How I love hutong days (P4)

根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Why would any visitor to Beijing stay in a hotel when they could stay in a hutong?

   The rooms all opened onto the central courtyard. ___1___ Flowers bloomed, beans and peas climbed the bamboo lattice (格子架) and a cat slept in the sun.

Every day after exploring the city, I’d hurry back to the hutong. As the other guests came back we’d greet one another. There was a mother and young daughter from France, an energetic guy from Canada, a teacher from England and several guests from various parts of China.

We swapped stories and tips on where to go and where to eat. ___2___

Coming and going through the narrow alleys (小巷) of the hutong, the residents (居民) would smile and say “ni hao”. ___3___ Recently installed, brightly painted exercise equipment made a perfect place for the elderly women to sit and chat and comment on the passing scenes. Smells of meals cooking filled my nose, as I hung over some laundry on the narrow lane. ___4___

How could a hotel compete? Hotels all over the world are the same. ___5___

Sure, they have a restaurant, but then you don’t walk down the street feeling the pulse (脉搏) of the city as you seek out local food. You don’t go into the kitchen and show your host how you like your eggs prepared.

And you can’t sit in the warm evening, with the flowers, the lazy cat, and have slow, easy conversations with fellow travelers as birds fly overhead, making room for the moon.

Hotel? Hutong? No contest.

A. Laughing children played.

B. New friendships were formed.

C. I felt right at home in this friendly neighborhood.

D. It was hard to imagine that modern Beijing was just a few blocks away.

E. But don’t we travel in order to experience something different?

F. How I love a courtyard!

G. It’s common for tourists to take a pedicab (脚踏三轮车) to visit hutong.

1. F。前一句的courtyard是线索，后面都是讲述在庭院中的景物。

2. B。这两段说明了作者与胡同的其他客人相处很好，所以初看BC都有可能，但是明显B想放到4空位置不合理，所以这里选B。

3. A。本段一直在描述胡同里的居民与令作者喜欢的景物，所以A正确。

4. C。总结自己对胡同的感受。下段开始了住胡同和饭店的比较。

5. E。different和the same构成对比。

Oval Office gets a new look (P4)

Choose the best answer:

1. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1  means that President Obama finally _____.

A. left his own mark on the Oval Office

B. published a new stamp for the Oval Office

C. got to make big decisions in the Oval Office

D. made a national address from the Oval Office

2. According to Dallek, _____.

A. presidents hate their authority to be challenged in the Oval Office

B. presidents give speeches from the Oval Office to show their power

C. whenever presidents make significant decisions they announce them in the Oval Office

D. when presidents admit mistakes in the Oval Office, they think citizens tend to forgive them

3. To show that the Oval Office helps convey a sense of intimacy of the message, the author uses _____ examples.

A. 2 B. 3          C. 4          D. 5 

4. The article is mainly about ____.

A. how the Oval Office was renovated

B. what the Oval Office symbolizes

C. the uses different presidents make of the Oval Office

D. the different kinds of speeches presidents make from the Oval Office

1. A。从划线的句子和本段后面的Americans got their first look at the redecorated (重新装修的) Oval Office.可知Obama对椭圆形办公室进行了装修，目前刚装修好，所以这里应该是说他给这个办公室留下了自己的印记才最合理。

2. B。线索是第二段。

3. B。对于intimacy这点，作者举了Jimmy Carter, Reagan和Nixon3个例子。

4. B。文章主要说了椭圆形办公室代表着权利和亲近，所以B正确，主要用了各总统在这里做的演讲为例子。

Apple DNA found (P5)

1. According to the text, which of the following statements is TRUE of apples?

A. Apples have been eaten for millions of years.

B. Apples don’t vary much in different parts of the world.

C. Apples are considered healthy food.

D. Apples share exactly the same genes with pears and grapes.

2. The researchers on the global team are trying to improve the quality of apples by ____.

A. studying their genes     B. finding new varieties

C. cross-breeding               D. creating new DNA

3. What does the phrase “sheds light on” in the last paragraph mean?

A. Brings light to.              B. Tests out on.

C. Helps to explain.          D. Throws doubts on.

4. The main point of the article is that ____.

A. apples are so popular around the world because of their flavor

B. scientists have mapped the DNA of apples

C. even apples have secrets

D. scientists can make apples tastier

1. C。文章说到最早的苹果是四千年前，所以排除A。有7,500多种，排除B。根据第一段可判断C正确。根据最后一段Even though these fruits look and taste different, they share some genes.可知苹果和桃、葡萄并不是完全相同的基因，而是部分基因类似，可排除D。

2. A。The team now wants to find more of the apple’s secrets, such as which genes control flavor.主要是通过绘制基因图谱来了解苹果的基因，以此来提高苹果的质量。

3. C。意思是帮助解释，使……能够了解。

4. B。本文主要讲科学家们破解了苹果基因，以及这会带来的影响。

Facing up to challenges (P6)

1. The underlined words “fall short” in Paragraph 1 probably mean _____.

A. make a decision

B. begin to experience something

C. have someone else to blame

D. fail to reach a standard

2. What is Obama’s second piece of advice for graduates?

A. Learn to accept who you are.

B. Develop the right attitude to disadvantages.

C. Don’t hurt people you love.

D. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes.

3. The underlined word “this” in Paragraph 4 refers to ____.

A. misunderstanding your friends

B. straying from the values you hold

C. making accusations on television

D. blaming someone else for your mistake

4. We can infer from Paragraphs 5 and 6 that the community ____.

A. has got used to making excuses

B. has lived up to its responsibility

C. is satisfied with itself

D. provides fewer resources than it used to

5. In the last two paragraphs, Obama calls on the graduates to ____.

A. welcome different ideas, people and experiences

B. participate in as many social activities as they can

C. make friends with people who share their political views

D. be honest and concerned about the community

1. D。由句中的Take responsibility not just for your successes; take responsibility where you fall short as well.可知这里应该是和successes对应的情况，又根据下文提到的“you’re not going to ace every class”“You’re not going to succeed…”可以推断出fall short的意思是“没有达到标准，不合格”。

2. B。第一段第一句Obama建议毕业生不要为自己找借口。在下文中他进一步提到了很多人在遭遇挫折时的坏习惯：start looking around for somebody else to blame；倒数第二段他进一步总结自己的观点：So, graduates, I hope you’ll continue those efforts. Don’t make excuses. 所以答案为B，Obama告诫毕业生要正确对待自己的不足与失败。

3. D。上一段谈到了人们处理人生不如意之事的常见做法：to start looking around for somebody else to blame，并列举了三个事例。此处this指代的是这种处理方式，而不是某个事例，故选D。

4. B。推理判断题，根据第五段“This community could have made excuses”“because that’s not what happened.”及第六段“Instead, this community was honest with itself about where you were falling short.”等句子可推知答案。

5. A。倒数第二段I hope you’ll continue those efforts这一句起承上启下的作用，those efforts 指的是You resolved to do better, push your kids harder, open their minds wider, expose them to all kinds of ideas and people and experiences. 倒数第二段对这句话进行详述。

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

I remember the exact moment I learned the principle of preparing for luck.

I was on the wrestling (摔跤) team. Now, if there’s one thing I can tell you about any sport, it is that wrestling is probably the sport that has the least      1      . There are only two people out on the mat, so you cannot     2     it on your teammates or your coach. And guess what? There is no    3    because we do the whole thing indoors, so you can’t say, “It was raining” or “It was snowing.” It makes    4      to say wrestling is the sport with the least luck.

On our team were two world champions; one of them had been a world champion five times. We        5   had five people who were national champions. One of them was a guy      6      the name of John.

John had never been    7    in any high school wrestling competition that I could remember,     8     he was a national champion. There was nobody locally who could touch him.

One day, we    9     a match with our biggest opponent (对手). John went out on the mat, and about a minute and 30 seconds into the match he tried to make a particular     10    . He rolled over, and his opponent      11    him halfway through his roll. He was pinned (压住)      12    !

The match was over.

I remember on the way home, one of our teammates tried to     13     John by saying, “Oh, he just got lucky.” John said, “That’s so stupid. The     14    presented itself, and he just took advantage of it.”

We used to have this big   15   in our wrestling room that the coach had put there: “Luck is what happens when opportunity meets       16    .”

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