机）challenger，in June，1983. The achievement of Sally Ride，America’s first woman astronaut to fly into space，made this flight especially memorable. Students from two Camden, New Jersey, high schools, however, are probably to remember Norma rather than Sally whenever they think about the flight.
　　Norma didn’t travel alone. She brought about 100 companions along with her. Norma was an ant，a queen ant who，with her subject，made up the first ant colony（群体）to travel into space. The ants were part of a science experiment designed by students to test the effects of weightlessness on insects.
　　The equipment designed by the students for their colony functioned perfectly throughout the long space trip. The young scientists and their teachers were very sad to find that their insect astronauts had all died at some point before the container was returned to the school and opened. The problem didn’t occur in space，but on the ground after challenger had landed. The container remained in the desert for nearly a week before the ant colony was moved. The hot，dry desert air dried out the colony’s container and the ants died from lack of moisture（水分）.
　　The project was termed success because it did provide useful information. Students will continue their efforts to pinpoint（精确找到）what went wrong. They will try to prevent the same difficulties from reoccurring on future missions. They don’t want to be discouraged either by the demise of the ants or by the $ 10,000 shuttle fare they will have to pay to send the next colony of ants into space.
51．What does the passage mainly tell us？
A．Sally Ride，America’s first woman astronaut.
B．How to keep ants alive in space.
C．How to make equipment for insects in space.
D．An experiment with ants in space.
52．According to the passage, we know that the underlined word“demise”is another word for“_____”.
A．death 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　B．colony
C．insect　　　　　　　　　　　　　　D．moisture
53．We don’t think the project was a failure. This is because_____.
A．everything went as smoothly as expected
B．the students had pinpointed exactly the reason
C．something important had been learned
D．the students had succeeded in the experiment
54．We can conclude that ants _____ on the next space trip.
A．will have to be kept alive in a container full of water
B．will have to be sent into space with the first woman astronaut
C．should be put into a container where there is enough food
D．should be put into a container which is not too dry