Part III Reading Comprehension (50 points)

　　Directions: There are four passages in this part. Each passage is followed by several questions of unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.

　　Passage One

　　Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own.My mom was one of those people.

　　When I was nine years old, my mom became a single mother. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. But she gave me a lot of love. Each night, she spoke the words that would change my life, "Kemmons，you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it."

　　At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school--walking on my own!

　　When the Great Depression hit, I left school. Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1916. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel for families that would never charge extra for children.

　　Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later，we had the largest hotel system in the world.

　　You may not have started out life in the best situations. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.

　　36. What Kemmons’ mom often told him during his childhood was______.

　　A. amusing

　　B. boring

　　C. encouraging

　　D. interesting

　　37. What does “ that message” refer to in Paragraph 3?

　　A. I could return to school.

　　B. I would never walk again.

　　C. I should always believe her.

　　D. I could walk again if I wanted to.

　　38. What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?

　　A. His terrible experience in the hotel.

　　B. His previous business success.

　　C. His mom’s support.

　　D. His wife’s suggestion.

　　39. Which of the following best describe Kemmons’ mother?

　　A. Modest, helpful and hard-working.

　　B. Loving, supportive and strong-willed.

　　C. Careful, helpful and beautiful.

　　D. Strict, sensitive and supportive.

　　40. Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?

　　A. Self-confidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family.

　　B. Clear goals, mom’s encouragement, a poor family and good luck.

　　C. Mom’s encouragement, clear goals, self-confidence and hard work.

　　D. Mom’s encouragement, a poor family, generosity and opportunities.

　　Passage Two

　　Suppose we built a robot to explore the planet Mars. We provide the robot with seeing detectors to keep it away from danger. It is powered entirely by the sun. Should we program the robot to be equally active at all the times? No. The robot would be using up energy at a time when it was not receiving any. So we would probably program it to stop its activity at night and to make up at dawn the next morning.

　　According to the evolutionary( 进化的 ) theory of sleep, evolutionary equipped us with a regular pattern of sleeping and walking for the same reason. The theory does not deny that sleep provides some important restorative( 恢复功能 ) functions. It merely says that evolutionary has programmed us to perform those functions at a time when activity would be inefficient and possibly dangerous. However, sleep protects us only from the sort of trouble we might walk into; it does not protect us from trouble that comes looking for us. So we sleep well when we are in a familiar, safe place, but we sleep lightly when we fear that bears will nose into the tent.

　　The evolutionary theory explains the differences in sleep among creatures. Why do cats, for example, sleep so much, while horses sleep so little? Surely cats do not need five times as much repair and restoration as horse do. But cats can afford to have long periods of inactivity because they spend little time eating and are unlikely to be attacked while they sleep. Horses must spend almost all their waking hours eating, because what they eat is very low in energy value. Moreover, they cannot afford to sleep to long or too deeply, because their survival depends on their ability to run away from attackers.

　　41. The author uses the example of the robot in space exploration to tell us ______.

　　A. the differences between robots and men

　　B. the reason why men need to sleep

　　C. the need for robots to save power

　　D. the danger of men working at night

　　42. Evolution has programmed man to sleep at night chiefly to help him ______.

　　A. restore his bodily functions

　　B. maintain a regular pattern of life

　　C. avoid danger and inefficient activity

　　D. prevent trouble that comes looking for him

　　43. According to the author, we can’t sleep well when we_______.

　　A. are worrying about our safety

　　B. are overworked

　　C. are in a tent

　　D. are away from home

　　44. Cats sleep much more than horses do partly because cats ______.

　　A. are likely to be attacked need more time for restoration

　　B. need more time for restoration

　　C are more active than horses when they are awake

　　D. spend less time eating to get enough energy

　　45. Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?

　　A. Evolution has equipped all creatures with a regular pattern of sleeping and waking

　　B. Sleeping pattern must be taken into consideration in the designing of the robot

　　C. The sleeping pattern of a living creature is determined by the food it eats

　　D. The study of the sleep is an important part of the evolutionary theory

　　Passage Three

　　As we consider what makes one man better than the other, let’s look at two examples. The first example is a man who has a good job, a healthy body, and a loving family. His success is due to good decisions. He chose the correct subjects to study when he was at the university. Now that he’s out of school, he always schedules his time well so that he can get everything done at the proper time. He exercises and eats well, as he understands the benefits of this. In addition, in order to achieve happiness in the home, he spends time with his family and makes sure they all have what they need. On the other hand, the second man is something less than the successful person the first man is. What’s wrong with him?

　　Good sense is the ability to know what is true or fight from what is not true or wrong. And some people might think that the second man lacks good sense. However, the person who thinks this is mistaken. Actually, since everyone has the same amount of good sense, the first man does not have an advantage over the second in this respect. The second man has a good mind, and he has the ability to judge things well.

　　The second man runs into trouble, because he directs his thoughts along a different path. He considers other things, different from the first man. The problem is that he does not apply his mind rightly, as does the first one. Thus, he is not capable of advancing further than he does.

　　When you consider what you want out of life, think about the results of your decisions. Apply your mind well so that good things will come about and so that you are not left regretting your actions

　　46. According to the passage, the first man succeeds because he_____.

　　A. is good at scheduling his time

　　B. has a loving family

　　C. does exercise regularly

　　D. makes right decisions

　　47. One’s ability to judge right or wrong is called____.

　　A. critical thinking

　　B. logical mind

　　C. good sense

　　D. will power

　　48. Why is the second man less successful?

　　A. He runs into much trouble.

　　B. He lacks good sense.

　　C. He is not a good planner.

　　D. He fails to apply his mind properly.

　　49. The word “advancing” in Paragraph 3 means_____.

　　A. improving

　　B. promoting

　　C. demanding

　　D. increasing

　　50. What is the passage mainly about?

　　A. Having good sense is more important.

　　B. Why some people are more successful.

　　C. Regretting one’s actions is of no use.

　　D. People must judge things well.

　　Passage Four

　　Dear Ms. Write,

　　The purpose of this letter is to convey to you my sincere apologies for any inconvenience you may have experience last month with respect to the installation(安装) of your Internet high speed service.

　　I just returned from vacation this week and found your file in my in-basket. As soon as I reviewed your case it was clear that somehow your Jau. 20th request for a change in service had somehow slipped through the cracks. The only possible explanation I can give is that we have recently had a number of key staff changes, which might have resulted in your letter being overlooked.

　　Consequently, I have directed our installation group to contact you by the end of this week to set up a time convenient to you when they could go to your house and install your new router(路由器 and make the necessary adjustments to your software.

　　Because of this serious oversight, and as a testament to our appreciation of you as out customer , we are going to provide you with your first three months of high speed service for free charge. There fore, your account will not be billed until June of this year.

　　Ms. White, let me assure you that what happened in your case is not typical of CableNet’s level of customer service. We continue to be committed to providing you and all of our customers with the highest standards of service in the industry.

　　If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call me at 754-978-532.

　　Sincerely,

　　Paulo Davies

　　Manager

　　Customer Solutions

　　51. What information is conveyed in this letter?

　　A. Application

　　B. Apology

　　C. Recommendation

　　D. Invitation

　　52. What happened to Ms. White’s request letter on May 20th?

　　A. It was overlooked.

　　B. It was deleted.

　　C. It was lost.

　　D. It was responded immediately.

　　53. What explanation did Paulo Davies give for this matter?

　　A. They didn’t receive Ms. White’s request letter.

　　B. His staff was not careful enough.

　　C. He was away on vacation.

　　D. They had some staff changes.

　　54. What did Paulo Davies offer to make up for the mistake?

　　A. To require Ms. White’s computer as quickly as possible.

　　B. To charge Ms. White less for net service before October.

　　C. To provide three months of service free of charge.

　　D. Not to bill Ms. White’s account for one year.

　　55. We can infer from the letter that Paulo Davies’ attitude toward the matter is_____

　　A. defensive

　　B. positive

　　C. casual

　　D. negative