第三部分  阅读理解(共两节，满分40分)

第一节(共15小题;每小题2分，满分30分)

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳 选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

Immigrants to the coast of southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of the Old World along with them for nearly 300 years. They brought some of their most important valuables with them. To most of them this was an instrument. Early Scottish settlers enjoyed the violin because it could be played to sound sad or li vely. The Irish violin, the German dulcimer, the Italian mandolin, the Spanish guitar, and the West African banjo were the most common musical instruments.

The communication among musicians fr om different ethnic groups(族群)produced music unique to this region of North America. Appalachian string bands(弦乐队)of the early 20th century primarily consisted of the violin, guitar, and banjo. This early country music along with early recorded country m usic is often referred to as old-time music.

According to Bill Malone in Country Music U.S.A, country music was “introduced to the world as a southern phenomenon.” In the South, folk music was a combination of cultural types, combining musical traditions of a variety of ethnic groups in the region. For example, some instrumental pieces from Anglo-Celtic immigrants were the basis of folk songs and ballads that form what is now known as old time music, from which country music descended. It is commonly thought that British and Irish folk music influenced the development of old time music. British and Irish arrivals to the Southern U.S. included immigrants from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and England.

When many people think or hear country music, they think of it as a creation of European-Americans. However, a great deal of style-and of course, the banjo, a major instrument in most early American folk songs-came from African Americans. One of the reasons country music was created by African-Americans, as well as European-Americans, is that blacks and whites in rural communities in the south often worked and played together.

56.Where might the immigrants live 300 years ago according to the first paragraph?[来源:学+科+网Z+X+X+K]

A.In the mountains.                                       B.Near the sea.

C.Along the lakes.                                         D.By the rives. 新-课-标 -第-一-网

57.Why did early Scottish settlers like to play the violin?

A.Because the violin could produce sound sad or cheerful.

B.Because the settlers al ways had nothing to do.

C.Because the settlers wanted to win the competitions among themselves.

D.Because the violin could bring about happy feelings in the settlers’ life.

58.What can we infer from the se cond paragraph?

A.Different kinds of instruments made the music unique.

B.Musicians from different ethnic groups liked to exchange ideas with each other.

C.Musicians never gave their own music to others.

D.Old-time music was played by the violin, guitar, and mandolin in the beginning.

59.What could be the best title for the passage?

A.Where and How Early Immigrants to the US Lived

B.African Instruments Influenced American Country Music

C.Why Early Immigrants Produced Folk Songs

D.The Early History of American Country Music

B

Rio (often promoted as Rio: The Movie) is a 2011 American 3D computer-animated musical comedy film and Blue Sky Studios’ sixth feature film(故事片). The title refers to the Brazilian city of  Rio de Janeiro, in which the film is set. The film was released in the United States on April 15, 2011, which was directed by Carlos Saldanha.

In a jungle near Rio de Janeiro, a baby Spix parrot who is unable to fly and several other birds are captured by smugglers(走私者)and taken to Moose Lake, Minnesota. The box containing the parrot falls to the street and is found by a girl named Linda, who names him “Blu”. Fifteen years later, Linda lives in a bookstore with Blu. Túlio, a scientist, tells Linda that Blu is the last male of his species, and he needs to marry a female to preserve it.

Linda takes Blu to Brazil, where Blu meets a female parrot named Jewel whom he falls for, but she cares about escaping. The shelter is attacked by smugglers, who are let in by the lead smuggler’s Cockatoo(美冠鹦鹉), Nigel. Among them is Fernando, a poor, orphaned boy who helps the smugglers to earn money. Blu and Jewel are captured and Nigel explains that he used to be a performing bird on a television program, but was replaced by a parrot. Out of hatred(恨), Nigel assists smugglers in capturing foreign birds. After he leaves, Blu and Jewel escape from limit. As they flee, Nigel chases them through Rio, and Blu and Jewel get lost in the jungle.

They meet a family of toucans(犀鸟), whose father, Rafael, offers to take them to see his friend Luiz in removing the chain. Rafael attempts to teach Blu to fly, but Blu fails. Meanwhile, Nigel gets the aid of a group of thieving monkeys, to find Blu and Jewel. Linda and Tulio also try to find Blu…

60.How many feature films did Blue Sky Studios produce before Rio?

A. Four feature films.                                     B.Five feature films.

C.Six feature films.                                        D.Seven feature films.

61.Why can the Spix parrot meet Linda?

A.Because Linda buys the Spix parrot from the smugglers.

B.Because the smugglers presents the Spix parrot to Linda.

C.Because Linda rescues the Spix parrot with the scientist’s help.

D.Because Linda find the left box containing the Spix parrot.

62.The Spix parrot Blu is carried to Brazil in order to                .

A.have a good holiday with Linda

B.find his missing family X k B  1 .  c o m

C.look for a female to produce young generation

D.find the smuggler who caught him

63.What can we think of Rafael according to the last paragraph?

A.Cruel.                    B.Promising.             C.Terrible.                 D.Friendly.

C

A Charlotte, North’Carolina, lawyer bought a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured (投保)them against fire among other things. Having smoke d all his great cigars within a month, the lawyer filed claim(索赔)against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer said the cigars were lost “in the series of small fires”. Of course, the insurance company refused to pay, giving the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.

The lawyer brought the case to the court and out of everybody’s expectation, he actually won! At the end of the trial, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was somewhat crazy. But the judge said that the lawyer held a policy(保险单)from the company in which it had promised the cigars could be insured and that it would insure them against fire. Because the company didn’t say what is considered to be unacceptable fire, it had to pay the claim.

Rather than put up with long and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the punishment and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the “fires”.

After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested and accused him of arson(纵火罪)! With his own insurance claim from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was charged with burning his insured possessions on purpose and was sentenced to 24 months in prison and a $24,000 fine.

This is a true story and was the first place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest. It is thought to be the best lawyer story of the year, decade, and probably the century.