第一节 (共15小题; 每小题2分, 满分30分)
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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
In a room at Texas Children Cancer Center in Houston, eight-year-old Simran Jatar lay in bed with a drip (点滴) above her to fight her bone cancer. Over her bald (秃的) head, she wore a pink hat that matched her clothes. But the third grader’s cheery dressing didn’t mask her pain and weary eyes.
Then a visitor showed up. “Do you want to write a song?” asked Anita Kruse, 49, rolling a cart equipped with an electronic keyboard, a microphone and speakers. Simran stared. “Have you ever written a poem?” Anita Kruse continued. “Well, yes,” Simran said.
Within minutes, Simran was reading her poem into the microphone. “Some bird soaring through the sky,” she said softly. “Imagination in its head…” Anita Kruse added piano music, a few warbling (鸣, 唱) birds, and finally the girl’s voice. Thirty minutes later, she presented Simran with a CD of her first recorded song. www..com
That was the beginning of Anita Kruse’s project, Purple Songs Can Fly, one that has helped more than 125 young patients write and record songs. As a composer and pianist who had performed at the hospital, Kruse said that the idea of how she could help “came in one flash”.
The effect on the kids has been great. One teenage girl, curling (蜷缩) in pain in her wheelchair, stood unaided to dance to a hip-hop song she had written. A 12-year-old boy with Hodgkin’s disease who rarely spoke surprised his doctors with a song he called I Can Make It.
“My time with the kids is heartbreaking because of the severity of their illnesses,” says Anita Kruse. “But they also make you happy, when the children are smiling, excited to share their CD with their families.”
Simran is now an active sixth grader and cancer-free. From time to time, she and her mother listen to her song, Always Remembering, and they always remember the “really sweet and nice and loving” lady who gave them a shining moment in the dark hour.
21.Simran Jatar lay in bed in hospital because ______.
A. most of her hair had fallen out
B. she was receiving treatment for cancer
C. she felt depressed and quit from school
D. she was suffering from a pain in her back
22.What do we know about Anita Kruse’s project?
A. It helps young patients record songs.
B. It is supported by singers and patients.
C. It aims to replace the medical treatment.
D. It offers patients chances to realize their dreams.
23.What does the case of a 12-year-old boy suggest?
A. Most children are naturally fond of music.
B. He was brave enough to put up performance.
C. The project has positive effect on young patients.
D. Singing is the best way to treat some illnesses.
24. What is probably the best title for the passage?
A. Purple Songs Can Fly B. Singing Can Improve Health
C. A Shining Moment in Life D. A Kind Woman—Anita Kruse
B
Bamboo (竹子) is one of nature’s (自然) most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.
Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist reported one bamboo plant which grew 1.5 metres (4 feet) in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1, 000 kinds of bamboo.
Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimeters wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimetres (1 foot) across. This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green.
Bamboo has been used to make many things such as hats and kitchen tools. Because it is strong, bamboo is also used to build buildings.
Many Asian countries have used bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for buildings and supporting?new buildings and bridges while they are being built.
In Africa, poor farmers are taught how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap way to find water because they have no money, and their crops often die from no rain and no water. Bamboo pipes?help poor farmers bring water to their thirsty fields without spending a lot of money.
25. How is bamboo like grass?
?? A. It grows quickly. ?? B. It’s wood. ? C. It is easy to cut??? ? D. It is very thin
26. Though you can see bamboo everywhere, it doesn’t grow?______.
A. in China??? ?? B. in Europe?? C. on mountains??? D. in Africa
27. Why is bamboo used by African poor farmers?
A. Because it is cheap.?? ?? B. Because it has different colours?. ?
C. Because it is strong.????? D. Because it has been used by Asians.
28. Bamboo pipes can?______.
?? A. make money???? ? B. be trees?? ? C. grow quickly? ?? D. carry water
C
A Southampton University team found that people who were vegetarians by 30 had recorded five IQ points higher on average at the age of 10. Researchers said it could explain why people with a higher IQ were healthier as a vegetarian diet was linked to lower heart disease and obesity rates. The study of 8,179 people was reported in the British Medical Journal.
Twenty years after the IQ tests were carried out in 1970, 366 of the participants said they were vegetarians — although more than 100 reported eating either fish or chicken.
Men who were vegetarians had an IQ score of 106, compared with 101 for non-vegetarians; while female vegetarians averaged 104, compared with 99 for non-vegetarians. There was no difference in the IQ scores, between strict vegetarians and those who said they were vegetarians but reported eating fish or chicken.
Researchers said the findings were partly related to better education and higher class, but it remained statistically significant after adjusting for these factors.
Vegetarians were more likely to be female, to be of higher social class and to have higher academic or vocational qualifications than non-vegetarians. However, these differences were not reflected in their annual income, which was similar to that of non-vegetarians.
Lead researcher Catharine Gale said, “The findings that children with greater intelligence are more likely to report being vegetarians as adults, together with the evidence on the potential benefits of a vegetarian diet on heart health, may help to explain why a higher IQ in childhood or adolescence is linked with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease in adult life.
But Dr Frankie Phillips of the British Dietetic Association said，“It is like the chicken and egg. Do people become vegetarians because they have a very high IQ or is it just that they are clever enough to be more aware of health issues?”
29.What’ s the result of the research mentioned in the text?
A. Children with a higher IQ are less likely to have heart disease later in life.
B. Intelligent children are more likely to become vegetarians later in life.
C. Intelligent children tend to belong to higher social class later in life.
D. Children with a healthier heart tend to have a higher IQ later in life.
30.It was found in the research that________.
A. most of the participants became vegetarians 20 years after the IQ tests were carried out
B. female vegetarians were more likely to have higher annual income than non-vegetarians
C. vegetarians who ate fish or chicken were of similar intelligence with strict vegetarians
D. vegetarians were more likely to have higher annual income than non-vegetarians
