W：Oh，I'm sorry, that's not possible. You see, it is out of order again. M：Well, would you mind if I went down the road to the phone box? W：Oh，it's ten minutes' walk. If you like，I could drive you there. (Text 9)

W：I'm fed up with sitting on packing cases，Joe. Don't you think we could buy at least two chairs? M：Do you know how much new chairs cost? One cheap comfortable armchair... eighty pounds. W：Yes，I know. It's terrible. But I have an idea. Why don't we look for chairs at a street market? I've always wanted to see one.

M：All right. Which one should we go to?

W: Portobello Road, I think. There are a lot of second-hand things there. But we'll have to go tomorrow. It's only open on Saturdays.

M：What time do you want to go? Not too early, I hope.

W：The guide-book says the market is open from nine to six. It's a very popular market so we'd better be there when it opens.

M：Right. I'll set the alarm. (Text 10)

William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon. At the age of seven William was sent to a grammar school, and he studied there for six years. He read a lot of books and picked up “small Latin and less Greek.” When Shakespeare was fourteen, his father fell into debt, and the boy probably left school and became a country schoolmaster to help support his family. In 1582, Shakespeare was married to a farmer's daughter. They had three children. Shakespeare arrived in London in 1586 or 1587. He was said to have kept horses for the gentlemen outside the theatres. Then he became an actor. While leading the busy life of an actor, Shakespeare worked hard with his pen. He wrote plays at the rate of about two a year. His plays became popular very soon and now we can also enjoy some of his plays at theatres or at cinemas. He wrote Romeo and Juliet in 1594, the Merchant of Venice in 1596 and Hamlet in 1601. As we know，many of his plays were translated into many languages. In his life-time, Shakespeare didn't publish his works. After his death, two of his fellow-actors collected and published Shakespeare's plays in 1623.

第二部分 阅读理解(共两节，满分40分) 第一节(共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

(2015·山东潍坊质检)

On my first day of teaching，I found that I spent 85 percent of my energy disciplining and 15 percent teaching knowledge. Of course I had some wonderful, serious students who would do well wherever they were in life, but others_worked_hard_to_push_themselves_to_the_limit (限度). At night I went home exhausted, often near tears. What gave me the idea I wanted to teach?

And then there was Matthew.

After school Matthew would come into my classroom to dust erasers or empty the wastepaper basket. “Why do you come in to visit me？” I asked him one night.

“Because at home no one listens to me，” was his reply. Later I found out that there were eleven children in his family，with Matthew near the middle.

One time when he came to see me, he said，“Miss Ausmus，the kids are saying that you and Mr D. like each other.”

“Matthew，Mr D. is a nice man and we both teach some of the same students. He is not my boyfriend, and it's not something the children should be talking about anyway. ”

Another time，he said，“Will you wait for me so I can marry you when I grow up？” “Sorry, Matthew, but that won't work，”I answered in a gentle way.

When my birthday arrived, his mother made me a cake. She delivered (递送)it after school, and as Matthew was carrying it up the school steps，he tripped (绊倒)，dropping the cake. I found him in tears. I told him that bringing me a cake was very, very special, whether I was able to eat it or not.

After my second year of teaching，I said “goodbye” to Matthew and his family.

Years passed and in 1992，I went back to the little town to visit. Matthew's parents still lived in the same house. His mother greeted me warmly. “Janet，” she said, “Thanks for all the time you spent encouraging Matthew. You taught him to believe in himself, You are the reason he went to college.”

I had made a difference in the life of a young boy. But I wonder... did Matthew ever know the difference he made in mine?

21．How did the author feel at the beginning of her teaching? A．Embarrassed. C．Frustrated.

B．Excited. D．Amused.

答案：C 根据第一段第一句话和倒数第二句“At night I went home exhausted, often near tears.”可知作者第一天上课把大量的时间都用在了管理学生上，而且开始的那段时间每天上完课，作者常常感到精疲力竭、几乎都含着泪水，这说明她刚开始的教学很不顺利，故选C项。

22．By saying “others worked hard to push themselves to the limit”， the author meant other students ________.

A．were forced to challenge themselves B．made efforts to challenge their classmates C．needed to be encouraged to learn D．did everything they could to do well

答案：D 根据第一段第二句中but可知，“some wonderful, serious students who would do well wherever they were in life”与后面的“others worked hard to push themselves to the limit”是相对的，由此可知其他的一些学生需要很努力才能做好，不像前面提到的那些好学生，故选D项。

23．Why did Matthew visit the author after school?

A．Because he had less communication at home. B．Because he wondered if she liked Mr D.

C．Because he decided to marry her when he grew up. D．Because he was going to celebrate her birthday.

答案：A 根据第五段中马修的回答“Because at home no one listens to me...”和后面一句可知，马修家里人太多，没有人和他交流，故选A项。

24．Under the influence of the author, Matthew became ________. A．honest C．confident

B．sincere D．hardworking

答案：C 根据倒数第二段马修妈妈的话中“You taught him to believe in himself.”可知，作者使马修变得自信了。

B

People who like travelling have their reasons. They believe that travelling can help them expand their field of view, especially in the geographical and historical sense. They also think that touring will give them more chances to enjoy different kinds of food and experience new things that would never be brought by other activities. But those who dislike travelling also have some reasons.

Travelling, in my opinion, does more good than harm. Most importantly, it broadens our mind. We can get in touch with other civilizations, cultures, customs and ideas.

Through history, most people travelled because of necessity—not for pleasure. People travelled just in order to remain alive. They searched for food to eat or places to live in. They sometimes ran away from enemies. This is not to say that no one ever travelled just for the fun of it. In ancient times, for example, rich Romans travelled all the way to Greece to take part in the Olympic Games and festivals. Of course, some people decided to travel just out of curiosity. They wanted to find out what it looked like beyond the horizon(地平线). Also business travel has been going on for centuries. Traders could not only make money but also learn to speak several languages and be introduced to different cultures.

So, travelling does enrich our mind and draw new ideas to us. There is no doubt that we can get much from it.

25．The underlined word “expand” in Paragraph 1 can be replaced by “________”． A．widen C．lose

B．protect D．decide

答案：A 根据第二段出现的broadens及最后一段的enrich，可以推测expand表示“扩大；拓宽”之意，widen与之意思最接近。

26．According to the passage, in the past most people travelled________． A．for fun

C．to get experiences

B．for knowledge D．to make a living

答案：D 根据第三段首句“Through history, most people travelled because of necessity—not for pleasure.”可知，古代人们外出多是为了生计奔波，因此选D项。

27．How many reasons for travelling are mentioned in Paragraph 3? A．Three. C．Five.

B．Four. D．Six.

答案：B 第三段中作者提到了四种旅游的原因或动机，分别是：necessity, fun, curiosity和trade。 28．What's the main idea of this passage? A．Different kinds of travelling. B．Travelling enriches our mind.

C．Ways to enjoy yourself while travelling. D．The advantages and disadvantages of travelling.

答案：B 作者在文中谈了自己对旅游的看法，认为旅游可以拓宽人们的视野，故选B项。

C

(2015·宁夏银川一中一模)

What will power your house in the future? Nuclear, wind, or solar power? According to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U．S., it might be leaves—but artificial (人造的) ones.

Natural leaves are able to change sunlight and water into energy. It is known as photosynthesis (光合作用). Now researchers have found a way to imitate this seemingly simple process.

The artificial leaf developed by Daniel Nocera and his colleagues at MIT can be seen as a special silicon chip with catalysts (催化剂). Similar to natural leaves, it can split water into hydrogen and oxygen when put into a bucket of water. The hydrogen and oxygen gases are then stored in a fuel cell, which uses those two materials to produce electricity, located either on top of a house or beside the house.

Though the leaf is only about the shape of a poker card, scientists claimed that it is promising to be an inexpensive source of electricity in developing countries. “One can imagine villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology，” said Nocera at a conference of the American Chemical Society.

The artificial leaf is not a new idea. The first artificial leaf was invented in 1997 but was too expensive and unstable for practical use. The new leaf, by contrast, is made of cheap materials, easy to use and highly stable. In laboratory studies, Nocera showed that an artificial leaf prototype (原型) could operate continuously for at least 45 hours without a drop in activity.

The wonderful improvements come from Nocera's recent discovery of several powerful, new and inexpensive catalysts. These catalysts make the energy transformation inside the leaf more efficient with water and sunlight. Right now, the new leaf is about 10 times more efficient at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural one. Besides, the device can run in whatever water is available; that is, it doesn't need pure water. This is important for some countries that don't have access to pure water.

With the goal to “make each home its own power station” and “give energy to the poor”， scientists believe that the new technology could be widely used in developing countries and regions, especially in Italia and rural China.

语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了美国科学家发现的一种利用人造叶子模仿光合作用