Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (30 marks)
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished .statements For each of them there are four chokes marked A. B. C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
A.
What makes a gift special? Is it the price you see on the gift receipt? Or is it the look on the recipient's face when they receive it that determines the true value? What gift is worth the most?
This Christmas I was debating what to give my father. My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything. I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father. My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming. and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower, a lone dandelion standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.
I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that I already created my gift. I sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind. The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe; my dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood. I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.
Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad's face as he unwrapped those swirling black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame, I knew I had given the perfect gift.
56. The idea for a special gift began to form when the author was______.
A. doing shopping B. having a debate
C. reading a message D. leaving for Wyoming
57. The author's inspiration for the gift came from_____.
A. a photo of a flower B. a story about a kid
C. a call from the mother D. a text about Christmas
58. The underlined word"it" in Paragraph 3 refers to a poem by_____.
A. the father B. the author
C. William Blake D. Edgar Allan Poe
59. The author made the gift by_____.
A. searching for the poems online B. drawing the background by hand
C. painting the letters in three colors D. matching the words with pictures
60. What is the main purpose of the passage?
A. To show how to design images for gifts.
B. To suggest making gifts from one's heart.
C. To explain how computers help create gifts.
D. To describe the gifts the author has received
B.
Still seeking a destination for your weekend break? There are some places which are
probably a mere walk away from your college.
King's Art Centre
A day at the Centre could mean a visit to an exhibition of the work of one of the most
interesting contemporary artists on show anywhere. This weekend tees the opening of an exhibition of four local artists.
You could attend a class teaching you how to 'learn from the masters' or get more creative with paint ---- free of charge.
The Centre also runs two life drawing classes for which there is a small fee.
The Botanic Garden
The Garden has over 8,000 plant species; it holds the research and teaching collection of living plants for Cambridge University.
The multi-branched Torch Aloe here is impressive. The African plant produces red flowers above blue-green leaves, and is not one to miss.
Get to the display house to see Dionaea muscipula, a plant more commonly known as the Venus Flytrap that feeds on insects and other small animals.
The Garden is also a place for wildlife-enthusiasts. Look for grass snakes in the lake. A snake called 'Hissing Sid' is regularly seen lying in the heat of the warm sun.
Byron's Pool
Many stories surround Lord Byron's time as a student of Cambridge University, Arriving in 1805, he wrote a letter complaining that it was a place of "mess and drunkenness". However, it seems as though Byron did manage to pass the time pleasantly enough. I'm not just talking about the pet bear he kept in his roans. He spent a great deal of time walking in the village.
It is also said that on occasion Byron swam naked by moonlight in the lake, which is now known as Byron's Pool. A couple of miles past Grantchester in the south Cambridgeshire countryside, the pool is surrounded by beautiful circular paths around the fields. The cries of invisible birds make the trip a lovely experience and on the way home you can drop into the village for afternoon tea. If you don't trust me, then perhaps you’ll take it from Virginia Woolf- ----over a century after Byron, she reportedly took a trip to swim in the same pool.
61. As mentioned in the passage, there is a small charge for_____.
A. attending the masters' class B. working with local artists
C. learning life drawing D. seeing an exhibition
62. "Torch Aloe" and "Venus Flytrap" are_____.
A. common insects B. impressive plants
C. rarely-seen snakes D. wildlife-enthusiasts
63. We can infer from the passage that Byron seemed_____.
A. to fear pet bears B. to like walking
C. to be a heavy drinker D. to finish university in 1805
64. In the passage Byron's Pool is described as a lake_____.
.A. surrounded by fields B. owned by Lord Byron
C. located in Grantchester D. discovered by Virginia Woolf
65. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Some places for weekend break B. A way to become creative in art.
C. The colourful life in the countryside. D. Unknown stories of Cambridge University.
C.
Harvard researchers have created a tough, low-cost, biodegradable (可生物降解的) material inspired by insects' hard outer shells. The material's inventors say it has a number of possible uses and someday could provide a more environmentally friendly alternative to plastic. The material, made from shrimp ('虾) shells and proteins produced from silk, is called "shrilk." It is thin, clear, flexible and strong.
A major benefit of the material is its biodegradability. Plastic's toughness and flexibility represented a revolution in materials science during the 1950s and '60s. Decades later, however, plastic's very durability (耐用性) is raising questions about how appropriate it is for one-time products such as plastic bags, or short-lived consumer goods, used in the home for a few years and then cast into a landfill where they will degrade for centuries. What is the point of making something that lasts 1,000 years?
Shrilk not only will degrade in a landfill, but its basic components are used as fertilizer(肥料), and so will enrich the soil.
Shrilk has great potential, the inventors said. Materials from which it is made are plentiful in nature, found in everything ranging from shrimp shells, insect bodies to living plants. That makes shrilk low cost, and its mass production possible should it be used for products demanding a lot of material.
Work on shrilk is continuing in the lab. The inventors said the material becomes flexible when wet, so they're exploring ways to use it in wet environments. They're also developing simpler production processes, which could be used for non-medical products, like for computer cases and other products inside the home. They're even exploring combining it with other materials, like carbon fibers, to give it new properties.
66. Paragraph I of the passage is mainly about shritk's_____.
A. remarkable design B. interesting name
C. major features D. basic elements
67. What has become a concern about plastic?
A. Using it properly. B. Producing it cheaply.
C. Developing its properties quickly. , D. Evaluating its contributions fairly.
68. According to the inventors, shrilk has great potential partly because_____.
A. it can help plastic degrade B. it can be found in living things
C. its mass production has been realized D. its raw materials are abundant in mature
69. What are the inventors doing in the lab?
A. Replacing carbon fibers with shrilk.
B. Testing ahrilk's use in wet conditions.
C. Making shrilk out of used household goods.
D. Improving shrilk's flexibility for medical purposes.
70. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. Recent Progress in Environmental Protection
B. Benefits of Insects in Scientific Research
C. The Harm of One-time Products
D. A Possible Alternative to Plastic
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