【正文】 metal braces (牙套) on her teeth. But this hasn’t stopped her from being one of America’s favorite TV characters. So how did she manage to do it?The answer is that charm can be more attractive than beauty. Betty is the main character in a TV show Ugly Betty. The show is about her life as an office worker at a fashion magazine in New York.The TV show has just started. Betty has many exciting experiences and romantic stories. Betty is often looked down on and laughed at by the people around. But she manages to do better than others with her hard work, charm and wisdom. The show tells us about how a girl goes from an ugly young duck into a beautiful swan.Though you may know the ending of the show from the beginning and the story is familiar to many of us, it has still been a big success in the USA. It has attracted a large number of viewers and won two Golden Globes awards, one of the highest honors for a television program in the USA. “I think you can see a bit of Betty in all of us, and I mean men as well, because it’s about the underdog (弱者) ”, says Ashley Jensen, who plays one of the characters on the show.The program is so popular because of the performance of the 23yearold actress America Ferrera who plays the role of Betty. She brings the character alive on the screen.【短文大意】貝蒂不是傳統(tǒng)的美國(guó)人，但這就沒(méi)有阻止她成為美國(guó)最受歡迎的電視角色之一，其原因是：魅力比美貌更具吸引力。該節(jié)目吸引了一大批觀眾，獲得了兩個(gè)金球獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)。39. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage? A. Betty is a girl of wisdom. B. Betty acts as a beautiful swan on the show. C. Betty is an American favourite TV character.D. Betty is often looked down on by the people around.【答案】B【解析】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。40. What can be the best title for the passage?A. Beauty from within. B. A romantic story. C. An ugly girl. D. An exciting experience.【答案】A【解析】主旨大意題。C【2012江蘇泰州】There was a lovely vegetable patch (菜園). A large tree grew there. Both the patch and the tree gave the place a wonderful look, and they were the pride of the gardener. But no one knew that the vegetables and the tree couldn’t stand (忍受) each other. The vegetables hated the tree’s shadow (陰影), because it left them only just enough light to live. The tree, on the other hand, hated the vegetables because they drank nearly all the water, leaving him just enough to live.The situation became so serious that the vegetables decided to use up all the water in the ground so that the tree would die. The tree answered back by not protecting the vegetables from the hot sun, so they began to dry up. Soon the vegetables were really weak, and the tree was drying up.The gardener wondered why and stopped watering them. When he did that, both the tree and the vegetables realized that it was better to help each other. They learned how to live in harmony with those around them. So they decided to work together, using both the shade and the water to grow well. After seeing how well they were doing, the gardener gave the best care to his vegetable patch, watering and fertilizing (施肥) it better than any other patch for miles around.【短文大意】該短文是一篇擬人化的寓言。41. Why didn’t the vegetables and the tree get on well with each other?A. Because the vegetables wanted more light.B. Because the tree drank almost all the water.C. Because the vegetables weren’t the pride of the gardener.D. Because the vegetables didn’t look as wonderful as the tree.【答案】A【解析】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。left根據(jù)短文的第三節(jié)的第一句可知：The gardenerand stopped watering them.。43. The underlined phrase “in harmony” means “ ” in Chinese.A. 長(zhǎng)久地 B. 小心地 C. 有效地 D. 和諧地【答案】D【解析】詞義猜測(cè)題。44. Of the following, which order is right according to the story?① The gardener worked on the patch even harder than before.② The gardener stopped watering the vegetables and the tree. ③ The vegetables decided to use up all the water in the ground.④ The tree and the vegetables realized the importance of helping each other.A. ③②④① B. ④②③① C. ②①④③ D. ①③④②【答案】A【解析】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。 passage is mainly about .A. why the sunlight and water were very important B. how the gardener took care of his vegetable patch C. why the gardener was proud of his vegetable patchD. what happened between the vegetables and the tree【答案】D【解析】主旨大意題。D【2012江蘇泰州】The Internet, mobile phones and iPads are part of our lives now. Technology is greatly affecting all ways of our lives, from the ways we work to the ways we play. And it even causes a number of social problems such as cloning humans.We have had lots of technology and it has changed our lives a lot. There is no doubt that humans will continue to use more and more technology. Here are some examples of modern technology that will change our ideas and will affect our lives greatly.Global Positioning System (GPS) (全球定位系統(tǒng))It’s a system that uses radio signals from satellites to show exact (精確的) information. It tells you where the user is on the earth in all weather conditions. It’s made up of three parts: satellites, control equipments (設(shè)備) on land and receivers.Space TechnologyRussian and American scientists have worked together for the International Space Station (ISS) for a long time. They hope the ISS will provide a longlasting lab. Such a lab will bring humans limitless (無(wú)限的) advantages. It’s even hoped that one day space technology will take humans to their new houses in space.Underwater RobotHercules is a kind of