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 the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through lift, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.                              

Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it. In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.                                                

The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities. Others lose heart at the first signs of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make choice between "fight" or "flight" and in more primitive days the choice made the difference between life or death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress is, it involves the same response. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Such serious conditions as high blood pressure and heart disease have established links with stress. Since we cannot remove stress from our lives (it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it.                                                               

66. People are finding less and less time for relaxing themselves because_____.                                                  

A. they do not know how to enjoy themselves                                        

B. they do not believe that relaxation is important for health      C. they are travelling fast all the time                                                    

D. they are becoming busier with their work  

67. According to the writer, the most important character for a good manager is his ________.   

A. not fearing stress                                                  B. knowing the art of relaxation         

C. high sense of responsibility                                   D. having control over performance   

68. Which of the following statements is true?  

A. We can find some ways to avoid stress. 

B. Stress is always harmful to people. 

C. It is easy to change the habit of keeping oneself busy with work.  

D. Different people can withstand different amounts of stress.  

69. In Paragraph 3, "such a reaction" refers back to_______. 

A. "making a choice between 'flight' or 'fight'"                                                         

B. "reaction to stress both chemically and physically"                                                      

C. "responding to crises quickly"

D. "losing heart at the signs difficulties" 

70. In the last sentence of the passage, "do so " refers to ______.     

A. "expose ourselves to stress"                               

B. "find ways to deal with stress" 

C. "remove stress from our lives"                   

D. "established links between diseases and stress"

London will stage its biggest political funeral in almost half a century on Wednesday when Britain's governing elite join the Queen and global leaders to bid farewell to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, better known as the “ Iron Lady".

In an event comparable to that of Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965, Thatcher's coffin will be carried on a horse-drawn gun carriage through streets lined with admirers from parliament to the city's most famous cathedral.

The bells of London's symbolic Big Ben clock tower will fall silent for the first time since Churchill's funeral and more than 700 men and women from Britain's armed forces will honor a woman who led them to victory in the 1982 Falklands War as foreign politicians from around 170 nations look on.

Surveys have shown that many are unhappy that the estimated l0-million($15 million)pound bill for the funeral is being picked up by the taxpayer, while some left-wing lawmakers say the luxurious funeral is too expensive.                                                                            

But her admirers, of whom there are many in her party and in southern England, argue that her historical profile deserves such a funeral. She was the country's first and only woman premier, was Britain's longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century, and won three general elections.

More than 2,300 mourners will attend including 11 serving prime ministers from around the world, the British government's entire cabinet, two heads of state and 17 foreign ministers.

But there will be notable absences. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is too ill to attend and Nancy Reagan, the widow of Thatcher's great U·S. ally Ronald Reagan, is also unable to come.

Thatcher struck up a close relationship with Reagan during the Cold War, backed the first President  George Bush during the 1991 Gulf War, and was among the first to discover that Gorbachev was a man she could "do business with. ”

Covered in the red, white and blue British flag, Thatcher's coffin lay overnight in a 13th-century church in Britain's parliament, a forum she dominated for years.

1.From the passage we know that Big Ben clock tower will fall silent to         .

A. get repaired for the first time

B. honour the passing away of the great woman

C. tell the specific time to the public

D. welcome the officials from all over the world

2.Who that are still alive will be absent from the funeral?

A. Mikhail Gorbachev and Nancy Reagan.

B. Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan.

C. Nancy Reagan and Ronald Reagan.

D. George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev.

3.From the passage we can learn that Margaret Thatcher was        .

A. strong and smart               B. weak and disappointing

C. aggressive and warlike                   D. stubborn and luxurious

4.Which of the following might serve as the best title of the passage?

A. The legend of Thatcher, the “Iron Lady".

B. Why Big Ben falls silent for the first time?

C. Who will pay for such a luxurious funeral?

D. London will witness its biggest political funeral.

 

As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through lift, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.                              

Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it. In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.                                                

The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities. Others lose heart at the first signs of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make choice between "fight" or "flight" and in more primitive days the choice made the difference between life or death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress is, it involves the same response. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Such serious conditions as high blood pressure and heart disease have established links with stress. Since we cannot remove stress from our lives (it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it.                                                               

People are finding less and less time for relaxing themselves because_____.                                                  

A. they do not know how to enjoy themselves                                       

B. they do not believe that relaxation is important for health      C. they are travelling fast all the time                                                    

D. they are becoming busier with their work  

According to the writer, the most important character for a good manager is his ________.   

A. not fearing stress                                                  B. knowing the art of relaxation         

C. high sense of responsibility                                   D. having control over performance   

Which of the following statements is true?  

A. We can find some ways to avoid stress. 

B. Stress is always harmful to people. 

C. It is easy to change the habit of keeping oneself busy with work.  

D. Different people can withstand different amounts of stress.  

In Paragraph 3, "such a reaction" refers back to_______. 

A. "making a choice between 'flight' or 'fight'"                                                         

B. "reaction to stress both chemically and physically"                                                      

C. "responding to crises quickly"

D. "losing heart at the signs difficulties" 

In the last sentence of the passage, "do so " refers to ______.     

A. "expose ourselves to stress"                               

B. "find ways to deal with stress" 

C. "remove stress from our lives"                   

D. "established links between diseases and stress"

In a US city, a woman parked her car in an attended lot. Hoping to get a discount on the cost of parking, she asked, “Do you give validation(批准)?” “Certainly,”replied the store's manager:“You are an excellent person and I love your hair.” That might be worth the cost of parking．I mean，who wouldn't pay a couple of dollars for this kind of validation?

   Author Alan McGinIlis cites an interesting study about the power of positive encouragement．A second-grade teacher complained that her children were spending too much time standing up and roaming around the room rather than working．

   Two psychologists observed the behavior of the children and the teacher. Every ten seconds they noted how many children were out of their seats. They counted 360 unseated children throughout each 20-minute period．They also noted that the teacher said "Sit down!" seven times during the same period．

   The psychologists tried an experiment．They asked the teacher to tell the children to sit down more often. This time they noted that she commanded her students to sit down 27.5 times in an average 20-minute period, and now 540 were noted to be out of their seats during the same average period．Her increased scolding actually made the problem worse．

    Then the experimenters tried a different task．They asked the teacher to quietly praise those children who were seated and working．At this time, children's roaming was decreased by 33％．They showed their best behavior when they were praised more and blamed less．

    People who motivate others to take great action are almost always those who encourage more than criticize; who praise more and blame less.

    Perhaps the woman's question is the correct one after all．"Do you give validation?" I hope I can always answer “YES”.

1.When parking her car in an attended lot, the woman ________.

 A. made a very silly mistake              B. was laughed at by the manager

 C. got great praise from the manager    D. failed to pay the cost of parking at last

2.The students in the study performed better mainly because_______.

 A．they were motivated by the psychologists

 B．they were inspired by the teacher's attitude

 C．they regretted roaming around the classroom

 D．they changed their relationship with the teacher

3. In the passage, the author thinks that_______.

A. it is better to blame others than to praise others

B. sometimes it's hard to receive praise from others

C. criticizing children does no good to their growth

D. we all know how to encourage others by praising

4. Why does the author talk about the study in the passage?

A. To show the power of encouragement.  [来源:Zxxk.Com]

B. To show how the teacher praises children.

C. To show his argument is scientifically based.

D. To show the teacher is a successful motivator.

5.What is the author's attitude towards giving validation?

A. Neutral        B. Negative      C. Positive    D. Reasonable[来源:学_