四. 阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分，满分40分)

　　A

　　“It is never too late and you are never too old to start something new!” says Englishtown student Ellen Rema. Ellen began to learn English at the age of fifty, and in just a few years, she has made great progress!

　　Ellen chose to study on Englishtown because no evening classes were offered in the German countryside where she lives. On Englishtown, she has conversation classes online and speaks with native English-speaking teachers.

　　“Englishtown is a wonderful place for study,” she says. Ellen began with the first level (水平) of Englishtown and quickly progressed. “I spent hours and hours studying,” she said. “Maybe I wanted too much in a short time. I finished all my courses after 2 years, but I still had grammar difficulties.”

　　Instead of giving up, she chose to continue. After another two years on Englishtown, she’s still studying in the online classroom. “Studying online is never boring, but you need practice, practice, practice!”

　　Ellen says studying English isn’t all about hard work. It should also be fun. “I really like the online conversation classrooms,” she says. “I have learned so much about other cultures and traditions.”

　　Ellen has been able to put her English to use by visiting England five times! “I’m very thankful to Englishtown because my life has improved because of it,” Ellen says.

　　( )46. Ellen started to learn English 　　　.

　　A. 50 years ago

　　B. in a city of Germany

　　C. when she was a high school student

　　D. when she was 50 years old

　　( )47. Why did Ellen study English on Englishtown?

　　A. She had no free time during the day.

　　B. She lived far away from school.

　　C. There were no evening classes near her home.

　　D. Englishtown was a famous website to learn English.

　　( )48. Ellen had trouble learning 　　　.

　　A. pronunciation B. grammar

　　C. writing D. listening

　　( )49. How long has Ellen learned English?

　　A. For 2 years. B. For 4 years.

　　C. For 6 years. D. For 15 years.

　　( )50. What’s the main idea of this passage?

　　A. You are never too old to learn something new.

　　B. Englishtown is a good place to visit.

　　C. The courses are good on Englishtown.

　　D. Studying English is not boring at all.

　　B

　　According to scientists’ research, the month in which babies are born could affect them in some ways.

　　Babies born in spring get sick easily. Children born under Aquarius (Jan. 21st—Feb. 19th) may be less clever than those born in other seasons. They may also have shorter lives than those born in autumn. Scientists believe many of the differences can be explained by the mother’s exposure to sunlight in pregnancy (怀孕).

　　Sunlight helps lead to the production of vitamin D in the body. The lack (缺乏) of vitamin D in the first months of life may have a bad effect on health.

　　Vitamin D is called the “sunshine vitamin”. It has a good effect on health. A study showed that people born from April to June had slightly shorter lives than those born in October, November or December. Similar studies in the US showed that people born in autumn lived about 160 days longer than those born in spring.

　　Professor Russell Foster said the conclusions were surprising and interesting. He added, “These are small effects but they are very, very clear. I am not giving voice to star signs and they are just for fun. But it is true that we are affected by our season of birth.”

　　( )51. A child’s season of birth can affect all the following things EXCEPT 　　　 according to the first two paragraphs.

　　A. his health

　　B. his height

　　C. his length of life

　　D. his quality of being clever

　　( )52. What does the underlined word “exposure” mean in Chinese?

　　A. 偏爱 B. 抗拒 C. 过敏 D. 暴露

　　( )53. What can we know about vitamin D according to the passage?

　　A. It comes from sunlight.

　　B. It helps people live longer.

　　C. Sunlight prevents its production.

　　D. It does harm to people’s health.

　　( )54. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

　　A. Women should get enough sunlight in pregnancy.

　　B. Children born under Aquarius are cleverer than those born in autumn.

　　C. People born in May will live longer than those born in October.

　　D. Professor Russell Foster is interested in star signs and believes in them.

　　( )55. What does the passage mainly tell us?

　　A. People can know the length of life by star sign.

　　B. Women should choose to give birth to children in spring.

　　C. A child’s season of birth has an effect on him or her.

　　D. Vitamin D is very important to people’s health.

　　C

　　American high schools have a dropout rate (辍学率) of up to 50%. There are many reasons for students leaving school:

　　● For two thirds of the dropouts, motivation (动力) is the problem. They can’t just work hard enough.

　　● Almost half of them said that they had missed so many classes that they could not follow any more.

　　● Many said that they were not ready well enough in their earlier school.

　　● For a third of them, getting a job is more important than finishing school.

　　High school dropouts have more problems in their future lives. They are more likely to be out of work or live a poor life. There is also a big difference in income (收入) if you compare (比较) high school dropouts with graduates. A study shows Americans with a bachelor’s degree (学士学位) get about $50,000, those with a high school diploma about $28,000 and dropouts only about $20,000.

　　Many younger students do not understand the influence of dropping out of school. They often need better teachers, more lessons to get good grades in subjects and more help with learning problems. Some schools in America have changed this situation. Some schools offer evening classes or allow students to come back at a later age.

　　( )56. In America 　　　 high school students leave school before they finish it.

　　A. few of B. two thirds of

　　C. half of D. a third of

　　( )57. Some students think 　　　 is more important than finishing school.

　　A. finding a job B. dealing with problems

　　C. making much money D. studying during work

　　( )58. The passage mainly tells us 　　　 reasons that American high school students become dropouts.

　　A. 3 B. 4 C. 5 D. 6

　　( )59. We can learn that high school dropouts 　　　 than graduates in America.

　　A. work harder

　　B. take more subjects

　　C. make less money

　　D. are faced with fewer problems

　　( )60. What do we know from the last paragraph (段落)?

　　A. Most of the dropouts can’t work hard enough.

　　B. American high schools haven’t changed the situation at all.

　　C. Dropping out of school doesn’t influence younger students’ future lives.

　　D. Some American schools allow the dropouts to come back again at a later age.