These days we are all conditioned to accept newness, whatever it costs. Very soon, there is no doubt that Apple's tablet (平板电脑) will seem as a vital tool of modern living to us as sewing machine did to our grandparents. At least, it will until someone produces an even smarter, thinner and more essential tablet, which, if recent history is any guide, will be in approximately six months' time. Turn your back for a moment and you find that every electronic item in your possession is as old as a tombstone. Why should you care if people laugh just because you use an old mobile phone? But try getting the thing repaired when it goes wrong. It's like walking into a pub and asking for an orange juice. You will be made to feel like some sort of time-traveler from the 1970s. "Why not buy a new one?" you will get asked.
And so the mountain of electrical rubbish grows. An average British person was believed to get rid of quite a number of electronic goods in a lifetime. They weighed three tons, stood 7 feet high, and included five fridges, six microwaves, seven PCs, six TVs, 12 kettles, 35 mobile phones and so on. Even then, the calculation seemed to be conservative. Only 35 mobiles in a lifetime? The huge number of electronic items now regularly thrown away by British families is clearly one big problem. But this has other consequences. It contributes greatly to the uneasy feeling that modem technology is going by faster than we can keep up. By the time I've learnt how to use a tool it's already broken or lost. I've lost count of the number of TV remote-controls that I've bought, mislaid and replaced without working out what most of the buttons did.
And the technology changes so unbelievably fast. It was less than years ago that I spotted an energetic businessman friend pulling what seemed to be either a large container or a small nuclear bomb on wheels through a railway station. I asked. "What have you got in there? Your money or your wife?" "Neither," he replied, with the satisfied look of a man who knew he was keeping pace with the latest technology, no matter how ridiculous he looked. "This is what everyone will have soon—even you. It's called a mobile telephone."
I don't feel sorry for the pace of change. On the contrary, I'm amazed by those high-tech designers who can somehow fit a camera, music-player, computer and phone into a plastic box no bigger than a packet of cigarette. If those geniuses could also find a way to keep the underground trains running on the first snowy day of winter, they would be making real progress for human beings. What I do regret, however, is that so many household items fall behind so soon. My parents bought a wooden wireless radio in 1947, the year they were married. In 1973, the year I went to university, it was still working. It sat in the kitchen like an old friend—which, in a way, it was. It certainly spoke to us more than we spoke to each other on some mornings. When my mum replaced it with a new-style radio that could also play cassette-tapes, I felt a real sense of loss.
Such is the over-excited change of 21st-century technology that there's no time to satisfy our emotional needs. Even if Apple's new products turn out to be the most significant tablets I very much doubt if they will resist this trend.
【小题1】When you try getting an old mobile phone repaired, ____.

第三部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节       （共15小题：每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
My sister and I shared a typical sisterly relationship: we couldn’t stand each other．Or, to be honest, she couldn’t stand me．I took her as a hero．My clothes mysteriously looked like hers, and even my words tended to copy those I heard from her．Any sort of talk we had usually became a fighting, and try as I might, my sister had an extra six years worth of rude vocabulary．
After a while, I stopped trying to impress her and learned to be totally indifferent（冷漠的）；we soon fell into a sad pattern — I avoided her, she paid no attention to me, and deep inside, it hurt．She was only a sister in name．I truly believed that we would forever be apart, two housemates without conversation, two strangers without warmth．
I still remember the day I learned to ride a bike．I had received the bike that Christmas, which was great, until I realized I had no idea how to ride it．My mom had long since abandoned any attempt to teach me; I had proved to be a frustrating student．I had to learn by myself, a little bit each day, but unsuccessfully．On that day I was so disappointed that I threw my bike aside and began to cry, I guess that was what caused my sister to come outside．At first I was nervous, as I thought she would begin to laugh at me．She did not．She gently picked my bike up．That was the beginning．She fearlessly held my hand while the tears dried on my cheeks．She never once let me fall．And for three hours — three wonderful hours — we learned to ride my bike．No shouting．No fighting．No arguing．
That day I learned that my sister was human — how else could she have been my teacher? It was a life-changing experience．We still occasionally have our quarrels, but since that day, it’s been easier to get along because we have an unspoken respect for each other．
56．From the first paragraph, we can infer that _____．
A．the writer’s sister usually won the fighting
B．the writer was not always honest with her sister
C．the writer showed little respect for her sister
D．the writer’s sister had a good memory
57．When the writer failed to impress her sister, she _____．
A．felt hurt and treated her sister as a stranger
B．decided to be indifferent to her sister
C．didn’t talk with any member of the family
D．kept apart from her sister for a long time
58．What caused the writer to cry when she learned to ride a bike?
A．She fell off the bike and hurt herself seriously．
B．Her mother refused to buy her a bike．
C．She couldn’t learn how to ride a bike by herself．
D．Her sister laughed at her old bike．

These days we are all conditioned to accept newness, whatever it costs. Very soon, there is no doubt that Apple's tablet (平板电脑) will seem as a vital tool of modern living to us as sewing machine did to our grandparents. At least, it will until someone produces an even smarter, thinner and more essential tablet, which, if recent history is any guide, will be in approximately six months' time. Turn your back for a moment and you find that every electronic item in your possession is as old as a tombstone. Why should you care if people laugh just because you use an old mobile phone? But try getting the thing repaired when it goes wrong. It's like walking into a pub and asking for an orange juice. You will be made to feel like some sort of time-traveler from the 1970s. "Why not buy a new one?" you will get asked.

And so the mountain of electrical rubbish grows. An average British person was believed to get rid of quite a number of electronic goods in a lifetime. They weighed three tons, stood 7 feet high, and included five fridges, six microwaves, seven PCs, six TVs, 12 kettles, 35 mobile phones and so on. Even then, the calculation seemed to be conservative. Only 35 mobiles in a lifetime? The huge number of electronic items now regularly thrown away by British families is clearly one big problem. But this has other consequences. It contributes greatly to the uneasy feeling that modem technology is going by faster than we can keep up. By the time I've learnt how to use a tool it's already broken or lost. I've lost count of the number of TV remote-controls that I've bought, mislaid and replaced without working out what most of the buttons did.

And the technology changes so unbelievably fast. It was less than years ago that I spotted an energetic businessman friend pulling what seemed to be either a large container or a small nuclear bomb on wheels through a railway station. I asked. "What have you got in there? Your money or your wife?" "Neither," he replied, with the satisfied look of a man who knew he was keeping pace with the latest technology, no matter how ridiculous he looked. "This is what everyone will have soon—even you. It's called a mobile telephone."

I don't feel sorry for the pace of change. On the contrary, I'm amazed by those high-tech designers who can somehow fit a camera, music-player, computer and phone into a plastic box no bigger than a packet of cigarette. If those geniuses could also find a way to keep the underground trains running on the first snowy day of winter, they would be making real progress for human beings. What I do regret, however, is that so many household items fall behind so soon. My parents bought a wooden wireless radio in 1947, the year they were married. In 1973, the year I went to university, it was still working. It sat in the kitchen like an old friend—which, in a way, it was. It certainly spoke to us more than we spoke to each other on some mornings. When my mum replaced it with a new-style radio that could also play cassette-tapes, I felt a real sense of loss.

Such is the over-excited change of 21st-century technology that there's no time to satisfy our emotional needs. Even if Apple's new products turn out to be the most significant tablets I very much doubt if they will resist this trend.

1.When you try getting an old mobile phone repaired, ____.

A. you are travelling through time            B. you are thought to be out of date

C. you will find everything wrong            D. you have got to buy a new one

2.Throwing away so much electronic rubbish makes the writer feel quite _____.

A. lost and upset    B. unbelievably fast

C. broken or lost     D. regularly wasteful

3.The example of the businessman implies that____.

A. the businessman mastered the latest technology   

B. mobile phones used to be quite big just years ago

C. the businessman was a very ridiculous person     

D. the writer failed to follow modern technology

4.The passage is organized in the pattern of ____.

A. time and events    B. comparison and contrast   

C. cause and effect      D. examples and analysis

5.Which of the following is conveyed in the passage?

A. The fast pace of change brings us no good.     

B. We have to keep up with new technology.

C. Household items should be upgraded quickly.   

D. We should hold on for new technology to last.

第三部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）

第一节       （共15小题：每小题2分，满分30分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

My sister and I shared a typical sisterly relationship: we couldn’t stand each other．Or, to be honest, she couldn’t stand me．I took her as a hero．My clothes mysteriously looked like hers, and even my words tended to copy those I heard from her．Any sort of talk we had usually became a fighting, and try as I might, my sister had an extra six years worth of rude vocabulary．

After a while, I stopped trying to impress her and learned to be totally indifferent（冷漠的）；we soon fell into a sad pattern — I avoided her, she paid no attention to me, and deep inside, it hurt．She was only a sister in name．I truly believed that we would forever be apart, two housemates without conversation, two strangers without warmth．

I still remember the day I learned to ride a bike．I had received the bike that Christmas, which was great, until I realized I had no idea how to ride it．My mom had long since abandoned any attempt to teach me; I had proved to be a frustrating student．I had to learn by myself, a little bit each day, but unsuccessfully．On that day I was so disappointed that I threw my bike aside and began to cry, I guess that was what caused my sister to come outside．At first I was nervous, as I thought she would begin to laugh at me．She did not．She gently picked my bike up．That was the beginning．She fearlessly held my hand while the tears dried on my cheeks．She never once let me fall．And for three hours — three wonderful hours — we learned to ride my bike．No shouting．No fighting．No arguing．

That day I learned that my sister was human — how else could she have been my teacher? It was a life-changing experience．We still occasionally have our quarrels, but since that day, it’s been easier to get along because we have an unspoken respect for each other．

56．From the first paragraph, we can infer that _____．

A．the writer’s sister usually won the fighting

B．the writer was not always honest with her sister

C．the writer showed little respect for her sister

D．the writer’s sister had a good memory

57．When the writer failed to impress her sister, she _____．

A．felt hurt and treated her sister as a stranger

B．decided to be indifferent to her sister

C．didn’t talk with any member of the family

D．kept apart from her sister for a long time

58．What caused the writer to cry when she learned to ride a bike?

A．She fell off the bike and hurt herself seriously．

B．Her mother refused to buy her a bike．

C．She couldn’t learn how to ride a bike by herself．

D．Her sister laughed at her old bike．

    My sister and I shared a typical sisterly relationship: we couldn’t stand each other．Or, to be honest, she couldn’t stand me．I took her as a hero．My clothes mysteriously looked like hers, and even my words tended to copy those I heard from her．Any sort of talk we had usually became a fighting, and try as I might, my sister had an extra six years worth of rude vocabulary．

    After a while, I stopped trying to impress her and learned to be totally indifferent（冷漠的）；we soon fell into a sad pattern — I avoided her, she paid no attention to me, and deep inside, it hurt．She was only a sister in name．I truly believed that we would forever be apart, two housemates without conversation, two strangers without warmth．

    I still remember the day I learned to ride a bike．I had received the bike that Christmas, which was great, until I realized I had no idea how to ride it．My mom had long since abandoned any attempt to teach me; I had proved to be a frustrating student．I had to learn by myself, a little bit each day, but unsuccessfully．On that day I was so disappointed that I threw my bike aside and began to cry, I guess that was what caused my sister to come outside．At first I was nervous, as I thought she would begin to laugh at me．She did not．She gently picked my bike up．That was the beginning．She fearlessly held my hand while the tears dried on my cheeks．She never once let me fall．And for three hours — three wonderful hours — we learned to ride my bike．No shouting．No fighting．No arguing．

    That day I learned that my sister was human — how else could she have been my teacher? It was a life-changing experience．We still occasionally have our quarrels, but since that day, it’s been easier to get along because we have an unspoken respect for each other．

1.From the first paragraph, we can infer that _____．

    A．the writer’s sister usually won the fighting

    B．the writer was not always honest with her sister

    C．the writer showed little respect for her sister

    D．the writer’s sister had a good memory

2.When the writer failed to impress her sister, she _____．

    A．felt hurt and treated her sister as a stranger

    B．decided to be indifferent to her sister

    C．didn’t talk with any member of the family

    D．kept apart from her sister for a long time

3.What caused the writer to cry when she learned to ride a bike?

    A．She fell off the bike and hurt herself seriously．

    B．Her mother refused to buy her a bike．

    C．She couldn’t learn how to ride a bike by herself．

    D．Her sister laughed at her old bike．