If there is a building which symbolizes a country—such as the Eiffel Tower for France and Sydney Opera House for Australia, then it has to be the Taj Mahal for India.
__71__From the time they got married, they wouldn’t be separated. She followed him to wars, advised him on affairs of state, and loved by his people for her good work. __72__The emperor was heartbroken and had the Taj Mahal built as a sign of his love.
It took more than twenty years for the Taj to be built. Workers were brought in, not only from all over Indian, but from central Asia, too. __73__
In 1657, Shan Jahan fell ill and in 1658 his son, Aurangzeb, imprisoned his father and seized the power. Shah Jahan stayed in prison until his death in 1666. He was finally buried there with his wife he could never forget.
__74__As it is built with white marble stones, its character changes in different lights. It looks more beautiful at sunrise and sunset. At sunset, for example, the color of the Taj changes from white to yellow, then to pink. __75__.
To show respect to the Taj, tourists are asked to take off their shoes during their visit.

A．The Taj is definitely worth more than a single visit.

B．A total of 20,000 people worked on the building.

C．The Taj Mahal is a symbol of India.

D．But she died in 1631 during her childbirth.

E.Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal to memorize his wife.
F.As the moon rises, it turns a silvery white.
G.It was set up by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1653 in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

第三部分：閱讀理解（共15小題，每小題2分，滿分30分）.
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項。
IN a surprising discovery about where higher life can survive, scientists have found a shrimp-like creature and a jellyfish (水母) swimming beneath an Antarctic ice sheet.
About 180 meters below the ice where no light can get through, scientists had figured nothing much more than a few microbes (微生物) could exist.
That’s why a NASA team was surprised when they lowered a video camera to get the first long look at the underbelly (下腹部) of an ice sheet in Antarctica. A curious shrimp-like creature came swimming by and then parked itself on the camera’s cable. Scientists also pulled up a tentacle (觸須) they believe came from a jellyfish.
“We were operating on the presumption (假定) that nothing’s there,” said NASA ice scientist Robert Bindschadler. “It was a shrimp you’d enjoy having on your plate.”
“We were just gaga (狂熱的) over it,” he said of the 7.5cm long, orange creature starring in their two-minute video. Technically, it’s not a shrimp. It’s a Lyssianasid amphipod (片腳類動物), which is distantly related to the shrimp.
The video is likely to inspire experts to rethink what they know about life in harsh (苛刻的) environments. And it has scientists thinking that if shrimp-like creatures can live below 180 meters of Antarctic ice in freezing dark water, what about other cold places? What about Europa, a frozen moon of Jupiter?
Cynan Ellis-Evans, a scientist of the British Antarctic Survey called the finding intriguing (吸引人的). He said it was possible the creatures swam in from far away and don’t live there permanently.
But Kim, who is a co-author of the study, doubts it. The site in West Antarctica is at least 19 km from open seas. Bindschadler drilled a 20cm-wide hole and was looking at a tiny amount of water. That means it’s unlikely that two creatures swam from great distances and were captured randomly in that small of an area, she said.
Yet scientists were puzzled at what the food source would be for these creatures. While some microbes can make their own food out of chemicals in the ocean, complex life like the shrimp can’t, Kim said.
So how do they survive? That’s the key question, Kim said.
“It’s pretty amazing when you find a huge puzzle like that on a planet where we thought we know everything,” Kim said.
56. Scientists had believed that harsh environments could only have been populated by ______.
A. jellyfish      B. mammal    C. microbes      D. shrimp-like creature
57. According to Kim, the shrimp-like creature ______.
A. swam great distances to Antarctic                 B. has always lived in the region
C. gradually evolved from shrimp                   D. has nothing in common with shrimp
58. The finding is significant in that ______.
A. it marks NASA’s first Antarctic biological study
B. it proves there is marine life in the Antarctic
C. it could inspire further study of life in harsh environment
D. it shows that Lyssianasid amphipod is closely related to shrimp
59. The last three paragraphs suggest that ______.
A. researchers will look at the places the creatures came from
B. ice scientists will drill deeper to find more creature
C. scientists know very little about the planet they live on
D. further research will be done about what the creatures live on

From good reading we can get pleasure, companionship, experience, and instruction．A good book may absorb our attention so completely that for the time being we forget our surroundings and even our identity．Reading good books is one of the greatest pleasures in life．It increases our contentment when we are cheerful, and lessens our troubles when we are sad．Whatever may be our main purpose in reading, our contact with good books should never fail to give us enjoyment and satisfaction．
With a good book in our hands we need never be lonely．Whether the characters portrayed are taken from real life or are purely imaginary, they may become our companions and friends．In the pages of books we can walk with the wise and the good of all lands and all times．The people we meet in books may delight us either because they resemble human friends whom we hold dear or because they present unfamiliar types whom we are glad to welcome as new acquaintances．Our human friends sometimes may bore us, but the friends we make in books need never weary us with their company．By turning the page we can dismiss them without any fear of hurting their feelings．When human friends desert us, good books are always ready to give us friendship, sympathy, and encouragement．                                              
One of the most valuable gifts bestowed by books is experience．Few of us can travel far from home or have a wide range of experiences, but all of us can lead varied lives through the pages of books．Whether we wish to escape from the seemingly dull realities of everyday life or whether we long to visit some far-off place, a book will help us when nothing else can．To travel by book we need no bank account to pay our way; no airship or ocean liner or stream-lined train to transport us; no passport to enter me land of our heart's desire．
Through books we may get the thrill of risky adventure without danger．We can climb lofty mountains, brave the danger of an Antarctic winter, or cross the hot sands of the desert, all without hardship．In books we may visit the studios of Hollywood; we may walk among the gay crowds of the Paris wide streets; we may join the picturesque peasants in an Alpine village or the kindly natives on a South Sea island．Indeed, through books the whole world is ours for the asking．The possibilities of our literary experiences are almost unlimited．The beauties of nature, the enjoyment of music, the treasures of art, the triumphs of architecture, the miracles of engineering, are all open to the wonder and enjoyment of those who read．
60．Why do we sometimes forget our surroundings and even our identity while reading?
A．No one has come to disturb you．
B．Everything is so quiet and calm around you．
C．The book you are reading is so interesting and attractive．
D．Your book is overdue; you are finishing it at a very fast speed．
61．What can we learn from this passage?
A．Your wish to visit some far-off place can be realized through the pages of the books．
B．To escape from the dull realities of everyday life you should take up reading．
C．Books can always help you to live a colorful life．
D．You may obtain valuable experience from reading good books．
62．The underlined word "weary" means ____．
A．to attract someone's attention  B．to distract someone's attention
C．to make someone very tired  D．to make someone interested
63．The last paragraph of the passage implies that through books ____．
A．the whole world is more accessible to us
B．we can ask to go anywhere in the world
C．it is possible for us to make a round-the-world trip free of charge
D．we can ask for everything in this world

A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth.
Until now, it has been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience — what psychologists call fluid intelligence—is innate and cannot be taught（though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing）.
But in the new study, researchers describe a method for improving this skill, along with experiments to prove it works.
The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory—the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it. This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence, so the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence.
First they measured the fluid intelligence of four groups of volunteers using standard tests. Then they trained each in a complicated memory task—the child’s card game, in which they had to recall a card they saw and heard. During the course, they needed to ignore irrelevant items, monitor ongoing performance, manage two tasks at the same time and connect related items to one another in space and time.
The four groups experienced a half-hour of training daily for 8, 12, 17 and 19 days, respectively. To make sure they were not just improving their test-taking skills, the researchers compared them with control groups that took the tests without the training.
The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were striking. Improvement in the trained groups was a lot greater. Moreover, the longer they trained, the higher their scores were. All performers, from the weakest to the strongest, showed significant improvement.
“Our results show you can increase your intelligence with proper training.” said Dr Jaeggi, a co-author of the paper. No one knows how long the gains will last after training stops, he added, and the experiment’s design did not allow the researchers to determine whether more training would continue to produce further gains.
64. The researchers thought the key to improving the intelligence was______.
A. memorizing telephone numbers                   B. improving working memory
C. training in concentration                               D. recalling a card
65. The following aspects of the training help increase intelligence Except_______.
A. ignoring irrelevant items                          B. monitoring ongoing performance
C. managing two tasks at the same time                D. using previous experience
66. When the experiment was conducted, the researchers ______.
A. trained the four groups for the same period of time
B. only made comparisons between the four groups
C. compared the four groups with control groups           D. trained the four groups together
67. By writing the article, the writer intends to_____.
A. inform the readers of a new study              
B. call on people to be trained to increase intelligence
C. prove one’s born brainpower can be improved
D. tell people the improved intelligence will last forever

What would you do if you were lost in the dark forest at night? The first sensible lesson is that you shouldn’t bother trying to find your way in the dark at all, but just stay put until dawn. Because then you won’t trip over things? No, mainly because you’ll have an idea of direction. The sun rises in the east. But you will be amazed at how many people forget they know that. Apparently, the area underneath a holly bush provides a good makeshift shelter — they are thick, and evergreen. The next thing to do — or rather not to do — is panic, for the obvious reason that unless there is someone there to hear you scream, it will get you nowhere. Just try to think of nice, happy things.
There is always a point in films when a person who is lost in the desert or the snow, dehydrated(脫水的) and exhausted, comes across a set of their own footprints and realizes they have just walked in a huge, round circle. It is wrong to owe it to the unequal strengths or different lengths of your legs. Experiments prove that, without the sun or the moon (or landmarks) as a fixed guide, lots of small errors add up over time so the brain can’t correctly identify the “straight ahead” direction. To just get out of somewhere, pick a spot on the horizon and just head for it.
There are several ways to find directions in the dark, and by far the best is to establish north using the stars. Most people can identify the Plough, which is part of Ursa Major. It looks a lot like a saucepan. The Plough rotates through the sky, but let’s imagine the saucepan lying horizontally (水平地), with its handle on the left. You need to trace a line from the star at the right-hand base of the pan, through the star at the right-hand rim (邊沿), and follow it upwards; the north star is roughly five times the distance between those two “pointer” stars. Then drop a vertical line from the North Star to the horizon and that’s north.
“Tonight is very cloudy and I can’t see the Plough.” Maybe luckily, it is quite windy. Keep in mind that almost all of our weather comes from a south-westerly direction. (This only works if you are in the British Isles). To find the direction, you can throw light bits of dried-out grass in the air and see which way they blow; or, if there are clouds and patches of clear sky, see which way they blow across the stars. You can also get an idea of direction from leggy plants. If they look as if they have been blown over, they will probably be pointing north-east. If they are simply leaning in one direction as they grow, there’s a good chance that is south (they will be reaching towards the sun). The last thing to do is to judge your direction and off you go.
68. What might be the best title of the passage ?
A. How to survive in the forest                    B. How to protect yourself in the forest
C. How to direct your way out of the wild               D. What to do if you are lost
69. Which of the following pictures matches the description of the position of the north star? 

70. Why will people often walk in a circle if they are lost in the desert or the snow?
A. Because without anything to refer to for directions, the brain will be confused by errors.
B. Because one of the legs is longer and stronger than the other.
C. Because the desert or the snow usually covers a large area for people to get across.
D. Because people usually feel dehydrated and exhausted in the desert or the snow.

第四部分任務型閱讀 (共10小題；每小題1分, 滿分10分)
請認真閱讀下列短文, 并根據(jù)所讀內(nèi)容在文章后表格的空格處里填人最恰當?shù)膯卧~。注意：每個空格填1個單詞。
“Four Tigers” Ceremony of the Tu Minority
Heigouding Village, Ledu County in the west of Qinghai province is a place where many people of the Tu minority have lived for centuries. As the little village is comparatively closed to the outside world, a custom called “Four Tigers” was created 200 years ago to protect its inhabitants(棲息地) from sickness and bad luck.
Every year the ceremony is held on the eve of January 15th according to the Chinese lunar calendar to frighten off ghosts and evil souls, and to pray for peace.
Normally four local villagers are selected to be the “tigers” in the ceremony. At first, they gathered with village elders at the mountain-god temple to offer sacrifices of wine, food and incense, and to ask the god to help the tigers. Then the tigers were adorned with herbs, candles and two batches of incense to serve as the tiger’s ears. Two red ribbons held in their mouths represented the tiger’s tongue. The “Tigers” drank wine, knelt and kowtowed to the mountain god before they received Hada, a kind of white silk scarf representing respects and good luck, from the village head with firecrackers crackling.
As night fell, the candles on the tigers’ bodies were lit and the tigers began their visits to one household after another. Villagers followed, shouting “Tigers are coming!” The elder from each household welcomed the tigers at the gate, while the rest of the family knelt down in the courtyard. Firecrackers were set off, a toast made and candies, meat and wine were presented to the villagers following the tigers. After twirling (快速轉動)in three circles in the courtyard while those present kowtowed and prayed, the tigers went through every corner of every room to drive away any hiding ghosts. If there was a sick person in the house, the tigers jumped around him or her, scratched their body and said lucky words to drive away diseases and ghosts. After the ceremony, the family would present wine and food to the tigers. Then, shouting “The tigers are leaving!” the whole family saw them off.
After visiting all 30 or 40 households, the herbs were removed from the tigers and burned, to indicate that all the ghosts had been conquered. Then the villagers knelt and kowtowed with the sound of firecrackers, marking the end of the ceremony.
The tiger image exists in other minority groups, also. In ancient times, people entrusted their happiness to gods. The “four tigers” ceremony is vividly held in memory of ancient times and a living fossil for academics studying the lives of ancient people. As it is not popular nowadays, this cultural heritage is on the edge of extinction and needs to be rescued.

I remember my math teacher Mr. Young very well. He stood out because the kids made fun d him. He was missing one of his fingers, and always pointed at students with his middle finger.
I was not very good at English and math. No matter how hard I tried, I just could not figure out why I did not understand what all the other kids found so easy to learn.
One day, I was told that if I got one more E on my report card, I would be taken to the “big person for kids”
I tried really hard for weeks. I just couldn't understand how to make different parts of members into whole things.
The day before report cards were to come out, 1 knew that Mr. Young would give me an E, just like he always did.
I went to Mr Young and told him that the orphanage (孤兒院) was going to send me to the big person if I got another E on my report card. He told me there was nothing he could do; it would be unfair to the other kids if he gave me a better grade than I had actually earned.
I smiled at him and said, "Mr. Young, do you know how the kids make fun of you because you’re missing your finger?" He looked at me, moved his mouth to one side and said nothing.
“They shouldn’t do that to you because you can't help having a finger, Mr. Young. Just like I can’t help not being able to learn numbers and stuff like that.” I said
The next day, when I got my report card, I tucked it into one of my books. While on the school bus, I opened it: Geography, B+; Mechanical Drawing, C-; English, D-l; History, C-; Gym, B+; Art, C; Math, D-.
That math grade was the most favorite one I ever received. Because I knew that someone in the world finally understood what it was like for me to be missing a finger inside my head.
59. From the second paragraph we can infer that the boy is _________ in some subjects.
A. mind-blowing (給人印象極深的 )         B. slow-witted (頭腦遲鈍的)
C. fun-loving                                     D. badly- behaved
60. Where may the boy live according to the passage?
A. In an orphanage.                                         B. In a big prison.        
C. In the school dormitory.                               D. In his home.
61. What grade should the boy have got in the math test this time?
A. D-.                  B. B +               C. D.                     D. E.
62. The underlined word "tucked" in the passage most probably means “________”.
A. stuck             B. listed               C. hid                   D. copied
63. The reason why the boy remembers Mr Young is that ________.
A. he missed one of his fingers                      B. he treated his students very well
C. he understood the boy                   D. he taught his students in a special way

As a solo artist, Brightman has sold 26 million albums and two million DVDs in 34 countries. Her styles put opera, pop and jazz together. She is popular in the States but not here (Britain) - the image of her and her second husband, Andrew Lloyd Webber ( he much older, she his muse) seems for ever
The 47 - year - old 'singer talks about the new album Symphony that came out of a "very dark time", including her decision to give up trying to have children. "People have suggested I could adapt," says. "But work is central to my life now. And so I am going to put it to one side. After a while not having children becomes the norm and perhaps that might sound alarming, to parents especially, but I have never known anything different. I'm not hurt by not having children. My life and career are incredibly rich. "
Talking about growing up in a large family in Berkhamsted (father a properly developer who later committed suicide), she says : "I was gifted as a child, and very musical. I seemed to be good at anything to do with the arts. At 5 I understood the music I was dancing to and had an eye for costume." She first appeared in a West End musical at 11 and hated boarding school.
Brightman led the saucy dance troupe (辣妹三人舞) Hot Gossip and had her first hit with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper in 1978. At 18 she married a music manager called Andrew Stewart. “I was probably in love but i can't remember. Girls change such a lot between 18 and 22, It didn't really work out." In 1981 she was spotted by Lloyd Webber. She became his leading lady in Song and Dance, Requiem and Phantom of the Opera. They married in 1984.
Brightman says she felt hostility (敵意) from the beginning. I haven’t tried to understand it. I've done very well everywhere else, especially the US, where I now live. I just accept it for what it is. The more you are away from Britain, the more you appreciate it. But I don't miss it, although 1 miss my family. Our profession can be uncomfortable but I enjoy what I do. I get on with it."
72. The first paragraph tells us that ________.
A. Brightman is very popular around the world except in America
B. Brightman's musical style is a mixture of opera, pop and jazz
C. the British people don't like her for her style of music
D. Brightman is much older than Andrew Lloyd Webber  
73. Brightman decided to give up having children because ________.
A. she could adopt one
B. her life and career were unbelievably rich without children
C. she felt it normal not to have children   
D. she was too busy
74. The following statements are true EXCEPT _________.
A. Brightman first appeared in a West End musical at 5
B. Brightman disliked life on the campus
C. Brightman was very gifted when she was young
D. The saucy dance troupe made Brightman famous
75. What does the author try to say in the last paragraph by quoting Brightman's words.'?
A. Brightman has to accept the fact that she is not liked in Britain '
B. Brightman lives in America but she loves her own country
C. The British coldness towards Brightman led to her hatred to her homeland
D. Brightman was at a loss why she was not welcome in Britain

It was graduation day at the university where I work and a beautiful day quite unlike the first graduation I attended as a young professor. On that cold day years ago, as we watched the students walking into the hall, one of my colleagues turned to me and said, "Graduation will be one of the happiest and one of the saddest time of your life." At my inquiry, he answered, "Because the students you have gotten to know have to leave."
As years went by, my previous confusion about my colleague's words no longer existed. When I came across naughty students, I have had to rethink why I chose to be a teacher. It obviously isn't the money. Once a former computer science student of mine called me, asking me if I wanted to have a change. He was working at Nintendo Corporation. His salary was higher than my current one, though I have more education and have worked for over a decade. With my programming skills, he said he could get me hired. I thanked him, but declined his kind offer.
A few days before this current graduation, while working on final grades, I found a note a student had slipped in with her homework. She thanked me for being her teacher and said the things she had learned in my class — not about math, but about life — would be things she would remember long after the math skills had faded away. As I finished reading, I remembered why I had become a teacher.
Now, on this sunny graduation day, as I again observed the sea of blue hats and gowns, I did so with renewed dedication (奉獻) and a deeper sense of satisfaction — I will always be grateful that I am a teacher.
小題1:Hearing his colleague's description of graduation for the first time, the author         .

A．quite agreed with his colleague	B．thought it very funny
C．was very puzzled	D．was very sad.

小題2:The computer science student called up the author because he         .  

A．wanted to inform the author of his present job

B．tried to persuade the author to work with him

C．wanted the author to share his joy and satisfaction

D．thought the author wasn't fit to be a teacher

小題3:The underlined part blue hats and gowns refers to         .  

A．university colleagues	B．life memories
C．graduates' clothes	D．decorations in the hall

小題4:The author wrote this passage to         .  

A．express his devotion to being a teacher

B．compare two different graduation ceremonies

C．talk about the meaning of graduation

D．give advice on how to be a good teacher

小題5:The reason why he earns less than the computer science student is that         . 

A．he was only a young professor

B．he didn't do well in his work

C．he taught his students more about life than math

D．salaries for different careers are different

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項。選項中有兩項為多余選項。
Students will need to use all of their skills in order to understand the reading selections in Reader’s Choice.
小題1:These selections provide practice on employing different reading skills to get the message of the writer. They also give students practice in four basic reading skills: skimming, scanning, reading for thorough comprehension, and critical reading.
Skimming involves reading quickly through a text to get an overall idea of its contents. This kind of rapid reading is suitable when you are trying to decide if careful reading is desirable or小題2:
Like skimming, scanning is also quick reading. However, in this case the search is more   concentrated.    小題3:When you read to find a particular date, or number you are scanning.
Reading for thorough comprehension is carefully reading in order to understand the total   meaning of the passage. At this level of comprehension the reader is able to summarize the author’s ideas小題4:.
Critical reading demands that a reader makes judgments about what he or she reads. This kind of reedit requires posting and answering questions such as “小題5:”, “Do I share the author’s point of view?” and “Am I convinced by the author’s arguments and evidence?

A．Does my own experience support that of the author?

B．Reader’s Choice is one of the most popular magazines in the world.

C．but has not yet made a critical evaluation of those ideas.

D．The book contains many types of selections on a wide variety of topics.

E To scan is to read quickly in order to find out specific information.
F. Do I know about the author?
G. when there is no time to read something carefully.