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A、B、C和D四個選項中，選出最佳選項。

　　A

　　OPENINGS AND PREVIEWS

　　Animals Out of Paper

　　Yolo!Productions and the Great Griffon present the play by Rajiv Joseph, in which an origami(折紙術(shù))artist invites a teenage talent and his teacher into her studio. Merri Milwe directs. In previews. Opens Feb.12.(West Park Presbyterian Church,165 W.86th St.212-868-4444.)

　　The Audience

　　Helen Mirren stars in the play by Peter Morgan，about Queen Elizabeth II of the UK and her private meetings with twelve Prime Ministers in the course of sixty years. Stephen Daldry directs. Also starring Dylan Baker and Judith Ivey. Previews begin Feb.14.(Schoenfeld，236 W.45th St.212-239-6200.)

　　Hamilton

　　Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote this musical about Alexander Hamilton，in which the birth of America is presented as an immigrant story. Thomas Kail directs. In previews. Opens Feb.17.(Public，425 Lafayette St.212-967-7555.)

　　On the Twentieth Century

　　Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher star in the musical comedy by Betty Comden and Adolph Green，about a Broadway producer who tries to win a movie star’s love during a cross-country train journey. Scott Ellis directs, for Roundabout Theatre Company. Previews begin Feb.12.(American Airlines Theatre, 227 W.42nd St.212-719-1300.)

　　21. What is the play by Rajiv Joseph probably about?.

　　A.A type of art. B.A teenager's studio.

　　C.A great teacher. D.A group of animals.

　　22. Who is the director of The Audience?

　　A. Helen Mirren. B. Peter Morgan.

　　C. Dylan Baker. D. Stephen Daldry.

　　23. Which play will you go to if you are interested in American history?

　　A. Animals Out of Paper. B. The Audience.

　　C. Hamilton. D. On the Twentieth Century.

　　B

　　For Western designers, China and its rich culture have long been an inspiration for Western creative.

　　"It's no secret that China has always been a source(來源)of inspiration for designers," says Amanda Hill, chief creative officer at A+E Networks, a global media company and home to some of the biggest fashion(時尚)shows.

　　Earlier this year, the China Through A Looking Glass exhibition in New York exhibited 140 pieces of China-inspired fashionable clothing alongside Chinese works of art, with the aim of exploring the influence of Chinese aesthetics(美學(xué))on Western fashion and how China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries. The exhibition had record attendance, showing that there is huge interest in Chinese influences.

　　"China is impossible to overlook," says Hill. "Chinese models are the faces of beauty and fashion campaigns that sell dreams to women all over the world, which means Chinese women are not just consumers of fashion — they are central to its movement. "Of course, only are today's top Western designers being influenced by China — some of the best designers of contemporary fashion are themselves Chinese." Vera Wang, Alexander Wang, Jason Wu are taking on Galiano, Albaz, Marc Jacobs-and beating them hands down in design and sales," adds Hill.

　　For Hill, it is impossible not to talk about China as the leading player when discussing fashion. "The most famous designers are Chinese, so are the models, and so are the consumers," she says. "China is no longer just another market; in many senses it has become the market. If you talk about fashion today, you are talking about China —its influences, its direction, its breathtaking clothes, and how young designers and models are finally acknowledging that in many ways."

　　24.What can we learn about the exhibition in New York?

　　A. It promoted the sales of artworks. B. It attracted a large number of visitors.

　　C. It showed ancient Chinese clothes. D. It aimed to introduce Chinese models.

　　25.What does Hill say about Chinese women?

　　A. They are setting the fashion. B. They start many fashion campaigns.

　　C. They admire super models. D. They do business all over the world.

　　26.What do the underlined words "taking on" in paragraph 4 mean?

　　A. learning from B. looking down on C. working with D. competing against

　　27.What can be a suitable title for the text?

　　A. Young Models Selling Dreams to the World

　　B.A Chinese Art Exhibition Held in New York

　　C. Differences Between Eastern and Western Aesthetics

　　D. Chinese Culture Fueling International Fashion Trends

　　C

　　Before the 1830s,most newspapers were sold through annual subscriptions in America, usually $8 to $10 a year. Today $8 or $10 seems a small amount of money, but at that time these amounts were forbidding to most citizens. Accordingly, newspapers were read almost only by rich people in politics or the trades. In addition, most newspapers had little in them that would appeal to a mass audience. They were dull and visually forbidding. But the revolution that was taking place in the 1830s would change all that.

　　The trend, then, was toward the "penny paper"— a term referring to papers made widely available to the public. It meant any inexpensive newspaper; perhaps more importantly it meant newspapers that could be bought in single copies on the street.

　　This development did not take place overnight. It had been possible(but not easy)to buy single copies of newspapers before 1830,but this usually meant the reader had to go down to the printer's office to purchase a copy. Street sales were almost unknown. However, within a few years, street sales of newspapers would be commonplace in eastern cities. At first the price of single copies was seldom a penny—usually two or three cents was charged —and some of the older well-known papers charged five or six cents. But the phrase "penny paper " caught the public's fancy, and soon there would be papers that did indeed sell for only a penny.

　　This new trend of newspapers for "the man on the street" did not begin well. Some of the early ventures(企業(yè))were immediate failures. Publishers already in business, people who were owners of successful papers, had little desire to change the tradition. It took a few youthful and daring businessmen to get the ball rolling.

　　28.Which of the following best describes newspapers in America before the 1830s?

　　A. Academic. B. Unattractive. C. Inexpensive. D. Confidential.

　　29.What did street sales mean to newspapers?

　　A. They would be priced higher. B. They would disappear from cities.

　　C. They could have more readers. D. They could regain public trust.

　　30.Who were the newspapers of the new trend targeted at?

　　A. Local politicians. B. Common people.

　　C. Young publishers. D. Rich businessmen.

　　31.What can we say about the birth of the penny paper?

　　A. It was a difficult process. B. It was a temporary success.

　　C. It was a robbery of the poor. D. It was a disaster for printers.

　　D

　　Monkeys seem to have a way with numbers.

　　A team of researchers trained three Rhesus monkeys to associate 26 clearly different symbols consisting of numbers and selective letters with 0-25 drops of water or juice as a reward. The researchers then tested how the monkeys combined—or added—the symbols to get the reward.

　　Here's how Harvard Medical School scientist Margaret Livingstone, who led the team, described the experiment: In their cages the monkeys were provided with touch screens. On one part of the screen, a symbol would appear, and on the other side two symbols inside a circle were shown. For example, the number 7 would flash on one side of the screen and the other end would have 9 and 8. If the monkeys touched the left side of the screen they would be rewarded with seven drops of water or juice; if they went for the circle, they would be rewarded with the sum of the numbers—17 in this example.

　　After running hundreds of tests, the researchers noted that the monkeys would go for the higher values more than half the time, indicating that they were performing a calculation, not just memorizing the value of each combination.

　　When the team examined the results of the experiment more closely, they noticed that the monkeys tended to underestimate(低估)a sum compared with a single symbol when the two were close in value—sometimes choosing, for example, a 13 over the sum of 8 and 6. The underestimation was systematic: When adding two numbers, the monkeys always paid attention to the larger of the two, and then added only a fraction(小部分)of the smaller number to it.

　　"This indicates that there is a certain way quantity is represented in their brains, "Dr. Livingstone says. “But in this experiment what they're doing is paying more attention to the big number than the little one.”

　　32. What did the researchers do to the monkeys before testing them?

　　A. They fed them. B. They named them.

　　C. They trained them. D. They measured them.

　　33. How did the monkeys get their reward in the experiment?

　　A. By drawing a circle. B. By touching a screen.

　　C. By watching videos. D. By mixing two drinks.

　　34. What did Livingstone's team find about the monkeys?

　　A. They could perform basic addition. B. They could understand simple words.

　　C. They could memorize numbers easily. D. They could hold their attention for long.

　　35. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

　　A. Entertainment. B. Health. C. Education. D. Science.