四、阅读理解(共15小题，每题3分，共45分)

　　阅读下列短文，然后根据短文的内容从每小题的四个选项中选出最佳的一项。

　　A

　　You may ride on your bicycle in a rush to get to school every morning. You may fight to get a bit of space on a bus or on the subway. You may also watch taxis crawl their way through traffic jams.

　　No matter where you are, all big cities around the world have traffic jams these days. Although they all have their problems,many cities also have a type of transportation that has become a cultural icon( 文化标志).

　　In London, to avoid the traffic above ground, people use the " underground", also called the "tube". The city has the oldest and most complicated underground railway system in the world and it is the pride of many Londoners. With 12 lines and 275 stations across the city,the tube is normally the quickest and easiest way of getting around London. In London,you are never far from a tube station.

　　New York is famous for its yellow cabs. They serve as a quick and easy way of getting across Manhattan,where the subway doesn't take you everywhere. Stopping a cab is easy,just stick out your arm like you do in any city. But,with over 12,000 yellow cabs in the Big Apple,they also cause traffic jams.

　　36. What is the passage mainly about?

　　A. Typical means of transportation in different cities.

　　B. Traffic problems in different cities.

　　C. Traffic jams and solutions in different cities.

　　D. People's favorite means of transportation in one city.

　　37. If you go to London,to travel around,you will possibly take __________. ?

　　A. a taxi

　　B. the tube

　　C. the bus

　　D. the light rail

　　38. In paragraph 4 the Big Apple refers to__________.

　　A. a place connected with apples

　　B. New York City

　　C. United States of America

　　D. a district in New York

　　B

　　Much of the best food in the world is free. These are some of the foods which you can pick for free in Europe.

　　Every autumn,people all over Europe go out into the woods and fields to look for mushrooms( 蘑菇). People in France, Germany,Poland and Italy are very interested in mushroom picking. You have to be very careful when you pick wild mushrooms. Some are delicious, but others that look very like them can give you a stomachache. Some kinds of mushroom are dangerous and can make you ill or even kill you.

　　The most famous and delicious kind of mushroom is the truffle(块菌). It grows underground in forests, especially in Italy and France. It is very difficult to find. Farmers usually go out with dogs or pigs. When the animals get excited and start to dig, they know that there are truffles underground.

　　They dig them up very carefully. Truffles are very valuable. They can be black or light brown or white.

　　In the countryside, there are lots of different fruits to pick. In June you may find wild strawberries. The best time to look for them is in the evening. If you walk around in woods, sometimes you will smell them before you see them. The blackberry(黑莓) is also well liked. It grows wild round the edges of fields in September and early October.

　　Blackberries are black and small and very sweet. You can eat them as they are with sugar and cream. Or you can cook them for four minutes with some sugar and a little lemon juice. You can also make a very good jam with them.

　　39. What is the passage mainly about?

　　A. Wild mushrooms.

　　B. Truffles and fruits.

　　C. Best food in the world.

　　D. Food you can pick for free.

　　40. What is TRUE about truffles?

　　A. They grow on mountains.

　　B. They grow on the ground.

　　C. They are easy to find.

　　D. They come in various colors.

　　41. What is the best time to look for strawberries?

　　A. In June. B. In September.

　　C. In early October.

　　D. In Autumn.

　　42. Which of the following can be smelled before you see them?

　　A. Mushrooms.

　　B. Truffles.

　　C. Strawberries.

　　D. Blackberries.

　　C

　　As a young adult, Noah Webster was a teacher. At that time, the colonies were fighting for independence from Britain, yet the books that American children used in school all came from Britain.

　　The books were all about British people and British places. Webster wrote books with examples that would mean more to the Americans --a grammar book, a spelling book, and a reader. These books were very popular, and millions of them were sold.

　　Webster was interested in changing the spelling of words. He wanted words to be spelled the way they were pronounced. For example, he thought the word "head" should be spelled " hed", and the word "laugh" should be spelled "laf".

　　Many people like Webster's suggestions. However,few words were actually changed. One group of words that were changed were words in which an unpronounced "u" followed an "o".

　　That is why Americans write "color" and "labor", and the British write "colour" and "labour".

　　With the money he made from his books, Webster was able to do what he was interested in. It was the first American English dictionary,published in 1838. Webster's dictionary had over 70,000 words and gave the meaning and origin of each. To this day, Webster's work is the example that most dictionaries of American English follow.

　　43. According to the first paragraph, Webster wrote books to__________.

　　A. earn money

　　B. get rid of Britain people

　　C. fight for independence

　　D. give better textbooks for children

　　44. The purpose of Webster's spelling changes was__________.

　　A. to have different spellings with the American English

　　B. to make the spelling and pronunciation the same

　　C. to make English easier for the learners

　　D. to find better ways to teach English

　　45. In American history, Noah Webster is famous for__________.

　　A. his dictionary

　　B. his teaching methods

　　C. his different spelling

　　D. his books

　　46. From the last sentence of the passage we know__________.

　　A. most Americans follow Webster's advice on writing

　　B. Webster's dictionary is the most famous one in the U. S.

　　C. most dictionaries in the U.S. are the copies of Webster's work

　　D. most American English dictionaries have the characteristics of Webster's

　　D

　　Mr. White worked in an office. He had neither a wife nor children. And he lived in an old house alone. He liked nothing but drinking. He almost spent all his money on it. Sometimes he was hungry,because he even had no money to buy food. So he had to borrow some money from his workmates.

　　One evening he met a friend of his in the street. The man asked him to have dinner in a restaurant. He was very happy and drank a lot. When they left there at midnight, he could hardly stand. The friend had to stop a taxi and asked the diver to take him home. Soon they arrived at the door of his house. With the help of the driver he got out of the taxi.

　　"Thank you,sir," said Mr. White. "Now I can open the door myself. "

　　The taxi went away, but Mr. White couldn't put his key into the keyhole. He was trying to do it when a policeman came.

　　"Can I help you?" asked the policeman.

　　"Thank you , sir, " said Mr. White. "The house is circling now. If you can stop it moving, I can open the door myself. "

　　47. Sometimes he was hungry because__________.

　　A. he spent all his money on drinks and had no money to buy food

　　B. he had no work

　　C. his boss didn't pay him any money

　　D. he was very poor

　　48. From paragraph 2 we know that__________.

　　A. Mr. White drank a lot that evening

　　B. Mr. White paid for the bill that evening

　　C. his friend took home that evening

　　D. his friend drank a lot too

　　49. They left the restaurant__________.

　　A. at ten o'clock

　　B. at twelve o'clock at night

　　C. after twelve o'clock at night

　　D. at twelve o'clock at noon

　　50. Mr. White couldn't open the door because__________.

　　A. the keyhole was too small

　　B. he drank too much

　　C. The house was moving

　　D. it was not his house

　　非选择题

　　五、补全对话(共5句，每句满分为3分，共15分)

　　根据中文提示，将对话中缺少的内容写在横线上，这些句子必须符合表达习惯。打句号的地方，用陈述句;打问号的地方，用疑问句。

　　提示：Bill对Alice说昨晚看电视一直到后半夜。Alice说她通常是感到无事做才看电视。她问Bill是不是感到无聊才看到这么晚。Bill说他把书包忘在了出租车上，并说看电视时心情好一点，可关上电视机，心情反而更糟。

　　Alice :What a great day,don't you think?

　　Bill:I guess so. I didn't notice. I feel terrible because I watched television 51.

　　Alice:After midnight! 52 because you were bored? I usually

　　watch TV only 53.

　　Bill : Bored? No, I was unhappy 54.

　　Alice:So, did watching TV make you feel better?

　　Bill: Well, I felt a bit better while I was watching. You know,it took my mind off my troubles. But55, I just felt even worse with myself for wasting so much time.