第二节：书面表达（共1题；满分25分）

请根据下表中的内容写一篇短文。

注意：

1．所写短文应包括所有要点；

2．开头已给出，不可逐字翻译。

Yang Zhenning, a Chinese American physicist, was born…

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Just as our degree of individual freedom uncomfortable to many foreign visitors, foreign attitudes toward truth seem uncertain to Americans.

    In many countries people will tell you what they think you want to hear, whether or not it is true. To them, this implies politeness. To Americans, it is considered misleading-even dishonest--to distort facts on purpose, however kind the motive. The point is ---our priorities(优先) are different; in the United States truth has a higher priority than politeness. We are taught from babyhood that “Honesty is the best policy.” Elsewhere, politeness, honor, family loyalty, “machismo” or many other values might come far ahead of honesty if one is listing priorities.

    But with us, trust and truth are of paramount importance. If we say of a man, “You cannot trust him.” This is one of the most damning statements that can be made about him.

    In view of such profound differences in values, it is natural that misunderstandings and irritations often occur, especially in exact areas such as the negotiation of contracts. A Mexican has said, “With us  business is like a courtship(求爱).” Americans lack this grace, but on the other hand you can count on their word. You know where you are with them; except in advertising, they will not be “whispering sweet nothings” that they do not mean in order to make you feel desirable!

    “How far is it to the next village?” the American asks a man standing by the edge of the road. In some countries, because the man realizes that the traveler is tired and eager to reach his destination, he will politely say “Just down the road.” He thinks this is more encouraging, gentler, and therefore the wanted answer. So the American drives on through the night, getting more and more angry, feeling “tricked.” He thinks the man deliberately lied to him, for obviously he must have known the distance quite well.

    Had conditions been reversed, the American would feel he was “cheating” the driver if he implied the next town was close when he knew it was really 15miles further on. Although, he, too, would be sympathetic to the weary driver, he would say, “you have a good way to go yet; it is at least 15 more miles.” The driver might be disappointed, but he would know what to expect.

    This often-epeated question of accuracy versus courtesy leads to many misunderstandings between people of different cultures. If you are aware of the situation in advance, it is sometimes easier to recognize the problem.

1．The best title for the passage should be_________.

       A．Truth or politeness   B．Truth or lying

       C．Cultural differences D．Honest Americans

2．In American’s view, people who tell you what they think you want to hear, whether or not it is true, are _________.

       A．polite       B．honest      C．kind        D．misleading

3．According to the author, misunderstandings and angers often occur as a result of_________.

       A．the exactness of negotiation    B．the importance in trust and truth

       C．deep differences in values       D．lack of respect

4．According to the author, Americans_________.

       A．treat a business deal like a courtship

       B．list honor on the top of the list of values

       C．do not whisper sweet nothings in advertising

       D．expect to know the exact distance when asking the way

Sir William Osler has a few words for you: “In the Life of a young man the most essential thing for happiness is the gift of friendship.” Truer words were never spoken. For what more could you ask than comradeship during the peaks and valleys of life? To whom else but a close, valuable friend can you show off your successes and complain about your failures or losses?

What is a “good friend”? How is he best described? Well, it has been my observation that although many will cry with you, few can sincerely rejoice (欣喜) with you. Therefore, in my opinion, a good friend is one who can enjoy your successes without envy; one who can say, “That was wonderful! You can do it again, even better if you want!” and mean it. Nothing taxes a friendship more than the prosperity of one and not the other. Even the closest of friendships often cannot resist such pressure and fail. No wonder many minor friendships go down day by day for the same reason.

A person of good character and sound moral, of honor and humor, of courage and belief is a friend to be sought and treasured — for there are few. Too often we hear, “If you can count your good friends on more than one hand, consider yourself blessed.”

What makes a friendship last? Well, I don’t know all the answers, but one of my observations is that most good friends usually have similar tastes. They generally like and dislike many of the same things. There also usually seems to exist a similarity of personality types — especially in the fundamental values of life such as honesty, sincerity, loyalty, and dependability. More often than not, birds of a feather do fly together. I don’t think it matters a lot whether one prefers jazz or hockey to another’s Mozart or ballet. Much other matters far more: relying, sharing, giving, getting, enjoying; a sympathetic ear always there; criticism when it can help; praise — even if only because it would help. With not many people on this earth will you find this much in common. When you find one, hang on to him, for a good friend found is a rare treasure.

1. The function of Paragraph 1 is to introduce _____.

A. a famous saying 

B. the topic for discussion

C. a famous person 

D. two different attitudes

2. What is the meaning of the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?

A. People don’t have to pay taxes to develop friendship with others.

B. Success of one person can promote his friendship with others.

C. Friendship can be affected by the difference in success between friends.

D. Nothing can affect friendship because it has gone through the peaks and valleys of life.

3. What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?

A. One is lucky to have many friends.

B. A friend should have a good character.

C. We should count our friends on more than one hand.

D. A true friend should be treasured because there are few.

4. According to the passage, which of the following plays the LEAST important role in a long-lasting friendship?

A. Hobbies.                            B. Tastes.

C. Personality.                          D. Sympathy.

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题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。

The Pillow

At the age of sixteen, I joined a volunteer group with my dad. I went on my first volunteer project in West Virginia. On the night we arrived, we discovered that “our family” was living in a trailer(拖车) that was in poor condition. A crew had been working on it for two weeks, but every time they finished one problem, another surfaced.

We decided the only reasonable solution was to build a new house – something unusual but necessary under these circumstances. The family was overjoyed with their new house that was twenty by thirty feet with three bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen.

On Tuesday of that week, while we ate lunch together, I asked the family’s three boys, Josh, Eric and Ryan, "What do you want for your new room?" Expecting toys and other gadgets that children usually ask for, we were surprised when Josh responded, "I just want a bed."

The boys had never slept in a bed! They were accustomed to plastic mats. That night we had a meeting and decided that beds would be the perfect gift. On Thursday night, a few adults in our group drove to the nearest city and bought beds and new bedding.

When we saw the delivery truck coming, we told the family about the surprise. We could hardly contain ourselves. It was like watching excited children on Christmas morning.

That afternoon, as we fitted the frames of the beds tog tether, Eric ran into the house to watch us. Too dirty to enter his room, he observed with wide-eyed enthusiasm from the doorway.

As my father slipped a pillowcase onto one of the pillows, Eric asked, "What is that?"

    "A pillow," she replied.

    "What do you do with it?" Eric continued to ask.

    "When you go to sleep, you put your head on it,” I answered softly. Tears came to our eyes as she handed Eric the pillow.

    "Oh . . . that's soft," he said, hugging it tightly.

Now, when my sister or I start to ask for something that seems urgent, my Dad gently asks, "Do you have a pillow?"

We know exactly what he means.

1．The writer’s first volunteer project was         .

      A．working on a poor trailer       B．helping a poor family

       C．donating beds and bedding      D．dealing with a housing problem

2．On bearing Josh’s answer, the writer was shocked because         .

       A．the family lived in a trailer     B．he expected to get some toys

       C．he didn’t know what a bed was      D．the boys had no bed to sleep in

3．From the passage, we can learn that Eric had never seen       before.

       A．a trailer    B．a truck      C．a pillow    D．a house

4．By saying “Do you have a pillow?”, the writer’s father means that        .

      A．what they want to get may be unnecessary

       B．they should not waste money on small things

       C．they should do more volunteer work for the poor

D．what he will buy is not what they want but a pillow

As for Latin America generally, there is no reason why, __________ available resources, it cannot become a highly industrialized area.

       A. in view of                B. in the name of          C. in the eyes of            D. in terms of

—Brad was Jane’s brother!

—______ he reminded me so much of Jane!

A. No doubt        B. Above all       C. No wonder        D. Of course

Some teenagers _______ their health because they often expose themselves to so many electric products.

A. have damaged  B. are damaging  C. damaged   D. will damage

Remind him that you’re always there for him, __________ this on purpose?

A. should        B. will       C. does        D. could

The driver was at ______ loss when     word came that he was forbidden to drive after drinking alcohol.

 A．a; the B．不填； 不填 C．the; the D．a; 不填

  _____  for a strong and fair climate agreement at the key UN summit in Copenhagen, 50,000 people in London wore blue and went to the streets.

A. Call   B. Calling   C. To call    D. Called