第4部分：阅读理解（第31～45题，每题3分，共45分）
　　下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每道题后面有4个选项。请根据文章的内容从每题所给的4个选项中选择1个最佳答案，涂在答题卡相应的位置上。
　
　　第一篇  More Than a Ride to School
　
　　The National Education Association claims．"The school bus is a mirror of the community．"They further add that，unfortunately, what appears on the exterior does not always reflect the reality of a chosen community．They are right——sometimes it reflects more! Just ask Liesl Denson. Riding the school bus has been more than a ride to school for Liesl．
　　Bruce Hardy．school bus driver for Althouse BUS Company has been Liesl's bus driver since kindergarten．Last year when Liesl's family moved to Parkesburg，knowing her bus went by her new residence.she requested to ride the same bus
　　This year Liesl is a senior and will enjoy her last year riding the bus．She says，"It's been a great ride so far! My bus driver is so cool and has always been a good friend and a good listener．Sometimes when you're a child adults do not think that what you have to say is important．Mr.Hardy always listens to what you have to say and makes you feel important．''Her friends Ashley Batista and Amanda Wolfe agree．
　　Bruce Hardy has been making Octorara students feel special since 1975.  This  year he will celebrate 30 years working for Althouse Bus Company，Larry Althouse，president of the company, acknowledges Bruce Hardy's outstanding record："You do not come by employees like Bruce these days. He has never missed a day of work and has a perfect driving record．He was recognized in 2000 by the Pennsylvania School Bus Association for driving 350,000 accident free miles．Hardy's reputation is made further evident through the relationships he has made with the students that ride his bus．"
　　Althouse further adds，''Althouse Bus Company was established 70 years ago and has been providing quality transportation ever since．My grandfather started the business with one bus． Althouse Bus Company is delighted to have the opportunity to bring distinctive and safe service to our local school and community and looks forward to continuing to provide quality service for many more years to come．''
　　Three generations of business is not all the company has enjoyed．Thanks to drivers like Bruce Hardy，they have been building relationships through generations，Liesl's mother Carol also enjoys fond memories of riding Bruce Hardy's bus to the Octorara School District．
　
　　31 The word"mirror''in the first line could be best replaced by
　　E  "vehicle"．
　　F  "device"．
　　G  "need"
　　H  "reflection"．
　
　　32 Bruce Hardy has been working with Althouse Bus Company
　　A  for 30 years．
　　B  for 70 years．
　　C  since last year．
　　D  since 2000
　
　　33  Which of the following statements is NOT true of Bruce Hardy?
　　A He is popular with his passengers．
　　B He has never missed a day of work．
　　C He is an impatient person
　　D He has driven 350.000 accident free miles．
　
　　34 Althouse Bus Company was founded by
　　A  Larry Althouse．
　　B  Althouse's grandfather
　　C  Liesl's mother
　　D  Ashley Batista．
　
　　35 Althouse Bus Company pays much attention to
　　A  employing young drivers
　　B  running quality schools．
　　C  providing free driving lessons
　　D  building sound relationships．
第二篇  A Phone That Knows You're Busy
　
　　It's a modern problem：you're too busy to be disturbed by incessant（连续不断的）phone calls so you turn your cellphone off .But if you don't remember to turn it back on when you're less busy．you could miss some important calls if only the phone knew when it was wise to interrupt you，you wouldn't have to turn it off at all. Instead，it could let calls through when you are not too busy
　　A bunch of behavior sensors（传感器）and a clever piece of software could do just that，by analyzing your behavior to determine if it's a good time to interrupt you．If built into a phone，the system may decide you're too busy and ask the caller to leave a message or ring back later．
　　James Fogarty and Scott Hudson at Camegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania based their system oil tiny microphones，cameras and touch sensors that reveal body language and activity． First they had to study different behaviors to find out which ones stongly predict whether your mind is interrupted
　　The potential"busyness"signals they focused on included whether the office doors were left open or closed，the time of day，if other people were with the person in question，how close they were to each other, and whether or not the computer was in use．
　　The sensors monitored these and many other factors while four subjects were at work . At random intervals，the subjects rated how interruptible they were on a scale ranging from"highly interruptible''to"highly not-interruptible" . Their ratings were then correlated with the various behaviors . "It is a shotgun（随意的）approach：we used all the indicators we could think of and then let statistics find out which were important，" says Hudson
　　The model showed that using the keyboard，and talking on a landline or to someone else in the office correlated most strongly with how interruptible the subjects judged themselves to be．
　　Interestingly，the computer was actually better than people at predicting when someone was too busy to be interrupted . The computer got it right 82 per cent of the time，humans 77 per cent． Fogarty speculates that this might be because people doing the interrupting are inevitably biased towards delivering their message，whereas computers don't care．
　　The first application for Hudson and Fogarty's system is likely to be in an instant messaging system，followed by office phones and cellphones．"There is no technological roadblock（障碍） to it being deployed in a couple of years，" says Hudson
　
　　36 A big problem facing people today is that
　　A they must tolerate phone disturbances or miss important calls．
　　B they must turn off their phones to keep their homes quiet．
　　C they have to switch from a desktop phone to a cellphone．
　　D they are too busy to make phone calls．
　
　　37 The behavior sensor and software system built in a phone
　　A could help store messages．
　　B  could send messages instantly
　　C could tell when it is wise to interrupt you．
　　D could identify important phone calls．
　
　　38 Scientists at Carnegie Menon University tried to find out
　　A why office doors were often 1eft open．
　　B when it was a good time to turn off the computer．
　　C what questions office workers were bothered with．
　　D which behaviors could tell whether a person was busy
　
　　39 During the experiment，the subjects were asked
　　A to control the sensors and the camera．
　　B to rate the degrees to which they could be interrupted．
　　C to compare their behaviors with others'．
　　D to analyze all the indicators of interruption．
　
　　40 The computer performed better than people in the study because
　　A  the computer worked harder．B  the computer was not busy
　　C  people tended to be biased．
　　D  people were not good at statistics．
第三篇  The Exploding Lakes of Cameroon
　
　　What comes to mind when you think of a lake? You probably imagine a pretty scene with blue water，birds，and fish．For the people in the northwestern Cameroon，however, the image is very different.  For them，lakes may mean terrible disasters.  In 1984，poisonous gases exploded out of  Lake Monoun and came down into the nearby villages，killing thirty-seven people．Two years later,Lake Nyos erupted A cloud of gases rolled down the hills and into the valleys and killed 1,700 people．
　　Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun are crater（火山口）lakes They were formed when water collected in the craters of old volcanoes The volcanoes under Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun are not active anymore.  However, poisonous gases from the center of the earth continue to flow up through cracks in the bottom of the lake. This is normal in a crater lake. In most crater lakes，these gases are released often because the water'turns over'regularly．That is，the water from the bottom of the lake rises and mixes with the water at the top，allowing the gases to escape slowly．
　　However，in Lakes Nyos and Monoun，there is no regular turning over．No one knows the reason for this fact，but as a result，these lakes have more gases tapped at the bottom than other crater lakes.  In fact，scientists who have studied Lakes Nyos and Monoun have found 16,000 times more gases．When a strong wind，cool weather a storm，or a landslide（滑坡）causes the water to turn over suddenly，the gases escape in a violent explosion．
　　In the past，no one knew when the gases might explode，so there was no way for the villagers to escape disaster.  Now scientists from the United States，France，and Cameroon have found a way to reduce the gas pressure at the bottom of Lake Nyos．They stood a 672-foot plastic pipe in the middle of the lake，with one end of the pipe near the bottom and the other end in the air．Near the top of the pipe，the team put several holes that could be opened or closed by a computer．Now，when the gas pressure gets too high，the holes are opened and some of the gas-filled water shoots up through the pipe into the air like a fountain．With less pressure，a disastrous explosion is much less likely．However, the scientists are not sure that one pipe will be enough to prevent explosions．They hope to put in others soon and they plan to install a similar pipe and a computer system at Lake Monoun as well．
　　To protect people nearby until all of the pipes are in place．the scientists have installed early warning systems at both lakes.  If the gas pressure rises to a dangerous level，computers will set off loud sirens（警报）and bright lights to warn the people in the villages．That way, they will have time to escape from the dangerous gases．
　
　　41 What will happen when Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun explode?
　　A  Water will flow down the hills
　　B  Poisonous gases will be released suddenly．
　　C  A strong wind will rise from the lakes
　　D  The volcanoes will come to life．
　
　　42 Which of the following statements about Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun is true?
　　A  They were formed in 1984．
　　B  They are at the top of two active volcanoes．
　　C  They are not like most other crater lakes．
　　D  Water in them turns over regularly．

　　43 Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun explode because
　　A  the gases rise to the top and mix with air．
　　B  people from the villages turn over the water．
　　C  scientists have put in a computer system．
　　D  they have more gases trapped at the bottom than other crater lakes
　
　　44 A team of scientists has
　　A  erected a pressure-releasing pipe in the lake
　　B  identified the gases at the bottom of the lake
　　C  built a beautiful fountain near the lakes
　　D  removed all dangerous gases from the lakes
　
　　45 What do we learn from the last paragraph?
　　A  Scientists are planning to install pipes in all crater lakes．
　　B  Scientists still do not know how to prevent gas explosions
　　C  Explosion disasters could be avoided in the future
　　D  Warning systems have been set up in the villages nearby．
答案：
　　31 D  mirror和reflection都有"反映"的意思。reflection的动词是reflect，在第一段中出现了两次。vehicle是"交通工具"，device是"装置"，  need是"需要".
　　32 A  该题问的是：Bruce Hardy为Althouse公交公司工作了多少年了?第四段的第二句话是这么说的：今年，他要庆祝为AM.house公交公司工作30年。
　　33 c  该题问的是：下面的哪一种说法不符合Brice Hardy实际情况?A和B可见于第三段第二行。D可见于第四段的后半部分。c说的是：Bruce Hardy不耐心。第三段说到了Bruce Hardy是一个很好的听众，他总是听着你要说的话。可见，说Bruce Hardy不耐心不符合实际情况。
　　34 B  该题问的是：谁创立了Althouse公交公司?A说的是：Larry Althouse.Larry .Althouse是公司的总裁。B说的是：Althouse的祖父。倒数第二段有这样一句话：我（Althouse）的祖父开始经营时只有一辆公共汽车。可见，B是正确答案。
　　35 D  该题问的是：Althouse公交公司注重什么?A说的是：雇用年轻司机。B说的是：经营素质学校。c：提供免费驾驶课程。D：建立良好的关系。
　　36 A  该题问的是：当今人们面临的一个大的问题是什么?文章第～句就给出了答案：人们太忙了，不能被连续不断的电话骚扰。要么关闭手机。
　　37 c  第二段中的that是代词，指上段最后两旬句子的内容。而答案在第一句的后半部分：确定何时适合打扰你。
　　38 D  本题题干的意思是在Camegie Mellon大学的科学家试图找出……?答案在第三段最后一句，第四段第一句也给出了部分答案。
　　39 B  本题问的是实验中，受试者被要求干什么?答案在第五段第二句：受试者对是否可被打断工作做出评定，评定范围从"完全可以被打断"到"完全不能被打断".
　　40 c  本题和倒数第二段第一句有关，说的是实验中电脑比人表现得好，问原因是什么?这段最后一句说了，people doing the interrupting are inevitably biased…，即人有偏见，故c为答案。
　　41 B  该题问的是Nyos和Monoun两湖喷发时会出现什么情况?第一段第五句提到，Monoun喷发时有毒气体随之而出。两年后，Nyos湖喷发时也出现类似情况。故B为答案。
　　42 c  本题为细节题。问的是关于Nyos和Monoun两湖哪句陈述是正确的?选项A说的是两湖于1984年形成的，不符合原文意思。选项B的意思是：他们坐落在两座活活火山上，也与原文意思不符。选项D说的是湖中的水定期翻滚，均与原文不符。只有选项c正确。
　　43 D  题句的意思是：Nyos和Monoun两湖发生喷发的原因是什么?前三个选项均与原文意思不符，答案见第三段第二句。
　　44 A  本题问的是一队科学家干了什么工作?第四段第三句提到他们在湖里立了一根释放湖底气压的管子。故A为答案。
　　45 c  本题问的是在文章最后一段我们了解到了什么?文章最后一段主要讲的是在所有的湖里竖起缓解湖底气压的管子后，就不会有危险。故选项c为正确答案。