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，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her free time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.

As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip (退稿条) from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and ruined hopes can surface.

A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?”

“No”, she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.

While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.

1. What do we learn form the first paragraph?

A. Now too many entertainments take up too much time.

B. Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.

C. Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her free time.

D. Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

2. What did the author say about her own writing experience?

A. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

B. Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

C. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

D. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

3. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?

A. She had won a prize in the previous contest.

B. She wanted to share her stories with readers.

C. She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.

D. She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

4. What’s the author’s advice for parents?

A. Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.

B. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.

C. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.

D. A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.

Below is a web page from Google.

Olympic—Modern Olympic Games

The completer results archive of summer and winter Olympic games, with winners lists, statistics, national anthems and flags of all contries since 1896.

www. olympic. it/english/home-16k

Environment

Beijing steel plants to run at the lowest level of cost during 2008 Olympics [2007-03-11] Beijing able to treat 90 pct of waste water [2007-02-05] ·Air quality in Beijing has improved over the past six years [2007-02-01]·Green Olympics dream coming true …

en. Beijing2008.com/80/67/column211716780.shtml-52k

Beijing announces planned roule of Olympic torch relay

Beijing announced the 2008 Olympic Games torch relay route and set off the Olympic Games torch on Thursday. … Green Olympics is one of the three concepts of the Beijing Games. …

english.china.com/zh_cn/news/sports/110592227/14069663.html-26k

Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’

Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’, officially announced on Saturday, 24 September 2005. The symbol, created using a calligraphic art form, is composed of human and tree-like shapes, …

my.opera.com/green_head/blog/show.dml/92155-18k

Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004

On behalf of BOCOC, Wang Wei, executive vice president of BOCOC, gave a presentation about Green Olympics, introduced the environment protection work of BMC and BOCOC, and answered several questions such as protection of cultural relics …

en.beijing2008.com/84/91/article211929184.shtml-36k

Olympic Games Quizzes and Olmpic Games Trivia

Who was the founder of the Modern Olympics? In which cities were the modern Olympic Games due to be held/ scheduled during the ‘war years’, i.e., 1916, 1940, and 1944? … In which three years of the Modern Olympic Games were … More questions …

www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/sports/ olympic_games.html-12k

OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT

… aimed at young researchers engaged in scholarly research on the Olympic Movement, its history and values, and the impact of the …[ Full story] SPORT ACCORD[2005-01-23]…

www.olympic.org/

Ancient Olympic Heritage and Modern Olympic Games in Athens 2004

As put forward in the various official texts, the Olympic symbols of ancient Olympia, the Olympic flame and the Marathon race are bridges between the ancient and the modern Olympic Games, …

www.c2008.org/rendanews/knowledge_detail.asp?id=911-106k

1.When was the environmental symbol of Beijing Olympics made public?

A．On January 23, 2005.                    B．On September 24, 2005.

C．On February 5, 2007.                    D．On March 11, 2007.

2.Which of the following websites is designed for young researchers interested in the Olympics?

A．Environment　

B．Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004

C．Olympic Games Quizzes and Olmpic Games Trivia

D．OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT

3.Which website provides a complete list of the winners in the Olympic Games?

A．Olympic—Modern Olympic Games

B．Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004

C．Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’

D．Ancient Olympic Hertiage and Modern Olympic Games in Athens 2004

4.What do we learn from the above web page?

A．Beijing has made efforts to improve its air quality.

B．The Olympic torch relay route has not been planned.

C．The Olympic flag will be on display in Athens.

D．A quiz on the Olympics will be held in Beijing.

It is true that good writers rewrite and rewrite and then rewrite some more. But in order to work up the desire to rewrite, it is important to learn to like what you write at the early stage.

I am surprised at the number of famous writers I know who say that they so dislike reading their own writing later that they even hate to look over the publishers’ opinions. One reason we may dislike reading our own work is that we’re often disappointed that the rich ideas in our minds seem very thin and plain when first written down. Jerry Fodor and Steven Pinker suggest that this fact may be a result of how our minds work.

Different from popular belief, we do not usually think in the works and sentences of ordinary language but in symbols for ideas (known as ‘mentalese’ ), and writing our ideas down is an act of translation from that symbolic language. But while mentalese contains our thoughts in the form of a complex tapestry (织锦)，writing can only be composed one thread at a time. Therefore it should not be surprising that our first attempt at expressing ideas should look so simple. It is only by repeatedly rewriting that we produce new threads and connect them to get closer to the ideas formed in our minds.

When people write as if some strict critics (批评家) are looking over their shoulder, they are so worried about what this critic might say that they get stuck before they even start. Peter Elbow makes an excellent suggestion to deal with this problem. When writing we should have two different minds. At the first stage, we should see every idea, as well as the words we use to express it, as wonderful and worth putting down. It is only during rewrites that we should examine what we excitedly wrote in the first stage and check for weaknesses.

1.What do we learn from the text about those famous writers?

2.What do people generally believe about the way human minds work?

3.What can we conclude from the text?

Shane Thomas is a 10-year-old pianist from England. He’s being called the next Mozart because of his amazing abilities.

He has only been having piano lessons for four months, and practices four hours a week, but he has already played difficult classical pieces. He was just seven when he sat down at the piano, and could play at once. He also says he never gets nervous.

When Shane was three years old, he said that he could play the piano, but nobody took him seriously. At school, he could listen to the teacher and do his work while composing (作曲) in his head. Shame remembers all the melodies（旋律）,and when he gets home he plays them on the piano, while his father records them. Shane loves playing the piano, and when he grows up he wants to be a composer.

His tutor, Richard Goffin-Lecar, says he is like Amadeus Mozart, who lived during the 18^th century in Salzburg, Austria, and was one of the most famous composers ever. Mr. Goffin-lecar says, “I don’t teach Shane very much. I just give him directions, then sit back and watch.”

His father, a single parent with two other children, says that although he has little money, he wants to send Shane to a good music school. “I’m a single father, but I have this gifted child. I don’t have much money, but I want to give him the best teachers, and also take him into a studio to record.”

1.When did Shane tell others that he could play the piano?

A. At age three.    B. At age ten.      C. At age seven.  D. At age four.

2.Which of the following is TRUE about Shane?

A. He feels nervous while playing the piano

B. He can compose in his head while doing his work.

C. He wants to be a piano tutor when he grows up.

D. He doesn’t like to listen to the teacher at school.

3.What do we learn about Shane’s father?

A. He also plays the piano well.

B. He’s a single father with two children.

C. He believes in Shane’s talent for music and will support him.

D. Not having enough money, he will ask the teachers for help

Last year, I met a little boy to whom my heart went out. He would talk to me every single day, and always seemed to have a smile on his face. His problem was that he stuttered (口吃) extremely badly when he tried to talk. It was really hard to understand what he was saying, although he loved to tell big tales!

One morning, I was talking to the teachers who ran the school store. The boy stopped by and said hello to all of us. Afterwards they told me that the boy would stop every day to ask if they would be there the next day. But of course, he never had money to buy anything.

I decided that I would get him a little something just as a surprise. So I picked out a pencil, a rubber, and a small notebook for just $1.00. I cannot describe the look on his face when I gave him the three little things. Then, without a stutter, he loudly said, "Thank you so much!" and just kept repeating, "Thank you! Thank you!" He gave me a big hug before going off to class.

I was touched to see someone appreciate something that much. As he walked off, he was showing his new stuff to other kids walking to class. I have to say that I have never spent a dollar that would mean so much to me.

1.Why did the boy never buy anything from the store?

2.What do we learn from the third paragraph?

3.Which would be the best title for the passage?

4.What is the boy’s attitude to his life?