The company had to______a number of workers because of the drop in sales.

A.see off      B.take off     C.cut off         D.lay off

So absorbed _______ in her work that she didn’t realize it was time to pick up her daughter.

A. she was         B. was she            C. did she      D. she did

B

The government of Norway is planning to build an unusual storage center on an island in the Arctic Ocean. The place would be large enough to hold about two million seeds. The goal is to represent all crops known to scientists. The British magazine New Scientist published details of the plan last month. The structure will be designed to protect the world’s food supply against nuclear war, climate change and other possible threats. It will be built in a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. The mountain is less than one thousand kilometers from the North Pole, the northernmost position on Earth.

An international group called the Global Crop Diversity Trust is working on the project. The director of the group, Cary Fowler, spoke to New Scientist. He said the project would let the world rebuild agriculture if, in his words,“the worst came to the worst.” Norway is expected to start work next year. The project is expected to cost three million dollars. Workers will drill deep in the side of a sandstone mountain. Temperatures in the area never rise above zero degrees Celsius. The seeds will be protected behind concrete walls a meter thick and high—security doors.

The magazine report says the collection will represent the products of ten thousand years of farming. Most of the seeds at first will come from collections at seed banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America. To last a long time, seeds need to be kept in very low temperatures. Workers will not be present all the time. But they plan to replace the air inside the storage space each winter. Winter temperatures on the island are about eighteen degrees below zero Celsius. The cold weather would protect the seeds even if the air could not be replaced.

Mr. Fowler says the proposed structure will be the world’s most secure gene bank. He says the plant seeds would only be used when all other seeds are gone for some reason. Norway first proposed the idea in the 1980s. But security concerns delayed the plan. At that time, the Soviet Union was permitted use of Spitsbergen. New Scientist says the plan won United Nations approval in October at a meeting in Rome of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

55.The project is meant to_______.

A.increase the world’s food production in the future

B.carry out some scientific experiments on plant genes

C.protect crop seeds from dying out in case of possible disasters

D.build an exhibition centre of the world’s plant seeds

56.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the above passage?

A.The government of Norway will perform the project alone.

B.Seeds to be collected there were produced ten thousand years ago.

C.Spitsbergen is chosen because it is away from the threat of unclear war forever.

D.Temperature is a major consideration when choosing the storage place.

57.We can infer from the text that_______.

A.People will get newly?developed seeds from the center every year

B.The storage center will greatly promote the development of world agriculture

C.Norway meant to have built the storage centre more than 20 years ago

D.There haven’t been any seed storage centers in the world before

58.What is probably the best title of the passage?

A.Noah’s Ark(诺亚方舟) of Plant Seeds in Plan.      B.The Best Place to Store Seeds.

C.Concerns of World Food Supply.                 D.A New Way to Feed the World.

第二节 完形填空 (共20小题，每小题1.5分，满分30分)

    阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从31—50 各题后给的A，B，C，D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

In a national spelling contest in America，an 11-year-old girl was asked to spell a certain word. But with her  31  voice the judges were not sure if she spelled the word with the letter A or E. They talked it over and  32  decided to simply ask her what she had said. By now，the girl knew she had  33  the word. But instead of lying，she told the truth that she had said the  34  letter. So she lost the contest.

　　  As the girl walked off the  35 ，the entire audience stood to their feet clapping to applaud her　36  .

　    Later，dozens of newspaper reporters wrote about this 11-year-old girl's honesty，even when it  37  her the contest. But the fact is that she  38  the biggest contest that day: the contest of her   39  .

　　Probably the biggest test of our character and honesty is what we would do if we knew we would never get  40  .This young girl could easily have  41  and nobody would have known it but herself. But that's just it: She would know she did wrong. It's been said, "If you  42  , you make yourself cheap." This young girl was strong and smart enough to prize her own  43  and character more than the prize from a spelling  44  . Her respect for herself was more important than any   45  others might give her for winning a contest. She knew she would have to live with herself and the  46  she made in that moment will have long-lasting influence.

　　  It's so true that the choices you make today  47  what you are tomorrow. Our children will  48  our behavior much more than our advice. So if we want them to  49  to be honest，we must show them the way by being honest ourselves. Remember，our kids are  50  what we do and how we live even when we don't think they see or know.

31. A. high           B. sweet             C. tough             D. soft

32. A. finally         B. kindly            C. secretly          D. totally

33. A. forgotten       B. mispronounced    C. misspelled       D. lost

34. A. correct          B. wrong             C. different          D. same

35. A. stage           B. studio              C. test              D. classroom

36. A. bravery         B. honesty            C. courage           D. cleverness

37. A. cancelled       B. cost               C. offered            D. wasted

38. A. achieved        B. broke              C. won              D. defeated

39. A. reputation       B. knowledge        C. 1ife               D. character

40. A. paid             B. awarded           C. caught            D. reported

41. A. escaped         B. 1ied               C. changed         D. answered

42. A. accept          B. fight               C. cheat             D. insist

43. A. conscience      B. feeling             C. diligence         D. modesty

44. A. contest         B. champion         C. judger            D. expert

45. A. sense          B. pride              C. respect           D. awareness

46. A. plan            B. conclusion        C. discovery         D. choice

47. A. make           B. change            C. keep              D. create

48. A. give            B. take               C. follow           D. set

49. A. grow up        B. bring up         C. take up            D. come up

50. A. recording       B. inspecting         C. correcting         D. watching

 Due to the volcano eruptions in the Republic of Iceland, all the flights are delayed or cancelled, so the conference has to be ________.

A. put off             B. put through          C. put away              D. put on

第二节 完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

       阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36～55各题所给A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Do you remember last summer, when angry travelers were urging the government to do something about airline customer service? Airlines   3 6   to improve，and they adopted (采用) new standards just before Christmas．  37   as another summer nears，plenty of   38    travelers don’t see much improvement in customer    39   overall．

  This month，the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) office will publish its first critical  40  on whether airlines are   41    their promises．One survey suggests problems：the number of   42   to the  DOT  about the top 10 airlines in the first  43   rose 89％ from a year ago．

Hit last summer by passenger complaints and the threat of consumer-protection laws by the 44    ，14 airlines   45    to adopt a set of basic customer-service standards called Customers First．The“12 promises”to passengers were introduced    46   a major effort to improve service．Since then，airlines have been redesigning websites，retraining employees and upgrading technology．

Recently，DOT inspector general Kenneth Mead，at McCain’S request，sent 20 examiners to airports to   47    whether each airline is doing what it promised．Mead warns travelers shouldn’t   48   too much．Most of the promises are    49    better communication with customers，not problems with flights．

“Passengers should show more understanding to airlines about their   50   to better air service．”Spokeswoman Shelly Sasson says．“And when    51   are made．it takes a long time for them to be noticed．”she says．

    Now，the efforts may be working．During the first quarter，Delta had the second-lowest rate of complaints among the   52    10 carriers．  53    ，its rate，along with other carriers’，is up from last year．McCain and other lawmakers say there may be a    54    to pass new consumer-protection    55      ．

36．A．promised             B．managed            C．hoped               D．refused

37．A．So           B．But                 C．Merely              D．Even

38．A．skilled        B．experienced         C．tired                 D．puzzled

39．A．flight         B．opinion            C．service                D．travel

40．A．news         B．information         C．doubt               D．article

41．A．honoring      B．making             C．giving              D．improving

42．A．problems      B．travelers            C．passengers          D．complaints

43.  A．quarter       B．year               C．month             D．summer

44.  A. customer       B．company           C．government         D．public

45．A．wished        B．agreed             C．remembered        D．failed

46．A．to            B．for                C．as                 D．by

47．A．explain        B．discuss            C．discover            D．check

48．A．travel         B．expect             C．complain            D．suggest

49．A．aimed at       B．considered as       C．joined to            D．made from

50．A．difficulty      B．situation           C．reality            D．efforts

51．A．suggestions    B．rules               C．decisions            D．improvements

52．A．1arge         B．first                C．top                       D．bad

53．A．Still          B．Therefore           C．Instead              D．Meanwhile

54．A．possibility     B．need               C．chance              D．use

55．A．examinations   B．service             C．1aws               D．reports

Amelia Earhart's (1897-1937) childhood was not the typical girl’s. She liked nothing better than to explore the banks of the Missouri River, where she climbed trees and hunted rats with her rifle (步枪). She also built her own roller coaster(过山车 ).

The exciting life of the American aviation (航空)pioneer is dramatized in the movie Amelia, which is due to come out on October 23.

After Earhart paid a pilot $1 to take her up for a short fly in his plane, aviation became her love and career.

As she later explained, “Never do things others can do and will do, if there are things others cannot do or will not do.”

Earhart found herself a flying teacher and started to learn to fly. She took all sorts of jobs to pay for the lessons and to buy a second-hand plane on her 24th birthday.

In 1932, Earhart flew solo across the Atlantic. She became the first woman to make the solo crossing. She also made a flying suit for women and went on to design other clothes for women who led active lives. “Now and then women should do for themselves what men have already done —— occasionally what men have not done ——thereby establishing themselves as persons, and perhaps encouraging other women toward greater independence of thought and action.” she said.

When she was nearly 40, Earhart was ready for a final challenge—to be the first woman to fly around the world. However, in mid-flight, she and her navigator (导航员) disappeared in bad weather.

Earhart will be forever remembered as a brave pioneer for both aviation and for women.

59. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

       A. A movie about Earhart’s exciting life has come out.

       B. Earhart never did things others could and would do.

       C. Earhart’s love for aviation came after she flew a plane for a short time.

       D. In Earhart's opinion, women should think and act more independently.

60. The underlined word in paragraph 2 means ____.

       A. presented            B. adopted             C. published           D. created

61. From the passage we can know that ____.

       A. Earhart showed most interest in adventure trips to the Missouri River during her

childhood

       B. Earhart s ambition was to fly across the Atlantic

       C. Earhart challenged herself constantly

       D. Besides flying, Earhart also designed planes and clothes

62. You can probably find this article in        .

       A. a booklet             B. a newspaper       C. a guide book      D. an advertisement

第二节：完形填空

When I come across a good article in reading newspapers, I often want to cut and keep it. But just as I am about to do so I find the article on the _41_ side is as much interesting. It may be a discussion of the way to __42__ in good health, or __43__ about how to behave and conduct oneself in society. If I cut the front article, the opposite one is likely to __44__ damage, leaving out half of it or keeping the text __45__ the title. Therefore, the scissors would __46__ before they start, __47__ halfway done when I find out the __48__result.

    Sometimes two things are to be done at the same time, both worth your __49__. You can only take up one of them, the other has to wait or be __50__ up. But you know the future is unpredictable --- the changed situation may not allow you to do what is left __51__. Thus you are __52__ in a difficult position and feel sad. How __53_nice chances and brilliant ideas should gather around all at once? It may happen that your life __54__ greatly on our preference of one choice to the other.

In fact that is what __55__ is like: we are often __56_ with the two opposite sides of a thing which are both desirable like a newspaper cutting. It often occurs that our attention is drawn to one thing only __57__we get into another. The __58__ may be more important than the latter and give rise to a divided mind. I __59__ remember a philosopher’s remarks: “When one door shuts, another opens in life.” So a casual or passive __60__ may not be a bad one.

Whatever we do in our lifetime, wherever life’s storm tosses us, there must be

something we can achieve, some shore we can land, that opens up new vistas to us.

41. A. front                  B. same                        C. either                       D. opposite

42. A. get                         B. keep                        C. lead                         D. bring

43. A. advice             B. news                        C. a theory                   D. a report

44. A. suffer                 B. reduce                   C. prevent                    D. cause

45. A. on                   B. for                           C. without                    D. off

46. A. use                     B. handle                   C. prepare                    D. stay

47. A. or                   B. but                          C. so                            D. for

48. A. satisfying            B. regretful                   C. surprising                 D. impossible

49. A. courage                  B. strength                    C. attention                   D. patience

50. A. given                  B. held                         C. made                       D. picked

51. A. near                   B. alone                       C. about                       D. behind

52. A. filled                  B. attracted                   C. caught                   D. struck

53. A. dare                   B. come                       C. deal                         D. do

54. A. improves            B. changes                    C. progresses             D. goes

55. A. study                  B. society                         C. nature                   D. life

56. A. faced                  B. supplied                   C. connected                 D. fixed

57. A. before                B. after                        C. until                        D. as

58. A. following            B. next                       C. above                    D. former

59. A. still                    B. also                         C. once                        D. almost

60. A. treatment            B. action                   C. choice                   D. remark

第二部分  英语知识应用（共两节，满分50分）

第一节  语法和词汇知识（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

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。

Good technique in medicine means less pain and fewer deaths and, _____ it is our duty to master it.

   A. altogether              B. therefore     C. otherwise             D. however

 They’ve sold their house______leaving the country.

A. preparation to  B. preparation for  C. in preparation for  D. on preparation for