第三部分：阅读理解（共两节，40分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，共30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
The Dangers at the Beach
British beaches look harmless, but there are hidden dangers. 
Allergy
The lesser weever is the fish to look out for on British beaches. It lies almost buried in the sand with just its mouth and fin exposed, a trap for unlucky fishermen and beachgoers walking around in the shallows. If you stand on a weever fish, it’ll sting (刺) you badly. The sting may cause heart attacks, and shock, though usually it just causes pain, redness and swelling.

Many people have an allergic reaction to the fish and may start to sweat, develop a faster heartbeat and feel sick as the poison gets further into the body. People who have been stung should take painkillers and if they develop an allergic reaction to the sting, an antihistamine (a drug used to treat an allergy) is recommended.
Sea currents
But fish are the least of your worries on the beach. The force of the sea is much more dangerous than anything swimming about inside it.
Coastguards are warning the public not to swim if there is a red flag flying on a beach and to find out about local tides and currents.
Dangerous swimming
The Coastguard Agency says people should not swim if they feel unwell, for at least an hour after a meal, if they have been drinking alcohol or if they are cold and tired. They also warn against swimming alone, swimming too far out to sea if you have breathing problems.
Pollution
A recent study of UK beaches showed more than 10% are failing to meet standards for clean water. The Marine Conservation Society said polluted water was still being pumped into the sea in some areas and was winding its way onto beaches. But the water companies say the society’s standards are too tough and that 90% of British beaches pass European standards.

56. What can we learn about the lesser weever from the passage?
A. Its poison can be washed off by water.
C. It buries itself deep in the sand. D. It can be dangerous on the beach.
B. Its sting is usually serious.
57. From the passage, we know you’d better swim ______.
A. when there is a red flag flying on the beach
B. when there are strong sea currents
C. together with friends
D. just after eating
58. Which of the following can best describe the UK beaches?
A. Most beaches in the UK are fine.
B. There is no pollution on UK beaches.
C. Most beaches fail to meet European standards.
D. 10% of British beaches meet European standards.

B
Three-year-old Teddy Lasry was sleeping in his cowboy outfit (套装) yesterday at his family’s Fifth Ave. apartment when he shot up in bed screaming. A 3-foot-long black-and-white snake twisted around his left arm and had just bitten his little finger.
“The babysitter (a person taking care of children while their parents are away for a short time) was frightened to death,” said Teddy’s father, David Lasry, who, along with his wife, Evelyn, was at work when the snake appeared about 4:00 pm.
The horrified babysitter called 911 and the building’s doorman. The doorman and two cable TV workers helped take the snake off the boy’s arm and put it in a garbage bag. Police rushed Teddy to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he spent two hours attached to a heart monitor as a precaution in case the snake was poisonous. It wasn’t. Experts at the snakebite treatment center at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, where policemen took the snake, found out it was a non-poisonous California king snake.
But how did it end up in Teddy’s bed?
A little detective work determined that the snake had escaped two weeks ago from its cage in the apartment of a doctor whose family lives four floors below the Lasrys. The apologetic owner said his son’s pet snake likely traveled up the water pipes and into his neighbor’s apartment. “It’s a very gentle, very harmless snake,” he said. “It’s handled by our family all the time.”
David Lasry believed the pet was simply hungry after two weeks of wandering. Evelyn said her son seems to have overcome his fright by thinking of himself as a hero cowboy as he rode in the back of the police car to the hospital.
“I told Teddy he’s a pretty snake, a nice pet snake who got out of his cage,” Evelyn said. “But he asked, ‘Why did he bite my finger, Mamma?’ And I said, ‘Because he saw that you are a big boy, Teddy, in your cowboy outfit and he got scared.’”

59. What did the babysitter do after Teddy was bitten by a snake?
A. She made an emergency call. B. She called the TV company.
C. She ran out of the apartment. D. She took the snake off Teddy’s arm.
60. We can learn from the passage that the snake _______.
A. was poisonous B. was deserted by its owner
C. was kept in a cage by its owner D. escaped to the apartment downstairs
61. From the passage, we know _______.
A. the snake was used to being touched
B. Teddy was awake when the snake arrived
C. Teddy’s mother was at home when the snake turned up
D. Teddy needed a heart machine to stay alive for two hours
62. Teddy probably believed he was attacked because _______.
A. his parents weren’t at home
C. he was asleep B. the snake was scared of him
D. the snake was hungry
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