almost 2 years later, I will be not only graduating but graduating with honors. So for anyone out there who thinks that something is out of reach or impossible, remember this: if I would have listened to those people who told me I couldn't do it, then today would just be Saturday.

第二部分 阅读理解 (满分40分，限时35分钟)

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。

A

Dear Sir/Madam，

It worried me a lot when I heard of the plan to cut down St John's Wood to make a car park for shoppers. Although I agree that the town is short of car parks, this idea would be improper.

In the first place, the wood is an area of natural beauty. There are many ancient trees of an unusual kind. I often go there for a picnic or just to relax at weekends. The wood is, without doubt, a natural home for birds, animals and insects. If the trees were cut down, many species would be lost. Furthermore, the wood is right in the centre of a heavily polluted part of town. The trees help to make the air cleaner. The council (地方议会) says they are worried about global warming, yet they wish to cut down trees which help reduce the build-up of gases that lead to global warming because they feed on carbon dioxide. Besides, that area also suffers from high noise levels from passing trucks and the railway line. The trees help reduce the noise levels and do a lot of good to the whole environment.

In my opinion, cutting down the wood would be stupid and pointless. A car park may well attract shoppers to the town and increase the shopkeepers' trade. However, a beautiful part of our town would be destroyed. I would be very interested in hearing what your other readers think.

Yours faithfully，

Roland Chang

语篇解读：本文是应用文。作者希望通过这封信能够让当地政府保留圣·约翰林场而非将其改建为停车场。 21．What has made Roland Chang feel worried? A．That the town is short of car parks. B．That shoppers park their cars badly. C．That there are few parks in the town.

D．That a wood in the town might disappear.

解析：选D 细节理解题。由第一段中的“It worried me a lot ... to cut down St John's Wood to make a car park”可知，把圣·约翰林场改建为停车场的计划让作者十分担心，因为这一计划会让圣·约翰林场从此消失，故选D项。

22．In Paragraph 2, Roland Chang mainly talks about ________. A．the importance of the wood B．the history of the town C．the species in the wood D．global warming

解析：选A 段落大意题。由该段中的“There are many ancient ... birds, animals and insects.”和“The trees help to make the air cleaner.”以及“The trees help reduce the noise levels”等信息可知，作者主要谈论了圣·约翰林场对于这个城镇的重要性，故选A项。

23．Roland Chang wrote the letter mainly to ________. A．introduce a park B．make a suggestion C．express thankfulness D．send his congratulations

解析：选B 写作目的题。总览全文可知，作者希望当地政府能够保留圣·约翰林场，不要将其改建为停车场，并就此给出了自己的一些理由，故选B项。

B

Major League Baseball (MLB) had a problem that was hard to deal with this week, as word spread that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Department of Justice are investigating the St. Louis Cardinals. Employees of the team may have hacked (非法侵入) into the computer database of the Houston Astros. If the investigation proves that the Cardinals did do the act, it will be considered not only unsportsmanlike but also illegal.

In a statement, the MLB said it is “aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal act of the Houston Astros' baseball operations database.” The organization added, “Once the investigative process has been completed by federal law enforcement officials, we will judge the next steps and will make decisions immediately.” The investigation began after the Astros' internal trade talks were posted anonymously (匿名地) on the Internet last year. People wanted to know who was responsible for making the private information public.

The two major-league teams had been competitors for a long time, but things became even worse when the Astros hired Jeff Luhnow as their general manager in 2011. Luhnow had previously worked for the Cardinals as head of their player development department. Investigators think the Cardinals may have been able to get inside the Astros' database using Luhnow's old passwords from when he was working for the St. Louis team.

This is the first known case of a professional sports team hacking another team's network, but some cybersecurity (网络安全) experts say other teams may have done it before without getting caught. Craig Newman, chairman of the privacy and data security practice of the New York law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, told The

Associated Press that it would be “irresponsible” to assume this is the first

incident of hacking in the world of professional sports.

语篇解读：本文是记叙文。圣路易斯红雀队因被怀疑非法侵入休斯敦太空人队的数据库而被调查。 24．What happened to the Cardinals according to Paragraph 1? A．It was in cooperation with MLB. B．It was in need of the FBI's help. C．It was under investigation. D．It was under construction.

解析：选C 细节理解题。由第一段中的“ ... are investigating the St. Louis Cardinals.”可知，圣路易斯红雀队(the Cardinals)正在接受调查。

25．Which event led to the investigation into the incident of hacking? A．The Astros' website went down suddenly. B．The Astros' private information was uncovered. C．Newman commented on the Cardinals' trade talks. D．The Cardinals' private information was uncovered.

解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第二段倒数第二句“The investigation began after the Astros' internal trade talks were posted anonymously on the Internet last year.”可知，休斯敦太空人队(the Houston Astros)的数据库遭到入侵，去年其内部交易信息被匿名放到网上。这一事件成为此次调查的导火索。

26．What can we infer from the text? A．Jeff Luhnow betrayed his team on purpose. B．Jeff Luhnow's old information may have been used. C．Jeff Luhnow had been a general manager before 2011.

D．Jeff Luhnow was not allowed to use the Astros' database.

解析：选B 推理判断题。由第三段末的“the Cardinals may have been able to get inside the Astros' database using Luhnow's old passwords”可知，调查人员认为有可能Jeff Luhnow曾经工作的圣路易斯红雀队用他的旧密码入侵了他现在所在的休斯敦太空人队的数据库。也就是说，他的旧信息可能被利用了。

27．The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph probably refers to ________. A．hacking other teams' network B．stealing money from a competitor C．offering a competitor useful information D．providing untrue information for other teams

解析：选A 词义猜测题。画线词指代最后一段首句中的hacking another team's network。画线词所在句应理解为：这是第一起已知的专业球队非法侵入另一球队网络的案例，但是有网络安全专家说或许其他球队也做过类似的事情，只是没被发现而已。

C

Many doctors know the story of “Mr. Wright”. In 1957 he was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer, and given only days to live. He heard that scientists had discovered a new medication, Krebiozen, which was effective against cancer and he begged the doctor to give it to him. His physician, Dr. Philip West finally agreed. After Mr. Wright had been given an injection on a Friday afternoon, the astonished doctor found his patient out of his “death bed”．

Two months later, Mr. Wright read medical reports that the medication was fake. His condition immediately got worse again. “Don't believe what you read in the papers，” the doctor told Mr. Wright. Then he injected him with what he said was “a new super-refined double strength” version of the drug. Actually, there was no drug, just a mix of salt and water. Later, Mr. Wright was the picture of health for another two months until he read an official report saying that Krebiozen was worthless. He died two days later.

This story has gone unnoticed by doctors for a long time and the idea that a patient's beliefs can make a disease go away has been thought of as too strange. But now scientists are discovering that the placebo effect (宽慰作用) is more powerful than anyone has ever thought. They are also beginning to discover how such unbelievable results are achieved. Through new techniques of brain imagery, it can be shown that a thought, a belief or a desire can cause chemical processes in the brain which can have powerful effects on the body. Scientists are learning that some

body reactions are not caused by information coming into the brain from the outside world, but by what the brain expects to happen next.

Placebos are “lies that heal”， said Dr. Anne Harrington, a historian of science at Harvard University. “The word ‘placebo’ is Latin for ‘I shall please’ and it is typically a treatment that a doctor gives to anxious patients to please them，” she said. “It looks like medication, but has no healing ingredients whatsoever.”

语篇解读：本文是说明文。多年来被忽视的宽慰作用被证实是有效的。

28．After being injected Krebiozen for the first time, Mr. Wright ________. A．got cancer C．felt better

B．almost died D．gave up

解析：选C 细节理解题。由第一段的“the astonished doctor found his patient out of his ‘death bed’”和第二段的“Mr. Wright was the picture of health for another two months”可知，第一次注射Krebiozen后，身患癌症的莱特先生恢复了健康。

29．What caused Mr. Wright's death according to the story? A．The fake drug. B．His own beliefs. C．His damaged brain.

D．The doctor's wrong diagnosis.

解析：选B 推理判断题。由第一、二段可知，不知情的莱特先生注射了Krebiozen并得到医生的宽慰后奇迹般地好了，但得知医生给他注射的药物被官方证实是假的后他很快就死了，由此可知，真正导致他死亡的原因其实是他自己的信念。

30．What's the purpose of Paragraph 3? A．To explore the biology of human brains. B．To explain why people get cancer. C．To analyse how placebos work. D．To question Mr. Wright's story.

解析：选C 段落大意题。由第三段科学家对宽慰作用的研究可知，本段旨在解释信念这样的安慰剂是如何对人起作用的。

31．What does Dr. Anne Harrington think of the placebo effect? A．It is limited. B．It is effective. C．It can cheat patients. D．It goes against science.