C. check social network sites D. make calls and text messages 57. It can be inferred from the above passage that_______. A. work-related emails should be answered immediately B. a laptop and a smartphone share many functions C. smartphones should always be connected to the net D. a Facebook update is usually very important

58. According to the passage, if you use navigation systems, you may _____

A. miss some really wonderful places B. find a boring trip actually exciting C. be persuaded to eat in a certain cafe D. be misled to a totally wrong place 59. 44. To the writer, one benefit of having a basic mobile phone is that A. it can remind him of important appointments B. it can often be found back after it is stolen C. it can be used as an excuse for his bad habits D. it can save him the trouble of catching trains

B

Work is a very important part of life in the United States. When the early Protestant immigrants came to this country, they brought the idea that work was the way to God and heaven. This attitude, the Protestant Work Ethic(道德规范), still influences America today. Work is not only important for economic benefits, the salary, but also for social and psychological needs, the feeling of doing something for the good of the society. Americans spend most of their lives working, being productive. For most Americans, their work defines them: they are what they do. What happens then, when a person can no longer work? Almost all Americans stop working at age sixty-five or seventy and retire. Because work is such an important part of life in this culture, retirement can be very difficult. Retirees often feel that they are useless and unproductive. Of course, some people are happy to retire; but leaving one’s job, whatever it is, is a difficult change, even for those who look forward to retiring. Many retirees do not know how to use their time or they feel lost without their jobs. Retirements can also bring financial problems. Many people rely on Social Security checks every month. During their working years, employees contribute a certain percentage of their salaries to the government. Each employer also gives a certain percentage to the government. When people retire, they receive this money as ine. These checks do not provide enough money to live on, however, because prices are increasing very rapidly. Senior citizens, those over sixty-five, have to have savings in the bank or other retirement plans to make ends meet. The rate of inflation is forcing prices higher each year; Social Security checks alone cannot cover these growing expenses. The government offers some assistance(补助), Medicare(health care)and welfare(general assistance), but many senior citizens have to change their life styles after retirement. They have to spend carefully to be sure that they can afford to buy food, fuel and other necessities.

Of course, many senior citizens are happy with retirement. They have time to spend with their families or enjoy their hobbies. Some continue to work part time, others do volunteer work. Some, like those in the Retired Business Executives Association, even help young people to get started in new business. Many retired citizens also belong to “Golden Age” groups. These organizations plan trips and social events. There are many chances for retirees.

American society is only beginning to be concerned about the special physical and emotional needs of its senior citizens. The government is taking steps to ease the problem of limited ine. They

are building new housing, offering discounts in stores and museums and on buses, and providing other services such as free courses, food service, and help with housework. Retired citizens are a rapidly growing percentage of the population. This part of the population is very important and we must meet their needs. After all, every citizen will be a senior citizen some day.

60. The author believes that work first became important to Americans because of _______.

A. religion

B. economy

C. psychology

D. family

61. The passage is mainly about _______.

A. money and check

B. senior and junior D. Protestants and Americans B. feel productive

C. work and retirement

62. When Americans stop work, it’s difficult for them to _______.

A. get Social Security checks C. enjoy themselves

D. be religious

C

Reading for pleasure is declining among primary-age pupils, and increasing numbers of \poor\school.

Research presented to a conference last week found that, while parents read to preschoolers , this later tails off, and by the final year of primary school only around 2% read to their children every day. Once children can read skillfully, parents tend to step back, and this usually happens at the age of seven or eight. The report also found that 82% of teachers blame the government's \

They believe that a straitjacket (束缚) of strictly organized schooling is containing young people's ability to read more widely. Two-thirds of teachers surveyed said they lacked time in the school day to introduce a variety of books and that this was a \major obstacle to being able to develop a level of reading\librarians, who could put interesting books before children, and the rise in \children from reading to playing games.

The majority of teachers said the curriculum's (课程) \emphasis on reading as a skill to be mastered\of learning, a skill critical to career advancement in a petitive world.

Reading habits and the digital revolution in publishing were key topics of debate at the conference. The theme of the lack of British culture was supported by children's writer Frank Cottrell Boyce, who wrote the scripts(手稿) for the opening and closing ceremonies of the xx Olympics.

“We discovered the whole nation had forgotten that they did the industrial revolution,\ \are so central to it; books can be written by anyone. A lot of the pleasure of a book is listening to somebody read it to you. \

\found a real love of reading among teachers, and a strong desire ,to encourage more children to read for pleasure ,”said Rob Cheney,\ However ,the teachers also had an overpowering sense of frustration with their situation.\平板电脑）are naturally attractive to children,\the survey said, and predicted a period of awkwardness as everyone else adapts. By xx, children's television will have adopted the presence of this second screen ,and it \be strange not to have children ,at home drawing along on tablets and then having these appearing live in the show \

The hope is “that user-friendly screens could, if material is adapted and downloaded easily, present an opportunity for more ambitious publishing - for example, books children can either read or choose to have read to them; or digital books with moving pictures instead of photos to clarify factual and scientific points. Parental controls that are easy to use would be key, the conference was told, such as \to shut off access to children in the home.

63. Which of the following is not teachers' point of view?

A.Children are prevented from reading widely enough in school. B.Schools pay attention to reading skills instead of reading for fun. C.Playing video games reduces children's time spent on reading. D.School libraries can't provide good books for lack of money. 64. The word \

A. worsened B. preserved C. reduced D. improved 65. It can be inferred from the article that ______ .

A.children don't like reading because books are not attractive B.British people enjoyed reading books very much in the past C.teachers forbid their students to read more books for fun

D.children should enjoy more freedom to use the Wi-Fi at home 66. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Parents should set a limit to their children’s using electric devices at home. B. Children are encouraged to read as many interesting books as they can. C. Children miss out on pleasures of reading a good book in modern life. D. Experts appeals to the government to reduce the heavy burden on children.

D

When I left home for college, I sought to escape the limited world of farmers, small towns, and country life. I long for the excitement of the city, for the fast pace that rural life lacked, for adventure beyond the horizon. I dreamed of exploring the city, living within a new culture and landscape, and being part of the pulse of an urban jungle.

Yet some of my best times were driving home, leaving the city behind and slipping back into the valley. As city life disappeared and traffic thinned, I could see the faces of the other drivers relax. Then, around a bend in the highway, the grassland of the valley would e into being, offering a view of gentle rolling hills. The land seemed permanent. I felt as if I had stepped back in time.

I took fort in the stability of the valley. Driving through small farm munities, I imagined the founding families still rooted in their grand homes, generations working the same lands, neighbors remaining neighbors for generations. I allowed familiar farmhouse landmarks to guide me.

Close to home, I often turned off the main highway and took a different, getting familiar farms again and testing my memory. Friends lived in those houses. I had eaten meals and spent time there; I had worked on some of these farms, lending a hand during a peak harvest, helping a family friend for a day or two. The houses and lands looked the same, and I could picture the gentle faces and hear familiar voices as if little had been changed. As I eased into our driveway I’d return to old ways, being a son once again, a child on the family farm. My feelings were honest and real. How I longed for a land where life stood still and my memories could be relived. When I left the farm for college, I could only return as visitor to the valley, a traveler looking for home.

Now the farm is once again my true home. I live in that farmhouse and work the permanent

lands. My world may seem unchanged to casual observers, but they are wrong. I know this: if there’s a constant on these farms, it’s the constant of change.

The good observer will recognize the differences. A farmer replants an orchard (果园) with a new variety of peaches. Irrigation is added to block of old grapes, so I imagine the vineyard has a new owner. Occasionally the changes are clearly evident, like a FOR SALE sign. But I need to read the small print in order to make sure that a bank has taken possession of the farm. Most of the changes contain two stories. One is the physical change of the farm, the other involves the people on that land, the human story behind the change.

I’ve been back on the farm for a decade and still haven’t heard all the stories behind the changes around me. But once I add my stories to the landscape, I can call this place my home, a home that continues to evolve and changes as I add more and more of my stories.

A poet returns to the valley and says, “Little has changed in the valley, and how closed-minded you all are!” He ments about the lack of interest in sports, social and environmental issues in the poverty and inequality of our life. He was born and raised here, so he might have the right to criticize and lecture us. Yet he speaks for many who think they know the valley. How differently would others think of us if they knew the stories of a grape harvest in a wet year or a peach without a home?

67. What made the writer relax as he drove from the city to the country?

A. The land seemed familiar to him. B. The traffic moved more slowly. C. He could see for miles and miles. D. The people he passed seemed to be calmer. 68. When he was in college, why was the writer sad when he returned to his family home? A. He remembered how hard he used to work. B. He recognized the old housed and land. C. He realized that he was only a visitor. D. He remembered his next door neighbors. 69. Which of the following most likely indicates that there is a sad human story behind a physical change on the farm? A. A new variety of peach is being planted.

B. A piece of land is being sold by a bank.

C. Irrigation is being added to a grape operation. D. A farm is being sold to a large corporation.

70. The fact that most upsets the writer with the poet is that________. A. the poet thinks that the folk people are backward B. the poet’s criticism and ments are not objective C. the poet says that little has changed in the valley D. the poet prefers to live in the urban area

第Ⅱ卷（非选择题 两部分 共35分）

第四部分 任务型阅读（共10小题；每小题1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最恰当的单词。 注意：每个空格只填1个单词。

What is waste and why does it matter?

Waste or rubbish is something that people throw away because they no longer need it or want it. Almost everything we do creates waste and as a society we are currently producing more waste than ever before. We do this at home and at work. The fact that we produce waste, and get rid of it, matters for the following reasons.

When something is thrown away we lose the natural resources, the energy and the time which

have been used to make the product. The vast majority of resources that we use in manufacturing products and providing services cannot be replaced. The use of these resources cannot go on indefinitely - we would run out.

When something is thrown away we are putting pressure on the environment's ability to cope--in terms of the additional environmental impacts associated with extracting(选取) the new resources, manufacturing and distributing the goods, and in terms of the environmental impacts associated with getting rid of our rubbish.

When something is thrown away we are not able to see it as a resource. It is well understood that what is waste to one person may not be viewed as waste by another. A good example of this is scrap metal which has been recycled for many years. Increasingly people are realizing that it makes economic sense as well as environmental sense to use \

The process of using up the earth's natural resources to make products which we then throw away, sometimes a very short time later, is not \-- in other words, it cannot continue indefinitely.

The way we consume materials will affect whether we have a sustainable society that leaves resources available for future generations to use. As consumers and producers, we are central to the concept of sustainability. We need to think about how we can get more out of less, how we can use less and throw away less and how we can do better things with our so-called \away. We need to see \ Title Definition The problem with waste Waste or rubbish is (71) ▲ people throw away when they do not need it or want it any longer. The natural resources, the energy and the time used to make the product bee (73) ▲ when something is throw away. The vast majority of resources can’t be replaced and they would be (74) ▲ up. The environment's ability to extract the new resources, manufacture and distribute the goods and get rid of Important rubbish is (75) ▲ pressure. (72) ▲ People (76) ▲ to see it as a resource. Increasingly, on society people are realizing that it makes both economic sense and environmental sense to use \ ▲ of just throwing it away. Result We’ll leave less resources (78) ▲ for future generations to use. People should have the(80) ▲ of sustainability, thinking about getting more out of less, using less, throwing less (79) ▲ and doing better things with it. People should see \ 第五部分 书面表达（满分25分）

阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150左右的英语短文。