第二部分 閱讀理解(共兩節,滿分40分)

　　第一節(共15小題;每小題2分，滿分30分)

　　閱讀下列短文，從每篇短文后所給各題的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡該項涂黑。

　　A

　　Trans-Bridge Tours is looking forward to providing you with another year of exciting One-Day travel destinations in 2016.

　　Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

　　August 15 (Sat)

　　$78 Adult; $66 Child (4-12); $ 75 Senior (62+)

　　No visit to the New York City area is complete without a trip to the world’s most famous landmarks--- the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

　　Price includes transportation to Liberty State Park and timed ferry tickets.

　　9/11 Museum& Memorial

　　September 29 (Tue)

　　$ 87 Adult; $ 78 Youth (7-17); Senior $80(65+)

　　The Museum displays artifacts associated with the events of 9/11, while presenting stories of loss and recovery. The Memorial between the twin reflecting pools, is a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks.

　　The New York Botanical Garden

　　October 14 (Wed)

　　$126 Adult

　　This National Historic Landmark offers visitors 250 acres (英畝) of the most unique land form of any botanical garden in the world, with huge rock outcroppings, beautiful flower collections, a river, cascading waterfalls, and 40 acres(英畝) of old-growth forest dating from pre-Revolutionary times plus a world-class Conservatory.

　　Hagley Museum & Winterthur

　　November 21(Sat)

　　$113 Adult

　　Located on 235 acres along the banks of the Brandywine, Hagley is the site of the gunpowder works founded by E.I. du Pont in 1802. Winterthur was the former home of Henry Francis du Pont, a famous antiques collector and gardener.

　　Includes: Brandywine tour at Hagley; Lunch at Hagley Museum; Guided tour at Winterthur Garden

　　21. Which of the following charges an adult the lowest fee?

　　A. Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island B.9/11 Museum & Memorial

　　C. The New York Botanical Garden D. Hagley Museum & Winterthur

　　22. Which was set up in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks?

　　A. The Statue of Liberty. B. The 9/11 Memorial. C. Hagley Museum. D. Winterthur Garden. When 23. When can you do some geological (地質的) research while travelling?

　　A. August 15. B. September 29. C. October 14. D. November 21.

　　B

　　Very mobile ears help many animals direct their attention to the rustle of a possible attacker. Researchers say these mobile ears have become a useful communication tool. Their studies of animal behaviour build up a picture of how communication and social skills developed.

　　“We're interested in how they communicate,” said lead researcher Jennifer Wathan.“And being sensitive to what another individual is thinking is a fundamental skill from which other more complex skills develop.”

　　Ms Wathan and her colleague Prof Karen McComb set up a behavioural experiment where 72 individual horses had to use visual cues from another horse in order to choose where to feed. They led each horse to a point where it had to select one of two buckets. On a wall behind this decision-making spot was a life-sized photograph of a horse's head facing either to left or right. In some of the trials, the horses’ ears or eyes were covered.

　　If the ears and eyes of the horse in the picture were visible, the horses being tested would choose the bucket towards which its gaze - and its ears - were directed. If the horse in the picture had either its eyes or its ears covered, the horse being tested would just choose a feed bucket at random.

　　Like many mammals that are hunted by predators(捕食者), horses can rotate(旋轉)their ears through almost 180 degrees - but Ms Wathan said that in our "human-centric" view of the world, we had overlooked the importance of these very mobile ears in animal communication.

　　"It seems there's something in the visual cues - from both the eyes and the ears - that are really important," she told BBC News. "Horses have quite rich social lives and relationships with other horses, so they're a good species to look at this in." And the more we look at communication across different species, the more we can consider what might have promoted the evolution of sophisticated communication and social skills."

　　24. Why does a horse rotate its ears?

　　A. To tell each other where they can go for the buckets.

　　B. To be curious about what the other horse is thinking.

　　C. To warn the other horse when an attacker is coming closer.

　　D. To express its hope to build up social relations with others.

　　25. Why did the researchers use the life-sized photograph of a horse in the experiment?

　　A. To help develop horses’ complex skills.

　　B. To lead other horses to feed themselves.

　　C. To make the horses in the experiment excited.

　　D. To provide clues for the horses in the experiment.

　　26. Why are ears and eyes important to horses?

　　A. They can find the feeding buckets more easily with ears and eyes.

　　B. With ears and eyes they can escape from dangers more easily.

　　C. With ears and eyes they can communicate with other horses.

　　D. Horses have quite rich social lives with ears and eyes.

　　27. What can be the best title of the passage?

　　A. Rotary Ears Serve as Communication Tools.

　　B. Horses Have More Social Skills than Other Species.

　　C. Experiments with Horses’ Ears.

　　D. Fundamental Skills of Horses.

　　C

　　I had a great time this past summer visiting Stone Mountain Park with my twin grandsons. I had the opportunity to spend the day with them seeing the various sights and attractions. One thing that my grandsons had really wanted to do that particular day was to climb to the top of the mountain. Stone Mountain isn’t a particularly tall mountain and fortunately has walking trails to the top, but for two 5-year –olds, along with grandpa, it’s a formidable task.

　　Since my grandson’s enthusiasm was much greater than mine, I decided to start the slow walk up the mountain. The beginning part of the trail was slow and gradual. It seemed like we were taking forever to climb just a short distance, but I had to remind myself that it took 3 of their steps to equal 1 of mine, so I found myself walking ahead of them, then having to stop and let them catch up, over and over again.

　　I was tired and sweaty, just wanting to get to the top of the mountain so I could rest well before starting my way back. I learned early on during our walk that this wasn’t going to be the case. We had to stop and look at every large rock with someone’s name carved in it. We looked at unususal plant formations. We examined large trees and we explored small rock overhangs that reminded the kids of caves. My grandsons viewed the walk as an exciting adventure. Climbing the mountain was a trial to me but my grandsons were not focused at all on the trial of climbing the mountain; they were simply enjoying the journey of the walk.

　　I know when I face a trial in life, I tend to always think of the problem. I want the trial to be over quickly and let life get back to normal. What can I learn during the course of the trial? At some point, the trial will be over and we’ll be joyous for sure.

　　However, the real joy should not be that the trial’s over, but I am celebrating what I learned during the journey.

　　28. What does the underlined word“formidable”in Paragraph 1 mean?

　　A. Relaxing B. Meaningful. C. Strange D. Difficult.

　　29. What can we know from Paragraph 2?

　　A. The writer kept challenging his grandsons to catch up with him.

　　B. Old as the writer was , he walked much faster than his grandsons.

　　C. The writer and his grandsons walked up the mountain very fast at the beginning.

　　D. The writer was more eager to climb to the top of the mountain than his grandsons.

　　30. Why did the writer only want to reach the mountain top?

　　A. To have a good rest B. To get a better view

　　C. To enjoy unusual plants. D. To see large rocks carved with names.

　　31. What can be the best title of the text?

　　A. A tiring day spent with grandsons. B. Joy coming from mountain-climbing.

　　C. A life lesson learnt form grandsons. D. Learning to enjoy the journey.

　　D

　　We all have an idea about the common types of environmental problems. However, light pollution may be a new term to many of us. But, the fact is, it does affect mankind, other living forms and the environment as a whole.

　　What is light pollution? It presents all forms of misused man-made light. The obvious cause of light pollution is the use of outdoor lighting products improperly. It can be office lighting, car headlights, station lights, streetlights and many more.

　　Light pollution is harmful to both animals and plants. Upon studies, it is found that obvious effects are observed in the behaviour of nocturnal animals. Needless to mention , bright light at night makes it difficult for these animals to hunt, wander and perform their regular activities. Light pollution is directly or indirectly responsible for causing several diseases. Its effects are related to disturbance in the physical rhythm. It contributes to risks of developing cancerous cells. So, it’s nothing less than a threat to human health.

　　You have already seen the negative effects of light pollution on animals and human health. Apart from this, the actual cost of misused light is about millions of dollars every year. It also leads to the release of greenhouse gases and global warming. After all，fuels are used for producing electricity.

　　While outdoor lighting and using man-made lighting products are part of our modern lifestyle, some simple ways will surely help in reducing light pollution. For example，while installing outdoor lighting, make sure that they are pointed downwards . Also， use only the required lighting equipment for both home and offices. Believe it or not, many people living in the urban areas cannot view clear sky and stars at night. Let’s contribute our part in reducing the pollution.

　　32. What can we learn about light pollution?

　　A. It is a negative fruit of light technology. B. It has no effect on plants

　　C. It contributes to most cancers. D. It affects animals’ normal activities in the daytime.

　　33. How does light pollution affect the climate?

　　A. It reduces temperatures by days and makes nights warmer.

　　B. It creates more clouds over parts of the Earth.

　　C. It stops the release of greenhouse gases.

　　D.It causes global temperatures to go up.

　　34. How can we contribute our part in reducing light pollution?

　　A. Forbid the use of outdoor lighting. B. Don’t use unnecessary lights at home and offices.

　　C. Reduce money spent on man-made light in urban areas. D. Use clean energy to produce electricty.

　　35. It can be inferred from the last paragragh that __________.

　　A. Citizens should be forbidden to install outdoor lighting.

　　B. Only simple ways can help reduce light pollution.

　　C. Light pollution needs to be dealt with urgently.

　　D. There is no clear sky or stars over the urban areas.