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。请根据短文回答其后面的问题，为每题确定一个最佳答案。

　　第一篇

Britain's Solo Sailor

　　Ellen MacArthur started sailing when she was eight，going out Oil sailing trips with her aunt．She loved it so much that she saved her money for three years to buy her first small sailing boat．When she was 18，she sailed alone around Britain and won the"Young Sailor of the Year"award．

　　But Ellen really became famous in 2001．Aged only 24，she was one of only two women whoentered the Vendee Globe round the world solo race，which lasts 100 days．Despite many problems，she came second in the race out of 24 competitors and she was given a very warm welcome when shereturned．

　　Ambition and determination have always been a big part of Ellen's personality．When she was younger，she lived in a kind of hut(棚屋)for three years while she was trying to get sponsorship tocompete in a transatlantic race．Then she took a one-way ticked to France，bought a tiny seven meter Class Mini yacht，slept under it while she was repairing it，and then she raced it 4，000 kilometers across the Atlantic in 1997，alone for 33 days．

　　Ellen has had to learn many things，because sailing single-handed means that she has to be herown captain，electrician，sail maker，engineer，doctor，journalist，cameraman and cook．She alsohas to be very fit，and because of the dangers of sleeping for long periods of time when she's in themiddle of the ocean．she has trained herself to sleep for about 20 minutes at a time．

　　And she needs courage．Once，in the middle of the ocean，she had to climb the mast(桅杆)of a boat to repair the sails-at four o'clock in the morning．with 100 kph winds blowing around her．It took her many hours to make the repairs．Ellen says，"I was exhausted when I came down．It'shard to describe how it feels to be up there．It's like trying to hold onto a big pole，which for me isjust too big to get my arms around，with someone kicking you all the time and trying to shakeyou off．"But in her diary，Ellen also describes moments which make it all worthwhile(值得的)："Abeautiful sunrise started the day，with black clouds slowly lit by the bright yellow sun．I have a verystrong feeling of pleasure，being out here on the ocean and having the chance to live this．I just feellucky to be here．"

　　31．In the Vendee Globe race，Ellen won

　　A．a gold medal．

　　B．the"Best Woman Sailor"award．

　　C．the"Young Sailor of the Year"award．

　　D．the second place．

　　32．Ellen lived in a kind of hut for three years

　　A．while she was learning how to rcpair sails．

　　B．while she was trying to get financial support for a race．

　　C．because she was interested in country life．

　　D．because she was ambitious for the coming race．

　　33．The word"solo"in the title could be best replaced by

　　A．self-starter

　　B．one performer

　　C．self．made

　　D．single-handed

　　34．According to paragraph 4，which of the following statements is NOT true?

　　A．She has trained herself to sleep for about 20 minutes at a time．

　　B．She has to be her own teacher．

　　C．She has to learn to repair sails．

　　D．She has to be very fit．

　　35．How does Ellen feel about the Vendee Globe race？

　　A．It is surprising．

　　B．It is relaxing．

　　C．It is enjoyable．

　　D．It is dangerous．

第二篇

One-room Schools

　　One-room schools are part of the heritage of the United States，and the mention of them makespeople feel a vague long for the way things were．One-room schools are an endangered species，however．For more than a hundred years，one-room schools have been systematically shut down andtheir students sent away to centralized schools．As recently as 1930 there were 149，000 one-roomschools in the United States．By 1970 there were 1，800．Today，of nearly 800 remaining one-roomschools．more than 350 are in Nebraska．The rest are scattered through a few other states that haveon their road maps wide-open spaces between towns．

　　Now that there are hardly any left，educators are beginning to think that maybe there is some-thing yet to be learned from one-room schools，something that served the pioneers that might serve aswell today．Progressive educators have come up with progressive-sounding names like"peer-groupteaching"and"multi-age grouping"for educational procedures that occur naturally in the one-roomschools．In a one-room school the children teach each other because the teacher is busy part of thetime teaching someone else．A fourth grader can work at a fifth-grade level in math and a third-gradelevel in English without the stigma associated with being left back or the pressures of being skippedahead．A youngster with a learning disability can find his or her own level without being separatedfrom the other pupils．In larger urban and suburban schools today．this is called"mainstreaming．"A few hours in a small school that has only one classroom and it becomes clear why SO many parentsfeel that one of the advantages of living in Nebraska is that their children have to go to a one-roomschoo1．

　　36．We learn from the first paragraph that one-room schools

　　A．are the best in Nebraska．

　　B．are becoming more and more centralized．

　　C．have has a strong influence on American people．

　　D．need to be shut down．

　　37．One-room schools are in danger of disappearing because

　　A．there has been a trend towards centralization．

　　B．they cannot get top students．

　　C．they exist only in one state．

　　D．children have to teach themselves．

　　38．A major characteristic of the one-room school system is that

　　A．1earning is not limited to one grade level．

　　B．pupils mostly study math and English．

　　C．some children have to be left back．

　　D．teachers are always busy．

　　39．It can be learned from paragraph 2 that many parents in Nebraska

　　A．don't like centralized schools

　　B．come from other states．

　　C．received education in one-room schools．

　　D．prefer rural life．

　　40．What is the author's attitude towards one．room schools?

　　A．Critical． B．Humorous．

　　C．Angry．D．Praising．

　　第三篇

Citizen Scientists

　　Understanding how nature responds to climate change will require monitoring key life cycleevent-flowering，the appearance of leaves，the first frog calls of the spring-all around the world．But ecologists can't be everywhere so they're turning to non-scientists，sometimes called citizen sci-entists，for help．

　　Climate scientists are not present everywhere．Because there are so many places in the worldand not enough scientists to observe all of them，they're asking for your help in observing signs ofclimate change across the world．The citizen scientist movement encourages ordinary people to observe a very specific research interest-birds，trees，flowers budding，etc．一and send their observations to a giant database to be observed by professional scientists．This helps a small number of scientists track a large amount of data that they would never be able to gather on their own．Much likecitizen journalists helping large publications cover a hyper-local beat，citizen scientists are ready forthe conditions where they live．All that's needed to become one is a few minutes each day or eachweek to gather data and send it in．

　　A group of scientists and educators launched an organization last year called the National Phenology Network．"Phenology"is what scientists call the study of the timing of events in nature．

　　One of the group's first efforts relies on scientists and non-scientists alike to collect data aboutplant flowering and leafing every year．The program，called Project BudBurst，collects life cycle data on a variety of common plants from across the United States．People participating in the projectwhich is open to everyone-record their observations on the Project BudBurst website．

　　"People don't have to be plant experts-they just have to look around and see what's in theirneighborhood，"says Jennifer Schwartz，an education consultant with the project．"As we collectthis data，we'll be able to make an estimate of how plants and communities of plants and animals willrespond as the climate changes．"

　　41．Ecologists turn to non-scientist citizens for help because they need them

　　A．to provide their personal life cycles．

　　B．to observe the life cycle of plants．

　　C．to collect data of the life cycle of living things．

　　D．to teach children knowledge about climate change．

　　42．What are citizen scientists asked to do?

　　A．To develop a specific research interest and become professional scientists．

　　B．To send their research observations to a professional database．

　　C．To increase their knowledge about climate change．

　　D．To keep a record of their research observations．

　　43．In"All that's needed to become one…(paragraph2)"，what does the word"one"stands for?

　　A．a citizen journalist．

　　B．a citizen scientist．

　　C．a scientist．

　　D．a citizen．

　　44．What is NOT true of Project BudBurst?

　　A．Only experts can participate in it．

　　B．Everybody can participate in it．

　　C．It collects life cycle data on a variety of common plants．

　　D．It has its own website．

　　45．What is the final purpose of Project BudBurst?

　　A．To study when plants will have their first buds．

　　B．To find out the types of plants in the neighborhood．

　　C．To collect life cycle data on a variety of common plants from across the United States．

　　D．To investigate how plants and animals will respond as the climate changes．

　　同时按下Crtl键和A键查看答案
第1篇 
31．D 32．B 33．D 34．B 35．C
第2篇
36．C 37．A 38．A 39．A 40．D 
第3篇 
41．C 42．B 43．B 44．A 45．D

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