第二部分：阅读理解（共20小题。每小题3分，共60分）阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
A
We thought we had it all---a beautiful house, three healthy children and one more on the way,
two cars, a couple of four-wheelers for entertainment---and we loved it. Then, the market turned and my husband’s job at a construction company was gone. The company was closing down for good.
We both started looking for jobs right away, but there weren’t any to be found. With each passing day we were getting increasingly worried and we continued to work together in order to pull our family through. The more we pulled together, the closer we got. I felt feelings of admiration for my husband that I hadn’t felt in years.
That’s why it was so hard for me to watch him blame himself for our present situation. I continually asked him to stop, but he seemed to want to punish himself for not having a job.
Finally, one afternoon I pulled him aside and said, “We have four healthy children and each other. That’s what’s important. That makes you a rich man.”
“ But what if we lose the house? They’ll hate me—you’ll hate me,” he replied.
I smiled at him and put my hands on both sides of his face to make him look me in the eye. “No matter where we live I will be happy –as long as I have you.” I smiled again. In all the struggling together I had found that deep love for him that I had on the day we said “I do”.
I could see his shoulders and neck relaxed. He held me close and we were able to talk and plan and dream together in a way that we hadn’t for quite some time. It was a turning point for us as a couple and a family.
We are still struggling for out better life, but I consider us well-off because we have something that money can’t buy and no one can take away from us.
36．The underlined sentence in the second paragraph means that________.
A．they became closer as they struggled together
B．they hoped to find jobs in the same company
C．neither of them had the courage to ace difficulty
D．they were trying to make their relationship closer
37．We can learn from the passage that________.
A．they both found good jobs at last.
B．both of them were worried about joblessness.
C．her husband was to blame for the unemployment
D．they didn’t love each other when they got married
38．Which of the following can best describe their present life?
A．Bitter but easy. B．Comfortable and happy.
C．Hard but warm.       D．Well-off and relaxing.
39．The best title of the passage might be________         .
A．We Have It All           B．We Find It Again
C．A Perfect Couple            D．A Hard Time

His aunt’s letters ________ memories of those beautiful days when they used to live together in his hometown. 

A. call at    B. call for  C. call on   D. call up

阅读下列短文，根据所读内容在文章后的表格中填入恰当的单词（注意：表格中的每个空只填一个单词）

For more than twenty years scientists have been seeking to understand the mystery of the ‘‘sixth sense" of direction．By trying out ideas and solving problems one by one，they are now getting closer to one answer．

One funny idea is that animals might have a built-in compass(指南针)．

Our earth itself is a big magnet(磁体)．So a little magnetic needle that swings freely lines

itself with the big earth magnet to point north When people discovered that idea about a thousand years ago and invented the compass，it allowed sailors to navigate (航海)on ocean voyages, even under cloudy skies.

 Actually the idea of the living compass came just from observing animals in nature．

 Many birds migrate twice a year between their summer homes and winter homes．Some of them fly for thousands of kilometers and mostly at night．Experiments have shown that some birds can recognize star patterns．But they can keep on course even under cloudy skies．How can they do that?

A common bird that does not migrate but is great at finding its way home is the homing pigeon．Not all pigeons can find their way home．Those that can are very good at it，and they have been widely studied．

One interesting experiment was to attach little magnets to the birds’ heads to block their magnetic sense—just as a loud radio can keep you from hearing a call to dinner．On sunny days, that did not fool the pigeons．Evidently they can use the sun to tell which way they are going．But on cloudy days，the pigeons with magnets could not find their way．It was as if the magnets had blocked their magnetic sense．

Similar experiments with the same kind of results were done with honeybees．These insects also seem to have a special sense of direction．

In spite of the experiments，the idea of an animal compass seemed pretty extraordinary．How

would an animal get the magnetic stuff for a compass.

An answer came from an unexpected source．A scientist was studying bacteria that live in the

mud of ponds and marshes．He found accidentally little rod-like bacteria that all swam together inone direction—north．

Further study showed that each little bacterium had a chain of dense particles inside，which

proved magnetic．The bacteria had made themselves into little magnets that could line up with the

earth’s magnet．

The big news was that a living thing，even a simple bacterium，can make magnetite．That led

to a search to see whether animals might have it.. By using a special instrument called magnetometer，scientists were able to find magnetite in bees and birds，and even in fish．In each  animal，except for the bee．the magnetic stuff was always in or closer to the brain．Thus．the idea of a built—in animal compass began to seem reasonable．

We thought we had it all---a beautiful house, three healthy children and one more on the way, two cars, a couple of four-wheelers for entertainment---and we loved it. Then, the market turned and my husband’s job at a construction company was gone. The company was closing down for good.We both started looking for jobs right away, but there weren’t any to be found. With each passing day we were getting increasingly worried and we continued to work together in order to pull our family through. The more we pulled together, the closer we got. I felt feelings of admiration for my husband that I hadn’t felt in years.

That’s why it was so hard for me to watch him blame himself for our present situation. I continually asked him to stop, but he seemed to want to punish himself for not having a job.

Finally, one afternoon I pulled him aside and said, “We have four healthy children and each other. That’s what’s important. That makes you a rich man.”

“ But what if we lose the house? They’ll hate me—you’ll hate me,” he replied.

I smiled at him and put my hands on both sides of his face to make him look me in the eye. “No matter where we live I will be happy –as long as I have you.” I smiled again. In all the struggling together I had found that deep love for him that I had on the day we said “I do”.

  I could see his shoulders and neck relaxed. He held me close and we were able to talk and plan and dream together in a way that we hadn’t for quite some time. It was a turning point for us as a couple and a family.

We are still struggling for out better life, but I consider us well-off because we have something that money can’t buy and no one can take away from us.

The underlined sentence in the second paragraph means that________.

       A．they became closer as they struggled together    

B．they hoped to find jobs in the same company

       C．neither of them had the courage to ace difficulty

       D．they were trying to make their relationship closer

We can learn from the passage that________.

       A．they both found good jobs at last.

       B．both of them were worried about joblessness.

       C．her husband was to blame for the unemployment

       D．they didn’t love each other when they got married

Which of the following can best describe their present life?

       A．Bitter but easy.         B．Comfortable and happy.

       C．Hard but warm.          D．Well-off and relaxing.

The best title of the passage might be________         .

       A．We Have It All            B．We Find It Again

       C．A Perfect Couple            D．A Hard Time

His aunt’s letters _____him of those beautiful days when they used to live together in his hometown.

   A. call up    B．call for        C．call on         D．call at