第三部分：阅读理解（共两节，40分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，共30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Traveling Museum Exhibitions
In the past, if a person wanted to see the national treasures of a country, one had to go there in person. Therefore, very few people were able to enjoy some of history’s most important and interesting artifacts (手工艺品). This has changed with an increase in the number of traveling museum exhibitions. 
King Tutankhamen Artifacts
A traveling exhibition of artifacts from the tomb of King Tutankhamen, popularly known as “King Tut”, toured the United States from November 1976 to April 1979. The 55 objects were shown in six cities and were seen by around eight million museum-goers. The second touring exhibit was started in 2007, this time with 130 artifacts and stops in London and three different American cities. However some objects, like the king’s golden face mask, are too valuable or too delicate to be transported long distances, so “replicas” (exact copies of something) are on show.
Japanese Color Woodblock Prints
The Art Museum at University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia, has an extraordinary collection of Japanese color woodblock prints (木刻版画). These prints document the period from about 1850 to 1900, a time when Japan was opening itself to Western influences. Before this point, Japan was a closed society that had little communication with the world outside of its borders. These works of art beautifully show the feeling of change and the trend toward modernization. The museum has put together a traveling exhibition of 60 of these prints, which can be borrowed and exhibited worldwide for periods of eight weeks or more.
Face-to-face with “Lucy”
One of the world’s most famous archaeological (考古学的) finds in history are the 3.2 million-year-old bones of a 106-centimeter-tall female found in the Ethiopian desert in 1974. Lucy, a name given to her by the discovery team, is a “hominid”, or a creature that scientists believe is the earliest ancestor of modern human beings. Rarely is an artifact this valuable allowed to travel widely, but Lucy has been taken to several museums in the U.S. while a detailed replica remains at the Ethiopian Natural History Museum.                             

56. What do we learn about King Tutankhamen’s artifacts?
A. The artifacts were shown in London first.
B. The artifacts were on show in the United States once.
C. The second touring exhibit showed more artifacts than the first one.
D. The king’s golden face mask was also shown in the traveling exhibitions.
57. What do the Japanese woodblock prints show about the society from 1850 to 1900?
A. Japan had little communication with other countries.
B. The whole country refused changes in the society.
C. Japan was opening itself up to Western ideas.
D. Japan achieved modernization.
58. Who is Lucy according to the passage?
A. An archaeologist.
B. The ancestor of modern human beings.
C. A 106-centimeter-tall female who died in 1974.
D. The first woman who visited the Ethiopian desert.

B
（Published March 30, 2011）Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity might have a few mistakes—and Jake Barnett has set out to prove it. Between attending college classes at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and tutoring his fellow students, Jake is also working on a new theory about the creation of the universe. He happens to be 12 years old.
From an early age, Jake showed an extraordinary interest in stars. When he was 3, his parents took him to a space observatory. He tried to learn as much as he could about astronomy. Jake’s IQ measured remarkably high at 170.
As a baby, Jake was found out with Asperser’s syndrome, a form of autism (孤独症). Autism causes difficulties in communication and social abilities. People with autism may also have strong interests—like Jake’s interest in the stars at a young age.
The symptoms of autism can range from mild to extremely severe. Asperser’s is one of the milder forms of autism. Sometimes people with Asperser’s, like Jake, develop extremely advanced skills in science, music or art.
When Jake was in elementary school, his parents worried that the effects of his Asperser’s were worsening. He became quiet. And he was withdrawing from people. So a doctor recommended that Jake’s parents let him study more advanced subjects, like math and physics.
Jake’s mother asked an astronomy professor to let Jake sit in on his class. Now, Jake studies advanced sciences like electromagnetic physics at IUPUI.
But Jake thinks it’s important to have a normal life too. He likes to play Guitar Hero with his friends and watch science fiction movies. He also enjoys playing classical music on the piano. But for Jake, studying physics is the most important thing. Jake’s professor, John Ross, is working on getting a large sum of money for him to do research at the university.
Doctors have said Jake’s autism symptoms have lessened over time. Still, Jake proudly refers to himself as an “Aspy”, or someone with Asperser’s. In an interview with his university student newspaper, he said, “I think the autism is the reason I’m even at IUPUI.”       

59. What did Jake want to do at IUPUI?
A. Get a degree in astronomy.
B. Put forward his own theory in physics.
C. Become an Albert Einstein in the future.
D. Teach his fellow students Theory of Relativity.
60. Which of the following is the correct order of the events that happened to Jake?
   a. He set out to disprove Einstein’s theory. 
   b. He was interested in astronomy.
   c. He began to study math and physics.
   d. He was found out with a mild form of autism.
A. b-d-c-a B. d-b-c-a C. b-a-c-d D. d-c-b-a
61. The underlined sentence in the passage means ______.
A. he was unable to help others
B. he was impolite to other people
C. he was afraid of seeing other people
D. he was only concerned about learning
62. In the eyes of Jake, autism is something ______.
A. not worth worrying about B. annoying 
C. not necessary to know about D. embarrassing
英语学习  /english/