第3部分：概括大意与完成句子（第23-30题，每题1分，共8分)
下面的短文后有2项测试任务：（1)第23~26题要求从所给的6个选项中为指定段落每段选择1个最佳标题；（2)第27~30题要求从所给的6个选项中为每个句子确定一个最佳选项。
Black Holes
1. Black holes can be best described as a sort of vacuum, sucking up everything in space. Scientists have discovered that black holes come from an explosion of huge stars. Stars that are near death can no longer burn due to loss of fuel, and because its temperature can no longer control the gravitational (重力的) force, hydrogen ends up putting pressure onto the star’s surface until it suddenly explodes then collapses.
2. Black holes come from stars that are made of hydrogen, other gases and a few metals. When these explode it can turn into a stellar-mass (恒星质量) black hole, which can only occur if the star is large enough (should be bigger than the sun) for the explosion to break it into pieces, and the gravity starts to compact every piece into the tiniest particle. Try to see and compare: if a star that’s ten times the size of the sun ends up being a black hole that’s no longer than 70 kilometers, then the Earth would become a black hole that’s only a fraction of an inch!
3. Objects that get sucked in a black hole will always remain therewww.lindalemus.com, never to break free. But remember that black holes can only gobble up (吞噬) objects within a specific distance to it. It’s possible for a large star near the sun to become a black hole, but the sun will continue to stay in place. Orbits do not change because the newly formed black hole contains exactly the same amount of mass as when it was a star, only this time its mass is totally contracted that it can end up as no bigger than a state.
4. So far, astronomers have figured out that black holes exist because of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. In the end, through numerous studies, they have discovered that black holes truly exist. Since black holes trap light and do not give off light, it is nearly impossible to detect black holes via a telescope. But astronomers continue to study galaxies, space and the solar system to understand how black holes might evolve. It is possible that black holes can exist for millions of years, and later contribute to a bigger process in galaxies, which can eventually lead to creation of new entities. Scientists also credit black holes as helpful in learning how galaxies began to form.
A. Is there proof that black holes really exist?
B. What are different types of black holes?
C. How are black holes formed?
D. How were black holes named?
E. What happens to the objects around a black hole?
F. What are black holes made of?
23. Paragraph 1
24. Paragraph 2
25. Paragraph 3
26. Paragraph 4
27. Black holes are formed after .
28. When a large star explodes, the gravity compacts every piece into .
29. A newly formed black hole and the star it comes from are of .
30. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity helps to prove .
A. the creation of new entities
B. an explosion of huge stars
C. the tiniest particle
D. the same amount of mass
E. the existence of black holes
F. a fraction of an inch
第4部分：阅读理解（第31-45题，每题3分，共45分)
下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。
第一篇Forecasting Methods
There are several different methods that can be used to create a forecast. The method a forecaster chooses depends upon the experience of the forecaster, the amount of information available to the forecaster, the level of difficulty that the forecast situation presents, and the degree of accuracy or confidence needed in the forecast.
The first of these methods is the persistence method; the simplest way of producing a forecast. The persistence method assumes that the conditions at the time of the forecast will not change. For example, if it is sunny and 87 degrees today, the persistence method predicts that it will be sunny and 87 degrees tomorrow. If two inches of rain fell today, the persistence method would predict two inches of rain for tomorrow. However, if weather conditions change significantly from day to day, the persistence method uswww.lindalemus.comually breaks down and is not the best forecasting method to use.
The trends method involves determining the speed and direction of movement for fronts, high and low pressure centers, and areas of clouds and precipitation. Using this information, the forecaster can predict where he or she expects those features to be at some future time. For example, if a storm system is 1,000 miles west of your location and moving to the east at 250 miles per day, using the trends method you would predict it to arrive in your area in 4 days. The trends method works well when systems continue to move at the same speed in the same direction for a long period of time. If they slow down, speed up, change intensity, or change direction, the trends forecast will probably not work as well.
The climatology method is another simple way of producing a forecast. This method involves averaging weather statistics accumulated over many years to make the forecast. For example, if you were using the climatology method to predict the weather for New York City on July 4th, you would go through all the weather data that has been recorded for every July 4th and take an average. The climatology method only works well when the weather pattern is similar to that expected for the chosen time of year. If the pattern is quite unusual for the given time of year, the climatology method will often fail.
The analog method is a slightly more complicated method of producing a forecast. It involves examining today's forecast scenario and remembering a day in the past when the weather scenario looked very similar (an analog). The forecaster would predict that the weather in this forecast will behave the same as it did in the past. The analog method is difficult to use because it is virtually impossible to find a predict analog. Various weather features rarely align themselves in the same locations as they were in the previous time. Even small differences between the current time and the analog can lead to very different results.
31. What of the following factors is NOT mentioned in choosing a forecasting method?
A. Necessary amount of information.
B. Degree of difficulty involved in forecasting.
C. Practical knowledge of the forecaster.
D. Creativity of the forecaster.
32. The persistence method fails to work well when
A. it is rainy.
B. it is sunny.
C. weather conditions stay stable.
D. weather conditions change greatly.
33. The trends method works well when
A. weather features are constant for a long period of time.
B. weather features are defined well.
C. predictions on precipitation are accurate.
D. the speed and direction of movement are predicable.
34. The analog method should not be used in making a weather forecast when
A. the analog looks complicated.
B. the current weather scenario is different from the analog.
C. the analog is more than 10 years old.
D. the current weather scenario is exactly the same as the analog.
35. Historical weather data are necessary in
A. the persistence method and the trends method.
B. the trends method and the climatology method.
C. the climatology method and the analog method.
D. The persistence method and the analog method.
第二篇Students Learn Better With Touchscreen Desks
Observe the criticisms of nearly any major public education system in the world, and a few of the many complaints are more or less universal. Technology moves faster than the education system. Teachers must teach at the pace of the slowest student rather than the fastest. And — particuwww.lindalemus.comlarly in the United States — school children as a group don’t care much for, or excel at, mathematics. So it’s heartening to learn that a new kind of “classroom of the future” shows promise at mitigating some of these problems, starting with that fundamental piece of classroom furniture: the desk.
A UK study involving roughly 400 students, mostly aged 8-10 years, and a new generation of multi-touch, multi-user, computerized desktop surfaces is showing that over the last three years the technology has appreciably boosted students’ math skills compared to peers learning the same material via the conventional paper-and-pencil method. How? Through collaboration, mostly, as well as by giving teachers better tools by which to micromanage individual students who need some extra instruction while allowing the rest of the class to continue moving forward.
Traditional instruction still shows respectable efficacy (效力) at increasing students fluency in mathematics, essentially through memorization and practice — dull, repetitive practice. But the researchers have concluded that these new touchscreen desks boost both fluency and flexibility — the critical thinking skills that allow students to solve complex problems not simply through knowing formulas and devices, but by being able to figure out what the real problem is and the most effective means of stripping it down and solving it.
One reason for this, the researchers say, is the multi-touch aspect of the technology. Students working in the next-gen classroom can work together at the same tabletop, each of them contributing and engaging with the problem as part of a group. Known as SynergyNet, the software uses computer vision systems that see in the infrared (红外的) spectrum to distinguish between different touches on different parts of the surface, allowing students to access and use tools on the screen, move objects and visual aids around on their desktops, and otherwise physically interact with the numbers and information on their screens. By using these screens collaboratively, the researchers say, the students are to some extent teaching themselves as those with a stronger grasp on difficult concepts pull other students forward along with them.
36. Which of the following statements is NOT true of the public education system?
A. It does not catch up with the development of technology.
B. Teachers pay more attention to fast learners than slow learners.
C. Some similar complaints about it are heard in different countries.
D. Many students are not good at learning mathematics.
37. What has been found after the new tech is employed?
A. Teachers are able to give individualized attention to students in need.
B. Students become less active in learning mathematics.
C. Students show preference to the conventional paper-and-pencil method.
D. The gap between slow learners and fast learners get more noticeable.
38. What is the benefit students get from the new tech?
A. It makes them more fluent in public speech.
B. It offers them more flexibility in choosing courses.
C. It is effective in helping them solve physical problems.
D. It enables them to develop critical thinking ability.
39. What happens when students are using the desktop of the new tech?
A. Every student has an individual tabletop.
B. Students use different tools to interact with each other.
C. The multi-touch function stimulates students.
D. The software installed automatically identifies different users.
40. How does the new tech work to improve students’ mathematical learning?
A. It helps fast learners to learn faster.
B. It makes teachers’ instruction unnecessary.
C. It enables them to work together.
D. It allows the whole class to learn at the same pace.
