阅读理解
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，并在答题卡上将黑。
A
A gadget which makes water out of air could become the greatest household invention since the microwave.
Using the same technology as a dehumidifier(除湿器), the Water Mill is able to create a ready supply of drinking water because it can always get it from an unlimited source—the air.
The company behind the machine says not only does it offer an alternative to bottled water in developed countries, but it is a solution for the millions who face a daily water shortage.
The machine works by drawing in wet air through a filter (过滤器) and over a cooling instrument which changes it into water droplets. It can produce up to 12 liters a day. The Water Mill will also produce more water when storms pass over, as the amount of water which is contained in the air increases. In keeping with its eco-development, the machine uses the same amount of electricity as three lights.
Inventor Jonathan Ritchey said: “The demand for water is off the chart. So people are looking for freedom from water distribution systems that are shaky and unreliable.”
The machine, which is about 3 feet wide, is likely to cost ￡800 when it goes on sale here in the spring. Its maker, Canadian firm Element Four, roughly calculates that a litre of water will cost around 20p to produce.
Environmentalists state that half the world’s population will face water shortage because of climate change by 2080. One in five is said to lack access to safe drinking.
The Water Mill is not effective in areas where the amount of water contained in the air is below about 30 percent, but in Britain that won’t be much of a problem.
41. What does the underlined word “it” refer to?
A. Drinking water. B. Invention. C. Microwave. D. Water Mill.
42. What do we learn about the machine?
A. It works in the same way as microwaves. B. It is very expensive for families to afford.
C. It absorbs steam and turns it into water. D. It helps to make the water clean.
43. What does the passage lead us to believe?
A. The cost of water will go up. B. Bottled water will disappear sooner.
C. The machine is energy saving. D. The machine will be popular worldwide.
44. What’s the best title for the passage?
A. A New Way to Solve Water Problem B. A Machine to Make Water out of Air
C. A Dehumidifier to Produce Water D. An Absolutely New Invention
B
The Touchstone
When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for very little money.
The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of animal skin on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”! The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold.
The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles were cold.
So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold — throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. The days continued over a long period of time.
One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are cautious, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.
45. The man bought the book because __________.
A. he wanted to read it B. it was very interesting
C. there was a secret in the book D. he wanted to find the touchstone
46. We can learn from the passage that the touchstone is __________.
A. pure B. cold C. magic D. big
47. Why did the man throw the pebbles into the sea?
A. Because he didn’t want to get the same pebbles.
B. Because he didn’t want others to pick them up.
C. Because he didn’t like their ordinary looks.
D. Because he didn’t like the cold feelings.
48. What does the author want to tell us in the passage?
A. We should create opportunities in our life.
B. We should seek for opportunities in the world.
C. We may lose opportunities if we are not careful.
D. We may discover opportunities when forming habits.
C
Now that the recession（经济衰退）is most likely over, it’s time to start looking at which companies, institutions, and individuals developed well during this unpleasant period. In the downturn that began in December 2007, the recession ruined the wealthiest consumer markets—the United States, Europe, Japan—there were very few safe shelters. But some countries, such as Peru, managed to grow right through the global recession. And some companies arranged their business so that they resisted the contraction and benefited from the trends affecting their industry. Some even managed to bring more business.
Chief among the Great Recession’s winners is McDonald’s. McDonald’s sales growth in 2008 was greater than in 2006 and 2007 . While many restaurants reduced their business operation, it opened nearly 600 stores in 2008 and the chain has achieved same-store sales growth in each of 2009’s first seven months.
In 2008, after a decade of severely trading up to higher quality consumer goods and services, Americans began to trade down with a vengeance（报复）. McDonald’s, which has 44 percent of its 32,000 stores in the United States, was set up to profit (盈利)from trading down in two ways. Fist, in a recession, people eat out less and at home more frequently. And when they eat out, they eat at cheaper places. McDonald’s is so cheap, efficient, and convenient that it was a practical alternative to casual restaurants like Ruby Tuesday.
In the United States, McDonald’s may be a cheap source of calories in food. In other parts of the world, McDonald’s is an appealing brand, identified with middle-class, westernized consumerism. Much of the world, such as China, India, is still not developed for the Golden Arches. Coincidentally, these are the right places where its business has continued to grow during the global recession. While it faces operational challenges in markets, McDonald’s has benefited from a weakening dollar and rising incomes in Asia.
The question now for investors（投资者）is whether McDonald’s can survive the recovery.
When people feel better-off, will they still stop by? The growth in same-store sales in the United States has come down a little in recent months. And there’s a rising amount of the population that has grown accustomed to eating healthier and better. Going forward, McDonald’s may face larger cultural barriers in the United States than in China.
49．From the passage we can infer that _________ in the recession.
?????? A．the developing countries grew wealthier
?????? B．the rich countries became unable to recover
?????? C．the Western companies suffered a great loss
?????? D．the opportunities were brought as well as challenges
50．McDonald’s managed to remain popular in the recession mainly because of??_________.
?????? A．its good operation????????????????????????????????????B．the American food culture
?????? C．its low price and convenience??????????????? D．the weak value of dollars
51．The underlined word “contraction” in Paragraph I means?_________.
?????? A．formal written agreement???????????????????? B．influence on industry
?????? C．disappointing management??????????????????? D．process of reduced trade
52．What can be the best title for this passage?
?????? A．Who Won the Recession
?????? B．Who Traded down in the Recession
?????? C．How Western Business Survived the Recession
?????? D．How McDonald’s Kept Growing after the Recession
D
Summer Holiday Fun 2010 !
The summer holidays are upon us again Here is our guide to summer holiday fun in Peterborough!
Peterborough Museum
The Age of the Dinosaurs’is the museum’s main attraction this summer．Get up close to prehistoric creatures via some great hands—on exhibits! Watch out for monsters lurking around every ember! The museum is open from 10：00am to 5：00pm Monday to Saturday，and from 12：00pm to 4：00 pm on Sundays in August．
Call 01733 864663 for details
Saxon Youth Club
School holiday fun：Young people aged 13—19 will be able to produce their own music, compete in spots activities，or try their hand at cooking at Saxon Youth Club，Saxon Community Centre, Norman Road．Peterborough every Monday and Wednesday from 3：00pm．PLUS an aero ball tournament will take place on Thursday 12th August between 3：30pm and 6：30pm．
Call 01 353 720274 for details
Houghton Mill
Alice through the Looking Class—a new production of the family favorite on Monday 30th．August．Bring rugs or chairs to sit on and a picnic if you wish to eat during the play．Gates open 5：30pro，performance 6：30pm—8：30pm．Tea room will be open until end of the interval．Adult ￡10．Child￡7．Family ￡20．
Booking advisable on 0845 4505157．
Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey
Farmland Gaines：From Wellie Wanging to Pretend Ploughing matches，come and join the Farmland Team．Collect your sporting stickers and create a colorful rosette that is fit for a winner！No need to book，just turn up between 12：00pm and 4：00pm on Thursday 19th August Suitable for children aged four and above，each child should be accompanied by an adult and all activities are included in the normal admission price Tickets Cost￡7 per child．
For further information，call 01223 810080．
53．If you are interested in cooking, you can go to .
A．Peterborough Museum B．Houghton Mill
C．Saxon Youth Club D．Farmland Museum
54．You want to watch the new play with your parents，so it will cost you ．
A．￡7 B．￡17 C．￡27 D．￡20
55．Which of the following activities needs parents’company?
A．Playing farmland games B．Watching a new play．
C．Competing in spots activities． D．Visiting the dinosaur exhibition
56．If Tom ,a middle student , comes to Peterborough for amusement on August 19，he will have ___________ activities to choose from for himself．
A．one activity B．two activities
C．three activities D．four activities
E
The man traveling in the back of the ambulance which was running at a high speed along the streets of Baltimore that morning in 2008 had no business to be alive. By everything that was reasonable, and there were plenty of such things before, he should have been very dead indeed. But he wasn’t. As the people in the hospital pointed out after they had examined him, he was only slightly hurt. Yet he had just fallen 150 feet down a hotel lift shaft(电梯通道)!
Unknown to the man, two things had occurred which were to affect his life that day. On the thirteenth floor of the hotel, somebody had carelessly left the lift gate open. Down in the basement, a pipe had burst and, it had flooded the bottom of the lift shaft to a depth of two feet.
Modern lifts have all sorts of fail-safe system to prevent accidents, but this was ancient equipment—unreliable, slow, dangerous, and suitable material to recycle.
The man had plenty of things to occupy his mind that morning. He had overslept. The hotel had forgotten to call him and now he was late for an important business appointment. He dressed quickly, shaved hurriedly, took hold of his briefcase and hurried off down the hotel corridor.
Good! The lift gate was open. The lift must be there. He need not press the button and wait while the large, clumsy lift made its way upwards. Without looking or thinking, he stepped out into space. The lift cage was, in fact, one floor above him on the fourteenth. The world into which he had walked was a narrow space of not very fresh air, ending 150 feet below in two feet of dirty water.
The man fell, making his journey to the ground at a speed he had never dreamed of. Confused patterns, a rush of air, time enough to be afraid, split-second thoughts of death, then—crash!
Perhaps this gave him the record for some sort of high-diving act. No doubt in future he always looked before he jumped. Certainly he learnt that this was no way to save time. The experts said that those two feet of water had saved his life.
57. What do we learn about the man?
A. He fell from the 13th floor.
B. He was hit by an ambulance.
C. He got caught in a serious flood.
D. He made a record for high-diving.
58. By “…had no business to be alive”, the writer means that the man________.
A. had missed his business appointment B. was alive with excitement
C. was alive and this was surprising D. didn’t do any business
59. The lift did not have a fail-safe system because it was________.
A. unreliable B. slow C. dangerous D. old
60. Which of the following was NOT the cause of the accident?
A. A pipe burst. B. The man overslept.
C. The hotel forgot to call him.
D. Someone left the lift door open.
阅读理解：41-44 ACCB 45-48 ACAC 49-52 DCDA 53-56 CDAB 57-60 ACDA
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