三、阅读理解(每小题2分，共34分)

A

An English Lecture

Do you have any problems when you are learning English? Come to the lecture on Friday afternoon!

Simon Greenall will give the lecture in the Science Hall. The address is at No. 12. Beijing Road.

Get more information by calling 83156322.

Beijing Opera

Do you like listening to Beijing Opera? Come and join us on Saturday morning. Remember: No slippers(拖鞋)!

The opera will begin at 9:30 in the Great Theater. Please go in and be seated(就座)ten minutes earlier. The tickets are free.

A concert

Do you like classical music? Come to the concert on Sunday evening.

The concert will begin at 7:30 in the People’s Hall.

Ticket:

Adults: 50 yuan Children (under 15): 25 yuan

27. The English lecture will begin on .

A. Friday afternoon B. Saturday night C. Sunday evening D. Friday evening

28. If you go to listen to Beijing Opera, you should .

A. not wear slippers B. buy the tickets C. come at 7:40 D. come to the Great teahouse

29. The concert will be in .

A. the Great Theater B. the People’s Hall C. the Science Hall D. the teahouse

30. Mr Green takes his wife and his 12-year-old son to the concert. He should pay for the tickets.

A. 75 yuan B. 125 yuan C. 100 yuan D. 150 yuan

31. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A. Simon will give you some advice on how to learn English.

B. The concert is about jazz.

C. You can go to No. 125, Beijing Road to listen to Beijing Opera.

D. It’s free for the children to the concert.

B

Who are the most beautiful women in the world?Looking at the records, people might think Venezuelan(委内瑞拉)women are. They win the Miss Latin America, Miss Universe, and Miss World contests more frequently than women from any other country. In Venezuela, the term “Miss” as in “Miss Universe” is an honored title.

These days, people in some cultures consider beauty contests to be silly. They have tried to stop these contests, saying the contests treat women as objects and place too much importance on women’s looks. But in Latin America, beauty contests are a source of pride.

Are Venezuelan women really more beautiful than other women? “They are not really more beautiful here,” says Selena, who trains girls for the contest. “It’s just that the girls here work harder and prepare more than anyone else.”

The preparation takes many hours a day. The contestants(选手)stretch(伸展) their bodies and practice their walks down the runway. They work on their speeches and practice answering questions such as, “Whom do you admire(钦佩) most in the world?” They starve to stay slim. They take classes to learn how to style their hair and apply make-up.

It isn’t easy. One Miss Universe winner immediately put on 20 pounds after the contest. She said the only thing she wanted to do after the contest was to eat. The cost is high as well. Fortunately the television station that holds the contest pays the costs.

Yet most of the contestants say it’s worth the effort. A former Miss Universe is now mayor of a district in a large city. Although she had no political experience before that, she has been asked to run for higher political office. Another winner has her own television show. Winners have an advantage they could not get anywhere else. “It’s the only chance you have to make it,” says one contestant. “You can’t get these opportunities any other way.”

32.The passage is mainly about ________.

A. beauty contests around the world

B. different opinions on beauty contests

C. why Venezuelan women are more successful in beauty contests

D. the training of beauty contestants

33.What does the underlined word”object”mean?

A.物品 B.反抗 C.妆饰 D.选手

34.According to Selena, the reason why Venezuelan women win more beauty contests is that ________.

A. they are more beautiful　　　　　　　　 B. they are better educated

C. they are better prepared　　　　　　　　D. they get more support

35.When the Venezuelan contestants say “it’s worth the effort”, they really mean___.

A. they gain more fame from beauty contests

B. the money spent on beauty contests is worthwhile

C. they gain an advantage over anyone else in politics

D. beauty contests lead to a better career

C

Stepping into a pool of water is common enough, but who could ever imagine stepping into a pool of fish? In February of 1974, Bill Tapp, an Australian farmer, saw a rain of fish that covered his farm.How surprised he must have been when he heard many fish hitting his roof!

What caused this strange occurrence? This is a question that had long puzzled people who study fish.The answer turned out to be a combination of wind and storm.

When it is spring in the northern part of the world, it is fall in Australia.Throughout the autumn season, terrible storms arise and rains flood the land.The strong winds sweep over Australia like huge vacuum cleaners (吸尘器), collecting seaweed, pieces of wood, and even schools of fish.Strong winds may carry these bits of nature for many miles before vacuum dropping them on fields, houses, and astonished people.

Although they seem unusual, fish-falls occur frequently in Australia.When Bill Tapp was asked to describe the scene of fish, he remarked, “They look like millions of dead birds falling down.” His statement is not surprising.The wonders of the natural world are as common as rain.Nature, with its infinite wonders, can create waterfalls that flow upward and fish that fall out of the sky.

36.What is this passage about?

A.A sad story. B.Australia's northern part.

C.A rain of fish. D.The damage done by floods.

37.Fish-falls occur in Australia ________.

A.quite often B.on large farms

C.only in winter D.when the air is calm

38.It is a known fact that___________.

A.one should watch where one steps

B.Bill Tapp is a scientist who studies farming

C.the natural world can never create waterfalls that fall upward

D.the seasons in the southern part are different from those in the northern part

39.The word “infinite” is closest in meaning to _________.

A.easy B.difficult C.countless D.dangerous

D

Work today is very different from the way it was fifty or even twenty years ago. In the past, most people got up early in the morning, traveled to their offices by bus, train or car.,worked eight hours and traveled home again.

In today’s world, many companies are changing this way of working. More and more people work from home. This means that they do not travel to an office every day. This is possible, of course, because of technology like the Internet, the fax and video telephones where you can see other people when you talk to them. These telephones also let you talk to many people at the same time. The money is the same, but there is less time wasted on travel.

Is it better or worse than working in an office? Well, if you work from home and your neighbour doesn’t, when he is leaving for the office at 7:00, you are getting up. He is sitting in his car at 7:30, and you’re drinking a cup of coffee and checking your emails. At 8:00, when your neighbour is arriving at the office, you’re taking a shower. After that, you have breakfast and begin your day’s work.

You send several reports by email, and then you have a meeting over the video telephone with other workers in Brail and Italy.

At lunchtime you aren’t very hungry, so you decide to continue working. You work till about 4:00, check your emails and then relax. You take your dog to the park for a run. At six o’clock, you’re watching the news when your neighbour arrives home.

40. What does the phrase “work from home” mean?

A. Using technology to do work at your home.

B. Using technology to make the office like a home.

C. Getting someone else to go to work for you.

D. Getting office workers to do your work

41. How does working from home help workers?

A. They work for longer. B. They don’t do any work

C. They waste less time D. They waster less money

42. Why working from home is possible now?

A. Because there are less meetings in the office.

B. Because we can see other workers at home.

C. Because we can talk to many people at the same time with telephones.

D. Because of the development of new technology.

43. What does the writer think about work today?

A. Better than it was. B. Worse than it was.

C. Different to what it was. D. The same as it was.