第三篇Trying to Find a Parther
One of the most striking findings of a recent poll in the UK is that of the people inbterviewed,one in two believes that it is becoming more difficult to meet someone to start a family with.
Why are many finding it increasingly difficult to start and sustain intimate relationships?Does modern life really make it harder to fall in love?Or are we making it harder for ourselves?
It is certainly the case today that contemporary couples benefit in different ways from relationships.Women no longer rely upon partners for economic security or status.A man doesn’t expect his spouse to be in sole charge of running his household and raising his children.
But perhaps the knowledge that we can live perfectly well without a partnership means that it takes much more to persuade people to abandon their independence.
In theory,finding a partner should be much simpler these days.Only a few generations ago,your choice of soulmate (心上人) was constrained(限制) by geography,social convention and family tradition.Although it was never explicit,many marriages were essentially arranged.
Now those barriers have been broken down.You can approach a builder or a brain surgeon in any bar in any city on any given evening.When the world is your oyster (牡蛎),you surely have a better chance of finding a pearl.
But it seems that the old conventions have been replaced by an even tighter constraint:the tyranny of choice.
The expectations of partners are inflated(提高) to an unmanageable degree:good looks,impressive salary,kind to grandmother,and right socks.There is no room for error in the first impression.
We think that a relationship can be perfect.If it isn’t,it is disposable.We work to protect ourselves against future heartache and don’t put in the hard emotional labor needed to build a strong relationship.Of course,this is complicated by realities.The cost of housing and child-rearing creates pressure to have a stable income and career before a life partnership.
41.What does the recent poll show?
A.It is getting more difficult for a woman to find her husband.
B.It is getting increasingly difficult to start a familyl.
C.It is getting more difficult for a man to find his wife.
D.It is getting increasingly difficult to develop an intimate relationship with your spouse.
42.Which of the following is NOT true about a contemporary married couple?
A.The wife doesn’t have to raise the children all by herself.
B.The husband doesn’t have to support the family all by himself.
C.The wife is, no l, onger the only person to manage the household.
D.They will receive a large sum of money from the govemment.
43.Which of the following was NOT a constraint on one’s choice of soulmate in the old days?
A.The health condition of his or her grandmother.
B.The geographical environment.
C.The social convention.
D.The family tradition.
44.Which of the following is NOT expected of a partner according to this passage?
A.Good looks.
B.An impressive career.
C.A high salary.
D.A fine sense of humor.
45.The word“sustain”(paragraph 2)could be best replaced by
A.“reduce”.
B.“shake”.
C.“maintain”.
D.“weaken”.
第5部分：补全短文(第46~50题，每题2分，共10分)
下面的短文有5处空白，短文后有6个句子，其中5个取自短文，请根据短文内容将其分别放回原有位置，以恢复文章原貌。
A Heroic Woman
The whole of the United States cheered its latest hero,Ashley Smith,with the Federal Bureau of lnvestigation saying it was planning to give a big reward to her for having a brave heart and wise mind.
(46)She was moving into her apartment in Atlanta,Georgia early on the morning of March 12,when a man followed her to her door and put a gun to her side.“I started walking to my door,and I felt really,really afraid,”she said in a TV interview last week.The man was Brian Nichols,33.He was suspected of killing three people at an Atlanta courthouse(法院)on March 11 and later of killing a federal agent.(47)
Nichols tied Smith up with tape,but released her after she repeatedly begged him not to take her life.“I told him if he hurt me,my little girl wouldn’t have a mummy,”she said.In order to calm the man down,she read to him from“The Purpose-Driven Life”,a best-selling religious book.He asked her to repeat a paragraph“about what you thought your purpose in life was-what talents were you given.”(48)
“I basically just talked to him and tried to gain his trust,”Smith said.
Smith said she asked Nichols why he chose her.“He said he thought I was an angel sent from God,and we were Christian sister and brogher,”she said.“And that he was lost,and that God led him to me to tell him that he had hurt a lot of peopole.”(49)She said Nichols was surprised when she made him breakfast and that the two of them watched television coverage(报道)of the police hunt for him.“I cannot believe that’s me,”Nichols told the woman.Then,Nichols asked Smith what she thought he should do.She said,“I think you should turn yourself in.If you don’t,lots more people are going to get hurt.”
Eventually,he let her go.(50)A US$60,000 reward had been posted for Nichols’ capture.Authorities said they did not yet know if Smith would be eligible(有资格的)for that money.
A.The local police were searching for him.
B.Smith is a 26-year-old single mother with a daughter.
C.Smith tried very hard to kill Nichols.
D.She even cooked breakfast for the man before he allowed her to leave.
E.And the two of them discussed this topic.
F.Then she called the police.
第6部分：完形填空(第51~65题，每题1分，共15分)
下面的短文有15处空白，请根据短文内容为每处空白确定1个最佳选项。
Walk a Quarter-Mile or Die
If you can walk a quarter-mile,odds(可能性)are you have at least six years of life left in you,scientists say.And the faster you can(51)it,the longer you might live.
While walking is no guarantee of(52)or longevity(长寿),a new study found that the ability of elderly people to do the quarter-mile
was an“important determinant(决定因素)”in whether or not they’d be(53)six years later and how much illness and disability they would endure.
“The(54)to complete this walk was a powerful predictor of health outcomes,”said study leader Anne Newman of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.“In fact,we(55)that the people who could not complete the walk were(56)an extremely high risk of later disability and death.”
Newman and colleagues recruited nearly 2,700 white and African-American men and women aged 70 to 79 to(57)the walk.All the participants were screened and determined to be in relatively(58)health,and they had all said they had previously walked that far with no(59).Only 86 percent of them finished,(60).
The scientists then monitored the health and mortality of all(61)for the next six years.“There was a big gap in health outcomes(62)people who could complete the longer walk and people who could not,with the latter being at an extremely high(63)of becoming disabled or dying,”Newman said.“What was really surprising is that these people were not(64)of how weak they actually were.”
Finishing times were found to be crucial,too.Those who completed the walk but were among the slowest 25 percent(65)three times greater risk of death than the speedier folks.
51.A.takeB.doC.jumpD.run
52.A.healthB.safetyC.peaceD.fun
53.A.oldB.effectiveC.alikeD.alive
54.A.taskB.standardC.abilityD.subject
55.A.foundB.doubtedC.suspectedD.studied
56.A.inB.atC.ofD.with
57.A.competeB.loseC.completeD.win
58.A.goodB.mentalC.physicalD.psychological
59.A.questionB.problemC.answerD.solution
60.A.henceB.moreoverC.howeverD.so
61.A.participantsB.activistsC.colleaguesD.athletes
62.A.forB.onC.amongD.between
63.A.numberB.gradeC.riskD.standard
64.A.sureB.freeC.stupidD.aware
65.A.increasedB.facedC.carriedD.avoided
