第三部分 阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The engineer Camillo Olivetti was 40 years old when he started the company in 1908. At his factory in lvera, he designed and produced the first Italian typewriter. Today the company’s head office is still in Ivrea, near Turin, but the company is much lareer than it was in those days and there are offices all around the world.
By 1930 there was a staff of 700 and the company turned out 13,000 machines a year. Some went to customers in Italy, but Olivetti exported more typewriters to other countries.
Camilllo’s son, Adriano, started working for the company in 1924 and later he became the boss. He introduecd a standard speed for the production line and he employed technology and desion specialists. The company developed new and better typewriters and the calculators（计算器）.In 1959 it prodyced the ELLA computer system. This was the first mainframe（主机）computer designed and brade in Italy.
After Adriano died in 1960, the company had a period of financial problems. Other companies, especially the Janpanese, made faster progress in electronic technology than the Italian company.
In 1978, Carlo de Benedetti became the new boss. Olivetti increased its marking and service networks and made agreements with other companies to design and produce more advanced office equipment. Soon it became one, of the world’s leading companies in informationg technology and communications. There are now five independent companies in the Olivetti group --- one for personal computers,one for other office equipment, one for systerms and servicse, and two for telecommunications.
1.From the text we learn that__________.
A.by 1930 Olivetti produced 13,000 typewriters a year
B. Olivetti earned more in the 1960s than in the 1950s
C.some of Olivetti,s 700 staff regularly visited customers in Italy
D. Olivetti set up offices in other countries from the very beginning
2.What was probably the direct result of Olivetti,s falling behind in electronic technology?
A.A dtiano’s death.              B.A period of financial problem
C.its faster progress             D.Its agreements with other companies
3.What do we know about Olivetti ?
A.It produced the best typewriter in the word.
B.It designed the word’s first mainframe computer.
C.It exported more typewriter than other computer.
D.It has five independent companies with its head office in lvrea.
4.The best title for the text would be___________.
A.The Origin of Olivetti                    B.The Success of Olivetti
C.The History of Olivetti                   D.The Producich of Olivetti

It is thought that one billion people I the world,  _    is half the word’s workers, earn their living by farming.

A. if    B. that    C. which   D. what

It is thought that one billion people I the world,  _    is half the word’s workers, earn their living by farming.

A. if    B. that    C. which   D. what

It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers（生产商） follow certain uniform standards for various features of clothes．What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men．Take a look at the way your clothes button．Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s form the left．Considering most of the word’s population----men and women----are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women．So why do women’s clothes button from the left?
History really seems to matter here．Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants．For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier．On the other hand, having men’s shirts button form the right made sense, too．Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt．
Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning form the left is still the standard for them．Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change．At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned form the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women’s shirts that buttoned from the right．After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch．Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts．
【小题1】What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?

A．They tended to wear clothes without buttons．

B．They were interested in the historical matters．

C．They were mostly dressed by servants．

D．They drew their swords from the left．

It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers（生产商） follow certain uniform standards for various features of clothes．What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men．Take a look at the way your clothes button．Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s form the left．Considering most of the word’s population----men and women----are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women．So why do women’s clothes button from the left?

       History really seems to matter here．Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants．For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier．On the other hand, having men’s shirts button form the right made sense, too．Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt．

       Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning form the left is still the standard for them．Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change．At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned form the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women’s shirts that buttoned from the right．After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch．Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts．

What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?

       A．It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years．

       B．It is different for men’s clothing and women’s．

       C．It woks better with men than with women．

       D．It fails to consider right-handed people．

What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?

       A．They tended to wear clothes without buttons．

       B．They were interested in the historical matters．

       C．They were mostly dressed by servants．

       D．They drew their swords from the left．

Women’s clothes still button from the left today because         ．

       A．adopting men’s style is improper for women

       B．manufacturers should follow standards

       C．customs are hard to change

       D．modern women dress themselves

The passage is mainly developed by          ．

       A．analyzing causes                  B．making comparisons

       C．examining differences            D．following the time order