From the first use of the rocket to carry satellites into space to the setting up of space stations, human beings have been putting great effort into space research. And so far, we have achieved many successes. But there are still numerous tasks in front of us and we should not cease trying to progress.
The international space station is an important step we should take in space exploration. It is not only helpful but also essential. It provides a proper space environment for many experiments that we have wanted to do for a long time. It is also a base for the observations of the earth and the universe. It could also be an important base for later travel to the moon and Mars. In a word, if we want to explore space more, the first thing we should do is to set up a space station.
As the space station costs a lot of money, it is hard for one country alone to establish one. The USA seems to be the only country that has the ability to build a space station alone，and it has tried to do so, but not very successful. So it aggregated many other countries to work on it together. Though it is still extremely expensive, it is much cheaper than doing it alone. It is really a job that needs everyone’ s effort and will benefit everyone.
But even so, the funds needed are still a big problem. As for the USA, it seems that it has too many things to spend its money on. Although it is the richest country in the world, it has much debt every year. It has to make arrangements about its finance, and try to find a balance in all these issues.
[语篇解读] 这是一篇说明文。国际空间站对于人类探索太空起着至关重要的作用。由于耗资巨大，财大气粗的美国单独建造起来也并不那么成功。只有各国合作起来，才能解决资金问题，从而使国际空间站造福全人类。
1．What is the author’s attitude towards building and developing the international space station?
A. Supportive. B. Doubtful.
C. Critical. D. Dissatisfied.
[解析] 态度判断题。根据第一段中的“we should not cease trying to progress”和文中作者介绍国际空间站的重要性可知，作者对建设国际空间站持支持态度。
[答案] A
2．From Paragraph 2 we learn that ________.
A. the necessity of building the international space station is not realized now
B. many experiments have been done in the international space station
C. the international space station is necessary for people to explore space more
D. people have traveled to Mars from the international space station
[解析] 细节理解题。根据第二段中的“In a word，if we want to explore space more，the first thing we should do is to set up a space station”可知，国际空间站是进行太空探索所必需的。
[答案] C
3．Which of the following is NOT a reason for countries’ cooperation in building the international space station?
A. That it requires a lot of money.
B. That it needs everyone’ s effort.
C. That it will benefit every participating country.
D. That it is too far away from the earth.
[解析] 细节理解题。根据第三段中的“As the space station costs a lot of money...”和“It is really a job that needs everyone’s effort and will benefit everyone”可知，A、B、C三项均提到了，而文章中没有提到D。
[答案] D
5．The underlined word “aggregated” in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by “________”．
A. united B. scolded
C. allowed D. forbade
[解析] 词义猜测题。由该词所在的语境可知，发展国际空间站耗资巨大，因此美国联合其他一些国家共同来建设该工程，即该词的意思相当于united。
[答案] A
5．Which of the following aspects about building the international space station is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Difficulties. B. Cooperation.
C. Significance. D. Specific arrangements.
[解析] 细节理解题。第二段提到了建设国际空间站的重要性，第三段提到了建设国际空间站面临的困难和合作的重要性，但是文中没有涉及具体细节安排，故答案为D。
[答案] D
[长难句解读] From the first use of the rocket to carry satellites into space to the setting up of space stations, human beings have been putting great effort into space research.
此句较长，但是简单句，句子前半部是介词短语，结构是“from...to...”。语意：从最初使用火箭将卫星送入太空到建立空间站，人们一直在太空研究方面努力着。
One potential problem with allowances is that children’s responsible behavior can become about earning the allowance rather than the intrinsic (固有的) value of their family responsibilities. For example, if you pay your children for taking out the trash, they see this chore (家务) as a job that they should be rewarded for instead of a responsibility they must fulfill as part of the family. But giving children an allowance for weekly chores is not necessarily bad. You are rewarding them for fulfilling their family responsibilities, but it is not for a specific act. Rather, it is an appreciation of their commitment to your family values. You are also conveying another important message that their actions have consequences: if they do good things, good things happen. They also learn a lesson about the market economy, namely that work is rewarded.
Allowances can also be used as punishment and to teach children lessons about family values. For example, if your children join a group of kids smashing (砸碎) pumpkins on Halloween, a part of a reasonable punishment might be to require them to pay the families out of their allowances to replace the pumpkins. Thus, your children learn that bad behavior has financial consequences. Also, by relating the punishment to the misdeed, you ensure that your children see the connection and learn the value lesson.
How much allowance should you pay your children？The precise amount depends on your family’ s financial situation, the cost of living and your children’s needs. Children can start to earn a weekly allowance as early as 5 years of age. An increase of $ 1 per week for each ydar of your children’ s lives is realistic until they reach their midteens. When they begin to drive and date, you can calculate their expenses and establish a reasonable allowance that covers their needs.
[语篇解读] 本文为议论文，就“孩子做家务要不要给予物质奖励”这一话题进行谈论。文章分析了其利与弊，最后还就怎样的金额比较合适提出了自己的看法。
1．The underlined sentence in the 1st paragraph probably means that “giving allowances may ________”．
A. lead to children’s preference for money rather than anything else
B. lead to children’ s preference for earning money by their own
C. cause the problem that children value money more than responsibilities
D. cause children to earn money instead of going to school
[解析] 句意理解题。根据接下来的一句的举例说明可知前一句的句意，孩子会认为做家务得到奖励是合理的，而不认为做家务是他的责任。答案为C。
[答案] C
2．How many advantages of giving allowances are mentioned in the passage?
A. One. B. Two.
C. Three. D. Four.
[解析] 推理判断题。第一段最后三句分别提到了三点好处，第二段的第一句论及了使用经济方式作为处罚的好处。显然文中共提及四点好处，故选D。
[答案] D
3．When your children join a group of kids smashing pumpkins on Halloween，________.
A. they should be taught that bad behavior has financial consequences
B. they should be rid of their opportunity to celebrate Halloween
C. you should give them some allowances to pay for the pumpkins
D. you should ensure your children see the connection with their lessons
[解析] 事实细节题。根据第二段第三句可知A正确，让孩子意识到做出不好的行为要承担经济后果。其他选项均与第二段内容不符。
[答案] A
4．The precise allowance amount you should pay your children depends on all the following factors EXCEPT________.
A. how rich or poor your family is
B. how much other children receive
C. the actual needs of your children
D. the living standard in your area
[解析] 正误判断题。根据第三段第二句可知，A、C和D均正确。故选B。
[答案] B
5．It can be inferred that________.
A. the author doesn’ t want to give any tips on the allowance amount
B. allowances given to children of different ages may vary
C. children under 6 can’t be given any allowance
D. the allowance amount grows at the same speed with your children
[解析] 推理判断题。根据文章最后两句可知B正确。最后一段作者就具体数量提了自己的意见，故A错。C与第三段第三句不符，D过于绝对化。
[答案] B
[长难句解读] For example，if you pay your children for taking out the trash，they see this chore(家务)as a job that they should be rewarded for instead of a responsibility they must fulfill as part of the family.
该句为一个多重复合句。第一层次为they see this chore as a job；第二层次有两个：if you pay your children for taking out the trash 为条件状语从句，that they should be rewarded for instead of a responsibility为定语从句修饰job。第三层次为they must fulfill as part of the family，是省略了which/that的定语从句，修饰responsibility。
If you want to help children develop language and speech skills, UCLA researchers say, listening to what they have to say is just as important as talking to them.
The effect of a conversation between a child and an adult is about six times as great as the effect of adult speech input alone, the researchers found. “Adults speaking to children helps language develop, but what matters much more is the interaction，” said the study’ s lead author, Frederick Zimmerman, an associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. The researchers also found that TV viewing didn’ t have much of an effect — positively or negatively — as long as it wash’ t displacing conversations between an adult and a child.
The UCLA study included 275 families with children between 2 months and 48 months old. They represented a variety of incomes and education. The researchers found that, in an average day, children hear about 13,000 spoken words from adults and participated in about 400 adultchild conversations a day.
Assessed separately, factors positively associated with language development included each additional 100 conversations a day and each 1,000 word increase in the number of words spoken by adults and heard by children. When looked at alone, TV was negatively associated with language development. But, when the three factors were analyzed together, the only one that stood out was conversation between adults and children.
“The more a child speaks and interacts with an adult, the better idea a parent has about where the child is，” Zimmerman said. “Although it’ s mostly done unconsciously, parents will provide feedback and correct mistakes. They’ll also tailor their speech to the child. Parents can give a child words by talking to them about what they’ re doing, such as，‘I’m putting on your pajamas now’. But give your child the opportunity to talk, hopefully without the rest of the noise in the environment，” she added. “If parents can carve out some conversation time — maybe at bath time or at dinner time — that’ s a wonderful thing.”
[语篇解读] 本文是科普文。研究发现，父母和孩子之间的交谈对孩子语言的发展至关重要。这种交谈必须是双向的、互动的。
1．The researchers also found that TV viewing ________.
A. could have a positive effect on a child’s language development
B. had a little effect on a child’ s language development
C. affected a child’s language development more negatively than positively
D. affected a child’s language development both negatively and positively
[解析] 细节理解题。从文章第二段最后一句可知，看电视对孩子没有多少影响，无论是积极的还是消极的。
[答案] B
2．Frederick Zimmerman would probably agree that ________.
A. parents should let their children talk most of the time
B. children should watch TV programs selectively
C. the conversation between parents and children should be twoway
D. it’ s no good for parents to correct their children’ s mistakes when they are speaking
[解析] 推理判断题。从文章第二段内容可知，Zimmerman强调父母跟孩子之间交谈的双向性和互动性才是更重要的。
[答案] C
3．We can conclude from the last paragraph that ________.
A. parents should let a child repeat what he or she says
B. bath time or dinner time is the best chance for parents to talk to a child
C. parentchild conversation can be carried out at any proper time
D. parents should leave a child talking alone
[解析] 推理判断题。从文章最后一段可知，父母应该随时创造跟孩子交谈的机会，时间的选择是非常灵活的。
[答案] C
4．What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Talk with kids, not at them
B. Let your children voice their own opinions
C. How to develop a child’ s language ability
D. The importance of early child language development
[解析] 主旨大意题。根据文章内容分析，文章强调父母和孩子之间的交流，而且强调交流的互动性，因此A项符合文章的主旨，适合作本文标题。
[答案] A
5．The underlined word “tailor” in the last paragraph can be best replaced by ________.
A. control B. improve
C. pass D. adjust
[解析] 词义理解题。根据句子结构和语境分析，此处tailor是动词，本义是“量体裁衣”，此处的意思是不断调整以适应。故答案为D。
[答案] D
[长难句解读] The researchers also found that TV viewing didn’ t have much of an effect — positively or negatively — as long as it wasn’t displacing conversations between an adult and a child.研究者还发现，看电视只要不取代大人和孩子之间的交谈，它就没有多大影响，无论是积极的还是消极的。
本句是一个复合句，that引导宾语从句，从句中又有as long as“只要”引导的条件状语从句。
The HOPE IS A GAME—CHANGER PROJECT will deliver unbreakable soccer balls to kids who，all too often, see things horrible, broken and not survive the simplest of circumstances. The project started taking form well before anyone knew where it would lead which is to test the power of likeminded people working together to turn inspiration into action.
Four years ago Bobby was in Rwanda offering help to the people there and taking photos of a child soldier named Moise with his “soccer ball”， which was a pile of rubbish tied together with a string. This “ball” was the only thing Moise could call his own — no family, no home, no place to go. Forced to fight in the Congo and having killed three people at the unbearably young age of seven, the boy’s spirit was broken. And Bobby knew, as he took one photo after the next, that he’d never forget him. In fact, he returned the following year to tell Moise he had stayed deep within his heart —but he was gone.
I recently helped Bobby launch his new book The Power of the Invisible Sun which features a photo of Moise, his ball, and kids from wartorn areas around the world. All of his earnings go towards the HOPE IS A GAMECHANGER PROJECT for the kids he visited over the past decade. They caught the emotional landscape from heartbreak to joy, but share the undeniable longing for recovery and hope.
Bobby and I share the unchangeable belief that delivering hope is really a gamechanger, especially to a child. We believe that each indestructible ball will come to represent a lasting symbol of hope. A light no matter how small—The Power of the Invisible Sun.
This holiday season, I ask you to think about whether you are doing enough to help someone else in the world. Or as Bobby likes to put it, consider “taking_a_concrete_baby_step”， which added together, can create transformational change. It’s my great hope that the HOPE IS A GAMECHANGER PROJECT will change the lives of children the world over —one book, one ball at a time.
1. In the first sentence of the passage, the writer implies that________.
A. kids live an unsafe life in parts of the world
B. the balls sent to kids should be of good quality
C. young kids can not overcome the difficulties
D. kids intend to break their toys into pieces
[解析] 考查推理判断能力。从第一句中可以看出孩子们处于一个与家人分离并无法生存的境地，故选A。而B、C、D三个答案与文章提到的事实相反。
[答案] A
2. The purpose of The HOPE IS A GAMECHANGER PROJECT is to________.
A. send ball gifts to kids in poor countries
B. collect money to help kids in need
C. comfort kids in wartorn areas
D. offer kids help to change their lives
[解析] 考查对作者意图的理解能力。通过最后一句关键信息“change the lives of children the world over—one book，one ball at a time.”可以得出答案。
[答案] D
3. How may Bobby feel about Mosie?
A. He was very proud of Mosie’s bravery.
B. He felt sorry for Mosie’s ruined childhood.
C. He thought money could solve Mosie’s problem.
D. He felt happy to tell him what was in his heart.
[解析] 考查细节理解能力。从第二段中可以看出Mosie无家可归的悲惨童年。
[答案] B
4. Which of the following about Bobby’s new book is TRUE?
A. It earned a lot of money to help kids like Mosie.
B. The photos inside reflected the kids’ hopeless life.
C. Its title shows the author’s belief to change the world.
D. It changed the life of the kids recorded in the book.
[解析] 考查推理判断能力。书名中的关键词The Power of the Invisible Sun和A light no matter how small.是答案的信息点来源。
[答案] C
5. The underlined part in the last paragraph probably means________.
A. starting the first step as a baby does
B. taking an active action from now on
C. making great changes step by step
D. doing some small but good deeds
[解析] 考查猜词能力。尽管每一选项都接近意思，但从后句“which added together，can create transformational change.”暗示，每个人都做一件小小好事，聚集在一起将改变孩子的生活。
[答案] D
Western New Bridge Library Announcement
Shortened Library Hours for Spring Break
Library Hours have been shortened to 7 hours a day (9∶00 a. m. 4∶00 p. m. ) for Spring Break from March 24 to March 30.
Coming Events
◆On Monday, March 24, at 10∶30 a. m. , Scott Sutton, a children’s writer, will tell stories to kids over seven. Sutton’ s attractive style will surely inspire everyone present ！
◆At 2∶00 p. m. , on March 25, a lecture will be delivered in Room 201, which focuses on the development of writing skill. Famous tutors from the district won’ t disappoint you.
◆At 1∶00 p. m. ，on March 26, the Georgetown Musicians will present an Irish Folk Concert, which will be entertaining for the entire family. Come for the music and stay to check out some relevant books for the rest of the week！
◆On Thursday, March 27, at 2∶00 p. m. , the annual Children’ s Gathering will take place in Room 201, the second floor. Pick up an invitation in the Children’ s Room and return your RSVP (回复)to reserve your seat at the table by 3∶00 p. m. on Tuesday, March 25. Only children are allowed in the Gathering.
◆At 10∶30 a．m. on Friday, March 28, Enzo Monfre of the hit kids’ science show, ENZOology, will bring Fossils Live! Surely Enzo will take the audience back in time, deep beneath the surface of the earth, to uncover the mysteries of killer dinosaurs, and more. Enzo recently appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show — come and see him at the library！
Please note: In case of emergency, please call the Help Desk at 926 3736 and follow the procedures outlined on the voice message. The calldown service is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for emergencies. The Help Desk supplies service to you all the year round! For questions about all these, please
Come for the great Fun; Stay for the relevant Books！
[语篇解读] 本文是一则通知，属于应用文。文章主要介绍了寒假期间学校图书馆作息时间的变化及将要举行的一系列活动。
1．Tim wants to polish his writing, it is best for him to attend the related activity on________.
A. Monday B. Tuesday
C. Thursday D. Friday
[解析] 推理判断题。根据Coming Events中的第一、二两条信息判断，提高写作技能的活动是在March 25举行的，而由第一条信息可知March 24是星期一，所以选B。
[答案] B
2．Which of the following descriptions about the annual Children’ s Gathering is true?
A. Tickets are a must in order to attend it.
B. Only those who have received an invitation are admitted in the Gathering.
C. You have to make a reply to the invitation to make sure you get a seat.
D. You’ d better apply in advance because there are not enough seats for everyone.
[解析] 细节判断题。根据第四条信息可知，要想参加该活动，需要在儿童室取请帖并回复以预订座位，因此C项正确。
[答案] C
3．Which of the following is NOT true according to the announcement?
A. The children who are interested in the mysteries of killer dinosaurs can attend the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Friday.
B. Children can’ t attend all the activities with their parents.
C. Children can choose more than one of the activities.
D. Children can borrow some relevant books for the activities.
[解析] 细节判断题。根据第五条信息的最后一句可知A选项中的the Ellen DeGeneres Show并非在假期所举办的活动。
[答案] A
4．If there is an emergency, you should________.
A. call the Help Desk
B. contact hld @ wnbl. corg
C. stay in the library and wait
D. ring 926 3637
[解析] 细节理解题。由注意事项中的第一句话可知答案。
[答案] A
5．The announcement is mainly intended for________.
A. staff members of the library
B. parents of the school children
C. the school children
D. volunteers of the activities
[解析] 推理判断题。根据通知内容可知，活动是为学生举办的，这则通知主要是让他们了解活动的时间、地点及相关内容。
[答案] C
●Ms Tan, you’ ve referred to your new novel as your eighth book.
That’s because it took me six or seven attempts at a second novel before I started and completed this one.
●Why do you think you had so many false starts?
I would say that my reasons were wrong: I was trying to prove that I wasn’t just a mother-daughter storyteller, or I was trying to prove that I didn’ t just have to write about things that were strictly Chinese or Chinese-American. Those were never the right reasons for writing those early stories. And I could never come up with other, better reasons for continuing them.
●What kept you going on this book?
This book was different because it was based on my mother’ s real life. The reason for writing it became more personal and emotional. After The Joy Luck Club came out, my mother was always explaining to people that she wasn’ t any of the mothers in that book. And at one point she said to me, “Next book tells my true story.” And then she started telling me things I never knew before. She also told me many, many stories，because my mother doesn’ t generalize. The book really grew out of that.
●Have you ever visited China?
Yes. I’ ve been there twice: about three years ago and then again last November, both times with my mother and my husband.
●Was it difficult to capture the Chinese-American dialect without sounding like a parody(拙劣的模仿)?
No, because it’ s the language I’ ve heard all my life from my mother. She speaks English as it’ s direct translation from Chinese. But it’s more than that: Her language also has more imagery than English.
●Can you think of an example?
Somebody might say to me, “Don’t work so hard. You’ll kill yourself.” My mother will say to me，“Why do you press all your brains out on this page for someone else？” So it’ s very vivid. That’ s the way she talks.
●Have many readers told you that the Chinese mother in your book reminded them of the typical Jewish (有癖好的) mother?
Many people have told me that. I think the mother-daughter relationship is very intense in both cases. Culturally there is an acceptance that mothers have the power to tell their children, especially their daughters, how to conduct their lives — not simply up until the time they are 18, but for the rest of their lives. However, when children grow up in a different culture from their parents’， they tend to keep more secrets from their parents. The children think, “They just wouldn’ t understand that I had to do this.” And that can really create a gap, and it can grow as the number of secrets grows.
[语篇解读] 这是一篇人物访谈纪实。通读这篇访谈录，我们可以了解华裔美国作家Ms Tan创作第二部作品的经历。
1．Based on the questions in this interview, what do you think Ms Tan’ s profession is?
A. A journalist. B. A storywriter.
C. An interviewer. D. An interviewee.
[解析] 推理判断题。根据文中的“your new novel，a second novel”等关键词及访谈内容可知，Ms Tan是一名小说家。C、D两项有一定的干扰性，注意题干中问的是“profession(职业)”。
[答案] B
2．What’ s TRUE about Tan’ s second book?
A. It’ s about her real life in America.
B. The name of the book is The Joy Luck Club.
C. It is the result of many times of careful thought.
D. It includes many works of her mother.
[解析] 细节判断题。根据文中的“it took me six or seven attempts at a second novel before I started and completed this one”可知，Tan在完成这部书的写作之前曾经历过六、七次尝试，说明这本书是她经过多次深思熟虑的产物。
[答案] C
3．Which question is NOT answered in the interview?
A. How does she think of her mother’ s language?
B. How many books does she plan to write?
C. When did she visit China?
D. How is generation gap created?
[解析] 细节理解题。“她计划写几本书？”这个问题在文中找不到答案，其他三项文中均有涉及。
[答案] B
4．We can infer that________.
A. Tan’ s mother is a good storyteller
B. Tan plans to write another book about her mother
C. Tan plans to return to China
D. Tan’ s mother is hard to communicate with because of personality
[解析] 推理判断题。根据文中的“She also told me many，many stories，because my mother doesn’t generalize”和“So it’s very vivid. That’s the way she talks”可知，Tan的母亲是一位善于讲故事的人。
[答案] A
5．The last paragraph mainly talks about________.
A. how to keep secrets from parents
B. how to deal with the mother-daughter relationship
C. how to conduct the lives
D. how the generation gap comes about
[解析] 段落主旨题。此段大意是：传统地认为母亲有教育孩子们一生如何生活的权力，而孩子们随着年龄的增长，他们不愿将自己的秘密告诉父母，从而产生了代沟。因此本段主要阐述的是代沟是如何产生的。
[答案] D
“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity，” said the American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. I’ ve never watched her show, but when a self-made billionaire gives life advice it’ s probably worth listening to.
Her point is that blind luck is very rare. You may have to be lucky to find a good job these days but that does not mean you should sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you. If you’ re a Chinese，you may already be familiar with the tale of a farmer waiting by a tree stump (树桩) for a rabbit to run out and break its neck.
A book by the UK psychologist Richard Wiseman, called The Luck Factor, argues we can all make ourselves luckier. It’ s not about going to a temple to burn some incense (香) in hopes that the gods will give you good fortune; it’ s practical advice you can follow each day.
Wiseman conducted an experiment as part of his studies. First he divided volunteers into two groups：those who said they were lucky in life and those who said they were not. He gave everyone a newspaper and asked them to look through it to count how many photographs it had inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs while the lucky people took just seconds. Why? On the second page of the newspaper, a command, “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper，” was written in big letters. The unlucky people mostly did not spot the message.
It’s easy to compare this situation to a young person looking for jobs in a local paper. They might search so hard for one type of position that they miss an even better opportunity. People who are “lucky”， in fact, keep an open mind and don’t go through the same routine every day.
I first came to China in 2002 when it was considered a rather strange thing to do. Like many foreigners，my plan was to teach English for one year. Seven years later, and still here, I’ ve had many great opportunities such as writing for newspapers and magazines. I did not dream these would have been possible. I’ ve also never been sick, had an accident, got into a fight or had problems with the police. Coincidence? After reading about Professor Wiseman’ s studies I think not.
As Wiseman advises, I usually trust my own judgment. Your friends and parents may give you advice based on rational thinking, but it’s important to consider how you feel about each choice you make. Your feeling acts as a warning for a potential problem.
Finally, try to turn bad luck into good. Even if you do fall down and break a leg, the time spent at home can be used wisely to study English.
[语篇解读] 本文为议论文。作者认为命运只垂青那些有所准备的人。身处逆境，不要怨天尤人，要想方设法化厄运为好运。每个人都可以做自己命运的主人。
1．Which of the following proverbs most agrees with the writer’ s point?
A. Make the best of a bad job.
B. Rome was not built in a day.
C. All is not gold that glitters.
D. A good heart conquers ill fortune.
[解析] 推理判断题。Make the best of a bad job意为“身处山穷水尽，力争柳暗花明”，与最后一段作者的观点“try to turn bad luck into good(把厄运变好运)”最为接近。故答案为A。Rome was not built in a day意为“伟业非一日可成”；All is not gold that glitters意为“闪光的东西并不都是金子”；A good heart conquers ill fortune意为“善心克厄运”。
[答案] A
2．What do you know about Oprah Winfrey?
A. She became famous through her family background.
B. She was very lucky and seldom suffered setbacks in her life.
C. She is a British talk show host.
D. She became successful by her own effort.
[解析] 细节理解题。根据第一段中的a self-made billionaire可知美国talk show主持人oprah Winfrey是从白手起家，通过自我奋斗而成名的。
[答案] D
3．The writer quoted the Chinese tale of a farmer in order to show________.
A. luck is in your own hand
B. bad luck can turn into good
C. you should not sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you
D. man can conquer nature
[解析] 推理判断题。根据第二段内容可以判断，作者引用中国“守株待兔”的故事是为了说明“人们不应该待在家里等待机会的降临”的观点。
[答案] C
4．From the experiment Wiseman drew the conclusion that________.
A. lucky people are quick-minded
B. unlucky people are slow to read
C. lucky people often have an open mind
D. unlucky people are more creative
[解析] 细节理解题。根据第四、五段内容，尤其是第五段最后一句可知，Wiseman通过试验得出结论：“幸运的人”具有开放的心态，做事不墨守成规。
[答案] C
5．The underlined word “spot” is the closest in meaning to“________”．
A. recognize B. mark
C. locate D. receive
[解析] 词义猜测题。根据上文语境及The unlucky people mostly did not spot the message可知spot在句中用作及物动词，是“发现，识别”之意。
[答案] A
[长难句解读] You may have to be lucky to find a good job these days but that does not mean you should sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you.
but前后为两个并列分句。在第一个分句中不定式短语to find a good job用作结果状语。第二个分句含有一个宾语从句，现在分词短语waiting for the opportunity to come to you作伴随状语。
Can you believe your eyes? A recent experiment suggests that the answer to that question may depend on your age.
Martin Doherty, a psychologist at the University of Stirling in Scotland, led the team of scientists. In this experiment, Doherty and his team tested the perception(观察力) of some people, using pictures of some orange circles. The researchers showed the same pictures to two groups of people. The first group included 151 children aged 4 to 10, and the second group included 24 adults aged 18 to 25.
The first group of pictures showed two circles alone on a white background. One of the circles was larger than the other, and these people were asked to identify the larger one. Four-year-olds identified the correct circle 79 percent of the time. Adults identified the correct circle 95 percent of the time.
Next, both groups were shown a picture where the orange circles, again of different sizes, were surrounded by gray circles. Here’s where the trick lies in. In some of the pictures, the smaller orange circle was surrounded by even smaller gray circles — making the orange circle appear larger than the other orange circle, which was the real larger one. And the larger orange circle was surrounded by even bigger gray circles — so it appeared to be smaller than the real smaller orange circle.
When young children aged 4 to 6 looked at these tricky pictures, they weren’t fooled—they were still able to find the bigger circle with roughly the same accuracy as before. Older children and adults, on the other hand, did not do as well. Older children often identified the smaller circle as the larger one, and adults got it wrong most of the time.
As children get older, Doherty said, their brains may develop the ability to identify visual context. In other words, they will begin to process the whole picture at once: the tricky gray circles, as well as the orange circle in the middle. As a result, they’re more likely to fall for this kind of visual trick.
1. Doherty and his team of scientists did an experiment to evaluate________.
A. children’s and adults’ eye-sight
B. people’s ability to see accurately
C. children’s and adults’ brains
D. the influence of people’s age
[解析] 考查细节理解能力。第二段第二行可以得出结论。
[答案] B
2. When asked to find the larger circle，________.
A. children at 6 got it wrong 79 % of the time with no gray ones around
B. only adults over 18 got it right 95% of the time with gray ones around
C. children at 4 got it right about 79 % of the time with gray ones around
D. adults got it right most of the time with gray ones around
[解析] 考查细节理解能力。第三段清晰地说明了辨别圆圈的比例。
[答案] C
3. According to the passage, we can know that________.
A. a smaller orange circle appears bigger on a white background
B. an orange circle appears bigger than a gray one of the same size
C. a circle surrounded by other circles looks bigger than its real size
D. a circle surrounded by bigger ones looks smaller than its real size
[解析] 考查细节理解能力，对第四段整体的理解和第五段最后一句可以得出答案。
[答案] D
4. Visual context may work when children get older than________.
A. 4 B. 6
C. 10 D. 18
[解析] 考查推理判断能力。从第五段和第六段第一句判断得出答案。
[答案] B
5. Why are younger children not fooled?
A. Because they are smarter than older children and adults.
B. Because older people are influenced by their experience.
C. Because people’s eyes become weaker as they grow older.
D. Because their brain can hardly notice related things together.
[解析] 考查推理判断能力。第四、五、六段提及到46岁小孩和6岁以上小孩的区别是判断的依据。
[答案] D
If you travel to a new exhibit at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, you will have chances to see some meateating plants. Take bladderworts, a kind of such plant, for example. They appear so small and grow in a quiet pond. But these are the fastestknown killers of the plant kingdom, able to capture a small insect in 1/50 of a second using a trap door!
Once the trap door closes on the victim, the enzymes(酶) similar to those in the human stomach slowly digest the insect. When dinner is over, the plant opens the trap door and is ready to trap again.
Meateating plants grow mostly in wet areas with soil that doesn’ t offer much food value. In such conditions, these amazing plants have developed insect traps to get their nutritional needs over thousands of years.North America has more such plants than any other continent.
Generally speaking, the traps may have attractive appearance to fool the eye, like pitcher plants, which get their name because they look like beautiful pitchers (a container like a bottle) full of nectar(花蜜)．
The Asian pitcher plant, for example, has bright colors and an attractive halfclosed lid. Curious insects are tempted to come close and take a sip, and then slide down the slippery (光滑的)slope to their deaths.
Hairlike growths along the pitcher walls ensure that nothing cab escape, and the digestive enzymes can get to work. A tiny insect can be digested in a few hours, but a fly takes a couple of days.
Some of these pitchers are large enough to hold two gallons. Meateating plants only eat people in science fiction movies, but sometimes a bird or other small animals will discover that a pitcher plant isn’ t a good place to get a drink.
[语篇解读] 本文是一篇说明文，介绍了一些特别的植物——靠捕食动物获得生长所需养分的“食肉植物”。
1．From the first paragraph, we can know that bladderworts can ________.
A. capture 50 small insects in a second
B. capture an insect in the shortest time
C. be found floating on a quiet lake
D. digest an insect in 1/50 of a second
[解析] 细节理解题。第一段指出，bladderworts能在1/50秒的时间内捕获一只小昆虫，是植物中已知的捕获动物速度最快的，因此选B。
[答案] B
2．If the trap door of a meateating plant is closed, the plant ________.
A. is fooling insects into taking a sip
B. is producing nectar
C. is tempting insects to come close
D. is enjoying a dinner
[解析] 细节判断题。第二段说，一旦“陷阱门”将猎物关起来，类似于人胃里的那些消化酶就开始慢慢地消化它了，由此判断D正确。
[答案] D
3．Meateating plants can grow in wet and poor soil because they ________.
A. can get nutrition from animals
B. don’ t need much food value
C. can make the most of such conditions
D. have developed digestive enzymes
[解析] 推理判断题。这些植物生长在潮湿贫瘠的土壤中，为获得生长所需的养分，在数千年的进化中，它们演化出了捕获昆虫的“陷阱”，由此推出它们主要从动物中获取养分，而不是从土壤中获取养分。
[答案] A
4．Which of the following is the picture of the Asian pitcher plant?
[解析] 推理判断题。根据第四、五、六段可知亚洲捕虫草主要有这些特征：状如水瓶，颜色鲜亮，有半掩的盖子，综合此三项可知，只有A项最合适。
[答案] A
5．According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A. South Asia has the most meateating plants.
B. Some of the meateating plants can even eat a human.
C. Hairlike growths in the plants help trap insects.
D. The traps of these plants have a dull color.
[解析] 细节理解题。依据文章第三段最后一句可知，北美洲的食肉植物最多，故A错。从最后一段中的第二句可知，食肉植物是不吃人的，所以B项错。从文章倒数第二段可知，这些须状的东西可以防止小昆虫逃跑，故C项正确。从文章第四段可知，食肉植物为了吸引昆虫一般有漂亮的外形，故D项错。
[答案] C
After years of research and testing, the hybrid car was developed and put on the market. It’ s an interesting and exciting new improvement in today’ s world as we look for better ways to protect the quality of the air we breathe and conserve our natural resources.
The quality of our air is affected by many different things. But one of the largest sources of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline which is used to power a car’ s engine. The EPA has set national standards to help control the level of harmful pollutants sent off into the air, and the automobile industry has acted by producing a hybrid car that uses less gas and therefore causes less pollution.
A hybrid car is a combination of a regular car that runs on gasoline and an electric car that is battery powered. Some people tend to think that since the hybrid car is partially electric, you have to plug it in to charge it. But that’s not how it works. The 144volt battery pack is actually recharged through the energy that is produced when the car’s brakes are used. This is referred to as “regenerative braking” , because it generates electricity.
Although the hybrid car still runs on gasoline most of the time, this helps it use less gas than a regular car. When the driver stops at a traffic light, the engine automatically shuts off to save fuel. Then, as soon as the driver puts the car in gear and touches the gas pedal, the engine starts back up.
Have you ever ridden in a car with someone who ran out of gas? That probably wouldn’ t happen if you were riding in a hybrid car. It flashes a waming on its computer screen that says, “I am low on gas”. When it completely runs out, the warning reads，“YOU ARE NOW OUT OF GAS！” Then the electric power supply kicks in to let the driver travel a few more miles to a gas station.
[语篇解读] 本文主要介绍了一种新型汽车hybrid cars的优点和生产这种汽车的原因。
1．Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. The hybrid car will be put on the market.
B. Hybrid cars run faster than regular cars.
C. When the hybrid car stops at a traffic light, the driver will get a warning.
D. The burning of fossil fuels is one of the largest sources of air pollution.
[解析] 细节判断题。根据第二段的“But one of the largest sources of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline which is used to power a car’s engine.”可知答案。
[答案] D
2．According to the passage, the word “hybrid” refers to ________.
A. a hightech discovery
B. energy saving
C. a new invention
D. a combination of two things
[解析] 词义猜测题。由文章的第三段的第一句“A hybrid car is a combination of a regular car that runs on gasoline and an electric car that is battery powered.”可知答案。
[答案] D
3．“Regenerative breaking” is an important process of the hybrid car because ________.
A. it allows the car to come to a quick stop
B. it gives the driver a smoother ride
C. it produces energy to charge the battery
D. it can control the speed of the car
[解析] 细节理解题。由文章的第三段的“The 144volt battery pack is...because it generates electricity.”可知答案。
[答案] C
4．Which of the following is right about the EPA?
A. They designed hybrid cars.
B. They outlawed (宣布……为不合法) the burning of fossil fuels.
C. They set important guidelines that help control pollution.
D. Their main purpose is to protect endangered plants and animals.
[解析] 细节理解题。由文章的第二段的第三句可知答案。
[答案] C
5．Which of the following is the reason for developing hybrid cars?
A. They use less gas than regular cars.
B. They’ re safer to drive than most cars.
C. They’re more modern than other cars.
D. They cost less than regular cars.
[解析] 细节理解题。由第四段的第一句“Although the hybrid car still runs on gasoline most of the time，this helps it use less gas than a regular car.”可知答案。
[答案] A
Throughout the world, boys and girls prefer to play with different types of toys. Boys typically like to play with cars and trucks, while girls typically choose to play with dolls. Why is this? A traditional sociological explanation is that boys and girls are socialized and encouraged to play with different types of toys by their parents, peers, and the “society”. Growing scientific evidence suggests, however, that boys’ and girls’ toy preferences may have a biological origin.
In 2002, Gerianne M. Alexander of Texas A&M University and Melissa Hines of City University in London surprised the scientific world by showing that monkeys showed the same sextypical toy preferences as humans. In the study, Alexander and Hines gave two masculine toys (a ball and a police car), two feminine toys (a soft doll and a cooking pot), and two neutral toys (a picture book and a stuffed dog) to 44 male and 44 female monkeys. They then assessed the monkeys’ preference for each toy by measuring how much time they spent with each. Their data showed that male monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the masculine toys, and the female monkeys showed significantly greater interest in the feminine toys. The two sexes did not differ in their preference for the neutral toys.
If children’ s toy preferences were largely formed by gender socialization, as traditional sociologists’ claim, in which their parents give “genderappropriate” toys to boys and girls, how can these male and female monkeys have the same preferences as boys and girls？They were never socialized by humans, and they had never seen these toys before in their lives.
[语篇解读] 本文是科普阅读。男孩和女孩在玩玩具方面具有明显的性别差异。这种差异是后天习得的，还是与生俱来的呢？科学家对此进行了研究。
1．Traditional sociologists believe boys’ and girls’ toy preferences ________.
A. are passed down from their parents
B. have a biological origin
C. have nothing to do with gender socialization
D. are largely formed in later life
[解析] 细节理解题。从文章第一段的第四句和最后一段可知，传统的社会学家认为男孩、女孩对玩具的偏好差异是后天形成的。
[答案] D
2．The study by Alexander and Hines shows that monkeys________.
A. also play toys as humans do
B. also have a sextypical toy preference
C. have no toy preferences
D. like to play different toys at different time
[解析] 细节理解题。文章第二段的第一句说明，猴子在玩玩具时，也有性别差异。
[答案] B
3．Alexander and Hines carried out the study to ________.
A. find out why boys and girls prefer different toys
B. test the intelligence of monkeys
C. test whether monkeys like to play toys
D. find more evidence for traditional sociology
[解析] 推理判断题。从文章第一段最后一句和最后一段可知，用猴子做研究的目的是证明男孩和女孩在玩玩具时所表现出的偏好是与生俱来的，而不是后天习得的。
[答案] A
4．According to the study, if given a stuffed dog, ________.
A. only the male monkeys showed interest
B. the female monkeys showed more interest
C. the male and female monkeys showed the same interest
D. neither the male nor the female monkeys showed any interest
[解析] 细节理解题。从文章第二段最后一句可知，如果给一种中性的玩具，猴子表现出的兴趣没有性别差异。
[答案] C
5．Masculine toys are mainly intended for________.
A. monkeys B. adult
C. boys D. girls
[解析] 细节理解题。从文章第二段可知，这种玩具是跟女孩玩的玩具相对的，因此是指男孩玩具。
[答案] C