The Coalition for the Homeless is an organization that seeks to address the needs of the homeless population in the United States. It is a network of offices, some of which provide food and houses for the homeless population, and some of which fight for the passing of laws that would give every American the right to a place to call home. According to the Coalition’s studies, of over two hundred million people living in th U?ited States, up to three million are homeless—and the number is still growing. Since the late 1970s, fast-rising house prices, large cuts in government supported housing programs, and economic recession(经济衰退) have made it impossible for many Americans to meet housing costs. Sadly, this has resulted in a number of persons being forced to leave their homes and/or unable to find new affordable homes.According to another research, families with children appear to be the fastest-growing part of the homeless population, making up 39% of it. The old idea of a homeless person, that of the single man who gets drunk all the time, is no longer true. A much larger part of the population now finds itself homeless. Even worse, once a person becomes homeless, he often finds it impossible to find a job, since most employers require anyone who wants a job from them to provide a home address on a job application.

1. The word “address” in the first line probably means 　　　　 .

A. talk about　　　 B. deal with　　　 C. fight for　　　 D. write to

2. How many people are homeless in the U.S. according to the Coalition studies?

A. 39% of the population.　　　　　　　　 B. 200 million people.

C. About 3 million people.　　　　　　　　 D. About one-fifth of the population.

3. Homeless people often have difficulty finding a job because________.

A. they have no home addresses

B. they mostly have a drinking problem

C. they aren't supported by government programs

D. they often don't have enough work experience

4. What is the main cause of the rising number of the homeless in the U.S.?

A. The passing of new housing laws.

B. The fast growth of family size.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

C. The slow construction of houses.

D. The ever-rising price of housing.

 

I went into Harrods in London (a huge department store I am sure you have heard of) to buy some Minton china plates for a wedding anniversary which was to be a group gift from friends to other friends in Geneva.

Having only 30 minutes between meeting. I whizzed there in a taxi from the office and battled through the milling people on the 2^nd day of the sales on the ground floor up to the 5^th to the china department. There was a man standing there who was obviously a sales person who I rushed up to and asked if he had this particular china in stock and if it would take long to wrap, etc. He was amazing. He got the plates in seconds, wrapped them up and asked me if I wanted a store card, to which I replied no, because I lived in Switzerland, to which he replied asking if, as I lived abroad, would like a tax rebate form(退税表). After that he showed me what to do, produced a map of the store and told me where I should go for the formalities(程序). That was fabulos! I thanked him and said what wonderful service he had given me. I even asked if he gave this to everyone, to which he answered: “I’m just doing what is required at Harrods”. With that, a tall man in a grey suit approached me and offered his hand to shake mine saying, “Can I introduce myself? I am the Chief Executive of Harrods and what an interesting conversation I have just heard…” He had been wandering through the store (as you should do as a hands-on CEO) and had overheard me thanking this salesman, whose face, I can hardly

describe, was frozen in a mixture of delight awe and astonishment!

Can you imagine the salesman going home to his family and friends recounting what the CEO spoke to him after overhearing him being praised by a customer?

56. The writer went to Harrods to __________.

A. kill time　　　 B. buy some gifts　 C. go sightseeing　　 D. shop for her wedding

57. What does the underlined word “whiz” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?

A. drive　　　　 B. arrive　　　　 C. rush　　　　　　 D. leave

58 Which of the following sentences can best replace “I’m just doing what is required at Harrods” in th second paragraph?

A. “I’m an honest man.”　　　　　　　　　　 B. “I must obey the rules.”

C. “Harrods is strict with its employees.”　　　 D. “Anybody will receive our good service.”

59. As soon as she bought what she wanted, the writer________.

A. went to a meeting.　　　　　　　　　　　 B. flew back to Geneva

C. visited one of her friends D. attended a wedding ceremony

60. The writer wrote the above passage because she thought what she had experience was so ______.

A. pleasant　　　　　 B. strange　　　　　 C. exciting　　　 D. amusing

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。

　　It is hard to predict how science is going to turn out, and if it is really good science it is impossible to predict. If the things to be found are actually new, they are by difinition unknown in advance. You cannot make choices in this matter. You either have science or you don’t and if you have it you are obliged to accept the surprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat and promptly useful bits.

　　The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature. Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the past hundred years of biology. It is, in its way, an illuminating piece of news. It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century Enlightenment to be told by any of us how little we know and how bewildering seems the way ahead. It is this sudden confrontation with the depth and scope of ignorance that represents the most significant contribution of the 20th century science to the human intellect. In earlier times, we either pretended to understand how things Worked or ignored the problem, or simply made up stories to fill the gaps. Now that we have begun exploring in earnest, we are getting glimpses of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered. Because of this, we are depressed. It is not so bad being ignorant if you are totally ignorant, the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality of ignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not-so-had spots, but no true light at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels than can yet be trusted.

　　But we are making a beginning, and there ought to be some satisfaction. There are probably no questions we can think up that can’ t be answered, sooner or later, including even the matter of consciousness. To be sure, there may well be questions we can’t think up, ever, and therefore limits to the reach of human intellect, but that is another matter. Within our limits, we should be able to work our way through to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention.

1．According to the author, really good science ________.

[　　]

A．would surprise the brightest minds of the 18th century Enlightenment

B．will produce results which cannot be foreseen

C．will help people to make the right choice in advance

D．will bring about disturbing results

2．It can be inferred from the passage that scientists of the 18 th century ________.

[　　]

A．thoutht that they knew a great deal and could solve most problems of science

B．were afraid of facing up to the realities of scientific research

C．knew that they were ignorant and wanted to know more about nature

D．did more harm than good in promoting man’ s understanding of nature

3．What is the author’s attitude towards science?

[　　]

A．He is depressed because of the ignorance of scientists.

B．He is doubtful because of the enormous difficulties in scientific research.

C．He is confident though he is aware of the enormous difficulties in scientific research.

D．He is delighted because of the illuminating scientific findings.

4．The author believes that ________.

[　　]

A．man can find solutions sooner or later to whatever questions concerning nature he can think up

B．man can not solve all the problems he can think up because of the limits of human intellect

C．sooner or later man can think up all the questions concerning nature and answer them

D．questions concerning consciousness are outside the scope of scientific research