IV.阅读理解(共 20 小题;每小题 2分，满分40分)

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

Sand and water games improve the level of creativity in kids. Show your kids how to make outlines and shapes with sand models in the sand with their fingers or stuffs such as combs or a small plastic rake(耙子). Put some sand on a plate to use indoors and make learning to mark out letters and numbers added fun. Sand and water games or activities are things that even you can do with your kids that combine amusement, knowledge, creativity, and you can spend quality time with your children as well.

56. Acco rding to the text, sand and water games _________.

A. are popular with many kids B. are played only on the beach

C. can’t be shared with parents D. are welcomed by most parents

57. Why can sand and water games make teaching and learning easy?

A. Because parents can instruct them. B. Because kids’ vocabulary is improved.

C. Because kids can predict the answers. D. Because kids are curious about them.

58. According to the text, playing sand and water games _________.

A. can make kids amused, creative and sociable

B. will change the traditional way of schooling

C. may prevent kids from communicating with others

D. may do harm to kids’ health

59. What’s the main purpose of the text?

A. To teach kids how to play sand and water games.

B. To tell parents the benefits of kids’ playing sand and water games.

C. To persuade parents to allow their kids to play outside.

D. To tell kids how to improve vocabulary and communication skills.

B

When his book Little Princes begins, Conor Grennan is planning a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month volunteer service at the Little Princes Children’s home, an orphanage(孤儿院) in Nepal.

When he arrived at the orphanage, Conor was immediately welcomed by all the children even though he had no previous experience in working with children. He quickly grew to love the job. But it wasn’t long before Conor came to learn that the children were not orphans at all — they were actually children who had been separated from their parents by a child trafficker(贩子).

This realization turned Conor’s global journey into a strong desire to try to find a way to reunite these children with their families. As a part of his efforts, Conor did a great amount of work when he was back in America. He started up a nonprofit organization called Next Generation Nepal(NGN), raising funds in order to buy a house in Nepal for another children’s home. Then, back in Nepal, he began a life-changing trek(艰苦跋涉) into the remote villages in the mountains of Humia.

It is really amazing to read about Conor communicating with the children and to read his descriptions of each of them. He made me truly care about the kids. I wanted them to be able to reunite with their families, too! Unfortunately, this was sim ply not possible for some of the children. But there were some children who received amazing surprises. Jagrit, for example, had thought for years that both his parents were dead. So, Conor was dumbfounded when he visited Jagrit’s village and was introduced to the boy’s father!

Conor successfully found many of the families of the children. Also, he was successful in finding his future wife while in Nepal.

60. What do we know about Little Princes Children’s Home?

A. It is a profitable organization.

B. The children in it are all orphans.

C. It has many branches all over Nepal.

D. Many children ended up there due to illegal trade.

61. In order to help the children, Conor _________.

a. gave up his plan to travel worldwide b. set up the organization NGN

c. fought against child traffickers d. visited some remote villages

e. decided to settle in Nepal

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

62. What does the underlined word “dumbfounded” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A. Satisfied. B. Interested. C. Astonished. D. Ashamed.

63. It can be learned from the passage that Conor Grennan _________.

A. is the author of Little Princes B. is determined to remain single

C. likes teaching very much D. is a friend of the author’s

C

While nature lovers across the world wish all humans to realize the significance of their natural surroundings, many Australians are turning caring for the environment into a way of life.

Julie Astonis, an Australian housewife in Brisbane is one such example. Even though autumn is approaching Australia’s Brisbane in April, one can still watch colorful blooming(盛开的) flowers in Julie’s little garden, as she tells that in her community, “Each of us has a beautiful yard. The whole community, from children to elderly people, takes care of the environment as if they are taking care of their own garden.

“Gardening is the most popular club in our community,” she says. “A lot of retired people don’t just regularly organize gardening lectures, but also pers onally visit families in the community to provide gardening training. So you can see that flowers continue to blossom in our gardens throughout the year.”

Talking about her people’s sense of care for the environment, Julie says when people in the community take along their dog, they always carry a garbage bag to deal with the dog’s waste. “In our community, you will never experience the embarrassment of stepping on the dirty waste while you are walking on the grass,” says Julie with a smile. “Taking care of the dog’s waste can also help to develop children’s sense of responsibility!”

As to protecting water resources, the Australian government has made strict rules for families. Julie says, “We certainly would not use tap water to water the flowers!” She says almost every family in her community has a huge tank used to store rainwater, which is later used as the resource of all outdoor water use, connect the water tank with their toilets.

64. From the first three paragraphs we learn that _________.

A. gardening is popular in most part of Australia

B. April is a great time for people to enjoy flowers

C. it’s not easy to keep a garden without proper training

D. Julie’s community has a deep sense of caring for nature

65. Which of the following about Julie is true?

A. She takes pride in her community.

B. She once stepped on a dog’s waste.

C. She is quite in favor of raising a dog.

D. She finds it embarrassing to walk on the grass.

66. From what Julie says in the last paragraph, we know _________.

A. rainwater is not the best resource

B. her community owns a public tank

C. her community makes full use of resources

D. it is not necessary to water flowers very often

67. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Love nature, the Australian way B. How Australians save resources

C. How Australians lead their life D. Protect nature, a must of life