第三部分 阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分) 阅读下列短文,从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出选项。 A Los Angeles: Love for Mom is a given, but buying flowers on her big day may not be. A slump in flower sales since late last year was likely to continue through Mother’s Day, another example of Americans cutting back on spending due to recession fears, which is a period of reduced trade and business activity, and increasing food and gasoline prices. “If you look at what has happened on Valentine’s Day and Christmas, the market for flowers has cooled,” said Eric Beder, an analyst at Brean Murray. “Growth has slowed in the past two quarters. Mother’s Day will probably be a slow quarter, too.” US floral sales for Mother’s Day, celebrated yesterday, will fall thirteen percent this year to $2 billion, with consumers spending an average of$17.65, according to the National Retail Federation estimates. Mother’s Day, which accounts for a one-quarter of annual holiday purchases, according to the Society of American Florists, is traditionally the day when floral bouquets are delivered to the doorsteps of many mothers. But this year, the shop-owners are concerned. Gabriel Soto, who owns a flower shop beneath an office high-rise in the Los Angeles financial district, is expecting lower sales--and has ordered 30 percent fewer flowers than normal this Mother’s Day. Last month, Soto, who also operates website downtown-flowers.net ,closed another store in a nearby building that was headquarters to a mortgage company. After workers lost their jobs due to the housing crisis, orders decreased. 51. The underlined word “slump” in Para. 2 probably means . A. sharp increase in price B. great fear for losing jobs C. global worry of floral stores D. sudden fall by a large amount 52. According to the author, Mother’s Day should be an occasion of . A. a large family get-together B. a big annual holiday purchase C. a great love showed to mothers D. a celebration among Americans 53. This passage implies that Americans have . A. met financial problems recently B. no longer bought flowers for mothers C. delivered flowers to every house for mothers D. cut back on spending because of having lost jobs 54. Which would be the best title for this passage? A. Hard time coming nearer B. Mother’s Day and crisis C. Sorry mom, love you but no flowers D. Holiday purchases have a hard time
B Years ago, when I started looking for my first job, wise advisers urged, “Barbara, be enthusiastic! Enthusiasm will take you further than any amount of experience.” How right they were! Enthusiastic people can turn a boring drive into an adventure, extra work into opportunity and strangers into friends. “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is the paste that helps you hang in there when the going gets tough. It is the inner voice that whispers, “I can do it!” when others shout, “No, you can’t!” It took years and years for the early work of Barbara McClintock, a geneticist (遗传学家) who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in medicine, to be generally accepted. Yet she didn’t let up on her experiments. Work was such a deep pleasure for her that she never thought of stopping. We are all born with wide – eyed, enthusiastic wonder and it is this childlike wonder that gives enthusiastic people such a youthful air, whatever their age. At 90,cellist Pablo Casals would start his day by playing Bach (巴赫). As the music flowed through his fingers, his bent shoulders would straighten and joy would reappear in his eyes. As author and poet Samuel once wrote, “Years wrinkle(使生皱纹) the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” Enthusiastic people also love what they do, regardless of money, title or power. Patricia Mcllrath, retired director of the Missouri Repertory Theater in Kansas City, was once asked where she got her enthusiasm. She replied, “My father, a lawyer, long ago told me, I never made a penny until I stopped working for money.” If we cannot do what we love as a full-time career, we can do it as a hobby. Elizabeth Layton of Wellsville, Kan, was 68 before she began to draw. This activity ended her depression that had troubled her for at least 30 years, and the quality of her work led one critic to say, “I am persuaded to call Layton a genius.” We can’t afford to waste tears on “might-have-beens”. We need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after “what-can-be.” We need to live each moment whole-heartedly, with all our senses-finding pleasure in the sweet smell of a backyard garden, the simple picture of a six-year-old, and the beauty of a rainbow. 55. Which of the following can best explain the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2? A. Enthusiasm can give you courage and strength in difficult times. B. If you don’t have enthusiasm, you can achieve nothing. C. Enthusiastic people never consider money and fame. D. Enthusiastic people can gain great fame and honor. 56. The author mentions cellist Pablo Casals in the third paragraph to show that . A. music can arouse people’s enthusiasm B. enthusiasm can give people inspiration needed to succeed C. enthusiasm can make people feel young D. enthusiasm can keep people healthy 57. How many examples are given in the passage to show the importance of enthusiasm? A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five. 58. The author holds the view that . A. enthusiastic people will never get old B. enthusiastm can make you succeed and enjoy life C. enthusiasm is more important than experience D. enthusiasm can give people more success and fame C In 1991, Kentucky Fried Chicken announced that it was officially changing its name to “KFC” as well as updating its packaging and logo (标识) with a more modern look. The public relations reason was that health-conscious consumers associated the word “fried” with “unhealthy”, causing some of them to completely avoid the wide variety of “healthy” menu items. The new title and image were designed to attract customers to a restaurant now offering foods branded as “better for you”. It sounded good, but the real reason behind the change to KFC had nothing to do with critical consumers. Kentucky Fried Chicken would have had to pay to continue using its original name. In 1990, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, trapped in debt, took the unusual step of trade-making its name. Therefore, anyone using the word “Kentucky” for business reasons — inside or outside of the state — would have to obtain permission and pay licensing fees to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was an unusual and brilliant scheme to alleviate(减轻) the government debt, but it was also one that alienated(疏远) one of the most famous companies ever associated with Kentucky. The Kentucky Fried Chicken chain, an important part of American culture since its first franchise(专营店) opened in Salt Lake City in 1952, refused to pay for a name they had been using for four decades. After a year of fruitless talks, Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its name instead, introducing new packaging and products to cover the real reasons behind the change of the name. Kentucky Fried Chicken wasn’t the only ones who bravely refused to give in. The name of the most famous horse race in North America, held every year at Churchill Downs, was changed to “The Run for the Roses” for similar reasons. In November 2006, KFC and the State of Kentucky finally reached a settlement over the former’s use of the trademarked word “Kentucky” and the restaurant chain announced it would continue to use its former name of “Kentucky Fried Chicken”. 59. The public relations reason for Kentucky Fried Chicken’s updating its packaging and logo was that . A. it would get involved in other businesses B. it was losing money C. it decided to offer better foods to customers D. most customers didn’t like the old logo 60. The Commonwealth of Kentucky trademarked its name to . A. make Kentucky known throughout the world B. be alienated from the famous companies C. develop the American culture D. pay the government debt
61. The real reason that “Kentucky Fried Chicken” once changed its name was about . A. health B.money C. package D.product 62. It can be inferred from the passage that . A. the name of Kentucky Fried Chicken had been used only for a short time B. “Kentucky Fried Chicken” changed its name after several years of talks C. KFC is still not allowed to use the name of “Kentucky Fried Chicken” D. the original name of the game “The Run for the Roses” contains the word “Kentucky” D The regular use of text messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than twice as much as smoking marijuana(大麻). That is the claim of psychologists who have found that tapping away on a mobile phone or computer keypad or checking them for electronic messages temporarily knocks up to ten points off the user’s IQ. This rate of decline in intelligence compares unfavorably with the four-point drop in IQ associated with smoking marijuana, according to British researchers, who have labeled the fleeting phenomenon of enhanced stupidity as “infomania”. The noticeable drop in IQ is believed to be the result of the constant distraction of “always on” technology when employees should be concentrating on what they are paid to do. Infomania means that they lose concentration as their minds remian fixed in an almost permanent state of readiness to react to technology instead of focusing on the tasks in hand. The brain also finds it hard todeal with keeping lots of tasks in motion at once, reducing its overall effectiveness. While modern technology can have huge benefits, excessive(过度的) use can be damaging not only to a person’s mind, but to his or her social life. Eighty volunteers took part in clinical trials on IQ damage and 1,100 adults were interviewed. More than six in ten people polled admitted that they were addicted to checking their e-mails and text messages so that they examined work-related ones even when at home or on holiday. Half said that they always responded immediately to an e-mail and one in five would interrupt a meeting