閱讀理解（共20小題；每小題2分，滿分40分）

　　閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中，選出最佳選項。

　　A

　　A company planning to open the first hotel in space says it is on target to accept its first paying guests in 2024 despite critics questioning the investment and the length of time for the multibillion-dollar project.

　　The Barcelona-based architects of the Galactic Suite Space Resort say it will cost $4.4 million for a three-night stay at the hotel. This price also includes an eight-week training course on an island. During their stay, guests would see the sunrise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 80 minutes.

　　Galactic Suite Ltd's CEO Xavier Claramunt says the project will put his company in a leading position of a new industry with a huge future ahead of it, and forecasts space travel will become common in the future. “It's very normal to think that your children, possibly within 15 years, could spend a weekend in space” he told Reuters Television.

　　A promising space tourism industry is beginning to take shape with construction in progress in New Mexico of Spaceport America, the world's first facility built specifically for passengers.

　　British industrialist Richard Branson's space tours firm, Virgin Galactic, will use the facility to send tourists to space at a cost of $200,000 a ride.

　　Galactic Suite Ltd, set up in 2007, hopes to start its project with a single pod (分離艙) in orbit 280 miles above the earth. “It will take a day and a half to reach the pod, and the passengers will join it for three days,” Claramunt said. More than 200 people have expressed an interest in traveling to the space hotel and at least 43 people have already reserved it.

　　The numbers are similar for Virgin Galactic with 300 people already paid or signed up for the trip, but unlike Branson, Galactic Suite says they will use Russian rockets to transport their guests into space from a spaceport to be built on an island in the Caribbean. But critics have questioned the project, saying the length of time that will be used is unreasonable and also where the money is coming from to support the project.

　　1.

　　What's Xavier Claramunt's attitude towards the space tourism industry?

　　A. Quite critical.

　　B. Slightly worried.

　　C. Highly optimistic.

　　D. Fully satisfied.

　　2

　　Virgin Galactic's guests will be transported into space by using rockets produced in________.

　　A. Spain

　　B. America

　　C. Britain

　　D. Russia

　　3.

　　Which of the following is one of the critics' concerns about this project?

　　A. It is hard to ensure the safety of tourists.

　　B. There are many technical difficulties.

　　C. It will be a waste of resources.

　　D. It may lack support in money.

　　4.

　　According to the passage, traveling to the space hotel ________.

　　A. will soon be possible for common people

　　B. has attracted the attention of some people

　　C. will make a large profit for the tourist industry

　　D. is considered an industry with a huge future by many people

　　5.

　　What's the best title for the passage?

　　A. The world's first space hotel is to open in 2024.

　　B. The world's first commercial spaceport is being built.

　　C. Space tourism：a surprising new industry.

　　D. Space travel will become common in 15 years.

　　閱讀理解

　　CBDBA

　　************************************************************結束

　　人物傳記類---[2024·四川卷]

　　I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I_was_treading_water,_just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I get a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.

　　I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deepdown wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.

　　It takes confidence to make a new start－there’s a dark period inbetween where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.”My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.

　　The I met an agent(代理商)who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.

　　The next problem was finding a publisher. After twoandahalf years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal－that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.

　　It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck—of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there's no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract(合同)of the publisher—to be a published writer—is unbelievably rewarding(有回報的)．

　　49. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?

　　A．I was waiting for good fortune.

　　B．I was trying to find an admirable job.

　　C．I was being aimless about a suitable job.

　　D．I was doing several jobs for more pay at a time.

　　50. The author decided to write a novel________.

　　A．to finish the writing course

　　B．to realize her own dream

　　C．to satisfy readers’ wish

　　D．to earn more money

　　51. How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

　　A．Disturbed.

　　B．Ashamed.

　　C．Confident.

　　D．Uncertain.

　　52. What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

　　A．It pays to stick to one’s goal.

　　B．Hard work can lead to success.

　　C．She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.

　　D．There is no end in sight when starting to do something.

　　【要點綜述】文章講述了作者從英語文學專業畢業之后，不知道自己想要做什么，幾經周折，最終幸運地找到了自己喜愛的職業。

　　49. C　推理判斷題。根據前后文“but no sense of what I wanted to do”“just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, …then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job…”可知作者不知道自己想要做什么，什么工作適合自己。故選C。

　　50. B　細節理解題。根據第二段話“…I decided to try to satisfy a deepdown wish to write a novel.”可知作者決定寫小說的目的只是滿足自己內心深處的愿望，實現自己的夢想。故答案為B。

　　51. D　推理判斷題。根據文章第三段話“It takes confidence to make a new start”“My confidence dived”“ Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.”及本段敘述了作者回答別人問題時提到“…I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.”可知，此時作者的感覺應該是還不能完全確定是否還要繼續寫小說。故答案選D。

　　52. A　推理判斷題。本段作者表達剛剛開始時“there’s no end in sight”到后來的“an unbelievable stroke of luck” “to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding(有回報的)”，想告訴讀者，堅持自己的目標是值得的。B項“刻苦努力是成功之路”，不符合文章意思。C、D項停留于文章表面意思。故答案為A。

　　***********************************************************結束

　　B

　　“Benjamin Franklin,” Walter Isaacson tells us at the beginning of his long (but never boring) new biography, “is the founding father who winks at us.” By that, Isaacson explains, he means Franklin is the most human—and most modern—of the men who shaped the American republic. We admire Washington, Jefferson and Adams, but they remain creatures of the 18th century. The man we encounter in “Benjamin Franklin”—funny, pragmatic and self-aware — seems like one of us, or at least someone we'd like to be.

　　Unlike Washington's cherry tree, Franklin's kite was real. His experiments with electricity made him one of the great scientists of his day. He was a middle-class businessman whose success as a printer and a journalist allowed him to retire at 42—and he devoted the rest of his life to his country. He was diplomat who persuaded the French to back the American Revolution and the author of the first great American autobiography. He was an excellent swimmer. There was almost nothing he couldn't do well, except write poetry. But what truly distinguished Franklin was his talent of being great and human at the same time. He owned slaves as a younger man, but in his last years became an abolitionist(廢奴主義者).When he fathered an illegitimate(私生的) son, he acknowledged his fatherhood and took the responsibility of raising the boy.

　　He seems strange today in the joy he took in compiling and creating all

　　those self- improvement maxims he published in Poor Richard's Almanac(年鑒) — “early to bed, early to rise” and so on. Generations of lazy boys could have been happier without that. But he was no hypocrite(偽君子). Isaacson tells us Franklin practiced what he preached, and often laughed at himself while he did so.

　　By a happy accident, this is the second excellent biography of Franklin to appear in two years, after Edmund S.Morgan's inspiring “Benjamin Franklin.”

　　6.

　　What type of literature does this passage belong to?

　　A. Research paper.　

　　B. Book review.

　　C.

　　Biography.

　　D. Short story.

　　7.

　　The underlined word “maxims” in Paragraph 3 probably means________.

　　A. proverbs

　　B. standards

　　C. requests

　　D. orders

　　8.

　　With the fact that Franklin shouldered the responsibilities of raising his illegitimate son, the author wants to prove that________.

　　A. Franklin had made a big fortune in his business before he got devoted to polities

　　B. Franklin might be the only parent to support the child at that time

　　C. Franklin was a great man who seems human to us

　　D. Franklin was improving his character when he got on in ages

　　9.

　　The underlined word “himself” in Paragraph 3 refers to________.

　　A. Richard's Almanac

　　B. Walter isaacson

　　C. anyone of the readers.

　　D. Benjamin Franklin

　　10.

　　In which part of a magazine can we most probably find this article?

　　A. Society and the Arts.

　　B. Current Affairs.

　　C. Business Report.

　　D. Advertisement.

　　BACDA

　　*********************************************************結束

　　C

　　Many private institutions of higher education around the country are in danger. Not all will be saved, and perhaps not all deserve to be saved. There are low-quality schools just as there are low-quality businesses. We have no duty to save them simply because they exist.

　　But many promising institutions that deserve to continue are threatened. They are doing a fine job educationally, but they are caught in a financial squeeze, with no way to reduce rising cost or increase income significantly. Raising tuition doesn’t bring in more income, for each time tuition goes up, the enrollment goes down, or the amount that must be given away in student aid goes up. Schools are bad businesses, whether public or private, not usually because of mismanagement but because of the nature of the enterprise. They lose money on every customer, and they can go bankrupt either from too few students or too many students. Even a very good college is a very bad business.

　　It is such colleges, promising but threatened, that I worry about. Low enrollment is not their chief problem. Even with full enrollment, they may go under. Efforts to save them, and preferably to keep them private, are a national necessity. There is no basis for arguing that private schools are inherently (固有地) better than public schools. There are many examples to the contrary. Anyone can name state universities and colleges that rank as the finest in the nation and the world. It is now inevitable that public institutions will be dominant, and therefore diversity is a national necessity. Diversity in the way we support schools tends to give us a healthy diversity in the forms of education. In an imperfect society such as ours, uniformity of education throughout the nation could be dangerous, In an imperfect society, diversity is a positive good. Supporters of public higher education know the importance of sustaining private higher education.

　　11. According to the author’s opinion schools are bad businesses because of ________.

　　A.

　　mismanagement

　　B.

　　too few students

　　C.

　　too many students

　　D.

　　the nature of schools

　　12.

　　The author used the phrase “go under” (Sentence 3, Para. 3) to mean ________.

　　A.

　　get into difficulties

　　B.

　　have low enrollment

　　C.

　　have low tuition

　　D.

　　bring in more money

　　1 3

　　We can reasonably conclude from this passage that the author made an appeal to the public in order to support _______

　　A.

　　public institutions

　　B.

　　private schools

　　C.

　　uniformity of education

　　D.

　　high quality of education

　　14.

　　Which of the following statements is NOT true?

　　A.

　　High-quality private schools deserve to be saved.

　　B.

　　If the tuition is raised, the enrollment goes down.

　　C.

　　There are many cases to show that public schools are better that private schools.

　　D.

　　Private schools have more money than public schools.

　　15.

　　Which of the following ways could possibly save private schools?

　　A.

　　Raising tuition.

　　B.

　　Full enrollment.

　　C.

　　National awareness and support.

　　D.

　　Reduction of rising cost.

　　DABDC

　　*******************************************************結束

　　D

　　They may be just passing your office, computer bag slung (懸掛) over one shoulder. Or they may be sitting in a car outside it, causally tapping away at a laptop. They look like innocent passers-by. In fact, they are stealing your corporate secrets.

　　Drive-by hacking is the trendy term given to the practice of breaking into wireless computer networks from outside the buildings that house them. A recent study in the UK, sponsored by RSA Data Security, found that two-thirds of organizations with wireless networks were risking their data in this way. Security experts patrolled (巡邏) several streets in the City of London seeking evidence of wireless networks in operation.

　　Of 124 that they identified, 83 were sending data without encrypting（加密） them. Such data could readily be picked up by a passer-by armed only with a portable computer, a wireless modem and a few pieces of software that can be freely down-loaded from the Internet.