阅读理解

　　Like most July days, it was hot. I stepped into a coffee shop to drink a cup of black coffee. It was a tiny store with little round tables and chairs.

　　As I entered, I found a very old woman bent over a table near the door. Her back was so badly twisted (bent) that her face nearly touched the table top. I sat down facing her two tables away.

　　“Poor woman,” I thought. “What does she get out of life? Why does God let people live so long past their prime(鼎盛时期)?”

　　As I thought, another aged lady entered the shop and sat down with her. Soon the two of them were talking about childhood days. They talked of how little the shop had changed in 70 years. In minutes the two of them were trembling with laughter.

　　I looked again at the first woman, then in the mirror on a nearby wall, catching a picture of myself.

　　I was wearing a dirty shirt.

　　She was well dressed in white, gold rings on her fingers.

　　I was in low spirits. She was laughing, smiling.

　　I was putting the pieces of my life together. She had millions of wonderful memories to recall(回忆).

　　She was sharing the day with a good friend. I was secretly worried about getting old.

　　She was old but it wasn't hurting her.

　　As I left the shop, I thought of my foolish question about God letting people past their prime. Why, that woman was more alive, more sensitive(敏感的) than I was. Age has not bent her spirit.

1．Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the text?

[　　]

A．The first old woman was not in the prime of life.

B．The two women were both 70 years old.

C．The two women talked a lot about what they had experienced.

D．The coffee shop was very small and old.

2．The first old woman lived a ________ life.

[　　]

A．rich and happy

B．poor but happy

C．rich but sad D, poor and sad

3．The young writer led a ________ life.

[　　]

4．It is learned from the text that the writer was always ________.

[　　]

A．worrying himself with some sensitive questions

B．filling his mind with something unpleasant

C．facing death without fear

D．fooled by God

阅读理解

　　Norman Cousins was a businessman from the United States who often traveled around the world on business. He enjoyed his work and travelling.

　　Then, after returning to the United States from a busy and tiring trip to Russia, Mr Cousins got sick. Because he had pushed his body to the limit of its strength on the trip, a chemical change began to take place inside him. The material between his bones became weak.

　　In less than one week after his return, he could not stand. Every move that he made was painful. He was not able to sleep at night.

　　The doctors told him that they did not know how to cure Mr Cousins' problem and he might never get over the illness. Mr Cousins, however, refused to give up hope.

　　Mr Cousins thought that unhappy thoughts were causing bad chemical changes in his body. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself. Instead, he felt that happy thoughts or laughter might cure his illness.

　　He began to experiment on himself while still in the hospital by watching funny shows on television. Mr Cousins quickly found that ten minutes of real laughter during the day gave him two hours of pain-free sleep at night.

　　Deciding that the doctors could not help him, Mr Cousins left the hospital and checked into a hotel room where he could continue his experiments with laughter. For eight days, Mr Cousins rested in the hotel room watching funny shows on television, reading funny books, and sleeping whenever he felt tired. within three weeks, he felt well enough to take a vacation to Puerto Rico where he began running on the beach for exercise.

　　After a few months, Mr Cousins returned to work. He had laughed himself back to health.

1．Norman cousins got sick because ________.

[　　]

A．he had too much rest at home

B．he watched TV too often

C．he didn't travel too much

D．he didn't have enough rest during his traveling

2．Which part of his body was affected(影响) by the illness?

[　　]

A．The bones in his feet.

B．The material between his bones.

C．His head.

D．His stomach.

3．Where did Mr Cousins go in order to cure himself after he left the hospital?

[　　]

4．It took him ________ to get over the illness before Mr Cousins went back to work.

[　　]

阅读理解

　　The Americans believe that anybody can become President of the United States. In a recent Hollywood comedy(喜剧) that is exactly what happens.

　　Dave Kovic played by Kevin Kline is a kind-hearted man who runs a business that finds people jobs. He leads a typical(典型的) American way of life, except for one thing－he looks exactly like the President, Bill Mitchell. In fact, the only thing that makes him different from the nation's leader is that he is very nice!

　　The President has started using look-alikes during some public appearances. Dave is offered a chance to “serve his country” by becoming one. However, things go wrong. The President becomes very ill and Dave ends up acting as the President forever.

　　Director Ivan Reitman, who made the popular and successful comedies like Twins, Ghostbusters and Legal Eagles, could have gone for easy laughs by making fun of the American government. Instead, Dave is an attractive comedy about an ordinary man in extraordinary situations. Kevin Kline gives a double performance as Dave and the President, and Singourney Weaver is at her best as his First Lady. The love story that develops between her role and Dave is a real classic(经典).

　　The film is 100％ American. However, if you've ever felt that anybody could do a better job running the country than the people in power, then you'll enjoy Dave!

1．What is the purpose of the text?

[　　]

A．To tell the reader about the American government.

B．To discuss the Americans' ideas about the President.

C．To make a comparison between Dave and other films.

D．To introduce a new film to the reader.

2．Who plays the role of the President in the film?

[　　]

3．The underlined word “one” in the 3rd paragraph refers to ________.

[　　]

4．Which of the following is best supported by the text?

[　　]

A．The author makes fun of the President.

B．The author thinks highly of the film.

C．The author is a fan of Hollywood comedies.

D．The author wishes to become the American President.

阅读理解

　　Say you are a 17th century construction worker who's worked long and hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.

　　Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, that is the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive(印象深刻的) as the building itself.

　　First, there's the emperor of northern India Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Madly in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she had heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial(纪念物) to celebrate their love.

　　When the heartbroken Jehan appeared eight days after his wife's death, his people were shocked to see that his coal-black hair had turned snow-white.

　　Putting away his sadness. Jehan ordered his wife's dying wish carried out. More than 20,000 workers labored nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz's remains in the center under the building.

　　And then, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Jehan lived the rest of his days－eight years, to be exact－imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it－until he was buried next to his wife.

　　Today 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange, sad story, those who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired(激发……的灵感) its construction.

1．The first two paragraphs were written to show that ________.

[　　]

A．the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building

B．ancient Indian emperors were cruel

C．construction workers led a hard life in ancient India

D．India has some of the most famous buildings in the world

2．The Taj Mahal was first built as ________.

[　　]

3．The underlined word “happiness” in the last sentence refers to ________.

[　　]

A．the married happiness of the emperor and his wife

B．the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power

C．the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal

D．the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal

阅读理解

　　James Cleveland Owens was the son of a farmer and the grandson of black slaves. His family moved to Cleveland when he was 9. There, a school teacher asked the youth his name.

　　“J. C.” he replied.

　　She thought he had said “Jesse”, and he had a new name.

　　Owens ran his first race at age 13. After high school, he went to Ohio State University. He had to work part time so as to pay for his education. As a second-year-student, in the Big Ten games in 1935, he set even more records than he would in the Olympic Games a year later.

　　A week before the Big Ten meet, Owens accidentally fell down a flight of stairs. His back hurt so much that he could not exercise all week, and he had to be helped in and out of the car that drove him to the meet. He refused to listen to the suggestions that he give up and said he would try, event by event. He did try, and the results are in the record book.

　　The stage was set for Owens' victory at the Olympic Games in Berlin the next year, and his success would come to be regarded as not only athletic(体育的) but also political. Hitler did not congratulate any of the African-American winners.

　　“It was all right with me,” he said years later. “I didn't go to Berlin to shake hands with him, anyway.”

　　Having returned from Berlin, he received no telephone call from the president of his own country, either. In fact, he was not honored by the United States until 1976, four years before his death.

　　Owens' Olympic victories made little difference to him. He earned his living by looking after a school playground, and accepted money to race against cars, trucks, motorcycles, and dogs.

　　“Sure, it bothered(烦扰) me,” he said later. “But at least it was an honest living. I had to eat.”

　　In time, however, his gold medals(奖牌) changed his life. “They have kept me alive over the years,” he once said. “Time has stood still for me. That golden moment dies hard.”

1．Owens got his other name “Jesse” when ________.

[　　]

A．he went to Ohio State University

B．his teacher made fun of him

C．his teacher took “J. C.” for “Jesse”

D．he won gold medals in the Big Ten meet

2．In the Big Ten meet, Owens ________.

[　　]

A．hurt himself in the back

B．succeeded in setting many records

C．tried every sports event but failed

D．had to give up some events

3．We can infer from the text that Owens was treated unfairly in the US at that time because ________.

[　　]

A．he was not of the white winner

B．he was the son of a poor farmer

C．he didn't shake hands with Hitler

D．he didn't talk to the US president on the phone

4．When Owens says “They have kept me alive over the years,” he means that the medals ________.

[　　]

A．have been changed for money to help him live on

B．have made him famous in the US

C．have encouraged him to overcome difficulties in life

D．have kept him busy with all kinds of jobs

5．Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

[　　]

A．Jesse Owens, a Great American Athlete

B．Golden Moment－a Life-time Struggle

C．Making a Living as a Sportsman

D．How to Be a Successful Athlete

阅读理解

　　Since 1989, Dave Thomas, who died at the age of 69, was one of the most recognizable faces on TV. He appeared in more than 800 commercials(商业广告) for the hamburger chain named for his daughter. “As long as it works,” he said in 1991, “I'll continue to do those commercials.”

　　Even though he was successful, Thomas remained troubled by his childhood. “He still won't let anyone see his feet, which are out of shape because he never had proper fitting shoes,” said Wendy in 1993. Born to a single mother, he was adopted(收养) as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Kalamazoo in Michigan. After Auleva died when he was 5, Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction work. “He fed me,” Thomas said, “and if I got out of line, he'd beat me.”

　　Moving out on his own at 15, Thomas worked, first as a waiter, in many restaurants. But he had something much better in mind. “I thought if I owned a restaurant,” he said, “I could eat for free.” A 1956 meeting with Harland Sanders led Thomas to a career as the manager of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire in 1968.

　　In 1969, after breaking with Sanders, Thomas started the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, in Columbus, Ohio, which set itself apart by serving made-to-order burgers. With 6,000 restaurants worldwide, the chain now makes $ 6 billion a year in sales.

　　Although troubled by his own experience with adoption, Thomas, married since 1954 to Lorraine, 66, and with four grown kids besides Wendy, felt it could offer a future for other children. He started the Dave Thomas Foundation(基金会) for Adoption in 1992.

　　In 1993, Thomas, who had left school at 15, graduated from Coconut Creek High School in Florida. He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party. The kids voted him Most Likely to Succeed.

　　“The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave,” says friend Pat Williams. “He wasn't a great actor or a great speaker. He was just Joe Everybody.”

1．What is the article mainly about?

[　　]

A．The life of Dave Thomas.

B．The dream of Dave Thomas.

C．The schooling of Dave Thomas.

D．The growth of Dave Thomas's business.

2．What do we know about his childhood?

[　　]

A．He lived a poor life.

B．He had caring parents.

C．He stayed in one place.

D．He didn't go to school.

3．Choose the right time order of the following events in Thomas's life.

a．graduated from high school

b．started his own business

c．became a millionaire

d．started a foundation

e．met Harland Sanders

[　　]

4．“He was just Joe Everybody.”(in the last paragraph) means ________.

[　　]

阅读理解

　　Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson River must remember the Catskill Mountains. They are a branch of the great Appalachian family, and can be seen to the west rising up to a noble height and towering over the surrounding country. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their beautiful shapes on the clear evening sky. But sometimes when it is cloudless, gray steam gathers around the top of the mountains which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will shine and light up like a crown of glory(华丽的皇冠).

　　At the foot of these mountains, a traveler may see light smoke going up from a village.

　　In that village, and in one of the houses (which, to tell the exact truth, was sadly time-worn and weather beaten), there lived many years age, a simple, good-natured fellow by the name of Rip Van Winkle.

　　Rip's great weakness was a natural dislike of all kinds of money-making labor. It could not be from lack of diligence(勤劳), for he could sit all day on a wet rock and fish without saying a word, even though he was not encouraged by a single bite. He would carry a gun on his shoulder for hours, walking through woods and fields to shoot a few birds or squirrels. He would never refuse to help a neighbor, even in the roughest work. The women of the village, too, used to employ him to do such little jobs as their less helpful husbands would not do for them. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to everybody's business but his own.

　　If left to himself, he would have whistled(吹口哨) life away in perfect satisfaction; but his wife was always mad at him for his idleness(懒散). Morning, noon, and night,. her tongue was endlessly going, so that he was forced to escape to the outside of the house－the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband.

1．Which of the following best describes the Catskill Mountains?

[　　]

A．They are on the west of the Hudson River.

B．They are very high and beautiful in this area.

C．They can be seen from the Appalachian family.

D．They gather beautiful clouds in blue and purple.

2．The hero of the story is probably ________.

[　　]

A．hard-working and likes all kinds of work

B．idle and hates all kinds of jobs

C．simple, idle but very dutiful

D．gentle, helpful but a little idle

3．The underlined words “henpecked husband” in the last paragraph probably means a man who ________.

[　　]

4．What would be the best title for the text?

[　　]

　　Sometimes, something that is considered to be negative turns out to be an advantage on the job. Though he is only 18 years old and blind, Suleyman Gokyigit is among the top computer technicians and programmers at Inteli Data Technologies Corp, a large software company with several offices across the United States.

　　“After our company united with another one last October, two different computer networks were driving us crazy,” recalls Douglas Braun, the Inteli Data president. “We couldn't even send e-mail to each other.” In three weeks Mr Cokyigit created the software needed to connect the two networks. “None of the company's 350 other employees could have done the job in three months,” says Mr Braun. “Suleyman can ‘see’ into the heart of the computer.”

　　Mr Gokyigit's gift, as Mr Braun calls it, is an unusual ability to form an idea of the inside of a machine. “The computer permits me to reach out into the world and do almost anything I want to do,” says Mr Gokyigit.

　　The young programmer is at home with hardware as well, thanks partly to a highly developed sense of touch. Mitzi Nowakowski, an office manager at Inteli Data, remembers how he easily disconnected and reconnected their computer systems during a move last year. “Through feel, Suleyman can find the position of connectors, pins and wires much faster than most other people with sight,” he says.

　　Much of the student programmer's speed comes from his ability not to be interrupted while at the computer. When typing, he listens carefully to the synthesizer(合成器). His long, thin fingers fly over the keyboard. “Nothing seems to shake his attention,” says Mrs Nowakowskis, his boss.

　　Mr Gokyigit is the only company employee who is available(可找到的) 24 hours a day. “We consider him our top problem solver,” says Mr Braun.

1．According to Mr Braun, Suleyman ________.

[　　]

A．can work wonders on computer

B．is the best technician in the world

C．has done a hard job in three months

D．has united Inteli Data Technologies Corp, with another computer company

2．The underlined part “is at home with hardware” (Paragraph 4) means ________.

[　　]

A．is good at dealing with computer hardware

B．is fond of computer hardware

C．works with computer hardware at home

D．feels comfortable when working with computer hardware

3．Suleyman was quick while at the computer mostly because of ________.

[　　]

A．his blindness

B．his attention on the synthesizer

C．his long, thin fingers

D．his ability not to be interrupted

4．What does the text mainly tell us?

[　　]

A．Computer technicians are more likely to be gifted.

B．One's disadvantages may prove to be advantages.

C．The disabled can also play an important role in society.

D．Top computer scientists have unusual abilities to form ideas of computers.

　　Even though they were written 150 years ago, Alexander Dumas' action novels still excite millions of readers around the world, in close to a hundred languages.

　　Dumas' two most famous stories, The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, have inspired more than 100 films. His 1848 novel, The Man In the Iron Mask, was recently made into a movie. In this movie, Leonardo Di Caprio played both King Louis XIV and his twin brother Philippe.

　　Few people know, however, that the author was the grandson of a Haitian slave. Even fewer people know that Dumas' father rose rapidly from a soldier to a general in the French Army before he was 31. The general died young, leaving Alexander penniless. But Dumas overcame poverty, the lack of formal education, and the hardship of racism to become one of the world's most popular writers.

　　Dumas' life sometimes was just like his action novels. He participated in three revolutions and fought with people when he was insulted. After making a fortune by writing novels, he built a mansion outside Paris and kept it open to starving artists, friends, and even strangers. Luckily for his fans, the mansion has recently been restored and opened to the public.

1．Which of the following statements about Alexander Dumas is NOT TRUE?

[　　]

A．He was a victim of racism.

B．He was well-educated.

C．He was the son of a general.

D．He was the grandson of a slave.

2．Alexander Dumas' novels ________.

[　　]

A．have lasted for less than 100 years

B．have been translated into more than 100 languages

C．have not been well received until recently

D．have fascinated readers for many years

3．We may infer from the article that Dumas ________.

[　　]

A．did not lead a colorful life

B．was a man who kept money to himself

C．was a generous and kind-hearted man

D．was a peace-loving man

阅读理解

　　The world's oldest man, 112-yearold Antonio Todde died on the Italian island of Sardinia. Todde made it into the Guinness Book of Records when he turned 112 last year and wore his crown of “The Oldest Living Man on Earth” with pride and a sense of humor.

　　Born in a tiny mountain village in 1889, the same year work on the Eiffel Tower was completed and baby Adolf Hitler took his first breath, Todde seldom left the village. He lived in the same house with his wife of 78 years, Maria Mutonia, all his life.

　　He witnessed(目睹) the two World Wars, a technological revolution and saw the world's population quadrupled(4倍) but was untroubled by the passing of the years.

　　“His life was very simple but those 100 years, he lived them to the full,” said Mariolina, recalling how much he liked to play cards with his friends and go for long walks.

　　Todde's Life and that of his fellow islanders is the focus of a scientific study.

　　A remarkable number of Sardinia's 1.6 million people live through a century. Some 135 people per million live to see their 100th birthday.

　　Todde's own family seems a case in point－his two daughters are 78 and 81 separately and his sister is 98.

　　The answer to the often-posed question of just how he managed it was simple for Antonio.

　　“Just love your brother and drink a good glass of red wine every day,” he was quoted(引证) as saying when he celebrated his 112th birthday last year.

　　“You take one day after the other, you just go on.”

　　1．Antonio Todde made it into the Guinness Book of Records, because ________.

[　　]

A．he witnessed the two World Wars

B．he was the oldest man in the world

C．he had a sense of humor

D．he was the focus of a scientific study

2．The underlined word “he” in the passage refers to ________.

[　　]

3．From the passage we know that ________.

[　　]

A．Todde acted as a soldier in the two World Wars

B．Todde's life was greatly affected by the two World Wars

C．the Eiffel Tower was completed in the year 1889

D．living in the mountain is necessary for a man to live long

4．Todde's secret of becoming the world's oldest man is that ________.

[　　]

A．he did nothing but drink a glass of red wine every day

B．he lived a life in his own way

C．he was rich enough to care nothing but play

D．the land and weather were good to him