第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题2分，满分40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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Upon reaching an appropriate age, usually between 18 and 21 years, children are encouraged, but not forced, to “leave the nest” and begin an independent life. After children leave home they often find social relationships and financial support outside the family. Parents do not arrange marriages for their children, nor do children usually ask permission of their parents to get married, Romantic love is most often the basis for marriage in the United States; young adults meet their future spousesthrough other friends, at jobs, and in organizations and religious institutions, Although children choose their own spouses, they still hope their parents will approve of their choices.

　　In many families, parents feel that children should make major life decisions by themselves. A parent may try to influence a child to follow a particular profession but the child is free to choose another career. Sometimes children do precisely the opposite of what their parents wish in order to assert their independence. A son may deliberately decide not to go into his father’s business because of a fear that he will lose his autonomy in his father’s workplace. This independence from parents is not an indication that parents and children do not love each other. Strong love between parents and children is universal and this is no exception in the American family Coexisting with such love in the American family are cultural values of self – reliance and independence.

1．The writer discusses the marriage of young adults in order to show         .

         A．they choose their spouses according to their own wishes only

         B．they want to win the permission of their parents

         C．they have a strong desire to become independent

         D．they want to challenge the authority of their parents

2．Most young adults in the U.S. get married for the sake of __    __.

　　A．love　　             B．financial concern

　　C．their parents　　               D．family background

3．Based on the passage, it can be assumed that ______.

         A．American young adults are likely to follow the suit of their parents

         B．most American people never make major decisions for their children

         C．American young adults posses cultural values of independence

         D．once a young person steps into his twenties, he will leave his home permanently

4．A son is unwilling to work in his father’s business mainly because           .

         A．he wishes to make full use of what he has learnt in school

         B．he wants to prove his independence

         C．he wishes to do the opposite of what his parents approve of

         D．he wants to show his love for his parents

 

Most of us spend our lives seeking the natural world. To this end, we walk the dog, play golf, go fishing, sit in the garden, drink outside rather than inside the pub, have a picnic, live in the suburbs, go to the seaside, buy a weekend place in the country. The most popular free time activity in Britain is going for a walk. And when joggers (慢跑者) jog, they don’t run the streets. Every one of them automatically heads to the park or the river. It is my firm belief that not only do we all need nature, but we all seek nature, whether we know we are doing so or not.

But despite this, our children are growing up nature-deprived (丧失). I spent my boyhood climbing trees. These days, children are robbed of these ancient freedoms, due to problems like crime, traffic, the loss of the open spaces and strange new ideas about what is best for children, that is to say, things that can be bought, rather than things that can be found.

The truth is to be found elsewhere. A study in the US: families had moved to better housing and the children were assessed for ADHD (多动症). Those whose housing had more natural views showed an improvement of 19%; those who had the same improvement in material surroundings but no nice view improved just 4%.

A study in Sweden indicated that kindergarten children who could play in a natural environment had less illness and greater physical ability than children used only to a normal playground. A US study suggested that when a school gave children access to a natural environment, the entire school would do better in studies.

Another study found that children play differently in a natural environment. In playgrounds, children create a hierarchy (等级) based on physical abilities, with the tough ones taking the lead. But when a grassy area was planted with bushes, the children got much more into fantasy play, and the social hierarchy was now based on imagination and creativity.

Most bullying (恃强凌弱) is found in schools where there is a tarmac (柏油碎石) playground; the least bullying is in a natural area that the children are encouraged to explore. This reminds me unpleasantly of Sunnyhill School, with its hard tarmac, where I used to hang about in corners dreaming about wildlife.

But children are frequently discouraged from involvement with natural spaces, for health and safety reasons, for fear that they might get dirty or that they might cause damage. So, instead, the damage is done to the children themselves: not to their bodies but to their souls.

One of the great problems of modern childhood is ADHD, now increasingly and expensively treated with drugs. Yet one study after another indicates that contact with nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children. However, we spend money on drugs rather than on green places.

The life of old people is much better when they have access to nature. The most important for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years. And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality.

In wider and more difficult areas of life, there is evidence to indicate that natural surroundings improve all kinds of things. Even problems with crime and aggressive behaviour are reduced when there is contact with the natural world.

Dr William Bird, researcher from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, states in his study, “A natural environment can reduce violent behaviour because its process helps reduce anger and behavior that people might regret later.” Wild places need encouraging for this reason, no matter how small their contribution.

We tend to think human beings are doing nature some kind of favor when we are protecting nature. The error here is far too deep: not only do humans need nature for themselves, but the very idea that humanity and the natural world are separable things is damaging.

Human beings are a species of animals. For seven million years we lived on the planet as part of nature. So we miss the natural world and long for contact with non-human life. Anyone who has patted a dog, stroked a cat, sat under a tree with a glass of beer, given or received a bunch of flowers or chosen to walk through the park on a nice day, understands that.

We need the wild world. It is necessary to our well-being, our health, our happiness. Without other living things around us we are less than human.

1.What is the author’s firm belief?

　　A. People seek nature in different ways.

　　B. People should spend most of their lives in the wild.

　　C. People have quite different ideas of nature.

　　D. People must make more efforts to study nature.

2.What does the author say people prefer for their children nowadays?

　　A. Personal freedom.　　            B. Things that are natural.

　　C. Urban surroundings.　　          D. Things that are purchased.

3.What does a study in Sweden show?

　　A. The natural environment can help children learn better.

　　B. More access to nature makes children less likely to fall ill.

　　C. A good playground helps kids develop their physical abilities.

　　D. Natural views can prevent children from developing ADHD.

4.Children who have chances to explore natural areas ________.

　  A. tend to develop a strong love for science　    

B. are more likely to dream about wildlife

　  C. tend to be physically tougher in adulthood　   

D. are less likely to be involved in bullying

5.What does the author suggest we do to help children with ADHD?

　　A. Find more effective drugs for them.　　   

B. Provide more green spaces for them.

　　C. Place them under more personal care.　　

D. Engage them in more meaningful activities

6. In what way do elderly people benefit from their contact with nature?

　　A. They look on life optimistically.　　    B. They enjoy a life of better quality.

C. They are able to live longer.            D. They become good-humored

 

 

　　Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experiences? Strangely enough, the answer to both these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of a person's intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.

　　It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random(随机地) from the population,it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different. If on the other hand we take two identical (完全相同的) twins they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.

　　Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth playsa part. This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.

 

1.Which of these sentences best describes the writer’s point in Para. 1?

　　A. To some extent, intelligence is given at birth.

　　B. Intelligence is developed by the environment.

　　C. Some people are born clever and others born stupid.

　　D. Intelligence is fixed at birth, but is developed by the environment.

 

2. It is suggested in this passage that_______.

　　A. unrelated people are not likely to have different intelligence

　　B. close relations usually have similar intelligence

　　C. the closer the blood relationship between people, the more different they are likely

　 　　to be in intelligence

　　D. people who live in close contact with each other are not likely to have similar degrees

　 　　of intelligence

 

3. In Para. 1, the word "surroundings" means_______.

　　A. intelligence 　　　　　B. life

　　C. environments 　　　　　D. housing

4.The best title for this article would be_______.

　　A. On Intelligence

　　B. What Intelligence Means

　　C. We are Born with Intelligence

　　D. Environment Plays a Part in Developing Intelligence

 

 

It is natural that children are curious (好奇的) about the world around them. For example, they want to know how their hearts beat. They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.

　　As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things. When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers. They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky. Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars. And when they are adults, their curiosity continues. Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career (生涯、职业) in science.

　　Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world. Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the skies. Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences. A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e. g. physics, chemistry .

　　These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world. For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run. They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats sixty-five or seventy-five times a minute. Your heart is a pump (泵) that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrition. When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them. The muscles need oxygen, too . So your brain sends a signal to the heart. The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen. Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles. It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.

　　Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions. If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks. When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks. Rain falls into cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.

　　We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.

According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

　 A．People are curious in the same way.

　 B．People in different countries are interested in different things.

　 C．Men and women are curious about different things.

　 D．People of different ages are interested in different things

Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.

    A．the earth , the oceans and the sky   B．man-made things

    C．plants and animals   D．ocean water

When you run, your muscles need ____.

A．more nutrition and oxygen    B．more signals   

C．more salt                  D．water

A rock cracks _____.

A．in wet regions       B．in dry regions

C．at very high or very low temperatures     D．when salty water falls in

People are always curious because ____.

A．they cannot explain many things  B．they know nothing about the world

C．they know little about the world  D．they want to be scientists

To be sure, only children experienced some things differently from those with sisters and brothers. Many feel more pressure to succeed. In the absence of brothers and sisters, only children also tend to look more exclusively to their parents as role models.

In India, 10-year-old Saviraj Sankpal founded a support group for the tiny minority of only children. Among other things, the group does volunteer work to counter the myth that they are not responsible. “People think we’re treated too kindly and ruined,” says Sankpal, a computer engineering student. “But I’d like to remind them how lonely it can get.”

Most only children, however, say they wish for sisters or brothers only when it comes to caring for aging, unhealthy parents. Britain’s David Emerson, coauthor of the book The Only Child, says that such a person bears a terrible burden in having to make all the decisions alone. Emerson knows from experience: After his father died, he chose to move his elderly mother from their family home, where she was vulnerable(易受攻击的) to house breakers, to a new one with more security. “The move was quite hard on her, and she might feel that I pushed her into it,” he says. “After all, I am left with that responsibility.”

In the future, more and more only children will likely face similar choices. With working mothers increasingly the rule, many families are finding they simply don’t have the time, money or energy to have more than one child. As only children become common, perhaps the world will realize that the charge made against them is unjust.

1.It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s attitude towards only children is 　　　. 

A. critical          B. objective       C. hostile     D. unjust

2.It can be inferred from the passage that only children’s parents should 　　　.

A. find a support group for their only children

B. do volunteer work to help their only children

C. let their only children make all the decision alone

D. set good examples for their only children

3.Emerson decided to move his elderly mother to a new house because he 　　　.

A. is the only one who cares about her

B. doesn’t want to leave her alone

C. wants to share the responsibility with her

D. is worried about her safety

4.It is quite usual now for a working mother to 　　　.

A. spend all her time and money on her only child

B. be responsible for bringing up her only child

C. have and bring up only one child

D. devote all her energy to her job