第三部分：阅读理解(共 20 小题;每小题 2 分，共 40 分)

阅读下列短文：从每题所给的 A、B、C、D 四个选项中，选出最佳选项，将正确的选项涂在答题卡上。

A

O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.

56. In which order did O. Henry do the following things?

a. Lived in New York.   b. Worked in a bank.        c. Travelled to Texas.

d. Was put in prison.    e. Had a newspaper Job.      f. Learned to write stories.

A. e. c. f. b. d. a      B. c. e. b. d. f. a        C. e. b. d. c. a. f.   D. c. b. e. d. a f.

57. People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because ________.

A. they had surprise endings         B. they were easy to understand

C. they showed his love for the poor D. they were about New York City

58. O. Henry went to prison because ________ .

A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper

B. he broke the law by not using his own name

C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners

D. people thought he had taken money that was not his

59. What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?

A. He was well-educated.          B. He was not serious about his work.

C. He was devoted to the poor.       D. He was very good at learning.

60. Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?

A. His life inside the prison.        B. The newspaper articles he wrote.

C. The city and people of New York. D. His exciting early life as a boy.

B

One day a few years ago a very funny thing happened to a neighbour of mine. He is a teacher at one of London’s big medical schools, He had finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airport on his way to Russia to give a lecture.

He had put a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag, but he had put Rupert, the skeleton (人体骨骼) to be used in his lecture, in a large brown suitcase (箱子). At the airport desk, he suddenly thought that he had forgotten to buy a newspaper. He left his suitcase near the desk and went over to the shop.

When he got back he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake. He often wonders what they said when they got home and found Rupert.

61. Who wrote the story?

A. Rupert’s teacher.             B. The neighbour’s teacher.

C. A medical school teacher.       D. The teacher’s neighbour.

62. Why did the teacher put a skeleton in his suitcase?

A. He needed it for the summer term in London.

B. He needed it for the lecture he was going to give.

C. He wanted to take it to Russia for medical research.

D. He wanted to take it home as he had finished his teaching.

63. What happened at the airport?

A. The skeleton went missing.        B. The skeleton was stolen .

C. The teacher forgot his suitcase.     D. The teacher took the wrong suitcase .

C

On the evening of June 21, 1992, a tall man with brown hair and blue eyes entered the beautiful hall of the Bell Tower Hotel in Xi’an with his bicycle. The hotel workers received him and telephoned the manager, for they had never seen a bicycle in the hotel ball before though they lived in “the kingdom of bicycles.”

Robert Friedlander, an American, arrived in Xi’an on his bicycle trip across Asia which started last December in New Delhi, India.

When he was 11, he read the book Marco Polo and made up his mind to visit the Silk Road. Now, after 44 years , he was on the Silk Road in Xi’an and his early dreams were coming true.

Robert Friedlander’s next destinations (目的地) were Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Urumqi, etc. He will complete his trip in Pakistan.

66. The best headline(标题) for this newspaper article would be      .

A. The Kingdom of Bicycles        B. A Beautiful Hotel in Xi’an

C. Marco Polo and the Silk Road    D. An American Achieving His Aims

67. The hotel workers told the manager about Friedlander coming to the hotel because

A. he asked to see the manager

B. he entered the hall with a bike

C. the manager had to know about all foreign guests

D. the manager knew about his trip and was expecting him

68. Friedlander is visiting the three countries in the following order,        .

A. China, India, and Pakistan            B. India, China, and Pakistan

C. Pakistan, China, and India           D. China, Pakistan, and India

69. What made Friedlander want to come to China?

A. The stories about Marco Polo .       B. The famous sights in Xi’an .

C. His interest in Chinese silk.          D. His childhood dreams about bicycles .

70. Friedlander can be said to be       .

A. clever       B. friendly        C. hardworking    D. strong—minded