More surprising, perhaps, than the current difficulties of traditional marriage is the fact that marriage itself is alive and thriving（旺盛的）. As Skolnich notes, Americans are a marrying people: relative to Europeans, more of us marry and we marry at a younger age. Moreover, after a decline（衰退）in the early 1970s, the rate of marriage in the United States is now increasing. Even the divorce（离婚）rate needs to be taken in this pro-marriage context: some 80 percent of divorced individuals remarry. Thus, marriage remains by far the preferred way of life for the vast majority of the people in our society.

　　What has changed more than marriage is the nuclear family. Twenty-five years ago, the typical American family consisted of the husband, the wife, and two or three children. Now, there are many marriages in which couples have decided not to have any children, and there are many marriages where at least some of the children are from the wife’s previous marriage, or the husband’s, or both. Sometimes these children spend all of their time with one parent from the former marriage; sometimes they are shared between the two former spouses（配偶）．

　　Thus, one can find every type of family arrangement. There are marriages without children; marriages with children from only the present marriages; marriages with“full-time”children from both the present and former marriages; marriages with“full-time”children from the present marriage and“part-time”children from former marriages. There are stepfathers, stepmothers, half-brothers and half-sisters. It is not all that unusual for a child to have four parents and eight grandparents! These are enormous changes from the traditional nuclear family. But even so, even in the midst of all this, there remains one constant: most Americans spend most of their adult lives married.

By calling Americans a marrying people the writer means that ________.

　　A. Americans are more traditional than Europeans

　　B. Americans expect more out of marriage than Europeans

　　C. there are more married couples in the USA than in Europe

　　D. more of Americans, as compared with Europeans, prefer marriage and they accept it at a younger age

Divorced Americans ________ .

　　A. prefer the way they live                   B. will most likely remarry

　　C. have lost interest in marriage               D. are the majority of people in the society

Which of the following can be presented as the picture of today’s American families？

　　A. Different types of family arrangements have become socially acceptable.

　　B. A typical American family consists of only a husband and a wife.

　　C. Americans prefer to have more kids than before.

　　D. There are no nuclear families any more.

Though great changes have taken place in the structure of American families, ________ .

　　A. the majority of Americans still have faith in marriage

　　B. the functions of marriage remain unchanged

　　C. most Americans prefer a second marriage

D. most Americans prefer to be single

We may have hosted some difficult house guests once or on even more occasions. Are you still worrying about how to deal with them? Here below are some tips on how to deal with those difficult house guests.

You’ve been waiting an hour to eat breakfast but your guests are still sleeping.

“Unless you adjusted a time for breakfast the evening before, let your guests sleep-in and enjoy your breakfast without them. If possible, keep their breakfast warm. Or better yet, when entertaining it’s always a good idea to have cold breakfast (as well as lunch, dinner and snack) food on-hand.”

——Pamela Eyring，president and director of The Protocol School of Washington

Your guest’s teenage son is a Facebook addict and hogs your computer all day long.

“If you have a guest whose fingers are fixated to your keyboard, kindly let him know that you are expecting work email and give him enough time to finish using it.”

——Ummu Bradley Thomas, founder of the Freddie Bell Jones Modeling and Finishing School, Inc.

Your couch surfing, unemployed nephew has been here a month and is showing no sign of leaving.

“There is nothing wrong with saying ‘John, you have been here a month and have not put in any applications. What can I do to help you get your resume together? I would like to make a plan that will assist you in getting back on your feet and allow me to eventually have my extra room back for guests that will soon be arriving.’”

——Diane Gottsman, owner of The Protocol School of Texas

Your guests expect you to accompany them to every single tourist attraction in your city. It’s tiring and expensive.

“If your guests didn’t offer to treat you, politely decline and offer to meet them afterwards for dinner or drinks. That way they know you enjoy their company.”

——Pamela Eyring, president and director of The Protocol School of Washington

You gave your friend a closet shelf for her stuff but her clothes are thrown all over the place.

“You should simply say ‘I am happy to have you use my closet but your clothes seem to have a mind of their own. Would you mind keeping your clothes on the top shelf? It would make it easier for me to find my things when I am in a rush and looking for them. Thank you.’”

——Diane Gottsman, owner of The Protocol School of Texas

1.According to Ummu Bradley Thomas, which of the following is the best way to deal with the guests?

A．Kindly explaining to him you need to use the computer.

B．Politely asking him to stop using the computer at once.

C．Introducing other toys to him to play with.

D．Simply letting him keep using the computer as he likes.

2.The passage gives the following tips EXCEPT that _______.

A．declining the guests’ requests if you hate to accompany them everywhere

B．reminding them to keep their clothes on the top shelf

C．trying to offer at least one dish based on his or her preferences

D．keeping their breakfast warm or having cold breakfast food on-hand

3.Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A．How to Entertain Your Guests

B．How to Keep Good Personal Relations

C．How to Find the Best Solution

D．How to Deal with Difficult House Guests

4.In which section of a magazine can we most probably see this passage?

A．Science           B．Society           C．Economy          D．Education

 

If you look for a book as a present for a child, you will be spoiled for choice even in a year when there is no new Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling’s wizard is not alone: the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and in turn led to increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.

Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics, in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading at all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.

Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability of computer games. Maybe the books boom has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Gordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre-budget report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.

Reading Recovery is aimed at six-year-olds, who receive four months of individual daily half- hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.

International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well, but read less – often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.

Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?

A. Many children’s books have been adapted from films.

B. Many high-quality children’s books have been published.

C. The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films.

D. The sales of presents for children have increased.

Statistics suggested that ___.

A. the number of top students increased with the use of computers.

B. a decreasing number of children showed interest in reading.

C. a minority of primary school children read properly.

D. a large percentage of children read regularly.

What do we know about Reading Recovery?

A. An education of it will be made sometime this year.

B. Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking.

C. It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading.

D. Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading.

Reading for fun is important because book-loving children ____.

A. takes greater advantage of the project.

B. shows the potential to enjoy a long life.

C. is likely to succeed in their education.

D. would make excellent future researchers.

The aim of this text would probably be ____.

A. to overcome primary school pupils’ reading difficulty.

B. to encourage the publication of more children’s books.

C. to remind children of the importance of reading for fun.

D. to introduce a way to improve early childhood reading.

 

第II卷（共45分）

注意事项：

       1．用0.5毫米的黑色签字笔书在答题纸上。

       2．答卷前，将答题纸密封线内的项目填写清楚。

第四部分 书面表达（共两节, 满分45分）

第一节 阅读表达 （共5小题；每小题3分，满分15分）

       阅读下面的短文，并根据文章后的要求答题。（请注意问题后的词数要求）

       [1]Hi, I write this letter to you, my parents, to let you know what I’m thinking．

       [2]Running a business, raising three children, then raising all three into self-sufficient college graduates is difficult to do．While loving each child individually and fairly, strict house rules have also developed…going out late is difficult to accomplish．I would like to suggest setting a later curfew （宵禁）, maybe midnight, or even one o’clock in the morning．

       [3]While working up to twenty hours a week, my social life has been on the decline since school started．Naturally, you understand how important my friends are to me．Looking back to the summer, there have been many nights that I have wanted to go out, but if it was past nine o’clock, I would not be allowed to．You tell me to go to the party until my curfew, but if the rule continues, I will see my friends for an hour．Seeing my friends for an hour is better than nothing, but not enough to communicate with others．

       [4]Gaining confidence and trust from you both are things I look forward to, and hopefully I am at an age where I can live up to your expectations．I acknowledge that you are watching over me, and don’t want your little girl to be hurt, and I appreciate that fully．But I can ____________ now that I am older．

       [5]For the time and effort it has taken you to raise me, I sincerely thank you, but letting freedom into my teenage years will be beneficial to all of us．Please feel free to talk to me whenever you have made a decision．I’ll always be around．

76．What is the writer’s purpose in writing the letter? （within 10 words）

                                                                                      

77．Fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with proper words．（within 6 words）

                                                                                  

78．Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?

       I will always be available and ready for a talk．

                                                                                  

79．Do you think strict house rules are necessary for teenagers? And why? （within 30 words）

                                                                                   

80．Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 into Chinese．

                                                                                  

 

One of the greatest contributors to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations(引文) showing how it was used.

This was a huge task, so Murray had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American surgeon who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.

Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next 17 years, he became one of the staff’s most valued contributors.

But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always decline to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked in a book-lined cell at the Broadmoor Asylum(精神病院) for the Criminally Insane.

Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.

In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.

Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volunteers defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.

1.According to the text, the first Oxford English Dictionary ____.

   A. came out before Minor died

   B. was edited by an American volunteer

   C. included the English words invented by Murray

   D. was intended to be the most ambitious English dictionary

2.How did Dr. Minor contribute to the dictionary?

   A. He helped Murray to find hundreds of volunteers.

   B. He sent newspapers, magazines and books to Murray.

   C. He provided a great number of words and quotations.

   D. He went to England to work with Murray.

3.Which of the following best describes Dr. Minor?

   A. Brave and determined.            B. Cautious and friendly.

   C. Considerate and optimistic.        D. Unusual and scholarly.

4.What does the text mainly talk about?

   A. The history of the English language.

   B. The friendship between Murray and Minor.

   C. Minor and the first Oxford English Dictionary.

   D. Broadmoor Asylum and its patients.