“Sesame Street” has been called “the longest street in the world”. That is because the television program by that name can now be seen in so many parts of the world. That program became one of American’s exports soon after it went on the air in New York in 1969.

In the United States more than six million children watch the program regularly. The viewers include more than half the nation’s pre-school children, from every kind of economic, racial, and geographical group.

Although some educators don’t agree to certain elements in the program, parents praise it highly. Many teachers also consider it a great help, though some teachers find that problems appear when first graders who have learned from “Sesame Street” are in the same class with children who have not watched the program.

Tests have shown that children from all racial, geographical, and economic backgrounds have benefited from watching it. Those who watch it five times a week learn more than occasional(偶然的) viewers. In the US the program is shown at different hours during the week in order to increase the number of children who can watch it regularly.

The programs all use songs, stories, jokes, and pictures to give children a basic understanding of numbers, letters and human relationships. But there are some differences. For example, the Spanish program, produced in Mexico City, devotes more time to teaching whole words than to teaching separate letters.

Why has “Sesame Street” been so much more successful than other children’s shows? Many reasons have been suggested. People mention the educational theories of its creators, the support by the government and private businesses, and the skillful use of a variety of TV tricks. Perhaps an equally important reason is that mothers watch it along with their children. This is partly because famous adult stars often appear on it. But the best reason for the success of the program may be that it makes every child watching feel able to learn. The child finds himself learning, and he wants to learn more.

1. Children who often watch the program _______.

A. can have problems in school                 B. will be well educated

C. will take no interest in their studies          D. have benefited from it

2. What is special about the program?

A. Children learn and enjoy themselves while watching.

B. It makes children feel able to learn.

C. It is shown at different hours during the week.

D. It offers great fun.

3. Why is “Sesame Street” so popular in the world?

A. Because it is supported by the government and businesses.

B. Because it uses a variety of skillful tricks.

C. Because it makes every child watching it feel able to learn.

D. Because mothers watch it along with their children.

4. The best title for this passage can be _ ______.

A. TV Programs                                 B. Sesame Street

C. Educating Children                     D. A Great Success

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I was coaching girls’ track in Iowa and there was a young discus（铁饼）thrower on the team with  36  potential（潜力）. Here goes her story.
At the end of our training   37  the district track meet, this discus thrower, Lucy, asked me if she   38  come to the school on Sunday for a little   39  training. I agreed. The year before, she had placed second at the district meet and   40  missed going to the state meet. She had won every discus event,   41  that district meet! And, her throws in the competitions had   42  been between 106’1” and 110’10”.
Something began to   43  me. Why couldn't Lucy   44  to get the discus to 111 feet? I wondered if it was more a psychological barrier（心理的障碍）  45  a physical one. I decided to try something   46 . I made up my mind to   47  to Lucy.
On Sunday, after her drills, I said, “Why don’t you throw five or six good ones for me to  48 ?” She began to throw again, but   49  were farther than what she had already thrown. But, I didn’t tell Lucy. As I was measuring the   50  one, I pulled out some more tape (量尺) and yelled out to her, “ Come to see this! This one is  51 ! ” It wasn’t. Lucy, thinking that this was a personal best, jumped wildly into the air in  52  .
The next afternoon, at the district meet, Lucy   53  with a personal best throw of 114’10”! Just 24 hours after I had lied to her. However, this time she had   54  thrown the discus four feet further than she had ever thrown it before.
Sometimes we   55  our own barriers in our mind. So learn to take control of your mind.
21．A. little          B. great           C. no              D. limited
22．A. after           B. during          C. since           D. before
23．A. could           B. must           C. should         D. would
24．A. helpful        B. extra          C. real           D. regular
25．A. luckily         B. completely     C. narrowly        D. probably
26．A. except         B. including      C. despite        D. with
27．A sometimes       B. always         C. never          D. seldom
28．A. frighten       B. please         C. shock          D. bother
29．A. seem           B. pretend        C. need           D. ask
30．A. apart from     B. rather than    C. because of      D. according to
31．A. impossible     B. familiar       C. new             D. easy
32．A. lie            B. turn           C. reply          D. call
33．A. look           B. measure        C. match          D. take
34．A. many           B. all            C. some           D. none 
35．A. worst          B. closest        C. first          D. final
36．A. higher         B. farther        C. bigger         D. longer
37．A. excitement     B. anxiety        C. puzzlement     D. anger
38．A. disappeared    B. lost           C. won            D. arrived
39．A. actually        B. hardly         C. nearly          D. only
40．A. break          B. remove         C. take           D. set

The deadly earthquake and tsunami (海啸) that struck Japan on March 11 damaged two nuclear power stations. Officials are now working to prevent dangerous radiation from poisoning the air in the area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The Japanese government has ordered people living within 12 and a half miles of the plant to evacuate, and asked those living 12 and a half to 20 miles away to stay indoors.

Nuclear power plants create energy using a chemical reaction that produces large amounts of heat. Reactors(反应堆)in Japan have many long, thin rods, called fuel rods(棒), which must be kept cool.

If the reactor’s fuel rods aren’t cooled, the reaction can burn out of control. That’s what happened at the two Japanese plants after the quake caused a power failure and the cooling systems malfunctioned(发生故障). This overheating could cause radiation to escape and sicken many people.

Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors are built to withstand the many small or moderate earthquakes the country faces each year. But Friday’s earthquake was one of the most severe earthquakes ever recorded.

People exposed to unsafe levels of radiation have a higher than normal risk of getting cancer. The Japanese government has been distributing potassium iodide(碘化钾)pills to people in the surrounding areas to protect those who may have come in contact with radiation from the power plant. The pills flood the body with healthy potassium iodide. The potassium iodide works to crowd out “bad” iodine in the body that may have been poisoned by radiation.

On Tuesday morning, 750 workers left the Fukushima Daiichi plant. However, 50 workers stayed behind to use sweater to cool the fuel rods. These dedicated employees are risking their own lives to save many others.

On Thursday, officials used helicopters, fire trucks, and water cannons to spray water on the reactors to cool the fuel rods. But it’s not clear whether these efforts were successful. Officials are now working on a power line to restore electricity to the plant. They hope this will help restart the plant’s cooling system and stop the fuel rods from leaking radiation.

1.The underlined word “evacuate” in Paragraph 1 probably means            .

2.What can we learn from the text?

3.In the last paragraph, the author mainly states            .

4.This text is most probably taken from            .

Think of some of your favorite singers. When you listen, they can make you happy or sad, peaceful or angry. They can make you relax or want to get up and dance. Gifted singers have the power to affect us in many ways—emotionally, physically and mentally.
But becoming a great singer isn’t as easy as listening to one. It takes practice, devotion and strong lungs! Just ask the well-known American opera（歌剧）star Carol Vaness.
At the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where she often sings, Carol’s voice must be loud enough to be heard by four thousand people. It must reach every person in the theater, without a microphone, even when she’s singing softly. The reason Carol can project her voice that far is the way she breathes.
“When you breathe, it’s like a swimmer taking a deep breath before going underwater,” Carol explains. “You have to take a lot of air into your lungs.”
According to Carol, the main difference between pop singing and opera is “how you breathe, how much air you take in, and how you control it coming out. Regular singing is more like speaking, and it’s lot softer. When I sing for children, they’re often surprised by how the vibrations strike their ears—like waves on a beach, ”Carol says. “In opera, the air doesn’t just go out of your mouth—it vibrates in your chest，the way a guitar vibrates when it’s played.”
Ever since she started piano lessons at the age of ten, Carol has loved music. As she got older, she decided to become a music teacher. When she went to college, she took singing lessons as part of her studies. Her voice teacher discovered that nineteen-year-old Carol had an exceptionally beautiful soprano voice-the highest singing voice for women.
Carol decided to make opera her goal, not only because she loved to sing but also because she loved the drama. Opera is a play in which the characters sing the words instead of speaking them. The stories of opera can be tragic or comical. They can be personal stories about two people falling in love or grand stories about kings and queens who lived long ago. As the characters in an opera sing, the emotions（情感）expressed by words and music come to life.
Today, Carol performs throughout the United States and Europe and she has song for almost twenty years. But she has never forgotten where she started singing in the first palace.
“Put your heart into your singing and enjoy it,” says Carol, “because singing is a great joy. That’s why I sing. In fact, that’s why everybody sings.”
【小题1】According to the passage,  the Metropolitan Opera in New York City     .

  The sea has always interested man. From it he can get food, minerals, and treasure. For thousands of years, he could sail on it. But he could not go far beneath its surface.
Man wants to explore deep into the sea. However, he is not a fish. He must breathe air, so he can’t stay under the water’s surface for any length of time. To explore deep water, man faces even more dangers and problems.
A diver who wants to stay under water for more than a few minutes must breathe air or a special mixture of gases. He can wear a diving suit and have air pumped to him from above. He can carry a tank of air on his back and breathe through a hose(软管) and a mouthpiece. Water weighs 800 times as much as air. Tons of water pushes against a diver deep in the sea. His body is under great pressure.
When a diver is under great pressure, his blood takes in some of the gases he breathes. As he rises to surface, the water pressure becomes less. If the diver rises too quickly, the gases in his blood form bubbles(气泡). The diver is then suffering from the bends(潜函病). The bends can cause a diver to double up in pain. They can even kill him.
【小题1】 On the whole, this text is about _________.

A．deep-sea divers should be in good health.

B．divers explore the deep sea only for treasure.

C．there is a special mixture of gases under the sea.

D．diving under the water too quickly causes a kind of illness.