C. Ibn Battuta had worked as a translator D. Ibn Battuta had traveled to many translator 62. Which is the best title for thepassage?
A. The Learned Ibn Battuta B. A Visitor to Mecca C. The Travels of Ibn Battuta D. Desire for Adventures
C
Culture and Cuisine
The United States is known for jazz and blue jeans. But travel to Paris and ask your average
French citizen about American cuisine（烹饪）and he’s likely to an answer,―McDonalds.‖Ask the same thing of any American citizen on any American street and I’m afraid you’d get the same answer, or something close to it.
Hamburgers and hotdogs and fries are all fine, but with American malls and other outlets
standardizing everything from clothing to food, the sad truth is that American cuisine is becoming more homogeneous—all the same—no matter where you live. True, many Americans are eating more varied foods these days, but these are largely the cuisines of immigrant groups, and they are quite likely to be affected by homogenization of American cuisine.
So what exactly is American cuisine? Well, to some extent it is a reflection of our melting pot
culture, meaning that Europeans made huge contributions in the form of wheat, dairy products, pork, beef and poultry. But American cuisine also includes products that once were known only to the New World, including potatoes, corn, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and peanuts.
The one region of the country where you still find all these things in daily use is the Deep South.
The South lost the Civil War, but children of the southerners are winning the battle to preserve and advance their cooking traditions—and in this case one of the few cuisines can truly be called American, which is why we’re pleased to have Low Country cuisine in this issue of food creation. That’s right, grits and gravy are back in a big way in cities like Charleston and Savannah. Truth is, they never really left, but up until a decade ago Low Country cuisine was more common at home than in restaurants.
In fact, a large number of tourists now go to the lower Atlantic region in order to experiencethis
extraordinary cuisine for themselves. Time will tell whether Low Country cuisine becomes popular in other regions of the country in the way that, say, Italian cuisine has, but it's amazing and heartening to see one of our true cultural treasures enjoying renewed popularity in these increasingly homogeneous times. 63. According to the passage, American cuisine impresses people as being __________ A. dull and changeless B. rich and various
C. popular and delicious
D. disagreeable and unpleasant
64. It can be seen that the writer feels regretful that __________
A. cuisines of other countries play a more important role in America B. American cuisine has become increasingly lacking in variety C. American cuisine tends to vary because of immigration D. American cuisine is being changed by foreign cuisines 65. From the passage, we know that grits and gravy__________ A. were cooked with new materials after the Civil War B. are gaining popularity in the south of America C. were more popular over ten years ago D. are seldom served in restaurants
66. What's the writer's attitude towards the renewal of Low Country cuisine in America? A. Concerned and cautious. B. Hopeless and doubtful. C. Positive and supportive. D. Critical and disapproving.
D
The Enigma (谜）of Beauty
The search for beauty spans centuries and continents. Paintings of Egyptians dating back over
4,000 years show both men and women painting their nails and wearing makeup. In 18th-centuryFrance, wealthy noblemen wore large wigs (假发）of long, white hair to make themselves attractive. Today, people continue to devote a lot of time and money to their appearance.
There is at least one good reason for the desire to be attractive：beautyis power. Studies suggest
that good-looking people make more money, get called on more often in class, and are regarded as friendlier.
But what exactly is beauty? It's difficult to describe it clearly, and yet we know it when we see it.
And our awarenessof it may start at a very early age. In one set of studies, six-month-old babies were shown a series of photographs. The faces on the pictures had been rated for attractiveness by a group of college students .In the studies, the babies spent more time looking at the attractive faces than the unattractive ones.
The idea that even babies can judge appearance makes perfect sense to many researchers. In
studies by psychologists, men consistently showed a preference for women with larger eyes, fuller lips, and a smaller nose and chin while women prefer men with large shoulders and a narrow waist, According to scientists, the mind unconsciously tells men and women that these traits —the full lips, chear skin , strong shoulders —equal health and genetic well-being.
Not everyone thinks the same way, however. \Our hardwiredness can be changed by all sorts of expectations —mostly cultural, \say C. Loring Brace, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan. What is considered attractive in one culture might notbe in another. Look at most Western fashion magazines：the women on the pages are thin. But is this \body type for women worldwide? Scientists' answer is no; what is considered beautiful is subjective and varies around the world. They found native peoples in southeast Peru preferred shapes regarded
overweight in Western cultures.
For better or worse, beauty plays a role in our lives. But it is extremely difficult to describe
exactly what makes one person attractive to another. Although there do seem to be certain physical traits considered universally appealing, it is also true that beauty does not always keep to a single, uniform
standard. Beauty really is, as the saying goes, in the eye of the beholder. 67. People's ideas about beauty __________ A. have existed since ancient times B. can be easily described
C. have little influence on a person's success D. are based upon strict criteria
68. ln Paragraph 3, the babies in the study __________. A. were rated for their appearance B. were entered in a beauty contest
C. were shown photos of a group of college students
D. were able to tell attractive faces from unattractive ones
69. The underlined word ―traits‖ in Paragraph 4 probably means __________ A. qualities B. measurements C. judgments D. standards
70. We can learn from the passage that __________ A. the ideas of beauty vary as people up
B. the search for beauty is rooted in lack of confidence
C. the standards for beauty are based on scientific researches D. the understanding of beauty depends on cultural backgrounds
阅读解析： A 篇
56. B 定位原文“?just donate your time. Show your support for Piedmont Middle School by joining the PTO?” 易错选项是 C take a break 原文的 take a break from the kite flying and drink some lemonade! 意思是从风筝比赛中休息一下来做“support”这个事情 57. B 定位原文 只有 12：00pm 和 2：00pm 有含有 competition 一个是 school kite 一个是best
58. A 定位最后一句话“enjoy yourself and learn more”
59. C 定位第一句 learn how to 排除了 experts. 定位中间 company 是给钱给礼物的，所以也排除。根据 PTO 猜测应该是 parents。 B 篇
60. A . 根据第二段第二行：Driven by curiosity, he journeyed to remote corners of the Islamic world, travelling through 44 modern countries? 可得，说明他是因为好奇去周游伊斯兰国家，所以选 A。
61. A. 根据第三段中间部分：In Delhi, the sultan gave him the position of judge, based on his previous study at Mecca.可得，他之前在麦加很有研究，所以选 A。
62. C. 通篇都在是讲述 Ibn Battuta 传奇的旅行故事，而且根据第二段第二行可得：? returning home three decades later as one of history’s great travelers. 旅行才是本片文章的重点。 C 篇
63. A 定位原文：likely to answer “McDonalds” ? I’m afraid you’d get the same answer? 以及第二段的“becoming more homogeneous- all the same ” 说明是 dull and changeless。
64. B. 定位原文多次出现“homogeneous? homogenization?”说明 American cuisine 正在模式化，统一化，甚至同化了一些外来的饮食。
65. B. 定位原文“grits and gravy are back in a big way in cities?”说明 American cuisine 流行起来了。 从后文的“time will tell? in other regions”能看出来这种流行现在还局限在南方。
66. C. 定位最后一句话。 It’s amazing and heartening to see one of our? 说明作者的态度是正
态度。所以选 C。 D 篇
67. A. 根据第一段，从古埃及开始人们就开始爱美了，所以 A 正确。 B 错误，根据第三段第一句话：But what is exactly beauty? It’s difficult to describe it clearly. C 错误，根据第二段：beauty is power 可得答按。 D 错误，根据四段和第五段，在不同人眼里和不同文化里美的定义不同，所以没有统一严格标准。
68. D. 根据第二段的最后一句话：In the studies, the babies spent more time looking at the attractive faces than the unattractive ones. 可得答案，即使是小孩儿也知道什么是美什么是丑。
A 错误，孩子们本身没有被评级； B 错误，孩子们不是参加选美大赛； C 错误，他们不是展示的大学生的照片，而是被大学生评价过美丑的照片。
69. A. 猜词题， trait 本身的意思就是“特性、特点”。如果不知道，可根据这句话来猜测：根据科学家的理论，我们的思想会潜意识地告诉大家这些特性——包括饱满的嘴唇，清爽的皮肤，坚强的臂膀——和我们的健康和基因的良好是等同的。
70. D. A 错误，文章讨论的是不同的人或不同文化背景的人对美的定义不一样，没有提到从小到大人们对美的看法； B 错误，文章没有提到这一说法，错误原因和 A 一样； C 错误，文章明显提出美是难以定义的，根据最后一段 Beauty really is, as the saying goes, in the eye of the beholder.
第二节（共5小题:每小题2分，共10分）
根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出恩给你填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Virtual （虚拟）Teams
Virtual teams are a great way to enable teamwork in situations where people are not sitting in the
same office at the same time.71 This is particularly so for businessesthat use that use virtual teams to build global presence, or need less common skills or knowledge from people who are unwilling to travel.
Virtual teams are governed by the same basic principles as traditional teams.72 It is the way the team members communicate. They rely on special communication channels enabled by modern technologies, such as emails, faxes, and teleconferences, and alike. Due to more limited communication channels, the success of virtual teams is muchmore sensitive to the type of project the group works on, what people are selected, and how the team is managed.
73 One challenging case is the projects that rely heavily on integrated work. That is to say,
when each person's work depends significantly on what someone else is doing at the same moment, like in a sports team, there is an ongoing heavy exchange of information in real time, and the tasks have to go through a strict order within a short time.
Not everyone can perform well in a virtual team environment. 74 Another important quality is communication skills. The team members must be able to communicate clearly and positively.
Managers of virtual teams need to pay much more attention to having clear goals,performance standards,
