第二节：任务型阅读（共5小题；每小题1分，满分5分）。阅读下面六个选项（A、B、C、D、E和F），选出符合各自需求的最佳选项。选项中有一个是多余选项。

_______ 75. Carter’s daughter is about five years old. She has her own room. Carter wants to paint her room pink because the little girl likes pink. Meanwhile their house needs new wallpaper. Carter wants some professionals to help with the job.

________76. The Millers move into a small house which has a history of 30 years. They are pleased with the environment but not the electrical work. They have a lot of household appliances (家用电器) which require good electrical support. They need help.

________77. Mrs. Hill finds there is something wrong with her shower room. Each time she takes a shower, a lot of water spreads out of the shower room into the living room. She has to find someone to fix the shower room.

________78. Andrew, a carpenter, has a customer who wants to make some furniture for his new house. Andrew can help him, but he needs some wood first.

________79. Edward is considering paving the driveway. He wants know how he can get some stones.

A. We are one of the most famous stone factories. We have specialized in stone for many years, and we have many kinds of stones used widely in building, landscape, etc. all in high quality, filling at the price!

B. Experienced builder and decorator---interior and exterior painting, plastering, wallpapering, flooring, carpet fitting, tiling. Call for free quotation (报价单) and unbeatable prices, 13236467211/07834224451.

C. Building & window designs for electrical work---All electrical work undertaken include rewiring, power upgrades, fault finding, emergencies, extra sockets(插座), door entry systems, interior and exterior lighting. Twenty four hours call out. 48303560

D. EX kitchen offers complete and professional service, all leading brands are available; all associated building works are undertaken. 07092424744.

E. Building / Repair. From shelves to shower rooms, from fitting kitchens / bathrooms to painting and paperhanging. 20-year experience. Friendly, prompt and reliable, qualified. 019035334477.

F. Wood! Wood! Wood! At Bristol Wood Recycling Project. Wide selection, always changing, bargain prices. Hard, soft, flooring & dimensioned wood. Cutting, sanding (砂纸打磨) & delivery service. Tel: 01179723219. Open Mon-Fri.

 

Since my retirement(退休) from teaching music in 2001 , I have spent a good deal of time painting as an artist . I actually began drawing again in the summer of 1995 when my father died , so perhaps I was trying to recover from the loss of my father , or maybe it was just that it brought back memories of him . In any case , I drew pen and ink animals and landscapes(风景画) much influenced by Krenkel and St. John for five years .

For some strange reason , I had been waiting until my retirement to start doing watercolors again , but as soon as I walked out of the school door for the last time I picked up my brushes and rediscovered Andrew Wyeth , who quickly became my favorite artist . I had looked through all the art books I had on my shelves and found his watercolors to be the closest to how I thought good watercolors should look . So I painted landscapes around Minnesota for three years and tried out many other types of painting . However , watercolors remained my first choice , and I think I did my best work there , showing my paintings at a number of art exhibitions .

Art is now together with my piano playing and reading . There is a time of everything in my world , and it is wonderful to have some time doing what I want to do . As Confucius once said , “ At seventy I can follow my heart’s desire .”

1. What is the text mainly about ?

A. Learning to paint in later life .           B. How to paint wathercolors .

C. An artist-turned teacher .               D. Life after retirement .

2. The author started drawing again in 1995 because__________.

A. he hoped to draw a picture of his father

B. he couldn’t stop missing his father

C. he had more time after retirement

D. he liked animals and landscapes

3. We can infer from the text that the author_______.

A. had been taught by Krenkel and St.John

B. painted landscapes in Minnesota for 5 years

C. believed Wyeth to be the best in watercolor

D. started his retirement life at the age of seventy

4. How does the author probably feel about his life as an artist?

A. Very enjoyable    B. A bit regretful    C. Rather busy    D. Fairly dull

 

Is it true that cats have nine lives? One 4-year-old American cat named Sugar definitely seems to have more than one. Sugar fell from the 19th floor of her owner’s home in Boston last month and was only hurt a little on her chest.
“This story isn’t much of a surprise,” said Jake Socha, a scientist at Virginia Tech University, US, in an interview with the BBC. “There have been lots of records of these cats surviving.”
Back in 1987, scientists studied 132 cats. All of them had been brought to a vet’s clinic in New York after falling from tall buildings. Around 90 percent of these cats were alive after their fall and only 37 percent had been seriously injured.
“Being able to survive falls is a critical thing for animals that live in trees, and cats are one of them,” said Socha.
Cats have developed special body structures to survive accidental falls. Their legs are muscular. This can protect their bones from breaking, Professor Andrew Biewener from Harvard University told the BBC. Cats can also spread out their legs like a parachute to reduce their falling speed, he said.
The strange part, according to scientists, is that cats have a better chance of survival if they fall from higher than seven stories. This is because cats have a good sense of which way is down. They can twist their bodies as they fall to make sure they land on their feet. A higher fall means more time for the cat to change its body position.
However, you should not throw your cat out of the window to see how this works. Most pet cats are overweight nowadays. They are not fit enough to change their position in midair, warned Steve Dale, an American cat behavior scientist.
“This cat (Sugar) was lucky,” Dale said. In fact, most cats would suffer serious lung damage, a broken leg or a broken jaw or teeth damage, he said.
【小题1】What can we learn from Paragraph 3?

A．Cats really do have nine lives.

B．Many cats can survive falls.

C．Cats are the softest animals in the world.

D．More than half of the cats that fall from high places end up badly injured.

【小题2】What does the underlined word “critical” mean in the context?

A．Important.

B．Easy.

C．Challenging.

D．Serious.

【小题3】Why can cats survive falls according to the article?
a. They have a hidden parachute in their bodies.
b. Their legs have developed in a way that protects their bones from breaking.
c. They can land on their feet.
d. They can twist their bodies to reduce the speed at which they are falling.

A．a, b

B．b, c

C．c, d

D．b, d

【小题4】Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．A pet cat that falls out of a tall building is not really at risk.

B．Sugar was lucky that she was only injured in the leg.

C．Cats are confused as to which way is down when they are in midair.

D．A cat that falls from the fourth story of a building is more likely to die than one that falls from the 10th story.

 

One of the most famous buildings in the United States is Carnegie hall ,the home of classical and popular music concerts in New York. Carnegie Hall is known not just for its beauty and history, but also for its amazing sound .It has been said that the hall itself is an instrument. It takes the music and makes it larger than life.

Carnegie Hall is named after Andrew Carnegie, who paid for its construction .Construction of Carnegie Hall began in 1980 and the official opening night was on May 5,1891.

The hall was owned by the Carnegie family until 1924 when it was sold to Robert E. Simon。The building became very old and in 1960,the new owner made plans to destroy it and build an office block. Isaac Stern led a group of people who fought to save Carnegie Hall and finally ,the city of New York bought it for $5 million. It was then fixed up between 1983 and 1995.

In 1986,people realised that Carnegie Hall had never kept proper records of its history.

Advertisements and stories in newspapers about how Carnegie Hall needed help to recover its history led people to send in old concert programmes and information from all over the world. Over 12,000 concert programmes were received and with these it was possible to make a proper record of Carnegie Hall 's concert history.

Carnegie Hall is actually made up of several different halls ,but the Main Hall, now called the Isaac Stern Auditorium, is the most famous. The hall itself can hold an audience of 2804 in five levels of seating .Visitors to the top level have to climb up 105 steps to get there!

Because the best and most famous musicians of all time have played at Carnegie Hall, it is the dream of most musicians who want to be great to play there. This has led to a very old joke which is now part of Carnegie Hall 's history .Question:" How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" Answer:" Practise ,practise, practise."

64..It can be inferred that people wanted to save Cargenie Hall mainly because______.

A.it made a lot of money

B.it was worth visiting

C.many important concerts were held in it.

D.it made some players become famous

65.How did Carnegie Hall recover its concert history?

A.Through newspaper reports   B.Through old concert programmes

C.Through old photographs     D.Through old jokes

66.Why is the Carnegie Hall joke funny?

A.Because you expect the answer to be directions but not advice

B.Because Carnegie Hall is a place where musicians practise a lot.

C.Because it is difficult to find your way to Carnegie Hall

D.Because you don't expect the answer to repeat the same word three times.

67.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A.Historical events happened inside Carnegie Hall

B.The city of New York paid for Carnegie Hall to be built .

C.Carnegie Hall was finally fixed up in 2000.

D.Isaac Stern saved Carnegie Hall ,so the Main Hall is named after him.

 

       Teaching materials for learning Chinese are provided here. There are sites where you may find interesting instructions suitable for you. Here are some sites to begin your surfing.

You may start with these pages from this website — just to get a little taste of it without working too hard.

● A Is For Love      Flash cards for learning a few Chinese words

● Listening to the sound of Chinese      Play a few words of Chinese on your computer.

● A few Chinese words      Each word is enlarged for easy study.

If you are studying Chinese, these tools can help.

● Zhongwen site      More than a dictionary!

● Clavis Sinica

Excellent program by Professor David Porter. It displays a whole document in Chinese [GB] or [BIG5], and gives individual word’s definition, pronunciation as well as much more information when you click on that word.

If you are studying Chinese, this is a very useful tool.

● Chinese Character Visual Dictionary

If you like to know more, go to the following sites on the Internet.

● The Chinese Outpost

Pronunciation, Character and Grammer By Mark Andrew Baker. The best. A must-visit site.

● Learn Cantonese / Mandarin Online

● Internet Based Chinese Teaching and Learning

● Rainland Kids discover Chinese — Site is in Germany

If you want to have a better understanding of China, go to this one.

● Wanfang Data

As an affiliate (分支) of Chinese Ministry of Science & Technology, Wanfang Data has been the leading information provider in China since 1950s. With a wide range of database resources and value-added services, Wanfang Data has become a gateway to understanding Chinese culture, medicine, business, science, etc.

66. The underlined lines are probably some ______.

A. book     B. websites             C. tips for learning Chinese     D. dictionaries for learning Chinese

67. This passage is most probably from ______.

A. a TV programme             B. a teacher’s lecture      C. a newspaper              D. the Internet

68. If you want to know each Chinese character’s definition, pronunciation and much more information, you’d better surf ______.

A. Zhongwen site     B. A Is For Love      C. Clavis Sinica         D. A few Chinese words

69. If you want to know China about its culture, medicine, business, science, you’d better surf ______.

A. Learn Mandarin online                    B. Wanfang Data

C. Rainland kids discover Chinese             D. The Chinese Outpost

70. The underlined word “gateway” in the last paragraph probably refers to ______.

A. an opening in a wall that can be closed by a gate

B. a place through which you can go to another place  

C. the space when a door is open         

D. a means of getting or achieving something