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Passage 2
Sometimes a book can help change history. One book that certainly did was Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was a book that spoke out against slavery.
As Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote her book, there were over 3.5 million slaves in the United States. Slaves were usually in the cotton-growing states of the South. The Northern States has ended slavery. Yet most northerners were not strongly against slavery. They did not mind that slavery continued in the South.
Stowe decided to make people understand that slavery was very bad. Each night after putting r six children to bed, she worked on her book. She told the owner. She also told how the slaves tried to run away for freedom. Uncle Tom’s Cabin first came in 1852. Over 300,000 books were sold out in a year.
People had different ideas about the book. In the North, many people finally believed that slavery must be ended after they read the book. In the South, many people were very angry at the people in the North. By 1861 the two parts of the country were at war. The Civil War, which lasted until of cease, was made to happen by many things. Yet Uncle Tom’s Cabin surely played a part. Stowe met President Linclon in 1862. As Linclon took her hand, he said, “So you are the woman who starred the big war.”
11. Before Uncle Tom’s Cabin came out, most Northerners ______.
A. were slaves in the South B. did not know how bad slavery was
C. kept slaves in their homes D. understood that slavery was wrong
12. While many Northerners agreed with Harriet Beacher Stowe ,______.
A. many southerners wanted war
B. many southerners had not read the book
C. many southerners were angry at her
D. some slaves tried to run away from North
13. From the text, we can infer that _______.
A. Stowe was a very young woman
B. Stowe’s husband was dead when she wrote the story
C. Stowe wrote her book with stories from her six children
D. Stowe could not work on her book at all during the daytime
14. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was _______.
A. a book about Harriet Beecher Stowe
B. a history book
C. a book that helped change history
D. a book about the American Civil war
15. Harriet Beecher Stowe _______.
A. was a little woman who started the American Civil War together with Abraham Linclon
B. was strongly against the slavery
C. helped some slaves to run away from the South
D. met Abraham Lincoln before the Civil War
第二部分：阅读理解
此部分共有2篇短文，每篇短文后有5个问题。请从每个问题后的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并用铅笔将答题卡上的相应字母涂黑。
Passage 1
Laptop computers are popular all over the world. People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.
Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of a ＄10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. In addition, they will be able to use e-mail to “speak” with their teachers, their classmates, and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fast-food restaurant or under the trees-anywhere at all!
Because of the many changes in computer technology , laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers. In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State higher-education officials are studying how laptops can help students. State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.
At Westlake College, more than 60 percent of the staff use computers. The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons. As one Westlake teacher said, “ Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we’re giving students a window on the world. They can see everything and do everything.”
6.The main purpose of the laptop program is to give each student a laptop to ________.
A.use for their schoolwork B.access the Internet
C.work at home D.connect them to libraries
7.Why is the word “speak” in the second paragraph in quotation marks(引号)?
A.They don’t really talk. B.They use the computer language.
C.Laptops have speakers. D.None of the above reasons is correct.
8.Which of the following is true about Westlake College?
A. All teachers use computers. B.1500 students have laptops.
C.It is an old college in America. D.Students there can do everything.
9. A window on the world in the last paragraph means that students can ________.
A.attend lectures on information technology
B.travel around the world
C.get information from around the world
D.have free laptops
10.What can we infer from the passage?
A.The program is successful. B.The program is not workable.
C.The program is too expensive. D.We don’t know the result yet.
Passage 2
There is an English saying: “Laughter is the best medicine.” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now, however, doctors have begun to look into(调查) laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their heart, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart beating and breathing; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial(有益的).
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programmes. The group that tolerated(忍受) the pain for the longest time was the groups which listened to a funny programme. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemicals in the brain which diminish both stress(紧张；压力) and pain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.
( ) 11. The underlined phrase “took the saying seriously” in the 1st paragraph probably means “________”.
A. treat as important B. treat as interesting
C. treat as dangerous D. treat as funny
( ) 12. Doctors have proved the following except that _______.
A. smiling does good to health B. laughter can be tolerated
C. there is a way to reduce pain D. laughter can work the muscles in the feet
( ) 13. The main idea of the passage is _______.
A. laughter and physical exercises have similar effects on the human body
B. smile can produce the same effects as laughter
C. pain can be reduced by laughter
D. laughter is the best medicine
( ) 14. The underlined word “diminish” is similar to “______”.
A. test B. stop C. reduce D. increase
( ) 15. Doctors hold laughter clinics _______.
A. to give better condition to their patients
B. in order to improve patients’ health
C. to make patients smile
D. to prove smile and laughter have the same effect
