53. How did the writer feel when he saw the fence and bulldozers? k*s5u

　　　 A. Scared. 　　　　B. Confused. 　　　C. Upset. 　　　　　D. Curious.

答案：C

考点：：

解析：推理判断题。根据第一段叙述了解到作者从四岁开始住在Southway Park对面。从第二段了解到作者小时候和朋友在公园里玩耍。而现在公园被围了起来，事实上，作者是很失望、沮丧，自己不能去玩了，而且树都被砍掉了。

52. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Multitasking has become a way of life.

B. Multitasking often leads to efficiency decline.

C. Multitasking exercises need to be improved.

D. Multitasking enables people to remember things better.

答案：B

考点：：

解析：主旨大意题。最后一段中作者继续描述了之前的观点：一个人同时从事多项工作会出现很多问题。回到整篇文章，作者主要观点就是告诉大家：多项工作不能产生高效的结果，故选择B。k*s5u

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　D.

My family and I lived across the street from Southway Park since I was four years old. Then just last year they city put a chain link fence around the park and started bulldozing (用推土机推平) the trees and grass to make way for a new apartment complex. When I saw the fence and bulldozers, I asked myself, “Why don’t they just leave it alone?”

Looking back, I think what sentenced the part to oblivion (别遗忘) was the drought (旱灾) we had about four years ago. Up until then, Southway Park was a nice green park with plenty of trees and a public swimming pool. My friends and I rollerskated on the sidewalks, climbed the tress, and swam in the pool all the years I was growing up. The park was almost like my own yard. Then the summer I was fifteen the drought came and things changed.

There had been almost no rain at all that year. The city stopped watering the park grass. Within a few weeks I found myself living across the street from a huge brown desert. Leaves fell off the park tress, and pretty soon the trees started dying, too. Next, the park swimming pool was closed. The city cut down on the work force that kept the park, and pretty soon it just got too ugly and dirty to enjoy anymore.

As the drought lasted into the fall, the park got worse every month. The rubbish piled up or blew across the brown grass. Soon the only people in the park were beggars and other people down on their luck. People said drugs were being sold or traded there now. The park had gotten scary, and my mother told us kids not to go there anymore.

The drought finally ended and things seemed to get back to normal, that is, everything but the park. It had gotten into such bad shape that the city just let it stay that way. Then about six months ago I heard that the city was going to “redevelop” certain worn-out areas of the city. It turned out that the city had planned to get rid of the park, sell the land and let someone build rows of apartment buildings on it.

The chain-link fencing and the bulldozers did their work. Now we live across the street from six rows of apartment buildings. Each of them is three units high and stretches a block in each direction. The neighborhood has changed without the park. The streets I used to play in are jammed with cars now. Things will never be the same again. Sometimes I wonder, though, what changes another drought would make in the way things are today.

　 本文是一篇夹叙夹议的文章。

51. People tend to make mistake when ____.

　 A. they perform several challenging tasks at a time.

　 B. new messages are processed one after another

　 C. their relationships with others are affected

　 D. the tasks require little thought

答案：A

考点：：

解析：细节理解题。根据第三段内容，特别是最后一句话可知当人在同时从事两项或多项需要花费精力的工作时，常常会出错。故选择A。

50. According to Paragraph 2, why may a person suddenly forget who has called?

　A. He may leave his prefrontal cortex temporarily damaged.

　B. He is probably interrupted by another task.

　C. He is probably not very familiar with the person he has called.

　D. He may need a rest between dialing and speaking. k*s5u

答案：B

考点：：

解析：细节理解题。主要根据“this front part of the brain actually takes a moment of rest between tasks”，可以推断出之后的“if you’ve ever dialed (拨电话) a phone number and suddenly forgotten who you dialed when the line is answered”的情况，所以选择B。

49. Why are some mental aerobic exercises designed to engage people in multitasking?

　　 A. To make them more productive. 　　　　B. To reduce their stress and anxiety.

C. To develop their communication skills. 　D. To help them perform daily tasks more easily. 　　

答案：A

考点：：

解析：推理判断题。根据第一段的内容可知，作者提出：“In fact, some excellent mental aerobic exercises (大脑训练) involve engaging the brain in two or more challenging activities at a time. ”，之后用although引出转折，这种训练有时并不能productive。所以选择A。有部分人认为这种大脑的训练能够帮助他们高效的工作。

48. For students going to London for the first time, which of the following provides the most reliable information?

　 A. University accommodation offices. 　　　B. Loot and Renting

　 C. Noticeboards. 　　　　　　　　　　　D. Family.

答案：A

考点：：

解析：推理判断题。根据第一部分“The advantage of using your university accommodation is that you can get support if you have a problem. ”，而其他的都没有涉及到问题的解决这部分，所以选择A。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C.

　 The term “multitasking” originally referred to a computer’s ability to carry out several tasks at one time. For many people, multitasking has become a way of life and even a key to success. In fact, some excellent mental aerobic exercises (大脑训练) involve engaging the brain in two or more challenging activities at a time. Although checking e-mail while talking on a phone and reading the newspaper may be second nature for some people, many times multitasking can make us less productive, rather than more. And studies show that too much multitasking can lead to increased stress, anxiety and memory loss.

　 In order to multitask, the brain uses an area known as the prefrontal cortex (前额叶脑皮层). Brian scans of volunteers performing multiple tasks together show that as they shift from task to task, this front part of the brain actually takes a moment of rest between tasks. You may have experienced a prefrontal cortex “moment of rest” yourself if you’ve ever dialed (拨电话) a phone number and suddenly forgotten who you dialed when the line is answered. What probably occurred is that between the dialing and the answering, your mind shifted to anther thought or task, and then took that “moment” to come back. Research has also shown that for many volunteers, job efficiency (效率) declines while multitasking, as compared to when they perform only one task at a time.

　 Multitasking is easiest when at least one of the tasks is habitual, or requires little thought. Most people don’t find it difficult to eat and read the newspaper at the same time. However, when two or more attention-requiring tasks are attempted at one time, people sometimes make mistakes.

　 We often don’t remember things as well when we’re trying to manage several details at the same time. Without mental focus, we may not pay enough attention to new information coming in, so it never makes it into our memory stores. That is one of the main reasons we forget people’s names---even sometimes right after they have introduced themselves. Multitasking can also affect our relationships. If someone checks their e-mail while on the phone with a friend, they may come off as absent-minded or disinterested. It can also cause that person to miss or overlook key information being passed on to them.

　 本篇文章是一篇说明文。

47. The information passed on by word of mouth is important because____.

　 A. it is better than that found through any other source

　 B. it helps you find some of the best housing never advertised

　 C. the final year students always offer better information

　 D. the landlords have little valuable information　

答案：B

考点：：

解析：推理判断题。在“Word of mouth”部分寻找答案。口传的信息很重要是因为“is never advertised ；It might be that you can find out about good offers from final year students. ”但是也有弊端，分析四个选项，只有B是正确的。

46. A good agent can help you ____.

　 A. know more people　　　　　　　　　

B. find cheap accommodation

　 C. get the right accommodation quickly

D. get free information about most accommodations

答案：C

考点：：

解析：细节理解题。涉及到agent，在“Accommodation agencies”部分寻找答案。根据“A good agent will listen to your requirements and can save you time in looking for the right accommodation. ”可知好的代理人，能听取意见，并节省时间寻找合适的住宿。故选择C。