Thomas Edison was one of ten said to be the greatest genius of his age. There are only a few men in all of the history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be happy only because someone said he was a genius. “There is no such thing as genius,” Edison said. He said tha t what people called genius was mostly hard work.
   But Edison was a dreamer as well as a worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. Nature, he often said, is full of secrets. He tried to understand them; then, he tried to learn what could usefully be done with them.
Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people will do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking can give men enjoyment and pleasure.
    Edison could not understand how anyone could be uninterested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what ideas he had about life. “Work,” he answered. “Discovering the secrets of nature and using them to make men happier.” He said he had enough inventions in his mind to give him another 100 years of work.
62. Edison thought____________.
 A. he could be happy if he was a genius       

 B. genius plays the most important part in one’s success
C. hard work could do better than genius      

D. genius could do better than hard work

63. Edison was _____________.
A. very much interested in nature            

B. interested in discovering the secrets of nature
C. interested in changing people’s ideas
D. uninterested in making people happier by discovering the secrets of nature

64. In Edison’s opinion,______________.
A. thinking can supply people with enjoyment and pleasure as well as help
B. people’s success lies mostly in genius
C. hard work is the second important thing in making people successful
D. there are few secrets for him to discover later
65. The last sentence in the passage most probably implies __________ .
A. life is too short for Edison to invent more for human beings
B. Edison made 100 inventions in his life
C. Edison was able to live and work for 100 years
D. People of his time were ready to give Edison another 100 years’ work          

阅读表达（共5小题；每小题3分，满分15分）

阅读下面短文并回答问题，然后将答案写到答题卡相应的位置上（请注意问题后的字数要求）。

You Can Lead A Horse To Water , But You Can’t Make It Drink. This idiom refers to the fact that one can show the people around him the way to do things , he can offer good advice but he cannot force them to act or to make them take it.

It is the best way to suggest the fact that everybody has his own personality and the possibility to choose what he considers to be the best choice in his life no matter the circumstances . Very frequently we have come across the fact tha  , best mend    and we try to give him the best dvice. As an outsider you can see things differently and you can be the best one to offer some advice.

Generally , people prefer to do things in their own way which they consider to be the best . But they need to learn from their mistakes even if they repeat the same mistake two or more times . On the other hand . we cannot force people to do what they don’t want to because each one of us has his own preferences and wishes in life . For example , parents cannot oblige their children to choose to study a certain job just because they want that . A person would choose what he thinks it matches with his own personality and ambitions because this is the only way he’d feel proud of his choice and he would enjoy what he does.

Therefore , we can say that our point of view is very important when making decisions that respect our life and our problems with the persons that surround us . And that , moreover , it is necessary to make mistakes because it is the best means to understand what we have done wrong and that we shouldn’t repeat it .

1.What’s the author’s attitude towards making mistakes ?(Please answer within 10 words.)

2.How does the author introduce the topic of the text?(Please answer within 5 words.)

3.What is the main idea of Paragraph 3 ? (Please answer within 8 words.)

4.Fill in the blank with proper words or phrases.(Please answer within 10 words.)

C
The announcements by the NASA，in the form of several Web site postings and a video posted on YouTube，were in response to worries that the world will end on Dec．21，2012．
The doomsday(末日) rumour reached a high point with the release of the new movie “2012”，directed by Roland Emmerich．In the movie，Yellowstone blows up, showering the continent with black ash．Tidal waves wash over the Himalayas，where the governments of the planet have secretly built a ship which a select 400，000 people can ride out the storm．There are hundreds of hooks devoted to 2012，and millions of Web sites，depending on what combination of“2012”and“doomsday”you type into Google．All of it，astronomers say, is nonsense．“Most of what's claimed for 2012 relies on wishful thinking and ignorance of astronomy．”Ed Krupp， an expert on ancient astronomy，wrote in an article in the November issue of Sky＆Telescope．
“I get angry at the way people are being influenced and frightened to make money,” Morrison said．“There is no right to frighten children to make a buck．”suggested David Morrison，an astronomer at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field，Calif．He said he had been getting about 20 letters and e—mail messages a day from people as far away as India scared out of their wits．Morrison said he did not blame the movie for all this，as much as many other supporters of the Mayan prediction．But then，he said，“my doctorate is in astronomy，not psychology．”
In an e—mail exchange, Krupp said：“We are always uncertain about the future，and we always consume representations of it．We are always attracted by the romance of the ancient past．”A NASA spokesman，Dwayne Brown，said the agency did not comment on movies，leaving that to movie critics．But when it comes to science, Brown said, “we felt it was careful to provide a resource．”
If you want to worry，most scientists say，you should think about global climate change or nuclear war．But if ancient prophecies(预言)get you going，here are some things Morrison and the others think you should know．
64．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Dr．Morrison blamed the Movie“2011”for the panic it aroused in the public around the world．
B．People who watched the movie were seared and firmly believed that the end of the world was coming．
C．In terms of science it was better to provide evidence and theory at the same time．
D．Dr．Morrison thought it was not right to make money by frightening people．
65．It can be inferred from the text that        ．
A．astronomers think that doomsday is likely to happen in the near future
B．the reason why the NASA posted web site postings was to make people interested in astronomy
C．scientists think we shouldn't worry about doomsday but show concern about environment protection
D．most astronomers agree that the world is not ending—at least anytime soon
66．Which of the following would be the best title?
A．A New Movie“2012”            B．Is Doomsday Coming?
C．End-of-the-World Stories          D．Astronomers Comment on Movies
67．What would the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
A．Evidence that the Mayans thought something special would happen in 2012．
B．What will really happen in 2012．
C．The reason why there is no need to worry about doomsday．
D．Ancient stories about the end of the world．

第四部分：任务型阅读(共10小题；每小题l分，满分10分)

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意：每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。

Experts debunk Maya doomsday（末日） predictions -- But that hasn't stopped books, movies from cashing in.

If the ancient Maya and filmmaker Roland Emmerich are correct, the apocalypse（大灾变） will happen very fast, maybe quicker than his new 2½-hour movie.

Predictions of global ruination are rippling around the globe with seismic（地震的） force, all loosely based on a 5,000-year Maya calendar that ends Dec. 21, 2012. Countless Web sites and blogs anticipate(预料) the end of days, as do various New Age groups and would-be prophets(预言者) offering guidance and how-to tips. On Amazon.com , you can read hundreds of book titles combining the year 2012 with terms such as “apocalypse,” “catastrophe” and “end of the world.”

As always, doomsday sells — and a lot of people are buying it.

“There's the psychobabble(心理呓语) aspect,” said Robert Epstein, former editor of Psychology Today magazine and a lecturer at the University of California San Diego. “It's the Sigmund Freud/death wish idea: People glom onto（对…感兴趣） doomsday predictions because there's some small part of them that wants to die, and die spectacularly（壮观的）. I don't believe it, but it's one way to look at this.”

It's Emmerich's way. The German director specializes in wreaking havoc on an epic scale, from climatic cataclysm in 2004's “The Day After Tomorrow” to angry aliens and reptiles in “Independence Day” and “Godzilla.”  In “2012,” he finishes the job.

The digitized disasters of “2012” are oversized, overwrought and sometimes literally over the top, as when a humongous tsunami washes over the Himalayan mountains, whose average height exceeds 20,000 feet. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, a 10.5-magnitude earthquake — a temblor at least 30 times more powerful than any real quake ever recorded — yanks the city apart like a giant zipper, sending chunks sliding into the Pacific Ocean.

That's not physically possible, of course. Nor is a 10.5-magnitude quake, said Thomas Rockwell, a geologist at San Diego State University. To generate that much energy, “you'd need a rupture that extends all around the planet.”

All of that other stuff “is pure Hollywood bunk,” said Bernard Jackson at the UCSD Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences.

Entertaining, though, unless you happen to believe the Maya really predicted the end of the world. They didn't, said Geoff Braswell, a UCSD anthropologist. The long-count calendar doesn't signal the end of anything except the end of that particular calendar. “It's just like a car odometer. Unfortunately, hardly anybody reads ancient Mayan. Modern media hype（骗局）, on the other hand, is almost inescapable.

Nicholas Christenfeld, a professor of psychology at UCSD, suggests a more elemental human need. Being swallowed by the Earth or incinerated in a giant fireball “fits neatly with the idea that people want to believe there's a plan, that existence isn't random and pointless,” Christenfeld said.

“We all missed creation, but if we can bear witness at the other end, be part of some grand cosmic destruction, that gives life meaning,” he said. 

It helps, too, not to think very hard about the facts, said Lou Manza, a professor of psychology at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa. “These claims have been around forever, and they have all been false, 100 percent wrong,” Manza said.

Of course, prognosticators（预言者, 占卜者） usually have an explanation for that, Christenfeld said.

“They might say it was a misinterpretation,” he said. “They got the date wrong. They might claim humanity acted in time to prevent the destruction. Or faith came to the rescue because people believed something bad was going to happen, it didn't have to happen.”

D
Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago. He studied the observations of comets(彗星)which other scientists had made. The orbit of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem. He could not figure it out. Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems.
However, Halley had a friend named Isaac Newton, who was a brilliant mathematician. Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it. He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the shape of an ellipse(椭圆形).
Now Halley set to work. He figured out(解决，计算出)the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists. He made a surprising discovery. The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit. Yet their appearance had been 75 to 76 years apart.
This seemed very strange to Halley. Three different comets followed the same orbit. The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets as people thought. He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times. The comet had gone away and had come back again.
It was an astonishing idea! Halley felt certain to make a prediction(预言)of what would happen in the future. He decided that this would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested. In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky. Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before. Ever since then that comet had been called Halley’s comet, in his honor.
63. Edmund Halley figured out the orbit of ____.
A. some different comets appearing several times
B. the same comet appearing at different times
C. three different comets appearing at the same time
D. several comets appearing at the same time
64. Halley made his discovery ____.
A. by doing experiments
B. by means of his own careful observation
C. by using the working of other scientists
D. by chance
65. Halley made a surprising, but correct prediction in the year____.
A. 1704          B. 1705     C. 1706           D. 1707
66. This passage in general is about ____.
A. Halley and other scientists        B. the orbit of a comet
C. Newton and Halley             D. Halley and his discovery