第四部分：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，每题后面有4个选项。请仔细阅读短文并根据短文回答其后面的问题，从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案涂在答题卡相应的位置上。
第一篇 Going Her Own Way
When she was twelve, Mafia made her first important decision about the course of her life. She decided that she wanted to continue her education. Most girls from middle-class families chose to stay home after primary school, though some attended private Catholic “finishing” schools. There they learned a little about music, art, needlework, and how to make polite conversation. This was not the sort of education that interested Maria — or her mother. By this time, she had begun to take her studies more seriously. She read constantly and brought her books everywhere. One time she even brought her math book to the theater and tried to study in the dark.
Maria knew that she wanted to go on learning in a serious way. That meant attending the public high school, something that very few girls did. In Italy at the time, there were two types of high schools: the “classical” schools and the “technical” schools. In the classical schools, the students followed a very traditional program of studies, with courses in Latin and Greek language and literature, and Italian literature and history1. The few girls who continued studying after primary school usually chose these schools.
Maria, however, wanted to attend a technical school. The technical schools were more modern than the classical schools and they offered courses in modem languages, mathematics, science, and accounting2. Most people — including Maria' s father — believed that girls would never be able to understand these subjects. Furthermore, they did not think it was proper for girls to study them.
Maria did not care if it was proper or not. Math and science were the subjects that interested her most. But before she could sign up for the technical school, she had to win her father' s approval. She finally did, with her mother' s help, though for many years after, there was tension in the family. Maria' s father continued to oppose her plans, while her mother helped her.
In 1883, at age thirteen, Maria entered the “Regia Scuola Tecnica Michelangelo Buonarroti”in Rome. Her experience at this school is difficult for us to imagine. Though the courses included modem subjects, the teaching methods were very traditional. Learning consisted of memorizing long lists of facts and repeating them back to the teacher. Students were not supposed to ask questions or think for themselves in any way. Teachers were very demanding, discipline in the classroom was strict, and punishment was severe for those who failed to achieve or were disobedient.
31, Maria wanted to attend________.
A) private “finishing” school
B) school with Latin and Greek
C) technical high school
D) school for art and music
32, In those days, most Italian girls________.
A) went to classical schools
B) went to “finishing” schools
C) did not go to high school
D) went to technical schools
33, You can infer from this passage that________.
A) girls usually attended private primary schools
B) only boys usually attended technical schools
C) girls did not like going to school
D) only girls attended classical schools
34, Maria' s father probably________.
A) had very modern views about women
B) had very traditional views about women
C) had no opinion about women
D) thought women could not learn Latin
35, High school teachers in Italy in those days were________.
A) very modern
B) very intelligent
C) quite scientific
D) quite strict
第二篇 Spoilt for Choice
Choice, we are given to1 believe, is a right. In daily life, people have come to expect endless situations about which they are required to make decisions one way or another. In the main2, these are just irksome moments at work which demand some extra energy or brainpower, or during lunch breaks like choosing which type of coffee to order or indeed which coffee shop to go to. But sometimes selecting one option as opposed to another can have serious or lifelong repercussions. More complex decisionmaking is then either avoided, postponed, or put into the hands of the army of professionals, Iifestyle coaches, lawyers, advisors, and the like. waiting to lighten the emotional burden for a fee2. But for a good many4 people in the world, in rich and poor countries, choice is a luxury, not a right. And for those who think they are exercising their right to make choices, the whole system is merely an illusion, created by companies and advertisers wanting to sell their wares5.
The main impact of endless choice in peoples lives is anxiety. Buying something as basic as a coffee pot is not exactly simple. Easy access to a wide range of consumer goods induces a sense of powerlessness, even paralysis, in many people, ending in the shopper giving up and walking away6, or just buying an unsuitable item that is not really wanted in order to solve the problem and reduce the unease. Recent surveys in the United Kingdom have shown that a sizeable proportion of electrical goods bought per household are not really needed. The advertisers and the shareholders of the manufacturers are, nonetheless, satisfied.
It is not just their availability that is the problem, but the speed with which new versions of products come on the market. Advances in design and production mean that new items are almost ready by the time that goods hit the shelves7. Products also need to have a short lifespan so that the public can be persuaded to replace them within a short time. The classic example is computers which are almost obsolete once they are bought. At first, there were only one or two available from a limited number of manufacturers, but now there are many companies all with not only their own products but different versions of the same machine. This makes selection a problem. Gone are the days when one could just walk with ease. into a shop and buy one thing8; no choice, no anxiety.
The plethora of choice is not limited to consumer items. With the greater mobility of people around the world, people have more choice about where they want to live and work — a fairly recent phenomenon. In the past, nations migrated across huge swathes of the earth in search of food, adventure, and more hospitable environments. Whole nations crossed continents and changed the face of history, So the mobility of people is nothing new. The creation of nation states and borders9 effectively slowed this process down. But what is different now is the speed at which migration is happening.
36, What is the difference between the decision to shop in a certain supermarket and the decision to drop out of college according to the first paragraph?
A) The former is a right while the latter is not.
B) The latter has more impact on life.
C) The former may happen for many times in life.
D) The latter requires a fee.
37, When people can not easily decide what to buy, what is the least possible choice?
A) Give up.
B) Walk away.
C) Buy an unsuitable item.
D) Seek advice.
38, Why do products have short lifespan nowadays?
A) They are more often replaced with better ones.
B) They have worse quality.
C) They have too many versions.
D) Computer technology advances too fast.
39, How does migration differ from the past?
A) People now migrate across the whole earth.
B) People now migrate for better life.
C) People now have more choice about where to migrate.
D) People now migrate for better environment.
40, Which is the best summary of the writer's attitude towards choice in a commercial society?
A) More choice, more anxiety.
B) Better more choice than no choice.
C) Better no choice than more choice.
D) All choice is not easy.
第三篇 Narrow Escape
We had left the hut too late that morning. When we stepped outside, the sky beyond the mountains to our east was already livid with colour. 1 It meant the day would be a hot one, and the warmth would loosen rocks that were gripped by ice.
As soon as we stepped out on to the face, it became obvious this was going to be an awkward route. The main problem was talus, the debris that collects on mountainsides. Talus is despised by mountaineers for two reasons. First, because it can easily be pushed off on to you by people climbing above. And second, because it makes every step you take insecure.
For about 30 minutes we moved steadily up the face. The rock was in poor condition. When I tried to haul myself up on a block of it, it would pull towards me, like a drawer opening. My hands became progressively wetter and colder. 2Then came a shout. “Cailloux! Cailloux!” I heard yelled from above, in a female voice. The words echoed down towards us. I looked up to see where they had come from.
There were just two rocks at first, leaping and bounding down the face towards us, once cannoning off each other in mid-air. And then the air above suddenly seemed alive with falling rocks, humming through the air and filling it with noise. Crack, went each one as it leapt off the rock face, then hum-humhum as it moved through the air, then crack again. The pause between the cracks lengthened each time, as the rocks jumped further and further. I continued to gaze up at the rocks as they fell and skipped towards me. A boy who had been a few years above me at school had taught me never to look up during a rockfall. “Why? Because a rock in your face is far less pleasant than a rock on your helmet” , he told us. “Face in, always face in. ”
I heard Toby, my partner on the mountain that day, shouting at me. I looked across, he was safe beneath an overhanging canopy of rock. I could not understand him. Then I felt a thump, and was tugged backwards and round, as though somebody had clamped a heavy hand on my shoulder and turned me to face them. A rock had hit the lid of my rucksack. 3
I looked up again. A rock was heading down straight towards me. Instinctively, I leant backwards and arched my back out from the rock to try to protect my chest. What about my fingers, though, I thought: they' 11 be crushed flat if it hits them, and never get down. Then I heard a crack directly in front of me, and a tug at my trousers, and a yell from Toby. “Are you all right? That went straight through you. ” The rock had passed through the hoop of my body, between my legs, missing me but snatching at my clothing as it went.
Toby and I spent the evening talking through the events of the morning: what if the big final stone hadn't leapt sideways, what if I'd been knocked off, would you have held me, would I have pulled you off? A more experienced mountaineer would probably have thought nothing of it. I knew I would not forget it.
41, Why was it “too late” by the time they left the hut in the morning?
A) It would be uncomfortable climbing in hot weather.
B) The livid colour of the sky would hurt their eyes.
C) Rocks loosened by melting ice could be dangerous.
D) They wouldn't be able to walk on the melting ice.
42, The first reason given to explain why mountaineers hate talus is________.
A) that climbers above you might cause it to fall on you
B) that it allows people climbing above you to push off
C) that it makes people climbing above you feel insecure
D) that it can cause other people to push you off the mountain
43, What is likely to be the meaning of “Cailloux” ?
A) Rocks are flying through the air.
B) Rocks are falling.
C) There are loose rocks on the ground ahead.
D) There are rocks everywhere.
44, What is sarcastic in the words of the boy in paragraph four?
A) He didn't keep his “face in”.
B) Not every climber wears a helmet.
C) It is very difficult not to look up during a rockfall.
D) Being hit by a rock isn't “pleasant” at all.
45, In what sense was Toby “safe”?
A) The overhanging rock would protect him from falling rocks.
B) He felt a hand on his shoulder.
C) His rucksack was protected.
D) He had hidden under a canopy.
