I bit my tongue. How could I tell Mom it was the ugliest dress I had ever seen? “It’s perfect for church,” my mother continued delightedly. “I wish someone had made a dress like this for me.”
Too bad you can’t wear it, I thought. But I knew Mom had spent a lot of time on the dress. No one should refuse.
Unwillingly I put it on.
All through church I prayed, “Lord, let me get out of here without anyone seeing me. Especially Dennis Pearce, the boy I had a crush on , one of the coolest boys at Neptune High School.” Although we were in some of the same classes, Dennis had never taken any notice of me. Every time I got near him, I became tongue-tied.
At the end of the service I rushed for the door. But I had to wait on the steps while my parents chatted with their friends. Just a little while longer…Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the Pearces coming near. Before I could escape, Dennis was right beside me.
I started talking, hoping if I kept it up he wouldn’t notice my ugly dress. “I’m going to college in September,” I said.
“That’s great,” Dennis replied “I got accepted to police academy.”
“Wow!” I said. Somehow I kept the conversation going. The next thing I knew was that Dennis had asked me out on a date!
We courted (恋爱) through college, and eventually got married. Months after our wedding I asked Dennis if he remembered the day he had first asked me out.
“Certainly I do,” he said. “You were always quiet in school. I didn’t think you’d be much fun. But you were so lively when we talked on the church steps, I wanted to get to know you better.” Maybe that yellow dress wasn’t what I would have chosen, but that day it was the perfect dress for me.
56. Why did the author accept such a dress at the beginning?
A. Because she was fond of its new pattern.
B. Because her Mom just bought it for her as a present. C. Because it was proper to go to church in it. D. Because she understood her Mom’s love.
57. The author tried to carry on with the conversation with Dennis, hoping _________.
A. she would catch other boys’ attention B. Dennis would get her out on a date C. Dennis wouldn’t take notice of her dress D. she could be noticed by Dennis’ parents
58. The underlined part “had a crush on” in Paragraph 6 probably means “___________ ”.
A. loved deeply
B. met by chance
C. looked down on
D. worried about
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59. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. Dennis thought the author was a fun girl at school.
B. The author couldn’t have chosen a better dress that day. C. Dennis fell in love with the author at first sight.
D. The author thought Dennis should have known her better.
B
Vélib (English: free bicycle or bicycle freedom), Paris’s bicycle rental system, inspired a new city culture against climate changes. Residents here can rent a well-built bicycle from hundreds of public stations and ride to their destinations, an inexpensive, healthy and low-carbon choice to hopping in a car or a bus.
But this latest French utopia (乌托邦) has met a common reality: Many of the specially designed bikes, which cost $3,500 each, are showing up on black markets in Eastern Europe and Northern Africa. Many others are being taken away for city joy rides and then thrown away by roadsides, their wheels bent and tires stripped (车胎被拆卸). With 80% of the early 20,600 bicycles stolen or damaged, the program’s organizers have had to hire several hundred people just to fix them. And the city-subsidized budget has been a blow to the Parisians. The symbol of an eco-friendly city has become a new source of criminality (犯罪行为). The Vélib was aimed at civilizing city travel. However, it has increased rudeness.
Used mainly for traveling in the center of the city, the Vélib’s program is by all means a success. After swiping a credit card for a deposit (押金) at an electronic docking station, a rider pays one euro per day, or 29 euros for an annual pass, for unlimited access to the bike. Daily use averages 50,000 to 150,000 trips, depending on the season, and the bicycles have proved to be a hit with tourists, who help power the economy.
By now at least 8,000 bikes have been stolen and 8,000 damaged so badly that they had to be replaced—nearly 80 percent of the first stock. 60. France started Vélib with the purpose of ______. A. saving money spent on oil for African children B. building an eco-friendly city to prevent climate changes C. building up the strength of the citizens in Paris
D. attracting more travelers to experience the wonderful scenes
61. The fact that some bikes appeared on black markets in Eastern Europe and Northern Africa shows ______.
A. some people stole the bikes and sold them illegally B. this kind of bike is made with best quality
C. this kind of bike sells well because of its famous name
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D. people there need bikes for a living
62. In the second paragraph the author ______. A. warns the government to give up the plan B. lists some bad results of the Vélib plan in Paris C. reminds people not to rent bikes in Paris D. reports the stealing cases to the police in Paris
63. Which of the following could be the best title for the passage? A. 8,000 Stolen and 8,000 Badly Damaged B. French Utopia Helps City Travel C. French Bicycles Are Ruining Its Capital D. French Model of Bicycle-Sharing Meets Reality
C
Every year, the fascinating tourist destinations below are attracting travelers from home and abroad to St. Louis, which, founded in 1764 by French traders, today is the fifteenth largest urban area in the United States. ★American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog
Dog lovers who visit St. Louis won’t want to miss this 14,000-square-foot museum. Inside are over 500 paintings, prints, watercolors, and a variety of other dog art objects.
The Museum is open year round, Tuesday through Saturday 10 AM to 4 PM, and Sunday 1 PM to 5 PM. Admission is＄5 for adults,＄2.50 for seniors, and＄1 for children up to 14.
★Anheuser Busch Brewery
The Anheuser Buxch Brewery tour is not just for beer lovers. The tour includes the historic Brew House. Then the tour continues to the modern Bevo Packaging Plant. The best will be the Budweiser Clydesdale stables. The tours are always free. ★Gateway Arch
Designed by Eero Sarinen and Hannskari Bandel, it took over two years and 900 tons of stainless steel to build. It is the tallest of the country’s National Monuments. The Arch is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. About one million people per year come to the top of the Arch, where there is an observation platform providing a great view of the city. ★The St. Louis Zoo
First version of the St. Louis Zoo opened in 1904 at the St. Louis World’s Fair, but now it has grown into one of the chief zoos in the world. The passenger train takes visitors around the Zoo, which contains over 9,000 animals of over 800 species.
The Zoo is open every day but Christmas and New Year, with summer hours of 8 AM
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to 7 PM, and hours the rest of the year of 9 AM to 5 PM. Admission to the Zoo is free. 64. If you are interested in how to make beer, you can visit ________.
A. The St. Louis Zoo C. Gateway Arch
B. Anheuser Busch Brewery
D. American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog
65. Which of the following statements about Gateway Arch is TRUE?
A. People can see the city clearly on the top of the arch. B. It was designed by two famous Italian architects. C. It took 900 tons of stainless steel and cement to build. D. It is the largest of the country’s National Monuments. 66. If you plan to visit the St. Louis Zoo, you can go there _____. A. at 9:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day C. at 5:30 p.m. in winter
D
Environmentalists said our planet was doomed to die. Now one man says they are wrong.
“Everyone knows the planet is in bad shape”, thundered a magazine article last year. Species are being driven to die out at record rates, and the rivers are so poisonous that fish are floating on the surface, dead.
But there’s a growing belief that what everyone takes for granted is wrong: things are actually getting better. A new book is about to overturn our most basic assumptions about the world’s environment. Rivers, seas, rain and the atmosphere are all getting cleaner. The total number of forests in the world is not declining. The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg, professor of statistics at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, is an attack on the misleading claims of environmental groups, and the “bad news” culture that makes people believe everything is getting worse.
Now the attacks are increasingly coming from left-wing environmentalists such as Lomborg, a former member of Greenpeace. The accusation (指责) is that, although the environment is improving, green groups—with profits of hundreds of millions of pounds a year—are using scare tactics (谋略) to gain donations. Lomborg’s book doesn’t deny global warming—probably the biggest environmental threat — but destroys almost every other environmental claim with many official statistics.
The Worldwatch Institute claims that “deforestation has been accelerating over the last 30 years”. But Lomborg says that is simply rubbish. Since the dawn of agriculture the world has lost about 20 per cent of its forest cover, but in recent decades the forest area’s depleting has come to a stop. According to UN figures, the area of forests has remained almost steady, at about 30 per cent of total land area, since the 1940s. Forests in the
B. at 5:00 p.m. on Christmas Day D. at 8:30 a.m. in summer
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countries such as the US, UK and Canada have actually been expanding over the past 40 years. Despite all the warnings the Amazon rainforest has only shrunk (缩小) by about 15 per cent.
Nor are all our species dying out. Some campaigners claim that 50 per cent of all species will have died out within 50 years. But other studies show only 0. 08 per cent of species are dying out each year. Conservation efforts have been successful. Whales are no longer threatened and the bald eagle is off the endangered list.
Environmental groups claim that many of the improvements are the results of the success of their campaigns. Stephen Tindale, director of Greenpeace UK, said, “There are important examples, such as acid rain and ozone, where things weren’t as bad as predicted, and that’s because behaviour changed.”
67. What is Lomborg’s main argument in his book, The Skeptical Environmentalist ? A. Our planet is in bad shape.
B. The world’s environment is improving.
C. The total number of forests in the world is not declining. D. Conservation efforts have been successful.
68. What is Lomborg’s main accusation of environmentalists? A. They scared people into making donations.
B. They overturned our basic assumptions about the world’s environment. C. They changed their behavior toward the environment. D. They only told people bad news about the environment.
69. The underlined word “depleting” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to “_______”. A. reducing
B. limiting
C. expanding
D. accelerating
70. According to the passage, which of the following statements indicates positive aspects of the environment?
A. The total area of forests in the world has increased significantly. B. The effects of global warming are not as bad as first expected. C. It appears that the bald eagle will now survive. D. In the last 50 years the number of whales has increased. 第二节 (共 5 小题;每小题 2 分,满分 10 分)
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两 项为多余选项。
What problems do you have with your study? Do you want to improve the way you study? Do you feel nervous before a test? Many students say that a lack of concentration is their biggest problem. It seriously affects their ability to study, so do their test results.
__71__
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