Many of us already know about several American superstitions(迷信). Having a black cat cross your path, walking under a ladder, and breaking a mirror are all bad luck. In addition to these, there are many other superstitions that are worth knowing. Understanding them will keep you safe from evil spirits—if you believe in such things—and impress your American friends when you mention them.

Like the superstitions in other cultures, American superstitions often involve the things important in daily life, such as health, numbers, and marriage. For example, have you ever had a cough that would not go away? According to one American superstition, you should take a piece of your hair and put it between two slices of buttered bread. Next, feed this hair sandwich to a dog and say, “Eat well, you hound, may you be sick and I be sound.”This will trick the evil spirits and help your cough. It will also raise some eyebrows if you try it.

In American superstitions, the number three is very important. Often, Americans will say, “All things come in threes.” Three is lucky because it represents the traditional family: mother, father, and child. Therefore, gifts, letters, and guests will often arrive at your home in groups of three. However, it is also possible for bad events, like accidents and funerals, to come in threes as well.

Another time people pay attention to superstitions is when they get married. During a wedding, brides must wear or carry“something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.”The old and borrowed things will bring luck to the person who gives them to the bride. The new and blue things will bring good fortune to the bride herself. The next time someone you know is getting married, be sure to recite this phrase.

As it would be unlucky to discuss one more superstition, we will wind things up here. Keep your fingers crossed, and stay lucky!

The passage is most probably entitled(命名)“        ”.

A．American’s Bad Luck                        B．Cross-culture and Superstitions

C．American Superstitions                 D．Daily Life in Superstitions

The underlined sentence in the second paragraph“It will also raise some eyebrows if you try it”means:        .

A．When you try it, the dog will raise its eyebrows

B．You will make some people surprised when you try this trick

C．Only if you raise your eyebrows can the trick work

D．You will believe in the trick after you try it

In American’s view, the number three is a(n)        number.

A．lucky                            B．unlucky                  C．special             D．ordinary

On the wedding, the bride often uses old and borrowed things so as to        .

A．save some money for the wedding

B．bring good luck to the people who give them to the bride

C．give the good luck to the bride herself

D．pass the bad luck to others

信息匹配（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。首先请阅读下列儿童读物的封面及基本信息：

下面是这些书的简要内容。请把相关的内容与它们的书名匹配起来。

1.This picture book explores the life of a tree that has deep roots，long arms，and many children. She provides shelter for many animals and bears fruit. The author uses colorful, simple，yet detailed watercolor illustrations to convey her words. The charming pictures show the many aspects in the life of a tree down to the caterpillars that eat the leaves. It is good for pre-school children.

2.This charming picture book highlights the life of a garden，from planting seeds to harvesting. With the narrator as guide，the reader is led through a variety of free verse and occasionally rhymed poems that fill in the story of a garden and its inhabitants. The pictures. delightful watercolors in bright pastels，add to the whimsical feel of the poems. Young readers will certainly enjoy this fun and fanciful text.

3.This is a story from 1956 which introduces a little boy who likes to go fishing with a tree limb， a woman，and a pin. Although he never catches anything，on this particular day he finally does hook three big ones，but the little one gets away. The boy pulls them home in his wagon and his mother cooks them for supper. The swinging rhythms of the text and the good humor evident in the illustrations remain fun for the youngest readers.

4.This useful，attractive，oversize volume uses its height well，employing a tree metaphor to show the earth’s various kinds of life and how all living things. from bacteria to the largest mammals，are related. Each spread covers one branch of the animal kingdom. To make the enormity of species understandable. Strauss equates individual species（e. g. ，1 0，000 bacteria）with one leaf on the tree.

5.This is a story about how a grandfather teaches his eager granddaughter to catch speckled trout from the stream in springtime. After a whole day on the lake，only Grandpa is lucky. The next morning the young fisherman hurries to the dock alone，and soon she hooks the catch of a lifetime. Young readers will appreciate this story that celebrates the special bond between the older and younger generation，while brilliant watercolor illustrations capture the beauty of the natural world

笫三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
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。
A
My parents influenced us with the concepts of family, faith and patriotism when l was  young．Even though we struggled to make ends meet, they stressed how fortunate we were to - live in a great country with limitless opporturuties．
I got my first real job when l was ten． My dad, Benjamin, injured his back working in a  cardboard - box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist． He rented space in a little mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr． Ben's Coiffure．
The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking． lot three nights a week, which meant getting up at 3 a．m．To pick up trash,  Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower． Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litterby hand．It took two to three hours to clean the lot． I'd  s1eep in the car on-the way home．I did this for two years, but the lessons I leacmed have lasted a lifetime,I acquired' disci-pline and a strong work morality, and leamed at an early age the impmtance of balancing life's competing interests-----in my case, school, homework and a job．This really'helped during my senior year of high school, when l worked 40 hours  a  week flipping hamburgers,at a fast – food  joint while taking afull load of college - prep courses．  The hard work paid off ．I attended the U．S．Milttary Academy and went on to reaceive graduate degree  in law and business from Harvard． Later,I joined a big Los Angetes law firm and was elected to the California state assembly． In these jobs and in everything else I’ve  done,I have never forgotten those nights in the parking lot．The experience taught me that there is dignitty in all work and that if people are workmg to provide for thems elves ahd their families ,that is something we should honor．
56．According to the text,  the author thinks          
A．he is lucky to have many chances to get a job
B．it is difficult to find a job to make ends meet
C．his parents are full of complaint about their life
D．it is not acceptable to live in such bad conditions
57． In order to get a discount on rent,          
A．his father had to work as a hairstylist
B．his father had to work in a cardboard - box factory
C．they had to clean the-parking lot three nights a week
D．his father had to pick up litter by hand three hours a day
58.Which of the following is NOT true of the author?
A．He got the graduate degrees from Harvard．
B．He took a college - prep courses at high school．
C．He took a part - time job during his senior year．
D．He regretted having worked in the parking lot．
59．What does the underlined sentence "The hard work paid off" mean?
A．The author got a high pay by working hard．
B．The author compkuned of the hard work．
C．The effort wluch he made had no effection．
D．The hard work was worthwhile for the author．
60．We can leam from'the text that ________   
A．it is urrimaginable for a child to help his family
B． it is honored to work for one's family as a member
C． it is unnecessary to keep work rules-of behaviour
D．the harder the work is, the more interest one shows

Alia Sabur, from Northport, N. Y., US, went to college at age 10. And four years later, Sabur became a bachelor of science in. Applied Mathematics summa cum laude（以最优等成绩）from Stony Brook University -- the youngest female in US history to do so.  Her education continued at Drexel University, where she earned a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy (哲学博士) in Materials Science and Engineering.

With an unlimited future ahead of her, Sabur directed her first career choice to teaching. "I really enjoy teaching," she said. She was three days short of her 19th birthday in February, 2008, when she was hired to become a professor at Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea.  This distinction made her the youngest college professor in history, according to the Guinness' Book of Worm Records, beating the previous record held by Colin Maclaurin, a student of Isaac Newton, in 1717.

Although she doesn't start until next month, Sabur has taken up teaching math and physics courses at Southern University in New Orleans. Sabur is old enough to teach in the city, but not to join her fellow professors in a bar after work. In Korea, where the drinking age is 20, she might have more luck.  In traditional Korean culture, children are considered to be 1 year old-when they are born, and add a year to their age every New Year instead of their actual birthday, so in Korea Sabur is considered 20.

On top of her unprecedented (空前的) academic achievements, Sabur has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do (跆拳道黑带). She is also a talented clarinet (竖笛) player who has performed with musicians like Lang Lang and Smash Mouth. So is there anything Sabur can't do?

1.We can learn from the passage that Sabur is ________.

2.When Sabur was hired as a professor, her actual age is ________.

3.What does the author mean by saying "she might have more luck" (in Paragraph 3)?

4.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

I started winning competitions. We still had very little money -- my father had to borrow $5,000 to pay for a trip to the International Young Pianists Competition in Ettlingen, Germany, in 1994, when I was 12. I realized later how much pressure he was under. Tears streamed down his face when it was announced that I'd won -- earning enough money to pay back our loan.

It was soon clear I couldn't stay in China forever. To become a world-class musician, I had to play on the world's big stages. So in 1997, my father and I moved again, this time to Philadelphia, so I could attend The Curtis Institute of Music. Finally our money worries were easing. The school paid for an apartment and even lent me a Steinway（斯坦威钢琴）.At night, I would sneak into the living room just to touch the keys.

Now that I was in America, I spent two years practicing, and by 1999 I had worked hard enough for fortune to take over. The Chicago Symphony orchestra heard me play and liked me, but orchestra schedules were set far in advance. I thought I might join them in a few years.

The next morning, I got a call. The great pianist Andre Watts, who was to play the "Gala Benefit Evening" at Chicago's Ravinia Festival, had become ill. I was asked to replace him. That performance was, for me, the moment. After violinist Isaac Stern introduced me, I played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. My father's mouth hung open throughout the entire song.

I played until 3:30 a.m. I felt something happening. Sure enough, it was a great success. Still, my father kept telling me, "You'd better practice!" But living in America with me was beginning to relax him. In Beijing I'd been fat -- he made sure I ate -- and he'd been skinny. Now I was getting thin. He wasn't.

My father and I had often practiced a piece called "Horses," a fun version for piano and erhu. One night in Carnegie Hall, after I played Chopin and Liszt, I brought Dad out on the stage, and we played our duet（二重奏）. People went crazy -- they loved it. My father couldn't sleep for days. He was too happy to sleep.

There have been lots of concerts in Carnegie Hall, but for me playing there was especially sweet when I remember the cold days in Beijing. Together, my father and I worked to reach the lucky place where fortune spots you, and lets you shine.

In the first paragraph his father cried when it was announced that he'd won mainly because__________.

A.his father was excited that his son succeeded at last.

B.his father was under too much pressure.

C.they could pay back the loan with the prize.

D.his father was proud of him.

Tell the order of the events.

a. He and his father moved to Philadelphia.

b. He was asked to replace the great pianist Andre Watts.

c. He and his father played “Horses” together.

d.The Chicago Symphony orchestra heard his performance.

e. The Curtis Institute of Music lent him a Steinway

A. a, e, c, b, d       B. b, e, a, d, c       C. d, a, e, b, c       D. a, e, d, b, c

Which of the following statements agrees with the author?

A. The writer’s father had been very fat before they went to America.

B. The writer thought he would be one of them soon when he knew the Chicago Symphony orchestra heard him play and liked him.

C. The Curtis Institute of Music finally eased their money worries.

D. One can achieve his dream if he is lucky enough.

The underlined word there in the last paragraph refers to_________.

A. America     B. Beijing.   C. Carnegie Hall  D. All the places he went to. 

What is the best title of the passage?

A. I Took Off!                          B. When Fortune Spots Me.

C. No Pain, No Gain.                    D. My father and I