In the past ten years, America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) has grown increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to supply players.

    When Michael Jordan and Larry Bird won gold in Barcelona in 1992, the Americans were praised for teaching the world how to play basketball. This season, however, 20 percent of NBA rosters^① will be filled by non-Americans. NBA commissioner David Stem happily embraces the trend. On a visit to Paris in October, Stern outlined his vision for the future, which is likely to see Europe hosting NBA games by 2010.

    The NBA is now planning to take China by storm.

    “Our experience in China has been that it is going to be explosive in its growth,” said Stern. The strategy^② in China is television. “We’ve made 14 deals in China with local and national networks on cable and satellite.” The success of Chinese centre Yao Ming has paved the way for the NBA marketing blitz in China. The NBA, which is broadcasted in more than 200 countries in 42 languages, will put that to the test in October 2004 when the Houston Rockets play two pre-season games against the Sacramento Kings in Beijing and Shanghai. The NBA knows that it needs a global market to compensate for tough times on home soil.

“It doesn’t matter where the players come from, all the NBA teams now know that they have to scout^③ internationally,” said Terry Lyons, the NBA’s vice-president of international public relations. “It has increased the level of competition here.” As Frenchman Tony Parker and Argentine Emanuel Ginobili showed in winning championship rings with the San Antonio Spurs last season, many people can earn the respect of their American peers. Others, such as the Houston Rockets’ Chinese centre Yao Ming — number one draft pick in 2002 — and the Detroit Pistons’ 18-year-old Serb Darko Milicic — number two overall in this year’s draft — are icons^④in-waiting. It is the ultimate^⑤ revolution — the rest of the world teaching the US how to play basketball.

Notes:

roster  n. 花名册

strategy  n. 战略，策略

scout  vt. 寻找，觅得

icon  n. 偶像

ultimate  adj. 最后的，根本的

Choose the best answers according to the above:

According to the report,       ___.

A. Michael Jordan is still playing a very important role in NBA

B. the part played by the foreign players in NBA will be great

C. Yao Ming is to play two pre-season games in NBA

D. European countries will host the 2004 NBA games

The underlined phrase “take China by storm” has the meaning of       ___.

A. NBA intends to make China its “marketing center”

B. NBA is planning to set up some training centers in China

C. there’ll be a big storm when NBA comes to China to play against the Sacramento Kings

D. the NBA’s live basket games will be broadcasted on all the TVs in China

. What seems to be the biggest change that is happening to NBA?

A. NBA is expecting more foreign players to join the league.

B. China’s rapid development in sports affects NBA.

C. Yao Ming has taken the place of Michael Jordan.

D. The NBA will stop teaching the world how to play basketball.

When the writer talked of “home soil”, he was referring to        __.

A. farms in the States             B. native Americans 

C. the NBA training center         D. the USA

Which of the following can be used as the best title for the passage?

A. The Non-American Basketball Players    B. NBA Is Coming to China

C. The Foreign Ties That Bind the NBA      D. NBA Is Making Big Progress

第四部分：书面表达（共两节，满分40分）

第一节：完成句子（共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分）

阅读下列各小题，根据括号内的汉语提示，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。

71._______________(非常有可能)they failed to grasp the key points of what I said just now .(likely)

72. Our company insisted on__________ (签订一份协议) them in case there was a sudden change when cooperating. (agreement)

73. Water, which seems so simple and common, is ______________(使生命成为可能的东西.（what）

74. Martin Luther King.Jr _______________(以……而闻名)a freedom fighter for equal rights of black people in America . (know)

75. ____________（惊讶于）the beautiful scenery at the Copacabana Beach , he decided to come again the following year . (amaze)

76. How he regretted what he had wasted before, for it is impossible for lost time ____________.(弥补回来)  (make )

77. It is believed that he __________________(可能参与了)in planning the monument, or in helping transport and pull up the stones. (hand)

78.________(如果你要寻求帮助)when you are in trouble, please contact us and we are always here waiting for you.  (should)

79.The world is changing fast, and we are said __________________(正生活在) the “Information Age”, a time of new discoveries and great changes. (live)

80. Only if you show mercy yourself______________________(你可以希望得到) mercy. (hope)

 

 

第二节 汉译英（共10小题，每小题2.5分，满分25 分）

两年前我在踢球时胳膊骨折了。胳膊一个月不能动。

Mark的父母为他感到骄傲，因为他在科学领域内做出了很多重要的发现。

目前，大约80%的网络交流都使用英语，但这一比例正在下降。

因特网造就了数以千计的百万富翁，但不包括Berners-Lee.

有许多中国谚语是与健康有联系的。(connect)

医生告诉我要是不停止吸毒我可能会死去的，所以我听取了医生的劝告，立刻停了。

据估计，在事故中受伤的人数很可能会达到60人。(likely)

这个学校的学生有足够的课余时间来发展新的兴趣。

姚明作为篮球明星而在世界上闻名。

蔬菜水果你吃得越多，就会越健康。

 

阅读下列各小题，根据汉语提示，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。

1.The class remained very noisy although the bell had rung five minutes before. The teacher was about to lose his temper               . (settle)

五分钟前铃就响了，那个班还是非常吵闹，老师正要发脾气这时他们突然安静下来了。

2.               the old bike, we sold it to a waste recycle center. (apart)

我们把这辆旧自行车拆散，把它卖给了一家废品回收站。

3.A person with a severe mental health problem is                to have no close friends than the average. (likely)

有严重心理疾病的人找不到知心朋友的可能性是普通人的四倍。

4.The TV entertainment program, the Voice of China, enjoys great popularity, with a large audience                in its live show. (lose)

综艺节目《中国好声音》很受欢迎，很多观众沉浸在它的现场表演之中。

5.                   with work should not be the reason for treating one’s neighbors as strangers. (occupy)

工作繁忙不应该成为“对面不相识”的借口。

6.Not until a week later                at the meeting. (put)

直到一周后，这个问题才在会议上被提出。

7.Those successful deaf dancers think that dancing is an activity                more than hearing. (matter)

那些成功的盲人舞者认为，舞蹈是一种视力比听力更重要的活动。

8.From then on I went all out to spend every minute available practicing my oral English               . (suggest)

从那时起，我就竭尽全力地利用可能的每一分钟按照我老师的建议练习口语。

9.His parents died when he was a baby. Nobody knows who it was               . (bring)

他是婴儿的时候父母就双亡了，没人知道究竟是谁把他抚养成人的。

10.Because of Typhoon Fitow this October, some citizens in this coastal city would rather they             the inland area some day. (move)

因为今年十月的台风“菲特”，这个沿海城市的一些市民宁愿有一天搬到内陆地区。

 

阅读下列各小题，根据汉语提示，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。

1.The class remained very noisy although the bell had rung five minutes before. The teacher was about to lose his temper               . (settle)

五分钟前铃就响了，那个班还是非常吵闹，老师正要发脾气这时他们突然安静下来了。

2.               the old bike, we sold it to a waste recycle center. (apart)

我们把这辆旧自行车拆散，把它卖给了一家废品回收站。

3.A person with a severe mental health problem is                to have no close friends than the average. (likely)

有严重心理疾病的人找不到知心朋友的可能性是普通人的四倍。

4.The TV entertainment program, the Voice of China, enjoys great popularity, with a large audience                in its live show. (lose)

综艺节目《中国好声音》很受欢迎，很多观众沉浸在它的现场表演之中。

5.                   with work should not be the reason for treating one’s neighbors as strangers. (occupy)

工作繁忙不应该成为“对面不相识”的借口。

6.Not until a week later                at the meeting. (put)

直到一周后，这个问题才在会议上被提出。

7.Those successful deaf dancers think that dancing is an activity                more than hearing. (matter)

那些成功的盲人舞者认为，舞蹈是一种视力比听力更重要的活动。

8.From then on I went all out to spend every minute available practicing my oral English               . (suggest)

从那时起，我就竭尽全力地利用可能的每一分钟按照我老师的建议练习口语。

9.His parents died when he was a baby. Nobody knows who it was               . (bring)

他是婴儿的时候父母就双亡了，没人知道究竟是谁把他抚养成人的。

10.Because of Typhoon Fitow this October, some citizens in this coastal city would rather they             the inland area some day. (move)

因为今年十月的台风“菲特”，这个沿海城市的一些市民宁愿有一天搬到内陆地区。