Another food which is closely associated with Americans is apple pie．Apple pie is often served hot with a spoon of ice cream or a slice of cheese at the end of the biggest meal of the day—dinner, and it is a favorite dessert throughout the nation.If a person is typical of Americans, we can say, "He is as American as apple pie．"

It is true that the apple and apple pie do not originate in America, but the expression "as American as apple pie" is not the product of a pure imagination．As early as 1625, the English colonists, having brought orchards （果园） on this new land and in most of the colonial times, the apple was a main material of both plain and fancy cooking．The first Massachusetts governor, William Endicott, was one of many keen apple planters who helped to lay the foundations for today' s apple-growing industry in America．

A major attraction of the apple for the colonists was that it could be made into cider （苹果酒）. Like most Europeans, English colonists held a strong suspicion （怀疑） of drinking water, and since grape growing was hindered by plant peats, cider became an alternative to wine．Cheap and easy to produce, it was the American drink of first choice well into the nineteenth century． Whether it was dried, raw or cooked, the apple also found its way into numerous colonial dishes, including apple sauces, pudding, stuffing and many desserts．Therefore, the conclusion to be drawn here is obvious．The apple pie became known as American, not because it was invented on this land （since it was proved that Europeans had been eating apple pies for centuries）, but because, thanks to the huge orchards in the states of Washington and New York, America became the world's largest apple-producing nation．

1..

If a person is said to be as American as apple pie, it means that _______．

    A．he always prefers apple pie as a dessert        

B．his favourite pie is apple pie

    C．he behaves and thinks in the American way       

D．he is good at making American apple pie

2..

The apple can be used to make into all of the following except _______．

    A．wine             B．sauces           C．pudding          D．cider

3..

The underlined word hindered in Paragraph 3 means．________．

    A．promoted         B．prevented        C．improved         D．enlarged

4..

It can be concluded from the passage that_______．

    A．the apple pie was first served in America

    B．the English colonists developed a taste for the apple only after they, arrived at the New World

    C．the expression "as American as apple pie" is a pure imagination

    D．the apple pie is traditionally associated with Americans due to their large apple production

 

 

 

III  阅读理解（共25小题；每小题2分，满分50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。                                 

It doesn't matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive. That's what all doctors thought, until they heard about Al Herpin. Al Herpin, it was said, never slept. Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves.

Al Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey. They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind. So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made. But they were surprised. Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day, they never saw Herpin sleeping. In fact, he did not even own a bed. He never needed one.

The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers. The doctors were puzzled by this strange continuous sleeplessness. They asked him many questions, hoping to find an answer. They found only one answer that might explain his condition. Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born. But that was all. Was this the real reason? No one could be sure.

Al Herpin died at the age of 95. 

41.The main idea of this passage is that _______

A. everyone needs some sleep to stay alive

B. people can live longer by trying not to sleep

C. large numbers of people do not need sleep

D. a person was found who actually didn't need any sleep

42.The doctors came to visit Herpin, expecting ______

A. to find out whether his sleeplessness was really true

B. to find out why some old people didn't need any sleep

C. to find a way to free people from the need of sleeping

D. to cure him of his sleeplessness

43. After watching him closely, the doctors came to believe that Al Herpin ____

A. needed no sleep at all                     B. needed some kind of sleep   

C . was too old to need any sleep       D .often slept in a chair

44.One reason that might explain Herpin' s sleeplessness was ______

A. his mother's injury before he was born

B. his magnificent physical condition

C. that he had gradually got rid of the sleeping habit

D. that he hadn't got a bed

45.Al Herpin' s condition could be regarded as ______

A. a common one      B. very healthy      C. one that could be cured    D. a rare one

 

In a surprising discovery about where higher life can survive, scientists have found a shrimp —— like creature and a jellyfish swimming beneath an Antarctic ice sheet.

About 180 meters below the ice where no light can get through, scientists had thought nothing much more than a few microbes (微生物) could exist.

That’s why a NASA team was surprised when they lowered a video camera to get the first long look at the underbelly of an ice sheet in Antarctica. A curious shrimp – like creature came swimming by and then parked itself on the camera’s cable. Scientists also pulled up a tentacle (触须) they believe came from a jellyfish.

“We were operating on the presumption that nothing’s there.” Said NASA ice scientist Robert Bindschadler. “It was a shrimp you’d enjoy having on your plate.”

“We were just gaga (狂热的) over it,” he said of the 7.5cm long, orange creature starring in their two – minute video. Technically, it’s not a shrimp. It’s a Lyssianasid amphipod, which is distantly related to the shrimp.

The video is likely to inspire experts to rethink what they know about life in harsh environments. And it has scientists thinking that if shrimp – like creatures can live below 180 meters of Antarctic ice in freezing dark water, what about other cold places? What about Europa, a frozen moon of Jupiter?

Cynan Ellis – Evans, a scientist of the British Antarctic Survey called the finding fascinating. He said it was possible the creatures swam in from far away and don’t live there permanently.

But Kim, who is a co-author of the study, doubts it. “The site in West Antarctica is at least 19 km from open seas. Bindschadler drilled a 20 cm – wide hole and was looking at a tiny amount of water. That means it’s unlikely that two creatures swam from great distances and were captured randomly in that small of an area,” she said.

Yet scientist were puzzled at what the food source would be for these creatures. While some microbes can make their own food out of chemicals in the ocean, complex life like the shrimp can’t, Kim said.

“So how do they survive? That’s the key question.” Kim Sai.

“It’s pretty amazing when you find a huge puzzle like that on a planet where we thought we know everything.” Kim said.

1. What does the underlined word “harsh” probably mean?

A. cold           B. loud          C. cruel           D. ugly

2. According to Kim, the shrimp – like creature        .

A. swam great distances to Antarctic                B. has always lived in the region

C. gradually evolved from shrimps                    D. has nothing in common with shrimps

3. The finding is significant in that           .

A. it marks NASA’S first Antarctic biological study

B. it proves there is marine life in the Antarctic

C. it could inspire further study of life in harsh environments

D. it shows that Lyssianasid amphipod is closely related to shrimps

4. Which of the following statements about the discovery is FALSE?

A. Complex life usually lives on other forms of life.

B. Scientists saw two creatures in the two – minute video.

C. It is possible for creatures to live 180 meters below the ice though there is no light.

D. Scientists captured the shrimp – like creature in a camera by drilling a hole through the ice.

 

 

f cars had wings，they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2011.The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2011.

“It’s the next‘wow’vehicle，”said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh.“Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don’t fly.”

The car plane has wings that unfold for flying—a process the company says takes one minute—and fold back up for driving.A runway is still required to take off and land.

The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both.The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.

The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly.They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you’re good to go.When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road.There are no expensive parking fees because you don’t have to store it at an airport—you park it in the garage at home.

The car-plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet.It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers.Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal(临界)conditions.

The Transition’s price tag: $194,000, But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, transponder or GPS.Another option is a full-plane parachute.

“If you get into a very awful situation, it is the necessary safety option,”Gersh said.

So far,the company has more than 70 orders with deposits.“We’re working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps,”Brown said.

1.We can learn from the first paragraph that       .

A.car-planes will be popular in 2011

B.people might drive a car-plane in 2011

C.both Transition and Ferrari can take off and land

D.Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts

2.lt takes the car-plane one minute to       .

A.fold and unfold its wings           B.unfold wings for flying

C.land in the airport                 D.meet flying safety regulations

3..According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A.The car-plane needs a runway to take off and land.

B.To mcet aircraft regulations, the company has been working with FAA.

C.The car-plane may fly as high as normal planes.

D.People can park the car-plane in the garage at their home.

4..The underlined word“it”in the last but one paragraph refers to       .

A.the radio                           B.the transponder

C.the GPS                            D.the full-plane parachute

5.What’s the best title for the passage?

A.Cars With Wings May Be Just Around The Corner.

B.Which to Choose: A Ferraris or a Car Plane?

C.A more Convenient and Cheaper Way to Fly.

D.Cars With Wings Can Fly as Fast as Planes.

 

 

Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. It is responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide (about 5 million deaths each year). If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. Half the people that smoke today, that is about 650 million people, will eventually be killed by tobacco.

 Tobacco is the fourth most common risk factor for disease worldwide. The economic costs of tobacco use are equally devastating (破坏性的). In addition to the high public health costs of treating tobacco-caused diseases, tobacco kills people at the height of their productivity, depriving (剥夺) families of breadwinners(养家糊口的人) and nations of a healthy workforce. Tobacco users are also less productive while they are alive due to increased sickness. A 1994 report estimated that the use of tobacco resulted in an annual global net loss of 200 thousand million US dollars, a third of this loss being in developing countries.

 Tobacco and poverty are closely linked. Many studies have shown that in the poorest households in some low-income countries as much as 10% of total household expenditure is on tobacco. This means that these families have less money to spend on basic items such as food, education and health care. It contributes to a higher illiteracy rate, since money that could have been used for education is spent on tobacco instead.

1.

 Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the first paragraph?

A. Smoking causes 10 percent of the deaths worldwide.

B. About 10 million people will die from smoking each year by 2020.

C. Half the people in the world will be killed by smoking.

D. Roughly there are 1,300 million smokers nowadays.

2.

 According to the passage, tobacco affects a family in the following aspects EXCEPT _______.

A. relationship B. education

C. health       D. economy

3.

 The text uses a lot of figures to _____.

A. show we shouldn’t smoke too much

B. tell people exactly the number

C. warn people of the harm of smoking

D. indicate the writer had a careful investigation

4.

 The underlined word “illiteracy” in the last paragraph means ____.

A. great intelligence         B. good education   

C. bad behaviors              D. inability to read or write

5.

 What is the best title of the passage?

A. Tobacco Should Be Banned.

B. Why Is Tobacco a Major Threat to Public Health.

C. Tobacco and Poverty Go Hand in Hand.

D. Tobacco May Cause Death.