第二部分 阅读理解(共25小题。第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分;满分45分)

第一节 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

Twenty courses provided by 18 top Chinese universities went online on Wednesday, China's latest attempt to spread teaching resources within the nation and promote (提升)Chinese culture globally.

These courses cover 20 subjects or lectures given by speakers and professors from several universities, including Zhejiang University, Nankai University and Wuhan University.Most of the courses will focus on traditional Chinese culture, according to the Ministry of Education.They are available through the websites of NetEase and China Network Television, as well as icourse.edu.cn, for free.

Some of the courses will be translated into English and promoted across the rest of the world, according to NetEase Company, an international body promoting open content among the world's universities.

The company has set up a translation team and "will kick off the translation work when we finish the negotiation(谈判)on intellectual rights with universities", said Zhu Xirui, a senior manager for NetEase Company.

"We want to promote Chinese culture to overseas netizens through the program," he said.

Ding Xiuhong, another manager of NetEase Company, said they had invested (投资) more than 15 million yuan ($2.37 million) in the program.

"Although we haven't made a profit from 'the program, it will at least help increase our website's page views," Ding said.

"I'd like to watch the Chinese elite(精英) classes, such as Chinese literature and poetry, as well as economy," said Jeremy Scaramuzzi, a teacher at Tsinghua International School.

He said he was also interested in Chinese classes on political science since that is the subject he majored in in the United States.

41.Which of the following statements is true?

A.The courses mainly focus on university education.

B.Viewers will have to pay for watching the courses.

C.The program is intended to promote Chinese culture.

D.The program is of little value to Chinese students.

42.According to the passage, people can get access to the courses from ____ websites.

A.2. B.3. C.4. D.5.

43.It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A.the investors are making some profits B.the courses are given in Chinese at present

C.the program has gained great popularity D.the translation work is being carried out

44.The passage is most probably a(n) ______.

A.advertisement B.lecture C.news report D.course introduction

B

We all know that teenagers like to sleep late. But more and more research is showing that this is not just a preference – or even the result of late-night studying or instant messaging - but is rooted in their biological rhythms(节律). All of this would be little more than an interesting observation except that most high schools start so early, and so many teenagers are having a hard time staying awake.

A recent article in The Times cited a National Sleep Foundation survey in which more than a quarter of the students reported that they fell asleep in class at least once a week. Researchers say this is true because youngsters – beginning around age 12 until they reach their mid-20s -- only start producing melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone(荷尔蒙), around 11:00 pm and that production lasts until about 7:00 am. In adults, melatonin lasts to around 4:00 am. Trying to wake up a teenager before 7:00 am is like trying to awake an adult before 4:00 am.

The obvious remedy(补救)would be for high schools to start later—well, after 8:00 am. A handful of schools that have switched have reported beneficial results. School officials in Minneapolis say that attendance improved and students’ grades rose slightly after they changed to start at 8:40 am several years ago. In Wilton, Conn., where the high school start time was pushed back to 8:20 am from 7:35 am, teachers and parents reported better student behavior and greater alertness (活泼). Surveys of students in both districts indicated that they did not use the later starts as an excuse to go to bed later.

Numerous districts have considered the idea of later high school hours, only to drop it because of fierce adult opposition. Coaches complain that the later classroom hours in the afternoon would take time from their training programs and teams’ success. School bus companies would be forced to change their schedules. And many parents complained that they would have to adjust their own schedules.

Many schools officials say more research is needed. We’re all for that and for remembering that the goal is to educate youngsters—and for that they need to be awake.

45. According to the new research, teenagers like to sleep late because _________ .

A. their biological systems make them do so

B. they waste too much rest time sending instant messages

C. they prefer to stay in bed rather than get up early

D. they have to study till late at night

46. We can learn from the second paragraph that melatonin makes ________ .

A. youngsters awake after 7:00 am B. youngsters sleepy before 7:00 am

C. adults sleepy after 4:00 am D. adults awake after 4:00 am

47. The third paragraph is written to show that _________ .

A. many high schools start after 8:00 am

B. later high school start time made students go to bed late

C. students don’t go to bed late even though they have later high school hours

D. later high school start time is a very effective measure

48. According to the passage, who are fiercely against later high school hours?

① School team coaches. ② Many parents. ③ School teachers. ④ School bus companies.

A. ①②③ B. ①②④ C. ①③④ D. ②③④

49. We can infer from the passage that the author’s attitude towards later high school hours is ______ .

A. unclear B. negative C. uninterested D. positive

C

Drunken driving—sometimes called America’s socially accepted form of murder—has become a national epidemic(流行病). Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past ten years. A drunken driver is usually referred to as one with 0.10-blood alcohol content or roughly three beer glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American manly image and judges were lenient in most courts, but the drunken killing has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies, especially concerning young children, that public opinion is no longer so tolerant(忍受).

Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21, reversing a trend(逆转潮流)in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18, the number of people killed by 18—20-year-old drivers more than doubled, so the state recently upped it back to 21.

Reformers, however, fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop “responsible attitudes” about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.

Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests in many areas already, to a marked drop in accidents, some states are also punishing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A bar in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who was “obviously drunk” and later drove off the road, killing a nine-year-old boy.

As the accidents continue to occur daily in every state, some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years national prohibition(禁令)of alcohol that began in 1919, which President Hoover called the “noble experiment”. They forgot that legal prohibition didn’t stop drinking, but encouraged political corruption(腐败)and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally, there is no easy solution.

50. What can be inferred from the fact of the traffic accidents in New Jersey?