阅读理解

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A，B，C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　More surprising, perhaps, than the current difficulties of traditional marriage is the fact that marriage itself is alive and thriving(旺盛的). As Skolnich notes, Americans are a marrying people: relative to Europeans, more of us marry and we marry at a younger age. Moreover, after a decline(衰退) in the early 1970s, the rate of marriage in the United States is now increasing. Even the divorce(离婚) rate needs to be taken in this pro-marriage context: some 80 percent of divorced individuals remarry. Thus, marriage remains by far the preferred way of life for the vast majority of the people in our society.

　　What has changed more than marriage is the nuclear family. Twenty-five years ago, the typical American family consisted of the husband, the wife, and two or three children. Now, there are many marriages in which couples have decided not to have any children, and there are many marriages where at least some of the children axe from the wife's previous marriage, of the husband's, or both. Sometimes these children spend all of their time with one parent from the former marriage; sometimes they are shared between the two former spouses(配偶).

　　Thus, one can find every type of tamely arrangement. There are marriages without children; marriages with children from only the present marriages; marriages with “full-time” children from both the present and former marriages; marriages with “full-time” children from the present marriage and “part-time” children from former marriages. There are stepfathers, stepmothers, half-brothers arid half-sisters. It is not all that unusual for a child to have four parents and eight grandparents! These are enormous changes from the traditional nuclear family. But even so, even in the midst of all this, there remains one constant: most Americans spend most of their adult lives married.

1．By calling Americans a marrying people the writer means that ________.

[　　]

A．Americans are more traditional than Europeans

B．Americans expect more out of marriage than Europeans

C．there are more married couples in the USA than in Europe

D．more of Americans, as compared with Europeans, prefer marriage and they accept it at a younger age

2．Divorced Americans ________.

[　　]

A．prefer the way they live

B．will most likely remarry

C．have lost interest in marriage

D．are the majority of people in the society

3．Which of the following can be presented as the picture of today's American families?

[　　]

A．Which types of family arrangements have become socially acceptable?

B．A typical American family consists of only a husband and a wife.

C．Americans prefer to have more kids than before.

D．There are no nuclear families any more.

4．Though great changes have taken place in the structure of American families, ________.

[　　]

A．the majority of Americans still have faith in marriage

B．the functions of marriage remain unchanged

C．most Americans prefer a second marriage

D．most Americans prefer to be single

阅读理解

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A，B，C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　The dream of flying into outer space, cherished by the Chinese people for centuries, will soon come true.

　　China launched its fourth unmanned spacecraft(飞船) “Shenzhou Ⅳ” on December 30 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu Province. It was the 27th consecutive(连续的) and successful launch of China-made rockets since October 1996．This launch has made it more realistic for China to send a person into space on its own following Russia and the USA.

　　Qi Faren, leading designer of the spacecraft system, said all the functions(功能) designed for manned flights have withstood(经受住) the test of three previous, successful launches and return landings of the “Shenzhou” spaceships.

　　China launched the “Shenzhou Ⅰ”, “Shenzhou Ⅱ” and “Shenzhou Ⅲ” spacecrafts in 1999, 2001 and 2002 respectively.

　　“Shouzhou Ⅳ” was to make it a more comfortable place in which astronauts can live and work. All parts of the application system for manned flight are aboard the “Shenzhou Ⅳ” craft in all test flights.

　　China's manned flight programme began in 1992. A number of unmanned test flights will be launched before Chinese astronauts are sent into space.

　　Leading scientists in charge of China's manned space programme said the successful launch of the “Shenzhou Ⅳ” laid a solid foundation for the country's future task of sending Chinese astronauts to outer space.

　　The spacecraft returned to the earth on January 5, after completing seven experiments in space.

　　Officials at the centre said that “Shenzhou Ⅴ”, a manned spacecraft, is expected to be launched later this year.

1．How many countries can send a person into space on its own by now?

[　　]

2．China's manned flight programme began in ________.

[　　]

3．As a matter of fact, ________.

[　　]

A．“Shenzhou Ⅴ”has been launched ________.

B．“Shenzhou Ⅳ” was a manned spacecraft

C．“Shenzhou Ⅲ” and “Shenzhou Ⅳ” were not launched in the same year

D．the dream of man flying into outer space has come true in China

4．Which is the most suitable title for the passage?

[　　]

A．The Successful Launching of “Shenzhou Ⅳ”.

B．The Landing of “Sherizhou Ⅳ”.

C．China's Manned Flight Programme.

D．The Third Country Sending a Person into Outer Space.

阅读理解

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A，B，C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Life on land probably began about 430 million years ago, though it has existed in the water for perhaps as much as 3,000 million years. When we think of the first thing on land, we probably think of strange animals coming out of the oceans, but in fact no animals could have been living if plants had not been on land first. Plants had to be on land before animals arrived. They supplied the first land animals with the surrounding and food necessity, since then, the plants, are the only form of life that is able to get and store energy.

　　The first plants to exist out of the water were probably certain kinds of algae(海藻) which were followed by other plants that grew close to the ground and needed water in which to reproduce. Once the move to land had been made, however, evolution(进化) took place quickly. By the end of 100 million years, plants had developed their roots(根), and some had got tree-like forms since height was very important in gaining sunlight. About 300 million years ago, much of the world was covered with forests of huge trees. In most ways they were like modern trees. They had roots, leaves, wood, but mostly they had not developed seeds.

1．The main idea of the first paragraph is ________.

[　　]

A．life on land probably began 430 years ago

B．the first animal on land came from oceans

C．there wouldn't be animals without plants

D．plants are the only form of life that is able to get and store energy

2．Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

[　　]

A．Algae has existed for more than 430 million years.

B．It is impossible that algae might be the earliest plant on land.

C．Plants get food from animals in the oceans.

D．Evolution began after animals appeared on land.

3．Plants with roots appeared about ________ million years ago.

[　　]

4．According to the passage, ________ appeared earlier than ________.

[　　]

阅读理解

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A，B，C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Some time ago, I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn't think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me, I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception(接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.

　　The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth-so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

　　I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said “I'll give you twenty pounds.” “It's got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”

　　Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I'll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You've just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I've changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “Your must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You're right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, “Would you mend this chair for me?” “I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don't do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I'll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused(感到有趣) by the whole. thing.

1．We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.

[　　]

A．was rather impolite

B．was warmly received

C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

D．asked the shopkeeper to repair hid chair

2．The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.

[　　]

A．changed his mind

B．accepted the offer

C．saw the writer's purpose

D．decided to help the writer

3．How much did the writer pay?

[　　]

4．From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________.

[　　]

阅读理解

　　So long as teachers fail to distinguish between teaching and learning, they will continue to undertake to do for children that which only children can do for themselves. Teaching children to read is not passing reading on to them. It is certainly not endless hours spent in activities about reading. Douglas insists that “reading cannot be taught directly and schools should stop trying to do the impossible”.

　　Teaching and learning are two entirely different processes. They differ in kind and function. The function of teaching is to create the conditions and the climate that will make it possible for children to devise the most efficient system for teaching themselves to read. Teaching is also public activity. It can be seen and observed.

　　Learning to read involves all that each individual does to make sense of the world of printed language. Almost all of it is private, for learning is an occupation of the mind, and that process is not open to public scrutiny.

　　If teacher and learner roles are not interchangeable, what then can be done through teaching that will aid the child in the quest(探索) for knowledge? Smith has one principal rule for all teaching instructions. “Make learning to read easy, which means making reading a meaningful, enjoyable and frequent experience for children.”

　　When the roles of teacher and learner are seen for what they are, and when both teacher fulfil them appropriately, then much of the pressure and feeling of failure for both is eliminated. Learning to read is made easier when teachers create an environment where children are given the opportunity to solve the problem of learning to read by reading.

1．The problem with the reading course as mentioned in the first paragraph is that ________.

[　　]

A．it is one of the most difficult school courses

B．students spend endless hours in reading

C．reading tasks are assigned with little guidance

D．too much time is spent in teaching about reading

2．The teaching of reading will be successful if ________.

[　　]

A．teachers can improve conditions at school for the students

B．teachers can enable students to develop their own way of reading

C．teachers can devise the most effcient system for reading

D．teachers can make their teaching activities observable

3．The underlined word “scrutiny” most probably means “________”.

[　　]

4．According to the passage, learning to read will no longer be a difficult task when ________.

[　　]

A．children become highly motivated

B．teacher and learner roles are interchangeable

C．teaching helps children in the search for knowledge

D．reading enriches children's experience

5．The main idea of the passage is that ________.

[　　]

A．teachers should do as little as possible in helping students learn to read

B．teachers should encourage students to read as widely as possible

C．reading ability is something acquired rather than taught

D．reading is more complicated that generally believed

阅读理解

　　It is natural that a tree would grow best in a climate with plenty of sunlight and rainfall. It is also expected that little sunlight or rainfall would limit the growth of a tree. The change from favorable to an unfavorable climate can be determined by reading the pattern of rings in a tree trunk. To find the weather of ten years ago, count the rings of a free from the outside to the inside. If the tenth ring is far from the other rings, then it is certain that plenty of the sunny and rainy weather occurred. If the rings are close together, then the climate was bad for the tree.

　　Studying tree rings is important not only for the history of weather, but also for the history of man. In a region of New Mexico you can find only sand-no trees and no people. However, many centuries ago a large population lived there. They left suddenly. Why?

　　A scientist studied patterns of dead tree rings which had grown there. He decided that the people had to leave because they had cut down all the trees. Trees were necessary to make fires and buildings. So after the people destroyed the trees, they had to move.

　　Sometimes studying tree rings uncovered an exciting fact about the history of man.

1．It is understood that in a favorable climate tree rings grow ________.

[　　]

2．Long, long ago, people usually lived where ________.

[　　]

A．there was little rainfall

B．the sun shone all day long throughout the year

C．there was plenty of sand

D．there were a lot of trees

3．The people had to leave the region of New Mexico because ________.

[　　]

A．there were no trees there

B．they had no water to drink

C．climate became worse for trees to grow

D．bad weather stopped the growth of trees

4．Scientists are interested in studying tree rings because they can tell ________.

[　　]

A．whether in that area the climate was favorable or not

B．whether people took good care of the trees or not

C．how the trees have grown

D．how trees disappeared

5．The best title of this passage is ________.

[　　]

A．Favorable and Unfavorable Climate

B．Tree Rings

C．Moving of the People

D．Climate and Trees

阅读理解

　　Mrs Fay Funnel saved for months to buy coat in the summer sales. Then after queuing(排队) for nine days she set fire to the coat, valued at ￡795 and bought by her in the sale for ￡79.

　　Astonished crowds, queuing outside Debenham's in Oxford Street, London, watched as 36-year-old Mrs Funnel burnt the coat.

　　As every woman's dream disappeared in smoke, she said: “I am very pleased. I hate the fur trade because it is cruel to animals. 150 minks(貂) have died to make this jacket.

1．Mrs Fay Funnel was ________.

[　　]

A．a rich lady

B．a poor woman

C．a housewife without much money

D．a housewife of wealth

2．She bought the coat for much less money than it was valued because ________.

[　　]

A．there were few people buying fur coats

B．the price in the summer sales was the lowest

C．she had no more money for it

D．there were many people buying fur coats

3．How did people around feel when they looked at the coat burning?

[　　]

A．They thought she was probably mad.

B．They felt that she was right to do so.

C．They wanted to support her.

D．They wanted to stop her.

4．Those women who looked on nearby ________.

[　　]

A．longed for the fur coat

B．didn't understand her actions

C．hoped that Mrs Funnel would put out the fire

D．were amused to watch the burning coat

5．Mrs Fay Funnel bought the coat in order to ________ by burning it.

[　　]

A．please herself

B．make the people looking on surprised

C．express her kindness to animals

D．do something for animal-protecting

阅读理解

　　Without proper planning, tourism can cause problems. For example, too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants of a country. If tourists create too much traffic, the inhabitants become annoyed and unhappy. They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely. They forget how much tourism can help the country's economy. It is important to think about the people of a destination country and how tourism affects them. Tourism should help a country, keep the customs and beauty that attract tourists. Tourism should also advance the wealth and happiness of 1oca1 in habitants.

　　Too much tourism can be a problem. If tourism grows too quickly, people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry. This means that other parts of the country's economy can suffer.

　　On the other hand, if there is not enough tourism, people can lose jobs. Businesses can also lose money. It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports, air terminals, first-class roads, and other support facilities(配套设施) needed by tourist attractions. For example, a major international class tourism hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build. If this room is not used most of the time, the owners of the hotel lose money.

　　Building a hotel is just a beginning. There must be many support facilities as well, including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers to handle waste, and water. All of these support facilities, cost, money. If they are not used because there are not enough tourists, jobs and money are lost.

1．Which of the following do you think has been discussed in the part before this selection?

[　　]

A．It is extremely important to develop tourism.

B．Building roads and hotels is essential.

C．Support facilities are highly necessary.

D．Planning is of great importance to tourism.

2．The underlined word “inhabitants”(in Paragraph 1) probably means ________.

[　　]

3．Too much tourism can cause all these problems EXCEPT ________.

[　　]

A．a bad effect on other industries

B．a change of tourists' customs

C．over-crowdedness of places of interest

D．pressure on traffic

4．It can be inferred from the text that ________.

[　　]

A．the author doesn't like tourism developing so fast

B．local people will benefit from tourist attraction

C．other parts of a country's economy won't benefit from tourism much

D．we can't build too many support facilities

5．The author thinks it is good for local people to know that tourism will ________.

[　　]

A．waste a lot of money

B．weaken their economy

C．help establish their customs

D．help improve their life

阅读理解

　　New York-About one fifth of US college and universities don't require the standard entrance exams, known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)(学业能力倾向测试) and American College Test (ACCT), for many high school applicants(申请者).

　　Fair Test, a Cambridge, Massachusetts group that supports less trust on testing, said last week it counted 383 out of 1,788 four-year schools that don't want entrance exams at all.

　　The last Fair Test court managed three ago proved 280 schools that don't require entrance tests. The total rose for two reasons: More college dropped the exams, and the other clarify(澄清) their admission rules.

　　The Fair Teat survey follows last month's call from the University of California to end the SAT admission requirement. President Richard Atkinson wants students judged by want they have learned, not how they have scored.

　　Last summer, the elite(优秀人才) women's school, Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, declared applicants no longer need submit(呈交) scores from the SAT test of reasoning.

　　Some high schools also are questioning the roles of admission test. Still the exams aren't going away. Even as some colleges give up entrance tests, others are using or replacing them. Some are giving scores less weight, asking instead for essay(论文), references and out-of-school activities.

　　The non-profit(非赢利的) College Broad, which owns the SAT, notes the majority of colleges and universities still demand a test score for applicants. The SAT and ACT were established decades ago by colleges and universities as a way of. predicting(预告) a student's success.

　　Critics(批评家) have long attacked the test as unfair, mainly because whites tend to do better than other groups.

1．From the first paragraph we can know that in America ________.

[　　]

A．colleges and universities do not require any entrance exams

B．colleges and universities are short of students

C．colleges and universities don't all need entrance exams

D．colleges and universities entrance exams are too difficult

2．It can be found in this passage that ________.

[　　]

A．Fair Test is a test that is more difficult than SAT

B．Fair Test is a test that is much easier than ACT

C．Fair Test is an organization that does research on exams

D．Fair Test is a group the organizes better exams over Americans

3．The underlined sentence “the exams aren't going away” means ________.

[　　]

A．the exams are unnecessary for students

B．the exams will soon be stopped

C．the exams will remain at the same level

D．the exams are still demanded

4．From this passage we can conclude that ________.

[　　]

A．white students are cleverer than other students

B．the entrance exams will be stopped by the government

C．colleges and universities have different requirements

D．none of the students are satisfied with the entrance exams

阅读理解

阅读下面短文，并做后面的题目。从四个选项中，选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。

　　These days, most people in Britain and the US do not wear very formal clothes. But sometimes it is important to wear the right thing.

　　Many British people don't think about clothes very much. They just like to be comfortable. When they go out to enjoy themselves they can wear almost anything. At theatres, cinemas and concerts you can put on what you like-from elegant suits and dresses to jeans and sweaters. Anything goes, as long as you look clean and tidy.

　　But in Britain, as well as the US, men in offices usually wear suits and ties, and women wear dresses or skirts (not trousers). Doctors, lawyers and business people wear quite formal clothes. And in some hotels and restaurants men have to wear ties and women wear smart dresses.

　　In many ways, Americans are more relaxed than Britain people, but they are more careful with their clothes. At home, or on holiday, most Americans wear informal or sporty clothes. But when they go out in the evening, they like to look elegant. In good hotels and restaurants, men have to wear jackets and ties, and women wear pretty clothes and smart hairstyles.

　　It is difficult to say exactly what people wear in Britain and the US, because everyone is different. If you are not sure what to wear, watch what other people do and then do the same. You'll feel more relaxed if you aren't too different from everyone else.

1．Many British people wear freely when they ________.

[　　]

2．Who doesn't usually wear suits and ties?

[　　]

3．If you visit an American friend in the evening, you may find that your friend wears ________.

[　　]

4．If we are in a foreign country, the best way the writer suggests us to wear ________.

[　　]