第二部分 阅读理解(共20小题，每题2分，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

We do not usually think about how our language works. Talking is such a natural, everyday activity that we do not often stop to consider how it actually works. When we do study our language, though, we are often surprised that we are able to understand our conversations. Words can mean so many different things. However, it turns out that the speaking situation helps a lot in making language work.

The speaking situation also helps make language clearer. For example, the word “bank” has two possible meanings. It can mean “a place where people keep money,” but it can also mean “the side of a river.” So the sentence “I went to the bank” is not clear. It could mean I went to the side of the river or it could mean I went to the place where my money is kept. However, if the speaker is talking about fishing or going to the mountains, others probably know that “bank” means “the side of a river.”

The things that speakers say may not always be clear. Sometimes the words are not very particular, but the speaking situation can provide the meaning. Other times words may have many meanings. Then the speaking situation limits the right meaning. This extra knowledge from the situation is very important to understand language.

21.The passage is mainly about _____.

A.the best time and place to talk to others

B.how speaking situation helps language work

C.what to say in difficult situations

D.how our language works

22. According to the passage, we can safely say that _____.

A. a speaking situation does not affect the meaning of words

B. speaking is not very natural for most people

C. a speaking situation is not important

D. people often do not consider how talking works

23. By using the example of the word “dog”, the writer wants to show that _____.

A. a word may need to be explained in a conversation

B. a word may have different meanings

C. speaking situation helps people understand the particular meaning of a word

D. the meaning of words is not particular

24.According to the passage, we can know the meaning of the word “bank” by referring to _______.

A. the time and the place where the conversation happens

B. the occupation of the person who uses the word

C. earlier or later parts of the conversation

D. a reliable dictionary

B

I turned 16 on Friday, but the Driver’s License Office in my small hometown was only open on Tuesday, so I had to wait through that extremely long weekend and an endless Monday before going in for my examination.

I came to the Driver’s License Office half an hour earlier that Tuesday morning, pacing back and forth on the worn porch waiting for the office to open at eight. I reviewed the driver’s manual for the hundredth time. I was ready. I knew the manual backward and forward; I had made an “A” in my driver’s training course, and I was a genius behind the wheel.

Finally, the door opened and a weary-looking man in a brown uniform let me in.

“Let me guess. Yowant to take the driver’s test.” his voice was not enthusiastic.

“Yes!” I answered in excitement.

“Ok, fill this out, and if yopass we’ll go for a drive.”

I grabbed the test and rushed to the desk where I filled it out in record time. A quick check showed that my paper was perfect.

“Let’s get in the car.” He tossed me a set of keys, and I slid behind the wheel. Everything was going smoothly as we pulled out of the empty parking lot. I signaled a right hand turn, and we were on a deserted street. This was going to be easy.

“Turn left and go up Young Blood Hill,” he ordered. My hometown is in the mountains, and Young Blood Hill was almost vertical. As I eased up the steep hill and came to a stop at the top, I heard the car’s engine die. My heart sank. I would have to start it again without rolling back down the hill. I swallowed hard and turned the key; as I moved my foot from the brake, the car began to roll. I suppose I could have rolled all the way back to the bottom except for one thing. There was something behind me which stopped my roll with a rough shake and crash of glass—a police car.

The policeman wrote me a ticket as I looked over the damage, and the man from the Driver’s License Office slid behind the wheel. I waited until we had parked before I asked how long a person had to wait before taking the test again.

25. What time does “that Tuesday morning” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A.The morning when he made an “A” in his driver’s training course.