Part I Reading Comprehension (40%)
Directions: There are four passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and remark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
Passage 1
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.
Almost every family buys at least one copy of a newspaper every day. Some people subscribe (订阅) to as many as two or three newspapers. But why do people read newspapers?
Five hundred years ago, news of important happenings —— battles lost and won, kings or rulers overthrown (推翻) or killed —— took months and even years to travel from one country to another. The news passed by word of mouth and was never accurate. Today we can read in our newspapers of important events that occur in far away countries on the same y they happen.
Apart from supplying news from all over the world, newspapers give us a lot of other useful information. There are weather reports, radio, television and film guides, book reviews, stories and, of course, advertisements. The bigger ones are put in by large companies to bring attention to their products. They pay the newspapers thousands of dollars for the advertising space, but it is worth the money, for news of their products goes into almost every home in the country. For those who produce newspapers, advertisements are also very important. Money earned from advertisements makes it possible for them to sell their newspapers at a low price and still make a profit.
Newspapers often have information on gardening, cooking and fashion as well as a small but very popular section on jokes and cartoons(漫画).
1. The habit of reading newspapers is _________
A. uncommon in the world B. not popular in U. S. A.
C. widespread in the world D. founded among a few families
2. A few hundred years ago news did not ________
A. receive attention B. travel fast
C. spread to other countries D. take long to reach other countries
3. In the past, news was ________
A. sent by telegraph B. passed from one person to another
C. sent by letter D. sent by telephone
4. The money spent on advertisements is
A. wasted B. not much
C. worthwhile D. useless
5. The section on jokes and cartoons is _________
A. read only by children B. of no value
C. not helpful D. read by many
Passage 2
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
Pepys and his wife had asked some friends to dinner on Sunday, September 2nd, 1666. They were up very late on the Saturday evening, getting everything ready for the next day, and while they were busy they saw the glow of a fire start in the sky. By 3 o’clock on the Sunday morning, its glow had become so bright that Jane woke her husband to watch it. Pepys slipped on his dressing—gown and went to the window to watch it. It seemed fairly far away, o after a time he went back to bed. When he got up in the morning, it looked, as though the fire was dying down, though he could still see some flames. So he set to work to tidy his room and put his things back where he wanted them.
While he was doing this, Jane came in to say that she had heard the fire was a bad one; hundred houses had been burned down in the night and he fire was still burning. Pepys went out to see for himself. He went to the Tower of London and climbed up ‘on a high part of the buildings so that he could see what was happening. From there, Pepys could see that it was, indeed, a bad fire and that even the houses on London Bridge were burning. The man of the Tower told him that the fire had started in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane; the baker’s house had caught fire from the over — heated oven and then the flames had quickly spread to the other houses in the narrow lane. So began the GREat Fire of London, a fire that lasted nearly five days, destroyed most of the old city and ended, so it is said, at Pie Corner.
6. What is the passage about?
A. The Great Fire of London.
B. Who was the first to discover the fire.
C. What Pepys was doing during the fire.
D. The losses caused by the fire.
7. They were up very late because ________
A. it was Sunday morning B. they were not very sleepy
C. they were preparing for the dinner. D. they saw the great fire start.
8. What was Pepys doing when his wife told him about the fire?
A. He was asleep. B. He was writing something.
C. He was putting things back. D. He was looking out of the window.
9: “Pepys slipped on his dressing gown. “ To slip on means
A. to be wearing B. to be pushing
C. to take off D. to put on
10. Why did the flames spread quickly?
A. The oven became very hot.
B. The houses were close together.
C. The baker did nothing to stop it.
D. The baker’s house was burning quickly.
