39. (_____)_ great was the destruction that the earth-stricken region took decades to recover.

2. Passage Sixteen Justin was always prepared. His motto was “Never throw anything out， you never know when it might come in handy.” His bedroom was so full of flat bicycle tires， bent tennis rackets， deflated basketballs， and games with missing pieces that you could barely get in the door. His parents asked him to clean out his room. “What use is a fish tank with a hole in the bottom?” his father asked. But Justin simply smiled and repeated his motto， “Never throw anything out， you never know when it might come in handy.” When Justin was away from home， he always carried his blue backpack. He liked to think of it as a smaller version of his bedroom——a place to store the many objects that he collected. It was so worn and stretched that it hardly resembled a backpack anymore. It was full of the kind of things that seemed unimportant， but when used with a little imagination， might come in handy. Justin had earned a reputation for figuring things out and getting people out of otherwise hopeless situations. Many of his classmates and neighbors sought him out when they needed help with a problem. On the first day of school， his friend Kenny， came looking for Justin. “Do you think you have something in your bag that could help me remember my locker code?” he asked. “I lost the paper it was written on. I have science class in two minutes and if I’m late on the first day it’ll make me look bad for the rest of the year.” Kenny looked genuinely worried. “Relax，” Justin said， taking his backpack off and opened it. “Remember how you borrowed my notebook in hometown to write the code down? Well， I know how we can recover what you wrote. ” He took the notebook and a soft lead pencil out of his bag. The page that Kenny had written on had left faint indentations (旧凹痕) on another page in the notebook. Justin held the pencil on its side and rubbed it lightly over the indentations. Slowly but surely the numbers of the locker code appeared in white， set off by the gray pencil rubbings. “That’s amazing!” Kenny said. “I owe you one.” And he dashed off to open his locker. In what way is Justin’s backpack a smaller version of his bedroom?

A. He uses it as a place to store objects.

B. He uses it to carry his books and sports equipment.

C. His parents tell him to clean it all the time.

D. He has had it for too long a time.

4. . Passage Twenty All friendships require a certain amount of chemistry. But when two people of the opposite sex become friends， sometimes those friendly feelings can start to resemble something more like sexual tension. Male-female friendships can be an emotional minefield of hidden desires. Does this mean you secretly want to jump into bed with all of your friends? Of course not. But do you ever wonder how many of them might be interested if the opportunity presented itself? Maybe you and your platonic (柏拉图式的) friendship are just a bad breakup and a bottle of wine away from crossing that boundary and hooking up (结合). So can two people of the opposite sex ever really be “just friends?” The Hollywood answer to this age-old question is a decisive HELL NO. On screen， male-female friendships always turn into something more. Harry and Sally， Chandler and Monica， Jim and Pam … … Do I need to go on? Even the characters in Just Friends wind up becoming much more than the film’s definitive title suggests. Cinematic stories dictate that when reasonably attractive men and women befriend one another， they are always on the road to romance， whether they realize it or not. But how much truth is there to this friendship as foreplay theory? It is not a whole lot. Real life isn’t a romantic comedy. Men and women go to school together， work together and hang out in plenty of platonic settings without falling hopelessly in love with one another. Last year， a close female friend of mine moved in with a new male roommate. My immediate reaction was， “You two are definitely going to sleep together.” It seemed to me that a single man and woman living under the same roof would inevitably end up doing it. Much to my surprise， the roommate romance never happened. Almost one year later， the two of them have never even come close to seeing each other naked. Instead， their way of life has come to resemble a sexless marriage. They cook for each other， argue over domestic chores and insist that they never， ever think about each other “that way.” In real life， Hollywood foreplay theory ( ) .

A. has been proved true

B. has been practiced a lot

C. doesn’t work

D. is abandoned by people

41. While they were away (_____)_, they allowed their mail to accumulate at the post office.

A. 　 on vacation

B. 　 on hand

C. 　on duty

D. 　 on guard

5. Passage Twenty-Three Washington Irving was America’s first man of letters to be known internationally. His works were received enthusiastically both in England and in the United States. He was， in fact， one of the most successful writers of his time in the country， and at the same time winning the admiration of fellow writers like Scott in Britain and Poe and Hawthorne in the United States. The respect in which he was held was partly owing to the man himself， with his warm friendliness， his good sense， his urbanity， his gay spirits， his artistic integrity， his love of both the Old World and the New. Thackery described Irving as “a gentleman， who， though himself born in no very high sphere， was most finished， polished， witty; socially the equal of the most refined Europeans. ” In England he was granted an honorary degree from Oxford—an unusual honor for a citizen of a young， uncultured nation—and he received the medal of the Royal Society of Literature. America made him ambassador to Spain. Irving’s background provides little to explain his literary achievements. A gifted but delicate child， he had little schooling. He studied law， but without zeal， and never did practice seriously. He was immune to his strict Presbyterian home environment， frequenting both social gatherings and the theatre. Why might Irving’s literary ability have been surprising to the English?

A. They feared competition from American writers.

B. They did not expect the United States to produce good writers.

C. They disapproved of the language American writers used.

D. They thought of the United States as a purely commercial power.

5. Passage Twenty-Seven Out of all the students who enroll in a massive open online course 【MOOC】， only about 5 percent complete the course and receive a certificate of accomplishment. This statistic is often cited as evidence that MOOCs are fatally flawed (有缺陷的) and offer little educational value to most students. Yet more than 80 percent of students who fill out a post-course survey say they met their primary objective. How do we look at these two facts? We’re used to focusing on completion rates in higher education， but they’re not the only—or even the most meaningful—indicator of engagement in open online courses. With no cost to enroll， no punishment for dropping out， and little reward for actually earning a certificate， MOOCs are fundamentally different from traditional classes—and students use them in fundamentally different ways. Data from more than 1.8 million students enrolled in 36 MOOCs offered by the University of Pennsylvania show that students treat MOOCs like a buffet (自助餐)， sampling the material according to their interests and career goals. Some are curious about the subject matter and just watch one or two video lectures; others use the discussion forums to connect with their intellectual peers around the world. Of all enrolled students， nearly 60 percent watch at least one video， complete at least one assignment， or post at least once in a forum. So focusing on the tiny fraction of students who complete a MOOC is misguided. The more important number is the 60 percent engagement rate. Students may not finish a MOOC with a certificate of accomplishment， but the courses nonetheless meet the educational goals of millions. What is the author’s attitude toward MOOCs?

A. Critical.

B. Supportive.

C. Indifferent.

D. Neutral.

1. Passage Six We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary， both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming (把 …按能力分班) pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all， it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade! Besides， it is rather unreal to grade pupils just according to their intellectual (智力的) ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full， not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills， and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning. In our classrooms， we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate， to share， and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with personal problems as well as how to think， to make decisions， to analyze and evaluate， and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher. Sometimes the pupils work in pairs. Sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments， and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this is appropriate. We encourage our pupils to use the library， and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this efficiently. An advanced pupil can do advanced work. It doesn’t matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best， not their least， and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal. The author’s purpose of writing this passage is to ( ) .

A. argue for teaching bright and not-so-bright pupils in the same class

B. recommend pair work and group work for classroom activities

C. offer advice on the proper use of the library

D. emphasize the importance of appropriate formal classroom teaching

5. Passage Thirteen Trees are useful to man in three important ways: they provide him with wood and other products; they give him shade; and they help to prevent droughts and floods. Unfortunately， in many parts of the world， man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important. In his eagerness to make money from trees， he has cut them down in large numbers， only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had. And besides， he is usually too careless to plant and look after new trees. So the forests slowly disappear. This does not only mean that man will have fewer trees. The results are even more serious: for where there are trees， their roots break up soil——allowing the rain to sink in——and also bind the soil， thus preventing it from being washed away easily; but where there are no trees， the rain falls on hard ground and flows away， causing floods and carrying away the rich top-soil. When all the top-soil is gone， nothing remains but worthless desert. Two thousand years ago a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships， with which to gain itself an empire. It set up the empire but， without its trees， its soil became poor and it grew weak. When the empire fell to pieces， the home country found itself faced with floods and starvation.What does the author tell us in this passage?

A. How trees help prevent droughts and floods.

B. The relationship between trees and man.

C. How an empire fell to pieces in ancient times.

D. A story of trees.

2. Passage Twenty-Four Social change is more likely to occur in societies where there is a mixture of different kinds of people than in societies where people are similar in many ways. The simple reason for this is that there are more different ways of looking at things present in the first kind of society. There are more ideas， more disagreements in interest， and more groups and organizations with different beliefs. In addition， there is usually a greater worldly interest and greater tolerance in mixed societies. All these factors tend to promote social change by opening more areas of life to decision. In a society where people are quite similar in many ways， there are fewer occasions for people to see the need or the opportunity for change because everything seems to be the same. And although conditions may not be satisfactory， they are at least customary and undisputed. Within a society， social changes is also likely to occur more frequently and more readily in the material aspects of the culture than in the non-material， for example， in technology rather than in values; in what has been learned later in life rather than what was learned early; in the less basic and less emotional aspects of society than in their opposites; in the simple elements rather than in the complex ones; in form rather than in substance; and in elements that are acceptable to the culture rather than in strange elements. Furthermore， social change is easier if it is gradual. For example， it comes more readily in human relations on a continuous scale rather than one with sharp dichotomies ( 一分为二). This is one reason why change has not come more quickly to Black American as compared to other American minorities， because of the sharp difference in “appearance between them and their white counterparts” .( ) is one of the factors that tend to promote social change.

A. Joint interest

B. Advanced technology

C. Less emotional people

D. Different points of view

3. Passage Twenty-Six Today just as technology changed the face of industry， farmers have undergone an “agricultural revolution” . On the farm of today， machines provide all the power. One of the most important benefits will be the farm computer. A few forward-looking farmers are already using computers to help them run their farms more efficiently. The computers help them keep more accurate records， so they can make better decisions on what crops to plant， how much livestock to buy， when to sell their products， and how much profit they can expect. Many computer companies have been developing special computer programs just for farmers. Programs are being written for hog (猪) producers， grain farmers， potato farmers， and dairy farmers. In the future， farmers will be able to purchase computer programs made to their needs. Because of the growing importance of computers on the farm， students at agricultural colleges are required to take computer classes in addition to their normal agricultural courses. There can be no doubt that farmers will rely on computers even more in the future. While the old-time farm depended on horse power， and modern farms depend on machine power， farms of the future will depend on computer power. Another technological advance which is still in the experimental stage is the robot， a real “mechanized hired hand” that will be able to move and， in some ways， think like a human being. Agricultural engineers believe that computer-aided robots will make startling changes in farming before the end of the century. Unlike farmers of the present， farmers of the future will find that many day-to-day tasks will be done for them. Scientists are now developing robots that will be able to shear (修剪) sheep， drive tractors， and harvest fruit. Even complex jobs will be done by robots. For example， in order to milk their cows， farmers must first drive them into the special barn (畜棚)， then connect them to the milking machines， watch the machines， and disconnect them when they are finished. In the future， this will all be done by robots. In addition， when the milking is completed， the robots will automatically check to make sure that the milk is pure. The complete mobilization of the farm is far in the future， but engineers expect that some robots will be used before long. Which of the following statements is true?

A. Farmers in the future will depend totally on computers.

B. Both computers and robots have been in use on today’s farms.

C. Farmers mainly use machines on their farms at present.

D. Students at agricultural colleges must take computer classes because they can do nothing without the help of computers on today’s farms.

1. Passage Nineteen A 3-year-old boy who was lost in the woods for two days is now safe at home. But Casey Hathaway told his rescuers that he was not alone in the rainy， freezing cold woods. He said he was with a friend——abear. The child went missing on January 22 while playing with friends at his grandmother’s house in the southern state of North Carolina. When the other children returned to the house and Casey did not， the family searched the area for almost an hour before calling the police. Police formed a search and rescue team to look for the young boy in the nearby woods. But two days went by and still——no Casey. The woods of North Carolina are home to many black bears， like this one. It seems one of them helped a little boy while he was lost in the woods. Then on January 24， someone called the police saying they heard a child crying in the woods. Police followed up on the information and found Casey at about 9:30 that night. They pulled him out of some briar (荆棘). He was in good health. Police Officer Chip Hughes said that Casey did not say how he was able to survive in the woods for two days in the cloud， rainy weather， but that “he did say he had a friend in the woods that was a bear that was with him. ” Hundreds of people helped in the search and rescue efforts， including some 600 volunteers， federal police and members of the military. Hughes told reporters that at no point did he think Casey had been kidnapped (绑架). Doctors at Carolina East Medical Center treated Casey for minor injuries. He was then released to his family on January 25 . According to the passage， Casey’s missing is a case of ( ) .

A. pure accident

B. planned kidnap

C. children’s trick

D. animal attack