The bees have been busy.
There’s been lots to do.
We are throwing a party because
ALICE IS TURNING 2 !
Come bug out with us,
Saturday, July 4th
12 to 1:30
The Pavilion
Mississippi Museum of Natural Science
2148 Riverside Drive,Jackson
Regrets to the Queen Bee
at 601-555-4111
31. The card above is _________. A. a ticket B. a postcard
C. an invitation D.an advertisement 【标准答案】C。 【试题解析】题目问题“这张卡片是什么?” 根据 we're throwing a party 得知这篇文章是邀请读者来参加派对。因为它是一封邀请函。A为门票 B为明信片 C为 邀请函 D 为广告。 【高考考点】主旨题。 32. The party is for_______. A.a birthday B.the Queen C.bee watching D.the National Day 【标准答案】A。
【试题解析】题目问“这个派对是为何举办？”根据ALICE IS TURNING 2, Alice满两岁了。可知这是为一场生日举办。因而答案选A 。 【高考考点】推断题。
33. According to the card, if you are unable to go,you can_______. A. return the card B. visit the Museum C. ignore the message D. contact Alice’s mother 【标准答案】D。
【试题解析】题目“根据这张卡片，如果不能来联系谁？” 根据 Regret to the Queen Bee，假如你遗憾不能来联系Queen Bee。得知选D。 【高考考点】细节理解题。
B
Nothing could stop Dad. After he was put on disability for a bad back, he bought a small farm
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in the country, just enough to grow food for the family. He planted vegetables, fruit trees and even kept bees for honey.
And every week he cleaned Old Man McColgin's chicken house in exchange for manure(肥料). The Smell really burned the inside of your nose. When we complained about the terrible smell, Dad said the stronger the manure, the healthier the crops, and he was right. For example, just one of his cantaloupes filled the entire house with its sweet smell, and the taste was even sweeter.
As the vegetables started coming in, Dad threw himself into cooking. One day, armed with a basket of vegetables, he announced he was going to make stew(炖菜).Dad pulled out a pressure cooker and filled it up with cabbages, eggplants, potatoes, corns, onions and carrots. For about half an hour. the pressure built and the vegetables cooked. Finally, Dad turned off the stove, the pot began to cool and the pressure relief valve sprayed out a cloud of steam. If we thought Dad's pile of chicken manure was bad, this was 10 times worse. When Dad took off the lid, the smell nearly knocked us out.
Dad carried the pot out and we opened doors and windows to air out the house. Just how bad was it? The neighbors came out of their houses to see if we had a gas leak!
Determined, Dad filled our plates with steaming stew and passed them around it didn’t look that bad, and after the first wave had shut down my ability to smell, it didn’t offend the nose so much, either. I took a taste. It would never win a prize in a cooking competition, but it was surprisingly edible, and we drank up every last drop of soup.
大意：本篇文章主要讲述作者的父亲不幸变成了残疾，但仍积极面对生活，自己种菜并烹饪食物的故事。
34. Why did Dad clean Old Man Mocolgin’s chicken house regularly? A. To earn some money for the family. B. To collect manure for his crops. C. To get rid of the terrible smell. D. To set a good example to us. [标准答案]【B】
[试题解析]由题干的”Old Man McColgin’s chicken house”可定位出答案句为第二段的第一句“And every week he cleaned Old Man McCogin’s chicken house in exchange for manure(肥料).”，从这句可知父亲打扫chicken house（鸡舍）是为了manure(肥料)，所以本题答案是：B 。题干中的regularly同义改写答案句中的 every week。 35. What can we infer about Dad’s stew? A. It is popular among the neighbors. B. It contains honey and vegetables. C. It looks very wonderful. D. It tastes quite delicious. [标准答案]【D】
[试题解析]本题需要同时理解文章的第三、四、五段。在这几段中主要讲述作者的父亲用自家农园里的蔬菜做成一道菜肴，但菜肴所发出的“恶心”味道很刺鼻、难闻、甚至误让邻居们以为煤气泄露，不过还好的是，在文章最后一段中讲述：在作者父亲的坚持下，作者的家人们品尝了父亲所做的菜，发现这道其貌不扬的菜肴，味道其实非常不错，他们甚至喝光了最后一滴的汤（But it was surprisingly edible, and we drank up every last drop of soup.）因此本题
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答案是D。
36. What does the underlined word “offend” in the last paragraph mean? A. To attract B. To upset C. To air D. To shut
[标准答案]【B】
[试题解析]从最后一段的“It didn’t look that bad.”可知，作者发现父亲做的炖菜其实没有想象的那么糟糕，从而可知作者对父亲所做的炖菜的态度变好，因此就觉得炖菜的味道也不是那么刺鼻了。选项中的upset刚好符合原文，所以本题的答案为B。
37. What can we learn about Dad from the text? A. He is an experienced cook. B. He is a troublesome father.
C. He has a positive attitude to life. D. He suffers a lot from his disability. [标准答案]【C】
[试题解析]通过对全文的理解和第一段首句的“Nothing could stop Dad.”，发现父亲虽身有残疾，但仍自己种菜，认真打扫鸡舍换取肥料，烹饪食物等，可知父亲对待生活是非常积极阳光的，因此本题答案为C。
C
Across Britain, burnt toast will be served to mothers in bed this morning as older sons and daughters to deliver their supermarket bunches of flowers, But, according to a new study, we should be placing a higher value on motherhood all year.
Mothers have long known that their home worked was just heavy as paid work. Now, the new study has shown that if they were paid for their parental labours, they would earn as much as＄172,000 a year.
The study looked at the range of jobs mothers do, as well as the hours they are working, to determine the figure. This would make their yearly income ＄3000 more than the Prime Minister earns.
By analysing the numbers, it found the average mother works 119 hours a week, 40 of which would usually be paid at a standard rate 79 hours as overtime. After questioning 1,000 mothers with children under 18,it found that, on most days, mums started their routine work at 7am and finished at around 11pm.
To calculate just how much mothers would earn from that labour, it suggested some of the
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roles that mums could take on, including housekeeper, part-time lawyer, personal trainer and entertainer. Being a part-time lawyer, at ＄48.98 an hour, would prove to be the most profitable of the “mum jobs”,with psychologist（心理学家）a close second.
It also asked mothers about the challenges they face, with 80 percent making emotional（情感的） demand as the hardest thing about motherhood.
Over a third of mums felt they needed more training and around half said they missed going out with friends.
The study shows mothers marter all year long and not just on Mother’s Day. The emotional, physical and mental energy mothers devote to their children can be never-ending, but children are also sources of great joy and happiness. Investing（投入）in time for parenting and raising relationships is money well spent.
38.How much would a mother earn a year if working as the Prime Minister? A.￡30,000. B.￡142,000. C.￡172,000. D.￡202,000. [标准答案] B
[试题解析]细节题，易。本题考查数字，需要进行简单的运算。首先要理解题干信息：如果妈妈们做首相的工作，可以挣多少钱？此处的陷阱是：容易认为是妈妈一年挣的钱，选出C；或者是Prime minister挣的钱，选出A。实质问的是首相工作挣的钱。通过题干信息，定位至第三自然段“This could make their yearly income ￡30,000 more than the Prime Minister earns”,但是此句表达的是妈妈们比Prime Minister每年多挣￡30,000，再根据第二段”They would earn as much as ￡172,000 a year”可知，首相每年赚的钱是172,000-30,000=142,000.故答案选B。
39.The biggest challenge for most mothers is from .
A. emotional demand B. low pay for work C. heavy workload D. lack of training [标准答案]A
[试题解析]细节题，易。由题干信息biggest challenge和most mother可定位至第六段，其中的80 per cent对应most mother,而the hardest thing 对应biggest challenge,由此可推出答案A。 40.What is stressed in the last paragraph?
A. Mothers’importance shows in family all year long. B. The sacrifices mothers make are huge but worhwhile. C. Mothers’devotion to children can hardly be calculated. D. Investing time in parenting would bring a financial return. [标准答案]A。
[试题解析]主旨大意题。中。阅读最后一段，主旨大意多是一段的开头句，第一句话表达了妈妈的重要性，后面紧接着讲了妈妈重要的原因，且A项的importance是第一句matter的同义替换，故选A。此题最大干扰项B项，文章最后说妈妈们也会从孩子那里得到乐趣，但这并不是作者强调的重点，故排除B。D选项虽然有提到文中的investing,但文章只是在比喻妈妈的劳动值多少钱，而不是正真能换来金钱的回报。 41.What can we conclude from the study?
A. Mothers’working hours should be largely reduced. B. Mothers should balance their time for work and rest. C. Mothers’labour is of a higher value than it is realised.
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D. Mothers should be freed from housework for social life. [标准答案]C。
[试题解析]主旨大意题。中。文章第一段but后面we should be placing a higher value on motherhood…..以及通过body段落可知妈妈所做的事情比我们想象中的还要多，更有价值，所以答案选C。AB选项属于无中生有，文章并没有提到要减少妈妈的工作时间及平衡工作和休息，故排除。D选项第七段going out with friends，但不是整个文章表达的重点，不能以篇盖全。
D
Their cheery song brightens many a winter's day. But robins are in danger of wearing themselves out by singing too much. Robins are singing all night - as well as during the day. British-based researchers say.
David Dominoni, of Glasgow University, said that light from street lamps, takeaway signs and homes is affecting the birds' biological clock, leading to them being wide awake when they should be asleep.
Dr Dominoni, who is putting cameras inside nesting boxes to track sleeping patterns, said lack of sleep could put the birds' health at risk. His study shows that when robins are exposed to light at night in the lab, it leads to some genes being active at the wrong time of day. And the more birds are exposed to light, the more active they are at night.
He told people at a conference, \have been a couple of studies suggesting they are increasing their song output at night and during the day they are still singing. Singing is a costly behaviour and it takes energy. So by increasing their song output, there might be some costs of energy.\
And it is not just robins that are being kept awake by artificial light. Blackbirds and seagulls are also being more nocturnal. Dr Dominoni said, \problem. I have people coming to me saying `You are the bird expert. Can you help us kill these gulls?'.During the breeding(繁殖)season, between April and June, they are very active at night and very noisy and people can't sleep.\
Although Dr Dominoni has only studied light pollution, other research concluded that robins living in noisy cities have started to sing at night to make themselves heard over loud noise.
However, some birds thrive(兴旺)in noisy environments. A study from California Polytechnic University found more hummingbirds in areas with heavy industrial machinery. It is thought that they are capitalising on their predators(天敌)fleeing to quieter areas. 文体： 说明文；
内容： （生物）鸟类受人工光线的影响，夜晚不能入睡，进而增加了啼叫的时 间，可能对它们的健康产生严重的影响。文章： 语法较难，尤其是前两段；包 含较长的动名词短语作介词宾语，较长的非限制性定语从句作插入成分，学生要 想准确地把握住阅读D的内容，需要有很扎实的语法功底。单词难，以类似于 artificial这样的单词考察学生词汇量，要求学生词汇量要比较庞大；同时又以 capitalise这样的词汇考察学生单词活用的能力。若能有相应的背景知识，做题会 容易一些。
42. According to Dr Dominoni's study,what causerrobins to sing so much? A. The breeding season. B. The light in modem C. The dangerous environment. D.The noise from heavy machinery.
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