68．What is probably the best title for the passage?　　　　 ．

A．The History of the New Look 　　　　　　　　　　 B．The Growth of the Dior Empire

C．An Expression of Freedom-Dior 　　　　　　　 D．The Founder of the New Look-Dior

答案　 CBAD

Passage 15

(湖北省部分重点中学2009届高三第一次联考)

A

Last week，Bill Gates retired from full-tine．rime work at the world’s biggest computer software company, Microsoft．He will remain chairman of the company he established with Paul Allen in nineteen seventy-five．

Mister Gates leaves Microsoft at a time of change in the computing industry．Microsoft grew at a time when personal computers，or PCs，were replacing big mainframe computers as the main computing tools．He showed that huge profits could be made in software as PCs increasingly were found “on every desk and in every home．”

Early on，Microsoft understood the importance of the “network effect．” That is．software is the kind of product that increases in value as more people buy and use it．

Now，free Internet software threatens to replace PC-based software．Devices like “smart phones” connect people to the Internet．Google has become a 1eader in Internet Web searching and advertising．Microsoft has struggled to change with the new computer environment．Its efforts to sell music and its latest operating system，Vista，have not been big successes．And an attempt this year to buy Yahoo for over forty-seven billion dollars failed．

In the last several years，Bill Gates has slowly given control of Microsoft to others．In two thousand，he gave the job of chief executive officer to Steve Ballmer, a friend of his since their years at Harvard University．Mister Ballmer has been with Microsoft since nineteen eighty．Still，it is hard to overestimate the influence of Bill Gates on computing．He developed the business model that put the Windows operating system on about ninety percent of the world’s one billion PCs．Microsoft now has almost ninety thousand employees．

At fifty-two years old，Bill Gates is currently the third richest man in the world．He is worth about fifty-eight billion dollars．He remains Microsoft’s biggest shareholder．

Mister Gates will now spend most of his time working at his charity organization,the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation．The foundation is the world's largest charity with over thirty-seven billion dollars．It provides money for health,education and other projects，mostly in developing countries．

67．We can infer from the passage that　　　 ．

A．Dior and his supporter had different interests in business

B．Dior’s New Look had little influence on people then

C．Dior is only a brand of women’s fashion

D．Dior’s fashion was not accepted at first

66．According to the passage．in Dior’s life，he did NOT　　　　　　 ．

A．make creative fashion designs　　 　　　　　　　 B．work in a diplomatic service

C．1earn craft as his first job　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D．open a New Look House

65．Which of the following designs is close to Dior’s?

64．The main purpose of the text is to　　　　　　　　　 ．

A．tell a story　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B．provide evidence

C．give a report 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D．compare opinions

答案　 DABC

Passage 14

(湖北省部分重点中学2009届高三第二次联考)

B

Dior was born in Normandy in 1905，and his family’s original plans for him included a career in the diplomatic service，but by the time he was twenty-three，with his parents’money，he opened a small art gallery in Paris．By 1931，the money had been used up．Dior’s friends in the art gallery, asked him to draw and he took his flrst step at designing and drawing．His first jot was with Lucien Lelong from whom Dior learned his craft(手艺)．

In February,1947．Dior started the New Look in his first major Paris collection．He was backed by a famous textile producer, Boussac，who looked after the dollars．while Dior looked after the fashions．Dior knew nothing about cutting and sewing，but he was good at fashion design．

The New Look started an entirely different look to costume．with a tiny waist．a rounded shoulder and a shapely bust(胸围)，usually with a low-cut neckline and a long。full skirt．To women who had lived through the war years．the femaleness of the New look was a great success．for people were tired of tile extremely plain，wartime restrictive fashions．

It is said that dresses by Dior were “constructed like buildings。”but young people were attracted to to his design，and all over the western world, manufacturers plunged(投入)into the production of his new style．Dior’s revolutionary designs lighted up a whole cycle of fashion，rounded，gentle，feminine．a delight in elegance．A New Look House of Dior opened in 1948，

followed by one in London．Considered as King of Couture(women’s clothing)for years, the　 Dior empire grew until it covered every country in the western world，and included furs，hosiery, jewelry, perfumes, men’s wear and on and on．More than 1,000 people worked at the Paris headquarters then．

His sudden death in 1957 when he was 53 years old did not stop the growth of the House of　 Dior．Even now, so many years after his death，his name is closely connected with fashion throughout the world，and indeed is one of the most recognized names in the world，His first，great New Look，with its long skirts was an expression of freedom in the late 1940s．

63．In the opinion of Lu Shanzhen, the key to achieving success for athletes is to　　　　 　．

A．practice harder than ever

B．experience more competitions abroad

C．have strong psychological power

D．have a competitive spirit

62．Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．The international media’s doubts proved to be true．

B．He Kexin’s fall in the qualification had no bad effect on her performance in the final　　 competition．

C．Chinese women gymnasts’ success at the Beijing Games proved that the reforms did work．

D．Each team is made up of 6 members to compete for the team gold medal in women　　 gymnastics．

61．Before the Beijing Games started，some international media doubted whether　　　　　　 ．

A．Chinese women gymnasts could win the team gold medal

　 　　 B．He Kexin would fall from the bars during qualification

C．Chinese women gymnasts could make history at the Beijing Games

D．some Chinese women gymnasts were old enough for the Games

40. Why does the writer thank Mr. Rose at the end of the passage?

A. Because Mr. Rose showed him how to be a successful salesperson.

B. Because Mr. Rose taught him to face life with positive expectation.

C. Because Mr. Rose trained him to win Coach of the Year for his son.

D. Because Mr. Rose gave him advice on managing a happy family.

答案　 36-40 ACBAB

[09年12月更新]

Passage 13

(湖北省部分重点中学2009届高三第二次联考)

A

As China’s women’s gymnastics team enjoyed the glory of winning the country’s first team Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games，the young gymnasts took the opportunity to remind the world that they are old enough to compete．

Weeks before the Beijing Games，some international media raised questions about the ages of some of the members of China‘s gymnastics team，particularly He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan．They said the girls might be younger than 16．the minimum age for the Olympics．But the Chinese Gymnastics Association quickly provided copies of the gymnasts’ ID cards and passports，proving they are indeed old enough to compete．

In the final．He Kexia gave a clean performance on her favorite uneven bars(高低杠)，earning the second highest score．after falling from the bars during qualification．”Although I fell down in the qualification。I became more confident today to make up for my mistake．and I finally made it．”She said．It was a great moment for head coach Lu Shanzhen．“Our team made history today and proved to the world that we are the best．“the coach said．”The gold medal is not only for the gymnastics team，but also for the whole Chinese delegation at the Beijing Games．’’

The coach owed the team’s success to a series of reforms．The Chinese team used to train a 1ot．but competed less，which led to poor results in international competitions．To improve their ability to compete and to strengthen their psychological power, the Chinese team sent more team members to compete abroad，so they could bring a competitive spirit back to the team．All six gymnasts in the Olympic team final were selected from fierce competition，and they proved themselves today．

39. Which of the following is NOT a role of the writer?

A. A teammate of Rose.　　　 　　　　　　　　　 B. A salesman.

C. A father.　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　 D. A baseball coach.