C
Perhaps you have a big test coming up and you are feeling nervous. You know you have got to do well. The pressure is on, so you may be losing sleep and the ability to concentrate. How can you deal with the stress, study effectively, and take the test with confidence? Maybe you should try meditation（沉思）.
When people think about meditation, many pictures of old men’s sitting cross-legged on remote mountaintops will appear in mind. People describing meditation frequently mention elements such as relaxation and “thinking about nothing”.
It is not necessary to travel to a mountaintop to enjoy the benefits of meditation because it is actually more about awareness than just relaxation. The secret of meditation is breathing.
To star meditating, find a place where you can sit or stand comfortably for a little while and concentrate. Close your eyes and start taking slow breaths. Focus on the air moving in and out of your body. If your mind starts to wander and you begin to think about something else, refocus your attention on your breathing.
Meditation has little to do with escaping problems or thinking about nothing. Instead, the breathing techniques help you calm down and think more clearly about your feelings. The issues on your mind unfold clearly, as if they were in slow motion.
This clarity（清晰）is called “mindfulness”. Being mindful means that you are aware of what you are thinking without becoming caught up in your thoughts. It takes practice, but with time, that big test will not scare you anymore. You will realize through meditation that fear is just a product of not being mindful.
64． What is the best way to reduce the pressure if one faces a big test?
A. To climb up to the top of a mountain for a rest.
B. To sit on the top of a mountain without thinking anything.
C. To sit or stand comfortable and begin to meditate.
D. To sit quietly with one’s legs crossed.
65． What should a person do if his mind begins to wander while meditating?
A. Stop meditating.
B. Concentrate on breathing again.
C. Involve himself in his thoughts.
D. Close eyes immediately.
66． From the passage we can learn that by practicing meditation we’ll__________.
A. not be stuck in our thoughts
B. pass the examinations easily
C. realize fear is a product of too much thought
D. never be afraid of big tests
67． From the passage we can know the writer’s purpose is to let the readers know__________
A. how to deal with the stress before a big test
B. what is meditation
C. how a big test scares the students
D. where is the best place to relax

第三部分：阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）

第一节  选择题（共17小题；每小题2分，满分34分）

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

2. 26-meter-tall Yao Ming made his NBA debut （初次登台） on October 23, 2002 and got 6 points for the Houston Rockets in the game. The next day, he got 13 points in another game.

Most people think that Yao Ming is a born basketball player. But Yao said, “When you watch it on TV, it looks very easy. But when you are playing in the NBA, it is really not so easy. ” He said that joining the Houston Rockets was a new start and a new challenge. “I hope that through very hard work I can make everyone happy and help the Rockets win more games,” he said

Yao Ming speaks some English. Both he and his teammates can understand each other. They don't think there is a language problem. While Yao Ming faces this new challenge,  the people of Houston have shown great interest in him and they hope Yao Ming will bring new energy （活力） to the Rockets. The team has started having lessons to learn more about China, and many people who work for the Rockets have learned to speak some Chinese.

1. Yao Ming got 13 points on October _____, 2002.

A. 22　　　 　        B. 23　　　　           C. 24　　　　        D. 26

2. Yao Ming said that _____.

A. playing in the NBA was difficult      B. it’s hard watching NBA games on TV

C. he was not an NBA star　at all　 　　D. it was rather boring to play basketball

3. From the passage we can know that Yao Ming ________.

A. will work hard for his team     

B. made the highest score in his first NBA game

C. can't understand his teammates  

D. teaches the Rockets workers Chinese himself

4. The passage is probably ______.

A. an ad　　        B. a notice　         C. a news report　        D. a diary

Light travels at a speed which is about a million times faster than the speed of sound. In one second, light travels about 300,000km, but sound travels only 344m. You can get some idea of this difference by watching the start of a race. If you stand some distance away from the starter, you can see smoke come from his gun before the sound reaches your ears. This great speed of light produces some strange facts. Sunlight takes about 8 minutes to reach us. If you look at the light of the moon tonight, remember that the light rays（光线）left the moon 1.3 seconds before they reached you. The nearest star is so far away that the light which you can see from it tonight started to travel towards you four years ago at a speed of nearly 2 million km per minute. In some cases the light from one of tonight’s stars started on its journey to you before you were born.

      Thus, if we want to be honest, we cannot say “ The stars are shining tonight.” We have to say, “ The stars look pretty. They were shining four years ago but their light has only just reached Earth.”

Light speed is ________ than sound speed.

A. millions times faster               B. a million times slower

C. about millions of times faster       D. about a million times faster

If you stand 200 meters away from a man who is firing a gun to start a race, you will find out that _____.

A. you can hear the gun before you see the smoke.

B. sound does not travel as fast as light.

C. the sound of the gun will reach you before the man fires his gun.

D. sound travels about a million times faster than light.

What does “ it” refer to?

A. moon light    B. light rays         C. the nearest star        D. the moon

The scientific way of saying “ The stars are shining tonight” should be________.

A. the stars have been shining all the time.

B. the stars seen tonight will be shining four years later.

C. the stars were shining long ago but are seen tonight.

D. the starlight seen today could be seen four years ago.

Have you ever thought, “I wish I could take a year off and just travel around the world”?

Well,three lucky American teenagers were able to do just that．The teens—two males and one female--got an all-expenses paid, yearlong hike to five continents.

This trip didn’t include any five-star hotels or shopping funs．Eighteen-year-old Jamie Fiel from Keller, Texas, 17-year-old Arsen Ewing from Canyon, California, and 16-year-old Tyler Robinson from Lincoln, Massachusetts, didn’t expect fancy treatment．They signed up for the experience of a lifetime, which included hard work, often uncomfortable accommodations, and encounters with（遭遇） some of nature’s most dangerous animals and environments.

Jamie, Arsen, and Tyler were among hundreds of high school kids nominated by their science teachers to take this trip．Earthwatch Institute sponsored this adventure．Each year, Earthwatch employs thousands of volunteers worldwide to help with scientific research projects．

The group went all around the world to get a close look at the most pressing environmental issues of our time．Their assignments were as varied as their locations, and included measuring and attending pink flamingos in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, and tracking giant sea turtles in Costa Rica.

As they worked with the Earthwatch scientists, Jamie, Arsen, and Tyler began to understand that we are at a critical moment in the life of our planet．Time for change is running out．As the teens went from country to country and witnessed different environmental dangers and challenges, they understood that solutions to important environmental issues start with the power of one person's actions．They realized that each of them can make a difference.

1.These teenagers went on the journey around the world _____.

2.What’s true about their journey?

3.It can be inferred that Earthwatch Institute could be _____．

4.What did they these teenagers learn from the journey?

Does Fame Drive You Crazy?

Although being famous might sound like a dream come true, today’s star, feeling like zoo animals, face pressures that few of us can imagine. They are at the center of much of the world’s attention. Paparazzi (狗仔队) camp outside their homes, cameras ready. Tabloids (小报) publish thrilling stories about their personal lives. Just imagine not being able to do anything without being photographed or interrupted for a signature.

According to psychologist Christina Villareal, celebrities — famous people — worry constantly about their public appearance. Eventually, they start to lose track of who they really are, seeing themselves the way their fans imagine them, not as the people they were before everyone knew their names. “Over time,” Villareal says, “they feel separated and alone.”

The phenomenon of tracking celebrities has been around for ages. In the 4th century B.C., painters followed Alexander the Great into battle, hoping to picture his victories for his admirers. When Charles Dickens visited America in the 19th century, his sold-out readings attracted thousands of fans, leading him to complain (抱怨) about his lack of privacy. Tabloids of the 1920s and 1930s ran articles about film-stars in much the same way that modern tabloids and websites do.

Being a public figure today, however, is a lot more difficult than it used to be. Superstars cannot move about without worrying about photographers with modern cameras. When they say something silly or do something ridiculous, there is always the Internet to spread the news in minutes and keep their “story” alive forever.

If fame is so troublesome, why aren’t all celebrities running away from it? The answer is there are still ways to deal with it. Some stars stay calm by surrounding themselves with trusted friends and family or by escaping to remote places away from big cities. They focus not on how famous they are but on what they love to do or whatever made them famous in the first place.

Sometimes a few celebrities can get a little justice. Still, even stars who enjoy full justice often complain about how hard their lives are. They are tired of being famous already.

63. It can be learned from the passage that stars today ______.

A. are often misunderstood by the public

B. can no longer have their privacy protected

C. spend too much on their public appearance

D. care little about how they have come into fame

64. What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?

A. Great heroes of the past were generally admired.

B. The problem faced by celebrities has a long history.

C. Well-known actors are usually targets of tabloids.

D. Works of popular writers often have a lot of readers.

65. What makes it much harder to be a celebrity today?

A. Availability of modern media.

B. Inadequate social recognition.

C. Lack of favorable chances.

D. Huge population of fans.

66. What is the author’s attitude toward modern celebrity?

A. Sincere.     B. Sceptical.   C. Disapproving.    D. Sympathetic.