第三部分：阅读理解 (共两节，20 分)

第一节(共 15 小题;每小题 2 分，共 30 分)

阅读下列短文：从每题所给的 A、B、C、D 四个选项中，选出最佳选项，将正确的选项涂在答题卡上。

A

Dear Alfred，

I want to tell you how important your help is to my life.

Growing up, I had people telling me I was too slow, though, with an IQ of 150 at 17, I’m anything but stupid. The fact was that I was found to have ADIID(注意力缺陷多动障碍). Anxious all the time, I was unable to keep focused for more than an hour at a time.

However, when something did interest me, I could become absorbed. In high school, I became curious about the computer, and built my first website. Moreover, I completed the senior course of Computer Basics, plus five relevant pre-college courses.

While I was exploring my curiosity, my disease got worse. I wanted to go to college after high school, but couldn’t . So, I was killing my time at home until June 2012 when I discovered the online computer courses of your training center.

Since then, I have taken courses like Data Science and Advanced Mathematics. Currently, I’m learning your Probability course. I have hundreds of printer paper, covered in self-written notes from your video. This has given me a purpose.

Last year, I spent all my time looking for a job where, without dealing with the public , I could work alone, but still have a team to talk to. Luckily, I discovered the job—Data Analyst—this month and have been going full steam ahead. I want to prove that I can teach myself a respectful profession, without going to college, and be just as good as, if not better than, my competitors.

Thank you. You’ve given me hope that I can follow my heart. For the first time, I feel good about myself because I’m doing something, not because someone told me I was doing good. I feel whole.

This is why you’re saving my life.

Yours,

Tanis

56. why did’t Tanis go to college after high school?

A.She had learned enough about computer science

B. She had more difficulty keeping foucesed

C.She preferred taking online courses

D.She was too slow to learn

57. AS for the working environment,Tains prefers____.

A .working by herself

B.dealing with the public

C.competing against others

D.staying with ADHD students

58.Tanis wrote this letter in order to_____.

A.explain why she was interested in the computer

B.share the ideas she had for her profession

C .show how grateful she was to the center

D.describe the courses she had taken so far

B

Surviving Hurricane Sandy(飓风桑迪)

Natalie Doan,14, has always felt lucky to live in Rockaway, New York. Living just a few blocks from the beach, Natalie can see the ocean and hear the wave from her house. “It’s the ocean that makes Rockaway so special,” she says.

On October 29, 2012, that ocean turned fierce. That night, Hurricane Sandy attacked the East Coast, and Rockaway was hit especially hard. Fortunately, Natalie’s family escaped to Brooklyn shortly before the city’s bridge closed.

When they returned to Rockaway the next day, they found their neighborhood in ruins. Many of Natalie’s friends had lost their homes and were living far away. All around her, people were suffering, especially the elderly. Natalie’s school was so damaged that she had to temporarily attend a school in Brooklyn.

In the following few days, the men and women helping Rockaway recover inspired Natalie. Volunteers came with carloads of donated clothing and toys. Neighbors devoted their spare time to helping others rebuild. Teenagers climbed dozens of flights of stairs to deliver water and food to elderly people trapped in powerless high-rise buildings.

“My mom tells me that I can’t control what happens to me,” Natalie says. “but I can always choose how I deal with it.”

Natalie’s choice was to help.

She created a website page matching survivors in need with donors who wanted to halp. Natalie posted introduction about a boy named Patrick, who lost his baseball card collecting when his house burned down. Within days, Patrick’s collection was replaced.

In the coming months, her website page helped lots of kids: Christopher, who received a new basketball; Charlie, who got a new keyboard. Natalie also worked with other organizations to bring much-need supplies to Rockaway. Her efforts made her a famous person. Last April, she was invited to the White House and honored as a Hurricane Sandy Champion of Change.

Today, the scars(创痕)of destruction are still seen in Rockaway, but hope is in the air. The streets are clear, and many homes have been rebuilt. “I can’t imagine living anywhere but Rockaway,” Natalie declares. “My neighborhood will be back, even stronger than before.”

59.When Natalie returned to Rockaway after the hurricane ,she found______.

A.some friends had lost their lives

B.her neighborhood was destroyed

C.her school had moved to Brooklyn

D.the elderly were free from suffering

60.According to paragraph4,who inspired Natalie most?

A.The people helping Rockaway rebuild

B.The people trapped in high_rise building

C.The volunteers donating money to suevivors

D.Local teenagers bringing clothing to elderly people

61.How did Natalie help the survivors?

A.She gave her toys to the kids

B.She took care of younger children

C.She called on the White House to help

D.She built an information sharing platform

62.What does the story intend to tell us?

A.Little people can make a big difference

B.A friend in need is a friend indeed

C.East or West,home is best

D.Technology is power

C

California Condor’s Shocking Recovery

California condors are North America’s largest birds, with wind-length of up to 3 meters. In the 1980s, electrical lines an d lead poisoning(铅中毒) nearly drove them to dying out. Now, electric shock training and medical treatment are helping to rescue these big birds.

In the late 1980s, the last few condors were taken from the wild, and there are now more than 150 flying over California and nearby Arizona, Utah and Baja in Mexico.

Electrical lines have been killing them off. “As they go in to rest for the night, they just don’t see the power lines,” says Bruce Rideout of San Diego Zoo. Their wings can bridge the gap between lines, resulting in electrocution(电死) if they touch two lines at once.

So scientists have come up with a shocking idea. Tall poles, placed in large training areas, teach the birds to stay clear of electrical lines by giving them a painful but undeadly electric shock. Before the training was introduced, 66% of set-freed condors died of electrocution. This has now dropped to 18%.

Lead poisonous has proved more difficult to deal with. When condors eat dead bodies of other animals containing lead, they absorb large quantities of lead. This affects their nervous systems and ability to produce baby birds, and can lead to kidney(肾) failures and death. So condors with high levels of lead are sent to Los Angeles Zoo, where they are treated with calcium EDTA, a chemical that removes lead from the blood over several days. This work is starting to pay off. The annual death rate for adult condors has dropped from 38% in 2000 to 5.4% in 2011.

Rideout’s team thinks that the California condors’ average survival time in the wild is now just under eight years. “Although these measures are not effective forever, they are vital for now,” he says. “They are truly good birds that are worth every effort we put into recovering them. ”

63.California condors attract researchers’ interest because they .

A.are active at night

B.had to be bred in the wild

C.are found on in California

D.almost died out in the 1980s

64. Researchers have found electrical lines are .

A.blocking condors’ journey home

B. big killers of Califorbnia condoras

C. rest places for condors at night

D. used to keep condors away

65.According to Paraghaph 5 ,lead poisoning .

A.makes condors too nervous to fly

B. has little effect on condors’ kidneys

C. can hardly be gotten rid of form condors’ blood

D. makes it different for condors to produce baby birds

66.The passage shows that .

A.the average survival time of condors is satisfactory

B.Rideout’s research interest lies in electric engineering

C.the efforts to protect condors bave brought good results

D.researchers have found the final answers to the problem

D

Why College Is Not Home

The college years are supposed to be a time for important growth in autonomy(自主性) and the development of adult identity. However, now they are becoming an extended period of adolescence, during which many of today’s students and are not shouldered with adult responsibilities.

For previous generations, college was decisive break from parental control; guidance and support needed help from people of the same age and from within. In the past two decades, however, continued connection with and dependence on family, thanks to cellphones, email and social media, have increased significantly. Some parents go so far as to help with coursework. Instead of promoting the idea of college as a passage from the shelter of the family to autonomy and adult responsibility, universities have given in to the idea that they should provide the same environment as that of the home.

To prepare for increased autonomy and responsibility, college needs to be a time of exploration and experimentation. This process involves “trying on ” new ways of thinking about oneself bothe intellectually(在思维方面) and personally. While we should provide “safe spaces” within colleges, we must also make it safe to express opinions and challenge majority views. Intellectual growth and flexibility are fostered on debate and questioning.

Learning to deal with the social world is equally important. Because a college community(群体) differs from the family, many students will struggle to find a sense of belonging. If students rely on administrators to regulate their social behavior and thinking pattern, they are not facing the challenge of finding an identity within a larger and complex community.

Moreover, the tendency for universities to monitor and shape student behavior runs up against another characteristic of young adults: the response to being controlled by their elders. If acceptable social behavior is too strictly defined(规定) and controlled, the insensitive or aggressive behavior that administrators are seeking to minimize may actually be encouraged.

It is not surprising that young people are likely to burst out, particularly when there are reasons to do so. Our generation once joined hands and stood firm at times of national emergency. What is lacking today is the conflict between adolescent’s desire for autonomy and their understanding of an unsafe world. Therefore, there is the desire for their dorms to be replacement homes and not places to experience intellectual growth.

Every college discussion about community values, social climate and behavior should include recognition of the developmental importance of student autonomy and self-regulation, of the necessary tension between safety and self-discovery.

67.What’s the author’s attitude toward continued parental guidance to college students?

A.Sympathetic B.Disapproving

C.Supportive D.Neutral

68.The underlined word “passage” in Paraghaph 2 means .

A.change B.choice

C.text D.extension

69.According to the anthor ,what role should college play?

A.to develop a shared identity among students

B.to define and regulate students’ social behavior

C.To provide a safe world without tension for students

D.To foster students’ intellectual and personal development

70.Which of the following shows the development of ideas in the passage?

第二节(共 5 小题;每小题 2 分。共 10 分)

根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出正确的填入空白处。选项中有两项为多余选项。

The Science of Risk-Seeking

Sometimes We decide that a little unnecessary danger is worth it because when we weigh the risk and the reward, the risk seems worth tasking. 71 Some of us enjoy activities that would surprise and scare the rest of us. Why? Experts say it may have to do with how our brains work.

The reason why any of us take any risks at all might have to do with early humans. Risk-takers were better at hunting, fighting, or exploring. 72 As the quality of Risk-taking was passed from on ration to the next, humans ended up with a sense of adventure and a tolerance for risk.

So why aren’t we all jumping out of airplanes then? Well, even 200,000 years ago, too much risk-taking could get one Killed. A few daring survived, though, along with a few stay-in-the-cave types. As a result, humans developed a range of character types that still exists today. So maybe you love car racing, or maybe you hate it. 73

No matter where you are on the risk-seeking range, scientists say that your Willingness to take risks increases during your teenage years. 74 To help you do that, your brain increases your hunger for new experiences. New experiences often mean taking some risks, so your brain raises your tolerance for risk as well.

Mean taking some risks, so your brain raisers your tolerance for risk as well.

75 For the risk-seekers a part of the brain related to pleasure becomes active, while for the rest of us, a part of the brain related to fear becomes active.

As experts continue to study the science of risk-seeking, we’ll continue to hit the mountains, the waves or the shallow end of the pool.

A.It all depends on your character.

B.Those are the risks you should jump to take.

C.Being better at those things meant a greater chance of survival.

D.Thus, these well-equipped people survived because they were the fittest.

E.This is when you start to move away from your family and into the bigger world.

F.However, we are not all using the same reference standard to weigh risks and rewards.

G.New brain research suggests our brains work differently when we face a nervous situation.