When you practice reading with passages shorter than book length, do not try to take in each word separately, one after the other. It is much more difficult to grasp the broad theme of the passage this way, and you will also get the stuck on individual words which may not be absolutely essential to a general understanding of the passage. It is a good idea to skim through the passage very quickly first to get the general idea of each paragraph. Titles, paragraph headings and emphasized word can be a great help in getting this skeleton outline of the passage. It is surprising how many people do not read titles, introductions or paragraph headings. Can you, without looking back, remember the title of this passage and the heading of this paragraph?
Most paragraphs of a passage or chapter have a 'topic sentence' which expresses the central idea. The remaining sentence expand or support that idea. It has been estimated that between 60% and 90% of all expositive（说明的）paragraphs in English have the topic sentence first. Always pay special attention to the first sentence of a paragraph; it is most likely to give you the main idea.
Sometimes , though , the first sentence in the paragraph does not have the feel of 'main idea' sentence. It does not seem to give us enough new information to justify a paragraph. The next most likely place to look for the topic sentence is the last sentence of the paragraph.
Remember that the opening and closing paragraphs of a passage or chapter are particularly important . The opening paragraph suggests the general direction and content of the piece, while the closing paragraph often summarizes the very essence （精髓）.
【小题1】It is a good idea to skim through a passage quickly first ________.

Cricket
About the game:
Cricket is a game played between two teams, generally of 11 members each. Essentially, it is single combat, in which an individual batsman does battle against an individual bowler, who has helpers known as fielders. The bowler throws the ball from one end of the 22-yard pitch in an attempt to dismiss (send out) the batsman by hitting a target known as the wicket at the other end, or by causing the batsman to hit the ball into the air into a fielder's grasp. The batsman attempts to defend the wicket with the bat and to score runs, by striking the ball to the field boundary, or far enough from the fielders to allow the batsman to run to the other end of the pitch before the ball can be returned. There are always two batsmen on the field, each to take a turn as required. When all but one of the batting team, altogether eleven of them, have been dismissed, the teams' roles are switched. After all the players required to bat on both sides have done so either once or twice (which can take from a few hours to five days) the total number of runs accumulated determines the winner. But sometimes there isn't one.
Important terms of cricket:
Batsman: A player who uses a bat to hit, or guide the ball after it has been bowled, usually for the purpose of scoring runs.
Boundary: Indicates the outer limit of the playing area.
Bowler: Refers to a player who’s primarily good at throwing a ball to a batsman. The basic goal is to get the ball past the batsman and break the wicket behind him with it and thus cause the batsman to be dismissed.
Catch: If a fieldsman catches a struck ball before it touches the ground, that is a catch and the batsman is out.
Fielder: A player placed within the field, with the object of stopping the batting team from scoring runs, also called “fieldsman”.
Four: If the ball is hit to bounce or roll over the boundary, this is a "boundary four"; four runs are added.
Run: The method of scoring during a game of cricket. Also refers to a single unit of score.
Six: If the batsman hits the ball clear over the boundary on the fly, six runs are added to the score.
Umpire: A person appointed to rule on plays in cricket.
64. What’s the right order of the four kinds of people (1—4 ) on the cricket ground (see picture on the right ) ?
A. bowler; umpire; batsman; fielder          B. batsman; umpire; fielder; bowler
C. fielder; bowler; batsman; umpire          D. bowler; umpire; fielder; batsman
65. What happens when the batsman hits the ball, which first touches the ground inside the pitch and rolls quickly over the boundary to one of the viewers outside the cricket ground?
A. The batsman gets dismissed.             B. The batting side gets four runs.
C. The batting team gets six runs.           D. The bowler’s team gets four runs.
66. We can learn from the passage that ________.
A. the side which has all its batsmen dismissed wins the game
B. the side which dismisses all batsmen of the other side wins the game
C. the side which gets more runs than the other side wins the game
D. the side which dismisses more of the other side’s batsmen wins the game 

Most people think the first pies were made by early Romans. They may have learned about pie making from the Greeks. These pies were sometimes made in"reeds (芦苇叶)", which were used for the purpose of holding the filling (馅 ), and were not eaten.

The Romans spread the word about pies around Europe and the word"pie"became a popular word in the 14th century. The first pie recipe (食谱) was also published by the Romans.

Pies first appeared in England as early as the twelfth century. The early pies were mostly meat pies. There was actually more crust(皮)than filling. Often these pies were made from fowl ( 家禽) and the fowl's legs were left to hang over the side of the dish and used as handles. Fruit pies were probably first made in the 1500s. It is said that Queen Elizabeth I made the first cherry pie.

Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early settlers cooked their pies in long narrow pans. As in the Roman times, the early American pie crusts were often not eaten, but simply used to hold the filling during baking(烘焙).

Over the years, pie has become what it is today --- "the most traditional American dessert". Pie has become so much a part of American culture that we now often use the phrase "as American as apple pie".

51. Which people might probably first grasp the skill to make pies?

A. The Romans.     B. The Greeks.    C. The Englishmen.    D. The Americans.

52. Which of the following is NOT true about pies?

A. English settlers brought pies to America.

B. Early Romans ate not only pies but also the crusts.

C. The Romans first published pie recipe.

D. The word “pie ” became popular because of the Romans` efforts.

53. What can best show pies have become part of American culture?

A. Americans use long narrow pans to cook pies.

B. People use "as American as apple pie" to show something about American characteristics.

C. Americans don't eat crusts but use them to hold the filling during baking.

D. Pies are the most traditional American dessert.

54. The best title of this passage is "______________".

A . The History of Pies                        B. Pies, the Delicious Food

C. Pies, American Dessert                D. How to Make Pies

第三部分：阅读理解（共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分）
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
In meditation（冥想），people sit quietly and focus their attention on their breath. As they breathe in and out, they attend to their feelings. As thoughts go through their minds, they let them go. Breathe. Let go. Breathe. Let go.
According to a recent study at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, three months of training in this kind of meditation causes a marked change in how the brain allocates attention. It appears that the ability to let go thoughts that come into mind frees the brain to attend to more rapidly changing things and events in the outside world. Expert mediators are better than other people at catching such fast-changing stimuli, like facial expressions.
The study provides evidence for changes in the workings of the brain with mental training. People can learn and improve abilities of all sorts with practice, everything from driving to playing the piano. The study has shown that meditation is good for the brain. It appears to reduce pressure and promote a sense of well-being.
In an experiment, 17 volunteers with no meditation experience in the experimental group spent three months meditating 10 to 12 hours a day. A control group also with no meditation experience meditated for 20 minutes a day over the same period. Both groups were then given the tests with two numbers in a group of letters. As both group looked for the numbers, their brain activity was recorded.
Everyone could catch the first number. But the brain recordings showed that the less experienced mediators tended to grasp the first number and hang onto it, so they missed the second number. Those with more experience gave less attention to the first number as if letting it go, which led to an increased ability to grasp the second number. This shows that attention can change with practice.
Just ask Daniel Levision, who meditated for three months as part of the study.” I am a much better listener,” he said. “I do not get lost in my own personal reaction to what people are saying.”
56. The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 1 refers to ________.
A. feelings         B. minds         C. people        D. thoughts
57. Meditations manage their daily tasks better because they ________.
A. are given less pressure                   B. allocate their attention better
C. have more stimuli for life                D. practice them more frequently
58. The study proves that ________.
A. meditation improves one’s health        B. brain activity can be recorded
C. human attention can be trained              D. mediators have a good sense of hearing

The name “cowboy” conjures up many different images from movies, songs and TV. These imagined cowboys range from white-hat-wearing heroes to gun-shooting hooligans(流氓).But, cowboys are actually real people from US history.?

When the US Civil War ended, many soldiers had no place to call home. So, they began to drift to the country's rural West. Ranchers(农场主) hired these men to take care of the cattle and work around the ranch. When the ranch owner wanted to sell the cattle, the cowboys would round up the herd from the open prairie(牧场) and drive the cattle miles to the market.?

With the invention of barbed wire(铁丝网),the cowboy era(1865-1890) began to come to an end. But people in the East had always been curious about their lifestyle. Many country/western songs during this time tried to capture the true cowboy spirit. Newspapers published cowboy tales in serial form and adventure novels followed. The bigger the fiction, the better the sales. These novels often portrayed cowboys as cruel and violent men. Cowboys carried the bad reputation for many years afterwards.

When movies began to be popular in the 1920s,the cowboy image changed again. Now, a cowboy became the great white knight(骑士) that loved his horse more than the beautiful ladies he rescued. As the cowboy of the “Old West” spent more time with his horse than the ladies, this era's image was not entirely false.

Then, in the 50s,Hollywood began producing so-called “spaghetti westerns(意大利西部片)”.They earned the nickname because Italian companies financed the films and TV shows. This started the decade's “Cowboy Craze”.While this didn't last long, it made modern country/western music, fashion and dance extremely popular.?

In recent years, with the help of musicians, radio stations and bars, cowboy nostalgia(怀旧情绪) has returned. Even though his image is still changing—somewhere between ballad singing country boy and bar?room fighter—there's one thing for sure, you can't keep the cowboy down.?

The purpose of this story is to _______.

A. introduce cowboy movies and novels?

B. introduce various productions associated with cowboys?

C. show the cowboy's everlasting charm　?

D. inform us about the cowboy's spirit?

Before they became cowboys, they _______.

A. served in the army    B. worked as bar-room fighters?

C. owned ranches      D. were adventurous explorers?

During “the cowboy era” mentioned in the story, _______.?

A. the cowboy often came to the rescue of ladies in newspaper tales?

B. the distant Wild West appealed to people in the East?

C. cowboys were shown as cruel and violent men on the silver screen?

D. country music started the cowboy craze which swept the whole country

By saying “you can't keep the cowboy down”,the writer means that _______.

A. cowboys are real people in history   B. cowboys still fascinate people?

C. you can't make cowboys unhappy     D. you can't grasp the cowboy spirit?