Passage 1

　　“Tom? Are you in bed yet?” called Mrs. White. There was no answer. Mrs. White put down her book and went to her 14-year-old son’s room. Tom was sitting in front of a bright computer screen on which a motorbike was running fast.

　　“Oh, Tom. You’re still playing on that computer. You must stop now, it’s half past eleven. If you don’t go to bed soon, you’ll be very tired tomorrow.” Said Mrs. White.

　　“But I’ve nearly won the game.” Said Tom to Mrs. White. She could see the excitement (激动) on his face. She sat down beside him.

　　“You’re always playing on the computer. You spend more time on this machine than on your homework.”

　　Today more and more families have computers. Parents hope computers can help their children improve their study at school. But, many of their children use computers to play games, to watch videos, instead of studying. We often see that computer game houses are crowded with people, especially young boys. They spend a lot of money competing with the computerized machines. The more they lose, the more they want to win. The result is that they don’t want to work or study.

　　In some other countries, even scientists hate computers. They say computers cause millions of people to lose their jobs or cause them a lot of trouble. Computer game addiction (瘾) is a serious problem in social life. Something has to be done to solve the problem.

　　1.What was Tom doing on that late night?

　　___________________________________

　　2.How did Mrs. White feel when she saw her son was playing late?

　　___________________________________

　　3.What do parents think computers can do to their children?

　　___________________________________

　　4.Does the writer agree to spend much money on computer games?

　　___________________________________

　　5.Why do some scientists hate computers?

　　___________________________________

　　(选自2003年福建省三明市试题)

　　【解题思路点拨】短文作者由Tom深夜玩电脑游戏这则故事写起，并由此引发感想：父母亲给孩子购买电脑，本希望能帮助孩子学好功课。结果却适得其反，许多孩子玩游戏、看录像，以致于荒废了学业。有些国家的科学家认为电脑让很多人失业，并使他们陷入了困境。电脑实在是可恨可憎的罪魁祸首。短文最后说，玩游戏上瘾成了社会生活中的一个严重问题，到了非解决不可的地步了。

　　1. He was playing computer games. 根据“Oh, Tom. You’re still playing on that computer.”、 “Tom was sitting in front of a bright computer screen on which a motorbike was running fast.”

　　和“But I’ve nearly won the game.”这三句话可知答案。

　　2.She felt very worried. 短文并没有直接告诉我们答案，但是通过Mrs. White所说的话语，尤其是“You spend more time on this machine than on your homework.”这一句可以推断：她担心儿子的功课会受影响。显然，其心情当然是十分焦虑不安的。

　　3. They think that computers can help their children improve their study at school. 本小题属于表层理解题，答案可直接在倒数第二段的开头处找到。

　　4.No, he doesn’t. 作者说，我们经常看出游戏厅里挤满了人，特别是少年儿童。他们花很多钱与电脑游戏比赛。输得越多，就越想赢。以至于造成了不想学习的恶果。由作者的这番话，我们是不难看出作者对花钱玩游戏这一行为的态度的。

　　5. Because they say computers cause millions of people to lose their jobs or cause them a lot of trouble. 显然，文章最后一段的“They say computers cause millions of people to lose their jobs or cause them a lot of trouble. Computer game addiction (瘾) is a serious problem in social life.”这几句话是该题答案的出处。

　　Passage 2

　　Kate Holmes was visiting a friend, old Mrs. Sydney. Mrs. Sydney had known Kate all her life. She liked to tell Kate about mysteries (神秘故事) and see whether Kate could solve them.

　　“You are very good at solving mysteries,” she said to Kate, “but some day I’ll fool you! Maybe I’ll be able to fool you today. Did I ever tell you the story of the Unknown Brother?”

　　Kate said no and listened. She liked Mrs. Sydney’s stories.

　　“Well,” Mrs. Sydney said, “Jed Wright was my friend when I was a child. He ran away from home when he was very young and lived for years by doing all kinds of jobs. Finally, in 1927, he went to Michigan, where he found a copper mine (铜矿). He bought the land and ran the mine and became a very rich man. ”

　　“Jed never married. His parents had died years before, and his only relative was a brother.

　　“One day Jed knew he was dying. He sent for a good friend, Dan Cole, who had worked for him for years. ”

　　“Jed gave Dan two envelopes, ‘This one is for you,’ he said, ‘and please give the other one to my brother Alf. He is … while he was speaking, Jed died. ”

　　“There were his dying wishes in Dan’s envelope. It gave him Jed’s mine and house. The envelope for Alf had some money and business papers in it. Dan and Alf were each to get about half of Jed’s fortune (财富). They would both be rich. ”

　　“Dan had never seen Alf. He had only two clues (线索). One was an old photo that showed Alf and Jed. But it was taken on their tenth birthday, fifty years ago. The other clue was a post card from Alf. I had no address. It has been mailed in Boston the month before Jed died. ”

　　“Dan went to Boston. He put an advertisement in the newspaper. It said there was good news for Alf Wright. It told where Dan was staying. ”

　　“The next day, more than a hundred men came to Dan’s hotel. They all said they were Alf Wright. But though he had never seen Alf, Dan was able to pick him out right away.”

　　When Mrs. Sydney finished her story, she smiled.

　　“All right, Kate,” she said. “How did he know Alf?”

　　Kate smiled too. “That’s easy,” she said. “You told me how. The clue was the photo.”

　　“Yes, it was,” said Mrs. Sydney. “But it was taken when Alf and Jed were boys. How could that help?”

　　“You said it was taken when both boys were ten years old, so they were…”

　　Kate gave Mrs. Sydney the answer and she had to admit that Kate Holmes had won again.

　　根据短文内容回答下列问题，每个小题不得超过5个单词。

　　1.What made Jed Wright a rich man?

　　The ______ made him very rich.

　　2.What was in the envelope for Dan?

　　___________________________

　　3.Did Dan do what Jed asked him to do?

　　___________________________

　　4.What helped Dan to find Alf?

　　____________________ and the advertisement.

　　5.What was Kate’s answer to the mystery?

　　Kate said, “…so they were _______”.

　　6.Were they brothers or friends?

　　Kate and Mrs. Sydney were friends; Jed and Alf were brothers; Jed and _______________.

　　(选自2003年上海市试题)

　　【解题思路点拨】由于这篇机智故事篇幅较长，其难度也较大。故事的梗概是：Mrs. Sydney 与Kate是好朋友，她喜欢给Kate讲一些神秘故事。聪明的Kate总是能够回答故事中的问题。有一次，Mrs. Sydney想难为一下Kate，就给她讲了这样一则故事：Jed自幼父母双亡，独自一个出去闯荡，后来发现并开采了一座铜矿，随即成为一名很有钱的人。很多年之后的一天，年事已高的Jed快要辞世的时候留下了遗嘱。他将自己的财产一分为二，一半给自己的好朋友Dan，另一半给自己唯一的亲人-----弟弟Alf。可是没等说出自己弟弟的地址，Jed就闭上了眼睛。而Dan并不认识Alf，也不知道他住在什么地方。他只好凭借着一张Jed和Alf兄弟二人小时候的照片和一张前不久Alf寄来的一张明信片去寻找Alf……

　　1.copper mine. 关于Jed发家致富的原因，Mrs. Sydney在故事的第一段中交待得非常明白。“…he went to Michigan, where he found a copper mine. He bought the land and ran the mine and became a very rich man.”，根据这几句话，显然可知是铜矿让他发了财。

　　2.There were Ted’s dying wishes. 答案就在“There were his dying wishes in Dan’s envelope. It gave him Jed’s mine and house.”这两个句子中。

　　3.Yes, he did. 读罢全文，很容易知道Dan遵照遗嘱，利用明信片和老照片这两条线索，来到Boston，最后找到了Alf，完成了Jed托付给自己的任务。所以答案是肯定的。

　　4.The photo, the postcard. Dan从前不久Alf寄来的明信片上得知Alf住在Boston；接着他张贴广告把所有名字叫做Alf Wright的人招来；最后利用照片所提供的重要信息找到了Alf。显然，这三者对Dan找到Alf起着十分重要的作用，缺一不可。题目中已将advertisement给出，故此得出答案。

　　5.…twins/twin brothers. 这道题目颇有难度，不仅考查了考生的理解能力，也考查了考生的智力水平和推理判断能力。从“One was an old photo that showed Alf and Jed. But it was taken on their tenth birthday, fifty years ago.”提供的信息中，可知Alf和Jed在过十岁生日时的照片，兄弟俩是同岁，即可推断他们一定是孪生兄弟以及Alf现在的年龄是六十岁。这也正是Dan从那么多人中分辨出来Alf的唯一依据。

　　6.…Dan/ Mrs. Sydney were friends. 短文的开头交待了Kate与Mrs. Sydney是好朋友。在Mrs. Sydney的故事中，“…and please give the other one to my brother Alf.”也说明了Jed和Alf是兄弟关系。那么Jed还能与谁有朋友或兄弟关系呢？根据“He sent for a good friend, Dan Cole, who had worked for him for years.”，可知Dan与Jed是朋友关系。又由Mrs. Sydney说的“Jed Wright was my friend when I was a child.”这句话可知Jed与Dan或Mrs. Sydney也是朋友关系。由此可得答案。

　　Passage 3

　　The way that people allover the world watch films has changed these years. People don’t just go to the films any more. They take the films home! The VCR (录相机), has made this possible, and it has helped change people’s lives.

　　VCRs make it possible for us to watch films at home instead of the cinema. People can just go to a video store near their houses, rent (租) one or more films for a day or a weekend, and watch them in their own homes. They cost just a few dollars each day. May different films are on videotape, from exciting films to interesting plays.

　　Watching a film at home can be very easy, and a lot cheaper. VCR owners can make snacks (零食) and sit back and enjoy a film with family and friends. They can stop the film to make more snacks, answer the phone, or take care of the baby. There are no lines to stand in, no tickets to buy, and no uncomfortable (不舒服的) cinema seats.

　　1.What has changed people’s way of watching films?

　　___________________________________________

　　2.How do people usually get videotapes to watch films at home?

　　___________________________________________

　　3.Is it expensive to rent videotape for one day?

　　___________________________________________

　　4.What does the writer prefer, watching video films at home or seeing films at the cinema?

　　___________________________________________

　　(选自2003年辽宁省试题)

　　【解题思路点拨】这是一篇时尚生活短文。随着电子技术的飞速发展。当今的人们足不出户就可以利用VCR在家里看电影了。在家中看电影既轻松又实惠。你只需到附近的音像店租一些喜欢的电影，和家人或朋友一起舒舒服服地欣赏。

　　1. (The) VCR (s). 文章第一段说，现在人们用不着再去电影院，只需把电影片带回家就可以看到自己喜爱的电影了。是什么东西让这成为现实了呢？“The VCR, has made this possible…”和“VCRs make it possible for us to watch films at home instead of the cinema”这两句说出了答案。

　　2.To rent videotapes/films. 本题答案源自“People can just go to a video store near their houses, rent (租) one or more films for a day or a weekend…”这句话中。

　　3.No, it isn’t. 根据“They cost just a few dollars each day.”这句话，可知答案应该是否定的。

　　5. Watching video films at home. 本题的答案是不能在短文中直接找到的。仔细揣摩最后一段作者描述的在家里看电影的场景，不难体会出作者的艳羡之情。由此，可以得出“更喜欢在家里看电影”这一结论。

　　Passage 4

　　I’m Joan Croft. I have to say that I came into nursing by chance. I didn’t really like my first job, which was office work. It was all right—but that’s just about all you can say about it. I stayed in the same place with the same people around me all day and every day. Then I became a singer, which I enjoyed very much, but after a while the singing group broke up (解散) and I had to start looking for something else.

　　Some girls have wanted to be nurses ever since they were children, but it never entered my head until I saw an advertisement in a paper. I wrote in and thought, “Oh, well, I’ll give it a try.” One thing I liked about it was going away from home.

　　The training itself is very interesting and most of it is just on the wards (病房), so that you very quickly begin nursing real patients.

　　I lived in the nurses’ home when I arrived and I had my own room, which was very nice.

　　I like nursing more than I ever thought I would. I’ll always carry on nursing. I’ve got a boyfriend who is a doctor, so I hope to get married sometime, but wherever I live there’s sure to be a hospital in the place and there’s always a job for a nurse.

　　1.What was John’s first job?

　　_____________________

　　2.Why didn’t Joan like her first job?

　　____________________________

　　3.Why didn’t Joan go on with her second job?

　　____________________________________

　　4.How did Joan find out the information about the nursing job?

　　___________________________________

　　5.What was Joan’s plan for the future?

　　______________________________

　　(选自2003年江西省试题)

　　【解题思路点拨】这是Joan Croft的一篇自述。由于不喜欢自己的第一份工作，Joan Croft后来做了一名歌手。可因为歌舞团不久解散了，她只好另谋职业。小时候从未想过要当护士的Joan 因为偶然的一次机会成了一名护士，并且从此喜欢上了这一职业。

　　1.It was office work. 短文开头的第三句“I didn’t really like my first job, which was office work.”即是答案的依据。

　　2.Because she didn’t like staying in the same place with the same people around her all day and every day. /Because she was fed up with it. Joan为什么不喜欢自己的第一份职业呢？由“…but that’s just about all you can say about it. I stayed in the same place with the same people around me all day and every day.”这句话不难看出，一天到晚和周围的那些老面孔的人呆在同一个地方，且天天如此，她感到厌倦了。

　　3.Because the singing group broke up. 短文首段的最末一句说明了Joan没有继续她的第二份工作的原因---“…the singing group broke up (解散) and I had to start looking for something else.”(歌舞团解散了)。

　　4.She found an advertisement in a paper. 显然，“…but it never entered my head until I saw an advertisement in a paper.”这句话是答案的出处。

　　5.She hoped to get married sometime and went on her nursing job. 短文的最后一段交待了Joan未来的计划-----在某个时候结婚，并且继续从事护士这一职业。如果不仔细审读，很可能将其中的一个要点遗漏。另外，还要注意该问题是一般过去时的句子，不可受短文中句子时态的影响。由此考生也应接受教训：做这一类题目的时候，不可简单地将材料中的句子照搬照抄，一定要读透题目，然后再考虑答案。

　　Passage 5

　　On October 12, 1989, some Chinese scientists were working at the computers to look for the invention they needed. Suddenly they saw something bright crossing the computers’ screens, and there was so much! At the same moment the computers were working much slower. To find out what was happening they stopped their work to check some parts of the computers. Much to their surprise, they found out that most of their stored information was cleared up by computer viruses (病毒)! What was worse, all these computers had been infected (感染) by computer viruses.

　　It is said that the computer viruses were made by a group of young men who all had good education. They made the viruses just to show their intelligence (才能). These kinds of computer viruses are called Jerusalem Viruses. These viruses can stay in computers for a long time. When the time comes they ill attack the computers by slowing down the function (功能), damaging (破坏) their normal programs or even clearing up all the information.

　　We now come to know that Jerusalem Viruses often attack computers on Friday so they are also called “Friday Viruses” and that they are spreading (传播) to a lot of computers. Among the countries that suffered (遭受) computer viruses are Britain, Australia, Switzerland, the United States of America, and some other countries. But till now, how to clean up the terrible viruses is still a problem.

　　1.What did the Chinese scientists find out when they checked the computers?

　　_________________________________________________.

　　2.Why did the group of young men make the computer viruses?

　　_________________________________________________.

　　3.The computer viruses will damage the normal programs, won’t they?

　　_________________________________________________.

　　4.Why are these computer viruses called “Friday Viruses”?

　　_________________________________________________.

　　5.What’s the best title of this passage?

　　_________________________________________________.

　　(选自2003年山东省菏泽市试题)

　　【解题思路点拨】这是一篇关于电脑病毒的阅读材料。1989年10月，中国的一些科学家在电脑上发现了病毒。据说，这种名叫“Jerusalem Viruses”的电脑病毒是由一些受过良好教育的年轻人研制的。它通常在星期五发作。电脑病毒的危害非常大，传播速度快。很多国家饱受电脑病毒之苦。目前还没有有效的办法清除这种病毒。

　　1.They found out that most of their stored information was cleaned up by computer viruses. 通读全文，就会发现答案即在第一自然段的“Much to their surprise, they found out that most of their stored information was cleared up by computer viruses!”这一句话之中。

　　2.They made the viruses just to show their intelligence. 第二自然段的大体意思是，电脑病毒是一群受过良好教育的年轻人制造的。他们制造这种病毒的目的只是为了显示他们的聪明才智。答案就是段落中的原文。本小题属于表层理解题。

　　3.Yes, they will. 第二自然段最后说，当这种病毒袭击电脑时，会削弱其功能，破坏其正常程序，甚至会清除所有信息。所以这个问题的答案应当是肯定的。

　　4.Because they often attack computers on Fridays. 文中最后一段中的“… Viruses often attack computers on Friday so they are also called ‘Friday Viruses’…”这句话即是答案的出处。

　　5.Computer Viruses. 本阅读材料是围绕“电脑病毒”展开的。第一自然段讲述的是科学家发现了电脑病毒；第二自然段主要说明了病毒的危害；第三自然段讲述了电脑病毒发作的时间和危及的国家。因此，用“电脑病毒”作标题是很恰当的。