Part I Reading Comprehension (30%) Directions: There are three passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center. Passage 1 Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage: (76)The agriculture revolution in the nineteenth century involved two things: the invention of labor-saving machinery and the development of scientific agriculture. Labor-saving machinery naturally appeared first where labor was scarce. "In Europe", said Thomas Jefferson, "the object is to make the most of their land, labor being sufficient. here it is to make the most of our labor, land being abundant". It was in America, therefore, that the great advances in nineteenth-century agricultural machinery first came. At the opening of the century, with the exception of a crude(粗糙的) plow, farmers could have carried practically all of the existing agricultural tools on their backs. (77)By 1860，most of the machinery in use today had been designed in an early form. The most important of the early inventions was the iron plow. As early as 1890 Charles Newbolt of New Jersey had been working on the idea of a cast-iron plow and spent his entire fortune in introducing his invention. The farmers, however, would home none of it, claiming that the iron poisoned the soil and made the weeds grow. Nevertheless, many people devoted their attention to the plow, until in 1869, James Oliver of South Bend, Indiana, turned out the first chilled-steel plow. 1. The word "here" (Para. 1, Line 6) refers to__________. A. Europe B. America C. New Jersey D. Indiana 2. Which of the following statement is NOT true? A. The need for labor helped the invention of machinery in America. B. The farmer rejected Charles Newbolt s plow for fear of ruin of their fields. C. Both Europe and America had great need for farm machinery. D. It was in Indiana that the first chilled-steel plow was produced. 3. The passage is mainly about__________. A. the agriculture revolution B. the invention of labor-saving machinery C. the development of scientific agriculture D. the farming machinery in America 4. At the opening of the nineteenth-century, farmers in America__________. A. preferred light tools B. were extremely self-reliant (自给的) C. had many tools D. had very few tools 5. It is implied but not stated in the passage that __________. A. there was a shortage of workers on American farms B. the most important of the early invention was the iron plow C. after 1869, many people devoted their attention to the plow D. Charles Newbolt had made a fortune by his cast-iron plow Passage 2 Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage: By adopting a few simple techniques, parents who read to their children can greatly increase their children s language development. It is surprising but true. (78) How parents talk to their children makes a big difference in the children s language development. If a parent encourages the child to actively respond to what the parent is reading, the child s language skills increase. A study was done with 30 three-year-old children and their parents. Half of the children participated in the experimental study. the other half acted as the control group. In the experimental group, the parents were given a two-hour training session in which they were taught to ask open-ended questions rather than yes-or-no questions. For example, the parent should ask, "What is the doggie doing?" rather than "Is the doggie running away?" (79) The parents in the experimental group were also instructed in how to help children find answers, how to suggest alternative possibilities and how to praise correct answers. At the beginning of the study, the children did not differ in measures of language development, but at the end of one month, the children in the experimental group showed 5.5 months ahead of the control group on a test of verbal expression and vocabulary. Nine months later, the children in the experimental group still showed an advance of 6 months over the children in the control group. 6. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? A. Children who talk a lot are more intelligent. B. Parents who listen to their children can teach them more. C. Active children should read more and be given more attention. D. Verbal ability can easily be developed with proper methods. 7. What does "it" in line 2 can most probably be replaced by? A. Parents increasing children s language development B. Reading techniques being simple C. Parents reading to children D. Children s intelligence development 8. According to the author, which of the following questions is the best type to ask children about? A. Do you see the elephant? B. Is the elephant in the cage? C. What animals do you like? D. Shall we go to the zoo? 9. The difference between the control group and the experimental group was __________. A. the training that parents received B. the age of the children C. tile books that were read D. the number of the children 10. The best conclusion we can draw from the passage is that __________. A. parents should be trained to read to their children B. the more children read, the more intelligent they will become C. children s language skills increase when they are required to respond actively D. children who read actively seem six months older