第二部分阅读理解（共两节，满分50分）
第一节：阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并将答案写在答题卡上。（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
A
O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.
41. In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York.   b. Worked in a bank.        c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison.    e. Had a newspaper job.      f. Learned to write stories.
A. e. c. f. b. d. a       B. e. b. d. c. a. f.        C. c. e. b. d. f. a    D. c. b. e. d. a f.
42. O. Henry went to prison because ___________.
A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper
B. people thought he had taken money that was not his
C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners
D. he broke the law by not using his own name
43. What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?
A. He was very good at learning.                     B. He was not serious about his work.
C. He was devoted to the poor.                  D. He was well-educated.
44. Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?
A. His life inside the prison.                  B. The newspaper articles he wrote.
C. His exciting early life as a boy.       D. The city and people of New York.

I travel a lot, and I find out different "styles" (风格) of directions every time 1 ask "How can I get to the post office?"

Foreign tourists are often confused (困惑) in Japan because most streets there don't have names in Japan, people use landmarks (地标) in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, "Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop."

In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, "Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile."

People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. "How far away is the post office?" you ask. "Oh," they answer, "it's about five minutes from here." You say, "Yes, but how many miles away is it?" They don't know.

It's true that a person doesn't know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, 'Sorry, I have no idea." But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers "I don't know." People in Yucatan believe that "I don't know" is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!

1. When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place they usually _________

2.What is the place where people measure distance in time?

3.People in Yucatan may give a tourist a wrong answer ________

4. Which sentence is true according to the text?

5. What can we infer from the text?

Miss Gogers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she explained to one of her classes about sound, and she decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them, “Now I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from across the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?”
Tom at once answered, “Your brother. Because electricity travels faster than sound waves.” “That’s every good,” Miss Gogers answered; but then one of the girls raised her hand, and Miss Gogers said. “Yes, Kate.”
“I disagree,” Kate said. “Your brother would hear you earlier because when it’s 11 o’clock here it’s only 8 o’clock in Los Angeles.”
【小题1】 Miss Gogers was teaching her class_________.

Everybody hates it, but everybody does it. A recent report said that 40％of Americans hate tipping. In America alone, tipping is a $16 billion-a-year industry. Consumers acting politely ought not to pay more than they have to for a given service. Tips should not exist. So why do they? The common opinion in the past was that tips both rewarded the efforts of good service and reduced uncomfortable feelings of inequality. And also, tipping makes for closer relations. It went without saying that the better the service, the bigger the tip.

    But according to new research from Cornell University, tips no longer serve any useful function. The paper analyzes numbers they got from 2,547 groups dining at 20 different restaurants. The connection between larger tips and better service was very weak. Only a tiny part of the size of the tip had anything to do with the quality of service.

    Tipping is better explained, by culture than by the money people spend. In America, the custom came into being a long time ago. It is regarded as part of the accepted cost of a service. In New York restaurants, failing to tip at least l5％ could well mean dissatisfaction from the customers. Hairdressers can expect to get l5％-20％, and the man who delivers your fast food $2. In Europe, tipping is less common. In many restaurants the amount of tip is decided by a standard service charge. In many Asian countries, tipping has never really caught on at all. Only a few have really taken to tipping.

    According to Michael Lynn，the Cornell papers’ author, countries in which people are more social or outgoing tend to tip more. Tipping may reduce anxiety about being served by strangers. And Mr. Lynn says, “In America, where people are expressive and eager to mix up with others, tipping is about social approval. If you tip badly, people think less of you. Tipping well is a chance to show off.”

1.This passage is mainly about________.

    A. different kinds of tipping in different countries

    B. the relationship between tipping and custom

    C. the origin and present meaning of tipping

    D. most American people hate tipping

2. Which of the following best explains the underlined phrase “caught on” ?

    A. Been hated．                     B. Become popular．

    C. Been stopped．                   D. Been permitted

3. Among the following situations, in your opinion, who is likely to tip most?

    A. A Frenchman just quarreled with the barber who did his hair badly in New York.

    B. A Chinese student enjoyed his meal in a famous fast food restaurant in New York.

    C. A Japanese businessman asked for a pizza delivery from a Pizza Hut in New York.

    D. An American just had a wonderful dinner in a well known restaurant in New York.

4.We can infer from this passage that________.

A. tipping is no longer a good way to satisfy some customers themselves

B. tipping has something to do with people’s character

C. tipping in America can make service better now

D. tipping is especially popular in New York

COME TO NEWYORK AND SEE THE WORLD

If you’re looking for the place that has everything, there’s only one place to visit, and that is New York. It’s a whole world in a city.

The World of Theatre: All of New York is a stage. And it begins with Broadway. Where else can you find so many hit shows in one place? Only in New York.

The World of Music: Spend an evening with Beethoven at Lincoln Centre. Swing to the great jazz of Greenwich Village. Or rock yourself silly at the hottest dance spots found anywhere.

The World of Art: From Rembrandt to Picasso. From Egyptian tombs to Indian teepees. Whatever kind of art you like, you will find it in New York.

The World of Fine Dining: Whether it’s roast Beijing duck in Chinatown, lasagna in Little Italy, or the finest French coq au vin found anywhere, there is a world of great taste waiting for you in New York.

The World of Sights: What other city has a Statue of Liberty? A Rockefeller Centre? Or a Bronx Zoo?

1.Which of the following program can a visitor have only in New York?

A. To enjoy roast Beijing duck.               B. To taste the finest French coq au vin.

C. To spend an evening with Beethoven.        D. To see the Statue of Liberty.

2.From the text we know that “Rembrandt” is most likely the name of a famous ____.

A. singer           B. painting         C. play           D. painter

3.What the writer really wanted to do is to _____.

A. try to persuade reader to pay a visit to New York

B. give reader some information about New York

C. supply readers with some wonderful program in New York

D. help readers to get a better understanding of New York.

4.The passage above may be taken from ______.

A. a guidebook for foreigners                B. a handbook for English learners

C. a pocketbook for visiting businessmen      D. a storybook for native readers.