四、阅读理解(每小题2分，满分20 分)

A

We all know that Taiwan is considered as the Treasure Island of China. It is very beautiful. Recently we have been closely connected.

Several months ago, a group of 19 Taiwanese children flew to Chengdu in order to begin a tour to study pandas. The middle school children were from Chiayi County in southwest Taiwan and were chosen because of their excellent performances at school.

During the visit, the children saw pandas up close. They were very excited to see so many pandas at the same time. The children also traveled to the Mount E’mei scenic area and met local schoolchildren.

At last, they said, “The pandas are very cute, and we are all happy.” They also said the children in Chengdu were very friendly to them, and they all liked there. They hoped to visit Sichuan again.

36. Taiwan is considered as a _______island of China.

A. valuable    B. rich   C. beautiful   D. all above

37.Why did the group of 19 Taiwanese children come to Chengdu?

A. Because they came to study here.

B. Because they had never been here.

C. Because they flew here for a tour to study pandas.

D. Because they were from Chiayi County in southwest Taiwan.

38.The children had a good chance to visit Chengdu because_______ .

A. they were interested in it

B. they did well at school

C. they were performing different roles

D. they were not from the same country

39.When they visited pandas, the children were quite excited_______.

A. to see so many pandas at a time

B. to climb the Mount E’mei

C. to see pandas

D. to find pandas very cute

40.This passage mainly expresses that_______ .

A. the middle school students in Taiwan must learn about pandas

B. there is a good relationship between the two places

C. the children in Chengdu are very friendly

D. the students in Taiwan are excellent

B

Lots of people were asking me the same question—How did a 22-year-old woman row(划)a 19-foot boat for 70 days? Well, when I was on the sea alone, the biggest difficulty was the feeling of being lonely.

I started on January 3,2010. More than half the people who tried sailing alone often gave up in the first two weeks, so I decided to finish one-fourth of the sailing first, which took about 20 days.

Day 20th,January 22 came! I said to myself that I should be happy. But I was feeling so bad. It seemed to be the hardest day for me. I didn’t see land for over two weeks. Every day I did the same—rowing, eating, sleeping, watching the sky and the ocean...

Suddenly I saw something breaking through the water near my boat. They were dolphins. They circled my boat and were close enough for me to touch. So I did! Suddenly I felt so moved, they came to say “Hello”, just when I needed it most. I was no longer lonely, believing that I would succeed.

And I made it! All 2,817 miles I got to the coast on March 14,after 70 days and five hours at sea. So the secret of my success is the moment with those dolphins.