3. 阅读能力 

Passage 1

1 On November 19,1863, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery. The Civil War was still going on. There was much criticism of President Lincoln at the time. He was not at all popular. He had been invited to speak at Gettysburg only out of courtesy. The principal speaker was to be Edward Everett, a famous statesman and speaker of the day. Everett was a handsome man and very popular everywhere.
2 It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night, alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech. The next day Everett spoke first. He spoke for an hour and 57 minutes. His speech was a perfect example of the rich oratory of the day. Then Lincoln rose. The crowd of 15,000 people at first paid little attention to him. He spoke for only nine minutes. At the end there was little applause. Lincoln turned to a friend and remarked, “I have failed again.” On the train back to Washington he commented sadly, “That speech was a flat failure, and the people are disappointed.”
3 Some newspapers at first criticized the speech. But little by little, as people read the speech, they began to understand better. They began to appreciate its simplicity and its deep meaning. It was a speech which only Abraham Lincoln could have made.
4 Today, every American school child learns Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by heart. Now everyone thinks of it as one of the greatest orations ever given in American history.
1. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln was _______.
A. unpopular B. very critical C. very popular D. very courteous
2. Lincoln was invited to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery because he was ______.
A. a famous orator B. President of the United States at the time
C. very handsome D. A popular statesman
3. It can be inferred from the text that ______.
A. Lincoln prepared his speech very carefully before he went to Gettysburg
B. Lincoln’s speech was full of rich oratory
C. Lincoln was very busy at the time and didn’t have much time to prepare his speech
D. Lincoln’s speech was very long
4. Lincoln’s speech was ______.
A. an immediate success B. warmly applauded
C. a total failure D. not well-received at first
5. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Lincoln’ Gettysburg Address is one of the greatest speech ever delivered in the United States.
B. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is simple in style.
C. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is memorized by every American school child.
D. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address has deep meaning.

Passage 2

1 When I was about six years old, my mother came home one day and found that I had collected half a dozen babies of the neighborhood—all of them too young to walk—and had them sitting before me on the floor while I was teaching them to wave their arms. When she asked the explanation of this, I informed her that it was my school of dance. She was amused, and placing herself at the piano, she began to play for me. This school continued and became very popular. Later on, little girls of the neighborhood came and their parents paid me a small sum to teach them. This was the beginning of what afterwards proved a very lucrative occupation.
2 My mother took me to a famous ballet teacher, but his lessons did not please me. When the teacher told me to stand on my toes I asked him why, and when he replied “Because it is beautiful,” I said that it was ugly and against nature and after the third lesson I left his class, never to return. This stiff and commonplace gymnastics which he called dancing only disturbed my dream. I dreamed of different dance. I did not know just what it would be, but I was feeling out towards an invisible world into which I guessed I might enter if I found the key.
2 My art was already in me when I was a little girl, and it was owing to the heroic and adventurous spirit of my mother that it was not stifled. I believe that whatever the child is going to do in life should be begun when it is very young. I wonder how many parents realize that by the so-called education they are giving their children, they are only driving them into the commonplace, and depriving them of any chance of doing anything beautiful or original.
6. When her mother came home one day, the narrator of the story _____
A. was teaching half a dozen babies to dance
B. was teaching half a dozen babies to walk
C. was collecting babies of the neighborhood
D. was making babies of the neighborhood sit before her on the floor
7. The attitude of the narrator’s mother toward her school of dance was one of ________
A. despise B. contempt C. indifference D. support
8. The narrator thought that ballet was ________
A. stiff, ugly and unnatural B. the most graceful dance
C. a dance that she had dreamed of
D. an invisible world into which she guessed she might enter
9. According to the narrator, she owed her success in art to ________
A. the good education her parents gave her B. her ballet teacher
C. her inborn talent D. the support of her understanding and adventurous mother
10. The central idea of the passage is that .
A. parents should try to discover the natural gift in their children and help to develop it while they are young
B. the so-called good education parents give their children only drives them into the commonplace and deprives them of any chance of doing anything original
C. mothers should be heroic and adventurous D. ballet is no good as a form of dance

Fast Reading

Passage 3

1 Aging is the process of growing old. It occurs eventually in every living thing provided, of course, that an illness or accident does not kill it prematurely. The most familiar outward signs of aging may be seen in old people, such as the graying of the hair and the wrinkling of the skin. Signs of aging in a pet dog or cat include loss of playfulness and energy, a decline in hearing and eyesight, or even a slight graying of the coat. Plants age too, but the signs are much harder to detect.
2 Most body parts grow bigger and stronger, and function more efficiently during childhood. They reach their peak at the time of maturity, or early adulthood. After that, they begin to decline. Bones, for example, gradually become lighter and more brittle. In the aged, the joints between the bones also become rigid and more inflexible. This can make moving very painful.
3 All the major organs of the body show signs of aging. The brain, for example, works less efficiently, and even gets smaller in size. Thinking processes of all sorts are slowed down. Old people often have trouble in remembering recent events.
4 One of the most serious changes of old age occurs in the arteries, the blood vessels that lead from the heart. They become thickened and constricted, allowing less blood to flow to the rest of the body. This condition accounts, directly or indirectly, for many of the diseases of the aged. It may, for example, result in heart attack.
5 Aging is not a uniform process. Different parts of the body wear out at different rates. There are great differences among people in their rate of aging. Even the cells of the body differ in the way they age. The majority of cells are capable of reproducing themselves many times during the course of a lifetime. Nerve cells and muscle fibers can never be replaced once they wear out.
6 Gerontologists -- scientists who study the process of aging -- believe the wearing out of the body is controlled by a built-in biological time-clock. They are trying to discover how this clock works so that they can slow down the process. This could give man a longer life and a great number of productive years.
1. What is the main idea in the first paragraph?
A. Signs of aging are easier to detect in animals than in plants.
B. Aging occurs in every living thing after it has reached maturity.
C. The outward signs of aging may be seen in old people.
D. Not all signs of aging are visible.
2. When the brain begins to age ____.
A. eyesight will begin to decline too B. it becomes lighter
C. the thinking processes go on just as before D. memorization declines
3. "The arteries" refers to ____.
A. the paths along which blood flows to all parts of the body
B. the tubes carrying blood back to the heart
C. vessels that are thickened and constricted
D. such heart diseases as suffered by old people
4. Many of the diseases of old people are the result of ____.
A. lack of blood B. low blood pressure
C. the thickening of the blood vessels D. poor blood circulation
5. "Aging is not a uniform process" means that ____.
A. old people do not have the same outward signs of aging
B. not all people age at the same age C. the process of aging is slow
D. nerve cells and muscle fibers do not age simultaneously
6. Which of the statements about aging is false?
A. People vary in their rate of aging. B. The cells of the body age in different ways.
C. The various parts of the body do not wear out at the same rate,
D. All body cells once worn out can never be replaced.
7. Which piece of information is given in the passage?
A. Gerontologists can give man a longer life.
B. Gerontologists can prevent diseases connected with aging.
C. Gerontologists have discovered that aging is controlled by a built-in biological time-clock.
D. Gerontologists have found ways to slow down the process of aging.
8. According to the passage, what is responsible for many of the diseases of the old?
A. Their trouble in remembering recent events.
B. The worn-out nerve cells and muscle-fibers.
C. The blood vessels that have become thickened and constricted.
D. The rigid and inflexible joints between the bones.