III. Cloze test 完形填空 1’ * 20 = 20’
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从26－45各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出能填入相应空白处的最佳选项。
People from Great Britain brought the English language to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. And in the  36  300 years, there were  37  many changes in  38  places that now people can  39  tell an English person  40  an American in the way he or she talks.
Many old words  41  in England but were kept in America. For example, 300 years ago people in Great Britain got their water from something they called either a
“faucet”, a “spigot”, or a “tap”. All these words are  42  heard in different parts of America, but only “tap” is still common in  43 . Americans often made up new words or changed old  44 . “Corn” is one kind of plant in America and  45  in England.
Also, over the last three centuries the English language  46  thousands of new words for things that weren’t known  47 . And often, American and English people used two  48  names for them. A tin can (洋铁罐头) is called “tin” for short in England, but a “can” in America. The word “radio” is  49  all over the world, including America. But many English people call it a “wireless”. And almost anything having something to do  50  cars, railroads, etc.  51  different names in British and American English．
But now American and British English may be growing closer together. One  52  is the large amount (数量) of American speech that British people hear daily in movies, on television, or  53  travelers.  54  this, Americans seem to be influencing (影响) the British more and more. So some day, English may even be  55  on both sides of the Atlantic (大西洋).  
36．A. following     B. recent       C. oldest        D. last
37．A. such              B. too                C. so                 D. great
38．A. either            B. both               C. neither          D. two
39．A. hardly            B. difficulty        C. clearly          D. easily
40．A. with              B. from                C. to               D. and
41．A. disappeared   B. were disappeared   C. spoke   D. were spoken
42．A. not                B. hardly              C. yet             D. still
43．A. America         B. the two countries   C. England     D. British
44．A. word              B. forms              C. ones             D. ways
45．A. another           B. also planted     C. a plant        D. a kind of food
46．A. added          B. has added            C. discovered     D. has discovered
47．A. anywhere    B. in some countries  C. before     D. for centuries
48．A. new              B. short                 C. different      D. surprising
49．A. produced       B. made                 C. developed      D. used
50．A. to                B. away                 C. with             D. from
51．A. has              B. have                 C. has given       D. was given
52．A. thing           B. cause                C. reason           D. expression
53．A. from            B. through             C. on                D. by
54．A. For              B. Because             C. Besides         D. Because of
55．A. different         B. more different   C. the same         D. more useful

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分。满分40分）

Speak, speak, speak!

Practise speaking as often as you can. Speaking to yourself is good practice.

Try recording yourself whenever you can.

Compare your pronunciation with the master version（原版）to see how you can do better and have another go. If you do this several times, you will find that each time is better than last.

Why not learn with someone else?

It helps if you can learn with someone else. If you can persuade a friend or family member to study with you, it will make you keep working.

Don't get stuck by a word you don't know.

Practise improving ways of getting your meaning across when speaking spontaneously（本能地），even if you don't know the exact words or phrases. Think of things you might want to say whenever you have spare time. Use facial expressions, hand movements, anything to make yourself understood.

Language learning is also about intuition（直觉）．

Guesswork is an important way to learn a new language. When listening to recorded material, you aren't expected to understand everything first time round. If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time.

Build up your vocabulary.

A wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning but don’t try to learn too much at once. It’s best to study frequently, for short periods of time. Take at most six or seven items of vocabulary and learn them. Put them into sentences to fix them in your mind, and then come back to them later.

And above all, have fun!

56. What’s the purpose of this passage?

A. To tell us the importance of practicing speaking as often as we can.

B. To tell us a few tips to help us learn a new language well.

C. To tell us that guesswork is an important way to learn a new language.

D. To tell us that a wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning.

57. What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase in the first part?

A. Have another try or attempt.         B. Move away from a place to another.

C. Enter a certain state or condition.     D. Follow or take a certain course.

58. To learn English well, we shouldn’t _______ according to the passage.

A. practice speaking as often as possible

B. study frequently, for short periods of time to build up our vocabulary

C. try to understand everything and stop when we meet a new word

D. try to persuade a friend or family member to study with us

59. According to the passage, to learn a new language well, the most important thing is ______.

A. speaking as much as possible           B. having fun

C. a wide vocabulary                    D. guesswork

Today only one person in five in the United States lives within 50 miles of his birthplace. Since the country was first settled, Americans have moved around a great deal, and are often far away from their parents. Because they have broken ties with their past at a young age, chosen their own occupations, established their own homes and developed their own lifestyles, few American children grow up closely surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins as they do in Italy, Nigeria, or India, for example. This along with the fact that modern American families do not have servants has made the “baby-sitter” a vital part of the American scene. A “sitter” is someone who is hired to care for children for a specific length of time—usually relatively short—while the parents are out for an evening, going to a party or a course of study for example. Sometimes the baby-sitter is also hired for longer period, perhaps when the parents are away for a weekend. In such cases the “sitter” is likely to be a mature and motherly woman. For short periods, teen-agers, college students, nursing students, and others are commonly employed on an hourly basis.

From the point of view of convenience, the best sitters are often young people who live in your apartment building or close by in the neighborhood. This gives you a chance to meet the parents and see what they are like. If an emergency occurs, young sitters can call upon their parents quickly for help; you do not have to take them far to see them home at night or pay expensive taxi fares. Another advantage is that young people living close by can usually fill in quite readily on short notice or for short periods of time.

In an apartment house you can ask the superintendent for permission to post a notice for a baby-sitter by the mailboxes. This is often the best way to find out if there is anyone in the building who is interested in baby-sitting. Retired people as well as students are often glad to earn a little money in this way and can be found by such a note.

A baby-sitter is a person who________.

A. helps to do housework

B. is a cleaning woman

C. looks after children while their parents are out

D. takes care of babies and cooks for the family

It is advised that when you are out for short periods, you may hire________ to be baby-sitters.

A. motherly women                                   B. retired people    

C. young people                                      D. mature women

The best title for the passage is________.

A. American Families                           B. Baby-Sitters

C. A Way of Earning Money for Young Students      D. A Best Way to Find Baby-Sitters

________, she passed the driving test.

A. In short          B. For short         C. In vain       D. In use

Animal moms are great moms. You might be surprised at some of these moms.
Octopuses (章鱼)
The mother octopus lays about 50,000 eggs. For about 300 days, she stays with the eggs, cleans them and protects them. She does not leave to feed. However, this animal mom dies as soon as the eggs are hatched (孵化).
Crocodiles(鳄鱼)
A crocodile mother puts a lot of time and effort into raising her babies. She starts by building a nest (巢), which she guards for over two months! When the eggs are ready to hatch, the young crocs call out to their mother, who digs them out and helps them hatch. She then carries them in her mouth down to the water, where she will guard them for several more weeks or months until they learn to hunt on their own.
Bats （蝙蝠）
Bats become moms by hanging head up in a cave, giving birth. Catching the youngster before it can fall to the ground below, she puts it in a pouch (育儿袋). Bat moms may carry babies with them when feeding for the first few days. As the little bats get bigger and heavier, moms help them hang on the wall of their caves and return often to feed them. It continues for about three weeks, until the babies are grown up and able to fly on their own.
Koalas (考拉)
The animal mom gives birth after a pregnancy (怀孕期) of only 35 days. The hairless baby climbs into its mother’s pouch and lives there for another five months. When the little koala is between five and eight months old, it leaves the pouch for short periods of time but returns for safety. Once it is too big to return to the pouch, it will climb onto its mother’s back and ride there until it is about 12 months old.
【小题1】Which animal moms die when their babies are born?