Many Americans take their summer vacations in August. President Obama and his family are among them. This August the first family visited the Florida Gulf Coast. The president wants to promote tourism in the area after the BP oil spill (漏油). The first family took a ten-day vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts.

Martha’s Vineyard is known for the sailing, sunsets and its tall cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The island is about 13 kilometers off the coast and is less than 260 square kilometers. Homes designed like those of earlier times line the streets of Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven. These are the major towns on Martha’s Vineyard.

For most of the year, the population of Martha’s Vineyard is about 15 000. In summer, more than 100 000 people crowd the island. In addition to the Obamas, you might see some Hollywood stars and other rich and famous people. Many visitors return year after year.

During warm weather the Vineyard is a good place for many different activities. People can play golf or catch fish. They can ride in sailboats or motor boats. They can waterski and swim. They can take quiet walks along sandy beaches and among the thick green trees.

One of the popular places for families with children is the Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs. It is the oldest continually operated merry-go-round ride in the United States. The colorful wood horses that turn in a circle were created in 1876. One of the best places for children to swim is the Joseph A. Sylvia state beach. The water there is warmer and calmer. Families also enjoy the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary where they can observe much of the island wildlife.

Visitors watch the sunsets sitting on the beach and on rocks in the fishing village of Menemsha. As the sun goes down in the sky it paints yellow, red, and other colors on the clouds. Fishing boats rise and fall with the waves. Bells sound to help guide the boats to land as darkness covers the water.

Historians say British mapmaker Bartholomew Gosnold first made a map of the island for the rulers of England in 1602. Gosnold named the island to honor his baby daughter, Martha. The Vineyard part of the name came from the many wild grape vines Gosnold found on the island. Later, King Charles of England gave the island to businessman Thomas Mayhew of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, whose son established the first European settlement on the island in 1642. By the middle of the nineteenth century, ships from the American mainland began bringing visitors to the island. Big hotels were built near the edge of the water. Martha’s Vineyard was on its way to becoming the visitors center that it is today.

1..

 We can infer that ______.

A. the BP oil spill has a negative effect on the tourism along the Florida Gulf Coast

B. the BP oil spill has contributed to the tourism along the Florida Gulf Coast

C. President Obama went to the Florida Gulf Coast to deal with the BP oil spill

D. this was the first time that President Obama and his family had taken the vacation on Martha’s Vineyard

2..

 Which month is the peak time for tourism in Martha’s Vineyard?

A. January.          B. August.          C. December.            D. March,

3..

If children want to see wild animals, the family should go to ______.

A. the Flying Horses Carousel                B. the Sylvia state beach

C. the fishing village of Menemsha           D. the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary

4..

 Bartholomew Gosnold named the island Martha in honor of _______.

A. his mother                                B. the king of England

C. his daughter                              D. his father

Ⅶ.短文改错（每小题1.5分，共15分）

When tea and coffee were introduced to Europe in 18 th                  1.        

century, people thought they were harmful. But the King of                    2.        

Swede decided to find out whether it was true .It was                       3.        

happened that there had two brothers in prison                                4.        

at the time. The King ordered one of them drink tea                         5.        

every day and the other coffee. Both of them have lived                   6.         

many years with no problem. At the end the one who                       7.        

drink coffee every day died at the age of 83 and the                         8.        

other lived even long. Because of this, Swede is                              9.        

one of the countries which much tea and coffee are drunk today.              10.        

One of the most popular American singers of the twentieth century was Elvis Presley. He made the rock ”n” roll music popular all over the world, He sold millions of records and made many successful films, and he helped change the direction of popular music in the 1960s.
Elvis Presley was born in a poor family in 1935, His parents were simple country people who often took him to church, where he learned to sing, and he never forgot the kind of songs that he used to sing in church as a child.
When he was young, Elvis moved from Toledo to Memphis in Tennessee, where he attended high school, but he was not a good student, His only real interest was singing. He began to sing in the style that is called “country and western”.
In 1955 he recorded some songs for his mother’s birthday. The people at the recording studio liked his singing and his music. It was country and western music, but it also sounded a little like the music which black people used to sing in the American South. It was called “blues”.
Shortly after that, Elvis met Tom Parker, who became his manager and arranged (安排) concerts for him across the United States and new recordings as well. Soon Elvis became famous around the country. Later Elvis went to Hollywood and began to appear in films such as Love Me Tender and King Creole.
But Elvis found it difficult to live with success. Like many other famous people, He began to take drugs and his health started to suffer. When he died at an early age of 42 in 1977,his many millions of fans were shocked, “The King Is Dead!” the newspaper said, But today his memory and his music live on and will always be remembered as the King of Rock “n” roll.
66. From the passage, we can see________________.
A. the church songs didn’t help Elvis develop his own style
B. Elvis forgot his church music at a later age
C. Elvis didn’t get any help from his parents
D. the church songs helped Elvis’ development in his singing
67. Who was Tom Parker?
A. A manager of a bank                             B. A famous singer
C. Elvis’ manager                                      D. Elvis’ best friend since childhood
68. What caused Elvis’ death?
A. His singing too much                                   B. His taking the drugs
C. His parent’s death                                  D. Tom Parker’s help
69. What was Elvis’ music style like most?
A. Only country and western
B. Only country and blues
C. Both western and church music
D. Not only country and western but also a bit “blues”
70. Which is the right order of Elvis’ life?
a. Elvis learned to sing at church
b. Elvis gave concerts all across America
c. Elvis recorded some songs for his mother’s birthday
d. Tom Parker became his manager
e. Elvis went to high school in Memphis
f. Elvis was born in Toledo
A. f; a; e; c; d; b                                       B. f; a; c; e; d; b
C. f; e; a; d; b; c                                        D. f; e; a; c; d; b

Once there was a king. He had two old ministers. One was kind and the other was bad. The bad minister often said bad words about the kind minister before the king. The king was very angry.
One day the king said to the bad minister , “Write two words on two pieces of paper. Write ‘live’ on one piece and ‘die’ on the other . Then put them in a jar and tell him to choose. If he takes out the paper with ‘live’ on it , I will let him go. If he takes out the paper with ‘die’ on it ,I will kill him at once.”
The bad minister was quite happy. He got two pieces of paper ready. He wrote “die” on each piece of paper.
The kind old man came. He knew the bad minister wanted to kill him. He also knew the words on the two pieces both “die”, but he knew what to do. Later the king had to keep his word and let the old minister go. Do you k now what the kind man do about this at that time?
【小题1】The king was angry with              .

Ⅲ 阅读（共两节。满分40分）

第一节 阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

The idea about the phoenix goes back to Ancient Egypt, where we find the phoenix described as a handsome, eagle-like bird, with part-golden, part-red plumage, that spent most of its life in the Arabian deserts. It was rarely seen and according to one version of the story, only appeared in Egypt once every five hundred years, when it flew to Heliopolis, “city of the sun”, and deliberately burnt itself to ashes by settling on the altar(祭坛) flame there! However, it seems it did not really die because from those same ashes a young, fully formed phoenix was born and flew away, apparently back to Arabia.

It is pretty obvious that no one has ever seen or will see a living phoenix. The interesting thing is that we can find certain clues which may explain one aspect of the Egyptians’ idea. It may sound unbelievable, but some birds are apparently quite charmed by flames and small fires, especially members of the crow family. One zoologist actually proved this by setting fire to some straw near to a tame（驯养的） rook. Far from becoming nervous and backing away, the bird deliberately stood over the flames, with raised and vibrating wings. It didn’t get burnt, but the image it presented by its strange behavior was almost exactly like that shown in illustrations of the mythical phoenix!

Why birds should occasionally behave in this strange way is not clear. One idea is that they carefully use the heat of the flames to relieve the annoyance caused by their feather mites(虱) which all birds have. Whatever the reason, it is quite possible that the Ancient Egyptians saw birds behaving in this way, from time to time, and used it as the basis of their phoenix myth, adding fanciful details which closely linked it to their worship of the sun and their belief in resurrection.

Nowadays, the phoenix is much less important to us than it was to the Egyptians. But the logo of modern fire insurance companies, which employ the phoenix as one of their symbols, refers that in one sense the idea of it remains.  

41. According to the passage, the phoenix ______________ .

A. is a handsome and eagle-like bird living in Arab

B. used to be seen when the Egyptians held religious activities

C. has never really existed in the world

D. is the king of all kinds of birds

42. The reason why birds stand above flames is probably that _____________ .

A. the phoenix used to do so

B. they may get rid of the mites

C. they want to burn their feather

D. they can heat themselves

43. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

A. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the phoenix.

B. The scientists have discovered why birds are attracted by fire.

C. The modern people still favor the idea of the phoenix.

D. The mythical tales about the phoenix were based on facts.

44. Which of the following is closest to “resurrection” in the 3rd paragraph?

A. living forever        B. offering warmth        C. coming back to life          D. staying healthy

45. What does the phoenix probably mean in the logo of a fire insurance company?

A. Our company can protect you from being harmed by fire.

B. If your property is destroyed by fire, we will help you build it up again.

C. Our company will always be energetic and wealthy.

D. If needed, we will save you at the risk of losing lives.