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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

Do you enjoy street performers? The tradition of wandering entertainers goes back for almost a thousand years to the Middle Ages in Europe. Then they were called “troubadours”, but, today, most people call street performers “buskers”. Buckers are usually musicians, but some are actors, clowns, or jugglers. In Singapore, hundreds of street buskers from around the world participate in an annual festival. In other cities, you often come across buskers on busy shopping streets and near parks, but the most popular places are subway stations. Passengers listen to the musicians while they wait for underground trains. In exchange for a few minutes of entertainment, they give the busker some money before they move on to catch their train. 

Not long ago in Boston, the government tried to establish a controversial new law to control buskers in the subway. The authorities said that musicians were playing instruments so loudly that passengers couldn’t hear the train announcements. The new law intended to stop the use of amplifiers to make music louder. Loud instruments such as saxophones, trumpets, and electric guitars were not lowed either. In addition, the new law required performers to pay for a license and follow a dress code. These rules came as a surprise to many buskers. Well-known musicians such as Tracy Chapman and Melissa Etheridge made names for themselves singing in the Boston subway. The entertainers pointed out that, traditionally, the subway was a place where humble (地位低下的) young musicians could start to make a name for himself or herself. Thousands of people complained that the new law was unfair. They wanted to restore buskers’ rights.

Under pressure from the public, the authorities looked at how other cities dealt with buskers in their subways. They learned that in London, New York, and Toronto, buskers were allowed to play loud instruments and use amplifiers, but first they have to pass an audition to establish that they are good enough to play in public. By contrast, Washington DC doesn’t allow any performers in their subways for security reasons. Back in Boston, the government took these factors into account. The law was changed to say that buskers must hold back the sound level to a minimum, but they would be allowed to go on playing. Passengers were happy that they would continue to have some music on their route to work. Young artists in Boston still stand a chance of establishing their musical careers in the subway stations. 

51. What were street musicians called in the Middle Ages?

A. Troubadours. B. Buskers. C. Clowns. D. Jugglers.

52. What did the Boston authorities want to stop?

A. Conservation efforts. B. Etheridge’s singing.

C. Messy passengers. D. Loud instruments.

53. The underlined word “audition” in Paragraph 3 can best be replaced by ________.

A. an instrument  B. a musical test

C. an official law D. a security check

54. Which is the best title for the entire reading passage?

A. An Impressive Buskers Festival B. Entertainment for People on the Move

C. Chapman's Latest Exhibit  D. Art Decorates Subways

 

B

Here are this week’s travel sites. If you need a different sort of break, try one of these! 

If you want an alternative to blockbuster films (大片), try the Sundance Film Festival.

Every January for 20 years, Sundance has been the place for independent filmmakers to show off their low-budget films and documentaries. As the name suggests, major Hollywood studios are not involved in independent films. They are made by actors, directors, and technical groups who come up with good ideas and think they can make a go of them. Located in a ski town 2,100 meters high in the mountains of Utah and 65 kilometers southeast of Salt Lake City, Sundance is the place to see and be seen. Famous entertainers are part of the audience, here to see what new independent releases are on offer. Sometimes it’s tough to get seats for films that have a good reputation. Never look down on beginning filmmakers because sometimes unexpected films make the headlines on opening night. For example, this year, a couple of humble college students showed a film that became a spectacular success. Films like this really pay off when distributors (发行商) buy them for up to $5 million to show in theaters later on. If they’re really lucky, the filmmakers can make even more money from other relevant goods.

Feeling awful? Need some medical treatment but you’d really like a holiday, too? Now you can have both!   

A number of countries with excellent medical institutes and spectacular tourist attractions have started to offer medical vacations. In places like Thailand and South Africa, quality medical care enables you to have a surgical procedure done at minimal cost, as well as time to recover in a beautiful environment. The same surgery costs four times as much in New York. A typical holiday consists of one week as a patient in a clinic or hospital followed by another week at a wonderful neighboring hotel or resort (度假胜地). Doctors keep track of your rapid recovery. Imagine floating in the shallow waters near a tropical island or trying to catch up with a herd of zebras while you restore your health! As with any health treatment, check the reputation of the medical facility before you plan your trip. So far, though, there have been few complaints.

55. Which is NOT true about Sundance?

A. New films are shown there. B. You can see documentaries.

C. Famous performers go there. D. The films are usually very expensive to make.

56. Who make the movies shown at Sundance?

A. Hollywood studios.     B. Famous movie stars.

C. Independent filmmakers. D. Television directors.

57. Sometimes people at Sundance are surprised because ________

A. unknown films really take off.   B. young actors show potential.

C. the media don’t cover movies. D. the festival isn’t permanent.

58. What has been the attitude of people who have taken a medical vacation?

A. They complain.  B. They are mostly pleased. 

C. They feel honored. D. They find it awful.

59. What is the best title for the whole reading passage?

A. Creative Vacation Ideas     B. Spectacular Entertainment

C. A Week in an African Clinic  D. My Holiday Disaster on Film

 

C

Even though a young child might be nervous about starting school, he or she is more often than not excited as well on the first day of school. Perhaps that excitement lasts through the first few years of school. But over time, many children are less excited about going to school. School becomes a place of “all work and no play”. As the years go by, students are pressured to do more work and to do it better, make better test scores, and have a higher class rank. It is therefore not surprising that by middle school many students lose interest in school and learning. 

Teachers face a big challenge in such a situation. When they enter a classroom in which most of the students do not want to be there and do not want to study, how can they teach? Some teachers may focus their energy on the handful of students in the classroom who show an interest in learning. Other teachers may choose to reward “good” students and punish “bad” students in the hope that this may somehow motivate all students to try harder. 

Through his own teaching experience, Dr. Richard Lavoie became interested in the problem of motivating students. He wondered what motivated some students to want to learn. In studying this question, Dr. Lavoie discovered that the people who seemed to know the most about what motivates kids were researchers who work for companies that were advertising products such as toys and music for children. 

By applying some of the information from the existing advertising research to his own study, Dr. Lavoie was able to determine eight types of motivation for children. From these eight types, a child usually responds to one or two kinds of motivation more than the others. Therefore, if teachers and parents can figure out which type of motivation a child most responds to, lessons and classroom activities can be adapted in that way to motivate the child to try harder and get excited about learning again.

For example, one type of motivation is responsibility or authority. A student who responds to this type of motivation can be given a position of responsibility in a group or in the classroom to excite his or her interest in learning. Another type of motivation is competition. Competitive students get excited about learning when they are given a chance to win or when they can support others to win. The other types of motivation listed by Dr. Lavoie are interaction, connection with a group, independence, exploration, encouragement, and status.

The challenge is for teachers to recognize the different ways to motivate students who have lost interest in learning. Not all students will respond to the same type of motivation in the classroom. But by adapting different lessons to suit different types of motivation, more students may begin to respond and get excited about learning again.

60. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Students can be motivated in different ways. 

B. Teachers must challenge students in class.

C. Dr. Lavoie’s students do very well in school.  

D. Toys and music can be used to motivate students.

61. What kind of research did Dr. Lavoie do?

A. He gave a survey to teachers.        

B. He read advertising research.

   C. He studied rewards and punishments.    

D. He taught students to do experiments.

62. Which is NOT a possible motivation for students listed in the passage?

A. Competition.   B. Responsibility. C. Profit.   D. Status.

 

63. Ellen enjoys lessons where she helps a classmate win a game. Ellen is probably motivated by ________.

A. authority  B. exploration C. competition   D. independence

64. What advice to teachers would Dr. Lavoie probably agree with?

A. Allow each student lots of interaction each day in class.

B. Competitive students should respond well to responsibility.

C. Rewards and punishments are good for motivating students.

D. Try different things to motivate more students.

 

D

On Easter Sunday 1967, Jim Thompson was on vacation in Malaysia. While staying in the Cameron Highlands, he stepped out for a walk alone through the jungle. And that was the last anyone ever saw of him. It was as though he had disappeared into thin air. To this day, no clues have been found as to what happened to this wealthy American businessman who is credited with single-handedly reviving (使复兴) the Thai silk industry.

    Thompson was born in the United States in l906. He studied architecture and worked for several years before joining the army during World War II. He was sent to Thailand, where he worked with a United States intelligence agency. It was this first taste of life in the Far East that changed Thompson’s life. When the war ended, he decided to leave the army and move to Thailand permanently.

While traveling around Thailand, Thompson came across what he considered extremely beautiful samples of handwoven Thai silk. At that time, weaving silk by hand was almost an extinct art in Thailand. Very few people were interested in doing it, and even those weavers still at work only did it as a supplement (补充) to their regular income from other work. However, Thompson was intrigued by the silk he found and began seeking out weavers and their samples.

    Eventually, his search led Thompson to Ban Krua, a very poor district in Bangkok. In Ban Krua, Thompson found a whole community of weavers living very close to each other. Although Thailand is generally a Buddhist country, these weavers were Muslim — a fact that helps explain why they all stayed together within their tight community to support one another. Thompson was so impressed with the material being woven in this village that he took samples to show fashion magazines in New York. These magazine writers were amazed with the quality of this silk and wanted more. Thompson returned to Ban Krua with orders for more silk and persuaded the weavers to supply his new company, which soon made Thompson and a few of the Ban Krua weavers very wealthy.

As his business continued to grow, Thompson began to explore other interests. He began collecting works of art and building his own house. But Thompson did not just build an ordinary house. He wanted a uniquely Thai house. He searched the county for authentic Thai houses representing the best examples of old Thailand. Six of the houses he found were then brought together and reassembled into a single home, which Thompson finally moved into in 1959. Today, the house is both a historical treasure and an attraction for Thai people and visitors to Bangkok. 

As for Thompson’s disappearance, although no hard evidence has been found, there are many theories explaining Thompson’s fate. Some say he was captured and killed by a political group. Others think he was murdered by gangsters (匪徒) or business competitors. And there is one theory that says he met a local woman and stayed to live in the jungle with her. Perhaps he simply died in the jungle from falling into a hidden cave or hole, or being eaten by a tiger. If his body was eaten by wild animals, it would explain why no trace of the Thai Silk King has ever been found. 

65. What is the main subject of the reading?

A. The development of the Thai silk industry.

   B. How Thompson improved Thai art.

   C. One man’s life and mysterious death.

   D. A unique house and collection of weaving techniques.

66. When did Thompson first go to Thailand?

A. As a child.     B. As an adult.

   C. As a college student. D. As an old man.

67. The underlined word “intrigued” in Paragraph 3 probably means “________”.

   A. confused B. puzzled C. interested D. astonished

68. What did Thompson find in Ban Krua?

   A. A factory that made Thai silk.    

B. Beautiful clothes made of Thai silk.

   C. A large, exquisite house.

D. People to help his business.

69. Which statement about Thompson’s house is true?

A. It has a single big room inside it.   B. Thompson never actually lived in it.

C. It looks ordinary from the outside. D. It was made from several old houses.

70. What is the writer’s main point in the final paragraph?

A. No one is sure what happened to Thompson.

B. Thompson was murdered. 

C. Thompson was probably eaten by animals.

D. He is possibly still alive and hiding.