第一部分 阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）

第一节 （共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）

请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

　 Last week, while visiting my dad with my daughter, we went to a restaurant for dinner. When we were seated, my dad asked the waitress if there were any soldiers eating at the restaurant. Then waitress said there was a soldier having dinner with his friend. My dad told the waitress to tell the soldier and his friend that their dinner was paid for! He also said that he did not want to be known as the benefactor(施主).

Then waitress later commented on my dad’s thoughtful behavior saying that she had never seen anything like this before. At a local college, she had studied opera and so she used this to thank my dad by performing a piece from The Pearl Fisherman. Her voice brought me to tears because it sounded perfect!

After a while, the soldier appeared at our table (I don’t know how he knew my dad paid the bill for him.) and said that he would be sent to the front the next morning and that he could not leave this country without saying “thanks” to my dad. My dad replied that it was he who wanted to say “thanks”. They shook hands as the soldier left.

Before we left, the waitress came by again. She did a magic show as another way to show her “thanks” to my dad. Her show was really great. My dad left her a note with email address asking for her next performance time in addition to a $ 50 tip.

Everyone witnessed something exemplary(可作榜样的) in the human spirit that night. I can only hope to see more of this in the future.

1.My dad offered help to the soldier and his friend in the restaurant probably because________.

A. he wanted to thank them for all they had done

B. he wanted to know more about them

C. he wanted the waitress to thank him

D. he wanted the soldiers to know his kindness

2.The waitress performed The Pearl Fisherman in the restaurant because________________.

A. she was asked to perform to the guests

B. she wanted to show off her wonderful skills

C. she wanted to show her respect and thanks to the author’s dad

D. she wanted to attract more and more guests

3. What did the soldier do in response to the author’s father’s kindness?

A. He gave something to author’s dad.

B. He gave a big tip to the waitress.

C. He did a magic show for the author and her father.

D. He said thanks to the author’s dad in person.

4. The passage mainly tells us that we should ___ __________.

A. find ways to thank others B. learn to be grateful to others

C. try to learn from each other D. respect soldiers and waitresses

B

When you have a question about something, where do you go? For many people the answer is simple as they can go online to a search engine like Google or Yahoo. But what about people in rural or underdeveloped areas who may have no way to get on the Internet?

A business and international development professor in California, Rose Shuman, found an answer for them: Question Box. Question Box is a service that provides answers---free of charge---for people who cannot search the Internet directly. The users of Questions Box might be those who might not be able to read, or simply have no access to the Internet.

Question Box began three years ago in India. People used a metal call box with a push-to-talk button to connect a live operator. Rose Schuman explained,” You just need to push a big green button on the box which will connect you directly to our operators who are sitting in front of computers, and speak your language. You can ask them any sort of question you want, and they’ll look it up in English or in Hindi, or whatever the main language is, and translate the answer back for you.”

The service is currently offered in two villages. The latest version of the box uses mobile phone technology, and solar panels in case the electrical power fails. Rose Shuman says the aim was to make the box as easy as possible for users, “It is very efficient (效率高的). Rather than try to bring a lot of difficulties to them and expect them to spend a lot of time to learn how to use the Internet, the idea was to make a technology that even Grandma could use.”

In April 2009, Question Box was introduced to Uganda. Forty community workers with mobile phones connected villagers to call center operators in Kampala. The community workers went around telling people about the service. They wore T-shirts that said “Ask me.” But Internet service in Uganda proved slow and undependable. So Question Box teamed up with a local technology company to store information on a local server. That way, the researchers in Kampala could quickly search the database for answers.

5. The best title for the passage is ____________________________.

A. Question Box --- taking the place of the Internet

B. Needing an answer? --- asking Question Box

C. Question Box --- a great invention in the world

D. Rose Shuman --- a professor helping the poor

6. In Rose Schuman’s opinion, the greatest advantage of Question Box is that_____________.

A. it is the most advanced in the world

B. it is more convenient to carry.

C. it saves much more energy

D. it is much easier to use

7. The underlined word “them” in the fourth paragraph refers to______________________.

A. the users B. the operators

C. the researchers D. Question Box workers

8. What can we know from the passage?

A. Question Box costs the users much less than the Internet.

B. Question Box operators can look for information in any language.

C. Question Box is more efficient in solving problems in underdeveloped areas.

D. Question Box can work without the help of the Internet in Uganda.

C

Below is adapted from an English dictionary. Use the dictionary to answer the following questions.

figure / fīg? / noun, verb

● noun

1. a number representing a particular amount, especially one given in official information: the trade / sales figures

2. a symbol rather than a word representing one of the numbers between 0 and 9: a six-figure salary

3. (informal) the area of mathematics that deals with adding, multiplying, etc. numbers

4. a person of the type mentioned: Gandhi was both a political and a religious figure in Indian history.

5. the shape of a person seen from a distance or not clearly

6. a person or an animal as shown in art or a story: a wall with five carved figures in it

7. the human shape, considered from the point of view of being attractively thin: doing exercise to improve one’s figure

8. a pattern or series of movements performed on ice: figure-skating

* be / become a figure of fun: be / become sb. that others laugh at

* cut a…figure: sb with a particular appearance: He cut a striking figure in his dinner jacket.

* put a figure on sth: to say the exact price or number of sth.

* a fine figure of man / woman: a tall, strong-looking and well-shaped person

* figure of speech（修辞）: a word or phrase used in a different way from its usual meanings in order to create a particular mental image or effect

* figurehead: someone who is the head or chief in name only (with no real power or authority)

● verb

1. to think or decide that sth. will happen or is true: I figured that if I took the night train, I could be in Scotland by morning.

2. to be part of a process, situation, etc. especially an important part: My opinion of the matter didn’t seem to figure at all.

3. to calculate an amount or the cost of sth: We figured that attendance at 150,000.

* figure in: to include (in a sum): Have you figured in the cost of hotel?

* figure on: to plan on; to expect sth. to happen: I haven’t figured on his getting home so late.

* figure out: to work out; understand by thinking: Have you figured out how much the trip will cost?

* It / That figures!: That seems reasonable.

9. According to the information above, which of the following sentence is not right?

A. This year’s sales figures were quite excellent.

B. I couldn’t figure out what the teacher was talking about.

C. She was the leading figure in British politics in the 1980s.

D. He was about to speak but she put a figure on his lips to stop him.

10. — She was coming late again for the work.

— ______! That’s typical of her. You just can’t do anything to stop her doing that.

A. It figures her out B. She is a figure of fun

C. It cuts a poor figure D. It figures

11. The phrase “watch my figure” in the sentence “Don’t tempt me with chocolate; I am watching my figure.” means “______”.

A. add the numbers B. have sports

C. try not to get fat D. watch games

12. Which sentence is used as figure of speech?

A. John is fond of animals and raises a rabbit as a pet.

B. In some countries, bamboo can be used to build houses.

C. We all regard Mr. Smith as an important figure in our company.

D. I didn’t really mean my partner was a snake.

D

Although the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have English as an official language, the United States does not have an official language. This is why it’s possible to become a US citizen without speaking English. Canada also has French as an official language, though it is mostly spoken in the province of Quebec. Because many

British colonialism (殖民主义) has spread English all over the world, and it is still popular in South Africa, India, and Singapore, among other nations. In South Africa, English became an official language, along with Afrikaans and 9 African languages, in the 1996 constitution. However, only 3% of the country’s 30 million people are native English speakers. Twenty percent are descendants (后代) of Dutch farmers who speak Afrikaans, and the rest are native Africans.

India became independent from Britain in 1947. However, today English and Hindi are the official languages. Indian English is characterized by treating mass nouns as count nouns, frequent use of the “isn’t it?” tag, use of more compounds, and a different use of prepositio