【正文】 are you leaving? W： Next Friday, and I am excited. I just have a few things I still need to do before I go. M： Like what? W： Picking up my passport, going to the travel agency to pick up my plane ticket and figuring out what to do with my apartment while I39。m gone. M： The apartment is really a problem. It39。s hard to find someone to look after it. What do you plan to do? W： I39。m looking for someone who can rent my house while I39。m away. M： Hmm. Let me think about it. Oh, I know just the person. A former college classmate of mine, Jim Thomas, is ing to do some research this summer, from June to August. W： That39。s exactly when I39。ll be away. That sounds great. M： I39。m calling Jim this weekend anyway, so I39。ll mention it to him then. W： Thanks a lot. Please let me know what he says. Text 10 August 18,2021 Dear Professor Brown， I am greatly honored to have received your kind invitation to e this autumn and give several lectures to your students on the WTO. It would have been a great pleasure for me to e and spend a few weeks with you. It has been four years since my last visit, of which I still have happy memories. But much to my regret, an international conference prevents me from having the pleasure of ing and visiting you this time. I39。ll be leaving around the end of August and shan39。t be back until the middle of October. I am, therefore, unable to accept your kind do accept my apologies. I do hope to e and visit your school again on some future occasion. I look forward to seeing you all again soon! With best regards to you and your staff. Sincerely yours， Alex Haley 第二部分：閱讀理解 (共兩節(jié)，滿分 40 分 ) 第一節(jié) (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(gè)選項(xiàng) (A、 B、 C 和 D)中 ， 選出最佳選項(xiàng) 。 A 導(dǎo)學(xué)號(hào) 49152197 Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden change in pronunciation started, with vowels (元音 ) being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact (接觸 ) with many people from around the world. This meant that lots of new vocabulary entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a mon language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary came out. Early Modern English and Late Modern English are mostly different in the number of words. Late Modern English has many more words, mainly because of the following two reasons: First, the Industrial Revolution (工業(yè)革命 ) led to the need for new words. Second, the British Empire covered one quarter of the earth39。s surface, and the English language took in foreign words from many countries. From around 1600, the English colonization (殖民地化 ) of North America led to American English. Some English pronunciations and words “froze” when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English. Some expressions that are called “American English” are in fact from British expressions. They were kept in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain. Spanish also had an influence (影響 ) on American English. For example, words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante are from Spanish. They entered English by the people of Spain who settled in the American West. French words and West African words also influenced American English. Today, American English has a greater influence, because of the USA39。s movies, television, popular music, trade and technology. 文章大意： 本文是一篇說明文，簡(jiǎn)要介紹了英語的發(fā)展史。 21． The main difference between Early and Late ModernEnglish lies in _A__. A． vocabulary B． pronunciation C． spelling D． grammar 解析： 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。從第二段的 Early Modern English and Late Modern English are mostly different in the number of words 可知，早期現(xiàn)代英語和晚期現(xiàn)代英語的主要差別在于詞匯，故選 A項(xiàng)。 22． From the passage， we can learn the word “canyon” is from _C__. A． American dialect B． African dialect C． Spanish D． French 解析： 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段的 For example, words like canyon， ranch， stampede and vigilante are from Spanish 可知 canyon 來源于西班牙語，故選 C 項(xiàng)。 23． The third paragraph mainly talks about _B__. A． English colonies in North America B． the development of American English C． other languages39。 influence on American English D． the difference between American English and British English 解析： 主旨大意題。第三段主要講的是美國英語的發(fā)展，故選 B 項(xiàng)。 24． The underlined word“froze” can best be replaced by _A__. A． remained unchanged B． disappeared C． improved D． kept active 解析： 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。從第三段的 In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English 可知，美式英語更像莎士比亞時(shí)代的英語，所以 froze在此意為 “ 沒有發(fā)生變化 ” ，故 A項(xiàng)正確。 B 導(dǎo)學(xué)號(hào) 49152198 London39。s newest skyscraper (摩天大樓 ) is called the Shard and it cost about 430 million pounds to build. At a height of almost 310 metres, it is the tallest building in Europe. The Shard has pletely changed the appearance of London. However, not everyone thinks that it is a change for the better. The Shard was designed by the famous Italian architect Renzo Piano. When he began designing the Shard for London, Piano wanted a very tall building that looked like a spire (尖頂 ). He wanted the glass surfaces to reflect the sky and the sides of the building aren39。t regular. So the building has an unusual shape. It looks like a very thin, sharp piece of broken glass. And that is how the building got the name: the Shard. Piano says that the spire shape of the Shard is part of a great London tradition. The shape reminds him of the spires of the churches of London or the tall masts (桅桿 ) of the ships that were once on the river Thames. The Shard has 87 floors. At the top, there is an observatory. At the moment the building is empty, but eventually there will be a five－ star hotel. There will also be top quality restaurants, apartments and offices. Before building work began, a lot of peop