阅读下列短文，从每题所给出的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。

　　Lill was a young French Canadisn girl who grew up in the farming community．At the age of 16, her father thought that she had enough schooling and forced her to drop out of school to contribute to the family income．In 1922, with limited education and skills, the future didn't look bright for Lill．Her father demanded that Lill find a job as soon as possible, but she didn't have the confidence to ask for a job．

　　One day, Lill gathered her courage and knocked on her very first door．She was met by Margaret Costello, the office manager．In her boken English, Lill told her she was interested in the secretarial position．Margaret decided to give her a chance．

　　Margaret sat her down at a typewriter and said, “Lill, let's see how good you really are．” She directed Lill to type a single letter, and then left．Lill looked at the clock and saw that it was 11∶40 a．m．Everyone would be leaving for lunch at noon．She thought she should at least attempt the letter．

　　On her first try, she got through one line but made four mistakes．She pulled the paper out and threw it away．The clock now read 11∶45．“At noon,” she said to herself “I'll move out with the erowd, and they will never see me again．”

　　On her second attempt, things didn't get any better．Again she started over and finally completed the letter, full of mistakes, though．She looked at the clock：11∶55 – five minutes to freedom．

　　Just then, Margaret walked in．She came directly over to Lill, and put one hand on the desk and the other on the girl's shoulder．She read the letter and paused．Then she said, “Lill, you’re doing good work!”

　　Lill was surprised．She looked at the letter, then up at Maragaret．With those simple words of encouragement, her desire to escape disappeared and her confidence began to grow．She thought, “Well, if she thinks it's good, then it must be good, I think I'll stay!”

　　Lill did stat at Carhartt Overall Company…for 51 years, through two world was and 11 presidents－all because someone had the insight to give a shy and uncertain young girl the gift of self－conudence when she knocked on the door．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　If women are mercilessly exploited(剥削)year after year, they have only themselves to blame．Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores．Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion．When you come to think of it, only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe(衣柜)packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear．

　　Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste．Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn．Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time changing the dresses they have．Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck-lines are lowered or raised, and so on．

　　No one can say that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society．Fashion designers are rarely concerned with vital things like warmth, comfort and durability(耐用)．They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right．There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or carefully picking her way through deep snow in high heeled shoes．

　　When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious．Do the constantly changing fashions of women's clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy(易变)and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers．Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That is for you to decide．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　It's not uncommon in America for a person to belong to some kind of volunteer group．Donating one's time and services is very much a part of the American way of life．Most charitable activities are organized by churches and groups around the nation and even encouraged by the government．The helping hand is extended to the poor, the homeless and the disabled．Some people work to teach youngsters how to read．others open up soup kitchens to feed the homeless．Volunteers also take care of the disabled by making reading tapes for the blind and working in orphanages(孤儿院)to help children without parents．

　　High school students are often encouraged to become volunteers and many school club activities center around volunteer services．Students may work with disabled children during a summer program, or participate in a club activity which helps to bring meal to senior citizens who are shut-ins．With their sense of idealism(理想主义)students are often eager to donate their spare time．They see such activities as a way of becoming involved in the community and the adult-world．Social action for them becomes as important as their academic studies．

　　In a like manner, throughout the year, fund raising drives are also conducted by schools and community groups to raise money for a worthy cause．They may respond to a recent earthquake in a foreign country, a flood somewhere within their own, or another natural disaster which has left people destitute and homeless．They may organize drives to collect food, clothing and medicines to serve an immediate need．Today even the Halloween custom of ‘trick or treat'has become an occasion to collect money for a charitable cause．

　　This call to help those less fortunate than themselves arises from the humble origins of the American nation．Those immigrants who were poor and downtrodden(受压迫的)became dependent on the kindness of their neighbors to make a new life for themselves．

　　American volunteers work throughout the world in less developed countries．They volunteer by serving as a champion of goodwill both at home and abroad, which no doubt enriches both his life and those whom he serves．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Even a small reduction in salt in the diet can be a big help to the heart．A new study used a computer model to predict how just three grams less a day would affect heart disease in the United States．

　　The result：10％ fewer heart attacks．8％ fewer storkes．4％ fewer deaths．11％ fewer new cases of heart disease．And 240 billion dollars in health care savings．

　　Researchers found it could prevent 100,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths every year．

　　The study is in the New England Journal of Medicine．Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo at the University of California San Francisco was the lead author．She says people would not even notice a difference in taste with three grams, or one-half teaspoon, less salt per day．The team also included researchers at Stanford and Columbia University．

　　Each gram of salt contains four hundred milligrams of sodium(钠), which is how foods may list their salt content．

　　The government says the average American man eats ten grams of salt a day．The American Heart Association advises no more than three grams for healthy people．It says salt in the American diet has increased fifty percent since the nineteen seventies, while blood pressures have also risen．Less salt can mean a lower blood pressure．

　　New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leading an effort called the National Salt Reduction Initiative．The idea is to put pressure on food companies and restaurants．Critics call it government interference．

　　Mayor Bloomberg has already succeeded in other areas, like requiring fast food places in the city to list calorie information．Now a study by the Seattle Children's Research Institute shows that the calorie information on the menu can influence what parents order for their children．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Jeanette Rankin was born on a ranch in Montana, USA in 1882．In those days, Montana was still a frontier state, and life there was hard．Men and women shared the difficult outdoor work．But young Jeanette noticed men and women were not equal in many ways．For instance, at election time, women were not allowed to vote．Jeanette thought this was not fair, and several years later, after graduating from college, she realized how to help change the situation．

　　First, she joined with other women．and gave speeches through the state．Thanks to their years of efforts, Montana women were finally allowed to vote．This experience changed Jeanette's life．She wanted do work for the welfare of women and children everywhere．She was now well-known throughout Montana, so she decided to run for the US Congress．In 1916, she became the first woman in the Congress of the United Staters．

　　Just six days after Rankin first attended Congress in 1917, American President Wilson called for a vote to go to war against Germany, as German submarines(潜水艇)attacked American ships during World War I．When Jeanette was called upon to vote, she said,“I want to stand by my country, buy I cannot vote for war．I vote no．”Forty-nine other congress members also voted no, but she was the person who was criticized most．Newspapers said her decision came from weakness and she was anti-American．

　　In the Second World War, Japanese warplanes attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor in 1941．The time came again for the US Congress members to vote for or against going to war．Everyone was waiting for Jeanette Rankin to vote, who rose and said,“As a woman, I can't go to war, so I refuse to send anyone else”．Out of 471 members, she was the only member who voted against war．After that, she received thousands of letters．Most people criticized her, but some praised her for her courage．

　　Shortly before she died in 1973, she was asked if she regretted voting “no”to the two wars．“Never,”she answered．“If you are against war, you're against war regard less of what happens．”

　　Today, in the US Congress Building, there is a statue of Jeanette Rankin．On the base of the statue are her words：“I cannot vote for war．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team．"Football, tennis Cricket-anything with a round ball, I was useless．" he says now with a laugh．But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England's rural Devonshire．

　　It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him．At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest．Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend．Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance．At age 18, he ran his first marathon．

　　The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean．Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway's school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man's cold-water exploits(成就)．Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future．Journeys to the Pole aren't the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy．"John Ridgway was one of the few who didn't say, 'You are completely crazy,'" Saunders says．

　　In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole．He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter(遭遇)with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit．

　　Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he's skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton．His old playmates would not believe the transformation．

　　This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Biodiversity(生物多样性)，or biological diversity, is a wide-ranging concept that covers all the different kinds of plant and animal species present on earth．Environmentalists believe that many millions of species exist．As all these living organisms are dependent on each other in some way, biodiversity is desirable．Any loss to the planet is actually a loss for mankind as well, and it is our responsibility to try and save Earth's biodiversity．

　　Biodiversity has a vital role to play in the evolution(演变)of species．Species become extinct, but new species evolve, and this is how a balance is maintained．This may sound pretty simple, but it takes millions of years for changes to take place．

　　Biodiversity is also very important to the stability of food webs．Damage to them can mean disaster for an entire ecosystem．The extinction of a single animal species can put huge pressure on the numerous other species dependent on it．

　　Biodiversity also has an important role to play in human society．Apart from being the most intelligent species on earth, human being are also the most dependent．We depend on nature to meet our basic needs．When we change the balance of nature to create our cities and bring about our technical advances, we knowing or unknowing cause great damage to the ecosystem．This must be understood, and the damages must be reversed(颠倒)in any way they can to ensure that the balance of the ecosystem is maintained．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　In most languages, a greeting is usually followed by “small talk”．Small talk means the little things we talk about at the start of a conversation．

　　In English-speaking countries people often make small talk about the weather：“Nice day, isn't it?”“Terrible weather,isn't it?”But there is something special about small talk．It must be about something which both people have the same opinion about．The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something．This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable．People usually agree about the weather, so it is a safe topic for small talk．But people often disagree about religion or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk in English．The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place．At football matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching：“Great game, isn't it?”At bus stops, people may comment about the transport system：“The bus service is terrible, isn't it?”

　　Greetings and small talk are an important part of conversation in any language．The way people greet each other and the things they talk about, however, may be different from one language to another．This shows that there is much more to learn when we learn a language than just the vocabulary and the grammar of the language．We also have to learn the social behavior of the people who speak it．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Greg Woodburn, a student at the University of Southern California, spends a lot of tune cleaning sneakers he collected．But soon the shoes will be sent to poor children in the United States and 20 other countries, thanks to Woodbum's Share Our Soles(S．O．S．)charity．

　　A high school track star in the town of Ventura, California, Woodbum was treated in hospital for months with knee and hip injuries,

　　"I started thinking about the health benefits, the friendship and the confidence I got from running," he says, "And I realized there are children who don't even have shoes．"

　　Woodburn gathered up his old sneakers, then asked his friends to donate．His goal was to have 100 pairs by Christmas 2006．When he collected more than 500 pairs, he decided to turn the shoe drive into a year-round endeavor．

　　Back then, the sneakers came from donation boxes at the YMCA and the local sporting goods store and from door-to-door pickups．Woodbum has now set up collection boxes at two high schools, city gym and recreation center．He has started accepting adult sizes and sandals(凉鞋)．So far．S．O．S．has collected and donated more than 3,000 pairs．

　　Woodburn has cleaned all the shoes．After sorting the shoes by size, Woodburn selects the good shoes for the washing machine and the worn-out ones for recycling．

　　To ship the footwear, Woodbum teamed with Sports Girt, a nonprofit organization that provides soccer and baseball equipment to children around the world．Keven Baxter, founder and president, says, "We'd send kids balls and shoes．I've heard that for many of these kids, these old sneakers are the only shoes they had．They wear them to school and to do sports．So Greg's running shoes were a nice addition for us．"

　　For many recipients(接受者), the shoes represent opportunity．Two young boys in Southern California attended school on alternate days because they shared a pair of shoes．They were too big for one boy and too small for the other．Thanks to S．O．S．, each brother received his own pair of shoe?．The boys now attend school daily and enjoy their learning．When they graduate, they say, they will help a stranger, just as Woodburn helped them．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)