四.阅读理解(共15小题;每题2分，共30分。)

　　阅读下列短文，然后根据短文的内容从每小题的四个选择项中选出最佳的一项。

　　A

　　There was a river with a small town on either side of it. The towns were linked by a bridge.

　　One day，a hole appeared in the bridge. Both towns agreed that the hole should be mended. However，disagreement came up as to who should mend it. Each town thought that it had a better reason for the other to mend the hole. The town on the right bank said that it was at the end of the road，so the left-bank town should mend the hole. The town on the left bank，on the other hand，insisted that all the traffic came to the right-bank town，so it was in their interest to mend the bridge.

　　The quarrel went on and on，and so did the hole. The more it went on，the more the hostility between the two towns grew.

　　One day a man fell into the hole and broke his leg. People from both towns questioned him closely about whether he was walking from the right bank to the left or from the left bank to the right，in order to decide which town should be blamed for the accident. But he could not remember，since he got drunk that night.

　　Some time later，a car was crossing the bridge and broke an axle(轴)because of the hole. Neither town paid any attention to the accident，as the traveler was not going from one to the other，but was merely passing through. The angry traveler got out of the car and asked why the hole was not mended.

　　On hearing the reason，he declared，“I'll buy this hole. Who‘s the owner?”

　　Both towns at once declared that they owned the hole.

　　“One or the other，whoever owns the hole must prove it.”

　　“How shall we prove it?”asked both sides.

　　“That's simple. Only the owner of the hole has the right to mend it. I‘ll buy the hole from whoever mends the bridge.”

　　People from both towns rushed to do the job while the traveler smoked a cigar and his driver changed the axle. They mended the bridge in no time and asked for the money for the hole.

　　“What hole?”The traveler looked surprised.“I can't see any hole. I‘ve been looking for a hole for several years now. I'm prepared to pay a good price for it，but there’s no hole here. Are you pulling my leg or what?”

　　He got into his car and drove off.

　　51. What did the two towns quarrel about?

　　A. Which of them should mend the hole.

　　B. Whether the hole should be mended.

　　C. Why there was a hole in the bridge.

　　D. When they should mend the hole.

　　52. The man who had fallen into the hole failed to answer any questions because he ______.

　　A. had one of his legs broken

　　B. was busy changing the axle

　　C. had drunk too much wine

　　D. was afraid to blame anybody

　　53. Both towns rushed to mend the hole in order to prove that ______.

　　A. they owned the whole bridge

　　B. they had the right to sell the hole

　　C. they were able to mend the hole

　　D. they could afford to mend the hole

　　54. In“Are you pulling my leg or what?”，the phrase pulling my leg refers to ______.

　　A. trying to stop me

　　B. laughing at me

　　C. putting me in trouble

　　D. making fun of me

　　B

　　Scientists have searched for many years for a method to tell whether a volcano(火山)explosion will be small or large. Now，four scientists say they have discovered something in lava(熔岩)that will help do this. They did the research on Mount Unzen on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu.

　　Mount Unzen exploded in November，1990. Since then，more explosions have killed 43 people and destroyed the homes of more than 2，000 others. The volcano is still active today.

　　The scientists say the lava of the volcano contains high level of an element(成份)，which is a sign of the presence of the lava from deep in the earth，not from the surface. They say it shows that the lava coming directly from inside the earth is connected with huge explosions instead of smaller ones.

　　The scientists examined the lava from 18 explosions of Mount Unzen that took place during many thousands of years. They also studied the lava from other volcanoes in the area that are older than Mount Unzen. The lava studied came from both large and small explosions. The scientists found that large explosions contained more of the element than small ones. The scientists say if they had known this two years earlier，they could have warned the people living in the area near Mount Unzen and saved many lives.

　　55. From the passage we learn that Mount Unzen is the name of ______.

　　A. a huge volcano explosion

　　B. a Japanese island

　　C. an active volcano

　　D. a kind of lava

　　56. The four scientists discovered that the level of the element contained in the lava could tell ______.

　　A. the degree of a volcano explosion

　　B. the place of a possible explosion

　　C. the number of volcano explosions

　　D. the time of a possible explosion

　　57. The research of the four scientists was based on ______.

　　B. Misunderstanding is damaging our normal lives.

　　C. Misunderstanding occurs now and then.

　　D. It's impolite to say NO to others.

　　59. The writer suggests that when talking to others，the speaker should ______.

　　A. know that listeners will show him that they understand his words

　　B. express himself clearly even when he sees signs of understanding

　　C. notice listener's signs of understanding

　　D. look directly into his listener's eyes

　　60. By Train the editor in your head，the speakers are advised _______.

　　A. to get themselves trained by a good editor

　　B. to discuss problems with their husbands or wives

　　C. to express themselves in long but simple sentences

　　D. to make sure each sentence has only one meaning

　　61. In the last paragraph，the words you're on the same page mean that ______.

　　A. you're following the speakers closely

　　B. you're reading the same page as the speaker does

　　C. you should know which page the speaker refers to

　　D. your story is written on the same page as the speaker's

　　B

　　While acting may run in the family，it wasn't Angelina Jolie‘s only choice when thinking about her future. Although Jolie has studied her craft(技艺)since childhood，at one point the 26-year-old，who stars this month in Tomb Raider with her father，actor John Voight，wanted to be a funeral(殡葬)director.“I thought that the crossing over could be a beautiful thing and a time of comfort when people could reach out to each other.”

　　Tradition(传统)is always attractive and interesting to Jolie，who moved with her mother，Marcheline Bertand，and brother after her parents separated when she was two.“I never had one home. I never had an attic(阁楼)that had old things in it. We always moved，so I was never rooted anywhere. And I always dreamed of having that attic of things that I could go back and have a look. I'm very drawn to some things that are tradition，that are roots，and I think that may be why I paid such special attention to funerals.”

　　Finally，she chose acting.“Following in my father's footsteps，”she says，“is an interesting thing，because I think we speak to each other through our work. You don‘t really know your parents in a certain way，and they don't really know you. So he can watch a film and see how I am as a woman，the way I’m dealing with a husband who's been hurt，or the way I‘m crying alone.”

　　“And it's the same for me：I can watch films of his and just see who he is. I‘ve learned to understand him as a person.”

　　62. The passage is about a woman who _______.

　　A. was once a funeral director

　　B. is the leading actress in Tomb Raider

　　C. wants an attic to live in

　　D. was hurt by her husband

　　63. Which of the following can best support Tradition is always attractive and interesting to Jolie?

　　A. Jolie longed to have old things from her childhood.

　　B. Having more than one home is always interesting to Jolie.

　　C. Jolie's parents separated when she was very young.

　　D. Tradition is always rooted somewhere.

　　64. The words Following in my father's footsteps most probably mean ______.

　　A. listening to my father's advice

　　B. taking my father as an example

　　C. walking after my father

　　D. looking for my father's footsteps

　　65. Angelina Jolie finally chose acting because she thought she and her father could _______.

　　A. work together several months a year

　　B. bring into memory what happened in the past

　　C. pay attention to things they are interested in

　　D. get to know each other through their films