For almost forty years the Empire State Building in New York City was the world's tallest skyscraper（摩天大楼）. The building reaches a height of 1, 250 feet. It has 102 floors. The use of steel frames made its height possible. Steel walls can rise height without needing to be thick. Steel frame construction is strong. All plates are fixed firmly together by metal bolts（螺栓）called rivets （铆钉）. When set in place, rivets are usuall red- hot. One end is already rounded. A riveter uses a special hammer to shape the other end. Then the rivet cools. It holds the plates firmly. High winds can move this strong building. A wind of a hundred miles an hour has caused it to move almost one and a half inches.

  56．The writer says that the Empire State Building ________.
  A. hasn’t been finished
  B. is in New York City
  C. is the tallest skyscraper in the world now
  D. had fewer floors than the New World Trade Center
  57．In steel -frame building, the bottom walls________ .
  A. must be very thick
  B. must be rounded
  C. are usually red - hot
  D. do not need to be thick
  58．Rivets are described as being ________.
  A. picked up by tools when red -hot
  B. hit by tools when red - hot
  C. usually caught in a hole
  D. usually put in place when red - hot
  59．The word“ plates” in this article might mean ________ in Chinese.
A. 盘子    B. 钢板     C. 横木板    D. 铜牌

第三部分阅读理解 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)

请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Picking a Christmas tree takes most people a few minutes, a couple of hours if they head to the woods. Dave Murbach needs 11 months.

Almost every day of every year, Murbach’s thoughts turn to vision of a perfectly shaped evergreen tree that will take everyone’s breath away.

“The tree,” he says wearily. “Always the tree.”

Murbach is the man responsible for finding the towering tree that graces Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center each Christmas season.

“I’m always looking for a tree,” the center’s chief gardener says. “I look for it even when I go to the beach in the summer. It’s like a homework assignment hanging over your head.”

And if he gets it wrong, there’s nothing hiding it.

“Every day it’s up, 400,000 people go by, and 2.5 million people watch the lighting celebration on television,” he says.

This year’s tree, a 74-foot Norway spruce (云杉) from Richfield, Ohio, flown to New York on the world’s largest cargo plane, was lighted on December 2.

The arrival of the tree leads in the Christmas season in New York - a tradition dating to 1931, when the workers building Rockefeller Centre put up a small tree with decorations.

The search for the next year’s tree starts soon after the old tree is chopped up for wood chips and horse-jumping logs.

That’s not as simple as it sounds. Though forests are full of evergreens, few get enough sunlight or space to fill out. And branches in snowy regions often break under the weight, making flees uneven.

Back at the office, he sorts through hundreds of letters from people offering their trees, many addressed simply to “Mr. Christmas Tree Man.”

Despite the occasional anxiety attack and sleepless night, Murbach knows the together people you love. That’s what I hope it sets off.”

But Murbach says he’s always too worn out to celebrate Christmas.

“No card, no lights, nothing,” he says.

“No tree?”

“No tree.”

1. Murbach takes his job seriously because he most likely wants _____________.

A. everyone to be happy with his work

B. to make everyone surprised at his choice

C. everyone to know his care for their happiness

D. to attract people’s attention to his special ability

2. Which is the correct order of the events in the passage?

a. Murbach’s thoughts turn to a perfectly shaped tree.

b. 2.5 million people watch the Christmas tree.

c. The tree is flown to New York.

d. it was lighted on December 2.

e. The tree is chopped up.

f. Murbach searches for the tree.

A. a, b, c, d, e, f    B. a, f, c, d, b, e            C. c, d, e, b, a, f    D. c, d, b, f, e, a

3. According to Murbach’s standard of trees, the best tree must _________.

A. be evergreen                             B. have no space between branches

C. be thick enough                          D. be equally balanced in shape

4. Which is tree about Murbach?

A. He is most devoted to his work.                     B. He is now quite tired of his work.

C. He has no loved family members.           D. He never wants to celebrate Christmas.

　For almost forty years the Empire State Building in New York City was the world's tallest skyscraper（摩天大楼）. The building reaches a height of 1, 250 feet. It has 102 floors. The use of steel frames made its height possible. Steel walls can rise height without needing to be thick. Steel frame construction is strong. All plates are fixed firmly together by metal bolts（螺栓）called rivets （铆钉）. When set in place, rivets are usuall red- hot. One end is already rounded. A riveter uses a special hammer to shape the other end. Then the rivet cools. It holds the plates firmly. High winds can move this strong building. A wind of a hundred miles an hour has caused it to move almost one and a half inches.

　The writer says that the Empire State Building ________.

　　A. hasn’t been finished

　　B. is in New York City

　　C. is the tallest skyscraper in the world now

　　D. had fewer floors than the New World Trade Center

　　　In steel -frame building, the bottom walls________ .

　　A. must be very thick

　　B. must be rounded

　　C. are usually red - hot

　　D. do not need to be thick

　　　Rivets are described as being ________.

　　A. picked up by tools when red -hot

　　B. hit by tools when red - hot

　　C. usually caught in a hole

　　D. usually put in place when red - hot

第三部分 阅读理解 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)

请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Picking a Christmas tree takes most people a few minutes, a couple of hours if they head to the woods. Dave Murbach needs 11 months.

Almost every day of every year, Murbach’s thoughts turn to vision of a perfectly shaped evergreen tree that will take everyone’s breath away.

“The tree,” he says wearily. “Always the tree.”

Murbach is the man responsible for finding the towering tree that graces Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center each Christmas season.

“I’m always looking for a tree,” the center’s chief gardener says. “I look for it even when I go to the beach in the summer. It’s like a homework assignment hanging over your head.”

And if he gets it wrong, there’s nothing hiding it.

“Every day it’s up, 400,000 people go by, and 2.5 million people watch the lighting celebration on television,” he says.

This year’s tree, a 74-foot Norway spruce (云杉) from Richfield, Ohio, flown to New York on the world’s largest cargo plane, was lighted on December 2.

The arrival of the tree leads in the Christmas season in New York - a tradition dating to 1931, when the workers building Rockefeller Centre put up a small tree with decorations.

The search for the next year’s tree starts soon after the old tree is chopped up for wood chips and horse-jumping logs.

That’s not as simple as it sounds. Though forests are full of evergreens, few get enough sunlight or space to fill out. And branches in snowy regions often break under the weight, making flees uneven.

Back at the office, he sorts through hundreds of letters from people offering their trees, many addressed simply to “Mr. Christmas Tree Man.”

Despite the occasional anxiety attack and sleepless night, Murbach knows the together people you love. That’s what I hope it sets off.”

But Murbach says he’s always too worn out to celebrate Christmas.

“No card, no lights, nothing,” he says.

“No tree?”

“No tree.”

1. Murbach takes his job seriously because he most likely wants _____________.

A. everyone to be happy with his work

B. to make everyone surprised at his choice

C. everyone to know his care for their happiness

D. to attract people’s attention to his special ability

2. Which is the correct order of the events in the passage?

a. Murbach’s thoughts turn to a perfectly shaped tree.

b. 2.5 million people watch the Christmas tree.

c. The tree is flown to New York.

d. it was lighted on December 2.

e. The tree is chopped up.

f. Murbach searches for the tree.

A. a, b, c, d, e, f    B. a, f, c, d, b, e            C. c, d, e, b, a, f    D. c, d, b, f, e, a

3. According to Murbach’s standard of trees, the best tree must _________.

A. be evergreen                              B. have no space between branches

C. be thick enough                           D. be equally balanced in shape

4. Which is tree about Murbach?

A. He is most devoted to his work.                     B. He is now quite tired of his work.

C. He has no loved family members.           D. He never wants to celebrate Christmas.

The word “plates” in this article might mean　　　　   

A.盘子

B.金属板

C.横木板

D.铜牌