In the US and Britain, the slogan around colleges was “Save water. Shower with a friend.” Now, Wuhan University has come up with another system for the campus bathhouse. It charges students for the amount of time in a shower. Before entering the bathhouse, students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower with cash or their student ID card. The clock starts ticking the minute the tape is turned on. It pauses when a button is pressed for soap. An integrated circuit(IC) card reader at each tap shows the time. No money, no water. The benefits of the new system can be seen with the old system, which charged 1 yuan for each person regardless of time in the shower. The university used about 320 tones of water daily under the old system, but only 160 tons now.

Many students use the new system but opinions on it are divided. Some students say it is bad because bathing had become a sort of race. Many people using it for the first time are not sure how long they need to shower. Some might be embarrassed if their time is up and they’re still covered in soap. They have to ask the bathhouse worker to help them buy extra time.

“It’s a flaw in the system that you can not buy extra time on the ID card,” said Ren, a freshman in Wuhan University. The university is also considering some students’ suggestions that they be allowed to pay after they’ve finished the shower. Not surprisingly, some are complaining about losing the hour shower. But many students say the move helps them develop a water-saving sense.

Without the time limits, most students tended to shower for 30 to an hour in the bathhouse.

Some even used the hot water to wash their clothes. “In my experience, 10-20 minutes is enough,” said Dai Zhihua, a third-year student who usually takes 8 minutes.

A similar system has been installed in other universities. Shanghai Normal University introduced it at its Fengxiang Campus in September. The bathing fee there is 0.2 yuan per minute. One male student responded by setting a record with a two-minute shower.

51. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower.

B. The clock times all through while the student is bathing except when the bather paused for soap.

C. If money runs out, there will be no water.

D. Having finished bathing, the student has to pay for it.

52. The underline word “flaw” (Paragraph3) most probably means______.

A. perfection   B. advantage    C. pity      D. fault

53. Since the new system has performed, ______ of water can be saved.

A. a quarter   B. one third   C. one half   D. two thirds

54. It can be inferred from the passage that______.

A. the new operation can solve the water crisis.

B. The new operation can raise students’ environmental awareness.

C. a similar operation has been set in other universities.

D. The university has saved a lot of water by using the new system.

55. In which column can you find this passage?

 A. People.    B. Society.   C. Campus Life.   D. Lifesty

 
第三部分阅读技能 (共三节，满分35分)
阅读理解（共12小题；每小题2分，满分24分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的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。
A
For most people, the word “fashion” means “clothes”. But people may ask the question, “What clothes are in fashion?” And they use the adjective (形容词) “fashionable” in the same way: “She was wearing a fashionable color.”
But of course there are fashions in many things, not only in clothes. There are fashions in holidays, in restaurants, in films and books. There are even fashions in school subjects, jobs…and in languages.
Fashions change as time goes. If you look at pictures of people or things from the past, you will see that fashions have always changed. An English house of 1750 was different from his grandson in 1860.
Today fashions change very quickly. Some of this is natural. We hear about things much more quickly than in the past. Newspapers, radios, telephones and television send information from one country to another in a few hours.
New fashions mean that people will buy new things, so you see there is money in fashion.
41  From this passage we know that “fashion” means _________.
A  clothes   B  many things    C  most of the popular things    D  everything
42  Which of the following things is fashionable today?
　  A  Surfing on the Internet
B  Having a family dinner on New Year’s Day
C  Learning to sing songs on the radio
D  Doing morning exercises at school.
43  Today fashions change very quickly because _______.
　  A  People read newspapers every day 　
B  radios send information from one country to another
　  C  new things that people like are often shown on TV
　  D  people quickly learn what is happening in the world
44  “There is money in fashion.” means ________.
　  A  clothes are expensive    B  money comes from fashion
　  C  people like new things   D  there are no fashions without money

第二部分 阅读理解（共25小题。第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分）

第一节  阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

  A new study in West Africa shows how farm irrigation systems powered by the sun can produce more food and money for villagers. The study in Benin found that solar-powered pumps are effective in supplying water, especially during the long dry season.

  Sub-Saharan Africa is the part of the world with the least food security. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that more than one billion of the world’s people faced hunger last year. Around two hundred sixty-five million of them live south of the Sahara Desert. Lack of rainfall is one of their main causes of food shortages.

  Jennifer Burney from Stanford University in California led the study. The research team helped build three solar-powered irrigation systems in northern Benin.

The solar-powered irrigation systems produced an average of nearly two metric tons of vegetables per month.

  They sold the surplus(过剩的) produce at local markets. The earnings greatly increased their ability to buy food during the dry season which can last six to nine months.

  People in the two villages with the systems were able to eat three to five more serving of vegetables per day. But making the surplus available at markets also had a wider effect.

  The study compared the villages with two others where women farmed with traditional methods like carrying water in buckets. The amount of vegetables eaten in those villages also increased, though not as much.

  The researchers note that only four percent of the cropland in sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated. Using solar power to pump water has higher costs at first. But the study says it can be more economical in the long term than using fuels like gasoline, diesel or kerosene. And solar power is environmentally friendly.

1. People living in sub-Saharan Africa are short of food mainly because______.

  A. it seldom rains there throughout the year   B. there is little farmland in the area

  C. people there lack experience in farming    D. people know nothing about irrigation techniques

2. Which of the following is an advantage of Jennifer’s irrigation systems?

  A. They are not affected by the weather.

B. They cost much less than traditional irrigation systems.

  C. They have no bad effects on the environment.

  D. They use less fuel than traditional irrigation systems.

3. We can learn from the last paragraph that______.

  A. people in South Africa will soon be provided with enough food

  B. the demand for fuels like gasoline will greatly decrease in Africa

  C. people in sub-Saharan Africa don’t take agriculture seriously

  D. it’s worthwhile to use the new irrigation systems on the while

4. People in the two villages owe all the following to Jennifer’s irrigation systems EXCEPT that ______.

  A. they could buy more food during the dry season

  B. they could eat more vegetables than usual every day

  C. they could supply local markets with vegetables

  D. they could provide people in other villages with food

Across the planet there are millions of people who engage in some type of meditation, the practice of concentrating and clearing the mind to bring the body into a state of peace, at least a semi-regular basis. For some, particularly among practitioners of Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, this is part and parcel of their religious practice.

For others, particularly in Western cultures, meditation tends to be a response to stress. With the world economy approaching meltdown and people worried about their job or their ability to keep their home, it’s a way for people to attain a state of peace of mind and well-being.

For those interested in taking up the practice, instruction in meditation for beginners can be found in literally thousands of sources.

One of the most popular styles of mediation in the West, with classes offered in most major cities, is called Transcendental Meditation. TM, as it is known among its practitioners, first came to worldwide attention when the Beatles began practicing it in 1967. For direct, guided, personal instruction in meditation for the beginner, TM may be the hallmark.

Part of the confusion about how to practice meditation effectively is due to the fact that there are literally hundreds of techniques championed by various groups and individuals. As a general principle, it might be said that all meditation techniques seek to have the practitioner attain a state of consciousness that is different to our ordinary state of awareness. They attempt to train people to clear their minds and achieve a sense of inner peace. It sounds simple enough, but of the huge number of people experiment with meditation, very few are able to maintain its practice over the long haul. In most cases, this is due to frustration over the inability to experience any dramatic, instantly recognizable effects.

This is quite a sad state of affairs, that so few these days are willing or equipped to persist in something that doesn’t provide immediate life-changing results. It reflects a culture in which demands for discipline and sustained effort are considered unnecessary or even unfair. It is no surprise therefore that many people abandon their efforts at meditation before they have a chance to bear fruit.

But for anyone who does decide to take up this worthwhile practice, please remember. You must clear your mind, relax and “take it as it comes”. Maintain the practice with a sense of discipline and devotion, and eventually benefits of inner peace and calm will be yours.

1.The underlined part “part and parcel of” in paragraph 1 is nearest in meaning to ________.

A. closely associated with                   B. an important element of

C. very different to                   D. usually sent from

2.The goal of meditation is ________.

A. to develop a technique             B. to practice a religion

C. to clear the mind                D. to carry out an experiment

3.What can we infer about meditation from the passage?

A. It has two main types.

B. Its benefits are not immediately obvious.

C. It is practiced by many famous artists.

D. Most people find it a very good way to relax.

4.According to the writer, what has attracted many Western people to meditation practices in recent years?

A. Their improved understanding of foreign culture.

B. The need to fill in their growing free time.

C. Migration from countries in which meditation is traditional.

D. Increasing employment instability.

5.Who is the probable audience for this article?

A. People interested in starting to learn meditation.

B. Experienced meditation practitioners.

C. Buddhists and Hindus.

D. People who are very religious.

单词拼写（共5题；每小题1分，满分5分）
【小题1】Don’t worry about your TV set if something is wrong, for it’s still under g_________
【小题2】Before you go abroad for further study, I think you’d better have your English p_______ up.
【小题3】In many large cities, more pet dogs are often used to a________  people when they feel lonely.
【小题4】A large sum of money has been ________ (划拨，分配)for buying new books for the school library.
【小题5】Nobody knows what has happened to the young man. But he was last seen _________(徘徊) by the river last night.