第4部分：阅读理解(第31～45题，每题3分，共45分)
下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每道题后面都有4个选项。请仔细阅读短文并根据短文回答其后面的问题，从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案涂在答题卡相应的位置上。
第一篇
My Fast Job
I was six when I joined my father and two elder brothers at sunrise in the hayfields of Eufaula, Oklahoma. By the time I was eight I was helping Dad fix up low-income rental properties. He gave me a penny for every nail I pulled out of old boards.
I got my first real job, at JM's Restaurant in town, when I was 12. My main responsibilities were clearing tables and washing dishes, but sometimes I helped cook.
Every day after school I would head to JM's and work until ten. Saturdays I worked from two until eleven. At that age it was unlucky going to work and watching my friends run off to swim or play. I didn't necessarily like work, but I loved what working allowed me to have. Because of my job I was always the one buying when my friends and I went to the local bar Tastee Freez. This made me proud.
Word that I was honest and hardworking got around town. A local clothing store extended credit to me although I was only in the seventh grade. I immediately charged a $ 68 sports coat and a $ 22 pair of trousers. I was making only 65 cents an hour, and I was already $ 90 in debt! So I learned early the danger of easy credit. I paid it off as soon as I could.
My first job taught me discipline, responsibility and brought me a level of personal satisfaction few of my friends had experienced. As my father, who worked three jobs, once told me, "If you understand sacrifice and commitment, there are not many things in life you can't have." How right he was!
31 When the author was a child, he was made to help his father work because___________
A the restaurant was short of hands.
B his family belonged to the low-income group.
C he wanted to earn some money.
D he was stronger than his two brothers.
32 At the age of 12, the author got a job at a restaurant and often worked till late at night because___________
A he liked that work.
B he didn't like playing.
C he was hard-working.
D he felt rewarded by doing that work.
33 The word "Word" in the sentence "Word that I was honest and-hard-working got around town in the fourth paragraph means___________
A statement.
B advice.
C news.
D promise.
34 When the author was in the seventh grade, he was in debt because___________
A he did not work any more.
B he bought clothes on credit.
C he was charged too much for the sports coat.
D he made little money at that time.
35 What does the author want to tell the reader by this text?
A If you know sacrifice and responsibility, you can have many things in life.
B Children from poor families usually have a very unhappy childhood.
C Children should be made to work and earn some money by themselves.
D You will learn discipline and responsibility by working early in life.
第二篇
Stone Hill Mall
Stone Hill Mall has fewer large department stores than most malls but, instead, features more than 100 small specialty shops, while the few that are not used yet will be filled as soon as the mall's owners find proprietors (业主) who fit the mall's image.
One thing that makes Stone Hill Mall popular was that all of the stores remain open from 9 a.m. until 10 p. m., Monday through Friday. This favourable start has certainly been advantageous thanks to such features as its being the only shopping centre in the area to provide free baby-sitting for children from two to eight years old and its offering restaurants to suit every pocket, with the possible exception of the highly budget-conscious. Furthermore, as far as movie entertainment is concerned, Stone Hill Mall tops Westgate Mall, which looked very impressive when it opened last year, with three separate cinemas.来源：www.med126.com
Besides, the air-conditioning system makes sure a comfortable inside temperature of 25 degrees centigrade no matter what the weather is like outside, and in addition to its three beautiful fountains, the mall has a quiet garden area with comfortable benches and chairs for shoppers who have become tired.
One complaint about Stone Hill Mall is that it is located outside the city, but there is a regular bus service between the mall and the city centre. A further complaint might be that, although the mall is surrounded by trees to match it with the scenery, it will be some years before these can effectively make the main buildings and the vast parking lot a part of the area around.
36 Stone Hill Mall is different from other malls because it has___________
A more large department stores.
B more empty space to rent.
C many shops selling special goods.
D shops selling expensive goods.
37 Stone Hill Mall is popular with shoppers mainly because of its___________
A long business hours.
B attractive restaurants.
C children's stores.
D entertainment facilities
38 What makes Stone Hill Mail a more favourable shopping place is___________
A the prices in the shops.
B the weather in the area.
C the childcare facilities.
D the conditions inside the mall.
39 It is implied in the passage that the writer takes a(n)___________ attitude towards the mall.
A critical
B indifferent
C fair
D one-sided
40 The main purpose of the passage is to
A compare Stone Hill Mall with other shopping centers
B introduce the unique features of the mall.
C discuss its strengths and weaknesses,
D draw attention to the inadequacies of shopping centers.
第三篇
Weight on and off the Earth
We are so used to our life on the surface of the earth that it can be quite an effort for our mind to break free of all the ideas that we take for granted. Because we can feel that things are heavy, we think of "weight" as being a fixed quality in an object, but it is not really fixed at all. If you could take a one-pound packet of butter 4, 000 miles out from the earth, it would weigh only a quarter of a pound.
Why would things weigh only a quarter as much as they do at the surface of the earth if we took them 4,000 miles out into space? The reason is this: All objects have a natural attraction for all other objects; this is called gravitational attraction. But this power of attraction between two objects gets weaker as they get farther apart. When the butter was at the surface of the earth, it was 4,000 miles from the center. When we took the butter 4,000 miles out, it was 8,000 from the center, which is twice the distance. If you double the distance between two objects, their gravitational attraction decreases two times two. If you treble the distance, it gets nine times weaker (three times three) and so on.
So this is one of the first things we need to remember: that the weight of an object in space is not the same as its weight on the surface of the earth. What about the weight of our pound of butter on the surface of the moon? At the distance the pull of the earth is about 4,000 times smaller than it is here on the surface, so we can forget all about the earth-pull on our butter.
On the other hand, on the moon there will be an attraction between the butter and the moon: but the butter will weigh only about one-sixth as much as it does on the earth. This is because the moon is so much smaller than the earth. The amount of gravitational pull Hat a body produces depends on the amount of material in it .A packet of butter has a gravitational pull of its own; but this is very small in relation to the pull of something as large as the moon, or the earth, or the sun.
41 How much would four pounds of tea weigh if it was taken 4,000 miles out from the surface of the earth?
A 1 pound.
B 2 pounds.
C 3 pounds.
D 4 pounds.
42 We find it hard to break free from ideas connected with living on the earth because___________
A it demands too great an effort for us to do so.
B we are too familiar with the way things are to question the ideas.
C we have proved that those ideas are correct.
D we are so sure of ourselves that we never doubt anything on the earth.
43 According to the passage, "weight" should be understood in the sense that___________
A it is fixed if it is outside the earth's gravitational pull.
B it decreases four times when it is 4,000 miles from the earth's center.
C it varies with the change of the gravitational attraction between two objects.
D things increase in amount as they are closer to the earth's surface.
44 We do not feel the gravitational pull of a packet of butter because___________
A it is too small to have a gravitational pull of its own.
B its pull is so small that we tend to ignore it.
C its pull disappears in the presence of the earth's gravitation.
D it tends to melt and loses its gravitational pull.
45 The main idea of this passage is___________
A different weight systems in different places.
B freedom from traditional ideas.
C traveling from the earth to the moon.
D the effect of gravitation on weight.
