第三部分 阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40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，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。

A

How the iron of tomorrow (the first Self Clean Iron) can change your lifestyle today?

General Electric introduces the iron of tomorrow．The iron can clean itself inside where irons get dirty．Because it cleans itself each and every time you empty it．How? With a push of a magic blue button．

The magic blue button

The first thing you’ll notice that’s different about this iron is the blue button on the side．It’s marked “Self Clean”．Push this blue button, and you can wash out loose mineral deposits(沉淀物) that remain and block up inside．Push this button, and you’ve made life a lot easier．

Less chance of brown spots

Sure, Self Cleaning Iron is going to cut down brown spots (Those ugly spots that happen on nice, cleanly pressed clothes．) because a Self Cleaning Iron becomes clean each time you press that magic blue button．

Steams better longer

Common sense tells you that if you’ve got an iron that blocks less often, it has to stay younger for a long period of time．In other words, it steams better longer．That’s another joy of owning General Electric’s Self Cleaning Iron．

What does it mean to you

Today you are doing so much more than just running a house and running after the kids．You’re working．You’re going to school．It’s all part of your lifestyle．The iron can change that lifestyle by giving you less trouble before you iron．If we can make it easier for you to be a better wife, a better mother, a better house-maker, we want to．The new Self Cleaning Iron is another one of Home-Makers from General Electric．

56. This passage is _______．

A. an introduction to General Electric       

B. an operating instruction of Self Cleaning Iron

C. an advertisement of Self Cleaning Iron  

D. a description of the change of lifestyle

57. This iron can clean itself by _______．

A. decreasing brown spots                     

B. washing out mineral deposits

C. blocking up mineral deposits              

D. giving off more steam

58. According to the passage, what is most likely to attract the customers?

A. It is made by General Electric． 

B. The iron will not produce mineral deposits．

C. Their clothes will be cleaned at the same time．

D. There will be fewer brown spots on pressed clothes．

59. Self Cleaning Iron can help change your lifestyle because ______．

A. you can run your house better        

B. you don't have to run after the kids

C. you can use it while you are working   

D. we want you to be a better house-maker

B

   COLUMBUS, Ohio — The heart operation taking place in the pale-green operating room at the Ohio State University Medical Center was unusual. The patient, a 62-year-old man, was made to sleep, tied with blue drapes（消毒帷帘）and lying face up on a narrow table. But no one was touching him.

Instead, the operation was being performed by a robot, whose three metal arms went through pencil-sized holes in the man’s chest. At the end of the robot’s arms were tiny metal fingers, with turning wrists, which held a tiny instrument, a light and a camera. The robot’s arms and fingers were controlled by Dr. Randall K. Wolf, sitting at a computer in a corner of the operating room about 20 feet away.

This sort of operation, heart surgeons say, is the start of what may be the biggest change in their profession since heart bypass surgery（心脏搭桥手术）began nearly 30 years ago. “The reason we make cuts is that we have big hands,” said Dr. Wolf , the director of the surgery at Ohio State. The robot’s dainty fingers, no longer than a nail on the small finger, at the end of the long sticks could work better.

Eventually, surgeons believe, most heart surgery will be done by robots whose arms are put in through pencil-sized holes punched in patients’ chests. Instead of directly staring into a patient’s body, surgeons will view magnified images of the operation on computer screens. In theory, the doctor would not have to be in the same room, or even the same country, as the patient.

60．In this passage, the underlined word “dainty” means ______.

       A. small                 B. weak      C. fat                D. quick

61．According to the passage, the reason that most operations require large cuts is that ______.

       A. patients have large organs                                 B. surgeons have large hands

       C. large cuts take less time                                    D. large cuts cost less money

62．The main idea of this passage is that heart surgery by robots ______.

       A. is quicker than surgery done by doctors            

       B. was developed at Ohio State University

       C. is a new and risky procedure                           

       D. may replace surgery done by doctors

63．Based on the information in this passage, all of the following conclusions are true EXCEPT______.

       A. All doctors at Ohio Sate develop new surgical techniques

       B. Robot surgery is being developed at Ohio State

       C. Robot surgery will be used on many patients in the near future

       D. Many hospitals will eventually offer robot surgery to patients

C

He had travelled thousands of miles in the hope of earning some money，but 18-year-old Lin Kongming never knew danger was waiting for him.

He and six other migrant workers from Fujian Province spent 36 hours in Iraq as international hostages（人质）. But luckily，they were set free last Tuesday morning，unharmed by the people who had taken them hostage.

After hard work by Chinese diplomats（外交官）in the region,  the Iraqi kidnappers（绑架者）agreed to hand them over to a local religious group.“The friendly relations between the Chinese and Iraqi people have played a key role in the release of the hostages,”said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan. China refused to join the US-led coalition（联军）in the Iraq war.

Since April 4，over 60 hostages from 12 countries，including America，Italy and Japan，have been taken in Iraq. Some have been released, others were killed.

The Iraqi resistance groups have started taking foreigners hostage in an attempt to force the US-led troops out of their country. As a result，many foreigners have left，fearing the situation will get worse. Some nations are also considering removing their troops from Iraq. Thailand has ordered its forces not to leave their camp and may bring them home before September as originally planned. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is considering similar action.

But Dan Senor，spokesman for the US-led coalition in Baghdad，said that it would not negotiate（谈判）with“terrorists or kidnappers”to get hostages released.

64.The seven workers from Fujian were set free mainly because ______.

A. they were too poor to pay anything

B. kidnappers didn’t know they were Chinese

C. China didn’t take sides with the US-led coalition

D. kidnappers were friendly to the Chinese

65.Why did the Iraqi resistance groups start to take foreigners hostage？

A. To show their anger towards the occupation of foreign troops.

B. To tell the world they would fear nothing.

C. To make foreign armies leave their country.

D. To resist the American troops.

66.The author mentioned Dan Senor to show the US ______.

A. wouldn’t give in to Iraqi terrorists or kidnappers

B. had enough power to station in Iraq

C. wouldn’t give up unless it could get something

D. had no plan to bring its troops home

67.The passage mainly tells us ______.

A. the hostage crises in Iraq

B. foreigners were not welcome in Iraq

C. the Chinese hostages were set free

D. keeping away from Iraq is a wise choice

D

We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality ,others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.

       Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils .The standards may be changed –no examination is perfect—but to have no tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards .There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in schools or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency , the values and the purpose of each teacher.

Without examinations ,employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them—a form of favourtism will replace equality. At the moment ,the bright child from an ill-respected school can show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for a job ,while the lack of certificate indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well-respected school. This defence of excellence and opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away ,and the bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school’s reputation（名誉） ,unable to compete for employment with the child from the favoured school.

The opponents of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special ,different ,academic class .They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer.

68．The word “favouritism” in paragraph 3 is used to describe the phenomenon that      .

       A．bright children also need certificates to get satisfying jobs

       B．children from well-respected schools tend to have good jobs

       C．poor children with certificates are favoured in job markets

       D．children attending ordinary schools achieve great success

69．What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?

      A．Schools for bright children would lose their reputation.

       B．There would be more opportunities and excellence.

       C．Children from poor families would be able to change their schools.

       D．Children’s job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation.

70．The opponents of the examination system will agree that      .

       A．jobs should not be assigned by systematic selection

       B．computers should be selected to take over many jobs

       C．special classes are necessary to keep the school standards

       D．schools with academic subjects should be done away with

71．The passage mainly focuses on      .

       A．schools and certificates                        B．examination and equality

       C．opportunity and employment                 D．standards and reputation