39. ______ has forced people, especially women, to endure a lot of pain and suffering to make themselves more beautiful?

40. When I was very young, I thought that inside the radio ______ who liked talking very much.

Part B: Vocabulary 9%

F. negative       G. failures         H. defined          I. mark          J. reliable  

We might be surprised at the progress made in every field of study, but the methods of testing a person’s knowledge and ability remain as primitive as ever they were. It is really extraordinary that after all years, educationists have still failed to devise something more 41 than examinations. For all the 42 that examinations test what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact 43. They may be a good means of testing memory, or the knack of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person’s true ability.

As anxiety-makers, examinations are 44 to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the 45 of success or failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling very well, or that your mother died. Little things like that don’t 46: the exam goes on. No one can bring out the 47 in him when he is in terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of fierce competition where success and failure are clearly 48 and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of “dropouts”: young people who are written off as 49 before they have started a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?

Ⅲ. Reading Comprehension: 35%

Part A: Cloze Test 15%

Competition for admission to the country’s top private schools has always been tough. This is spreading from Manhattan to the rest of the country. Precise 50 data on private schools are unavailable, but interviews with representatives of independent and religious schools all told the same 51: too many applicants, higher rejection rates. Surveys indicate that Americans’ No. 1 52 is education. 53 the long economic boom(繁荣) has given parents more income, many are turning to private schools, even at price tags of well over $10,000 a year. “We’re getting applicants from a broader area, 54, than we ever have in the past,” said Besty Haugh of the Latin School of Chicago, which experienced a 20 percent increase in 55 this year.

The problem is that while demand has increased, supply has not. “Every year, there are a few children who do not find places, but this year, for the first time that I know of, there are a(n) 56 number of children who don’t have places,” said Krents, who also heads a private-school admissions group in New York.

So what can parents do to give their 4-year-old a(n) 57? Schools know there is no simple way to pick a class when children are so young. Many schools give preference to boys or girls or alumni(校友) children. Some use lotteries. But most rely on a 58 of subjective and objective measures: tests that at best 59 developmental maturity and learning potential, interviews with parents and observation of applicants in classroom settings. They also want a diverse mix. Children may end up on a waiting list simply because their birthdays 60 at the wrong time year, or because too many applicants were boys.

The worst thing a parent can do is to pressure preschoolers to perform --- 61, by pushing them to read or do math exercises 62 they’re ready. Instead, the experts say, parents should take a breath and look for 63. Another year in preschool may be all that’s needed. Parents, meanwhile, may need a more 64 mind about relatively unknown private schools --- or about magnet（具有吸引力的）schools in the public system. There’s no sign of the private-school boom letting up.

50. A. traditional                B. current                                   C. processed                 D. average

51. A. story                       B. advice                             C. context                     D. promise

52. A. venture                    B. concern                           C. occupation                D. interest

53. A. For that                   B. So that                                   C. Now that                  D. After that

54. A. intellectually            B. psychologically                C. commercially            D. geographically

55.   A. applications             B. locations                         C. schools                     D. admissions

56.   A. considerate               B. inadequate                       C. significant                D. moderate

57.   A. advantage                 B. skill                                C. place                        D. school

58.   A. choice                      B. mix                                C. preference                D. base

59.   A. identify                    B. exploit                                  C. employ                    D. confirm

60. A. set                           B. fix                                  C. date                         D. fall

61. A. in a word                 B. to a great extent               C. in any case               D. for example

62. A. when                       B. since                               C. before                      D. until

63.   A. occasions                 B. competitions                    C. alternatives               D. pressures

64.   A. open                        B. closed                             C. active                       D. secret 

Part B: Reading Comprehension 20%

A

Backpacks are convenient. They can hold your books, your lunch, and a change of clothes, leaving your hands free to do other things. Someday, if you don’t mind carrying a heavy load, your backpack might also power your MP3 player, keep your cell phone running, and maybe even light your way home.

Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., have invented a backpack that makes electricity from energy produced while its wearer walks.

The backpack’s electricity-creating powers depend on springs used to hang a cloth pack from its metal frame. The frame sits against the wearer’s back, and the whole pack moves up and down as the person walks. A mechanism with gears(传动装置) collects energy from this motion and transfers it to an electrical generator.

Surprisingly, the researchers found, people walk differently when they wear the springy packs. As a result, wearers use less energy than when carrying regular backpacks. Also, the way the new packs ride on wearers’ backs makes them more comfortable than standard packs.

The backpack could be especially useful for soldiers, scientists, mountaineers, and emergency workers who typically carry heavy backpacks. These people often rely on global positioning system(GPS) receivers, night-vision goggles(夜视镜), and other battery-powered devices to get around and do their work. Because the pack can make its own electricity, users don’t need to give up space in their packs to lots of extra batteries.

For the rest of us, power-generating backpacks could make it possible to walk, play video games, watch TV, and listen to music, all at the same time. Electricity-generating packs aren’t on the market yet, but if you do get one eventually, just make sure to look both ways before crossing the street!

65. The passage introduces a new kind of ______ backpack.

66. The new backpack makes use of ______ to produce power.

batteries placed at the bottom of the frame

the motion of the pack while the wearer walks

energy the wearer consumes for carrying the pack

the collective motion of a mechanism and some gears

67. From the passage, we can infer that ______.

the backpacks of mountaineers may become smaller in the future

the new backpack can hardly be produced due to its potential danger

the new backpack will someday replace MP3 players and cell phones

the backpack will also provide electricity for lighting our houses

68. An enormous disadvantage of power-generating backpacks might be that ______.

they may stop working at any time

it takes quite a while to have the energy transferred

they may distract the wearer’s attention from road safety

they will be extremely heavy with the mechanism

B

Escaping a fire is a serious matter: knowing what to do during a fire can save life. It is important to know the way you can use and show them to everyone in the family, such as stairs and fire escapes, but not lifts. From the lower floors of building, escape through windows is possible. Learn the best way of leaving by window with the least chance of serious injury.

The second floor window is usually not very high from the ground. A person of average height, hanging by the fingertips will have a drop of about 6 feet to the ground. It is about the height of an average man. Of course, it is safer to jump a short way than to stay in a burning building.

Windows are also very useful when you are waiting for help. Be sure to keep the door closed before opening the window. Otherwise, smoke and fire may be drawn into the room. Keep your head low at the window to be sure you get enough fresh air rather than smoke that may have leaked into the room.

On a second or third floor, the best windows for escape are those which open onto a roof. From the roof a person can drop to the ground more safely. Dropping onto the cement might end in injury. Bushes and grass can help to break a fall.

69. Which of the following people seldom use when trying to escape a fire?

A. Windows.                        B. Doors.                                   C. Fire escapes.             D. Lifts.

70. How far from the ground to the second floor window?

A. About 12 feet.                                                           B. About 3 feet.

C. Nearly 10 feet.                                                           D. About height of an average man.

71. The writer tells us that ______.

breathing in smoke might not be harmful

smoke will enter the room by an open window

fresh air can’t reach the second floor

to keep your head low will help you escape a fire

D

The eruption of a volcano in the Canary Islands could trigger a “mega-tsunami”（巨大海啸）that would hit Atlantic coastlines with waves as high as 330 feet, scientists said on Wednesday. They said an eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma, part of the Spanish island chain off West Africa, was likely to cause a massive chunk（大块）of rock to break off, crashing into the sea and kicking up huge walls of water higher than any other in recorded history. The tsunami would be capable of traveling huge distances at up to 500 miles an hour, the scientists said in a research paper to be published soon.

Simon Day, of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre at the University College of London, said that as the volcano was not erupting at present, the short-term and medium-term risks were “negligible”. But Cumbre Vieja should be monitored closely for any signs of activity so that emergency services could plan an effective response, he said. “Eruptions of Cumbre Vieja occur at intervals of decades to a century or so and there may be a number of eruptions before its collapse（倒塌）,” said Day, who cooperated on the research with Steven Ward of the University of California. “Although the year-to-year probability of a collapse is therefore low, the resulting tsunami would be a major disaster with indirect effects around the world.”

The effects would spread north, west and south of the Canaries, with the west Sahara bearing the worst of the wave’s energy. The energy released by the collapse would be equal to the electricity consumption of the entire United States in half a year.

Immediately after the landslide（山崩）,a huge wave of water 93,000 feet high and tens of miles wide would form. As the landslide rocks moved deeper under water, a tsunami would develop. Within 10 minutes, the tsunami would have moved a distance of almost 155 miles. On the west Saharan shore, waves would probably reach heights of 330 feet.

Florida and the Caribbean, the final north Atlantic destinations to be affected by the tsunami, would have to brace themselves for 165-foot waves some eight to nine hours after the landslide. Wave heights toward Europe would be smaller, but substantial waves would hit the coasts of Britain, Spain Portugal and France. The research paper estimated water would penetrate several miles inland and that the devastation would cause trillions of dollars in damage.

76. What would be the result of a big chunk rock falling into the sea?

A. Waves would be very high.                                         B. The volcano would stop.

C. Walls of water would kick up a storm.                          D. An earthquake would take place.

77. The word “negligible”(Line 3, Paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to ______.

A. unimportant                    B. small                              C. predictable               D. avoidable

78. From the passage we may learn that the volcano erupts ______.

A. every year                                                                 B. every 5 to 9 years

C. every 10 to 100 years                                                        D. every 5 to 10 months

79. All of the following are true EXCEPT ______.

A future eruption of Cumbre Vieja volcano may experience a massive collapse

Waves generated by the landslide could even reach the coasts of the United States

The landslide-released energy is equal to half a year’s electricity consumption in the US

American scientists have managed to utilize the volcanic energy for civil purposes

E

A.Increase in purchase of electronic products 

B.A research done to investigate back-to-school shopping 

C.Still something to shop before new school year

D.Free sales tax for back-to-school shopping

E.Increase in ordinary purchases

F.Free public education in US

80. ______

Most children in the United States are returning to school after the summer holiday. Public education for children in the United States is free. But parents still have to buy equipment, new clothes and other supplies for their children before every new school year.

81. ______

The National Retail Federation studies such sales each year. It is an organization of many kinds of stores, as well as companies that sell goods by mail order and the Internet. The group recently released a report on back-to-school sales this year. The report says American parents will spend almost 15,000 million dollars this year to prepare their children for school. A research business carried out the study for the National Retail Federation. It asked more than 8,000 Americans about their back-to-school needs and shopping and spending plans.

82. ______

The study found that 93 percent of families with school-age children plan to purchase clothes, shoes and school supplies. Families will spend an average of almost $500 on those things. This is an increase of more than 7 percent from last year.

83. ______

Almost half of those questioned also said they planned to spend about $100 on electronics and computer-related products. The National Retail Federation says that would be a 15 percent increase from last year. The group says most families have enough money to buy electronic and computer equipment for their children. It says this helps parents continue their children’s education at home.

84. ______

To help shoppers save money, several cities permit people to by some goods without paying sales tax. Washington D.C., is one such city. It observed a ten-day sales tax holiday in August. During this period, people could buy clothing, shoes or school supplies that cost less than one-hundred dollars without having to pay sales tax.

Ⅳ. Translation 16%

85.你方便下周就开始工作吗？(convenient)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

86.不管你遇到什么困难，千万不要叹气。(sigh)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

87.这个实验结果比我们原来想的要复杂得多。(prove)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

88.家长与孩子之间缺乏必要的交流已经成为一个社会问题。(Lack)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

89.只有那些认识到环境重要性的人才可能保护环境。(aware…likely)

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一、单词辨音：（共5小题；每小题1分，满分5分）

1. honest        A. money        B. fond          C. home         D. move

2. wise          A. lose          B. mouse        C. house         D. horse

3. match         A. compass      B. cast          C. class          D. family

4. argue         A. rush          B. music         C. put           D. language

5. speech        A. school        B. headache       C. chair          D. Chemistry