第二部分：阅读理解（共两节：满分50分）

第一节：（共20小题；每小题2分, 满分40分）

阅读下列短文，并从所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出最佳答案.

A

Northern Lights Tour

Located in the middle of the northern lights belt, Tromso can offer some of the highest levels of northern lights activity on earth. Perhaps Tromso is the world's best place for a Northern Lights Tour.

Join one of our Northern Lights Holidays this winter. It could become one of the greatest experiences in your life.

DESTINATION  Tromso county, Norway.

PRICE  $450 per person

WHEN  2th September until 31st March.

PICK-UP  Each evening at 6 PM outside your hotel.

DROP-OFF  Earliest at 12 AM. When we have a sighting we often stay out later, at no extra cost.

SIZE OF GROUP  Maximum 8 participants is recommended and normal, but not absolute. A small group allows more freedom in terms of chasing the northern lights.

INCLUDED

- Transportation each day in a comfortable car

- A meal each day

- All necessary equipment such as snowshoes, flashlight, water-filled bottle, woolen underwear, a warm, hat, warm shoes, warm stockings, and reindeer skin to lie on, if needed.

- A guide who will do anything necessary to find the northern lights.

EXCITING CHASE

A Northern Lights Holiday means an intense and exciting chase – to the coast or deep into the wild, perhaps even to the Finnish border. Each day on a Northern Lights Tour we contact meteorologists shortly before departure to get accurate information. In order to find out where we will have best chances to see the northern lights.

WE GUARANTEE A GREAT TRIP

The northern lights are unpredictable, but we guarantee that we will do everything to find it. Patience is a keyword on Northern Lights Tour.

ECO-TOURISM

We offer ecologically sustainable and responsible tours. Travelling in small groups is an essential part of the ecotourism concept, as small groups have lesser impact on nature and will not disturb the wildlife unnecessarily.

31. A small group is preferred for the following reasons EXCEPT that _______.

A. a small group is free to run after the northern lights

B. a small group has less effect on nature

C. a small group can save the travel cost

D. a small group will not disturb wildlife

32. The underlined word “it” refers to “_______”.

A. the northern light tour B. patience

C. equipment D. the northern light

33. We can infer that_______.

A. if tourists stay out late, they have to pay more

B. every tourist group is not sure to see the northern lights

C. every tourist group get the money back if they don’t see the northern lights

D. the northern lights can be seen every day from 20th September to 31st March

34. The passage is most likely to be taken from a(n) _______.

A. advertisement B. news report C. science textbook D. tourist brochure

B

For my grandmother’s 70th birthday, my family and I visited South Korea. While there, I was attentive to Korean high schools and students.

I was surprised by how different Korea’s public high schools are from America’s. Korean high schools can be all-girls, all-boys or co-ed (男女同校的) unlike our standard co-ed high schools. There are three grades: “go 1” (10th), “go 2” (11th) and “go 3” (12th). ‘‘Go” is the first syllable of the word “go-deung -hakkyo", which, simply translated, is “high school”.

In America, unless you want to go to a private school, you don't have to take an entrance exam. In Korea, however, students must take a test to get in because of the many choices of schools. 

Another difference I couldn't help but notice was the students' appearance. With very few exceptions, all wear uniforms. A name tag (标牌) with the student's name, grade and homeroom number must also be worn. Girl's skirts can't be above the upper part of the knee, and it is forbidden to dye (染) your hair or wear accessories (装饰品) except small earrings. There are strict regulations for appearance to achieve neatness, and it seems the only freedom students have is with their choices of hair style, socks and shoes.

The final difference was the setup of the classes. There may be 40 students in a classroom, but the number can be less or even more, depending on the population of the town or city. Although there are many students per classroom, they are very close, which I think is a result of not changing classrooms for different subjects. There are no levels in the subjects and the teachers are the ones who switch classrooms. They just have ten-minute breaks between subjects. In each class, students are ranked by their grades. This causes strict competition, and Korean students do a lot of studying. To help them, all schools have extra study classes after school. One other fact that helped me appreciate living in America is that Koreans have school on Saturdays. Although it's only a half day, I think I speak for most Americans when I say we could never imagine ourselves in school on a Saturday.

Korea's public high schools are clearly different from America's. I had imagined them to be just like our schools, but now I have a clear picture of how different they are.

35. How many main differences are mentioned between Korea's public high school and America's?

A. 3.          B. 4.            C. 5.        D. 6.

36. It seems that the writer  _______ .

A. is familiar with the education system of high schools in Korea

B. is fond of Korean students' appearance

C. prefers the high school life of America to the one of Korea

D. feels it common to have lessons on weekends

37. What does the underlined word "setup" in paragraph 5 probably mean?

A. Arrangement.     B. Size.     C. Number.     D. Outline.

38. According to the rules, the students of Korea can _______ .

A. go to different high schools without exams

B. wear any clothes except uniforms at school

C. attend different classes as they like

D. have different hair styles
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